Moving forward.

Starting this week is the American International Motorcycle Expo (or AIMExpo).  It is being held in Orlando, Florida which is a mere 62 miles from my front door.  I have to be honest, I really had no intention of going.  After all I have been to Expositions before, both as a participant and a consumer.  Frankly I had no interest in looking at a bunch of stuff that may not apply to me.    I am a scooterist after all.

Now I'm thinking of going.   What changed my mind was a few things.  First was that a local scooter group I belong to was planning a ride, and although I would not be able to ride with them to the event (work) the seed was planted.  I am curious to see the new Kymco MyRoad 700i, which given the fact that I enjoy riding Kimmie (a Xciting 500 sans ABS) as much as I do just might be the bike for me in the future.  I'm also interested in looking at some of the automatic motorcycles and, what I feel will be the next step in the evolution of motorcycle safety, lighted jackets.

I am also looking at some interesting choices in my personal and business life which will affect my ability to ride.  I work for 3M and recently applied for a new position which would require me to travel about Florida to places like Miami, Orlando, Tallahassee and Jacksonville.  While I am certainly qualified for the position, there are no guarantees of course, although I like the idea of traveling to meetings via my mean motor scooter and traveling new roads.  The endless possibilities of movement.

Given this new job possibility I would need to look into either a bike better built for highway travel and bluetooth technology.  I really like this helmet for example.  This expo gives me options to consider.

The second option that will affect my riding, and probably decreasing it, is the possible expansion of my personal business.  I have successfully owned and operated a small distribution company for a few years now, and while it's never made me a mad amount of money, it's always supplemented my income by several thousand dollars a years (10 to 15K profit generally after taxes and expenses).  Less than seven years ago I was looking into a possibility of opening a bar and restaurant with my partner Sue, who has over twenty five years of experience in that business as a chef and manager.  However due to circumstances I will not go into here she was unable to pursue that dream.
That may have changed as we found a small turn key restaurant that is completely within our budget and literally is less than five miles from my front door.  At this time we are doing the research and putting our ducks in a row!  It needs to make sense for us to do it.  If we were to buy this property then my riding schedule is shot.  Any and all free time would be drastically cut in order to make this business work.  I would have to give up my route work as well.  I would not be leaving 3M  anytime soon since I receive some nice benefits from that company.

So much for trying to simplify my life.  The wheels are turning and are always moving forward.  There is no reverse on a motorcycle, you have to put effort into it to make it go backward.  It's much easier to always move forward.

Moving Forward always is an adventure.  Unknown roads are exciting because of the possibilities of what you will see and experience.  There is always risk, always danger...but that journey must always be taken.