Two weekends two bikes

The past two weekends have been given over to motorcycle shopping with the husband. After researching bikes that would meet his preferences, he went to the local Triumph dealer last weekend, knowing that he would have to go out of town to look at the BMW model that interested him. He read the rider forums, read the company websites, read the reviews, and looked over specifications and weighed options until he was fully prepared with questions. I've seen him shop before; he is an artist.

He spent the week talking to two other dealers and set up a test ride for the top three bike candidates today. Sitting on a bike in the showroom can only give so much information. All of my own bikes have been purchased with the same rigorous research but no test ride, because I was a new rider at the time and back then you just didn't get a test ride. Things have changed. I knew the test rides would be revealing, but it wasn't until he talked to his riding buddy that the choices became clear to him.

We have both been dedicated Buell riders for years, but Buells for the common man are no more, and so my husband is moving on. I did not realize that I would have feelings about this transition... how much we had committed to the company until I realized, at the end of today's investigations, that this really would be goodbye to my husband's big Buell. I will still have my little Lightning for a while, until I see that I am getting close to the day the HD dealer says... sorry, we can't work on your Buell any more. I certainly can't work on it myself. What an oddity Buells are... the only American made sport bike, tinkered by a German designer from Sportster engines, small and light (until the Ulysses, of course), nimble, innovative.

The ultimate choice was a sleeper, a bike he had not even considered until last weekend when he saw it at the local Triumph dealer. So it was down to two bikes, the Triumph Tiger 800 and the Yamaha FJR, and he rode the Yamaha last. While the Tiger was fun and comfortable, the FJR was hard to argue against for a man with a 90 mile commute and a thirst for a road trip.