In the autumn it’s natural to expect change in the air. The temperatures are becoming wonderfully, comfortably cool for our rides and the leaves are changing into their lovely fall colors. But changes are coming to our rides as well, good changes.
After the disappointingly high quote on the 2023 Triumph Rocket 3 GT, we contacted Moto Richmond. Their web site showed a black Rocket, but the description said the bike was red and black. So I asked if it were the 2023 carnival red and sapphire black; it was. I then requested a quote, and they came back with a price over $1,100 less than Sunrise! Now the issue was the logistics of picking up a motorcycle in Richmond and getting it back home. We took the chance of contacting Duck to see if Sunrise wanted to try and meet the Moto Richmond quote. Sure enough, the sales manager hates to lose a sale to Moto Richmond, so they told us they would match the MR quote. On Thursday Bill made it official.
No motorcycle yet, though. The GT model comes with forward controls, and Bill wants mid controls. So we have a delay on getting the bike, but hopefully not too long a delay. In the meantime we have to decide which motorcycle I’ll be riding. We already know we want to sell the Ducati Scrambler, but we have to move out the Scrambler or the R Nine T to make room in my parents’ garage for the Rocket.
An additional change coming for us is the loss of the school yard. For nearly 50 years, everyone in the neighborhood has been able to freely enjoy the large field behind the school. But now, someone’s decided they need to fence off the school grounds, which means I’ll lose my R Nine T practice field. Now the solution would be for me to just start riding the R Nine T on our regular ride; however, the tires are 50/50 off-road, so they aren’t ideal for a newer rider on the roads.
I do feel more confident on the R Nine T. I feel better able to handle the clutch and find myself wanting the challenge of riding the bike on the roads with frequent stops. I had no stalls in my practice this week, and I found myself accelerating up and down the field. I would like to feel more of the power of the bike, but whether I take over riding it will depend on some logistics.
Our ride was nearly perfect. Bill was able to quickly install the shoestring replacement having made it this week out of some aluminum. We rode out into a sunny day in the mid-60s. I found myself marveling at how we now make figure 8s in the cul de sacs we used to only make circles. I have much better control of my turn radius though I have not done a full lock yet. I did successfully walk the bike into a full circle while I looked the other way. This practice is to make it easier to look in the opposite direction when turning. I do this well on right turns, but I tend to straighten out the wheel when turning left. Today I had one good left turn where I could look to the right for oncoming traffic while turning the bike to the left. Some progress.
There were some interesting sites on the ride. Several people are decorating for Halloween by placing skeletons in lawn chairs out in their yards. We also passed two set ups for wedding receptions, one right in someone’s front yard. Toward the end of our ride, we saw an Autumn Gold Ginko tree letting loose a bevy of leaves. I had given up on seeing butterflies as we’d had some chilly nights in the 40s. But as we arrived back at the garage, a little cabbage white made its way over to flutter past, providing a beautiful end to our beautiful ride.
Flutterby Biker 