[QGolden]

Yup, Good wives are hard to come by. My Bride of nearly 30 years is one of the best. She has always been supportive of any hair-brained, half witted, over the top idea I have come up with. She supports me working in my shop building my current Speedster. The last project that came out of my shop was an Ultralight Aircraft that I built and flew. She even first spotted my last toy, a '68 Chevy Pickup, and told me about it..

When we were fist married, I was into Motorcycles, it was a lifestyle for me. Houses and Kids replaced the bike and I had a few beaters, but could not afford a nice one. Every spring when the new Harley brochures came out, we would invariably have this conversation: "Do you think this is the year we get a new Harley?" "Nope, not this year Honey" was always the reply, "we need to replace the"...Floor, deck, car, roof, fill in the need here. After about 15 years things got easier and one day after the annual question, she replied: "Do we need a brand new one? Can we find a used one, maybe a year old?." Worked for me, off lease Police issue Harley's are only a year old and often only have a few thousand miles on them. Well I found a Road King with 2000 miles on it, a Chiefs bike from a neighboring town, and we bought it. 6 months later we are in the Harley shop for one reason or another. I am chewing the fat with the salesman that sold my bike to me. He spies my wife over in the corner sitting on a bike. So we walk over and she is sitting on a two year old Superglide, Bright Red, Flame Pinstripes, well Chromed and optioned. "I like this bike" she said. I said, well yes, it is nice, you need different handlebars for your reach, Maybe some forward controls, but when you are ready for your own bike, that would be a good model for you to consider. This Woman who bore me 6 children, and I thought I knew pretty well looks me right in the eye and says, "You evidently did not hear me, I said I like THIS Bike".

Friends, it took me 15 years to get a new Bike, took her one trip to the Harley Dealer. Oh well, it was worth it, we sure had a good time touring on those Harley's.