Thanks for the tips, guys!
My wife tolerates my ride, but she sure doesn't like it. She thinks, however, that if she takes a ride on the back, maybe she'll "understand" a little better, and feel better about my safety if she's been aboard herself. I've told her that both she and I know that's bogus, and that she'll probably want off within the first 10 feet - she's admitted that's probably true, but she's hanging onto the idea.
Perhaps even more interesting has been my mother's reaction to my taking up riding. I was sure that she would thoroughly disapprove (now keep in mind that I'm 45 years old!), but in fact after some basic "are you sure about this" questioning, what she said was, "I think I would like a ride." None of you knows my mother, but I'm here to tell you that it came as quite a shock! It may have had something to do with the attached photo.
That's my grandfather, in 1928. I'm told by the "experts" on ADVrider that it's a +/- 1927 JD Harley. It's pretty beat up, but if you could have heard some of his ride stories, you'd understand! He always said, however, that the bike was "old" when he bought it, so I can understand the damage due to rough treatment, but it doesn't explain the patina. I'm still trying to sort that one out. He maintained to the end that the woman on the back was his cousin, but behind his back nobody in his family believed it (not sure why it matters, since he was young and single back then).
Al Smith was the Democratic U.S. presidential candidate in 1928 (he lost the bid to Herbert Hoover - the Republicans were popular in the middle of a time of national prosperity... wait, what was that year again? Oh well...). He was also a strong opponent of prohibition, so good on ya', Al. And you, too, Gramps!