From a very early age, taking things apart, fixing and building things were, and are my passions.
At the age of 14, I finally convinced my father to allow me to buy a motorcycle. My first bike was a 1973 Honda SL100 enduro. Every winter I would rip the bike apart and repair it, and every summer, I would ride like hell.
My friends would wreck their bikes and I would buy them, repair them and in some cases, sell them back, rebuilt. This skill led me to become a Certified HD Mechanic and repair forklifts as a trade.
In my early years of motorcycle riding, I dreamt of going to South America, but life, work, and family got in the way. This dream was forgotten or postponed. Over the years, I had numerous bikes and then in 2001 I traded up to a Goldwing.
In 2004, my friend, Norm, informed me that I was allowed to have more than 1 motorcycle. So came a KLR650 for the service roads. Something a little quicker for the straight stretches and more comfortable for the long hauls, than a XL185, XL200R or XL250R, than I was used to riding.
2006 came along and the South America dream was rekindled with discusions of a few buddies. Since my son, Michael has been riding since the age of 5, I considered a father/son adventure. As our first road trip was to Sturgis Rally when he was 9 years old and he was a great sport, I asked him if he would like to go on a trip to South America. He immediately jumped at the idea.
With Michael being 18 years old and me be 51 years young, I'm sure we will have different views of the trip. I am looking forward to reading his accounts of this adventure.
Plan:
- Travel to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska when he turned 16 and received his Learners Driver's Licence.
- Travel to Ushauia, Argentina after graduating Grade 12 (18 years old).
Rules:
- Michael must pay for 1/2 of his trip.
- Michael must graduate grade 12 with good marks.
- He had to learn some Spanish. (Took 2 years of Spanish in school) I hope its enough because my grey matter isn't as absorbent.
- He has to recieve his full Driver's Licence. Test to remove his "N" (new driver restriction) is scheduled for September 23, 2010. Michael passed his final Driver's Test, today. He should have his NEW Drivers Licence in about a week.. Ya-Hoo!
How are the rules going?
Like many 18 year olds, he appears to live for the moment. Michael continues to work 2 jobs and confirms that he will have saved his portion by the end of September.
In support of him, Michael participated extremely well at school this year, costing him much time that he could have been working and saving for the trip. He played a significant role in the school production of "Grease" and was awarded top honors. He played in the Sardis Senior Secondary Drumline, which performed at "Whistler Mountain" at the 2010 Olympics. They were a smash hit, initially scheduled to perform 16 times and ended up with 60 performances, not to mention TV interviews. We are very proud of him.
