My child is gone

I have lost a child. Not a real child but the type that people without real kids call children. These can take the form of pets or as in my case a machine. I didn’t lose my child in that I can’t find it. I lost it in that it is more or less dead. My 1985 Honda Shadow 700cc motorcycle has left and it served me faithfully for 9 years and for 40,000+ miles. I drove it to church to pick up some milk that I had left there the Sunday previous and when I returned to it it wouldn’t start. It seemed like the battery was dead so I just pushed started the bike. However, this was not easy. Since it was a Honda I hardly ever had to push start my bike but it isn’t a hard thing to do. I’ve owned a ’63 VW Bug so I’m used to push starting machines. So this was an indication of a larger problem. I was able to drive it for one block when it died just before taking me onto a busier road. I tried once again to push start it and it refused all my attempts. So, I began to work on my bike by buying some cheap tools at a Dollar General store and borrowing other tools at the church that was now a block away. I really thought it was only the battery so I worked on it for about an hour and realized that those bolts were just on too tight for the cheap tools that I had to get the job done. So, I pushed it to the bike shop just at the corner from where the bike shut off. The bike shop owner was a real nice guy and let me borrow some of his tools so I could get the battery out. I did so and asked him to fill it with water and charge it. He willingly did so and also checked the stator to see if it had gone bad. And it was.

So now I had to buy a $290 stator and leave my bike at his shop. Long story short I was picked up by some friends of mine and had to be brought back because I accidentally stole the tools he let me use to remove my battery. When I came back he showed me more of what my problem was with my bike. My voltmeter was also worn out and my wiring harness was burning up. It very easily could have caught fire on me at anytime during my recent travels, but the Lord is gracious. The repairs all totaled to be around $600-700 in just parts and with the addition of labor I was well over $1,000. So I decided to let her remain as she sat. It was a very strange feeling. It was very similar, but not identical, to the feelings I had when I had to put my 15 year old dog to sleep a few years ago. It was a very sad moment. The Lord is great because He allowed this bike to serve me faithfully in all kinds of weather and it never let me down. Then when it does break down it does so right in front of the only bike shop for miles. I only had to push it 25 feet. All in all a very sad day but God is very kind.

So I will be without a motorcycle for a few years and I will be resisting my desire to covet those bikes that others are riding.