The motorcycle trend...

What is it with motorcycles? They've been around forever, but all of the sudden everyone has to have one. And these things aren't cheap by any means.

The average Harley Davidson 883 Sportster is roughly $8,000 brand new. And those are the cheap ones. However, most of the ones I see running around are the Harley's that run in the $12-$15,000 ranges which is mind boggling to me. And if you buy one used you are going to pay the same amount because they never drop in price in the used market either. The demand is always there and you might only save $500 buying a used bike.

That's a lot of cash. Heck, I only paid $7,000 for my 4x4 and I was pretty happy with that. So what people are doing now is paying at least that much if not more for a motorcycle that they can pretty much only ride when it's somewhat warm and not raining which in Kentucky is kind of tough. It can rain at any second here.

Piccu and I have a friend who bought a Harley Deuce a couple of years ago that's a motorcycle that is pushing $20,000. But he puts more miles on it in a year than I do on my truck so he's getting his money's worth I guess.

I just don't know about the craze. I am currently sitting about 20 feet from main street and I'll bet I'll see 50 motorcycles roll by today. I remember not seeing hardly any motorcycles for a long time when I was younger.

Over the weekend I saw a couple of legit choppers like you see being built on TV that are probably at least 50 grand in price. And to me, I can't justify dropping that much cash on a hobby, if you can call it that.

The only thing that I really see as a benefit to purchasing a motorcycle is the gas mileage, but some bikes don't even get much better than a small car. And to me the danger factor is a little too much to justify. You spend 10 grand on a bike only to scratch up the chrome and break an ankle or two when you lay it over.

I spoke with a lady last week who wanted to have a bike show announced on the radio and she asked if I had a motorcycle and I told her no. She said that she broke both ankles shortly after getting her first motorcycle. Layed it over and broke one and then it flopped over on the other ankle as well. And this woman was probably in her mid-40's mind you.

It might not be too bad if it wasn't for bad drivers in cars. At least if you have to plow into a car you have a 4,000 pounds of metal around you to protect yourself. Otherwise you'll have a bad case of road rash if you are in an accident on a motorcycle.

Nevertheless, motorcycles are the new tattoo in that it's the hot trend. And of course, most motorcycle owners are getting tattoos so it's a vicious cycle. I like looking at them and would probably love to have one, but I think I'll just watch everyone else and spend the 10 grand on necessities.

You know, computers, games, DVDs, 62 inch widescreen TVs and other things we can't live without.

I also have this thing about pain. I try and avoid it whenever possible.