Towards a totally 2 wheel life...

I had my tongue firmly planted in my cheek during my last post, although I did go out and buy a blender for the house on the bike.  Yes, it did occur to me to take the blender out of the box to carry it home although I didn't do that for fear of damaging the blender.

The post did prompt me to ask a question to the various forums I belong to about using the bike as your main means of transport.  I was surprised at how many people do.  Many, like me, either have one car (which may or may not be used that often) or no car at all.  Many made that choice on their own for whatever reason whereas I felt I was forced into using the bike as my main means of transportation but I have never regretted it.  My question became...how do I use my bike more?  What should I carry to make my life on two wheels simple and better?  Bungee cords could have helped moving the blender but I didn't have any on me at the time.  Now I have them packed away.

Someone mentioned a cargo net.  Trobairitz mentioned Rok straps and these are both things I need to look into.    I also discovered that my under seat storage is bigger than I originally thought.  I now have a variety of bungee cords, my rain suit, my phone charger, a sweater, my "pack" (which contains a $20 bill, my bike's insurance info, two flashlights, a 1st aid kit and other things).  In other words a lot of crap. More crap than I probably need or use (for example I've yet to use the phone charger but have it just in case I'm stuck somewhere someday).

I am already using Kimmie for small errands.  I commute nearly every day, traveling 70 miles round trip.  Still I want to ride more, go further.  How do you give up a car?  How do you make a motorcycle your main means of transportation?  

Susan and I are slowly but surely getting used to riding 2-up but over the last month or two it's been raining, work has had me working overtime and even the second delivery job has been busier than normal as I find myself taking on new projects all the time.  This lifestyle does not lend itself to riding very well.  I hope to have mastered this 2-up thing by our trip to the Bahama's in September.  After all, her mother and daughter will be along and I'm sure they will want to climb on back too.  Convincing Susan to do more on the bike with me may be an uphill battle.  It is a different type of lifestyle that I am trying to obtain.

One, not free of the car but where I put more miles on my odometer than normal.  According to the National Highway Administration, my average miles for a guy my age should be about 18,800.  I would like to put that on the bike.  Right now nearly all of the mileage on the car is related to my side job.  Traveling my 70 miles round trip I get very close to that.  How do I put on that extra 600 to 700 miles?

I am not sure why I want to do this.  This just seems like the right thing to do.  It just "feels" right.