The good news is that my bike was sold yesterday. The bad news is that my bike was sold yesterday.








A moment of silence please...





Thank you.


And with that, another one of lifes chapters comes to a close. Crap!

I have been struggling with facing the reality that we are just not riding much and more. In addition to the first couple of years we were married before the kids came along, my wife and I have been riding for the past twenty+ years. With rare exception, we rode alone as opposed to with others. We enjoyed day trips exploring new areas as well as the occasional multi-day trips. She rode in the back and told me where to go. She also gave me directions -- two entirely different things!

It has been a good run and I am sure that I will miss getting out for a ride. However, the truth is that we have been so busy with other interests lately and we have also become far more selective about the weather, especially the temperature, that we rarely head out anymore. We just don't tolerate the discomfort anymore that comes with riding in the summer months. The past few years saw less than 1,000 miles. This year the bike sat in the garage, all ready to go, for more than six weeks. That made it all too apparent that now is the time for the heart wrenching decision to end our riding days.

At the risk of repeating myself, crap!

I have known that this day would come eventually and hoped that we could make it by choice rather than be forced into it as a result of a wreck or some other health related disaster. And so we have arrived. I dropped off the bike at the shop where we have had it serviced and they took it on consignment. Well darned if they didn't sell it in only one week. They got my asking price for it so there is a bit of good news there, but still... Crap! I feel like I just took my dog to be put down. Looking at those pictures make me want to cry... Crap! In the back of my mind I guess that I was hoping that it wouldn't sell and I would just have to take it home again. Then I snap back to reality and realize that this really is the time to turn the page and move on. We have had a lot of great rides and have seen a lot of things on the bike that we never would have in our daily drivers. So many great memories of getting out and getting away for the day with my wife.

And so it is...

Well that brings us to what I hope will be the next chapter and, hopefully, more memories in the making of similar outings with my wife.







I have always said that when the day comes for me to give up riding on two wheels that there would be a sports car of some sort afterward. I swore that there would never be three wheels for this old boy! Confidence and competence on two wheels has never been better than recent years. That is not the issue today. Fear of distracted drivers, yes, absolutely!

So as not to make an already long story even longer, a local used car dealer had a nice looking MINI Cooper Clubman S. While doing our research about it, we found a dealer in Pittsburgh that had a new-old-stock 2011 leftover Clubman S with a manual transmission at what looked like a fire-sale price. The choice was a used model with a few more options or a new one with fewer options. I usually spec out my vehicles with most options but since this was a such a good deal and it had all of the most important options as standard equipment on the S version, we went to see it and drive it. I actually bought it three weeks ago. If it proves to be as much fun as i think it will be, maybe in a couple of years we can trade it on a fully equipped model. Who knows? I drove it for a week and then drove it 650 miles each way to and from Myrtle beach for vacation. We took another 300 mile day trip to Cabella's (with other stops) last weekend. What a blast to drive this little thing is! And Holy crap, is it fast! It corners like it is on rails too! It gets 37 MPG, about the same as the bike with two aboard. Although it is small (hey, it IS a MINI, after all!), it is amazingly comfortable, and quiet to boot! How they can make a four cylinder engine so smooth and quiet is simply amazing to me. My wife's daily driver is a Honda CRV and there are two things about that vehicle that I don't particularly like it is that the engine is very noticeably buzzy and the road noise is bordering on objectionable. The MINI does not have either of those two issues at all.

I have been spending a LOT of time doing my due diligence here reading old and new threads before posting. I am an active member of another (non automotive related) site that has a very similar atmosphere to NAM. I have to hand it to Admin, and especially all of the fine members here, for creating such a great site. Although I have learned a LOT from my time reading here I know that I still have a LOT more to learn and experience. I find that to be very exciting! I hope to be able to contribute to NAM as I gain more knowledge and experience with MINI.

Well, maybe, just maybe, the next chapter for my wife and me can be as much fun as the first chapter. I hope that it will at least be enough to take my mind off of that empty space from the bike in the front of the garage that stares at me every time I pull in. The MINI has displaced my truck in the garage and I do get a smile on my face each time I see it.

