The Cormanus Chronicles: Remembering Jake and Elwood

[Cormanus]

Thanks for the kind words, EmptySea. It’s good to be writing again, if only because it means I’m touring again.

Thanks also for the generous invitation. It has thrown the year’s planning into total disarray.

Cormanus, how does it feel so close to the 100k mile marker? Territory most bikes weren't meant to tread

Misterprofessionality, my apologies for not responding more promptly to your question. I read it and realised it was worth thinking about. And then, because I’m a geezer, I forgot all about it.

Is it right that most bikes aren’t meant to get to that sort of mileage? Or is it that most people either use their motorcycle(s) infrequently or change them like their socks? In either of those cases, the bike won’t put on big miles. Or is it that people believe motorcycles aren't made to travel that sort of distance?

It feels great to be running down 160,000 kms. The bike is going really well, although it is now approaching 15 years old and showing signs of all the kms it’s travelled. That's not the important bit, though. If you’d told me when I bought this bike that it would take me where it has, I may well have laughed at you. Buying the bike led to my joining this forum which led to my accepting an invitation to take a multi-day ride south. I made a new friend and enjoyed the trip enormously. NoRoomtoMove, AussieFlyer, GrahamT, and particularly Pterodactyl and I have ridden a good few kilometres together now and have had some wonderful experiences. I've ridden places with Enzo and Tezza. Inhouse Bob came to Australia for a little ride with us. All because of the CB1100.

How could it not feel great? The good bit of approaching 160,000 kms is the friends I've made, the places it's taken me, and the experiences I've had. Those things result in memories and have enriched my life. It even led me to the USA to ride in the first CB1100forum rally. Who'd have missed that?

Now ... what to do about Scotland?