No More Ducati

[madmax178]

This is the first time since I"ve been 12 that I have been without a motorcycle.  It took me about a month to post this since I have been busy with life.

About a month ago I went to a local motorcycle event and had too much to drink, left the bike in the parking lot at the advice of the g/f.  When I came back the next day it looked like someone f*d w/my mickey mouse mirrors.

Thought it was a joke, then realized other damage, the bike had been dropped.  Filed a police report, which was good.  When I got home I realized that the bike was leaking gas bad.  Got an estimate at 3500 bucks since the gas tank was damaged beyond repair and new one costs 2k.  Anyway I got a check and worked out a deal with the shop for the bike.

My car was also taking a dump at the same time this happened.  So I took my $$$ from the bike and sold the 95 geo prizm, with over 150,000 miles on it, for 400 bucks to jeffs used car lot.

I went and bought a brand new ford focus, 5speed, salesman taught me to drive it.  Since I have never driven a stick car, not much different than the duc.

Another motorcycle is not on the priority list until after I can afford to move out of my parent's house, since I am waiting on our IL gov to sign off on my job;  I work as a temp for the agency until the gov signs my papers.

It's funny to me how all this went down.  I allways wondered how my duc would leave me.  I guess I could have kept the duc, but I needed a car so it just kind of worked out well.  Each bike before the duc left so I could afford the duc.  Now I am bikeless but am keeping hope alive for a day when I can afford another machine.

cheers to all from the former dml and this forum,

I will still be here lurking as a non-duc owner.  Sad to see that first brand new bike go, bought in 01 as a 17 year old kid.  Not sure how the next motorcycle journey will begin but I hope it does, please tell me it does.

thanks,

Max

[NAKID]

That sux man, sorry to hear about that. You'll be back soon enough....

[Duck-Stew]

Once a motorcyclist, always a motorcyclist.



















(pretty much, just don't talk to Count Desmo for a while, ok?)

[panman]

yep, like they said. . ... you'll be back.
as a 56er, i can tell ya that life brings ups and downs.
i hope you'll listen to my advice when i say to NOT let the downs bum you to the point of depression.
you're young   
it's been said to pick yourself up and dust yourself off. do it.
i don't know everything that you're all about, but trust me, things will get good again.

[DY]

Well first off kudos to your g/f for talking sense into you that night.  Better a broken bike than a broken body(yours and maybe even others).  17 in '01 puts you at 24 years old... you've got plenty of time for new bikes, and seeing as how you're working, picking up responsiblities(buying a car, working) and trying to move out of your parents place.... you've got your act together.  just enjoy the ride, and a new bike WILL be in your future!

[SacDuc]

Well first off kudos to your g/f for talking sense into you that night.  Better a broken bike than a broken body(yours and maybe even others).  17 in '01 puts you at 24 years old... you've got plenty of time for new bikes, and seeing as how you're working, picking up responsiblities(buying a car, working) and trying to move out of your parents place.... you've got your act together.  just enjoy the ride, and a new bike WILL be in your future!

THIS!

Cheers mate. You'll be back on two wheels soon.     [moto]

sac

[IZ]

weird how things work out in life but it will come full circle and you'll be back on two wheels soon enough!

[madmax178]

thanks for the encouragement,

puts you at 24 years old... you've got plenty of time for new bikes,

Yep I'm 24, and I know another bike will come with time.  I'm just glad to be getting started out on my own, it's taken a while.  It's funny to me because in college I thought that I would end up with a decent paying job right out of school and I've been fighting to get a job that will pay the bills with a little extra.   

I graduated in dec. 06 and worked at a grocery store, overnights, and a gas station during the days. Now I work for the state police so it's been a process to try to make it.  It's feeling pretty damn good to be close to being able to make it.

weird how things work out in life but it will come full circle and you'll be back on two wheels soon enough!

I know it just takes time, pretty happy with how it's going.  Just staying with it, which can be hard to do.

[somegirl]

Sorry to hear about your string of bad luck, hang in there.

[roy-nexus-6]

As someone on this forum once said:

"you can take the man off the bike, but you can't take the bike off the man... wait, that doesn't make any sense at all."

I was a long time between bikes too. I'm sure you'll have another Duc.

[Big Troubled Bear]

There`s always a duc in the future

Hang in there

[zarn02]

i'm abobout a year and a half without a bike, myself.

(and drunk, presently)

i'm also 24. my bike got jacked... i suppose these things happen.

anyways, i'm going to korea for a year, to teach englisd (i don't know korean a'tall), and shall buy a bike when i get back (a ducati!!)

uh... i'm not sure if this post was suppsed to be "encouragement,"empathy," "advise," or "badly typed, and poorly edited...."

it's most certainly at least one of those.

hang in there, chief. all will sort itself out, with time.

[DY]

"It's funny to me because in college I thought that I would end up with a decent paying job right out of school and I've been fighting to get a job that will pay the bills with a little extra."

reality sucks doesnt it?  I'm only a few years older than you and like so many other kids in America, I thought the exact same way.  After my first year in college i got a job during the summer(first real job) and while making a measly 8 bux an hour, the truth hit me... a six figure job right out of school is probably not realistic.  Now, here I almost a decade later and finally I'm beginning to reap some benefits from my education.  Too many kids these days grow up with the expectation that they're gonna be young and rich, and few of them ever really achieve it. 

But then again, the industry i work in has been struggling for some time and I chose to go into it.  So i consider myself fortunate to be where I am now. 

[Ducatista]

I have to agree with the others who posted it.  Just because you have a degree doesn't mean you'll be making a decent living fresh out of the box.  There are some degrees that have practical applications in higher paying fields.  You can do a lot to get a head start if you do internships during the summers while in college.  I have had several classmates struggle out of college, and now they're just starting to get on their feet. 

I wish you the best of luck.  Make the decisions now that will set you up for success later on.  It sounds like you have your head on straight.  If you make the tough decisions now, you will be able to indulge later on.  [moto]

I lived on nothing but food and gas during college and after for the first few years.  I had my degree in electrical engineering, but I was struggling at times to make ends meet as a federal employee.  However, making decisions that made life hard in the present has really set me on the right path. 

Hang in there and don't be a stranger. 

[Howie]

Sorry to hear of the misfortune.  I do hope things turn around.