IMG_0002

18299. That’s what the odometer on the bike say today.

Those miles feel like a million. Not like I’ve actually ridden a milliion miles, but that they’re worth that much. The feeling of the road passing underneath your feet. But your feet are now replaced by the wheels.

I feel like I’ve seen locations around middle tennessee that can’t be described with words. They are emotions manifested in low lying fog. Of recently wet pavement. The smell of grass just being cut. Wind in my face, against my chest and whipping my pantlegs into a frenzy.

I made my first mistake today. The bike started acting funny. It was loosing power in higher gears and there were these gasps of coming from the engine. I pulled off onto a gravel driveway as the engine simply died. All electical was up but no engine.

I tried to restart it a few times only to hear it try and lug over but, nothing. *sigh* I sat there thinking that maybe I had flooded the engine trying to restart it. Cars were passing by as I tried to make it look like I was just taking a break. I contemplated trying to push it down the road, but that would be more than a mile in either direction.

I waited a bit longer then turned the fuel to the engine off, then back on. Nothing. I flipped it to the reserve tank… bingo! The bike sprang to life. That cheery vibration of the pistons jumping. I kicked it into gear and buzzed on down the road… to the gas station.

Here’s a little technical info about the Honda VT750. It, according to the manual, has a 3.43 gallon tank (including 1.06 gallon reserve). When I got to the gas station, I put in 2.9 gallons of gas. You do the math.

My body may tire of being out on the road, that odometer clicking, but the bike wants to keep moving. More riding tonight.

Last thought… why didn’t I get a bike sooner?
—–

COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Anonymous
DATE: 7/24/2005 01:08:21 PM
Ah yes, the reserve. My first vehicle, an MGTF had no gas guage, just a little blue light when there were two gallons left. I used to carry a yardstick to check the fuel.
—–