a tale of two test rides

I was on my way to San Juan Capistrano for lunch when I passed the local Indian store.  Seeing the Indian Demo Trailer and the bikes lined up, I knew what was going on, so stopped and checked it out.  A group was ready to go off on their demo ride on new Indians, and having done crowd rides before, opted to pass, but would return later, after a real ride.  Which I did, only for the new flat track model, and in a group of three, off we went.  Now you cannot tell much in ten miles, especially at posted speeds, but the guy leading was cool, and we went at a pretty fair clip.  Even into the eighties on a short freeway jaunt.  Lots of power, great Brembos, and a horrible seat buzz at 5000 rpm.  Think of an old Sportster on steroids-BAD!  But it is quick, and after a short ride, would I buy one?  No, but I want one, maybe loan me ne for a weekend...just to see.  And hopefully the bikes are set up properly, these weren’t, as low tire pressures and no explanation of things before we left.  But I did get a ride, fortunately the last demo I took, when the salesman wanted to return, I said I wasn’t done and took off.  And he was off today.  But the guy in charge gave me a suspicious look when I said “I want to burn the tires off this thing.”  Pointing to a sign that said you had to be able to ride a 1700cc bike.  If he only knew of my Rocket Three adventure with 220 hp....

Which reminded me of another ride test when Ducati brought out the Diavel years ago.  Broken into two groups, the first one the “gee I get to ride a Ducati, and obey all the laws,” and then the group I was in.  After a quick orientation, of how to switch to power mode, and being told not to, yeah right, the first group of 12 went off, then us, where I was the last in line, next to Mark Cernicki, road test editor with Cycle World.  We quickly passed all the bikes in our group over the 25 mile ride of back roads, and most in the of the group, having fun with the 157 hp on tap.  Cernciki is nuts, somewhere between fearless and senseless, and when I entered a tight 15 mph corner at 25 well leaned over, he went around me flat track style, all crossed up.  Looking at me when we stopped, I asked “bored?”  He nodded and off we went again....Now that is the way to conduct a test ride.  And no I don’t want one, and would never buy one.  Like the Indian FTR too expensive.  I rate both as stylish and powerful, but not to be ridden far or for long.  Like the Triumph Bobber, cool to show off and ride short distances, but you need another bike to go riding.  I suspect to see Indian sell all they can make, limited supply will help, and see me in six months when they are used for a lot less money.  But it will bring customers into Indian showrooms, I hope it does better than Harley did with  Buell.  Maybe the quote by the then Harley CEO said it best, “it is easier to sell $3000 worth of chrome than to sell performance to our customers.”  Where is Cernicki when they need him?  And I have been warned he crashes a lot..and not to lend him my bikes.  But for one afternoon...it was paradise.

It may be hard to find anyone who hasn’t been invited to church.  Many that I know who are saved have not been saved in a church service, although churches teach and encourage members to invite friends to church to be saved.  Like my test rides, they want to bring in a person and sell them Jesus, see them saved, and join up and in.  Not a bad idea, but not evangelism as scripture tells it.  We are to abide in Christ, acting like Christians everyday, all the time, you never know who is watching, and we are to be an effective witness.  Yet I watch too many evangelize by inviting those to church, and losing faith when no one accepts.  Be it safe to say, everyone somewhere along the line has had a bad time at church, or from other Christians harassing them.  They have questions too,and are not the enemy, Satan is.  Yet we turn on them when we cannot win an argument, or persuade them to agree with us.  Yet they too have the same spirit telling them they need Jesus as we did before were saved, the spirit gives life, and Jesus is that life.  Religion binds us, but not together.  We have freedom in the spirit, but some don’t want freedom, and deny the spirit, even though saved. 

