is your bike lonely today?

Somehow I managed to ride over 1600 miles in January, despite no press bikes and rain, lots of it.  Today there is a break in the weather, a sunbreak as Portlandians call it, and then scheduled rain for the next 10 days, with highs only in the fifties.  Weather is actually better in New Jersey, per my mother last Saturday, will true bikers move there next year for the weather?  I have had to spend way too much time in my rain car, a Nissan Xterra, and in between riding my rain bike, the Tiger 955.  Even as far as canceling a ride to Central California this weekend, 3-5 inches of snow where we planned to ride, and the Orange County Vintage Bike Meet only drew 18 bikes yesterday, could this be the end of the world as we know it?  I guess it is February after all.....

I may be weird, a good argument either way, but as I go into the garage I sense a loneliness coming from the direction of  my bikes.  All the cleaning has been done, chain adjusted, batteries topped off, and bolts checked, they just sit waiting to go riding, which they should be doing.  But they sit, and every time the garage door opens, I swear they lean towards the light of day, hoping this is the day they get out and go riding again.  A relationship has been built with them over the years and miles, but it seems new bike sales and their bikes are lonely too.  Pricing a 2018 Kawasaki Z900RS at numerous dealers, the out the door prices vary from $9465, to $10,379, to over $11,000, all for the same bike.  Seems some owners are lonelier for the cash than they are to make any profit, and not have to pay flooring on them.  But every place I have been, it seems whenever the door opens, the bikes seem to pick up and want to head for the door.  They were designed to be ridden, and when they aren’t somehow things aren’t right.  Is your bike lonely?  What are you doing to rekindle the relationship?

Ecclesiastes warns us to guard your steps when you go into the house of the Lord.  Just as many enter our hallowed garages, we expect something, and when we don’t get it, our mood changes, affecting our thoughts and then our actions.  Same as when we gather in fellowship to worship Jesus.  How many enter church expecting to be taught?  To be healed?  To get closer to God?  To have questions answered?  Or is it just a Sunday ritual, like going for a ride in only nice weather when your wife lets you?  Even worse some go to church expecting to get the things of God from the church, and falling for misconceptions, denominational issues, or as going from church to church a different take on Jesus.  Do you guard your steps as God instructs, maybe to the point of becoming a bored again Christian, or a safe Christian, maintaining a low profile with God so as to not annoy others.  Have we become callous to the things of God by trying to not upset others by the truth of the gospel?  Are messages just filled with good words but no spiritual influence?  Do you leave exhausted after an hour because your sleep was interrupted a few times?  Do we go to church, or do we know we are the church?  Are you sitting lonely in a pew of your own, with others in the same situation?  The truth may surprise you, only the truth of Jesus Christ will set you free.

God wants us to listen carefully and not complain, he never said he who as a mouth let him speak, he said he who has an ear let him hear what the spirit is saying.  It has not been a fun January as riding has been curtailed, and our house has been sick.  But in both I have seen God, he reminded me of how I am miraculously alive when I should be dead.  How my prayers change when the weather does, and how lonely he gets for me when I am busy only dealing with me.  God loves to hear from us, hence he created prayer, but it is a conversation, a dialogue not a monologue.  We both engage in listening and speaking, but how many times we let the spirit start our prayers?  Ever feel void and not know how or what to pray?  The spirit does, many times an amen to what God shows me is enough prayer, other times I am like the bikes in my garage on rainy days, I just walk past him dodging the raindrops he has sent.  Are we bold enough to ask Jesus “thy will be done?”  Only to be reminded how the rain falls on the just and the unjust alike. 

So my bikes have been sitting lonely, but I haven’t in my time with God. He is preparing me for things to come, maybe getting me to refocus my mind, a regeneration that is needed often.  So if your bike is lonely, what are you doing about it?  But better yet, if your spiritual life is lonely, what are you doing about it?  God got the world’s attention via a storm in Noah’s day, are these warning signs as the Jews believe?  Are they clever political plans to get you to sell your soul or vote to them?  Or do you know that each day is a gift from God?  It is in the times of distress and trouble we seek God more, maybe he is lonely for us.  Start a conversation with him today, talk to him and enjoy all the conversation.  One afternoon spent telling him about a ride I once took brought us closer together as I saw his hand in the beauty of it, and also in the telling him of it.  Fathers like to hear from sons, sons need to spend more time with their fathers.  Your heavenly father is lonely for you, so he sent Jesus to reunite us with him.  Maybe that loneliness in the garage is really God reaching out to you in a language you know best.  Could it be that really your bike isn’t lonely it is you?  And only in Jesus will that loneliness be lifted. 

