Out with the Old, in with the not so Old….

It was one of those days…you know, the sort of day that you are on the fence about making that trip. In this case, an outdoor event that was over 50 miles away. The little devil that was sat on my shoulder was trying to convince me that it will be worth making the effort. Afterall, it was a free Saturday in October (my wife was working), the weather was sunny, a little chilly, with zero chance of rain. In all honesty, I don’t even know why I was hesitant, as it was a perfect day for a ride, and I knew the temperature would gradually climb throughout the day. The event was a Motorcycle Swap Meet at Bob’s Motorcycles, a BMW dealership in the adjacent state of Maryland. The event had been postponed due to inclement weather the week before but would go ahead today. Oddly, I had a conflict the week before, so I would not have been able to make it had it gone ahead as planned. Anyway, the little devil convinced me, and before I knew it, I was on my way to Bob’s! On arrival, the swap meet was in full swing and there was the usual stuff on display. Some good, some not so good, and some stuff that…well, perhaps should have been left in the dumpster. However, as the saying goes; ‘one man’s trash, is another man’s treasure’. In the middle of the various stalls was a line of private motorcycles for sale. One of which really grabbed my attention as it was a spitting image of my treasured 2004 BMW R1200 GS back in New Zealand. I was the second owner of my New Zealand bike when I bought it in 2011. I then sold the bike in 2016 to a friend because it was prohibitively expensive to import it into the USA. Then in 2022 my friend decided to give up motorcycling, so I went back to New Zealand and bought it a second time. It was the best bike I had owned,and is featured on the cover of my first book, 'one down, four up' and here I was looking at its biological twin. A 2005 version in the same colour and configuration. The owner, Michael, noticing my keen interest, came over and told me that he had recently decided to sell it, and was using the Swap Meet to see what interest the bike would attract. Whilst learning more about the bike from Michael, several people took it upon themselves to butt into our conversation and tell me how well Michael had cared for this bike over the years, and this was the best example I would find anywhere. They were right! A little more conversation and I knew exactly what was going to happen. I decided to go for a walk to discuss the matter with my shoulder devil. It was a quick walk, we were aligned. Ten minutes and a handshake later, the bike was mine.

Next day was the first Sunday of the month, so it was Bikes and Breakfast at Poolesville. It was here that I caught up with Randy, a stalwart at Bikes and Breakfast. Randy has a knack for digging out barn finds and getting them running. Randy is also a small bike enthusiast and just a few weeks previously, he had ridden my little 1975 Suzuki GT185 stroker and loved it. I shared with Randy that I had just purchased bike number eight but had no room at home so I would have to put a bike in storage or sell one. The one I would sell or put in storage would be the Suzuki GT185. Quick as a flash, Randy said ‘I’ll buy it". And that was that! Deal done. What a great weekend!

Moral of the story; always listen to that little devil that sits on your shoulder!