Two Up with the Boss

Recently, as you likely know if you follow any of my social channels [insta & twitter], I finished up the mods to the ’06 Scrambler I’d been looking forward to completing.  Well now that they’re all done it’s been nice riding the shiny “new” toy full of newfound horses and torque.  It’s been an absolute blast around the city as well as in the mountain twisties.  One of the small changes I’d made to the bike was the addition of a solo seat with rear rack.  Little did I know that it’s primary function, up to this point, would be and expensive dust collector and consumer of precious garage space.

That’s right, if you hadn’t already guessed it based on the title, my wife has been the reason for keeping the stock seat on the bike.  She hadn’t been all that interested in riding with me in the past…I guess the one time she rode on my HD Sportster 1200 that lacked any form of comfort and nearly rattled her teeth loose was enough to throw in the towel for a bit.  But this new Triumph…not nearly as intimidating as some of the other bikes I’ve owned, and far more comfortable than the Harley or dual sports I had hanging around the garage.  No, this bike is different, and it’s been a nice addition to an otherwise bleak time in history.

This Covid-19 bullshit has got the world shut down for the most part.  I won’t go into my true feelings on it, that’s an article for another day, but being able to hop on two wheels and just go no where with my wife has been quite nice.  It allows us a good excuse to get out of the house for a while and get some fresh air and something new to look at, whether we go to the mountains or just down the block.  Sure, you could argue that taking a drive in a car is the same thing, except anyone who has ridden knows that’s a lie.

Usually I’m not a fan of riding two up but Alexa has been an amazing passenger.  She doesn’t squirm, knows how to lean into turns, and most importantly is finally figuring out the madness behind this passion that consumes so many dollars and time.  Not to say she ever questioned or had a problem with it in the past, but it was just something I loved that she accepted vs now she can actually understand the “why” behind my craving for two wheels.

Who knows where this will go, maybe it will remain a casual “something to do” or maybe she’ll be interested in moto-travel with me down the road…either way, it’s been nice being able to have one more hobby to do together in a time of having very few of the usual activities going on.