Geezer dreams

Posted on by Felipe Zapata

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OVER THE PAST month I’ve been embracing some very thrilling ideas.

Dreams that have reached the very edge of realization though the reality has yet to happen and likely will not.

We all have dreams, but what sets these dreams of mine apart is that they were given very serious consideration. One or both might still happen, but likely not.

Without further ado, here they are:

(1) Buy a motorcycle. I’m a biker from way back and even though I sold my last ride around 1990, the siren call remains. Over the past month, research has narrowed my future ride — if the dream were to get off the ground — down to this:

The 2016 Suzuki Boulevard C50, an 800-cc, cruiser-style machine. I think I would look very fine astride it.

Much of motorcycling is about style, of course, and I’ve even investigated that. Were I to buy the bike, I would also order appropriate accoutrements from this place.

They’ve told me they ship to Mexico. I told you that I was looking into this very seriously.

I already have a biker babe here in the house, the most important accoutrement of all.

Given the spectacular exchange rate these days, the motorcycle would cost about $8,000. The Harley Sportster I purchased in 1977 cost $5,000. That the comparable Suzuki is just $3,000 more almost 40 years later is surprising.

(2.) Buy a new car. This is slightly more likely to happen, but just slightly. My current ride is a 2009 Honda CR-V, which I purchased new. I’ve never liked it.

It’s about eight years old now, and has never given me a lick of real trouble. It’s a great car. Its sole defects are some design lunacies that only the driver would notice.

Of course, that is always me.

No matter. If I buy a new car, I’ve narrowed it down to the 2016 Chevrolet Trax.* It would be the fourth new car I’ve purchased since moving to Mexico, if you don’t count the 2014 Nissan March we bought for my child bride 18 months ago.

With the current resale value of the Honda factored in, the Chevrolet would set me back about $8,000, just like the motorcycle. How about that? I have $8,000.

I don’t need a new car, and I probably would perish on the bike, so neither of these dreams is likely to happen.

But you never know.

Magic happens in Mexico.

* * * *

* The two cars previous to the Honda were Chevrolets, a Pop (Geo Metro clone) and a Meriva, also available as a German Opel. I loved them both.

39 thoughts on “Geezer dreams”

    2. PS. An important element is the difference between road conditions, especially how people drive, here and in Alabama and Bob’s frozen Canada. As for spring chickens, yes, you are one, comparatively speaking. Bob sure isn’t.

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      1. Mr. Felipe, your cruelness is duly noted. However let me speak to the gentleman Mr. Clifton. When riding one’s moto, you experience what the world is all about, whereas in a caged mobile, one tends to pass life’s pleasures at warp speed. Samantha (my Mexi-American Partner ) are on a tour of British Columbia. The Rogers Pass is on our agenda today, all mountains and amazing scenery. In a car you would blast past the mountain views, the rivers, the forests. We will stop, and admire (she takes pictures) of it all. For me, the world stops out here on my growley Harley. I will ride, I imagine, till I am in my 80s, not quite as quickly as in years past, Time passes much too fast as it is. Get the bike Señor Felipe, see the world from a different seat. Saludos, Mr. Clifton.

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        1. Bob: Cruel?! Pointing out that neither you nor I are spring chickens is not cruel. It is lamentable fact.

          Sounds like you’re having a wonderful trip. Saludos to Samantha too.

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  2. Follow your dreams and buy the bike, You’ll never regret it.

    If you think you are too old to buy a bike you are too old to buy a bike.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Señor Cotton: You would cut a dashing figure there on the beach atop that thing. Go for it! I had a Norton Interstate in the late 1970s. Loved it.

      This new model you mention, above, is even better. Now I want that.

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    2. Here’s a dead ringer for my old Norton.

      For a few months I owned the Norton and the Harley at the same time.

      Google indicates there’s not one Norton dealership in Mexico. Triumph, yes.

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  4. So get the bike. Have a custom helmet made in red, white and green with a real cool airbrushed aguila y serpiente and a figurine of the Virgen de Guadalupe hung on the back of the sissy bar. You’d be rockin’ Michoacán!

