Making Lemonade

Crackle and crunch went the leaves underfoot as we loaded up the car to head out for our ride. With temps in the low 60s, the day promised to be a perfect fall ride.

The ride was delayed but for an excellent reason. Bill wanted to install my brand new LeoVince LV10 carbon fiber slip on exhaust. That’s the lemonade making; last week’s drop gave Bill the idea to go ahead and replace the scratched up stock exhaust (the lemons) with the delicious sounding LeoVince (you can hear what the exhaust sounds like here: https://youtu.be/BndvfPF-Nl0). Now my Ducati Scrambler rumbles and grumbles with a deep-throated roar.

The install took 15-20 minutes, so we were soon heading out. I rode the whole time with a smile on my face enjoying the engine roar even while I acknowledged that I would need to wear ear plugs on future rides. The best sound was when I downshifted; at those times, the exhaust popped and rumbled wonderfully.

I did make one mistake with this ride. I forgot to wear my motorcycle socks. My motorcycle socks are knee high and would have kept my lower legs warm from the wind chill shooting up my jeans’ cuffs. It was chilly enough to make me close my helmet vent and keep my visor down. I was also able to enjoy the slow speed maneuvers as the engine heat warmed up my chilly shins. One such drill was to turn the motorcycle to full lock and dab the feet while completing a circle. I was able to complete two full circles and was a little full of myself. After the ride when we were doing our ride reviews, Bill pointed out that in that exercise, I was supposed to be looking in the opposite direction. Oh well. Something to practice next week.

When I was practicing on the R Nine T, Bill took out the Ducati to enjoy the new exhaust himself. While on the R Nine T, I did have one stall, but I recovered quickly. The city had some digging flags out that I was able to use as cones for slalom practice. I was having such a good ride on the R Nine T, I half-hoped Bill would want to ride the Ducati home so I could stay on the BMW. No luck, but I did tell Bill I feel ready to ride the R Nine T on some pavement.

The roar of the exhaust helped to move along some Canadian geese who were determined to cross the road in front of us. After Bill’s turn on the Ducati, he said we would order the baffle to help mute the sound some. I managed to spot an Atlantis Fritillary butterfly, but there are more Halloween decorations out than butterflies now.

One aspect of this week’s ride with the new exhaust was the realization that just like that, I was having fun on the Ducati again. No doubt the cooler temperatures help but, after last week’s drop, I was questioning my choice in motorcycles. The new exhaust took about ten pounds of weight off the bike, and the deep roar gave me a new sense of fun and adventure on the Scrambler. Next weekend promises the same lovely weather; with the right socks, I’ll be all set to really enjoy my ride.

LeoVince LV10 carbon fiber exhaust. — The LeoVince exhaust on my Ducati Scrambler.

Well the Airbag Works!

It was a ride of good and bad luck. The good luck came in the form of the weather. The remnants of Hurricane Ian hit our area Friday but, with some patience Saturday morning, the roads dried out enough to make our ride possible. The bad luck struck soon after.

I was astride the Ducati and turning it around in the driveway to take it down to the street. Turning it around meant backing it up at a 90-degree angle, turning it, and heading down the driveway. I backed it up well enough and had started to turn it to head down the driveway which was a huge mistake. What I should have done was walk the bike back again at a slight angle with the front wheel angled toward the street. Instead, I turned the front wheel and immediately unbalanced the motorcycle. I was dumped over in the yard next to the driveway and, since I had already attached my Helite vest, deployed the vest.

As the drop happened, I had the sensation of desperately trying to get my right foot under me to keep the bike upright. Because I was on the driveway, and my parents’ driveway is very steep, by the time my foot connected with the concrete, the motorcycle was past the point of recovery. I dumped out into the yard and had a momentary panic. All I could think was that something was wrong because my core was being squeezed. I felt the back protector in my Alpinestars shirt shoving into my ribs. It was at that point I realized that my Helite vest, an airbag vest, had deployed. You can see the vest in action here: https://youtu.be/Q_6-MlqYpYw but essentially what it does is act as an airbag for the body when a rider comes off the motorcycle.

I came out of this drop in way better shape than my motorcycle. It landed on the right side, which meant the exhaust heat shield scraped on the concrete as did the right peg. My clumsiness comes just as we are starting to seriously look at trading in the Fasthaus Scrambler for a new motorcycle. Needless to say, I felt rotten, and I cast a pall on the ride. We sat in the garage to let me shake off my fall. I wanted to get out and ride to make sure I hadn’t done any unseen damage that affected the handling or running of the bike.