Time spent with Jesus is always time well spent.  Stop complaining and start enjoying the times he has created for you.  In all things give  him the preeminence, for in all situations his wisdom is being poured forth.  This too shall pass is a great promise from the scriptures.  Don’t look back saying “I wish I had used my time better.”  I’m preparing for the next sunny day so I can ride, don’t you be left out because you misspent your time.  My attitude towards me and the weather has changed this week, but only because I could spend more time alone with God.  For in every storm he is there, you are never alone.  I hope my bikes understand that, I hope you do too. 

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

appreciated depreciation

My riding buddies in the early seventies consisted of guys with the fastest bikes.  BH with his CB750 with the Dunstall Café Racer Kit, Bouke with his Yoshimura Z1, and me with my R90S, tuned properly for the Dunstall Low Decibel pipes.  We rode fast, we rode crazy, and these were the bikes others were drawn to in the ads and showroom, but then settled for lesser machines.  Fast then but slow now, a piece of history I was a part of. Even owning a 1975 Z1B owned by a doctor who commuted on it.  But although I have memories of these and others, the new so-called retro rage has not been done very well.  Until now in my opinion.  When Kawasaki released the Z900RS, a retro styled Z1, I wanted one.  Even the brown and orange paint job at first glance had you guessing, but was truly filled with the latest in high tech ideas.  Priced a bit higher than the standard more powerful Kawasaki Z, they sold well, and now a Café Racer like The Eddie Lawson Replica is available.  But for $11,199 plus the usorous fees, overpriced to many, but not those seeking their first Z, or wanting to relive their past.  I almost bought in a couple of times, but didn’t want to give up ore bike just for the memories, but now just a year later, there are more than one used bike to choose from.  One with options, and 1500 miles wants $7800 OBO.  A high priced used bike with 2200 miles is $9400, and one I looked at was $8495 with 1100 miles and its first service.  Yet they sit, as from the ad dates you can see no sales.  So maybe I can wait, the used bike market is hot, maybe mine will be worth more, but it seems unless you want a Bonneville, not a retro but a true Bonneville, the longer you wait, the more affordable they become.  And at the used prices, getting a broken in bike for 30% off.  Call it appreciated depreciation, you gotta love it....if only I live long enough. 

So why are so many for sale in less than a year?  Was the dream over that quickly?  Was the bike too fast or you too slow?  Didn’t fit in with your Harley buds?  The wife needed more room for her SUV in the garage, and refused to ride with you?  Or did time catch up with you, with some wondering if you were having a midlife crisis?  Or are you quick to explain like I do, I’m still in my first childhood.  And over 60 can outride many on faster bikes?  It seems time takes a toll on all of us, at 64 I realize I may only have another 20 years of riding.  I’m currently working on my second million miles, I hope I get there first, before I am cage bound.  Old age and the old bikes seemed so far away once have me feeling mortal, but realizing I am truly eternal, it is the world that will pass away.  I will just change addresses....

Ecclesiastes tells us God has set eternity into the minds of men.  Yet we cannot fathom the beginning from the end.  Emphasizing there is a time for everything under heaven.  Like riding for instance.  We want to be in charge, to make the decisions, but the times and situations change.  As do fashions, and sadly morals.  Fortunately Jesus never changes, and isn’t ready for us to take charge or take over.  Take for example a restlessness we all share, I am looking back at a Z1, the young riders of today are looking ahead to their first one.  We want the pleasant memories, but we don’t want the conditions that go with them.  My friend Brett used to say the only reason the seat was covered was so it wouldn’t rust.  Marginal brakes and a flexing frame, would never make it today.  While some ads and atheists preach evolution as a theory, the Second Law of Thermodynamics tells us everything is in a constant atrophy, we are all wearing out.  Just like our old bikes.  But yet some have so much trouble with today they find it easier to live in the past, but God wants us to look ahead.  Heaven awaits those that are saved.  Hell awaits those that deny Jesus.  He is as fresh and alive as he was 2000 years ago, remember he referred to himself as God did, “I am.”  Not was, not going to be, but is.  My is is a bit worn out, but it will be reconditioned in heaven.  With no depreciation, appreciated or other.

