(I hope everyone had a terrific Thanksgiving holiday!)

            The trees have hit their peak colors as November comes to an end.  Everywhere we looked on this bright, sunny Saturday, we saw the best of autumn colors.  The weather went our way again as the rain came early Friday and ended with enough time for the roads to mostly dry out for our Saturday ride.

            But it was a slow start for me.  The R Nine T would not shift down into first.  Bill warned me when he first began riding the motorcycle that it was tricky finding first sometimes.  Finding neutral is easy, but first gear can be elusive.  I had only had one experience where the bike wouldn’t shift into first back when I was practicing in the field.  My street rides had begun with smooth shifts into first.  Not today.  Bill launched off on the Rocket leaving me sitting at the bottom of the driveway. 

            I believe I have matured a bit as a rider.  I did not panic at not getting first.  I patiently tried shifting up to second.  No luck.  I did my best to roll the bike back and forth to get the gear to drop.  No luck.  I played the clutch in and out, took a deep breath, and “thunk,” the bike dropped into first and I was off.

            Catching up to Bill, we headed onto our curvy road where I could enjoy leaning the motorcycle.  The temperatures were in the mid-to upper 50s, so I was wearing my Klim summer jacket and gloves, but I did turn on the heated grips.  I forgot my motorcycle socks again, so my legs were a little chilly.

            We wanted to get gas, so we headed to the gas station.  We filled the Rocket up with three gallons and put two gallons in the R Nine T, filling that bike to the brim.  As Bill put it, “the R Nine T just sips gas.”  Here at the station was my second battle to shift into first.  Because the R Nine T has a dry clutch, the plates can fight the shifting.  Most motorcycles have a wet clutch because these clutches have a larger friction zone, are easier to shift, and make less noise.  The dry clutch sends more power to the rear wheel, thus making it easier to zoom off.  Dry clutches are most often found on MotoGP racing motorcycles.

            Anyway, Bill took off again and I didn’t.  I again remained patient while I worked the bike into first gear.  Because I was leaving the gas station pump, I had to be extra careful and extra watchful for oncoming traffic from multiple directions (front, rear, left, and right).  I was lucky in that the station wasn’t busy at that time, and I soon rejoined Bill for our ride.  Since we don’t have any helmet-to-helmet communications, I wasn’t able to let Bill know what was going on until the end of our ride.

            While the motorcycle shifting was a fight, I did extremely well with my circles, U-turns, and S-turns.  I paid attention to applying pressure on the outside peg of the turns.  I was so successful at the pegs, I was able to bring the bike into full lock on two right-turn circles.  Full lock means the handlebars are turned as far as the front end will let them.  At full lock one can make the tightest turn.  So I was thrilled that I managed it twice.

            Not much wildlife out and about.  I saw a couple of turkey vultures circling overhead and had my own near run-in with an indecisive squirrel.  And there was a trio of Thanksgiving blow ups on a front porch—a pilgrim with a pumpkin pie, a turkey, and a football turkey.  But the trees were the stars of this ride.  The maples especially had spectacular burgundy and ochre shades.  I will miss the colors when the leaves finally fall.  I will have to rely on the Christmas decorations to provide the sights for our December rides.

            I had one more challenge at the end of the ride.  My Mom was off shopping, so we had locked up the garage when we headed out.  So I parked at the top of the steep driveway and went inside to open the garage.  My challenge was to restart the motorcycle, shift into first, and use the friction zone to get it into the garage while starting on the inclined driveway.  I managed it beautifully, so as I write this blog, I am reminding myself not to get cocky!

It was a rough start to our chilly ride.  In fact it was looking like I might ride solo, but luckily, our circumstances changed.  The brand-new Triumph Rocket 3 wouldn’t start.  Actually, it wouldn’t power on much less start.  When Bill hit the starter a red dot showed on the dash and nothing happened.  The only difference between this week and last was that Bill had turned off the ignition switch down below. 

            I took out my phone and searched for reasons why the Triumph Rocket won’t start.  The older models had electrical issues with the starter but I couldn’t find anything really on the new bike.  So I called Duck over at Sunrise and learned that the Triumph logo on the key fob depressed to turn on and off the fob (the little wi-fi looking symbol).  So we tried that, no luck.  I was transferred to the service department.  Here we learned that the key fob needs to be a certain distance and no further from the TFT display to power on the motorcycle.  With Bill holding the fob on the seat, I hit the starter and the bike powered on; our ride together was saved!

            We had delayed our ride to let the temperature rise above 50 degrees.  It was still cool enough for the leather jackets though without the lining.  I made one mistake in my attire; I didn’t wear any leggings.  I had considered wearing the leggings under my motorcycle jeans, but I hadn’t had to wear them on 50-degree rides before.  The difference this time was I wasn’t riding the Ducati Scrambler, so I didn’t have the warmth of the engine heat.

            I didn’t let my chilly legs deter me from enjoying the ride.  I was on a motorcycle with heated grips.  Even with the heated grips, I made the decision to wear my Rev’It winter gloves.  If you’ve been reading my blogs for a while, then you know I’ve struggled with these thick gloves in the past.  I figured I might as well start getting used to the gloves on the different bike.  I also felt a little obligated to wear them after we had conducted a comprehensive search to find them.  On this ride I only had three throttle revs while wearing them, and two of those while I was practicing fast braking.  I consider that progress.

