OK I think I’ve finally settled on the new layout I want to use.  What do you think?  I got tired of trying to edit the one I wanted to use, so I looked around for something similar.  I’m pretty happy with what I found.

It looks like I’m going to be changing my theme again, so sit tight. I wanted to move my posts container underneath my image on another theme I like better than this one, then I had planned to add another sidebar on the right, but nothing is cooperating right now. I’m sure I’m totally overlooking a few simple codes, but at this point it’s not coming to me.

Maybe it’s my lack of sleep. I did stay up all night Monday night and most of the day Tuesday, taking a 4 hour nap then doing it all over again, so I’m thinking what I really need at this point is to just go to sleep and worry about it when I wake up.

As you can see there have been a few changes around here at Moto Madness.

I decided to cut the name a little. I’m tired of it being “Moto Madness: Just Another Chick Rider” because a lot of people see “Moto Madness” and automatically assume I’m talking about motocross. I had thought of that when I picked out the name, but I didn’t think it would be a big deal. Now I’ve decided to change it to “Just Another Chick Rider” because well that’s basically what I am.

I was also getting extremely tired of the old layout. I haven’t really fiddled with the new one to add my personal touches as of yet, but I’d like some feedback on what everybody thinks of the new layout. If it’s too plain and boring, please let me know. I’m quite happy with the clean look, although I will eventually be adding my own touches via my header as soon as I design something. My brain just doesn’t have the energy to work on that tonight.

Also you’ll see I’ve added a section above my sidebars for Youtube. Yes, there are ads included, and I’m hoping that people will enjoy the videos more than seeing just the plain old adsense ads. If I want to keep my blogs running I do have to attempt to earn a little revenue from time to time so I can afford my blog upkeep. Besides, if you don’t like thinking of it like that, think of my ads as part of my “Buy Jenn a Ninja 250r fund”. I hope to have one by summer for a mountain toy! I’ve tried my best to pick keywords that will produce motorcycle related videos, but there may be a few that aren’t related. I’ll be working with my keywords overtime to try to weed those out.

I will still be posting the occasional sponsored link, but I’m hoping the videos will allow me a chance to keep as many sponsored links off my blog as possible. You’ll still see random links from time to time about thinks like CAT6 cables, but for the most part I’ve decided I want to start keeping my random off the wall posts away from this blog. I have others for my random stuff, and I want to dedicate more time to making this one strictly about motorcycles.

As a child I remember watching my dad’s best friend ride around on his cool motorcycle. I grew up seeing him riding around on a Harley wearing nothing but a pair of old boots, beat up jeans, leather vest, bandanna, and a pocket watch sticking out of his vest pocket. I thought he looked super cool and mean even though I knew he was a big teddy bear on the inside.

The one question I always asked him was “What if you fall off without a shirt on? The road will hurt you.” He’d always pat me on my head and tell me “Niffer, don’t you worry about me.  I’m too hard headed to get hurt.” Yes, he called me “Niffer”, but that’s another story for another day.

I’m sure he didn’t expect me to grow up to be a motorcycle enthusiast, but here I am. We’ve ridden with him a few times, but last year I told him I wouldn’t go on a ride with him anymore unless he wore a helmet. He laughed and told me he was too old for one. I shook my head and told him I wouldn’t ride with him then because I wouldn’t be a witness to his own stupidity.  The man might be able to say he’s never had a serious wreck in his life, but that doesn’t give him the right to say one will never happen.
I haven’t seen him in months, but I received a phone call today that shocked and delighted me at the same time. He called to ask me to do a very big favor for him, and he explained that he felt it was important that I was the person to do this favor for him for an important reason. He wants me to go with him to find a motorcycle jacket, helmet, and proper riding boots. My heart jumped for joy when I heard him say that.

Why has he had a change of heart? His young nephew was killed 2 weeks ago on his motorcycle when a car pulled out in front of him. He wasn’t wearing any protective gear at all…not even a helmet.

It goes to show sometimes it does take a life altering experience or the loss of a life to change someone’s mind, and as sad as the situation is, I keep thinking to myself it happened for a reason. For my entire 26 years and longer this man has never once worn a helmet, and now he has decided he won’t ride again until he has one.

I promised first thing Saturday morning we’ll take a trip to the local dealership to pick out his helmet, jacket, boots, and hopefully I’ll convince him to grab a decent pair of gloves that aren’t cut off at the knuckles.