God has installed in us a desire for him, which can only be met in Jesus Christ.  But along the way, we each have our own story and our testimony.  He blesses us with many things, but is careful that we don’t confuse them for the things of his heavenly kingdom.  That scratch we cannot itch may be in the form of that bike you couldn’t afford then, but can now, but have lost the desire for.  Which may explain the appreciated depreciation factor.  It seems the more we know the more we find we don’t know, but the more we know God, the more we want to be like him.  On the eternal basis he set up for us.

I have found some own and some ride.  Some brag on the low miles, I brag on the high miles.  Everything that is old was new once.  Life can be described as a journey, so get out and live it to the fullest.  Scripture tells us we are but sojourners, travelers on this planet but for a short time.  You can spend it looking back, or looking ahead.  Your choice will dictate how you enjoy today and the choices you make.  We are all eternal beings, Paul writes we are all eternal beings, seeing only a poor reflection in the mirror, but some day we will see Jesus face to face.  How you see God now will make the difference in how you reflect on life.  Meanwhile, I have two higher mileage Triumph Tigers for sale.  With stories to tell.  Seems I just cannot get that Z900Rs out of my mind.  I’ll leave it up to God to see how it gets in my garage.  If he can get me to heaven, the rest should be easy....as for now, I’m going riding.

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

can slow roads be fun?

When planning for our longer rides, I figure 300-400 miles per day, leaving time to eat, stop and visit as we want, and not be in a hurry.  It is a popular idea and one I have long proven wrong that to make time you must use the interstates, but who wants to ride a boring road with no curves?  So picking older roads and figuring them in the equation has become the norm.  With those you meet along the way sometimes not as normal as you.  Which is a good thing....

We were riding south on the Blue Ridge Parkway, a beautiful road with a speed  limit of 45 mph.  Take parallel roads and the speeds increase, but don’t have quite the charisma, or the “I can say I’ve been there affect.”  Not our first ride on it, but this turned out to be the most fun.  Stopping for pictures and to watch the fog lift, a Sprint ST like mine pulled in next to us and the conversation began.  He was a local, out early for a run before the tourists showed up and blocked his fun.  And his offer was too good to pass up, “do you want to ride with me?  I know all the lines to take on this section.”  So trusting his bike and ability, he led, we tried to keep up, and had a great ride.  Like none other on the BRP.  Let’s just say we ignored all speed signs and followed his lines, and they were true.  He was a bit ahead at times, but we would catch up, finally he got off, a friendly wave and disappeared into the valley below.  We had just ridden a slow road at fun speeds, not endangering anyone, not passing anyone illegally, and saw a side of the BRP many dream of but are afraid to attempt.  Just two guys on Triumphs on an early morning ride.....who says slow roads can’t be fun?

Ivan Stewart, aka The Ironman, once explained going less slow to me.  If a section was safe at 55, get every 55 out of it you could, going less slow.  But don’t try to make up time going too fast in the same section, know the course from prerunning, your abilities, and what your car can do.  Later make up for it on the straights, hitting top speed if you can.  Makes sense, and his record speaks for itself.  Just the opposite in real life, as yesterday in the rain I was passed and then watched as this small car was weaving in and out of traffic, crazy on a dry day, insane in the rain in So Cal.  But when we both got off, we both sat at the same light until it turned green.  His hurry up and wait procedure endangering himself and others.  I guess everyone is fast until the light turns red....

