I grew up riding on the back of my dad's '82 Maxim. After many years of neglect and abandonment I finally moved that bike from his storage into my garage. I'm decent with tools and my hands. I can turn a wrench and curse as needed for proper bike mechanic work. It ran poorly when I got it, but runs decent now. It is not a show piece, but has served my family well.
My wife is not very comfortable with the bike. Our girls love riding with me, but she doesn't care to that much. In partial because her brother was killed in an accident while riding his Maxim. She has let me get the bike and ride it, but it does worry her. Rides are often short and or require multiple check ins if over an hour. I've still managed several thousand miles over the past couple years.
The Maxim has served my family well since 1986. It needs more TLC including new tires, front calipers rebuilt, etc...etc... While discussing this with my wife, she mentioned her desire for me to get rid of the bike. Of course I said "NO WAY"! She quickly clarified that she wants me to replace the bike with something different. Oh yea, I can do that! Looks like my brother will be getting the Maxim soon!
Knowing she thinks motorcycles should cost about $1500 or so, I take her to the local Harley dealer for sticker shock. I made sure to look at the big money bikes. Then I tell her I don't need a Harley and we start looking at metrics. Its what I have and what I've always had from my little 50cc Puch, Honda 100, Shadow 650, and the Maxim 750.
At first I was looking at the Kawasaki Vulcan 900. We went to the dealer and started checking it out. Sat on it and discussed options and add ons and yadda yadda Over in the corner there was a bike that caught my eye. It was long and menacing. A bigger bike for sure, but it called to me. In mid pitch I left the salesman standing talking to my wife and I headed over to the "shinny" that drew my attention. It was a blacked out beast and once my leg cleared the seat, I new this was the one!
The wife is happy with the looks and prefers I go with something other than red or black. I'm really liking the blacked out engine and pipes, but the new white and chrome model is really pulling at me. The bike is different enough from the Maxim that it doesn't remind her of it or her brother's accident. I'll have to get the backrest to add that extra bit of comfort for her, but she didn't think the back end felt to uncomfortable. Granted, once moving things my change, but I've been given the OK to make my choice. I thought picking the bike make and model would be the hard part. It looks like I have about every year and color available. My top choices are Burnt Orange or White, but I have only seen pictures of both so far. Ahhh this is killing me trying to decide!
My wife is not very comfortable with the bike. Our girls love riding with me, but she doesn't care to that much. In partial because her brother was killed in an accident while riding his Maxim. She has let me get the bike and ride it, but it does worry her. Rides are often short and or require multiple check ins if over an hour. I've still managed several thousand miles over the past couple years.
The Maxim has served my family well since 1986. It needs more TLC including new tires, front calipers rebuilt, etc...etc... While discussing this with my wife, she mentioned her desire for me to get rid of the bike. Of course I said "NO WAY"! She quickly clarified that she wants me to replace the bike with something different. Oh yea, I can do that! Looks like my brother will be getting the Maxim soon!
Knowing she thinks motorcycles should cost about $1500 or so, I take her to the local Harley dealer for sticker shock. I made sure to look at the big money bikes. Then I tell her I don't need a Harley and we start looking at metrics. Its what I have and what I've always had from my little 50cc Puch, Honda 100, Shadow 650, and the Maxim 750.
At first I was looking at the Kawasaki Vulcan 900. We went to the dealer and started checking it out. Sat on it and discussed options and add ons and yadda yadda Over in the corner there was a bike that caught my eye. It was long and menacing. A bigger bike for sure, but it called to me. In mid pitch I left the salesman standing talking to my wife and I headed over to the "shinny" that drew my attention. It was a blacked out beast and once my leg cleared the seat, I new this was the one!
The wife is happy with the looks and prefers I go with something other than red or black. I'm really liking the blacked out engine and pipes, but the new white and chrome model is really pulling at me. The bike is different enough from the Maxim that it doesn't remind her of it or her brother's accident. I'll have to get the backrest to add that extra bit of comfort for her, but she didn't think the back end felt to uncomfortable. Granted, once moving things my change, but I've been given the OK to make my choice. I thought picking the bike make and model would be the hard part. It looks like I have about every year and color available. My top choices are Burnt Orange or White, but I have only seen pictures of both so far. Ahhh this is killing me trying to decide!