What is it that sets us free?  The spirit.  Not being a Baptist, Catholic, Mormon, or any other organized religion.  Only Jesus.  But too many test rides with Jesus are like the sponsored crowd rides, keep it safe, eliminate stress and threats, and look for a sale or conversion at the end.  With no follow up....allowing you one chance to be saved, then on to the next group.  Like many I wasn’t saved in a church and never went forward at a rally.  A man took the chance of telling me about Jesus, and the spirit took me from there.  I  never said a prayer of faith, joined a church, or became a member.  I gave my life to Jesus, and after a test ride, my words were “I’ll try this for awhile,” and 44 years later haven’t looked back, or regretted my decision.  Jesus offered me freedom, can your religion offer the same?  When the many go forward on Easter, why are the churches not filled the next week?  Was it just another ride with Cernicki, or another group ride following the guy ahead of you at a safe distance?  Do they have the spirit of the Lord abiding in them?

When asked “how do you know you are in the spirit?” my reply is “I know when I’m not.”  You see the fruit of the spirit, is suppressed, no love , joy, or peace.  No goodness or kindness, no meekness or self control.  I am in control, and the worst parts of me show.  Hatefulness, jealousy, bad thoughts and even thoughts of murdering the one who cheesed me off.  So what to do?  Turn to Jesus and confess it, ask for forgiveness, and help, and go on.  Knowing we were that person once who was hated, but now we can love.  The regeneration of the mind as Romans calls it.  One test ride will not do it, you need to ride everyday.  To keep Jesus close, and abide in his vine, his love. 

So don’t confuse the church with Jesus, or call him religious, he came to free us from religion, and set us free.  Name a sin or problem, he can and will free you from it.  Sadly for some just a test ride until things don’t go their way, but for those who persevere, it is all worth it.  In tough times he stays close revealing himself, and wants to stay on in the good times too.  He is the ride that doesn’t end, the friend who rides along and never leaves you.  His spirit is the sound you cannot hear audibly, but can hear inside.  He is the one you cannot use finite words to describe.  For he is infinite.  And he is the one offering you that ride to meet him, to know him, and to let him save you.  And then never leave you.  If that sounds like a ride you are interested in, call on him wherever you are, right now.  He is listening, and the call is free.  He will set you free.  Many are called, but few are chosen, they deny who Jesus is.  He is more than chrome and add-ons, he is life. With everything included, no accessories needed.  Everything you need, nothing you don’t.  Between you and me, if they ever make a bike like that, I’ll buy it.   But for now, I’ll keep my Triumphs.  You are what you ride....even if you never rode a 1700 cc motorcycle to prove it!  Demo Jesus today and add life to your style.  And leave the golly gee group behind.

Anyone up for a ride?

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

the days of rubber floor mats

After the quick excursion to Jersey and back in March, the Mustang needed a good cleaning.  Over 5800 miles of interstate dirt had accumulated, interrupted by one three dollar quick wash in Vinita, so I decided to have it detailed.  When the mobile detailer I chose showed up, he didn’t have the deionized water tank on back, and I asked him about it.  “We are not a car wash, we detail cars.”  Now I am not sure when we became trendy and started detailing cars, I remember learning to wash and wax cars with my Dad’s 1966 Rambler.  Saturday mornings in the shade at Brookside Park you found car guys Simonizing their rides, after washing them at home.  Wax was cheap, with Classic Car Wax advertising how their expensive car wax, at five dollars a can was worth the extra money.  Waxing was a twice a year affair, spring and fall for most, for protection in the harsh winters.  But so much of what we call detailing was done in the driveway by us young car guys, under the careful supervision of our parents.