Quoting Roger McGuinn of The Byrds, who quoted Ecclesiastes, “there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.”  I wonder how many of us knew it was the Bible Roger was quoting, it sure sounded cool.  But as he takes us through the four pairs of comparisons, we can see there is an appropriate time for everything.  All based on living and dying.  After my near death experience and open heart surgery, I can tell you that you have no control over the day you die.  I hadn’t planned to go through the ordeal, but it was part of God’s plan to draw me closer to him, and to testify of his greatness.  Of the difference that Jesus Christ makes in a life, and giving life.  But again I never asked to be born.  Again determined by God for a time and place.  Ever feel like you were born too soon?  You weren’t, for you are here and now where God wants you.  Preplanned for your enjoyment, just the opposite of many times and things we would have planned.  If asked “would I change anything?” I can honestly say “no,” for I am content with my life in Christ.  It wasn’t always that way, but as you learn to trust, as the spirit leads instead of your ego, the path laid out for you becomes life to the fullest.  Not to say it is always smooth, but always worthwhile.  If given my way, I probably would end up selfish, cruel, vicious, and unbridled.  But in God’s timing....all is well with my soul.

So embrace the time to live, and also the time to seek and the time to give up.  Our lives are bounded by our birth and death, but the in between times are given to our choices of how to live.  So it makes perfect sense to me to not be bound by time on our rides.  To leave time to be flexible.  As I look back, many of our trips have had changes due to weather, new roads or places discovered, or places to eat only 200 miles out of our way.  God had it all planned that way, he calls it a time to live.  And who knows better about life than he who created it and gives it to us.  One early morning on a 45 mph road with the right guide changed all that.  Just as God’s ways are not man’s, our schedule is not his.  Man plans and God laughs.  Sometimes at us, but mostly with us.  A smile too big to contain.  Proven one morning on a slow road.  Truly a slow road can be fun when God is along.  After all, don’t you go on vacation to vacate, to get away from daily routines?  Now if only the RV’s blocking my way could do the same thing....

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

will you pay the price of a Cadillac and not get one?

While most are attracted to the pretty over detailed car sitting out front, I have been more enamored over the years by the cars in the back row.  Cars that may have faded paint, interior a bit worn, and the odometer showing high miles.  The ones that are generally first shown to kids with only a few bucks to spend, “this is what $500 will buy you kid,” while he is hoping his money buys him last years hot model.  Some lose faith at this point, some buy into the technique, but I go back to the back row.  Where bargains are found, the price is more reasonable, and for a few hours of clean up and fluid checks, change an air filter and the oil, you have more car for the money, and more money to go places in it.  And no monthly payments, now if only your friends will ride in it and be seen with you in it....

For me it was a 1967 Cadillac Sedan DeVille, loaded.  Bought from a dealer’s used car lots, in a pre-pre owned car era, it was very clean, but the AC didn’t work.  But the dealer promised to fix it, “probably just a recharge,” and I went back later to pick it up.  And the air still wasn’t working.  It seems Cadillac had a unique AC system not found on any other GM product, and it was costly, did I want to pay to have it fixed?  NO!  You said you would fix it, and after haggling, the manager was brought in, and then one of the owner’s sons.  “Did you promise to deliver the car with the AC working?”  And after the salesman mumbled something, produced the sales contract, saying it would be working.  “So fix it,” and after being told the cost, about what I had paid for the car, $995, he again said “fix it,” and it was fixed.  One week later, it had cost them over $1000, only the Cadillac dealer could repair it as no other tech had the training, I was happy, they had honored their word, and I was driving a Cadillac!

Until I traded the six miles per gallon for 25 miles per gallon.  The buy in price was low, keeping the gas needle gauge off E took all my money.  But I could say I owned a Cadillac, even if I couldn’t afford to drive one.  Even with the car payments on the Rabbit my monthly costs were less, and yes, it had AC.  That worked.  Even had Polyglycoat applied by Vince at his cost, who did it for the dealers.  Maybe the best $10 ever spent on a car.  I always like the Rabbit, but it wasn’t a Cadillac, I learned I could either fill my tank or fill my ego, filling the tank was cheaper, less expensive.  But I could still hear the voice over in the ads, “best of all, it’s a Cadillac...”