As we waited, a large monarch butterfly fluttered by overhead, and I took that as an omen that the day would only get better. Soon after seeing the butterfly, we headed out onto the storm-debris strewn roads. The fallen leaves, branches, and pinecones just added more to be aware of as we rode. The day was comfortably cool for cruising with temperatures in the mid-70s. The storm impacted the area as we rode past large branches downed and even some trees including a large pine that had fallen across the walking path near the pool and was propped up by the branches of other trees.

We rode past several tree removal services in the ritzy neighborhood next door. We were even stopped for a bit while a small backhoe attempted to load a large tree trunk onto a truck. I say attempted because, while we watched, the trunk dropped onto the truck and immediately rolled out the other side.

One obstacle Bill pointed out to me was placing our feet down on sticks in the road. As we sat at the stop sign, he pointed down to his boot resting on a stick and demonstrated how easily the stick could roll out from under foot. Unsure footing is a good way to drop the bike.

We didn’t get any gravel lot practice as there were workers setting up for a wedding, but we did do some slow speed drills. As I was working on straightening up from a curve to a stop, I started to feel the heat from the engine and changed tactics to a large loping figure 8 to generate some wind. Because of the storm, R Nine T practice was out as the field was a muddy mess. As I had hoped, the ride helped alleviate the bad mojo of my earlier drop, and we ended our ride smiling.

I did see one other butterfly during the ride. It was a small black one with bright blue coloring at the bottom edge of the wings. I think it might have been a pipevine swallowtail, but it may have been a juvenile red-spotted purple admiral. Whatever it was, it brought a bittersweet smile to my face as I realized the rides with the butterflies would come to an end for this year. However, we do get the cool autumn weather to ride in beginning next Saturday and the awesome fall foliage to look at.

Cool Ride

Another early start on Saturday as we went back to Adventure BMW to pick up the R Nine T. I followed Bill back home and we headed out. Because Bill had ridden on roads with 45 mph speed limits, he suggested I lead the ride today to prevent him from zooming off. So for the first time, I took point.

It was a cool 65 degrees as we headed out. I found myself shutting my helmet visor, needing to zip up my jacket fully, and wishing I had worn my neck tube. Taking point meant I needed to be even more aware of what traffic was doing as it affected both of us. But I also enjoyed the point as I selected the route and determined our slow speed practice.

Because the day was so cool, I was able to add back the slow speed drills of tight circles, S-turns, full lock drills, and straightening up and stopping drills. It felt good to get back into practice, and I found myself smiling a lot as some of the drills came easily and some challenged me. Before we headed out, Bill had checked the air in my tires which were low. As he told me, “You’ll notice your suspension is going to be stiff.” I particularly noticed this inside the gravel lot. As I led the turns, I felt my tires slipping under me repeatedly. But I wasn’t freaked out by the slips as I feel I can handle the Ducati and I understood why there was such an increase.

The cool air meant almost no butterflies. However, late into our ride, a darkish brown Juvenal’s Duskywing fluttered across my path. We did see a lot of small groups of geese as their migration continues. I did wonder why I haven’t seen any large birds of prey, but then I remembered I was on point and shouldn’t be watching the sky.

Since I did have point, I led us to the school field so I could ride the R Nine T some. I amazed myself with how well I was able to get the motorcycle moving. I had a blast just zooming around in S-turns, really enjoying how well the bike leaned into the little curves and how well it zipped around. I was having so much fun I almost forgot to practice stopping and resuming the ride so I could work the clutch. I had six successful starts with zero stalls, so I’m almost ready to say I have a feel for the dry clutch.

The beautiful ride came to an end with big grins on both of our faces. Autumn is definitely riding season.

Autumn leaves in tree branch — Photo by Polina Tankilevitch on Pexels.com

Two Separate Rides

It was an early start Saturday. We had a 9:00 appointment for service on the R Nine T, and by heading out early, I got a chance to ride the R Nine T a bit before the appointment.

Because our start was so early, the temps were still in the 60s—an absolutely perfect morning for riding. Bill headed out on the R Nine T while I would follow in the car. As I started driving, I saw a falcon atop a light post who then dived down into the bushes by someone’s front porch, and I took that as good omen on the day.

