But Motorcycle, thou are no thy-lane,
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best laid schemes o’ Motorcycle an’ Men,
Gang aft agley,
An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain,
For promis’d joy!

-Robert Burns ( minus the motorcycle bit, they weren’t around in the 1700’s)

My Bug Eyed Beauty

Truer words have yet to be spoken and over the past week I have learned that life is what happens while your busy making other plans. So lets start from the beginning, Sven gets a shiny new toy. Yes, as I’m sure you all read in an earlier post that Sven had taken the first triumphant step towards the BrenandSven future buy purchasing his oh so sexy black 2009 Daytona 675. Now to say I wasn’t smitten with green vision of envy would be to say I’m not human, and despite my overly rational mindset, I defied the ever true saying that patience is a virtue and pulled every string possible to get out there with the big boys on my own set of two wheeled mayhem. The day was Tuesday March 16th and I happened to have a rare break in my busy week to spend 7 long hours at a Triumph dealership going through the ringer for a sleek, raw, and very naked 2009 mat gray Street Triple R. It should be well stated that despite my spiked primal urge to engage in a pissing contest with my buddy Sven and get a new shiny toy too, this was not a rash decision and I had done a lot of research to be sure that this was the bike I wanted, and my finances would allow for it. On a side note, I did think it was interesting that in the bill of sales you must sign a waver stating that in the state of California, there is no cooling off period for purchasing such an expensive item. This is to say that if your wife is away for the weekend and you decide to reclaim your nuts by buying a two wheeled phalic extension, and she comes home and trumps your decision and repo’s your testes, you’re still stuck with the bike. So needless to say, think about this long and hard before signing that paper.

So, after extensive wheeling and dealing, a lot of research, and a new financial commitment for longer than I would like to think about, I came home with a beautiful new Street Triple R. And oh boy was it nice, hearing that unique whine of the three cylinders combined with the throaty sound of the aftermarket Triumph Off Road Pipes, feeling that rumble and power between my legs, getting thumbs up from awestruck boys as I rode by, and having that feeling like I had reached a pivotal moment in my life, left me well above cloud nine. Unfortunately, I live in California, so the clouds burn away quickly and my tenth cloud was fading fast. After the buzz and awestruck wore off, the reality set in, and it dawned on me what level of responsibility I had just undertaken. To begin with, this was my first bike and though I had my license, took the class, and had the right, cautious mindset, I was still a newbie and really needed to build up my confidence. So needless to say anxiety was high the first time I rode it. To remedy this issue I did something the Godfather recommended and assisted me with to help build up my confidence and get acquainted with this new machine; I hit the parking lots. This is a must for any new rider who wishes to ride for longer than a day and takes the act of motorcycling seriously. So for my first real excursion on my new gray stallion I spent a good two hours doing figure eights, emergency stops, gear changes, turns, twists, and everything else I went over in my motorcycle safety class nine months earlier, and to be honest it really helped me to get acquainted with my newly purchased buddy and build up my confidence to handle the road.

Happier than a kid in a candy store!

Now enter Sven. So jazzed with my new toy, ready to have a little bit of fun and live the Bren and Sven dream, I called up Mr. Sven and had him come out with my bike’s clothed twin, the Daytona 675. Like two leathery peas in a pod we were comparing specs and checking gear as we prepped for our first ride together. My gear is as follows

Helmet: Shoei RF-1000- $361

It's shiny, DOT and Snell Approved, and comfortable; all I need.

Jacket: Triumph HAWK #2 – $430

Gloves: Triumph Roadster Gloves- $50

Shoes: Triumph/ Alpinestar AS 4 Street Boots- $150

Looking Like a Leather Clad BAMF – Priceless

So now that the gear check is all well and done, it’s time for a ride. Being the more experienced rider ( by about a week), Sven lead the way as we unleashed our two wheel masterpieces on my sleepy town. Now as awesome as this sounds, it wasn’t as smooth sailing as originally planned. Being two new riders, there was fair amount of miscommunication and misdirection, but after a bit of time we developed a good rhythm and really started to enjoy the crisp California spring air as we cruised through some nice twisty suburban streets.  After a good half hour ride we finally arrived at my house, said our farewells, and I retired for the night thoroughly exhausted from the days happenings and looking forward to a night filled with dreams of my motorcycling future, not a notion of the extent to which these dreams would be shattered a mere  24 hours later.

Live the Journey- Bren