The other two wheels... The odyssey is almost over. (incredibly long -- you've been warned)

Or is it really almost begun?

So here's the story.

I've always wanted to ride a motorcycle. But I've always been surrounded by people that made me feel like an idiot for wanting to ride... Parents, first and second exes (the first, being a nurse, called them "donor-cycles". So a while back, my wife brings up the topic of wanting to ride a motorcycle... I'm thrilled. She's shocked, because, like me, all the people around her always made her feel like an idiot for wanting to ride.

So we decide we're going to take the plunge. Look into the MSF courses, the gear, the bikes... I decided that, since SHE brought it up first, that she'll be in the class first, and get geared up first, and get the bike first. So then she gets on this hunt... Which bike? Which helmet? Which jacket? 

She's got her heart set on a Harley. I'm looking at the family finances and cringing. No way. But then the idea of "pre-owned" comes up. Hope restored. But she's adamant about getting one from a dealer and not a private party ("people lie" -- what, like used CAR salesmen don't?). So we find one, we take an afternoon to go look. She decides that the vibration is going to play he!! with her arthritis, so then the hunt starts anew... Which bike?

She decided on the Suzuki C50. They've only been made since 2005, so the used market is pretty bleak. We find one, and go look (last Saturday). A LOT of miles on it. But there's a new one that they'll make a good deal on. We talk... We look at the numbers... They offer zero down financing with a killer APR. Okay, we're good to go, and they deliver it for free. See the pic below of Donna on her shiny new Suzuki C50...

Oh, and she's already signed up for the MSF course in December (4, 6, and 7).

So all along I've been researching, checking craigslist, checking the classifieds of PNWRiders (about the equivalent of the SlowTwitch classifieds). And on Saturday, pretty much ALL of the bikes that I've been looking at dried up. Nothing for 3 days. It's okay, because she was going to get going in all this first. Besides, I wouldn't be able to insure the bike until 30 days before my MSF course, which I wasn't even signed up for...

So on Tuesday, Donna asks when I'm going to sign up for the class. "Don't know." SHe says I can practice on her C50 (I DO NOT want a cruiser...).  So I check. There's openings December 1-3 in Tacoma (closer to home). So I check with Donna... "Go ahead."

So then I'm signed up to take the MSF course three days before her...

And then last night, I'm cruising craigslist... The perfect bike shows up. I respond... And today I picked up the exact bike I was looking for, at a great price (see picture below).

Then I get back home, and Donna is reading through the DMV booklet to take the "riding permit" test. Mind you, with taking the MSF course, we don't really have to take the test at the DMV, but if we get the permits, we can practice on the local low-traffic roads and parking lots legally (not that a little detail like that stops most people). She cajoles me into going down to the DOL office to take the test with her.

So we go. Take a number. Wait. And wait. AND WAIT! Finally we get to take the test. She doesn't pass... But I do (but it's the wrong test -- it's the regular driving written test, I should HOPE I pass it). So I have to start over and take the right test. I pass. So now I'm permitted.

So with just over a month to go before out MSF classes, we've bought two motorcycles in one week (I have the gear except boots, but my hiking boots will work for the time being, she's got the boots and helmet, but needs everything else).

Who said triathlon was expensive?

So is the odyssey almost over, or has it barely begun?