I still have my stock as hell '93 VMax that is in dire need of mods. I really just have no idea where to start. But I still ride the heck out of it. I want to go radials and lighter wheels, I want to get an exhaust that makes my Max sound badass but can't decide what to go with. I want frame braces and solid motor mounts because I can feel the bike flexing when I go hard and fast in the corners.
But I don't really have the garage or tools to do the things I want to do with it. Don't have any friends, so no local resource to help. So in my mind I have this dialogue going on.
Left side of the brain: "Just pay someone else to install the mods. You don't really have the tools or the skill to do what is needed."
Right side of the brain: "But I want to learn to do it myself, I'll never learn if I don't get my hands dirty."
Left side of the brain: "But it's your only ride, do you really want to screw up your only ride? Maybe you should get a 2nd Vmax on the cheap and learn on that one."
Right side of the brain: "If I'm going to get a 2nd motorcycle, I'm going to get one that fills the gaps of the VMax... like one with a tank range of more than 100 miles and the comfort to ride all day for me AND the missus."
Me: "Will you two shut the hell up? Since you can't come to a decision, screw it, lets go for a ride."
Girlfriend: "Who are you talking to?"
That's pretty much my daily dialogue. Anytime I considering spending money, I always talk myself out of it. I had such a history of bad luck/timing. Seemed like anytime I bought something that cost a bit of money, like a new computer or gun, a car or an appliance would break down right after. I bought a used car a couple of years ago and one month later my A/C in the house took a croak and needed to replace the whole unit and furnace. So i get paranoid as soon as I start thinking about spending money. Hell I bought my '93 that only had 12k miles on it at the time for shade under 3,000(pretty good deal IMO) and worried for a week I had made mistake. Bike ran great and has almost zero problems -- I was just paranoid about spending that much money on myself. It was my girlfriend who thankfully talked me into keeping it.
So unfortunately, even though I've had the bike a couple of years and put 30k miles on it, I'm still pretty ignorant about it. These forums actually provide a little relief for me knowing so much knowlege is here should my VMax start having issues.
I've been around more now that my work life has lightened up. I was working two full time jobs for a while. So had little time for anything other sleep. So I stopped frequenting the forums as much as I used to. Best part of that time was the hour long commute to Scott AFB on the VMax at night. It wasn't an exciting ride by any means, but just being on the Max kept me sane.
I know 46 isn't very old, but my family has a history of dementia and Alzheimers. Couple that history with the boxing, bouncing, and street fighting I did for a good part of my life... I've had more concussions than most NFL players. And now in the 40s is when I'm seeing it's effects on my noggin. My mother had to be put in a loony bin this year because she became that homeless crazy bag lady you see screaming at traffic along the road. And what's heartbreaking about that is she was retired Air Traffic Controller... a damn good one in her day. She wasn't some lazy person or an addict. Her mind simply failed her. Her father/my grandfather had Alzheimers(along with ALS). I'm seeing the signs slowly creeping in for me. But having lived with two people who have quite literally lost their minds, I wouldn't wish that one anyone. So I've been working hard and trying to do the best I can to prepare for when I have break from loved ones and not leave with with any financial burdens since so many depend on me in that regard. I refuse to put them through the hell of trying to help someone losing their mind. My plan is to ride off into the sunset -- make a motorcycle trek to Alaska and go out in the woods and become worm food. I figure I still got 15 to 20 years before I need to make that ride. But I still got a daughter to put through med school and wonderful girlfriend I want to help make her dream a reality(her own bake and pastry shop). That's a lot of money, so I got a lot more work to do.
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