It was 1987, during the summer. I had purchased my Honda 550-four two summers earlier but had never taken an extended road trip with it. The only place I had ever taken my bike was to and from my job and around the town because of time constraints and personal circumstances. But it was bright and early one Monday morning when my brother called on the phone to see if I would like to go on an extended road trip with him. How could I say no?
And just thirty minutes later there was a knock at my front door and my brother was there waiting for me. He was standing there with a brand-new pair of riding glasses shielding his eyes, leather gloves in his hands, and a wry smile plastered all over his face. I asked him about the glasses only to find that he’d spent more money on them than I would have. However, he did warn me that it was not a good idea to wear normal sunglasses when riding a bike but because I was young and knew it all, I ignored his advice.
Guess what? I was wrong.
It was a real eye opener for me as I sped down the highway at 65mph without any riding glasses. In fact, I should really say that it was a real ‘eye closer’. I found out very quickly that the wind came right over the rims and dried out my eyes something terrible. Furthermore, even with the lenses in front of me I was still getting pummeled by bugs, debris, and all of those stupid little pebbles. So after putting up with this for around fifty miles, I had decided that I needed my own pair of riding glasses and was searching desperately for a place where we could get off the interstate.
Needless to say, by the end of the day I had purchased my own pair of riding glasses. I never again went anywhere without them if I was planning to go faster than 55 mph. When I eventually sold my motorcycle I recommended to the guy purchasing it to get a pair of glasses himself. I don’t know if he ever did, but I can tell you that I sure hope he didn’t have to learn the hard way, like me.
