In the beginning...

there was a desire for a large V-Twin.

I began riding motorcycles in my teens, licensed for bike (Class M here in Ontario Canada) years before I began driving cars. Took to a bike immediately. Almost immediately. There was the "finding first" issue. I think maybe one trip over the front handlebars, I would need my friend Sean to confirm. Aside from my introduction to using a clutch I was pretty adept at riding. The strangest things came naturally to me. Nobody had to teach me counter-steering, or to speed up to get out of danger. My first bike was a CX500  Honda. The previous owner had outfitted it with a "Windjammer" frame mounted fairing and saddlebags. The first person I let drive it other than myself dropped it and "PRESTO" no more saddlebags. Imagine the bike below in deep red and that looked a lot like it

When I was 17, I really wanted to take fencing lessons, the instructor had set up shop 40 minutes away - not far from where my father went to work. There was no way I was going to get him to run me out after dinner having just done the trip already - and then pick me up again. I convinced my grandmother to bankroll a bike. When I found the CX 500, the guy I gave the cheque to handed me the keys for the saddlebags attached to a medallion featuring a guy with an foil/epee/saber - I asked what was the medal and he told me that I had just bought the fencing instructor's motorcycle... he had moved to California. FML.

My second bike was a Honda CB900, imagine the bike below as all black and smelling a bit like spilled fuel (carb problem I never got sorted). I loved that beast, slow, heavy, noisy, hard to handle.

It had a Hi/Lo range shifter, making it a de facto 10 speed bike. Downshift a gear and a half and the sound was so horrifying, the traffic would part like the Red Sea.

That was all around 30 years ago, and I got the bug again. HARD. Started looking at Triumph models, then Japanese cruisers and touring bikes. Somehow I stumbled across a Harley Davidson Softail Slim. Love at first sight. I am told that it looks like this:

I was told I might pick it up last Saturday - but, alas, it wasn't to be. For now, this is what my new bike looks like:

I have the jacket, boots, and helmet... just no bike. ETA is two days from now. I already have my route home planned (no highway miles to assist in proper engine & brake wear in). I. am. chomping. at. the. bit.

Even with the wait, at least one of my accessories will still be a few weeks away. This bag:

...but my satchel converts to a backpack so I have enough storage for now. I have no plans of long range touring & from the sounds of the reviews... this isn't the bike to do that on. There are many more comfortable models, this is for wow factor. Low, Dark, Rumbly, & all stripped down (mind you I did get a windshield for longer rides).

So much for my whining. Soon I will not have to watch you tube videos to hear what the 103B (HO) engine sounds like. Wish me luck.