Temperatures dropped 13 degrees in about five minutes. The sky was pewter and gorged for rain. Light smoothed the rough edges of leaves and trees and the metal of passing cars. Two Harleys sat beside Atlee Station Road sporting for sale signs. The owner was wrangling one’s handlebars attempting to bring it inside before the storm. I drove past the bikes several times last week. I’ve been thinking about them ever sense.
In my dreams I ride them and sometimes even when I’m awake. It will be as close as I ever get to straddling the gas tank of a machine like that. The ubiquitous “Middle Aged Man On a Harley Syndrome” is a cliché from hell and has been for years. The movie “Wild Hogs,” alone, is enough to make a man sell his cycle and buy a Segway. But still those bikes roam in my head.
I will never own one, though. And here’s why: I’m not a joiner.
The motorcycle culture seems to be going the way of the RV culture, at least to me, with groups of like-minded people cruising the interstates in packs or parking at KOA campgrounds, sharing beers and stories and beans and franks. The lone rider on a crooked stretch of road is a rare sight these days. Alone is how I ride in my dreams.
If I got that Harley, used and at a good price, I would have to do it inside the confines of a solemn promise to myself that I would never ride in a pack of CPA’s with Henna tats, bandannas and leather, grumbling their mufflers down the highway in clumps of five and six and eight. I would buy it to ride all by myself with the only thing following me being my past. Those ancient, romantic motorcycle days may be as rare as a Dennis Hopper sighting (yes, I know he’s dead – which is why it is a rare thing).
A friend of mine rides. He smiles when he talks about it. I asked him if he rides with others and he stopped smiling. “That’s just part of the gig sometimes.” It did not sound like fun. My take: when he talks about the bike, he is happy. When he talks about the people, not so much.
And there is my answer. So I will pass the two motorcycles again today and this time, I will not be tempted.
