Hints of summer greeted us on Saturday as temperatures hit the low 80s with a chance of thunderstorms later in the day. As we warmed up the motorcycles before heading out, I felt sweat rolling down my back, but once we started moving, the breeze kept me comfortable. And as long as we were cruising along, I enjoyed my ride. But the slow speed maneuvers were awful.
Our first circles went fine; however, when we turned into a new court to get away from traffic, my turns went wide as my speed wasn’t slowing like I wanted. I realized soon after that I had stayed in second gear, so on my other slow turns, I double checked that I was in first. Yet still I went wide on most of my turns and felt uncomfortable on all of them. I even had a near miss of a curb in one parking lot. It was at that point I accepted that I was having an off day. This acceptance allowed me to relax and not worry about wider turning. Even still, I stalled the R Nine T when starting from a stop late in the ride, something I haven’t done in months.
I counted ten cabbage white butterflies during the ride, and I saw dragonflies for the first time—a sign the mosquitoes will be here soon. The best part of the ride was smelling the honeysuckle blooming alongside the road.
My redemption came on Mother’s Day. We took the BMW G 310 GS and the Ducati Scrambler out for photographs. I felt for sure I would struggle with the wet clutch on the 310 and stall the motorcycle. But I was happily surprised to have no issue with the clutch. It was an odd feeling to ride the little 310 as there is quite a power plummet from the R Nine T. I also struggled to shift in my Daytona boots, but I managed.
As we headed home from our short ride, I realized that my ease of handling on the 310 was due to my greater riding experience especially my figuring out the dry clutch of the R Nine T. After my struggles yesterday, it was a great feeling to realize I have improved as a rider. My improvement is due to practicing those slow speed drills, and I can’t wait for next week’s ride.
Happy Mother’s Day to my wonderful Mom and to all my readers who are Moms!
Flutterby Biker 