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!
Flutterby Biker 