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  5. From a geezer who is further down the trail than you, I have found that thinking about doing dream stuff is more fun than actually doing it.

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  6. I did exactly the same thing three years ago. Had the bike picked out and all the financial issues “justified.” You and I are the same age. I was living alone on a lake in N. Georgia and dreamed about riding the mountain roads. The dealership had a rental program, so I rented a bike for a week and took off. Was thrilling for the first day. The power, sound, wind, etc., were awesome.

    The second day I took off for “the tail of the dragon” and spent the night in a motel. Next morning (and for weeks after) I was so sore I could hardly mount the steed. But I had no choice but to ride it home. The experience showed me that everything had changed. My age had made me more cautious and as a result I became acutely aware of all the crazies in 4-wheelers out there who never seem to see me. My reflexes were/are not nearly the same, etc., and riding was not carefree as when I was younger. Anyway, after a few days the desire to buy a bike faded away, and the memories of the old bike riding days were tempered by the recent rental ride experience. I did the rental thing for the next two years and that has satisfied me. I am happy I bought the new car instead.

    Your mileage may vary.

    Dan

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    2. Wow, you nailed it Dan. I have often thought of getting another Triumph, but I know I would hurt myself because of the aging reflexes as you say, not to mention that drivers in Mexico just don’t look out for motorcycles, while passing on curves, etc. I have a desire not to spend any time in hospitals.

      But it is a nice dream.

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  8. There are always a few naysayers who try to cast gloom and go potty on your dreams.

    You live in a perfect location to have a bike. You don’t need to go on long road trips to enjoy mountain trails. Think of all the new vistas you’ll find for your photography.

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    1. Andrés: Generally, I don’t think Mexico is nearly as good a location for motorcycling as is the United States. Mexicans drive very badly and dangerously for them and everybody else. There is no getting around that fact.

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      1. There must be at least 25,000 motorcycles in the city where I live and somehow motorcycle drivers seem to survive quite well. It is, however, more dangerous to be a pedestrian. It is not easy to balance your bike with 4 or 5 family members on board at the same time.

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  11. Hell, buy the bike, my friend. Even if you end up as road kill, it’s a hellofa better way to go than most alternatives! Buy the bike!

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    1. Angeline: I never mentioned to her that I was seriously thinking for about a week of getting a motorcycle, so she’s in the dark on that. She favors getting the car.

      However, I’ve decided against doing either. Good sense has prevailed. I’m having too much fun to risk my life on the bike, and there is really no reason to buy the car. The Honda works just fine.

      So, life continues as before as far as wheels are concerned.

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  14. Oh, darn….I just read through the comments. And while I wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to you, the fact is that you live in an area with a TON of great roads for motorcycling. And at your age, you don’t need to be tearing around blind corners at top speed. So you could likely avoid all the crazy drivers.

    Here in Mexico City, I keep thinking a moto would be a great way to get around. I could zip through stopped traffic (and there’s plenty of that) and easily find parking. The only problem is the downpours. But I can do what I’m doing now about them: just stay home.

    Think about it some more, amigo. The time is right to do a few more crazy things.

    Saludos,

    Kim G
    CDMX, México
    Where we’d love to have the motorcycle that’s sitting unused in Boston.

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    1. Kim: I think a motorcycle in Mexico City is the worst of all possible ideas. Mexicans generally ignore good sense, traffic laws and signs nationwide, but in Mexico City it’s far, far worse. Running red lights, of course, is very common.

      And what’s up with this “and at your age” business, you impudent whippersnapper?

      No, I’ve decided against getting a bike. And I’m sticking with the Honda too. I had honed in completely on the Chevrolet Trax, but I went by the dealership, and they will take the Honda as a trade-in, but they won’t give me as much for it as I would like. And then I learned that only the priciest of the three Trax models has side airbags. Gotta have side airbags, and that model is a bit more than I want to dish out.

      So, all will remain the same. Life chugs on.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. I know you’ve had issues with it, but it seems to me that the “Hellacious Honda” is a fine vehicle. You won’t go much wrong keeping it.

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