It was a big deal for me when my Mother got a new vacuum and we were able to use her old one to vacuum the car.  No more whisk brooming the floors and mats, now all the dirt we missed got sucked up.  But we still had the rubber floor mats to contend with, which in most cars ran the full length from left to right.  Before bucket seats became standard, at one time a novelty for the sports car type, now you had one six food rubber map to scrub.  Scrub and rinse, scrub again, rinse again, and hang to dry, and then repeat with the rear mat.  Onto the wheels while they dried, taking a Brillo pad to the white walls, only the rich could afford the Bleche White, I could never tell the difference, and then put the mats back in, wash the exterior, dry with a chamois, and Windex the windows.  And when done getting a smile of approval from your Dad, and fifty cents to buy a comic or two, a Coke and a Tootsie Roll, and a Bub’s Daddy for later.  Big money for a big job, which took all morning, and when your friends stopped by, thought how cool you were, and asked to help, but this was your job, your responsibility, your chance to brag.  All carefully performed while listening to WABC and Cousin Brucie on the AM dash radio.  Cooler if it had a rear speaker.  Closest thing to stereo most of us ever heard.  The days of rubber floor mats are long gone, but the memories live on, if only in the details, and the detailing. 

Now if you may remember, we had colored interiors way back when.  With floor mats to match, with some having the cool clear ones, my Dad would never spring the extra couple of bucks for it.  No Armorall for the dashes, no spray for eh ashtray odor left behind, and 360 degree air for airing it out afterwards.  If you had a cool parent they would even roll down the tailgate window in the family station wagon, maybe the only cool ride to have in one.  Mercury in their sedans even had a disappearing window in the rear, rolling down electrically behind the rear seat, how cool was that?  But strangely enough, we never cleaned under the hood, I guess no one cared back then about shiny engines and clean engine bays, today part of the detail. For who, ask yourself, when was the last time you looked under the hood?  Could you even find the motor?  If so, so what?  Some cars don’t even have dipsticks any more.  Which may explain why some older cars are perfect in and out, except for under the hood.  It was all about the appearance and even more so today.  So while some wash, other detail.  But very few look under the hood....

Seems very few Christians go beyond a pretty exterior.  Look good on Sunday, carry the right Bible with the right cover, have all the presets to Christian stations, have read all the latest how to books on being a better believer, and off they go.  Free from sin, the pastor and the Bible say so, but how are we made sinless?  We appear as clean as a detailed car on the outside, but God looks under the hood, are we detailed there too?  Saying a prayer has changed their status, yet the old lifestyle remains.  Some even believe they will be shown special favor when saved, bypassing sickness, problems, and anything else that may upset them.  They may have signed a membership card, been baptized as per the denominational requirements, but how do we know we are saved?  What shows on the outside that really comes from the inside, where Jesus affects the change? 

Jesus does it by turning on his light in our lives.  We were once slaves to darkness, living in darkness that tried to extinguish the light, to encourage hatred, and to produce death in us.  Jesus changed all that, and more.  He starts with giving us life instead of death, light I place of darkness, and hope instead of futility.  Love instead of hatred.  And that is only the start.  We are engaged in a process of growth, learning about God and his spirit changing us to be like him.  Note we cannot do this ourselves, as Paul may have planted, and Apollos watered, but only the spirit could provide the growth.  Just like we need air to breath, we need the spirit to grow and live.  And it just isn’t the church folk who qualify, even the most hardened murderer, molester, thief, addict or alcoholic can participate.  All are invited, yet many refuse the invitation.  They refuse to admit their sin, and when we see our sin we will repent.  When asked for forgiveness, Jesus changing our lawlessness into love.  But only after we receive him into our lives and heart.  With Jesus, in Jesus, the results are always the same, release from lawlessness, or sin.  For some the sickness takes years, but the process is in place the moment we are saved.  As we all should be able to testify...

Years ago we used to stay at The Apple Farm in SLO, until it got too expensive and we had kids.  A higher end hotel than we were used to, so clean, and once while looking under the bed, a sign said “we clean here too.”  No sin or dirt swept under the carpet here.  Can we say the same?  At one time the whisk broom was effective, but still left dirt.  Rubber floor mats may have helped protect the carpet, but the dirt was still there.  Sometimes trapping it into the carpet.  Don’t settle for a quick clean when you can have all the dirt removed.  Out of darkness into the light is available to all.  The world tells us the devil is in the details, we know Jesus handles all the details.  Before rubber mats, before we bypassed car washing for detailing, Jesus was ready to detail our lives.  To not only give us anew appearance before man, but before God also.  In Jesus we find no sin, and when we are in him, we are sinless too.  We still need the car wash, the cleansing, but one good detailing of forgiveness is enough.  For salvation.  Maybe try this exercise, go and wash your car yourself, and see all the dirt left afterwards.  Sweep under the carpeted floor mats, see all the hidden dirt.  Run your hand over the paint and feel the roughness.  Then have it detailed and note the difference.  Jesus gets the dirt we cannot see.  And all we can. 