Lust was once defined to me as “you have to have it now irregardless of the cost.”  Right now is maybe another definition, but that which feeds our physical senses, our ego above all comes closer.  Ecclesiastes tells us how material things, possessions, and desires, if we have enough money all things are possible.  But not profitable.  How many have to have the big house in the right neighborhood with the correct zip code, and the house owns them?  How many garages are filled with cars they cannot afford to drive, but can announce they drive a BMW?  I know women who dress in the latest styles, yet they cannot go anywhere but work to show them off, and all her coworkers know what she makes?  It seems we all live beyond our means, take what we make and add 10%, that’s our budget.  But as styles change, cars wear out, and new homes are built, where is the pleasure found in the product?  Seems the things of man only satisfy for awhile...with awhile never being long enough, and usually long before the payment coupons are gone.

But a life in Christ is different.  When he gets the glory, we get the blessings.  Maybe the difference between happiness and joy is Jesus.  Joy is not the absence of suffering, but the presence of God.  Joy, part of the fruit of the spirit, is given to those who please God.  But on his terms...lest we boast on us.  Wisdom and knowledge are fleeting, as each day new situations occur, and what worked yesterday may not work today.  But wisdom from above is never changing, it is us who need to change.  God wants us to have nice things, happinesses are what blessings are, but to put them in the proper order.  “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, then all things will be added unto you...”  Timothy tells us all things are added for our enjoyment.  And once you acknowledge that all blessings come from him, your life changes, and we draw closer to him.  And his fruit begins to be revealed in us.  His desire.

So what is God’s desire for us?  To know Jesus.  To have the faith to please him, to have a trustworthy relationship with him, in all things as Romans tells us.  For all things work together, both good and bad, timely and untimely, both sorrow and happiness, and both success and disappointment.  To God all things work together, and to the one who trusts him in all his ways, Proverbs 5, he will direct their paths.  Remember it is even in the valley of the shadow of death that he is with us, not just during worship on Sunday.  It is in the toughest times,the darkest hours that Jesus shines brightest, when all hope is lost, he is still there.  He works in ways we cannot see, and has rescued many a person from the back row, while the person in the front row was more interested in himself.  But his offer is the same for all.   For both the rich and the poor can only be saved by him. 

So I have found that sitting in the back row and letting him get all the attention blesses me.  I cannot save, only he can.  So in all things give him the preeminence, seek him first, and hang on for the ride.  For it begins here on earth, and we can have heaven here in him.  An old Mercedes Benz tech one day helped a woman with no AC.  Lifting the hood, he replaced the blower fuse, and the AC worked again.  She was impressed, until she heard the price.  “$20 for a fuse?”  His answer, “yes, but I knew which fuse.”  Only in Christ will we know for sure.  For to the man who pleases him, “he gives wisdom, knowledge, and happiness.”  Note the order....and best of all....it’s free!  And you can have it now.  Now that’s a bargain at any price.....for even in today’s economy Jesus saves, and that’s still a miracle!

Ask yourself, will you pay the price of a Cadillac and not get one?

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

"I've seen fire and I've seen rain.."

For too many years I-40 was our escape route east across the Land of Enchantment.  Taking us into Texas, then the brown suddenly changing to green as we entered Oklahoma.  But a stop in Adrian, Texas was always in order, at one of the last remaining Stuckey’s in the US of A.  A chain that used to welcome travelers for over 80 years, the interstate killed them, and this one somehow survives, even having its own exit ramp, which if not skillfully executed will have you driving through the pumps.  With two memorable stops recalled....

I was on my Sprint ST riding alone back to Jersey.  A trip I would do in under 70 hours, less than three days coast to coast.  I had left Kingman that morning, and the wind and rain had me seeking shelter and gas.  The wind was so bad I had to lean against the bike to hold it up, and as I struggled to fill all 6.3 gallons, I looked over to see a white Lincoln filled with faces watching me.  Crammed in, and windows fogged, one look had me glad that I was riding.  We were both victims of the storm, they were casualties of it and didn’t know it.  With both my tank and energies refilled, I took off making it to Oklahoma City late, riding almost 1125 miles that day in the rain.   I may have been wet, but I wasn’t caught in no cage.....

