I need this motorcycle!

No, really, I NEED this motorcycle! Since there are a number of bikes displayed on this advert, I'm talking about the 305cc Honda Dream that is sitting in some other guy's living room right now, waiting for me to buy it.

If you don't know, my first motorcycle, purchased at the wet-behind-the-ears age of 16, and no-kidding, found in a barn, was a 1964 Honda 305cc Dream. I bought it for just $200 from a guy a few blocks from my house, pushed it up over the bridge to get it home and when it was safely in the yard, Dad took me to get my drivers license, tags and insurance for my pride & joy. I bought a set of cheap, imitation leather saddlebags for it, Mom made me some naugahyde chaps to wear in the cold weather, and Brother Tim and I rode that thing to school every day until the snow started flying in December.

In between, I rode that bike everywhere, as long as I could keep the battery charged. Some (expensive) part of the charging system didn't work and it was just outside my financial reach so I couldn't fix it properly. Instead, I complied with Indiana's "headlight on" rule by adding a 6 volt lantern spotlight to the handlebars and strapping the dry cell battery on top of the engine cases. That extended my run time considerably but I still ended up pushing that bike home a couple times when all the electrons quit moving in the charging system because I had failed to hook up the battery charger for too many nights. There was even a summertime vacation trip to Michigan where that bike and Dad's got trailered along and I got to go riding with a favorite cousin all around the area.

So you can see why I need this motorcycle. But the BSU can't see the same picture. She especially can't see an ancient red motorcycle sitting in her living room as the current owner is doing. Which I think is mighty curious because she can get a really good idea of what it might look like since the current owner has the exact same couch and hardwood floors as we have in our living room. This bike is a classic and I wish I had a simple way to run out and pay for it. I'd suffer the spouse's disapproval to have this beauty parked under my carport, ready for a jaunt when I felt like a change from riding Sleek Black Beauty.

As a couple sidenotes, I wouldn't mind having that 77 Kawasaki KZ1000 LTD that is also for sale at that advert. I was selling those things in 1977 before I found my way into the Air Force and they were the top of the line bike back then. Also, after editing this post and applying a parental/historical outlook to it, I can see why my parents might have been so insistent that I pay for the electrical parts that I never could afford. Had that bike not been quite so dependent on a power cord and a battery charger, I might would have been tempted to wander even further away from home than I did.