The ad on Craigslist caught my eye. "Used tires for sale. Sides only worn, plenty of tread left in center. $20 each." Now I had heard the urban legend about guys riding track days and wearing out the sides first, but here was someone willing to dispense with the myth, and also make money while doing it. Maybe a perfect swap to a Harley, whose riders don't lean and would never miss the missing side tread, but the tire size would negate even the thriftiest, ie. cheap rider to try. And I realized how far tires really had come in the last 35 years, when I had my first hi-performance tire experience.
I have been riding cafe racers since 1974, when BMW came out with their R90S. With a small fairing, it was the hot set-up, but the key were the low bars. Not drag bars, but low rise bars. Radical then, but compared to the clip ons today, you still felt like you were sitting up straight-like going from a Daytona to a Street Triple. And tires were standard for the era, too. You replaced the Continentals with Continentals, it only made sense to keep the bike all German. Just like Goodyears on Harleys, Bridgestones on Hondas, and Dunlops on English bikes. Rib tires up front for steering, and a larger tire in the rear. Even the sizes were standardized, and no one thought of changing rubber. Until we talked to a guy on a Norton, who had Dunlop K-81 tires, with tread on both front and rear the same-like on race bikes, he said. Not realizing racers ran slicks. So it was off to the Norton store, which really was Westfield Lawn Mower, with motorcycles in the back. Not even a storefront, but an old house with high steps, the living room turned into a repair shop. And after paying up front, for the special order size-Nortons ran a slightly different size, and waiting two weeks for the tyre-note spelling, to arrive from England, I was excited. Sure I had paid a premium price, $21, but knew it would be worth it when I entered the first corner and left everyone in the dust, or whatever happens on asphalt. Now with my K-81's front and rear, I would rule. And just the bragging rights, made for infamy. No one had done this before on a BMW, and it seemed the world was watching. Guys looking at the R90S would ohh and aah, and then really be impressed by the low bars. Until they saw the tyres, and then would admit they had never seen them before on a BMW. And yes, they did handle better, even if they didn't I would have never admitted it, but never elevated me to superbike status. But it did create an E ticket status, that few knew about. At 111 mph, the front end shook. Violently, then went away at 113. Smooth before, and smooth after. But for the few seconds in between, fear and lots of it would set in. And once you got used to it, would be worth it, going up you knew you would encounter it, and coming down would dread it. But you and your K-81's would rule. And only the few who had seen you violently shake doing it would know. Never knew why, maybe the marriage of WWII enemies' products still harbored hostilities, or may be it was just the tire design. Whatever the reason, when I replaced the tire with a rib style, for the going price of $17, without the two week wait, it never did it again. Do you think maybe the engineers at BMW knew they were doing?
Designed for a purpose, just like the tires/tyres. And just like our bodies. God designed us for a purpose, creating us in His own image. Not to look like Him, that would not explain the red, yellow, black, and white in the song, but in His image. A relationship with Him, that no other living being can attest to. Being a triune God-Father, Son, and Holy spirit, He has also made us a triune being-body, soul, and spirit. In His image, like none other, we have the ability to choose to love Him-unlike any other created being. In His image, God shows us that true love demands a choice, and allows us to make it. You would think that it would be easy to choose God, yet so many choose the evil, sinful ways of man. Concentrating on the right now, forgoing the eternal with God. Jesus reminds us that the things seen are temporal, but the things not seen are eternal. Since no one has ever seen God, although Moses glimpsed Him from behind, any God you think you have seen is not God-but a symbol of anti-Christ, or instead of God. And just like not running the right tires made a difference, following anybody but the real God, is sin, and won't work. They may be close, but only God has the power of your eternal destiny. And like so many in the Old Testament found, their gods couldn't laugh, smile, or have any kind of relationship with man, and even when the statue fell, couldn't pick itself up.
Who do you worship? Do you trust Jesus to be the only way to the father, who gives us the Holy Spirit to guide us until His son returns? Does your uniqueness in God burden you or set you free? Does your soul yearn for the truth? Is something missing without Jesus in your life? Who picks you up when you fall?
If so, you can be born again. Realize who you are in Christ, by saying a simple prayer. And become like the image of God. You see you are born into sin, and only a savior can reunite you with the creator. Don't let sin stand in the way, let Jesus do what you never could. Be reunited with God, become a spitting image of the Christ of the Bible, and show love-the only true characteristic that no one can counterfeit. For God is love, anything else is just an emotion. Tyres didn't make the bike, it was the rider. Who is control of you ride today? John Lennon wrote Imagine, you don't have to. He made the wrong choice, and now knows there is a hell. Jesus is waiting to show you the Father right now. And no two week wait or higher prices. Check out of religion and into Jesus today.
In His image. Not just an advertising slogan, the truth. And only one can promise the truth-the only one who is the truth. Choose Him now and use all of the life He promises-abundant and full. And doesn't wear out like the tires I wear out today. And even though He is not on Craiglist, no one can offer a deal like He does.
Just looking at some kids you can tell who their father is? Who do we see when we look at you?
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com