Max

By Scott Shannon

Once upon a time, there was a 250 Moto Guzzi named Max. Max lived in Cycleville with his father, Don, a 500 Moto Guzzi, his wife Christine and her two sons, Sid, a Harley-Davidson ElectraGlide, and Jimmy, a Harley-Davidson Fatboy. Don had married Christine after Max’s mother wrecked herself against a guardrail. Max and Christine got along well, but Max’s stepbrothers always made fun of him because of his engine size, torn seat and rusty exhaust pipes. Sid and Jimmy were embarrassed by Max and never rode around with him.

One sunny day, Max overheard Jimmy and Sid talking about the annual motorcycle show being held in downtown Cycleville the following Saturday. “ I am going to win the blue ribbon for best in show!” exclaimed Sid.

 “No way man, I am going to be the winner!” retorted Jimmy. Max wished he could enter the show, but he knew that his rusted pipes and torn seat would not allow him to even place in the competition. Max decided he would just go to the motorcycle show as a spectator.

In the morning on the Saturday of the big show, Max’s father asked him if he would deliver a package to one of his clients in Steerinbon. Max was always willing to help out his dad and decided to make the delivery.  He figured he could go and deliver the package and ride back to Cycleville before the show started. As Max was leaving, Sid gunned his big engine and scared Max. Sid then burned rubber and left Max in a cloud of dust. This made Max very angry, and he wished he had a bigger engine. Max then started on his journey to Steerinbon with the package strapped to his back fender.

When Max first saw the town limit sign for Steerinbon, he could not believe that he had made such good time without any delays. Now all he had to do was deliver the package and head home. After 5 minutes of looking, he finally found the garage he had to deliver the package to. Max delivered the package and then drove towards home. On his way home he started dreaming about all of the custom motorcycles that were going to be at the show. He dreamed of shiny chrome pipes, soft leather saddles, and brilliantly colored paint jobs. He dreamed so much, he forgot to check his gas gauge. His engine sputtered and stalled making Max pull over. Max could not believe he had forgotten to get some gas!

Now, Max sat on the side of the road for what seemed like an hour. As the minutes went by, he felt more and more sad. He could not help but think of his mean stepbrothers and how they were going to be at the show and how they were going to chide him about missing the show. He kept looking up and down the road for another motorcycle to stop and help him. There was no one else on the road that day. Everyone was already at the show in Cycleville. Just as all hope left Max, out of the bushes came a bright purple mini-bike with shiny foot pegs and spokes that seemed to vibrate with color.

 The mini-bike stopped 3 feet from Max and said “Why are you so sad?”

Max replied “I am not very happy right now. My gas tank is empty, my brothers always make fun of me and I won’t be able to make it to the show tonight.”

The mini-bike looked at Max and felt his grief.  “I will make you a deal.” said the mini-bike. “I will give you some gas, fix up your rusty pipes, and stitch up your seat.”  Max could not believe his eyes and ears. He immediately agreed to the deal without even hearing the terms of the agreement. “If you tell anyone about me, everything I have done here today will come undone.” stated the mini-bike. Max assured him that he would not tell anyone. The mini-bike then turned around and rode back into the bushes leaving Max in a cloud of dust. As the dust settled, Max felt like there was something different. He looked at his seat and noticed that it was not the same seat as before. It was a super-soft saddle only found on very expensive cruisers. Max could not believe his eyes. He then looked at his exhaust pipes. There was no more rust and they shined like the sun. Max then noticed that he had a new paint job that made him look like a real showstopper. He looked at his gas gauge and saw that it was full. Max started his engine and noticed a difference in his revs. He looked down at it and saw that it was considerably bigger than before. Max was so happy and excited about the changes. He immediately took off down the road towards home.

Max finally arrived at the show just in time to enter himself. He looked at all of the other contestants and felt very confident with his new appearance. As the judges came to Max, they all gasped in delight. They had never seen a motorcycle as beautiful as Max. One of the judges, a representative for Moto Guzzi, asked Max where he had gotten all of the custom work done. Max not thinking replied “A purple mini-bike did all this for me.”  Instantly, Max saw his exhaust pipe turn rusty. Max could not believe he had forgotten the deal he made with the purple mini-bike. Max started his engine and took off in front of the judges. Max was in such a hurry; he rammed a podium, and knocked the custom saddle off his bike. Max arrived at his house a few minutes later angry at himself for not remembering the deal.

That night, Sid and Jimmy came home with the blue ribbons. They had tied for first. Max heard them talking about how a strange motorcycle had entered the show at the last minute. Sid said, “It was really weird, this strange motorcycle entered the show late and right as the judges were looking him over, the strange motorcycle left in a hurry and even crashed into a podium.”  Max wanted to tell his stepbrothers it was he who had entered late and crashed into the podium, but he knew they would not believe him.

Several months passed and Max had almost forgotten the whole show ordeal. A knock on the garage door made him jump. Max went and answered the door to find the Moto Guzzi representative who had been one of the judges from the show, standing there holding a custom saddle. Sid and Jimmy shoved Max out of the way and thought the rep. was there to see them. The rep. asked if anyone from their garage had lost their saddle. Jimmy and Sid replied “No”. Max then said that he had lost a saddle the night of the show. The representative looking apprehensive then asked Max to take off his old seat so he could see if the saddle fit. The representative placed the saddle on Max and it fit perfectly. The garage fell silent. Jimmy and Sid could not believe it fit. The representative then said that he had been looking for Max for months. The representative then offered Max a job as a show representative for Moto Guzzi and told Max that the company had been looking for a 250 for quite some time. Max became so happy that he forgot about Sid and Jimmy’s abuse and gave them both a hug.

A week later, Sid and Jimmy were both washing themselves in the driveway when Max came rolling up. They could not believe their eyes. Max had a new paint job, new tires, shiny exhaust pipes and a new engine. Max told them that the makeover was part of being a representative for Moto Guzzi and that he was going to be on the road for the next year traveling to all of the motorcycle shows. Sid and Jimmy were speechless. Max on the other hand told them to behave.