A Testimony

Dear Readers: Sorry we’re a day late this week. Rain storms took out our computer phone line, and publication had to wait.

Here’s a perspective on abortion, a true story, related a few weeks ago by a good friend of ours. After that, motorcycling news!

Witnessing

“Yesterday, I had my first opportunity to tell a friend how wrong it would be to have an abortion.

“I told her I myself had once supported abortion. But once I spoke with women who had experienced abortion, I realized how much it messes the mother up.

“My friend got trashed one night and woke up in a man's bed. She's in her 30's and not on birth control. She had actually believed the man when he said if he pulled out early and ejaculated outside of her she wouldn't get pregnant.

“My sister, the nurse, always laughs at that one.

“My friend’s cycle was more than two weeks late when she told me the story. She strongly believed it would be best to abort the baby if there was one. I warned her that God made original man a certain way. If we go against God’s original man, we have chaos in our lives.

“God did not make original man to go against the natural order. Having an abortion goes against the natural order and creates chaos for the mother. It is a difficult thing to overcome.

“Plus, allowed to live, the child could be very important in this life, an individual important to the world. I told her if she did have an abortion she would be the murderer of God's child.

“Apparently, I scared her so badly she was actually considering the idea of carrying the baby to term. As luck would have it, the home pregnancy test came out negative.

“We'll see if the test was wrong . . . for all I know she could have used my dog's urine instead of her own so that I wouldn't know the truth!”

Where the bugs are

Over 20 years, a pattern emerged.

As part of the service our leather garment establishment provides, I frequently engage in the task of cleaning the dead bugs from clothing worn by bikers.

On chaps in particular, the great majority of bug remains will always be on the right leg. I’ve cleaned countless pairs of chaps, so I should know.

When you consider this phenomenon, the logic will be obvious. The grasshoppers and mosquitoes reside in the borrow pits and weedy shoulders of highways. When they fly up, they come from the “right” side of the road, and they encounter the “right” side of the biker’s clothing.

A friend of mine has employment detailing road tractors – over-the-road trucks. He confirms my observation about bugs coming from the right.

“When I polish the pits out of the plastic headlight covers on a big rig, 90 percent of the damage is on the right. That’s because where the bugs are – on the right.”

Right-turn jitters

Probably because Infantile Paralysis impaired my right leg, I’ve always had more trouble turning a motorcycle to the right than to the left.

Dumb emotional reaction, I know. But it was true even when I was riding bicycles as a child.

Realistically, it doesn’t matter which side the weaker leg is on, the bike or motorcycle doesn’t care.

Shouldn’t matter, left or right. And in fact, for a biker, left turns are far more hazardous, a proven fact. You’re turning in to traffic, not away from it.

Left turns by other drivers are deadly too. But if you’ve ever ridden a motorcycle, you know that.

A virgin ride

Last weekend, Laura and I started up our motorcycles and rode them a few miles – for the first time in many months.

We went to the home of our friends for dessert. We waited through a rainstorm. Then we rode home and put the machines away again.

But it was a start.

In the old days, we would ride thousands and thousands of miles during the season. That’s what we so enjoyed about our brief residence in California; we could and did ride every day – the season was all year long.

But things changed in our lives, and motorcycles became less important for a while.

After our brief Sunday cruise, we both realized that we’ve seriously missed riding. “I’m ready for a ride to San Luis,” Laura said.

Well, emotionally ready. We’ll have to practice and pray some. Watch this space. Find out if we can actually lift ourselves out of the doldrums and take a three-day cruise somewhere.

A measure of character

Watch bikers when you have a chance. You’ll learn fun facts about the human condition.

You’ll see “macho man” on his Harley bravely leading the “old lady” down the road on her Honda Rebel.

Dumb. Unsafe. The underpowered Honda puts the woman at a huge disadvantage. Emotionally, though she may deny it, she will always feel as though she “can’t keep up.”

She has a speedometer. She probably has quicker reactions and better vision than her man. She’s got a natural and healthy fear of crashing; he’s nonchalant. He should exercise good judgment and put her in front. He won’t have any trouble keeping up.

Or, she should get her own Harley. I mean really, what’s with that? He gets the full-size Heritage Softail and she gets a tiny Honda? Is she Chopped Liver Old Lady?

A smaller bike isn’t necessarily “easier.” Any Harley is easier and thus safer to ride than any Honda. Sorry, but it’s just true.

Also, you see women on Sportsters because they’re perceived to be “easier.” Sportsters aren’t “women’s bikes,” they’re built for a different purpose than other Harleys.

Sportster seats are usually taller than the bigger bikes, too, making them clumsier at idle or slow speed. Not good for lady-beginners, especially the short-legged ones.

Adequate power is essential in motorcycling. A man puts his wife at a huge safety risk if he puts her on the road on a machine with wimpy performance. “Go power” is every bit as important as “stop power.”

Sometimes a good husband “leads” best by coming along behind. Got that, Macho Man?

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Word of the week: Epicureanism. Epicurus was a Greek philosopher who lived until the year 270 B.C. He was founder of the Epicurean school, which held that the goal of man should be a life of pleasure regulated by morality, temperance, serenity, and cultural development.

Pleasure. Hmm. An epicure is a person who has a highly refined taste for fine foods and liquors and takes great pleasure in indulging that taste.

An epicurean, hence, is a person fond of luxury and sensuous pleasure. Anybody you know?

Next week’s word: Fusionism.

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