            As we began the ride, I found myself marveling at how well the R Nine T does in the curves; it leans easily and makes the curves enjoyable.  I felt more comfortable on the bike on this ride than last week.  I had worried that the leather jacket would feel heavy on my arms and shoulders as I reached for the handlebars, but happily, that was not the case.  I also noted how well-balanced the motorcycle is; I have only once felt a slight tipping bobble on the bike and that was early on in my field practices.

            Bill is getting more comfortable riding the Rocket as well.  We spent more time on circles and figure 8s than we had so far, and I noted I my turns were getting even tighter.  I remembered to apply pressure on the outside peg opposite the turn as we practiced.  We worked extra on speeding up and stopping as best we could.  Our church parking lots were full, and even the hospital lot was out because it serves as overflow parking for one of the churches which was having an oyster roast.  The one lot we could practice the quick stops in was extra busy as people ran their errands for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday.

            The squirrels were about and active again, though this ride we only had one crazy fellow run out in front of us.  I spotted two rose bushes blooming soft pink flowers along with some flowers hanging in on the two-season azaleas, but the trees are moving past spectacular fall foliage to the beginnings of bare branches for winter.  As long as I remember the leggings under my jeans, I don’t mind the upcoming winter rides.  After all, I do have heated grips!

            I could have called this blog entry “Indian Summer Part 2” because it was another gorgeous, sunny, warm day.  The remnants of Nicole passed through Thursday and Friday, and we did have to wait on the roads to dry.  Even so, the roads in the shade were still damp when we rode at noon.

            But I chose to call this “Growing into the New Bike” because I really felt the differences in the R Nine T on this ride.  When we head out onto our curvy road, I feel the different grip of the tires as I lean into the curves.  I also notice the wider rake of the front tire. The R Nine T has a rake of 28.5 degrees versus the 24 degrees of the Ducati Desert X.  This difference means my U-turns, S-turns, and circles are a bit wider.  But I was able to tighten them up a bit this week.

            I still find the riding position a tad uncomfortable.  I have to reach for the handlebars so that I feel stretched out and my riding position is that of the letter C.  This issue can easily be corrected by getting some handlebar risers that would bring the handlebars higher and back toward me some.

            What I particularly noticed on today’s ride was how I have already adjusted to the dry clutch.  As I rode, I thought about why that might be, and I concluded that my early driving experience with manual transmissions in cars helped me adapt to the R Nine T clutch.  I found myself playing with the friction zone at times even leaving the clutch out and riding in the courts in first gear.  But I realized that I don’t want to do that as having some clutch to release to increase speed when doing slow speed maneuvers is a must.  Remember that the motorcycle wants to straighten up but needs speed to do so.

            It was a squirrelly ride in that Bill had to stop four times for squirrels dashing out into the road including one crazy fellow who stopped right in front of the massive Rocket.  I didn’t see any butterflies but noted a shadow fly overhead.  Bill spotted it and said it was a black swallowtail.  Next week I doubt we’ll see even one butterfly.  Our highs are forecasted in the upper 40s—leather jacket time.  Oh, and the R Nine T has heated grips; I can’t wait to try those.

We lucked into a day made for riding.  It was an Indian summer day with temps in the mid-70s and mostly sunny skies.  I was comfortable on the R Nine T, not missing the heat from the Ducati at all.

            What I noticed about today’s ride was my ability to keep up with Bill.  On both the Ducati and the BMW G310, I would often have to accelerate to close the gap as Bill zoomed off.  But on the R Nine T, the 1170 cc engine with 109 hp, I keep up with him easily.  So I’ve learned he wasn’t trying to take off and lose me; it really was the motorcycle.

            I do miss the gurgle and pops of the LeoVince exhaust, though.  The R Nine T engine is on the quiet side.  Bill tells me his Triumph Rocket gurgles and pops as he downshifts, so I try and take comfort I knowing one of us gets to enjoy the delicious sounds motorcycles are capable of.

            There were still a handful of Halloween decorations still up, and I did get to see an inflatable turkey up for Thanksgiving.  One gaggle of Canadian geese were chilling in a ditch.  There was wind from the southeast, giving us the warmer temperatures, but also raining leaves on us.  At one point we were chasing the leaves as the wind blew them down the road in front of us. 

            But the best part of the ride for me was when I watched a smattering of leaves and noticed a rogue leaf seeming to float off on its own.  It turned out to be a Monarch butterfly, and I smiled as I watched it flutter off up and to the left.  We were stopped and starting to turn right, so it was a lovely surprise when the Monarch changed course to flutter by right in front of me.  A truly special moment on this ride.

            I handled the R Nine T comfortably.  The reach to the handlebars is still a tad uncomfortable, but not undoable.  And I noticed the clutch seems to take more strength to pull in.  I don’t mind that as it’s a good workout for my left grip.  Now that I’m on the road riding a dry clutch, I actually think the dry clutch is easier to use than the wet.  As long as I’m rolling on the throttle carefully, I have no stutters or almost stalls.  I did notice the difference in the grip of the tires on the curves.  The R Nine T has 50/50 tires, which are 50% on road, 50% off road.  So the treads are big and chunky.  On today’s ride I noticed the different feel on the grip.

            I also had a slippage.  There’s some road construction in the neighborhood, and I got caught parallel to a dugout in the road.  I felt the bike slip a bit under me, but I didn’t panic and kept my balance in part, I think, because of the excellent balance to the motorcycle provided by the boxer engine.  I really am enjoying my rides on the R Nine T which makes me happy Bill did buy the Rocket.

            Keep your fingers crossed for dry roads next weekend; rain is forecasted.  But I hope we can still manage our ride.