@blaineg We’re 25 years strong and I’m allowed to have all the pew-pews I want, so I think that is a reasonable compromise Although I’m not allowed to ask about how many shoes she has, so I might need re-evaluate some things
edit - When we moved from Florida to Maryland there was actually a moving box labeled ‘White pumps’. Not pumps, not white shoes. Just white pumps. I think we have a walk-in closet in the master bedroom, but I’ve never seen it…
@blaineg@capnjb My wife and I have been together for nearly 35 years. There are shoes (and clothes) in her closet that I have never seen her wear.
(To be fair, there are 2 motorcycles in my barn that I haven’t ridden in almost 10 years…)
@capnjb I am allowed to have all the pew-pews I want, too! However, my finances only allow for so much. I am still pretty new to it. Thankfully, the range I belong to has a lot of fun rental firearms.
What are your favorites? Do you hunt? Compete? Job?
@KNmeh7 Ok, so without creating an unfortunately large footprint with the ATF I’ll say this: I have my father’s Winchester model 21 20 gauge. It is a very low serial number and probably worth $15K+. My dad bought it in the early1950’s and he babied it. It was his pheasant gun. It’s in like new condition… and it’s my favorite trap gun. Light and accurate. I lost my dad last year so even though it is quite valuable, I’ll never sell it.
I also have a Browning 12 gauge that my dad bought me when I was in high school in the 80’s. That’s my goose gun. It has provided a number of meals It’s pretty great.
Continuing with long guns (and I’m not going to list everything) my favorite plinker is a Smith & Wesson M&P 15-22. It’s just a fun gun to shoot cheap ammo down range. Doesn’t kick at all and I’m trying to get my wife to come with me to the range. Baby steps.
My favorite big boy AR is an IWI ZION-15 chambered in .556. It’s pretty tricked out including Sig Sauer Romeo and Juliet optics. I’m currently building a .308 from the ground up because one of my bucket list items is I want to make a 1/2 mile shot. Maybe more once that is done
For pistols, my main sidearm is a Glock 19. I’d love to get a Kimber 1911 .45, but yeah… budget
@capnjb That’s great that you have sentimental firearms. I have a G19 style pistol made by Faxon. My .556 AR is made by them as well. I have a cheap Turkish 12 gauge.
What I really love is my CZ 457 22lr. For shooting cheap ammo. Or not-as-cheap Eley at distance. My range has the 15-22 in the pink “muddy girl” coating and it indeed one heck of a fun gun. One of the employees has a can on his and says it is his favorite.
@capnjb@KNmeh7 I have both a Glock 19 and a Kimber 1911 (and more than a few others ). Both are great pistols, but I also like the G19 for EDC.
My wife grew up on a rural South Dakota farm. She was cool with firearms, but had never shot a handgun. So I took her down to my makeshift range in our woods to give her some practice with the G19 (just in case). Turns out she is a natural - she consistently got mostly in the black at 10 yards. She also was cool as I built my collection (in return, she has complete freedom over feeding her sewing habit ). Works for us.
@KNmeh7@macromeh That sounds like a great collection Macromeh. The next item on my list is some sort of bullpup. I was leaning rifle, but IWI makes a Tavor TS12 bullpup shotgun with three rotating magazines and depending on the load, you can have 15 shells loaded. 16 if you keep one in the tube. I really have no reason for it. Not sure it’s a hunting shotty, but for home defense, it’s pretty damn sexy
@blaineg@capnjb@f00l@macromeh Absent being jinxed by a comment on the internet, my stuff is secured. I mean, if someone wanted something in my house and I was gone for two days. . . there isn’t much except private security that is going to stop that. Sorry to hear about your relative.
@blaineg@f00l@KNmeh7@macromeh When my dad re-did his master bathroom he put in a secret compartment. It was a normal sized closet with four hooks in the back for hanging robes but if you pulled one of the hooks forward, it opened a space with two shotguns that were ready to go. He was an artist and an architect, and you’d never know they were there if you didn’t know what you were looking for.
