After the crazy week we had getting two of our motorcycles inspected, our Saturday came together perfectly, letting us both get back on the road. A pleasant June day with lots of bright sunshine set us up with perfect riding weather, and we set off quickly, Bill now also sporting a Helite Turtle Airbag vest.
We adapted our route out of the neighborhood as there was clearly a swim meet still in progress. The roads were a little busy today and we had a few run ins, but that was toward the end of our ride. We rode to the end of Witchduck and spun a few turns in the court before heading into the neighborhood. The scent of the magnolias was heavy on the air though I didn’t see too many butterflies about enjoying them. I worked on keeping close to Bill’s bike and noted just how different his R Nine T accelerates versus Scrambler. My turns were nearly in tandem, but I still had to accelerate quickly to close the gap that formed between us. That’s what 36 extra horsepower will do for acceleration. But I got to enjoy the cooling breeze as I zipped along to play catch up.
We spent extra time making our circles and S-turns in the courts. I didn’t mind as Bill was making up for two lost weeks. Our race up the fast road was cut short by a man backing his truck up right into our path. Luckily, we saw him in enough time to safely stop but, as Bill pointed out later, that is an example of how drivers on the road ignore motorcycles.
When we hit our parking lot where we practice standing up and dropping to a stop, we pulled over and parked. Bill had to adjust the tether for the vest as it didn’t allow him to stand up. I sat holding his helmet and trying to cool off my thighs during the adjustment. And I appreciated when we stood up as that brought my toasted thighs away from the engine heat.
After a few minutes of this practice, we headed into our lot to practice straightening up and stopping from a curve and our quick stops. This went well, but by this point, I was thinking about my turn on the R Nine T which quickly arrived.
The R Nine T was not as nice to me today as it was three weeks ago. At first, I couldn’t shift into first. Next, I stalled the bike as I tried to find the friction zone. Now I should’ve kept the bike in first on the restart, but out of habit, I had shifted again into neutral. I had a devil of a time finding first and made a huge mistake. I thought the issue might be with the shift-lever, so I brought my whole boot and full leg weight down and was quickly scolded. Bill pointed out that the shift lever is not designed to take full body weight and the key was in the clutch. I worked on slowly letting out the clutch until the bike shifted into first. I then ended up over-revving on the throttle as I again sought the friction zone. With a lot of dabbing, I was able to get the bike moving. Happily, once I found the friction zone, I was able to stay in it.
Today I got to do a bit more in my R Nine T ride. Instead of just doing slow S-turns, I was able to cruise down the field to the baseball diamond. Bill had asked me to not shift, so I stayed in first, and enjoyed the woods beside me and the feel of the bike. I especially enjoyed the boxer engine which very notably does not roast my thighs. Before I can take the motorcycle out on the road, Bill wants to get more road biased tires. But this delay is good as it will allow me more time to get comfortable with the dry clutch, finding the friction zone, and shifting to first.
On our way back to the garage, we had two run ins with inconsiderate drivers. One driver was in a minivan and turned across our path as though we weren’t there. The other driver was in a small SUV and had swung into our lane to move around a parked pickup truck. She made no adjustment to share the road as we came closer to passing. We just slowed to near stops and let these clueless drivers pass. Just more evidence as to why we don’t want to be out in full on traffic.
As for my nature watching, I did get to see one Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, a rabbit, and a blue heron hunting in the low tidal water. I’m pretty sure another butterfly flew over my head, but all I saw of him was his shadow. I’m hoping as we move further into summer, we start our rides earlier as an earlier start will give us more nature to enjoy as we all try to avoid the hotter parts of the day.
Flutterby Biker 