Pat Powell

AKA:

I've enjoyed motorcyles for many years. My first was a 1958 Cushman Eagle. That I thought was "the cat's meow" -- it couldn't get any better.

But it did. My first "real" motorcyle was a Honda Superhawk (it was about a year old when I got it and it was either a 1965 or 1966). Wow -- even a push button starter. And did it run! Sold it, however, when we built our first home, but a few years later found me with a Honda 450 (gold AND nice -- a 1970 model I think). Then I sold it but stumbled on a nearly new Honda 550 (1975 model?). It was nice too but I only had it a few years until my brother talked me out of it.

Then in 1984 I came upon a completely different bike when I bought a pristine 1982 Suzuki 850GL. It was -- and still is beautiful. Runs great and has been a joy to own. Smoothness in shifting gears on this driveshaft Suzuki just can't be matched.

My most recent bike came about after a ride with my son and some of his friends. During our meal (there's always eating, right), mention was made of a 2002 Goldwing with virtually no miles on it that was for sale. The rest is history -- within a couple of weeks it was mine! And although I'm sure that there are nicer bikes in the world, so far I just can't imagine anything nicer for me than this Goldwing.

So, I'm trying to enjoy it as much as I can and ride more than I've ever been able to. This last Saturday Southern Cruisers helped me with a 300 plus mile trip. Now that I've retired after being gone from home more than at home during my career (flying commercially as a corporate pilot does that), I truly enjoy seeing the terrain at ground level rather than from 39,000 or 41,000 feet.