This is one of a series of blog posts about my summer motorcycle travels.
The night we were in Mountain Home, Howard decided that he would have to replace the chain on his KTM 1190 motorcycle before we headed out to the backcountry. The chain had looked good before he left Texas, but after more than 1,800 miles of hard riding, the chain was near giving up the ghost. The nearest place we could get the chain replaced was the KTM shop in Boise, so instead of heading to the Backcountry Discovery route, we went west to Boise instead.
While we were waiting to get Howard’s new chain put on his bike, I got to talking with an older gentleman named George who had one of the new stripped-down 2018 Gold Wings that I think would make a great addition to my garage.
(Don’t worry, sweetie, I know… no room, no money…)
He told me about the many other bikes in his garage (including a 174 horsepower Suzuki Hayabusa, at the time, the fastest ever production motorcycle), and that this was the 12thGold Wing he had owned. As he prepared to ride off, he casually mentioned he was 89 years old. This man is my hero.
George is 89 years young and just bought a new 2018 Honda Gold Wing.
Carl’s Power Sports did a great job of getting Howard’s bike fixed at a reasonable price, and after a quick lunch at a Greek take-out joint, we were on our way to Yellow Pine, our day’s destination.
Coming up next – Yellow Pine and the Idaho Backcountry Discovery Route