Modifying the Read

Originally Published in Southeastern Rider Magazine, March 2018

As a motorcycle owner, we all know we’re going to make changes.

I don’t know a lot of fellow bikers who buy a bike off the show room floor, only put gas, oil, and other essentials in it, and just ride. Sure, it may even have “Custom” in the title, but we buy bikes that are built for the masses. Then begins the journey to make it our own. Buying the bike is just the start, of the miles and accessories. Heck, I think I ordered the seat I have on my Honda VTX 1800 before I even took ownership of the bike! I was already locked into the purchase of the bike with a credit card deposit, so I only needed to sign the papers and take delivery.

This is The Black Pearl on the way home from the
dealership, completely stock, except for the rain
stains from 200 miles in a downpour.

After some modifications, like the seat, windshield, bags,
trunk mount and exhaust. The biggest modification today
is the addition of 92,000 miles.

Among the list of items I have added: hard saddle bags, windshield, grips, exhaust, a few engine modifications, and several top cases or trunks. Trunks seemed to have been a bit of a weak spot. Besides having changed a few out for the sake of style, I have also had a few mechanical failures. One of the top cases flew off the back of the bike while riding in Louisiana. We were heading for the Natchez Trace to take it back home to Indiana. We had left the Hoosier State about a week early, and made it out to Carlsbad, New Mexico. This was the year following Hurricane Katrina ripping through the gulf. Fortunately, since the case held my computer and camera, it slid gently along the road, and the semi-truck following our group of three bikes, got stopped in time. We were able to strap it to one of the other bikes until we had stopped at a hotel that evening, and I could do some modifying.

Change doesn’t always come with putting a wrench on the bike. Even while we are riding, we have to modify all kinds of things. Road conditions can cause us to change our behavior. I like to ride out in the country, but I can still run into traffic. Often times, the traffic is a slow-moving tractor or other farm implement, but that still requires change. Don’t even get my riding partner started on alterations made because of slow driving mini-vans. 

Then there is Mother Nature, who can throw cause for change at you in an instant. A gust of wind, liquid sunshine, even thick clouds rolling passed the sun can be cause for change. Weather conditions can lead wardrobe modifications. Let’s face it, we make change to keep ourselves comfortable.
As we hurl through the air, we all should be thinking about the modifications we may have to make, it’s what helps keep the shiny side up. We should also be aware of the changes we want to make. Yearning to experience something new is what riding is all about, as well.

So, you can see, motorcycling is all about movement. We are always heading somewhere whether we are behind the bars or got our hands on a wrench. Maybe that is what makes it so easy for someone like me to not only change, but seek out change. I do find myself asking how can I make this better.

With each of these articles I write, I strive to improve. I push myself to convey the elements in ways that can put you on the road with me. Sometimes I feel like I have outdone myself, and it take a couple of essays to get back ahead. This is my 20^th piece for South Eastern Rider Magazine, and I feel like it is time for another change. As I approach two years of being a published writer, I consider this more and more a side gig. I can feel the movement from hobby to something else. I’m no longer just tinkering around, this is a major modification of my motorcycling mortality. Behind the scenes, I have been collecting my motorcycle stories in the blog that is mentioned below, and also assembling them into a potential book. A few months ago, I finally came up with a working title, which has also become my brand. Welcome to “Life in Motion: If you aren’t moving, you aren’t living”.

My 1985 Shadow 700. Before this, the modifications I  did
to motorcycles was to get them back running and road worthy.
I made these saddle bags, and added a CB Radio Set-up.

Between two black bikes, I had this Honda Shadow Sabre
that I added a Cobra Exhaust, Leatherlyke Saddle Bags,
and a backrest.

Riding a motorcycle is long journey broken into many smaller treks. Each ride is a new chapter. It’s easy to know when the next chapter starts on two wheels, but not so much in life. Sometimes we have to decide that a story is done, it is time to start riding, I mean writing, the next one. I hope you continue to enjoy the voyage with me as I start this new chapter.

Rodney Myers is a Rider, a Writer, and Video Storyteller. He started riding around age 5. He made up stories before he knew how to write, and was fortunate enough to attend a high school that had a television station.

To read more of my motorcycle stories, you can check out my Motorcycle Blog at:

www.Blogspot.RodneysMCBlog.com