LOVE LOVE LOVE, my HONDA motorcycles

Love is a word that is often thrown around freely this day in age, without out much thought behind the meaning. I like my truck, I like my bed, I even like my friends. But I love HONDA motorcycles. Honda motorcycles are quality and always have been. I can't even tell you why that is, I don't even know much about the company really, I know roughly around the year when they started building motorcycles(they also build cars, but completely different operation,) but it has nothing to do with the companies history for me.

The first time I threw a leg over a Honda motorcycle was the summer of 1999. It was my best friend's 1996 Honda CR250 dirt bike. He let me ride it up and down the street, leading to probably the goofiest smile plastered on my face the entire time. I remember, that very day I went home and began devising a plan that would enable me to buy that bike, (that bike, as in that model, because there was no way my friend would ever give up that bike for anything, it being a Honda of course.) From the Red, Black, and White color scheme, to the flying wing of Honda's emblem on the side, I knew that these bikes would be the ones I own and ride for my lifetime.

When speaking with other people who also ride, the conversation usually switches pretty fast to asking, “Hey, What kind of bike do you ride?” As unfortunate as it is to say, when they mention a different brand of bike I kind of stop listening to what they say, as I'm not interested anymore. Like a part of me is hoping that they will say Honda, so I can say to myself, “yeah, this person GETS IT too.” Not that I don't get enjoyment out of speaking to anyone at all that rides, as anyone who does ride shares a common bond with me, that only those who have felt the feeling associated with the freedom of two-wheeled travel can understand, but that I honestly see the other brands as inferior machines.

Unfortuantely, no disrespect to owners of other brands of machines, I just do and if I was between bikes and another brand bike came up for sale in my “price range,” I would, and have waited, saved more money and purchased a Honda instead. Honda motorcycles fetch a premium when it comes to buying and selling, very often these bikes will sell well above their “on paper value,” simply because there are a lot of other people like me who understand that it's a fairly exclusive club to own a Honda motorcycle. Knowing that the bikes I own are both Hondas makes me feel good about myself, there is no guarantee that my bikes will not break down or leave me stranded somewhere, just like any other bike would. But EVERY time I get on one of my bikes, I just know that they wont let me down, I just know it. I have wrecked my Honda motocross bike more and worse than probably most people I know. I walk over to it, pick it up, and wouldn't you know, it starts first kick almost every time!

Simply put, people such as myself are willing to spend thousands of dollars more for a bike just because the emblem on the front is backed up by 40+ years of expertise in the two-wheeled industry. I actually have 3 Honda T-shirts that simply have that name and nothing else on the front. That is probably the most egocentric aspect of it, but really at a subconcious level, I am hoping that somebody, even a complete stranger, will strike up a conversation with me so that I can try to sell them on the “awesomeness” of the bikes I love.