A few years later with Theresa on back, we were riding our 955 Tiger.  Same road, same ride, same Stuckey’s, same wind. But no rain, and as the owner explained to us, they hadn’t seen rain in over 180 days!  It took a few bottles of water to overcome that one, but it was the wind and lack of rain that had me praying “Lord please don’t let me die in this rest stop,” he had provided a long the way.  Just opened and air conditioned, it took a lot of coaxing to get her back on the Tiger.  Two days and two different rides I still remember.  I can honestly say “I’ve seen fire and I’ve seen rain,” making no apologies to James Taylor.  With no word if the Stuckey’s still exists.....

As any Christian knows, it wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark.   Rain wasn’t even a word or a concept then, as God sent a mist to keep everything green.  But in this pre-Jewish, pre-Abraham, pre-Mosaic law era, every man did whatever they wanted to, there were no laws.  But among all the people, which some have estimated as in the billions, only Noah stood out as righteous.  And remained faithful to God when asked to build an ark.  A what?  And for the next 120 years, build he did.  Beginning when he was 500 years old.  Please don’t tell me about your aches and pains.  Over 500 feet long, think of a cruise ship, and he labored on, mostly with little or no help.  No power tools, only God’s power to help.  While being ridiculed by anyone passing by.  I wonder about the conversations he and God had, as they are not mentioned, but his actions are, and worth noting.  God then carried on with his plan, sending two of each animal to the ark, then having him seal up the ark with only his family inside, all eight of them.  Eight the number of new beginnings, of which they had no inkling. And then the rains came....for 40 days and 40 nights.  A test like no other until Jesus was tested for 40 days in the wilderness.  One with two much water, one with none.  Both sustained by God.  And when the rains stopped, a crow was sent out, not returning as they are scavengers.  Then a dove, who did, for they mate with only one partner for life.  One a sign of life without Jesus, one a life with him.  And once the ark had settled, a rainbow appeared, a sign from God  that he would never destroy the earth again by water.  And for a few thousand years, he has been patient, very patient....

For as we see life in this world much as it was in Noah’s day, scripture tells us his return, the rapture will occur as in the days of Noah.  Look around he evidence is there.  Just as people had no fear of justice from God, they live like hell still today.  The world is ripe for judgment, try and point it out and be ridiculed.  Like in the days of Noah.  Look at the increased violence, and how corrupt the world is.  Fake news is truth, truth is neglected, and righteousness a joke.  It’s OK to talk about cults, maybe religion, just don’t mention Jesus. From those who read and live by horoscopes, to those who entertain psychics, man has turned away from the truth.  Life can be created via test tube, and like many at the Tower of Babel, them and their computer logic don’t fear God, they take him on.  Mocking him as his patience is wearing thin...even going as far as taking God’ sign, the rainbow, and making it a symbol of homosexuality.  And we even find Israel’s closest enemy, Hamas, the same word used in Genesis 6:11 and 6:13 to describe the violence on the earth just before the flood.   But remember he promises to not ever flood the world again....he didn’t say he wouldn’t judge it. 

A few years back after Oakland was devastated by fires, a man commented, “he had saved for a rainy day, but never a fiery night.”  For God promises to consume the earth with a fire, and replace it with a new earth.  Judgment is coming, and he is just.  Offering us salvation through Jesus Christ, the warnings have been given, the promises made.  He leaves the choice up to you.  I can only imagine the bedlam when the rains began, and the beating on the ark’s door, “let us in!”  Today Jesus knocks on the door of your heart to be let in.  To offer refuge from life and its storms, to give you a peace and a comfort found nowhere else.  We are in the days of Noah, and Jesus will appear as a thief in the night.  With no warning.  But we have been warned, and eternity in hell is no way to remember the offer.  No one has ever fought against God and won, the so called philosophers who deny Jesus, the rich and powerful who think they don’t need him, and those who make fun of his children, all are being called to a day of reckoning.  The door to the ark of heaven is still open, but like Stuckey’s may disappear some day.  No memories of those left behind in the flood is noted, for none survived.  But we have a record in Genesis to instruct, teach, exhort, and to give us hope.  Just as the scriptures were designed to do.....as in the days of Noah....with a front row seat to it all!

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com