Well, I finally retired Big Red (photo circa 1995).

My new ride:

It's a 2005 Yamaha V-Star 1100 Silverado. Completely stock (at least as of yet).

"What?!?!" I hear some say. "You've always been a Harley guy!"

Not necessarily true. My first two bikes, way back in the Ice Ages, were Hondas. But true, for the time that most people have known me, I've been a Harley owner.

Now I know that Harley owners have this rep for being "Harley snobs", and I know I'm supposed to turn my nose up at anything that's not emblazoned with the bar and shield. And most certainly I know that I'm supposed to disdain anything Japanese!

Tripe. I never ascribed to that particular Kool-Aid.

Now don't get me wrong. I'm not bad-mouthing Harleys or anything like that. I loved my Harleys, and may again own a Harley someday. But to pretend that Harleys are the only decent bikes out there is just nonsense.

Let's face it. Harleys are over-priced -- no two ways around it. And despite major advances in engine design, they still need some TLC to keep them operating smoothly.

At this particular point in my life I just could not condone purchasing a bike that is so over-priced when other, just as decent, and better-valued bikes are available.

I don't have the time or inclination to fiddle with engines, so I need to rely on the local dealership for that. And when it comes to servicing bikes, let's just say that I've found that the local delalership doesn't exactly have its act together.

So this time I went Yamaha. The bike has the "classic cruiser" styling that I so adore, was very reasonably priced, has a great reliability reputation, and even though it's roughly the same size as Big Red (a 1995 Harley FXDSC), fits me a bit better.

The best part is that, since even older Harleys maintain their value pretty well, after trade-in I was able to get this for a little bit of nothing.

The only aspects of the bike that I have found lacking are:

• No gas guage. I'll jave to go back to using the trip odometer to know when to visit the gas station. (Btw, the bike gets 35 to 40 miles per gallon. Woo hoo!)
• If the bike stalls -- and yes, I still stall it now and again as I get used to it -- it must be put into neutral in order to restart. You can't just pull in on the clutch and hit the starter. A pain in the butt when you stall with traffic behind you.

Otherwise, I really like the new bike. I'll keep y'all posted as I ride it more and more.