Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/476563
26 UCW MARCH 11-17, 2015 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM JIM JONES, Motorcycle Enthusiast, Contributing Writer. COMMENTS? Editor@ upandcomingweekly.com. Run for the Green March 21st Just for fun poker run! First Bike Out At Noon 4624 BRAGG BLVD. MARCH 21 • RUN FOR THE GREEN at Legends Pub. Call 867-2364 for information. APRIL 11 • NC BUFFALO SOLDIERS M/C OF FAYETTEVILLE 5TH ANNUAL PONY EXPRESS CHARITY RIDE at Fort Bragg Harley Davidson, 3950 Sycamore Dairy Rd. Fayetteville, NC. This is a charity motorcycle ride, police escorted, to raise funds to benefit the community. Registration 9:30 a.m. Kickstands-up 10:30 a.m. $15 Riders and $5 passenger. Food/ Refreshments/Door Prizes. For more information call 910-494- 4513. APRIL 25 • NAM KNIGHTS OF AMERICA MC "TARHEEL CHAPTER" CLUBHOUSE in Spring Lake. Food. Music. Gates open 4 p.m. Call 910-514-8614 for information. MAY 9 • TORCH RUN CHARITY RIDE Retired Military Association Bldg. Parking Lot. Registration and breakfast begin at 8 a.m. Ride begins at 9:30 a.m.$15.00 per rider or passenger. Price covers ride, breakfast and lunch. Rain Date: Saturday, May 16. For more information, call 824- 4208. PATRIOT GUARD RIDERS The Patriot Guard Riders is a diverse group of patriots from every state that come together to honor fallen soldiers at funeral services across the country. Visit www. patriotguard.org for more information about the group. national award-winning barbecue BIKE NIGHTS • LIVE MUSIC • CATERING CRAFT BEERS, MICROBREWS & ALES 482 N. McPhersoN church rd. | 910-354-2590 | MacsPeedshoP.coM Everything has a course. Everyone has a journey. Every motorcyclist begins and finishes their riding life with their own story. One of the nice things about being the local motorcycle reporter is that I get to meet a lot of people and get to know them as riders and in their personal life. For this article, names have been changed because the content touches personal issues in the life of a rider. My cousin Blake is two years old. Last summer his dad whipped out a small little bike that didn't have any pedals. Now, Blake is still in diapers and has his own Yamaha ST-4 balance bike. Fearless, Blake is pushing his little feet, building up speed and his bike takes off. He is laughing and having the time of his life. Some kids have parents that support them riding early. If you have ever visited Wide Open Motorcross Park in Raeford, you will see that motorcycling is a family affair for all ages. Recently, my friend Roy asked me to go with him to research buying his first bike. Roy took the basic motorcycle course at Fayetteville Technical Community College and was ready to go. He wound up buying a Honda 650cc cruiser bike for $2,500.00. Now, Roy is thinking about moving up to larger bike. Although the Harley-Davidson motorcycle is the icon of motorcycles, many first bikes are generally what is called the "Jap-Bikes" which is short for Japanese bikes. These are Suzuki, Kawasaki, Yamaha and Honda brands. These are great starter bikes because they are reliable and less expensive than a Harley. There are a lot of them available on the used market. A rider's first bike is usually a balance between riding style, skill, finances, social standing and marketing pressure. When people ask me which bike they should get, I always ask them, "Where do you see yourself riding"? My first bikes were Japanese brands. Later in life, as my finances improved, I purchased a BMW. At a BMW event, the guest speaker was the VP of BMW Marketing. He explained that Harley-Davidson and BMW needed the Japanese bikes to succeed because most people started off riding on those brands of bikes. They know that if the Japanese bike sales are down, later their sales will be, too. On the other end of the scale, my friend Charlie was hit on his bike. After that accident, he experienced some other injuries and health problems. Charlie loves to ride. He met a lady friend that likes to ride, also, but he was unable to hold up his big Goldwing motorcycle. He has more stories and experiences than just about anyone I know, but age and health are working against him. Charlie, being the kind of guy that never gives up, compensated by buying a CamAm Spyder three wheeler. This is the funny looking motorcycle with the two wheels up front. Now, he has no problems with holding up the bike and his lady friend. This purchase has added several more years to both of their riding enjoyment. My friend Billie asked me if I knew anyone to buy her and her husband Johnny's Harley. Roy and I went to look at it. It was an Ultra-Glide Classic. It was a 2004, and one of the most beautiful bikes I have seen. It has low mileage. They are the original owners, and it looked like it just came off the showroom floor. As he showed us around his garage, the walls were covered with pictures of their riding history. The pictures covered centuries of riding. As I stood there, I felt like I was having a moment because I could see and feel the time and craftsmanship that Johnny had put in his bikes and cars over the years. Time, age and health have caught up to him. It is sad when you see someone who can no longer do the things they want to do. On the other hand, it is wonderful to see that someone has had such a full life riding. For others, finances, tragedy, family, fear or com- mon sense have caused them to stop riding. Just as there is a cycle of life, there is also a cycle in the life of a motorcyclist. Just as exciting as a child taking their first steps, a motorcyclist gets that same excitement when they drive their first mile. From the first to the last, those miles in between gives us our own story. The Lifecycle of Motorcycling by JIM JONES Like many things, motorcycling has a cycle of life.