Short Ride on a Fast Machine

Its funny... how nothing really clears the mind of a man like combustion. Oh... it comes in various forms of course... it can be the tightly controlled explosion in the chamber of a well used weapon. Trigger breaks... hammer falls... pin strikes pimer... primer explodes igniting 40 grains of powder that burns at just the right rate...

or maybe its the roaring wood fire... of course its not actually the wood burning... its the gasses within the wood that burn... once the stove is good and hot this is obvious... as dozens of torches shoot from the cracks of what appear to be burning logs.

And there is still one other type....

It's been a while. The pre flight check reveals nothing unexpected. My ride is ready. Drop to a knee for the traditional prayer... mount up... kickstand... clutch.... choke... key....

Let her roll back... the rpms creep up now.... 3000.... 3500... ease the clutch in... idle drops to a stable 1000 rpms... excellent. Down the drive and into the street... she feels heavy... she always has at these low speeds. She wasn't designed for this. Down to the stop sign... the two line state highway stretches off before me... and joys await on the other side of town.

A right turn... and I throttle up... a short twist of the wrist... not to long... maybe a little longer... 80 gives way to 90.... and I back it back down... its not time for that game. Yet.

Anticipation is relived by timely comedy... as the expected herd of Harleys and Wanna-be's wobble through town... fat women and old men playing dressup... attempting to look tough in assless leather pants. They are indeed dangerous though... they could drop one of those dinosaurs right in front of you... at any time... for any reason. You're better off passing them.

I did.

Through town... down a hill... there's the stoplight... up ahead... the road signs read like Heaven itself. Twisties... Green means go.

A twist of the wrist... hold it... The front wheel's getting light... force is applied to my chest... beneath me... 998 cc's of Honda's most proven engineering comes to life as the tach reaches 7,000 rpm. Lean to the left... then right... the first 30 mph S curve just went by at 75... before me lays a snake of a road... above me is sun and blue sky.

Its 74 degrees... its November in Tennessee...

All is right with the world.