I wondered for a long time if I was going to manage to get in more miles on my bikes last year than on my car. Well, it’s January 1, 2009 and I have the answer: Not quite.
My total overall mileage was 9,810 miles. That splits almost equally between two wheels and four wheels, but four wheels ended up with a 132-mile edge. Car: 4,971. Bikes: 4,839.
How does that compare with what I set as goals a year ago? In that regard I’m looking really good. Here’s what I said: “For 2008 I’m going to shoot for 2,500 again on the Kawi, I’ll really push and try to also log 1,000 miles on the Honda, and I will try this time to keep the car to under 11,000.”
In fact, I put 2,265 miles on the Concours and 2,574 miles on the Honda. Clearly I was wildly successful keeping the car under 11,000 considering I only drove it 4,971 miles. Being out of work much of the year made that easy.
So, what about 2009? What goals am I setting?
Well, I’m working again, and this time the job is much closer to home, only 4 miles away. That means that even if I ride a bike much of the time it won’t come out to that many miles. My previous job was 23 miles away.
I’m going to set 5,000 as the low goal for the car, the idea with it being to keep the number down. For the Kawi I’ll shoot for 2,000, and then 1,500 for the CB750. I’ll definitely be taking the Kawi on the OFMC trip this year, so 2,000 should be easy. I’ll need to choose the Honda deliberately on numerous occasions to make 1,500 with it.
I know these aren’t big numbers but hey, I just don’t drive that much. Did you drive less than 10,000 miles last year? I don’t think many people do.
So, have a good year riding and, as always, keep the rubber side down.
Biker Quote for Today
If you ride like there’s no tomorrow, there won’t be.
First off, they say that in 2006 there were more than 71,000 motorcycles stolen in the U.S., with a value of more than $440 million. Ouch. I know one of those guys. My buddy Bill had his Fat Boy taken from the parking lot of a restaurant where he was eating.
You know about LoJack, right? They hide a radio transmitter in your vehicle and if it gets stolen the cops can often locate it quickly and get it back to you. And it’s not incidental that the guys who took it often end up getting picked up, too.
We all know people who are fanatics about their Harley. And most of them have very strong feelings about the company that makes their beloved machines.
Have you ever needed to haul your bike around but don’t have the space to keep a trailer? This may be just the thing you need.