Falling into The Trap

I usually talk to my uncle around twice a week. Once on Saturday when we occupy his garage for 8 hours and then Sunday evening to discuss what parts he found online. I had a hard time understanding how he sits at his computer for hours and browses through 50+ pages of EBay listings. Well, I HAD a hard time understanding, now I fear I understand all too well.

I spent the better part of yesterday evening cycling through different search options for Harley. I began with "harley davidson touring" as search criteria. About 2 hours later I finished going through all that and marked some auctions to watch. I then proceeded to search by "road king" and "road king police" and then spent the next hour digging through those pages.

I think I might finally 'get it'. I understand why people own these bikes. As I've come to realize we are winding down on the alterations for the bike, I have become a bit sad. I don't want it to end. Areas I would have never thought of replacing or modifying before are now becoming appealing. The buzz you get from ordering that next awesome part to make your bike look better is a difficult feeling to dismiss.

The whole process can be quite intoxicating. If you start browsing EBay you might find items you didn't even know you wanted or existed. Browsing, inquiring, researching, ordering, waiting and then installing have become a process that produces both excitement and extreme anxiety. I never used to be concerned with the length of my day or the week, but now hours and days cannot move fast enough. I watch every hour until I can head home and browse for more parts. Every day of the week becomes an excruciating march towards Saturday. It is ridiculous. It is as though the bike is my child and I only have weekend visitation rights. The feeling is completely irrational.

But I like it.

I'm sure this passing obsession is just that; an obsession. I understand that my personality tends to be addictive and extreme. I'm trying to let this one just blow over but the options that I am constantly presented with seem to always keep increasing.

This week I decided to fully commit to the black on white theme of the bike. Although I wasn't sure at first, once we started to add more black accents and smoked lenses I could not stop.

Going for a theme comes with a price. I have already ordered $200 worth of gas caps for the bike, along with another $160 speedometer dash that has been coated to be black. To top that off I will need to change my exhaust to true duals also in black to complete the look. On it's own the exhaust system is going to run around $1500.

Time to start saving my pennies.