I arrived a few minutes before Bill at Adventure BMW, so I had the rare opportunity of watching him ride up on the beautiful motorcycle. I quickly geared up and took the bike into the same parking lot where I test rode the R 1250 GSA last week. I had a little trouble finding first gear, but I remembered to work the motorcycle forward and back to help it fall into gear, and that worked. My start was smooth with no jiggering and off I went. My ride was short-lived, however, as the mechanics soon showed up. Still, I managed some U-turns and S-turns and a shift into second before I had to stop my ride.

We checked out the inventory to find they had sold a few more motorcycles without getting any new ones in. In fact when I had arrived at the dealership, there was a gentleman from Maryland with a U-Haul trailer waiting to pick up his recently purchased motorcycle. I hope next week we see some more inventory; I would especially like to see an R 1250 GS in stock.

Once we left the dealership, we returned to the garage where I suited up to take out the Ducati Scrambler. The day was so cool, I was able to ride wearing the Alpinestars shirt under my jacket. I mostly cruised, but I did take some tight turns in the three gravel lots, having headed into the pool parking lot. I didn’t feel the heat much on my legs, so I tried to get the tight turn in the house gravel lot that I had to dab on last week. I was successful happily.

As I rode out from that parking lot, I encountered a bright yellow Canadian Tiger Swallowtail who almost collided with my helmet. Luckily, she flitted upward as I zipped by and we could both continue our day’s journeys. I later saw a Horace’s Duskywing as I headed back to the house. Definitely the butterflies as well as the motorcyclists prefer cooler weather for our fun.

Tiger Swallowtail butterfly — Photo by naor eliyahu on Pexels.com

4 Bikes in One Weekend

It was a weekend of riding as I had the opportunity to ride four different motorcycles. From these rides I solidified my choice for my next motorcycle.

Bill surprised me Saturday morning by asking me if I wanted to go to Adventure BMW first then ride or vice versa. Our trip to the motorcycle dealership was purposeful; the R Nine T is due for its first service, and Bill wanted to set up an appointment. We also wanted to see the on-site inventory. We’ve been checking their website regularly for new inventory, but the list has been rather sparse. So we figured that maybe bikes were coming in that weren’t getting posted onto the web page. And we were right.

Meeting Clayton again, who now is a sales associate but was a mechanic when we went to buy the G310, we learned that they have had motorcycles come in and sell without making it to the web site. But they did have some inventory including three 1250 GS Adventure bikes. Now I have had my eye on the BMW 1250 GS since before I could ride. It is regarded by some as the best motorcycle out there, allowing for both on and off-road riding. The Adventure version has a higher suspension and a larger gas tank—7.3 vs. 5.3. It also adds about 40 more pounds to the weight of the bike. My preference has always been for the smaller GS, but since the only bikes there were the GSAs, that was what I sat on.

Now Clayton, being fairly new to sales, was eager to make a sale. When we first met him 18 months ago, he was a mechanic at the dealership, but he knows the motorcycles and rides them himself, so he was very helpful. I benefitted greatly from his eagerness. He offered me a test ride, so I took it.

My G310 GS, Ducati Scrambler, and the R Nine T were all test ridden by Bill. The GSA would be my first ever test ride. And it would be on a motorcycle that weighs 591 pounds! But one of the reasons the 1250 GS/GSA is such a popular motorcycle is that it is easy to ride. I was about to find out the truth of this myself.

Next to the BMW dealership is a large parking lot that is not in use on weekends. That’s where I rode the GSA. It rode like a dream. Just starting off, I expected some jiggering as I learned the friction zone, but there was none. Off I went, marveling at how nimble such a large bike was. My ride was mostly large circles where I managed to generate enough speed to shift into second with twice racing up enough to try third gear. Because the motorcycle was new, I didn’t do any tight turns, but I did practice straightening up and coming to a stop.

One aspect of the motorcycle I didn’t like was the seat height. Because this was the Adventure, the seat was 35 inches which resulted in only the balls of my feet reaching the ground. Now there is a lower seat height available, but I already know I can flat foot the GS version. On the GSA I couldn’t stop with my heel reaching out first as I have become habituated to, but my stops went well even on the balls of my feet.

I also practiced sudden stops. The 1250 GS comes with what is known as a telelever suspension. This suspension prevents the front forks from diving when the front brake is squeezed. On most motorcycles a sudden stop will cause the front end to dive as the suspension tries to absorb the energy of the moving motorcycle. I enjoyed testing out the telelever suspension on my stops; it is reassuring to feel the motorcycle staying upright as it comes to a stop. I also enjoyed the feel of a very well-balanced motorcycle. With the almost 600-pound bike, the balance adds another level of reassurance and let me feel confident in my test ride.

