I was thinking the other day about how many stupid things we mankind do, and much more when it comes to bikes.
There comes a time when you love your bike so much that start worrying about how your life without it would be. You start to think there will be a time no more spare parts will be available, and like in wartime, start hoarding parts.
Some people decide to buy a "parts bike", that is, a bike, usually in very sorry condition, to use it as a "private Honda dealer" to cannibalize in order to keep the main bike running. Sure enough, many parts of the "parts bike" will be never used, and will use lots of storage space and collect dust.
Say your bike will need an engine rebuild in 50K miles. If by then there are no moe spares available whatsoever, you will have to resort to cannibalize your parts bike and use the parts from it, that even when being used, are suppoused to be in usable condition. But when that parts wear out, that's it because if there are no more spares available it is unlikely that there will be more in the future.
Now say that, instead of a parts bike, you buy a running bike, maybe not in showroom condition but at least in decent, useable condition. You can ride it the same way you do with your "main" bike. It may seem that now you should need two "parts" bike to have a backup for both of them, but in fact, there is no more "backup" bike. When you need a part, you go buy it, and even if it takes months to get it, at least you have another running bike so you are not in a hurry. In case the part is no more available and is a key part to keep the bike running, at least you have your other bike and now you do have a parts bike -hoping the same part you couldn't find goes south in your running bike-
And, furthermore, considering that the yearly mileage we put in our bikes doesn't depend on the number of bikes but on the available time we have, with two bikes you will put half the mileage in each, therefore your "main" bike should last longer.
Now let's see how do I explain this to my wife....
