After years of Harley angst, I finally got one back in June. Unfortunately, that led to even more angst. There was a problem with the transmission, and after several failed attempts at fixing it and me refusing to roll over when Harley said “Just live with it,” they finally agreed to buy it back from me. So that took care of my lemon problem, but also left me back in the I-want-a-Harley state of angst again.

Well, angst no more. Yesterday, I bought this little beauty:

That’s a 2003 Harley-Davidson Anniversary Edition FLTRI Road Glide with a Tour-Pak, 95″ Big Bore engine, 6-speed Jim’s transmission, oil cooler, and assorted chromey sparkly bits, and I got it all for less than the sticker price on the 06 model I bought in the first place.

I’m a happy camper. A happy Harley owning camper.

Beth and I are celebrating our 11th wedding anniversary next Sunday. 11 years. Damn, that’s a long time. As Beth observed over Father’s Day dinner tonight, that’s longer than anyone’s been married in both our families — parents included.

I couldn’t wait to give Beth her gift, so I gave it to her today. The traditional gift for the 11th is steel. The modern gift is fashion jewelry. I combined the two: I gave her a motorcycle. Here’s my blushing bride taking her new scoot for a spin around the block.

She wears it well, huh? There’s nothing hotter than a chick on a bike…

Happy Anniversary, honey!

I’ve wanted a Harley for years. That’s no secret to anyone — I’ve talked about it here, and among friends and family it’s a given that if you’re going to ask me what I want for a gift-giving occasion — birthday, Christmas, anniversary, Father’s Day, whatever — I’m going to say “Harley. Road King Classic. Vivid Black.” And oh my, have the family and friends had fun with me about that — they’ve given me a Harley desk calendar, a Harley telephone that goes “vroom-vroom” when it rings, and a Harley clock that plays a sound clip of a Harley going by every hour on the hour. Oh, the comedy. So every single day when I tear off a page on the calendar, and every time the phone rings, and 24 times a day when the clock marks the hour, I am reminded that I don’t have a Harley.

Well, I do now.

That stupid clock was the last straw. I announced to Beth after I got it that this is The Year of the Harley. If you want something done right you have to do it yourself, so I pledged that come hell or high water I was getting myself a Harley this year. I picked up my brand new, 2006 Harley-Davidson Road Glide last Saturday:

No, it’s not a Road King Classic. I don’t know what happened — all this time I’ve been saying that’s what I wanted, and then I went and bought something completely different. Go figure. But the point is that I’m finally riding a Harley.

Life is good.

I’ve had a Harley at the top of my Christmas list for years now. Anytime someone asks me what I want for Christmas, the answer is simple: “Harley. Road King Classic. Vivid Black. Leather Tour Pak. Thanks.” This year I even started telling people that giving me a Road King for Christmas would earn them a “get out of jail free” no-gift card from me for life — they’d never have to give me another gift for the rest of their lives.

So me wanting a Road King is a Christmas tradition. But you already know that, you remember two years ago when my family actually gave me a Harley for Christmas — a Harley telephone. It’s in Zoe’s room now. She loves it. Me? Still riding the Yamaha Road Star.

Well, guess what? This year the family heard me. This time they knew I really wanted a Harley and that while the Harley telephone was funny, it wasn’t what I really wanted. So this year it’s Harley time. Literally:

Sigh…

When I was in Bozeman, MO over Labor Day weekend in 2003, I rented a Road King and rode it all weekend. I went through Yellowstone National Park and over the Beartooth Highway and I learned why Harley lovers love Harleys. It was the best motorcycling experience I’ve had in my life, and I say that after riding for 20+ years.

I kept my digital camera hung around my neck and did a lot of one-handed navigating as I snapped pictures while I rode — not exactly a recommended safety procedure when you’re going through a hairpin turn at 10,000 feet or are stuck in a traffic jam 10 feet away from a 2,000 pound buffalo who hates loud noises. I took a lot of pictures that weekend but didn’t have the webspace to share them. Now that I’ve leapt aboard the flickr bandwagon, I do.

