This is one of the saddest forum posts I've ever had to write.  My good-bye to my riding crew at the MD Xiles.

Well it's been a while now since I've given you fine folks an update and in some ways I've been reticent in saying this but I won't be getting another bike.  6 weeks ago cast still on my hand I was in the beemer dealer scoping out a fully loaded R1200RT but after further reflection I had to sadly admit to myself that it's just not going to be.  Without getting into details (I don't want to ruin the ride for anyone else) I have a new found fear that's telling me to get out while the getting is still possible.

I want to thank everyone on this board for an incredible ride.  It was a hell of a season in my life and you guys and gals made it all the more worth while.  Given our disparate backgrounds it truly amazes me the bond of friendship and camaraderie that is obtained simply by owning a motorcycle.  You truly do meet the nicest people riding a Honda.

I'm still planning on coming down to the dog pound in June so you're not done seeing my ugly mug.  Till then take care, keep the shiny side up and enjoy the ride.

I've told everyone that I won't be getting a motorcycle again,  at least not in the foreseeable future.  If you want to know what changed my mind from a month ago read the comments in this thread I found online…. especially read the last one.

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When I started researching motorcycles I knew that I wanted to go with a cruiser but I didn’t know anything about them other than I wanted something BIG. After renting the Harley in 2007 I knew that I could handle a larger displaement bike and there was something about having litres of engine between your legs that really did make me do the Tim Taylor man grunt. So started months of reading and research. I started by reading every cruiser “shoot-out” reviews that I could find. After reading a number of these reviews I’d already narrowed it down to either a Honda VTX1800 or a Yamaha Roadstar.

What I did next was started searching for forum groups based on these motorcycles. It didn’t take me long to find that there was a huge following with the VTX. As I started looking over the forums a number of them had technical sections where readers would write in their problems and other forum members would try to help them out. These sections were a treasure trove when it came to trying to understand which bikes had the least amount of problems, or at least ones that were reasonably inexpensive to deal with. Again the VTX line of bikes were far and away the least trouble prone.

From one of the main VTX forums VTXOA.com I found that there was a Maryland based VTX riders group. Going to the MDXiles.com site lead me to a great group of men and women who were all about having fun, camaraderie and simply riding. Before I even had purchased a bike, I joined their forum and started picking their knowledge bank.

Since then I’ve gone on a number of rides with them and have had the opportunity to get to know a number of them. I can’t say enough about this group.