to the campground, legs astride the
bike, trying to make sense of the camp
information board.
“Niiiiice bike! Is that a Honda Gold-
wing?” exclaimed an aged man getting
blustered about by the approaching
storm front who seemingly appeared
from nowhere, cigarette burning
away in his mouth.
“Wow! I’ve never seen anything like
that” he said in his thick American ac-
cent.
“…‘82 ain’t she?”.
I humoured his banter for some
time, before realising the wind was
picking up, and if I didn’t find shelter
within the protection of the pines, I’d
be spending the night with Mavis lay-
ing on my lap.
Mavis and I made camp under
dwindling light. The gentleman who
greeted us turned out himself to be
travelling on a similar vintage Gold-
wing, an “’83 out of Chicago”.
He took photos of Mavis and kept
chatting away. I listened and agreed.
“These old Goldwing’s are amazing.
They have a mind of their own. A life
presence if you will”.
I could only agree from personal
experience as he continued.
“The day I was supposed to leave
on this trip, a huge storm came over
Chicago. I thought about waiting it
out, but then just decided to take
my chances. The bike and I made it
through the storm and it was the best
decision we made. If we’d stayed in
the city, that bloody storm lasted half
a week”, he continued, I too continued
to agree.
“There’s just something special
about these bikes. You’ll think they’re
toast, then all of a sudden, they’ll
spring back to life, almost as if they
have a life of their own”.
“Yes, exactly!” I replied, thinking
back to Texas, Vegas, Colorado and
all the rest of the trip Mavis has had a
mind of her own.
“’Yes? Exactly’, what!?” the guy from
Chicago exclaimed.
TRAVERSE 46
“Yes, I agree with you. You’re right,
they do have a mind of their own. Es-
pecially Mavis, and by the sounds of it,
yours to! I thought Mavis was special,
unique”, I said.
“Perhaps it’s just a common thing
for this era of bike?” He didn’t take to
this, and with that retired to his camp,
reconnaissance mission complete
with images of Mavis’ sweet digs taken
under the cover of darkness ...
Ryan Jaffe is a Melbourne, Australia
based phpotograhpic artisit who loves
to travel. He took to the roads of North
America almost ten years ago aboard
a bike described as coming from 'hell'
and known as Mad Mavis. Ryan's
passion for travel and the outdoors is
highlighted by his involvement with
Pack Raft Australia.
Follow Ryan's adventures at:
www.ryanjaffe.com.au
and Pack Raft Australia at:
www.packraftaustralia.com.au