Now that I’m on summer vacation, we decided to take the bikes in for their annual state inspections. Both BMWs were past due and both were in two different cities. So our first adventure was to take the R Nine T to Southside Harley-Davidson for its inspection.
Our adventure was slightly derailed (pun intended) by a freight train stopped on the tracks. I turned around and went the circuitous route that avoided the tracks. This was smart as we could see the train was still not moving after 10 minutes.
But once we went over that hurdle, it was smooth sailing to get to the garage and get the bike. We arrived at Southside early enough to be second in line. Supposedly inspections started at 12:30, but it wasn’t until 1:15 that a couple of guys wandered out and took a look at the motorcycle. We kept cool by wandering inside the dealership and checking out the Harleys. I was hoping to see the new Nightster, but they don’t have one yet. We did get to see the 2022 Street Glide ST that Bill was interested in.
That was the simple adventure. Today I was taking the 310 over to Honda of Norfolk for an inspection. As I neared the dealership, the gates came down announcing another freight train’s arrival. I was second in line, so I had a good view down the tracks of the train. I watched for the end of the train, but as I waited, I realized the train was slowing to a stop. I turned around and headed home to try again later.
After about half an hour, I headed out again. As I rode up the main road, I caught a glimpse of orange in the distance and I knew this wasn’t flowers. Sure enough, the train was still at a standstill on the tracks. Back again home to wait even longer. Now the adventuresome part of returning home is prepping the bike to head back out for the next attempt. My driveway is two strips of concrete with a grassy hump in the middle. And I don’t have enough space to do a U-turn in front of the garage. So I end up needing to rock the bike back to increase my turn radius. Unfortunately, this is an uphill battle and even on a 375-pound bike, hard to do. I managed the first turnaround, but Bill was kind enough to take over the second one.
Nearly two hours after my first attempt to take the 310 in for inspection, the third try was successful. As I crossed the train-free tracks, I realized the turn was sooner than expected, so I was coming in a little too fast onto a large patch of gravel—a prime slippage surface. Luckily, I was able to steer wide as I slowed and was just fine. The inspection itself lasted 15 minutes with a 5-minute wait, so the true battle was getting past the train to get to the inspector. As I was leaving the dealership and waiting to turn onto the main road, a city police officer drove by, and I was very glad I had the shiny new up-to-date inspection sticker on display.
Now we are both set for Saturday’s ride, and I added a few more miles onto the 310 to get it closer to 600.
Flutterby Biker 