Just like when we washed our Dad’s car, under his careful supervision with him watching.....

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

the night we met Duel on a dark desert highway

Going to Penske’s track in Bloomington to see the National Truck Show, big trucks, like semis, Pete’s, Kenworth’s, Macks. and Jimmie’s, I was almost overwhelmed by all the smells of grease,  f big tires, and of real trucks.  Trucks as a kid and now an adult I had seen on the highways of America, and now I could see them up close.  Bigger in real life as I stood next to them, my heart was pounding, and began to beat even faster when someone noted the Duel truck was here.  And suddenly it was right in back of me, and like a kid I ran after it.  Ever since seeing the movie Duel, I had been enamored by the truck, one of the scariest movies ever, about a man being chased by a semi trying to kill him.  I won’t tell you the ending, but it is scary.  And here was the truck, or one of the ones from the film.  It smelled, it looked, and felt bad as I walked around it, just touching it to see if it was really real.  It was.  Maybe one of the highlights of my adult life, meeting Duel, but also going back to one night in Colorado, and almost meeting Duel.  On a dark desert highway...

We were going to La Junta for a job interview, traveling in our Rabbit.  It was dark over the prairie, and keeping at 55 to avoid another meeting with the Colorado Highway Patrol, we were almost alone on the two lane road.  When suddenly a truck was coming up on us fast, blinding us with his high beams, and them riding our bumper, at one time all we could see was grill as our interior was lit up with his lights.  Slowing down we hoped he would pass, but he held onto us, then accelerating to 80 hoping to lose him.  Still on our bumper, we went faster, and so did he, while looking for a place in the dark to pull over.  Now 160 is a two lane road with no shoulders, and from what we could see a ditch and desert.  Praying furiously and scared for our lives, we held on, until I found a place I thought I could trust, and pulled over into the dirt, skidding to a stop, as this Duel nemesis went speeding past laying on his air horn.  All we could think of was the movie, and every truck that came up on us that night filled us with fear.  Was that guy nuts, on drugs, or really out to kill someone?  This 75 mile stretch of road with no towns was the perfect place as no one would ever find us for days.  But as we calmed down, we began to thank God for his mercy.  We had been involved in a trial by fire, and escaped unscathed, except for a lot of fear.  But we had also found that God was with us, showing us as we looked back that he had everything under control.  If he had wanted us dead, we would be, but his will be done.  Not Duel’s.  That was the truck I was looking at when it all came flooding back to me, seeing it in the movies is one thing, when it happens to you, it is much different.  With God writing a script no Hollywood film could ever duplicate.  I know, we’ve been there.  Trust me, the movie is scary enough, do not attempt this ever on an highway.  Particularly a dark desert highway...