@blaineg@f00l@KNmeh7@macromeh When my dad started his slide into dementia, his old memories were rock solid. He could tell you everything about a ball game he went to in 1941. But his short-term memory just abandoned him. He’d ask you the same question 5 times in a 10-minute conversation. It was tough to watch that progression. He grew up with guns and taught me to use them properly. And as his mental state was failing, I knew he could probably still load a gun with his eyes closed. We were over for dinner one evening and I just said to my wife, ‘I need to pull all the guns from this house’. My wife and I have very differing opinions about firearms, but she just looked at me, gave no argument, nodded and said ‘do it’. That was a tough moment, but it was the right thing to do.
I know someone who was asked to be on the HD board. Extensive transportation industry experience.
She accepted. One of the conditions was that she learned to ride and owned one.
The kids were about grown and they had great insurance policies/investments and trustworthy family and godparents. So they went for it. She and hubby have had some wonderful times since then.
My mom was an ER nurse when my parents met. Not that my dad was into motorcycles, but one of her conditions was no motorcycles. I wasn’t raised with a desire for them. Superbikes and motocross are cool; Harley Davidson . . . South Park did those folks justice.
I drive a Nissan Sentra, and am already massively undersized on the road. I can’t imagine not having some body panels between me and the rest of the idiots on the road.
Hmm you ride a motorcycle to: break a leg, to get road burn through your clothes and remove some skin while you are at it, hit a pot hole (common around here and some are really deep) and learn how to fly with no wings and no parachute, do wheelies down the interstate so that you can have a free ride on someone’s hood/windshield, get massively sunburned when it is 100 degrees out and 99% humidity, to get a free shower and blow dry in a rain storm (the blow dry happens after the rain stops)… The list is likely longer than this but this is a good start. Feel free to add things I left out.
@blaineg@Kidsandliz
Driving a motorcycle is clearly not for everyone. That is part of the appeal.
SWMBO and I had several in our younger days. Eventually swapped out to convertibles since we could raise the top and eliminate most of the issues you mentioned above (plus space for kids). Miss having a bike and am considering an electric motorcycle if I can get range and speed reconciled with $$.
@Kidsandliz
I had my thrills in my younger years [late 20-'s to 30 y/o] with one- a 1980 Kawasaki KZ-750 Twin [which I think was actually a late 1979 model because the twins were discontinued in favor of the 4-cylinder models between the '79 and '80 model-years].
I bought from a guy [also an ER nurse] who had kept it in storage since he bought his Goldwing, so it needed some TLC- I stripped to the frame, then re-built and re-painted it, then rode it everywhere.
This was during the last gasp of my 1st marriage when I didn’t much care what happened to me. I had a couple of close calls in traffic, but nothing that caused any injuries, thank God.
After we divorced and I met my current SWMBO, I chose to sell it [for about break even counting my parts $'s] to another guy in his mid-40’s who was clearly going through a mid-life crisis, because I suddenly developed motivation to live a lot longer [and decided to go to PA school as well].
No motorcycle, might get one when the kids all move out and we have a little spare money… Actually, what Id probably have more fun with is a dirt bike… We’ve got a land and hills… I imagine I could have fun with that.
@OnionSoup i’ve had many MCs over the years and still ride an '06 Sportster 1200XL (when weather and body permit). But only ever had one dirt bike: it was a '70 Honda CBR750 K1 i bought new when in the USAF. Took it climbing some on hills around Abilene TX. Got some funny looks, but generally could out-climb many others (with a running start). The dual 4 into 2 pipes were less trouble than you’d expect. By far, most of the mileage for that one was on the highway; 500 per weekend for a long time. Still would’ve been my favorite, but an encounter with a deep pot hole split the crankcase and trashed it.
Several girl friends and the one wife liked riding with me (but not approved by their parents…)
@OnionSoup
Once I retire, I’m buying E-Bikes for both of us- or possibly E-Trikes, given the likelihood of my needing another knee replacement in the foreseeable future.
@OnionSoup@PhysAssist I have also been considering an E-bike. It is ~12 miles from my house to the nearest town, so about a 24 mile round trip. Unfortunately, the last 3.25 miles to my house is uphill all the way (~700 ft elevation gain). I’m not sure I could make it pedaling (after the previous 20+ miles). An E-bike could make the last leg tolerable.
When my sons were in their teens they had saved some money, but not enough for a car. They threatened to buy a motorcycle unless I gave them the necessary additional $$ for a car. Their blackmail worked.
