I have bicycled 38,000 miles, crossed mountains ranges, major cities, and peddled over 1,000 miles on 3 aluminum cylinders inside.  I always thought that having a motor on a bike was cheating.  But after driving a truck that gets 19 mph on good days, and after realizing that most of my day was spent either inside a building or inside a vehicle, a motor on a bike for the purpose of commuting started to peak my interest.  We have some beautiful forest preserves that I can drive through if I desire on my way to work.

So, after taking a very helpful motorcycle class, getting my license, and persuading my wonderful but very concerned wife, I bought my first bike with a motor: a 2006 Kawasaki Vulcan 500. It had less than 3000 miles on it, and was purchased for less than $3000. As a bonus, the previous owner drove it to my house. (My skill level isn't such yet that I was willing to drive it from the north side of Chicago back down to the southern edge of the city.)  Now, I wonder if our Golden Retriever  can fit in one of the saddle bags.......?