Tammy (my wife of 30 years) has spent a considerable amount of time riding on the back of my old Harleys and even more time watching me as I rode away alone. She's never had any desire to pilot her on ride. Her one try took place some 25 years ago when I talked her into climbing onboard my trusty old TL125 for a quick spin around the field in front of our house. She started out riding directly toward the one corner where something other than wide-open space prevailed and ran smack into a stack of concrete blocks. The resulting pile-up was enough to convince her that riding on her own was not in the cards. She has maintained this stance through the course of years and my infrequent attempts to change her mind have proven unsuccessful. In the last couple of years, she's made the trip with the boy and me as we traveled to trials events here and there and seems to enjoy it. She's taken to teasing him that now that he's gone off to school, she was going to fill the gap by learning to ride his Sherco. Well, I'm thinking that if this were ever to happen, the result would likely be hard on her, the motorcycle, and any innocent, by-standing concrete blocks that happen to be in the vicinity. Nope, she needs to start smaller and with that in mind, I took a chance on this 1981 Honda Passport. No clutch, electric start, and a top speed of 45mph. Today is her birthday and after the cake was cut, I led her to the garage where her new steed awaited. She loves it and swears she'll ride it, just as soon as it warms up some. I sure hope that doesn't translate into "when hell freezes over". Ain't they a peach!
