04-28-2015, 03:51 PM
Finding the first ding/scratch is always a bit of a bummer as far as I'm concerned. I just found my first paint chip on the lower frontside of my tank the last time I washed my CB1100. Strangely, I didn't even flinch. That's a bit out of character for me.
There's a place here in town that specializes in antique tools - a vendor inside one of those "antique malls" actually. I first happened upon it a few years ago when I was out with my wife and we made a stop there. She made it all they way through all of the other vendor booths before I even stepped out of the booth with the tools. Now I'll stop by there on my own every so often. Usually just to kind of looks things over but every once in a while I'll find a good buy on something that I have a use for. The booth isn't that big, but it's chock full of beautiful old tools of all different sorts. The likes of which are hard to come by these days — each one a great display of craftsmanship made from high quality materials. These are tools that have been well used as intended by their manufacturers. It might seem odd to describe old tools as beautiful, but to me these truly are just that. A big reason for that is the the patina of honest use that they've picked up over time.
That's sort of how I've come to look at motorcycles as well — vintage bikes in particular. The fully restored examples are great to look at and are a nice way of honoring the designs just as they rolled out of the factory. But in their own way the bikes that exhibit a patina of honest wear from use are just as beautiful, if not more so. So it goes with my bikes. My Hawk GT is in really great shape. It's almost completely original although I've replaced a few parts here and there, mostly with OEM units. But it has 25 years on the CB1100 and up close it looks it. You can tell the bike has been used and enjoyed. The CB1100 still pretty much looks like new. There is some wear from my key fob on the top triple clamp and the engine shows signs of interacting with flying road debris (along with the previously mentioned paint chip on the tank). It's inevitable that my CB1100 will end up with more of the same. Fortunately there has been no real major damage to either of my bikes needing to be addressed so far.
The first 19 years that the Hawk spent on the road was with someone other than myself. The wear exhibited by the CB1100 has all come from my use of the bike. It is, and will continue to be, a rolling story of the time I've spent with it, and that's pretty cool.
There's a place here in town that specializes in antique tools - a vendor inside one of those "antique malls" actually. I first happened upon it a few years ago when I was out with my wife and we made a stop there. She made it all they way through all of the other vendor booths before I even stepped out of the booth with the tools. Now I'll stop by there on my own every so often. Usually just to kind of looks things over but every once in a while I'll find a good buy on something that I have a use for. The booth isn't that big, but it's chock full of beautiful old tools of all different sorts. The likes of which are hard to come by these days — each one a great display of craftsmanship made from high quality materials. These are tools that have been well used as intended by their manufacturers. It might seem odd to describe old tools as beautiful, but to me these truly are just that. A big reason for that is the the patina of honest use that they've picked up over time.
That's sort of how I've come to look at motorcycles as well — vintage bikes in particular. The fully restored examples are great to look at and are a nice way of honoring the designs just as they rolled out of the factory. But in their own way the bikes that exhibit a patina of honest wear from use are just as beautiful, if not more so. So it goes with my bikes. My Hawk GT is in really great shape. It's almost completely original although I've replaced a few parts here and there, mostly with OEM units. But it has 25 years on the CB1100 and up close it looks it. You can tell the bike has been used and enjoyed. The CB1100 still pretty much looks like new. There is some wear from my key fob on the top triple clamp and the engine shows signs of interacting with flying road debris (along with the previously mentioned paint chip on the tank). It's inevitable that my CB1100 will end up with more of the same. Fortunately there has been no real major damage to either of my bikes needing to be addressed so far.
The first 19 years that the Hawk spent on the road was with someone other than myself. The wear exhibited by the CB1100 has all come from my use of the bike. It is, and will continue to be, a rolling story of the time I've spent with it, and that's pretty cool.