Check out my Yellowstone slide show.

Here’s a phonecam image I shot yesterday on returning to my parked motorcycle after seeing a movie. I’m kind of proud of it.

I call it Hog & Piglets

I met a couple of former coworkers for lunch the other day. I’m normally not a “let’s hang out with people we work with” kind of guy — they have to pay me to associate with those people for 8 hours a day and then I’m supposed to be with them even more for free? Huh uh, not this misanthrope. But I made an exception for Wendy and Diana because they were two of my favorite people at that job. Plus, they drove up from Orange County just to see me. (Well, okay, just to go shopping at a particular store in L.A., but they said they’d try to fit me in for lunch.) So I hopped on my bike and headed over the hill.

Here we are when things were good right after lunch…

Good times, good times…

But then Diana mentioned that she just got her motorcycle license and that she’s buying a bike of her own and wow can she sit on my bike just for a second? And then Wendy got all excited about how big the motorcycle was and how cool Diana looked on it and can she sit on it with her? So I was weak: I said yes. I let them “sit” on my bike…

…and can you believe those bitches stole it???

See if I ever fraternize with former coworkers again.

Today was one of those days that make you glad you live in Southern California: sunny and warm and dry. Motorcycle weather, in other words. So I fired up the Road Star and headed out to get some bugs in my teeth, some wind in my, uh, scalp and some grub in my gut.

• 101 Freeway north about 20 miles to Kanan Road
• Kanan Road over and through the Santa Monica Mountains to Pacific Coast Highway.
• PCH north past Zuma Beach to Neptune’s Net, the best combination seaside seafood/biker destination in Southern California.
• Breakfast/Lunch: Fish, clams & chips combo basket with a Diet Pepsi while sitting in the sun and checking out all my fellow bikers’ rides.
• PCH south for about 25 miles through Malibu to Sunset Blvd.
• Twist and turn down Sunset Blvd to the 405 Freeway along the same route Jeff Bridges raced James Woods Porsche vs Ferrari in Against All Odds.
• 405 Freeway north to the 101 south to home.

Here’s the route…

…and here’s the ocean view from Neptune’s Net.

94 miles, 4 hours, too many dead bugs to count. All things considered, not a bad way to start the day.

Here’s 2000 words for ya:

I think that pretty much says it all.

The good news is, with your help I raised $306 for the Love Ride.

The bad news is we didn’t hit my target of $500, at which point I said I’d post a picture of me doing something of your choosing.

The good news is you don’t have to see another picture of me doing something stupid like this:

I mean, once you’ve had something like this burned into your brain, I think we can all agree that you really never need to see its ilk again. Missing that $500 target was probably a good thing. And I apologize like hell for posting that Boobie-thon picture again.

So I’ll be heading out on the Love Ride tomorrow morning, and due to a last minute change of plans I’m not going alone: I’m taking Zoe with me. Words cannot describe how thrilled she is about this.

Or maybe they can. When we got home from picking up the registration materials from Glendale Harley-Davidson today, where we surprised Zoe with signing her up to ride with me, she made a beeline for the phone to call her best friend, and the 30-second conversation went a little something like this:

Hey, remember that motorcycle ride with all the motorcycles I told you about that my dad is going on? I’M going! Yeah, I’m going too. Way. Yes-Way. Uh huh. Okay, I’ll see you Monday. Bye.

Short, sweet, almost breathless, and bursting with pride that “I’M going!” It makes me glad that I can make her day like this.

So we’ll be riding two-up tomorrow, me and my Peanut. I’m sure this will be a major memory moment for her, which is one of the cool things about being a parent. And later in life she’ll be able to say that her first concert was Lynyrd Skynyrd at an outdoor motorcycle rally. I think that’s pretty cool too.

Thanks again to everyone who donated to the cause. I appreciate your generosity in helping me to help others. Thank you.