First things first… the new bike has been christened “Pegasus”. Sharmila named this one. The first one was named Phoenix by Natasha.

Second, the maiden trip included a stop at my best friend’s (Amitesh) house first . He, being a man of high standards had made himself scarce when I showed up. After having a brief conversation with his dog across a glass window – a la in a prison – I proceeded to my ultimate destination – the hospice I spend time in every Sunday afternoon.

The first realization of novelty hit me moment I got off the bike. I had no rear bag. Or any face masks for that matter that I carry in it. Fortunately, the hospice gave me a couple!!

Met up with John over coffee and got a lot of tips for my new motorbike.

After sticking with the first motorbike of my life for four years (to the day almost) and 21,000 miles, I finally got a new bike. Had a great experience with the Honda CTX 700 but this time went with a little more power in the Honda Rebel 1100. The feel of the ride and the sitting position are different and will certainly need some getting used to.

In the meanwhile, I need to find a name for this successor of Phoenix.

Thank you John Moore for pushing me to upgrade and finding this specific bike in the next state.

No, this was no company going public in Wall Street. This was just me going public with the purchase of my new motorbike!!

20 thousand miles of motorbiking in about 3 years and 9 months. When I started on this crazy idea at the age of 51 to try out motorbiking for the first time in my life, I would not have guessed that I would do it for 4 years. Nor that I would keep my first motorbike for 20,000 miles…

The love for biking and the bike itself are going strong so far!!

Met up with the old biker friends – John, Avi and Rakesh at a great place – Bestie’s Empanadas. Great food and coffee…

Even better topics of discussion – Afghanistan, guns, millennials and careers!