Paul wrote that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance character, and character hope.  Which is nice afterwards, but scary when happening.  No one thinks “wow what a great character building exercise” when threatened, but we first choose our own understanding.  Which leads us astray, or from trusting God.  Now we know God will work things out for our benefit, and helps build a hope that does not disappoint.  We can see how in the circumstances as we trust, we are becoming more like him.  We can see more clearly Jesus as he goes to the cross, and on the cross.  We can appreciate if even a little bit more the agony he withstood, but for many it ends there.  Game over, we win.  Until we are tested, and wonder what God is up to?  We forget the empty tomb, our promise of resurrection, we only remember our agony and not the one Jesus endured for us.  We fail to see that God is purifying us, something we cannot do ourselves.  We may wash up after a hard day in the dirt, maybe even unwind from a stressful one, but we cannot purify our own spirit.  In all cases we try to get as clean as possible, but left up to our own sense of clean, we fail.  It is only the blood go Jesus that can clean us from sin.  When we repent and turn from our sin, and turn to him, he will forgive us and purify us from all our sins.  Just as soap can clean physical dirt, it takes the spirit to clean spiritual dirt from us.  We cannot do it alone, but yet we try.  When tempted we must turn to him in prayer and then obey.  Follow the leading of the spirit, lest we fall.  For just like the Duel truck that night, Satan is a roaring lion looking for who he can destroy.  Even just to get our minds off Jesus for a moment bring him glee, but he can threaten, but not consume.  We have the spirit of the Lord living in us, and as scripture tells us, no body can contain both good and evil, for one will rule over the other.  That day on the cross Satan felt a victory but when the tomb was found empty, the victory of Jesus was evident.  Not even death could hold him, nor will it hold us. 

So it is only by his provision that we are purified.   Why we need to repent, not for salvation again, but because we get dirty in this world, and purification is a process.  Jesus saves and he left us his spirit to guide, counsel, and protect us.  When our mirror is filled with the enemy breathing down our back, he is with us.  Even the shadow in the valley of death, the image of fear, he is with us.  Producing in us character that reveals his truth.  Proving when in Christ, we can do all things. When we come to the point of no return, remember he is returning for us.  For his bride, the church, the believers in him who are saved.  But for now and until that day, we are being purified for heaven.  We cannot enter a perfect place without being first purified, as God is pure.  We could all use some character building.....

So the day I met Duel and the night we met Duel are two different occurrences. When the screen came alive that afternoon I ran to see the truck, but when Jesus came alive in me, I ran no more.  No more fear, as perfect love casts out all fear.  Even on a dark desert highway, Jesus is with you.  The devil may gain, but he can never overtake those that belong to Jesus.  In life we study for a test to pass then forget, in real life we don’t get to study.  His hope never disappoints, even if all we can do is yell “HELP!”  And to those who claim God is their co-pilot, a word to the wise.  Move over, let him be pilot.  Another example of how Jesus saves.  Aren’t you glad he does?

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

still stuck in traffic, maybe it's the road you're on

If you don’t live in So Cal you don’t understand our freeways.  Whereas interstate highways are found in all 50 states, a misnomer in Hawaii, they are truly limited access highways outside of metro areas.  Most of America and most people’s driving is on secondary roads, and in many rural areas the two laner is still the choice of travel, even if it is the only one available.  But many old two lane highways are now four laners, giving local drivers a new taste of four lane freedom, accelerating speeds and less time to get there, bypassing many old surface streets.  But we out here are used to the freeways, they are our surface streets, even if the are 8-10 lanes wide in places.  Just like some turn right on Main Street, we turn right at exit 29, with many of the old highways and surface streets handling far less traffic, and the accompanying jams. Based on population and distance between destinations, our freeways jam traffic just like the old two laners of the past used to, just in bigger numbers.  But just some observations from recent cross country trips on freeways, to prove a point. 

LA is known for traffic jams, but have you ever driven on Atlanta freeways?  Worse.  Indianapolis, bring a book to read.  Any road in Jersey, another reason to not go there.  OK City, watch the signs and heaven help if you are in the wrong lane, you may end up in Arkansas instead of Tulsa.  Albuquerque jams up early each morning, never did 30 years ago.  San Francisco has no freeways in the city, unless you count Van Ness as one with all its lights and jams.  Want to really get lost, try Pittsburgh, you can see where you want to go, but how do you get there?  From Nashville to New Haven, you can go 10 above the limit, until you hit an urban area, and any time made will be lost.  At least LA has the multi-lanes needed, a recent transplant from Burbank to Springfield, Missouri thought she had gotten off the freeway somewhere, it only had two lanes!  Like the streets by her house.  So no matter what you ride or drive, no matter where you do it, traffic is out to get you.  And if you are stuck in it you are part of the problem!  There has to be a better way...