I don’t know how long I was out riding, and I could have stayed out longer, but I felt a little bad for Bill and wanted him to have a chance to ride. He refused to test ride the 1250 because, as he pointed out, he test rode two other bikes at Adventure and wound up buying them both. As it was nearing noon, we decided to put off our regular ride to Sunday. However, later that same afternoon, we took out the G310 and rode around in the backyard. That was my second motorcycle of the weekend.

Sunday came with rain forecasted, but we headed out anyway under the looming gray skies. We raced the rain and rode quickly; I didn’t mind as that helped mitigate the heat of the Ducati. We passed a little boy riding in his yard in a toy John Deere tractor with trailer who waved enthusiastically at us as we zoomed by. I gave him a wave and horn honk. And I finally saw my first mums out in someone’s yard, another herald of fall. No butterflies in sight though we were moving along so swiftly it would’ve been hard for me to spot any. I did see what seemed to be a lone goose, but I found out he was on the other side of a hedge from the rest of the gaggle, scoping out the next grazing area.

We were heading back to the garage when a golf cart turned in front of us. In order to let her clear our route, we went up the road and turned into a cul de sac where Bill stopped and dismounted the R Nine T. I was surprised as I knew we were nearing the end of the ride. Happily, Bill wanted us to switch motorcycles, letting me ride the R Nine T the three blocks back and for the first time on the road. Just as I mounted the black and yellow bike, the skies opened up on us. So not only did I get to ride a fourth motorcycle, I had my first ride in the rain. What a wonderful weekend of riding.

BMW 1250 GS Adventure in Triple Black from Adventure BMW motorcycle — BMW 1250 GS Adventure in Triple Black from Adventure BMW

First Hints of Fall

Officially the start of fall is September 22 when the autumnal equinox occurs, but already signs of its approach are evident. Fall and spring are the best seasons for motorcycle riding, though on my hot Ducati, winter is also pretty good. I love the colors of autumn, and saw the first shades on this ride.

The temperatures have not shifted into autumn mode, though our ride was in the low 80s. We kept to cruising mostly to help keep me cool. As I began the ride, I noted some magnolia blooms high up in a nearby tree, marveling at how these trees have flowered all summer. Heading out onto our long road, a Japanese beetle didn’t quite get out of my way and bonked against my right shoulder. I checked my jacket expecting a smear stain of what was left of the bug, but I was pleased to see no marks and assumed he bounced off and continued on his way.

I was concerned about not getting the slow speed practice in for a second week. But Bill led us into the large gravel lot and we did some figure 8s and U-turn practice. I did fine on all but one tight turn where my thoughts were more on my burning thighs than my navigation. For that I had to dab my left foot to complete the turn.

We rode by one of the houses that had been under construction and I noted that it was complete. Someone was hanging a basketball net for kids to play with. I noted among the cherry trees in particular some of the leaves had turned yellow. And as we headed into one court, leaves fell down upon us. I only saw one gaggle of Canadian geese, which surprised me, though perhaps they are migrating further south for winter. And I noticed several yards with sprinklers running to water the fall grass seeds.

A few butterflies are still about. The first one I saw was a bright yellow Canadian tiger swallowtail fluttering among some crape myrtles. Soon after I saw a black swallowtail, and I caught sight of some kind of duskywing, but it and I were moving too fast for me to figure out which one. I was pleasantly surprised to see a lone clematis blossom. But I’m still not seeing any fall mums; maybe next week as people take advantage of the Labor Day sales.

No R Nine T practice this week. School starts Tuesday for the kids, so the parking lot was full of cars as teachers worked to get their classrooms ready. I noticed during the ride how comfortable I’ve gotten with using the rear brake for stops. I’m doing OK with checking the mirrors as I come to a stop, but I am not consistent yet. I worked on turning the wheel at stops in the direction of travel. This week’s ride was almost all right turns; I only got to practice once to the left, but I remembered to dab my feet longer to maintain the turn.