I was VERY into BMX and trick bikes and had a job when I was 12 and 13, made enough to buy my own little dirtbike, but was never allowed to due to my mother’s fear. Fast forward 25 years and I finally bought one when we got some land and it has been an absolute blast. I also got into street bikes and have owned 5, all of which are fun in their own ways. I’m now 55 and I make trails and jumps on my land all the time, it keeps me in shape and sharp. Your comfort zone is always either expanding or contracting, never static. Some here sound like their zone is smaller than others, as was my mother’s, but please don’t allow that to stifle your kids’ dreams, or possibly your own. Yes, there are idiots on the road, but if you stay aware and don’t act a fool, you’ll be fine.
Ahhh. The feeling of freedom, the interaction with nature, the closeness to the other rider. … love me a good motorcycle ride. Any time I have to do 2 truths and a lie, I put in the fact I have an M endorsement on my license. Fools most people.
No motorcycles, but up until about a year ago, I had a Vespa (my second one in almost 25 years). I drove it everywhere, even on highways. I even got an EZ Pass for it. It was a 2005 Granturismo 200 that topped about at about 75, but I usually kept to about 65 on the Mass Pike. It was great for driving in downtown Boston too, where there are too many double-parked cars. Sold it with just over 20,000 miles on it.
My son bought a motorcycle while he was living in East Boston. He loved it, and rode it everywhere when the weather was cooperative. He now lives in Pittsburgh and still rides it a good bit.
I’m glad he picked up my love and appreciation for motorcycles. I totally trust his judgment, and know that he is a very careful and aware rider. I wouldn’t hesitate to go riding with him anytime.
For me it comes down to two choices.
That’s a shame. I’ve got 30 years of marriage & motorcycles. Preceded by many years of being single with motorcycles.
@blaineg We’re 25 years strong and I’m allowed to have all the pew-pews I want, so I think that is a reasonable compromise
Although I’m not allowed to ask about how many shoes she has, so I might need re-evaluate some things 
edit - When we moved from Florida to Maryland there was actually a moving box labeled ‘White pumps’. Not pumps, not white shoes. Just white pumps. I think we have a walk-in closet in the master bedroom, but I’ve never seen it…
@blaineg @capnjb My wife and I have been together for nearly 35 years. There are shoes (and clothes) in her closet that I have never seen her wear.
(To be fair, there are 2 motorcycles in my barn that I haven’t ridden in almost 10 years…)
@capnjb I am allowed to have all the pew-pews I want, too! However, my finances only allow for so much. I am still pretty new to it. Thankfully, the range I belong to has a lot of fun rental firearms.
What are your favorites? Do you hunt? Compete? Job?
@KNmeh7 Ok, so without creating an unfortunately large footprint with the ATF I’ll say this:
I have my father’s Winchester model 21 20 gauge. It is a very low serial number and probably worth $15K+. My dad bought it in the early1950’s and he babied it. It was his pheasant gun. It’s in like new condition… and it’s my favorite trap gun. Light and accurate. I lost my dad last year so even though it is quite valuable, I’ll never sell it.
I also have a Browning 12 gauge that my dad bought me when I was in high school in the 80’s. That’s my goose gun. It has provided a number of meals
It’s pretty great.
Continuing with long guns (and I’m not going to list everything) my favorite plinker is a Smith & Wesson M&P 15-22. It’s just a fun gun to shoot cheap ammo down range. Doesn’t kick at all and I’m trying to get my wife to come with me to the range. Baby steps.
My favorite big boy AR is an IWI ZION-15 chambered in .556. It’s pretty tricked out including Sig Sauer Romeo and Juliet optics. I’m currently building a .308 from the ground up because one of my bucket list items is I want to make a 1/2 mile shot. Maybe more once that is done
For pistols, my main sidearm is a Glock 19. I’d love to get a Kimber 1911 .45, but yeah… budget
@capnjb That’s great that you have sentimental firearms. I have a G19 style pistol made by Faxon. My .556 AR is made by them as well. I have a cheap Turkish 12 gauge.
What I really love is my CZ 457 22lr. For shooting cheap ammo. Or not-as-cheap Eley at distance. My range has the 15-22 in the pink “muddy girl” coating and it indeed one heck of a fun gun. One of the employees has a can on his and says it is his favorite.
@capnjb @KNmeh7 I have both a Glock 19 and a Kimber 1911 (and more than a few others
). Both are great pistols, but I also like the G19 for EDC.