Simple, go where the others aren’t going.  On our trips we stay off freeways and away from cities.  We have traveled thousands of miles without encountering a traffic jam, three cars at a light being a jam in some towns.  But whereas in West Virginia there were many small towns inaccessible by road, ever been to West Virginia, it has mountains everywhere.  It was by train or don’t get there, in or out.  But thanks to influence peddling and creative finance and Robert C. Byrd, the eternal senator from there, they now have the Robert C. Byrd Freeway System.  Miles and miles of four laners or more, with no traffic on them.  Beautiful perfect roadways, with no traffic.  Unfortunately it will only be a matter of time until they too become jammed, but for now your tax dollars at work in WV pave the way for unobstructed driving and great views.  It is only a matter of time, as when we retrace old roads ridden years ago, we now find them bypassed, expanded to four lanes or more, with the traffic moving as it should, until some bonehead from Cali gets locked into the fast lane on his cell at 48 in a 70 zone.  Anywhere else this is against the law and driving etiquette, here it is the norm.  So please those in So Cal out here, stay home, keep the traffic flowing by not being in it.  For like surface streets, there is a better way, not found on your GPS.  At least not for now, anyway....

But just as the freeways are a nation unto themselves with laws, taxes known as tolls in some places, God has called us unto a nation itself, heaven.  What love he has placed upon us that we should be called the children of God.  But not all are children of God, nor of the land of heaven.  Scripture tells us that while we were yet sinners, Jesus died for us.  He paved the way, built the road, and made the ultimate free way to heaven, in fact the only way to heaven.  But just like you need a license to drive legally, we need a license, the paperwork of our name written in the book of life to enter heaven.  In our sin, we were helpless to do it alone, there was and is nothing we can do to save ourselves.  Maybe put like this, when we were too proud, condescending towards God, hating him and showing indifference to his word, while an enemy of the cross, Jesus died for us.  While still in the traffic jam of sin, God provided a freeway to heaven.  But a change had to take place so we can be called children of God, not just accept the name by religious rhetoric, or traditional lies.  It takes the truth to be set free, it took the cross for our salvation, and Jesus on it.  It took the resurrection to prove it, and our choice to accept it.  There are conditions to being called a child of God, but no conditions to God’s love for us.  We only love him because he loved us first.  A love so great he wants his enemies to be saved and become his children!  No wonder we should rejoice as we behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called sons of God.  And that we can grow in grace in him.

Yet many are stuck in the traffic jam of lies, stuck on a road while a street just adjacent is empty, both going the same way.  “It’s the same everywhere, we are all his children,” perpetuating a lie, at least they admit there is a God.  But stuck in traffic, can only see what is in front of them, if they can see that far at all.  As cities become more jammed, and as doubters jam the churches and religious groups, the truth will still be the truth.  An exit convenient wherever you are, one marked truth, and paved in love.  An exit passed by many times but somehow afraid to get off and try.  Not marked by religion but by freedom, but it is our choice.  The average speed on LA freeways is 17 mph, slower than a school zone.  God who is light operates at the speed of it.  What manner is keeping you in a jam,when God’s love can set you free? 

With something in the news to remind us.  The southern border is l needed to keep those not citizens out is an example of heaven.  Heaven has walls, and a gate, a strict immigration policy, the only way to get in.  Hell has open borders and anyone can get in.  Jesus is the way, and he stands at the gate to heaven, wishing you entrance.  You will find no way to enter heaven illegally, only through Jesus.  The manner of love he bestows to us, straight and narrow, the quickest way between two points and no detours.  In life we will face many treacherous roads, why not choose one endorsed by God himself, and become family.  That old line given when stopped for speeding, “I know the chief,” fails here.  Knowing the real chief here will get you home to heaven.  New roads are being built every day, God built his years ago, and it is still open and toll free today. 

Still stuck in traffic.....you may have missed the exit, don’t miss Jesus....at least you can’t blame the snow!

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com