There has been some very serious tinkering going on in our
garage over the past couple of weeks. Apparently motorcycles, older ones like
my husband’s particularly, have a personality; Mike’s is a bit of a prick with
hypochondriac tendencies. That’s a nice
way of saying the damned thing doesn’t
make caring for it easy and decided not to start this cycling season. (Story
note: I’m going to use the phrase ‘the
damn thing’ repeatedly throughout this piece as that is actually the name I
have given Mike’s bike… mostly, except ‘damn’ has replaced a much ‘F’-ier 4
letter word—it’s a well-earned moniker)
Our goal is to have the
damn thing running like a top before Friday 13th so that Mike
can make his ride to Port Dover.
There is a chasm of uncertainty and repair that spans the
distance between ‘the damn thing
won’t run’ and ‘Dover’.
I offered to help, but I didn’t really know what I was doing
or in for. Trying, testing, cleaning,
replacing, repairing and rebuilding. There have been numerous trips to
dealerships, chain stores and motorcycle graveyards to collect parts, tools and
fluids. Hours have been spent pouring over repair manuals and grease-monkey
forums. I’ll be honest here and admit that I never actually picked up a tool.
My ‘help’ was mostly moral support with a side of reading and eyelash batting
encouragement. The air in the garage has
been thick with smoke, heady with fumes and on more than one occasion —blue.
Sometimes a change works, sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes
fixing one issue sheds a bright white light on another problem. While I’ve hit
the wall of ‘damn this’ more than a
few times in the process I’m growing a deep affection for the iron beast; in
comparison I am not fractionally as needy and temperamental—how can you not
love a thing that makes you look like
a dream to live with!
Slowly…hideously slowly, after painstaking hours of
fiddling, Dover has come into sight.
We cracked a cold one, man cave style, last night in
semi-celebration of our success in finally getting the engine running (if not
purring). I stared at the damn thing
and a wave of accomplishment washed over me. We did it—conquered the damn thing!
But the battle was a challenge. At first we stood around
with our hands on our hips starring at the lifeless machine and surmised the
many various possibilities why it wasn’t working. Next we tried a couple of
quick fixes and proclaimed our frustration as each failed. We got a little
indignant with not knowing why ‘the
damned thing’ wouldn’t run. Then we walked away for a day or two ignoring
the bike as though fixing it didn’t really matter. At some point however,
reality set in and the acknowledgement that our days to Dover were dwindling
took us back to the garage. It was time to do the hard work. We began digging,
investigating, examining the parts, the systems, the problems, the potential
failures. Little by little, the more we delved into the troubles and slowly
repaired each kink in the chain things improved. First a spark, then a crank,
then a choking, spitting, backfiring rumble followed by a stall, a return to
hard starts and then back again to good ignition, a high idle and a stall.
Eventually though, through determination we’ve made it to the miraculous stage
of ‘tweaking’! Hallelujah, raise the roof and pass the gravy! (or in this
instance degreasing hand cleaner)
Barring any further neurosis of the damn thing Mike will ride to Dover. This is a very good thing. Riding,
Mike always claims, is how he gets his brain back. Blacktop therapy. We all
need it—a way to find and feed our inner peace.
It seems to be the same with motorcycles as it is with
people
The trick to finding inner peace is getting the bike to run.
You have to have work through the problems, investigate the
source of emotional struggles, acknowledge and repair and be honest with your
own short comings, take ownership for your part and ignite a desire to fix it. Through the problem not around it lays the
path to achieving freedom and the goal. And yes sometimes it sucks,
sometimes it sets you back, sometimes it has you doing and acknowledging things
you wish you didn’t have to do or face. Sometimes you need help. But when you
finally get through the process, when everything runs and the problem is not
just behind you but repaired….—Man, life is a sweet ride!
Take a chance...see where the road takes you.
Love
M