). Works for us.
My wife grew up on a rural South Dakota farm. She was cool with firearms, but had never shot a handgun. So I took her down to my makeshift range in our woods to give her some practice with the G19 (just in case). Turns out she is a natural - she consistently got mostly in the black at 10 yards. She also was cool as I built my collection (in return, she has complete freedom over feeding her sewing habit
@KNmeh7 @macromeh That sounds like a great collection Macromeh. The next item on my list is some sort of bullpup. I was leaning rifle, but IWI makes a Tavor TS12 bullpup shotgun with three rotating magazines and depending on the load, you can have 15 shells loaded. 16 if you keep one in the tube. I really have no reason for it. Not sure it’s a hunting shotty, but for home defense, it’s pretty damn sexy
@capnjb @KNmeh7 @macromeh Purty!
@blaineg @capnjb @KNmeh7 @macromeh
I hope all these arsenals are locked up properly.
A relative who hunted had a large collection. Several heavy duty gun safes.
He went to a wedding or something. When he came home all this was gone.
I forget whether the thieves managed to hijack the safes or just broke into them.
@blaineg @f00l @KNmeh7 @macromeh My business is secured.
@blaineg @capnjb @f00l @KNmeh7 @macromeh Ahh… the good ole Lawgiver mk. 1.
Dredd
@blaineg @capnjb @f00l @macromeh Absent being jinxed by a comment on the internet, my stuff is secured. I mean, if someone wanted something in my house and I was gone for two days. . . there isn’t much except private security that is going to stop that. Sorry to hear about your relative.
@blaineg @f00l @KNmeh7 @macromeh When my dad re-did his master bathroom he put in a secret compartment. It was a normal sized closet with four hooks in the back for hanging robes but if you pulled one of the hooks forward, it opened a space with two shotguns that were ready to go. He was an artist and an architect, and you’d never know they were there if you didn’t know what you were looking for.
@blaineg @capnjb @f00l @KNmeh7 I have something similar, plus a decoy safe with a couple of cheap, barely functional items in it.
@blaineg @f00l @KNmeh7 @macromeh When my dad started his slide into dementia, his old memories were rock solid. He could tell you everything about a ball game he went to in 1941. But his short-term memory just abandoned him. He’d ask you the same question 5 times in a 10-minute conversation. It was tough to watch that progression. He grew up with guns and taught me to use them properly. And as his mental state was failing, I knew he could probably still load a gun with his eyes closed. We were over for dinner one evening and I just said to my wife, ‘I need to pull all the guns from this house’. My wife and I have very differing opinions about firearms, but she just looked at me, gave no argument, nodded and said ‘do it’. That was a tough moment, but it was the right thing to do.
My dad wanted a motorcycle. Mom wouldn’t let him have one so he bought stock in Harley-Davidson
@ironcheftoni Heh… that’s a good way to say ‘I own some bikes’
@capnjb @ironcheftoni
I know someone who was asked to be on the HD board. Extensive transportation industry experience.
She accepted. One of the conditions was that she learned to ride and owned one.
The kids were about grown and they had great insurance policies/investments and trustworthy family and godparents. So they went for it. She and hubby have had some wonderful times since then.
My mom was an ER nurse when my parents met. Not that my dad was into motorcycles, but one of her conditions was no motorcycles. I wasn’t raised with a desire for them. Superbikes and motocross are cool; Harley Davidson . . . South Park did those folks justice.
I drive a Nissan Sentra, and am already massively undersized on the road. I can’t imagine not having some body panels between me and the rest of the idiots on the road.
Hmm you ride a motorcycle to: break a leg, to get road burn through your clothes and remove some skin while you are at it, hit a pot hole (common around here and some are really deep) and learn how to fly with no wings and no parachute, do wheelies down the interstate so that you can have a free ride on someone’s hood/windshield, get massively sunburned when it is 100 degrees out and 99% humidity, to get a free shower and blow dry in a rain storm (the blow dry happens after the rain stops)… The list is likely longer than this but this is a good start. Feel free to add things I left out.
@Kidsandliz No clue. Not a single one.
@blaineg @Kidsandliz
Driving a motorcycle is clearly not for everyone. That is part of the appeal.
