I have begun my venture today. I am passionate about bikes (motorcycles), and that is why I have decided to keep a blog as a 'journal' of my experiences. I love all motorcycles. The way I feel about it is, there are certain motorcycles for certain purposes. Functionality always outweighs cosmetics. Well, I hope to be posting at least once a day. One of the reasons for my having time to do this is I have a broken foot right now from my 1986 Kawasaki Ninja 600 falling on me while I was working on it. My foot was broken on June 11, 2006. It was the day after the Redwood Run we did on Saturday the 10th. I had ridden my 1983 Harley-Davidson XLX-1000 Sportster to the Leggett exit, 12 miles south of the festivities at the Redwood Run (Piercy, CA). I spent the rest of the day taking my primary cover off twice to find a leak that was noticed by some of my fellow "Old Coots on Scoots"(http://www.oldcootsonscoots16.com) upon arrival. After trying several methods to help me get right back on the road, the rest of the Old Coots went ahead while I stayed to do repairs. In fact, I had to borrow 2 wrenches to get things done (thanks guys!). My girlfriend was on her own bike, so she stayed behind with me (thanks Babe!). We were very lucky to have broken down there, because the locals were phenominal. We were at the only little gas station for miles, and there was a privately owned, closed down resort next door. There was also a general store on the other side of that. They were all very helpful. Barbara (my gf) and I actually had a fine day for 2 people who were kind of stranded far from home. As we wrenched in the parking spot, we got to know the people who owned the resort, and who ran the gas station nextdoor. Between the 3 parties, we were able to try several fixes that day without driving anywhere. We finally decided to head straight home just in time to arrive there at dark. We only stopped to refill my primary case twice. The bike made it home just fine. Since I arrived home that night, I put it up on the lift and I haven't touched it since. That is only due to my injury the next day. After a day of wrenching, when I had spend tons of time and cash over the 3 weeks leading up to that weekend, I wanted to ride. Since the Harley would take work to ride comfortably, I decided to take one of my sportbikes. I did a safety inspection and noticed a loose kickstand, so I went to tighten it up. I squatted down on my toes next to the bike, and held it upright with my left hand, while tightening up the bolts with my right hand. When I set the bike back down on the kickstand, as soon as all the weight was applied, it snapped off and landed in my lap. Again, I was squatted on my toes, so they were instantly pushed up to my upper shin. I went the the ER that day, and spend the second half of the day there waiting for an X-Ray, only for them to tell me it's not broken. I took the next week off of work in serious pain, and I rode my bike a few times during that time because I was told that it wasn't broken. A week later I was able to see the only available podiatrist in my area. He was recommended highly. He had his own X-Ray machine in his office. As soon as he saw me and asked a few questions, he seemed to know what was wrong, but he had to confirm his suspicions. After seeing the X-Ray, he found he was right. My foot was broken in several places, and I have what's called a "Lis-Francs" injury. I had surgery 4 weeks ago, and I have pins in my foot now. I will have a second surgery this month to remove the pins, and then a cast for a few more weeks before I start physical therapy to walk on my own two feet again. I am thankful for my job. I work for a great organization that covered all of the benefits so far, and I still have a job to go back to when this is all over. Phewww!....That was a close one, because 2 months earlier, I had not had medical insurance since 1999. I was self-employed all of those years, and couldn't afford it. Okay, enough for today. I hope you've enjoyed reading about my recent triumphs and misfortunes. Keep checking back.