Aah, the good old days, when near glaciers covered the roads and sometimes whole houses too from thanksgiving through easter. In those long cold months when motorcycling was impossible and even four wheelers had a hard time, we settled back and rebuilt our bikes in anticipation of the upcoming summer’s brief riding season. The worse the winter, the more we got fixed. And parts delays? As long as the UPS driver could make it through by St.Patrick’s Day, we had plenty of time.

Well, this global warming or whatever is a serious threat to our gearhead lifestyle. After riding through Christmas Day, I finally made the mandatory migration to Florida, more to do battle with the trailer park landlord than escape winter. I came back to Minnesota the first week in february, and was able to ride about half the days since. We finally had our week of winter, and the forecast for the next week is 60s almost every day, with temps above freezing every night. You’d think I could get some spring showers at least, but there’s barely an even chance on sunday night.

So here I sit with the ST all apart, the GS needs fork seals and a few other bits, and the LS needs at least it’s front turn signal sorted and is desperate for paint. Fixing a stress crack in the Spyder sidecar is turning into a battle of penetrating oil and drilling out rusted fasteners. I should feel guilty, ignore the sunshine, and press on in the shop.

But noooo… I’m already plotting a ride to look at the previously noted old bike horde in the NoDak state, and I may defy the rain and ride to the cities on sunday. Heck, the two dealers that might have airhead parts are only 100 and 150 miles away, more nice day trips…

Then again, this global warming or whatever could be a good thing… With no need for cars, I can afford more motorcycles!