Most Harley riders would be familiar with Screaming Eagle however few know about the fearsome sound from Coughing Sparrow. Possibly there is also a branch of products from Distressed Owl but that is another story. Ours begin in the eastern parts of Schwabmünchen where on a clear day you can see the alps and they look so close you can almost touch them – almost. That is of course unless you have a Coughing Sparrow as your chosen weapon which all of a sudden places the Alps so far away they might as well be on another planet. But this does not discourage our hero who sets our early morning on his mission to reach the alps in one day. Some might say “optimistic” other might say “fool of a took” but of Captain Ahab went and with a gentle headwind and sunshine on his visor the little Sparrow coughed to a start and off he went. It did not take long until he had reached the end of the driveway but long enough to mentally go through all the things he packed for the day just to realize that he had forgot his driving glasses. Once that was sorted the restart was a breeze as the first few meters were already done so all of a sudden he was ahead of schedule. Time is an amazing thing !!!
Reaching the end of the neighborhood was more of a challenge. The roar of the Coughing Sparrow was almost heard inside his helmet but there is proof that a small butterfly actually got scared and took off. One “funny” neighbor always dropped comments on how quiet his new electric motorbike was and naturally our hero responded by giving him the bird 🙂
Out on the big back roads things were different, the wind would play all kinds of tricks and even the smallest hill would turn in to an Everest like challenge. Trucks and tractors posed a big threat as they all wanted to overtake our hero on his Coughing Sparrow but downhill and with the wind in his back he could at least temporarily fend off the tractors even if they would catch him on the next straight and narrow.
Time passed and so did most other vehicles that caught up with but the mountains did not get any nearer. An old lady on her pushbike asked him while passing where he was going. Our hero relentlessly responded “I am off to ride in the Alps” where upon the old lady gently smiled and said “Then patience is a virtue you truly posses, I salute you” and she headed of in to the sunset.
Our heroe had of course not had any lunch – such luxury was not included if one was on a quest to conquer the alps in one day on a Coughing Sparrow. Subsequently his blood sugar was some where near his ankles so there was an urgent need to replenish the supplies. Coughing Sparrow had of course plenty of gas left in her 3 litre tank so there was no need to worry about that. But our hero now had turned in to a grumpy polar bear and it was matter of minutes before a feeding frenzy would start and the Snickers bar in his pocket was in big trouble.
Even though breaks are not the strong side of the Coughing Sparrow our hero brought it to a halt in front of a kebab shop and the owner smiled the special smile an owner of a food mill smiles when he sees a grumpy polar bear approaching. Several things came off the menu and our hero returned to a more normal state of mind which also made it clear for him that reaching the alps in one day was no longer on the charts. Now it was more a question if he could make it home before midnight but thanks to little Coughing Sparrow he made it all the way back home and these 34 kilometers will be remembered for long in the hall of famous rides.
Your most humble and truthful story teller
//Jake
