I was taking my old 1975 Honda Gold wing out for a walk this morning and it hit me there’s a lesson here for all of us GMC owners and officiants. 
This can be for us a healthy mindset we all need to consider doing all the things we do with our classic beasts. Right now I bet some of you are hitting escape hoping to see some motor hanging from a hook or one strewn apart across the floor….hey, I feel you need the right mindset and baseline understanding on anything you do. I mean I have “belayed” down a sheer cliff but not on El Kapitan (terrible spelling!).
So here goes, this is how I would think you need to have in your head when playing in this mudpond and I want to use my motorbike to make this point:
OK… I love my 1975 Honda (first year) GL1000, Goldwing. It’s a 1000cc, shaft drive, water cooled road rocket from a bygone age. 
It makes me happy……. it’s not perfect in fact I hate to not have enough battery power so in place of that winpy little motorcycle battery… 2 of the 3 dimensions fitted so there’s an Exide lawn tractor battery strapped on the thing 
Below and to the left of that is a boost solenoid (like the one on our GMC) being used as a starter solenoid…… that thing will NEVER die!. They didn’t come back then in satin black… I didn’t think Teal was my color 
and EVERYONE around me loves those straight pipes hey…. but it’s mine and I have to say this is the way folks see their relationship with their GMC…..but wait, there’s more!
But also like the GMC Motorhome this is a great running 42 year old machine made by man. Yes, this animal has been loose on the streets for over 4 decades …..It has endured countless rev cycles and still being here had dodged damage and the ravages of time, stupid riders and good times alike. And now I have it a steward of this fun toy.
Steward because unlike King Tut, we don’t take it all with us… we will come and go and unless you screw it up your motorhome will outlive you! Don’t know about you but I expect to run out of money and breath the same day if anyone is lucky……… still though, it’s not my place to trash this vintage motorbike. I makes me happy, it can take me places that well sometimes I need to see 
And I don’t have to go far cause just getting there is enjoyable!
I feel I will have many more fun memories made with this machine BUT because this motorcycle was made for the highway and speed…….. should I do that with it?
Unlike this motorbike, antique and hot rod cars, we must rely more on our vintage motorhome if we want to do thing with it. I don’t want to wax it then take it to a show, sit in a worn out lawn chair and hope no one touches the coach…..NO, we have it to drive it and this is where the rub begins…….
I have another motorcycle I would ride if I was thinking about taking a trip….. folks on new style road motorcycles can make a trip, get off the bike and do jumping tacks…… New, you put gas in the thing and go…… I would not dare jump on Little Stevie and head to New York! I would be sore if I made it but just think about how many 40+ year old parts that are on that 1975 Honda…… it’s a Honda but still…… some bolt sheer off and this butt is in trouble! Chances are too great something could go wrong so even though I could…… I won’t!
Just because it was made to do it 40 years ago does not mean I can do that with it today. Now, if it had gone through a complete restoration, not just new tires and fluids……. I might strap in and do one trip….. just to show I could. That follows along the lines of “I’m as good once as I ever was” and that trip might be a crowning achievement of your relationship with the beast……… this could also hold true with a GMC Motorhome….
I would NOT put someone out on the open road without a cheap chines set of tools at the least, some basic parts and some resources and have that stuff with you at all times…….. Why????? Because at any time something could happen with your 40 year old hey bailer that you will need to be prepared to deal with!
Right here is where I depart on saying only a mechanic should own one of there. I DO NOT FEEL THAT WAY but I will tell you everything relying on one needs to be prepared and have backup assets.
We build coaches we hope not to have to work on quite so much but being designed when the diagnostic tree everyone used involved your eyes, ears and nose unlike the computer generated car of today.
If you ARE intending to go out on that thin limb and drive one of these on the open road like most of our customers want to do there has to be countermeasure built in…. backups so when this does happen…. not might….. you will be prepared. You must have your motorhome not only running and making you happy like my beloved GL1000 makes me feel….. I need more assurances than that going out on the road ….and even doing all of that ….. it’s still over 40 years old there bunky! You need to remember that and be prepared. If you do not and you have no troubles understand someone was smiling on you! Safety and reliability is not an automatic expectation……… and that’s not just about old machines…. new ones fail too!
What I’m saying is you need to remember what uncertainties you have brought upon yourself expecting so much from equipment so old. I don’t care what kind of equipment made by man we’re talking about… they all fit into that precaution…….. your motorhome does too and just because you identify and issue and do all you can to not have a problem…….. as Forest Gump once said…. “It happens”. The best you can hope for is help when you need it.
OK so if you made it this far my point is just having one of these fine machines and things seem to work well…… like my1975 motorbike works well but there’s no way I would ride it farther than Daytona and I have a place there I could work on it if I needed too!
So get out there with your GMC Motorhome, I hope you didn’t buy it to block daylight in your back yard but for Pete’s sake be prepared and don’t go out until YOU know the things that will leave you walking have all got a descent chance of not falling off at least until you get back home! Take anything from this that will help you with your particular bundle of joy and realize if the fickled finger of fate catches up with you……. no one forced you to buy this thing…… work the problem and get back out there and have fun…….
See ya later and thanks for dropping by……
