I have decided that all decisions in life can should be evaluated by the PRASPD Factor (Personal Risk-Adjusted Smile Per Dollar).

Motorcycles are very effective in the smile per dollar factor. A bit of an expensive toy, it is true, but once you own one, many smiles can be purchased for just a few gallons of gas.

Harley Davidson has been successful because they have focused on smiles rather than performance.

But smiles are personal so we choose different bikes or choose to ride or not based on what pushes our personal smile button.

But then there is the risk of death or serious injury. Some wear it like a badge of honor. Whizzing down the road in a T-Shirt and half helmet or no helmet at all. I have ridden around the block a few times with no helmet and I get the appeal. But it does not take much of a fall to produce a life altering or ending brain injury so not worth the risk for me.

And the smile factor for me is difficult to quantify. Every bike I have ever thrown a leg over produces a smile. But I get the Biggest smile out of my 1992 Softail Heritage. I don't know why. It just makes me smile.

Would a newer, smoother, more reliable bike make me smile more or less? I do not know. At the moment my bike has just the right rumble and vibe that when I get on it I do not want to get off. I have a whole new attitude to making wrong turns or getting lost.

My anti-Harley friends go down a laundry list of deficiencies my bike has. But then again, I am out riding while their "superior" bike is sitting in the garage so, explain to me again how my bike is deficient.....

Miles of personal smiles.....

 

Yes you do, you've almost answered your own question.

Check out my signature...I smile A LOT!

 

Uncle G. is more about "smiles per gallon" than "miles per gallon".