I'm baaaack

Wow, a long time since I posted here, my 9 followers must be getting anxious.  So, since I last posted about trying cruiser-dom, I really like the Guzzi, and have added nearly 20,000 km to its odometer. The only thing I don't like about it is the buffeting.  Buffeting for those who haven't experienced it, is a type of vibrating wind blast common to large handlebar mounted windshields on motorcycles.  It occurs at speeds above 100 km ie highway speeds.  At first you don't really notice it, but after a few hours it wears you down.  I tried a larger windshield, no joy. I tried cutting some openings into the windshield to reduce the low pressure behind the windshield, a little better, but not much.  Changed helmets, which did not work until I changed to a very light weight three quarter jet style, which worked best of all the things I tried.  So that's why cruiser guys prefer beanie style helmets, who knew?  Not really an ideal solution though, I like the protection of a full face helmet.  I have not given up yet, there are some other things I will try.

Anyway that's not the big news.  I just did something that I never dreamed I would ever do, I bought a Vincent.  Not a Vincent V twin, the legendary beast that every red blooded biker lusts after, but its little brother, the 500 cc Comet.  The thing with Vincents is that they only made about 13,000 of em between 1934 and 1954, so they are comparatively rare, and they have a reputation that ensures they never sell cheap, at least not since about 1965. Since, there have always been more people that wanted a Vincent than there were Vincents for them to buy, so they continued to climb in value.   A very special Vincent just set the record for the most expensive motorcycle sold at auction, nearly a million US bucks. Ordinary Vincent V twins go for about the same as you would pay for a very nice upscale new car or truck with all the options.  A ready to ride Comet can be had for roughly the same amount as a Korean compact car with no options, that will be worth 500 bucks in 15 years or less.   For those who want to know more about Vincents a good place to start is the Wikipedia article, which pretty much sums it all it up, and saves me having to bore everyone with a history lesson.

The reason I never considered myself as the owner of an expensive classic motorcycle is mostly that I went through the better part of my life broke, able to keep my financial head out of water, but not much left over.  That changed since I retired, (go figger), and found myself with a smallish sum in a savings account that would impress nobody, but at my age I was unwilling to just blow it because someday it might come in handy.   Reviewing my bank statements, I happen to notice that my monthly bank fees come in at a dollar more than my monthly interest.  WTF!!!  A new definition of bank robbery.  So what to do, hand it over to financial managers, except that my pittance would not interest them much without them doing to me what my bank was already doing, or I could invest it myself, which is how I ended up with a Vincent Comet.
More on this to come.