As we returned the motorcycles to the garage, I looked out to see a cabbage white butterfly flitting about. I smiled even as I realized the butterfly sightings will become fewer and far between before stopping for the winter. As an experiment, I touched the seat of my Ducati and then of the R Nine T. Mine felt as warm as a heating pad; Bill’s was cool to the touch. So as the weather turns cooler, I have heated seats to look forward to. And as the seasons change again, the riding doesn’t stop but keeps getting better and better.

Ducati Scrambler Fasthaus edition. — See how my seat is right above the engine? Hence my hot rides on the Ducati.

Cruising on a Sunny Afternoon

I did get to ride my BMW G310 GS this weekend. For a little bit. In my backyard. In first gear. It will take me a few rides to get back the feel for riding it.

So how did I manage on my Ducati Scrambler on a 90-degree day with a heat index of 97? Did I just let Bill go off on his own and visit with my mom in her air-conditioned house? Did I stay home and sleep in even more than I already had? Or did I manage to have a wonderfully fun ride?

We had a very late start on Saturday having almost decided to push off the ride to Sunday. But since Sunday’s weather would be just as hot, we decided to go ahead and ride. But in order for me to enjoy the ride and not feel miserable from the heat, our ride would be cruising only, no slow speed maneuvers. And this strategy worked.

I told Bill I was not going to wear the Alpinestars shirt under my jacket. This meant I would only have on my Klim summer jacket and the Helite vest. Bill opted to do the same. We headed out straight to the gas station to fill up the Ducati which was giving me a range between 11 and 13 miles. Two and a half gallons of gas later, we headed out into the fancy neighborhood. The plan was to ride long stretches of road and only do U-turns when we rode into a court or street with no outlet. Outside of stops, this cruising kept me riding mostly between 25 and 30 mph with a few rides up the 35-mph road. As long as we were moving so that the wind chill could have an effect, I was fine.

Cruising is what the majority of motorcycle riders do. If we lived in a more rural area, I’m sure we would do more cruising. However, if you ask serious motorcyclists, they will tell you that anyone who wants to be a really good rider practices the slow speed maneuvers. Slow speed teachers the rider how to really handle the motorcycle. But the Ducati is made for slow speed practice in the late fall and winter, not the tail-end of summer.

Autumn is coming. We saw several flocks of Canadian geese, even having to herd one out of the road as we cruised by. And I’m sneezing more, a sure sign my fall allergies are beginning to kick in. I only saw one cabbage white butterfly during our ride. But I haven’t seen any mums in yards yet. I saw lovely begonias, vincas, and some white and purple flowers I didn’t recognize.

It was a good thing we had planned to cruise as several of our practice parking lots were in use. Both gravel lots were full as were several of the church lots. Since we weren’t doing slow speed drills, I focused on using my mirrors at stops, turning the wheel before taking off, and maintaining a steady distance from Bill. I discovered on the left turns that if I dabbed my feet longer than normal, I was better able to keep the bike turned to the left. So even without the slow speed drills, I made some skills progress.

I didn’t ride the R Nine T because of the heat, but on Sunday as we finished up some yard work, Bill brought the G310 out of the garage and took a spin around the back yard. After he rode for a bit, it was my turn. I dabbed my feet a lot more than usual in part because I felt constricted in my yard space. In fact I couldn’t make one turn for fear of running into some border rocks. Bill suggested I loop around the aspen in my yard, and that allowed me to make the loop.

I’m glad we worked up a solution to let me ride the Ducati. Moving from an 803-cc engine to a 313-cc would be a step backward. Although Sunday’s ride reminded me that my first little motorcycle is also a blast to ride.

road — Photo by D0N MIL04K on Pexels.com

A Ride of Two Minds

Miserably fantastic, terrifically bad, horribly great, wonderfully awful—these oxymorons best describe this weekend’s ride. My battle with the heat of the Ducati Scrambler distracted from the wonderful ride. So even as I did fantastically with the figure eights and tight circle drills, I was miserable through most of the ride.

First let me explain why I was on the Scrambler again and not the BMW G310. Early Saturday we had storms move through wetting the roads, so Bill couldn’t ride the 310 over to my parents’ house. In fact our ride was delayed as we waited for the roads to dry out which also contributed to my heat-induced misery as we rode later in the day. Instead of an early start and a ride in the 70s, we were under the full afternoon sun with the high temperature of the day (85) and the full humidity.

Added to the day’s heat, I had the not-so-brilliant idea to wear a pair of bike shorts under my motorcycle jeans to prevent thigh burn. Since I was overheated by the ride, I never even got to the blind turning drill that burned my thighs last week. Instead, the shorts only held more heat in and left me miserable.

