Before I took the Rider’s Safety Course back in March, one of the guys Duck works with was asking me a lot of questions — well, asking us a lot of questions about motorcycles. Tim W. (it’s important to distinguish because there are only 3 Tims who work in Duck’s department — not to mention the rest of the company) has caught the Motorcycle Bug!
I tried to get him to go to my class with me, but alas, he chickened out saying something about it being too cold in March. So now he’s taking the class in a few weeks in the blasted heat of summer. Duck, Tim W. and I went out to lunch the other day to look at motorcycles. Honestly I heard horror stories of Tim W.’s driving in a 4-wheel vehicle, so I was a little hesitant to get in the car with him. He was on his best behavior though, and drove quite sanely for me 
Tim W. is quite a character — one you never strain for conversation with. He’s really entertaining and funny. He’s also got a great sense of humor and doesn’t mind taking a few jokes either — well, it wasn’t exactly a joke. He told someone nearby he had joined the Air Force in 1977. I said, “Wow man! You joined the Air Force when I was 4 years old!” His school of thought on driving (a 4-wheel vehicle) is 90% of accidents can be avoided with acceleration. I never did get to find out what the 10% situations were — maybe next lunch.
When we went looking at bikes, he pointed out one that he liked the look of, but I quickly advised him it was a “sissy bike.” Really it was too small for him, but he thought it was funny that I called it a sissy bike. He bestowed upon me by the end of lunch, the privilege of approving his bike purchase when the time comes. He can’t be seen riding around town on a sissy bike
He’s been a little anxious to get on a bike (should have come with me in March!) so he came over to the house Sunday. Duck took him to a big parking lot — like he did me, and let Tim W. ride my Sportster. {No, I didn’t add Tim W.’s miles to my miles ridden — although I did note the odometer change.} He did very well on it, so Duck let him take it on the road. My bike is too small for him too, but at least it let him know what *not* to get. Did you know that you can only rent Harleys? No other dealership (at least around here) will rent out their different models of bikes, and you can’t really take them for a test drive like you can a car. This makes it difficult to figure out what bike is for you unless you have some really great buddies who already ride.
Duck and Tim W. joked about going on rides together like the movie “Wild Hogs,” but there’s just one catch — I’d be going with them! And blogging about it too 
Now to work on Mrs. Tim W.!
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