I thought it was a curious set of choices. I have had horses and donkeys in the past, and was quite happy to get rid of them. Don’t underestimate the cost of feed, shelter and vet bills. My vet bills on 2 horses, just the normal shots, cost about $1K per year. And horses have a uncanny knack of finding ways to hurt themselves. You need good fences. Then my neighbor gave my wife 2 goats. Free. It cost me $600 to improve the fences to contain them. A fence that keeps a horse in won’t keep a goat in for a New York minute. :smack: My neighbor was a minister, and I asked him what I ever did to him to deserve this? He laughed…:dubious:
As for motorcycles. A lot of the guys I used to work with got Harleys back in the 90’s. Most had never ridden before. Very few are still riding, everybody had a minor accident or 2. One was fatal. Apparently taking up motorcycles when you are 50 is risky. Especially with a big powerful bike like a HD. I went to a Harley dealer, and low mileage repairs are common. Some nubies drop them in the parking lot!
The acquisition of pets is a constant discussion at my house. Usually it goes like this:
me: Can I get another dog?
him: no
Me: we can fit another cat, right?
him: no
Me: ferrets? they’re SO cute!
him: no
Me: rats are adorable and very good pets
him: NO! They’re vermin!
me: snake?
him: … hmm… Nahhh
And then one day he turned it around on me with an email:
There are probably laws about that in his neck of the woods. Where a kilt if you are predisposed that way as zippers scare sheep.
I voted donkeys as the other options are also not approved on SWMBO’s list either. I’m leaning toward motorcycle but it would definitely be a “forgiveness rather than permission…” deal, though. Either a Tiger 800, V-Strom or a Stelvio… One day.
If you get goats you can let people rent them to mow down the weeds in parks and so forth.
Mr. kayT and I got a motor scooter, which may seem wussie to some of you but it was Italian (Aprilia) and went pretty fast carrying both of us (not skinny people). Easily 75 mph which was fast enough for me. I don’t know whose midlife crisis it was but we both enjoyed it for many years. We finally sold it when we both began having hip trouble that made sitting on it uncomfortable. But, the advantage of a scooter is that you get to sit up straight. It doesn’t make as much noise as a motorcycle either. And the cops tend to think you’re cute instead of rowdy if you happen to exceed the speed limit.
I kept telling our goats that I knew a lot of Mexicans! Kept them in line!
We have 4 cats and 3 dogs. We both agree, no more cats. And no more than 2 dogs. 2 of our dogs were dumped on us, as were all the cats. We need to get better at saying no.
Despite what the hand-wringing brigade on the Dope will have you believe, the roads aren’t littered with the mangled bodies of motorcyclists.
Anecdata for you: I’ve been riding since I was 7 and have had 1 accident at about age 14, and the worst injury was to my cool leather boots. Yearly I put about as many miles on my bike as I do my car. My bike is sitting outside my office right now. Turns my commute into an experience, and something to look forward to at the end of the day.
My father has ridden since he was in his late teens (now pushing 70), and has had 1 accident. He was a motorcycle mechanic, and in the late 1970’s he had assembled a new, crated bike for a customer which locked its brakes at speed during the shakedown run. He slid feet-first on his gloves and boots, hit a curb with the bottoms of his feet which pivoted him into a standing position, running at a good clip because of the momentum. He picked gravel out of his road rashed hands as they healed, but it wasn’t much worse than a skinned knee.
Of my extended family of fellow riders, the only significant injury was severe bruising and road rash when an inexperienced young woman sent her sportbike down the road in a shower of sparks.
Take the Motorcycle Safety course (probably at your local community college) and you’ll be better prepared than 75% of new riders.
On the flip side, a buddy of mine that had ridden motorcycles since at least HS (Class of '79) was just killed in an accident, and my dad rode from the time he got out of the Navy (WWII ending) until a car backed out of a parking spot and nailed him when I was maybe 12 - he quit then. We always had mini bikes and motorcycles growing up, even built mini bikes from scratch (frames and all), but I never got my license.
Don’t jump into a large-scale miniature donkey operation before you know what you’re getting into. Find your nearest miniature donkey breeder and offer to buy a share of one of their animals. Just make sure it’s a gentle one. What you need is a nice little piece of ass.
I’m going to have to go with the bike. Donkeys are cute, but the minis have to be the most useless of the equine lawn ornaments, and while hardy and durable, they do nonetheless require a fair bit of regular maintenance and attention. Feed, water, shelter, fencing, vet and farrier at a minimum.
A bike, on the other hand, you can put in the shed and go away for a week. Or two. No farm sitter required. No worries about coyotes or the neighbour’s dogs harassing it, or issues with inclement weather or other natural disasters, or holes in the fence or gates left open. When you get bored of the bike, there will be no hand wringing about finding it a good and loving home, just a simple exchange of cash and paperwork.
I miss having a bike. Can’t afford one right now, but every summer, I sigh wistfully and think, one day.
If word got out that you picked mini-donkeys over a swinging sex life, some very nasty stories are going to spread as to your reasons.
Get a motorcycle.
my dad who had ridden bikes off and on in the army did what he normally does when he decides he wants something … he just went out on his 2nd or 3rd day of retirement and bought a 60k bike and paid cash for it with some of his retirement
How he told my stepmom about it was exactly how he told his first wife my mom he bought them their first house he took my stepmom for a ride on it and asked how she liked it and she said “great” or something ot that effect and he replied "well that’s good since I bought it 2 hours ago "
switch out showing a house instead of a bike ride and 2 months before telling her (he used some money the army owed him when he left it )
stepmom was speechless my brother who lived there at the time just said … well dad does that sometimes (as he was laughing because she tries to keep dad on a tight leash)
Funny enough, horses, or at least the full-size kind, might be more dangerous to ride and own than motorcycles (insert joke about Matthew Broderick riding a horse). And that’s without being the (urban legend version of…) Catherine the Great.
