No Name Bonneville

I got the Bonneville back from Jiri's shop on Stock island after three weeks and a thousand dollars.What I like about Jiri is that he actually takes care of the bike; he sees something wrong and he fixes it, in this case some cracked air box hoses which took ten days to arrive from some obscure parts manager's box-a-bits. Valves checked and found within tolerances, a new rear brake rotor, a rebuilt front brake caliper, fluids all changed, new rear tire and balanced carbs. The results are a lovely smooth ride and Bonneville ready for anything. Well almost anything. I did the round Europe and across Africa rides in my youth, and the and the across the USA rides periodically since then. But I am enjoying re-reading Ted Simon's adventures on an original Daytona 500.Ted Simon and I have nothing in common other than a background as journalists and a long ride or two under our belts, mine completed at my paced in obscurity. Simon has a desire to meet and a facility to engage strangers that is completely absent from my character. The unspoken part about lonely long distance travel is that, outside modern industrialized civilization, one inevitably ends up meeting a lot of people, and while the encounters drained my psychic batteries, they charge an extrovert's like Simon. One other thing we have in common is an inability to find a name for, or a soul in, a piece of machinery.My motorcycle is to ride, though I clean and seek imperfections frequently to make sure I'm not losing parts as I go. I read on fora, which I rarely contribute to, comments from anxious buyers seeking the latest model year of Triumph to retain re-sale value. My 2007 Bonneville has no resale value at 52,000 miles even though it runs perfectly and has hauled me everywhere with no break downs. It is pitted with rust, and scratched by my fall a couple of years ago.I finally found inexpensive waterproof panniers from Pelican, an cheap Emgo topcase and an expensive Aerostich cargo net together cost $250 and give me cargo capacity to make a Vespa rider envious.I have done nothing to make the bike louder or faster, it cruises easily fully loaded at eighty miles an hour, though fuel consumption plummets from the m id 40's to around 38 miles per gallon at those sustained speeds. It starts instantly, and at 500 pounds ready to ride with a narrow frame it's an easy bike to roll by hand and park and lift onto it's center stand. It really is an all purpose 21st century roadster.The proof is I am always looking for an excuse to ride, rather than looking for a reason not to ride. The Bonneville is light and easy and fun. It has no soul, no quirks and no awkwardness. If you want to gussy it up with a million pointless farkles they are sold by the hundred by Triumph, by Bella Corsa and New Bonneville. They will all take your money with pleasure, though the bike runs perfectly as it comes from the factory. The dealer did remove the air injection system without even asking me and i only noticed when I found the bike running stronger and smoother in the mid range after the second warranty service back in 2008.The Bonneville's soul comes from riding and I doubt I will ever be moved to name the bike or endow the bike with soul. It is a machine that works really well and deserves to be ridden, not polished or spared the occasional downpour. I look forward to 52,000 more trouble free miles.