2012 Indian Scout. The price was decent, the miles were low. It was my first motorcycle, and I was sure that I wanted a cruiser. It seemed perfect for me.

It had some pretty major issues. The stator failed in the rain; it got fixed under warranty. Then a coil pack failed, stranding me two hours from home. That took about a month to get fixed under warranty. It wouldn’t start in cold weather worth a damn; anything under 50F, and it was a bitch to start. To top it off, I live in the mountains, and once I got past my initial trepidation of riding without anything but skill and luck between myself and the pavement, I was out-riding the capabilities of a cruiser. It’s really unpleasant to drop into a corner and get your foot knocked off the foot peg because it’s dragging on the pavement…

It turns out that the way I ride is much more suited to a sport bike.

I did a title swap with someone that had a '12 CBR600RR that needed some work; I took about a $5000 bath on that trade, but I got a bike that I loved. I ended up putting 80,000 miles on it before I wore the engine out, and then bought a '16 Triumph Speed Triple that I rode to work today.

To me it tastes more like dry-rotting lawn clippings.

But in a good way.