I think that my fun with MINI has just begun -- and I thank you all for you contributions here that have added to that!

 

Welcome to NAM, and thanks for sharing your story! Congrats on your Clubbie - it's a great looking MINI!

I've ridden a few bikes (but never owned one) and had a Fiat convertible too. In my humble opinion, a MINI is the most fun you can have on four wheels. And especially with how some motorists drive (like here in Tampa Bay) a MINI is a safer option while still delivering big-time on the Fun Factor.

Drive 'er in good health, and Happy Motoring!

 

Welcome and congratulations on the new Clubman! They are really great road trip cars. Especially on two-lane roads. So you and the wife get out there and let her "tell you where to go".

 

You have excellent taste in vehicles.

 

Welcome. Thanks for the pics of the bike and the Clubman.

 

Welcome to NAM, BruceRPA and congrats on your new MINI. It's a fantastic looking MINI at that, Cooper S Clubman, nice. I'd also like to thank you for the pics right up front. You will soon find out that we love pics here at NAM, so keep posting.

I applaud your ability to recognize when change might be necessary. So many times we realize that what worked for us at one time, doesn't serve us quite the same later. While I'm sure that you have many great memories of your bike riding days, you will have just as many memories to be made of your Clubman journeys. Happy motoring to you and your wife and please don't forget to wave.

Since you probably waved while riding your bike, owing a MINI won't be much different. I would like to encourage you wave at your MINI brothers and sisters. Please join the rest of us MINIacs, in our endeavor to save the MINI wave, please consider joining The League of Extraordinary MINIacs.

You can become a member here:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...y-miniacs.html

If you are a Facebook user, you can join us here:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1404114396479123/

No big commitment, except your oath to help us in our endeavor to save the wave!

 

Hello BruceRPA and welcome to the NAMily!

Like Mr. T says you've got a nice looking Clubbie there and thanks for the pics cause again Mr. T is right on the money; we do love pics... yes we do!

Well now, don't lament to much over trading your two wheels for four, cause you will now bask in a vehicle that: corners with ease, is tremendous fun to drive, looks great, delivers the ability to carry way more than your bike ever could and (here's the good part - as if all the previous wasn't good enough) makes you part of the worldwide MINI family of enthusiasts - MINIacs!

You will find that your Clubbie is ready able and willing to deliver good times and great memories!

You won't be lacking for friends while out motoring cause we MINIacs are big on camaraderie, and like Mr. T says,

I too would like to extend that invite, so c'mon take the oath, you know you want to!

Nothing left now but to get you and the wife in your Clubbie and hit the road... start making those memories and don't look back!

Motor On!

 

Thanks for the warm welcome folks! I do appreciate it.


I am doing my best to try to drive the wheels off the MINI! I think that 2,000+ miles in the first month is pretty good. It is a lot of fun to drive as long as there isn't any snow or ice on the roads. It just may become my daily driver as opposed to the Honda Ridgeline pickup truck that I have been enjoying for the past seven years. That truck is also nice and fun to drive (in a different kind of way ),especially when the roads are at their worst. And my granddaughter jokes with me that the MINI has kicked my truck out of the garage -- and it has! As an added and unexpected bonus, if seems as if I doubled the size of the garage!

i will post more pictures when there is something interesting to be included with the pictures. My MINI is pretty standard fare as MINI's go and I am sure that you have all seen stock MINI pictures before. I will make an effort to take some pictures when we visit some interesting places.

And yes, I used to wave at ALL other motorcycles on the road so I intend to do the same with other MINIs. The nearest dealer is well over 100 miles away so there does not seem to be a lot of other MINIs here in Central PA to wave to. Of course I have been noticing a few more recently now that I am driving one but they are still pretty rare around here. I have not seen a return wave from the others that I have waved at so far so I guess that I just may have to lead the way and show 'em how it's done! I will sign the pledge tonight just to make things official. (edit: I did it tonight but as a newbie I am waiting for moderator approval before it appears.)

Thanks again MINIacs!

 

Great ride! I love my Clubbie, enjoy!