I still appreciated the beautiful day noting the pop of crape myrtle blossoms so heavy on their trees that they are beginning to fall. And I still saw magnolia blossoms among some of the trees. The Canadian geese were near just about every road we went down. And I again saw multiple butterflies including a cabbage white, a spicebush swallowtail, a little wood-satyr, what I think was a meadow fritillary, and a monarch.

My ride went really well, the motorcycling part. As we worked on our figure eights, I played with the idea of accelerating and decelerating at the turn. My stops went smoothly and I really enjoyed riding the twisty roads. To give myself a break from the heat underneath me, I rode standing at several points to allow the cool northeasterly breeze to wash over me.

But when we arrived at our parking lot for the straighten up and stop drills, I parked my bike in the shade and sat down. Bill rode over to check on me, and I told him to go ahead and practice; I just needed to be away from the heat of the motorcycle.

I had no ride on the R Nine T as the fields were super muddy after the morning rain. When we take that bike in for its 600-mile service, we’ll put new road tires on it and I’ll be able to ride in parking lots and the roads. Currently, the motorcycle has 50/50 tires for on and off-road riding that Bill feels are too lumpy for me and my riding skills.

I’m not sure how next weekend will go. The temperature will be great—low 80s—but rain is again in the forecast. I’m hoping the showers will be of the afternoon kind, so we can get the 310 over for my rides. The Ducati is a great cold weather bike; the engine works like a heated seat. But I want to enjoy my remaining summer and early autumn rides fully, so I need to get back on my little G310.

A further note on the Ducati’s heat. As we were taking off our riding gear in the garage at the end of our ride, my mother, who knows nothing about motorcycles, came out to speak with me. She stood beside the Ducati for a moment and remarked on the intense heat coming off the bike and looked at me as though I was crazy for riding it. I suppose we motorcyclists are a little crazy, but it’s crazy in a good way.

Photo by Griffin Wooldridge on Pexels.com

Butterflies, Bikes, and a Beautiful Day

Today’s ride was a gift. The day’s high temperature hit 82 with 10 mph winds out of the north, gentle sunshine, and low humidity. I can’t remember such a beautiful day in August. We didn’t even have to get out early for our ride. And we didn’t have too long to wait for the first butterfly to make an appearance; a small cabbage white fluttered high across the road as we headed out, blessing our ride.

Our first practice was setting up our lines for curves. The usual line for a curve is outside-inside-outside. What we were working on is ensuring an escape route while in the curve. That meant not going too far to the center lane as that cuts off half of the escape. Now we have the luxury of riding on familiar curves, but there has been a lot of road construction in the neighborhoods, so we have to stay aware.

Halfway through our curve practice, we rode into our first gravel lot. Two of the gravel parking lots are at historic houses—a plantation house and a family home that is considered the best example of Virginia vernacular architecture. And just as these are two distinct houses, their gravel lots are distinct. The plantation house gravel is less packed down making it more slippery, I felt my tires slipping under me as we practiced S-turns in this gravel lot, but I didn’t have to dab and kept going.

As we rode along, we came to a street with a blind curve. We parked our bikes as Bill explained how on this particular curve, I needed to be aware of my avenues of escape as cars driving from the opposite side of the curve might easily cross the center line. Just as he was pointing out the potential need to ride into people’s yards to avoid an oncoming car, a gold-colored sedan came around the curve and crossed over into the opposite lane. It was as if the driver was part of the lesson.

While we sat parked, I noticed a red-spotted purple admiral butterfly dancing among the leaves of a thin tree. As I watched, I thought I spotted a second one fluttering among the leaves as well.

Our skill at tight turns has improved greatly. We are now completing S-turns (or figure 8s) in courts and lots where before we were only completing one circle. This tight turn practice helps me get a better feel for my motorcycle and for handling it. In the other gravel lot, I found myself turning tightly enough to completely avoid the wooden parking curbs.

Leaving this parking lot, I spotted another admiral butterfly across the road and realized that both motorcyclists and butterflies love beautiful, temperate days. Yet even with the moderate temperatures and cool breeze, our slow speed drills got the better of me. The Scrambler engine got painfully hot against my left thigh as we were practicing a new drill. This exercise involved putting the handlebars in full lock (where they won’t turn past) and turning while looking in the opposite direction. This drill really allows me to feel how the bike pulls and wants to lean into the turn. Since this was our first try at this exercise, we kept our feet down and dabbed along as we turned. But by having my legs down, my thighs hit right up against my hot engine.