SWMBO and I had several in our younger days. Eventually swapped out to convertibles since we could raise the top and eliminate most of the issues you mentioned above (plus space for kids). Miss having a bike and am considering an electric motorcycle if I can get range and speed reconciled with $$.
@Kidsandliz
I had my thrills in my younger years [late 20-'s to 30 y/o] with one- a 1980 Kawasaki KZ-750 Twin [which I think was actually a late 1979 model because the twins were discontinued in favor of the 4-cylinder models between the '79 and '80 model-years].
I bought from a guy [also an ER nurse] who had kept it in storage since he bought his Goldwing, so it needed some TLC- I stripped to the frame, then re-built and re-painted it, then rode it everywhere.
This was during the last gasp of my 1st marriage when I didn’t much care what happened to me. I had a couple of close calls in traffic, but nothing that caused any injuries, thank God.
After we divorced and I met my current SWMBO, I chose to sell it [for about break even counting my parts $'s] to another guy in his mid-40’s who was clearly going through a mid-life crisis, because I suddenly developed motivation to live a lot longer [and decided to go to PA school as well].
No motorcycle, might get one when the kids all move out and we have a little spare money… Actually, what Id probably have more fun with is a dirt bike… We’ve got a land and hills… I imagine I could have fun with that.
@OnionSoup i’ve had many MCs over the years and still ride an '06 Sportster 1200XL (when weather and body permit). But only ever had one dirt bike: it was a '70 Honda CBR750 K1 i bought new when in the USAF. Took it climbing some on hills around Abilene TX. Got some funny looks, but generally could out-climb many others (with a running start). The dual 4 into 2 pipes were less trouble than you’d expect. By far, most of the mileage for that one was on the highway; 500 per weekend for a long time. Still would’ve been my favorite, but an encounter with a deep pot hole split the crankcase and trashed it.
Several girl friends and the one wife liked riding with me (but not approved by their parents…)
@OnionSoup
Once I retire, I’m buying E-Bikes for both of us- or possibly E-Trikes, given the likelihood of my needing another knee replacement in the foreseeable future.
@OnionSoup @PhysAssist I have also been considering an E-bike. It is ~12 miles from my house to the nearest town, so about a 24 mile round trip. Unfortunately, the last 3.25 miles to my house is uphill all the way (~700 ft elevation gain). I’m not sure I could make it pedaling (after the previous 20+ miles). An E-bike could make the last leg tolerable.
When my sons were in their teens they had saved some money, but not enough for a car. They threatened to buy a motorcycle unless I gave them the necessary additional $$ for a car. Their blackmail worked.
I was VERY into BMX and trick bikes and had a job when I was 12 and 13, made enough to buy my own little dirtbike, but was never allowed to due to my mother’s fear. Fast forward 25 years and I finally bought one when we got some land and it has been an absolute blast. I also got into street bikes and have owned 5, all of which are fun in their own ways. I’m now 55 and I make trails and jumps on my land all the time, it keeps me in shape and sharp. Your comfort zone is always either expanding or contracting, never static. Some here sound like their zone is smaller than others, as was my mother’s, but please don’t allow that to stifle your kids’ dreams, or possibly your own. Yes, there are idiots on the road, but if you stay aware and don’t act a fool, you’ll be fine.
@user71102859 Around here, i’m more worried about getting run over when on a bicycle than on my motorcycle.
Ahhh. The feeling of freedom, the interaction with nature, the closeness to the other rider. … love me a good motorcycle ride. Any time I have to do 2 truths and a lie, I put in the fact I have an M endorsement on my license. Fools most people.
No motorcycles, but up until about a year ago, I had a Vespa (my second one in almost 25 years). I drove it everywhere, even on highways. I even got an EZ Pass for it. It was a 2005 Granturismo 200 that topped about at about 75, but I usually kept to about 65 on the Mass Pike. It was great for driving in downtown Boston too, where there are too many double-parked cars. Sold it with just over 20,000 miles on it.
@ItalianScallion
My son bought a motorcycle while he was living in East Boston. He loved it, and rode it everywhere when the weather was cooperative. He now lives in Pittsburgh and still rides it a good bit.
I’m glad he picked up my love and appreciation for motorcycles. I totally trust his judgment, and know that he is a very careful and aware rider. I wouldn’t hesitate to go riding with him anytime.
We call them Donorcycles. My children have been educated, along with their friends.