All Sleeze and I had ever ridden 
were Harleys
yet today was different
strange as
the Yamaha itself
an impersonator in my drive
with it's V-twin cylinders
its fat-bob tanks
the massive fuckin' seal-beams.
We talked he and I
of our fight for freedoms
from helmets
from the doctors, the lawyers 
the judges
how most of us were dead or
in jail. He spoke of how
Harley had sold out
that it had fallen once
that we had brought it back
from the dead
to the tune of 
thirty-dollar t-shirts 
too expensive parts
and a two year waiting list.
Most riding now
are doctors, lawyers, cops
those owning stock
in industry and businesses 
they're trading
in soybean futures 
playing weekends of what
used to be our lives.
Somehow
it all made me feel
ashamed.