I rode over to some shade to take a break and get off the Ducati. As Bill rode up to me to see what was going on, a monarch butterfly fluttered over our heads making me smile. I told Bill that I did want to switch to the BMW G310 GS for riding on these warmer days. The Scrambler is a much better cool/cold weather ride where that engine heat will keep me warm. But that engine heat for now is making my practice extremely uncomfortable.

Because of my overheating, Bill questioned me about riding the R Nine T. But I was eager to implement my discovery from last week (August Ride). I focused on feeling the motorcycle move as I let up but did not release the clutch. It worked! I started off fine even though the ground was a bit squishy. I briefly thought about just continuing to circle about, but the challenge for me is to stop and start off again. So I came to a stop with some trepidation but determined to learn how to ride this bike. I did the same roll on the throttle as the clutch was almost let out, and I was off again. I came to a stop 6 times and was able to take off again with no stalls each time, though I did have a near stall on one. I finished my practice with a big smile for my success, for the butterflies, and for the beautiful day.

Next week I’ll be back on my BMW keeping much cooler for our slow speed drills. And we have another day forecasted in the low 80s, but the humidity is back. Since I’ll be on the smaller motorcycle, I wonder if I’ll be as successful keeping up with Bill as I was on this ride.

motorcycle rider — Photo by Yura Forrat on Pexels.com

August Ride

If you have ever lived in the southeastern United States, then you know that when the dewpoint is 72 degrees and the humidity is at 72%, you’re in for a super muggy day. Even getting out to ride early didn’t spare us from the oppressive, damp air. I battled my dread as I geared up knowing that my air-cooled Ducati Scrambler was going to be extra uncomfortable to ride. And I was not wrong.

In addition to the humidity, there was no breeze, so we had to generate our own wind chill from the soupy air. There wasn’t much. I found myself riding with my visor up the whole time, and I even lifted up the bottom of my modular helmet when I was working on slow speed drills in parking lots. But it wasn’t enough. I could feel the sweat pooling inside my riding boots and knew I’d have to peel myself out of my gear after the ride.

The worst part of this super humid day was my focus was off. My mind was registering the discomfort especially as we practiced S-turns in the gravel lot—not a good place to be unfocused. I shook myself out of it, but that only lasted until the next slow speed practice. I even thought I might have to get off the motorcycle for a break, and I did get a short break as Bill counseled me to take my hand off the front brake as we worked on starting in a curve then straightening to a stop.

One thing I did not mention in last week’s blog (Air-Cooled Engine vs. Summer) is that the worst heat experience is when I stop. The stopping position means my feet go to the ground and my thighs push up against the air-cooled (read HOT) engine. When I’m riding, I feel the heat off the engine, but I can open up my thighs away from the bike. So I hope you understand why I dread the stopping practice. And the stopping practice comes near the end of our ride, so I’m near well-done when we get to it. My reward, however, is getting on the air/oil-cooled BMW with its low engine that does not cook my thihgs.

Now we did get a break from the sunshine as we rode under cloudy skies, and we maybe rode a little too fast on the long stretches. I found myself wishing we were riding on a 45-mph road as even the 35-mph road was only a little refreshing. I enjoyed watching an osprey hovering for a moment before diving down for its breakfast. And both Bill and I got to watch a young bunny hopping along a hedge, startled by the motorcycles entering its quiet cul de sac.

As I transitioned to the R Nine T, a cabbage white butterfly danced between Bill and me, the first I had seen from a motorcycle in quite a few weeks. The start of my ride on the R Nine T went well as I didn’t stall right away. But after my first stop, I repeatedly stalled. I did figure out that I was letting off the clutch completely and needed to let the bike start going with the clutch partially in. Bill also suggested again that the muddy ground was giving me trouble. In fact he got on the R Nine T and it stalled on him as he first tried to get it moving. One recommendation he showed me when riding on a softer surface is to stand up and get the bike moving. It was a short practice but I learned a lot from it.

We returned the bikes to the garage and did manage to peel ourselves out of the gear. Looking ahead to our next ride, the high for the day is forecasted at 82 with a low of 68. The Canadian geese are in full migration, we saw three different gaggles, heralding the arrival of autumn—yay!

osprey — Photo by Frank Cone on Pexels.com