Watching a Mecum Motorcycle Auction on TV last night, I was amazed at all
the gray hair in the crowd. Guys like me or older, who have the memories of the
bikes being auctioned off from when they were new. Old guys on walkers who
remember the first 1957 Sportster. Criticizing the right hand shift. Some who
a few years later would have sold all hey had or didn’t have for the new
Bonneville in 1959. Some a few years younger, who couldn’t afford the big bikes
of Harley, Triumph, BSA, Norton, and others, who bought Japanese, smaller in
size, weird in appearance, but not in performance. Then in 1968, BSA and
Triumph Triples, who wouldn’t have hung out at the local shop just wanting to
get a peek, or sit on one. Only to be upstaged a year later by Honda’s 750, and
that’s where I came in. The first bike I lusted for other than the dirt bikes I
played on, was the Mach III Kawasaki, 500cc of blue smoke, two stroke
craziness. Maybe the first bikes I could truly remember seeing in a showroom
because I was there. All the others existed before I rode, and those who rode
and remember them are fading like their hairlines. When did it first happen to
you, what was that first bike you remember seeing and having to have? The one
just out of your fiscal reach, what would you pay for it today? For just one
last ride back to when it all first happened.....
As I hang out in shops today I am the old guy, my memories go back way
before many of them were born. They question how we ever kick started a 750cc
bike, why would we ride a two stroke and mess with mixing gas and oil? A tune
up every 6000 miles? Twin rear shocks? Tubeless tires? Only spoked rims? And
as the stories get passed down, they wonder how we did it, and how we are still
around today to tell about it. Mention TT pipes to today’s Triumph rider and
get a “huh?” Choppers were all Triumphs 50 years ago, and all shifted on the
right side. Lello had an old Kawasaki with a rotary transmission, about 100cc
of fear, as it shifted N-1-2-3-4-N. Then back to first again! Unbelievable, I
rode one. Dunstall Nortons and Hondas, I put Dunstall Low Decibel pipes on my
R90S, what a sound! Sissy bars, psychadelic helmets, or no helmet at all.
Windjammer fairings, Krauser bags for my BMW, bungee cords and back packs, all
signs of the time when I first started riding. Things can remember and relate
to because I was there. Anything before that was everlasting, as in before me.
I depend on those who rode before to keep it real, and those younger depend on
my age to keep it real. Sometimes a far distant reality than they care to
relate to.
So how far back is everlasting? For us it means time, but for God it means
forever, as in an infinity of yesterdays, for no matter how far back we go, God
was there before us. Before the beginning, when he created the heaven and earth
out of nothing, he was everlasting. He has seen it all because he as been there
for it. With an everlasting love for us. Before being formed in the womb, he
loved us. While we were yet sinners, Jesus died for us. His memories and love
for us are everlasting, beyond any dimension we can imagine or think of, to a
memory greater than we can think. Yet how often in the midst of our trials do
we wonder if he knows or even cares? Where is the everlasting love he speaks
of? Why do we try to compartmentalize his love when it knows no boundaries? It
is hard to think of God being compassionate when we are suffering, but we forget
how much he suffered through Jesus to give us life, to reunite with us. We need
the white beards and gray haired men who have lived along life in Christ to
remind us of how it was, so we can see how it still is, and how it will be.
Everlasting to the end, including now. Right now.
We all live or have lived in a Golden Age, an age when it all was new and
exciting. When our first ride was too short, and our first time with Jesus far
beyond words. When we were the kids that we talk to today and lovingly share
the past. With an everlasting love from God, who we love because he loved us
first. A passion created by him for us, to include him, to make us whole, for
he is holy, complete. For some of us it was the first sub 13 second 1/4 mile,
the first time over 100 mph, disc brakes that really stopped us, and Castrol
Bean oil. When a twin meant vee or parallel, when an inline 4 was news, and an
electric leg to start it all became standard. I can still remember my first
non-electric leg bike, my 1981 KZ750, with tubeless tires. What next we all
wondered? How we remember those times will tell of a passion we had, and some
haven’t given it up, at least not yet. But do we have a passion for Christ the
same way? Listen to the stories the testimonies, of worship teams with acoustic
guitars, song sheets with no overheads, and fellowships in homes on weeknights.
Just you and God, and his people, wanting to get closer, the koineia we were
searching for, that was there all the time. Everlasting to everlasting, with us
included. Today, and to be shared tomorrow. Memories we can share because we
were there, but so was God. We owe it to the younger generation to keep the
memories fresh, with each ride newer and more exciting. To respect those who
had a Sportster that would part the hair on your chest, or put some there if you
didn’t have any. Until a 250 two stroke blew by. Both bikes and riders got
heavier, but the ride doesn’t change, unless we do. From everlasting to
everlasting, the passion may diminish, Jesus’ love for us never will. Anything
before I as born was history, with a lot of it still being made today. Don’t
shut God out, the audience may change, his love never does. Which may explain
why us old guys never have just one collector bike.....some things are just too
good to never let go of....like a relationship with Jesus. Oh what fun it is
too ride....
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com