The Christmas season is very generous to me.  Not only do I receive gifts for Christmas, but my birthday falls within the twelve days of Christmas, so I now have two new Rev’It riding pants and new Klim gloves.

            For Christmas I was given the Rev’It Factor 4 thermal lined waterproof pants.  These come with knee protectors and a removeable thermal liner to keep me warm on cold, winter rides.  On my birthday I received the Rev’It Ignition 3 pants which combines leather with breathable mesh for protection and air flow.  These pants also have a removable liner, but they are for warmer rides.  Both pants fit me way better than the Klim riding jeans which we did get in a larger size than I needed.

            Now that I was better geared up, we headed out on a beautiful sunny day in the low-50s.  I wore the Ignition 3 pants, and I also tried my new Klim Adventure GTX short gloves.  Bill gave me these gloves as a moderate weather glove because my Rev’It gloves are for really cold wintry rides and my other Klim gloves are perforated for summer air flow.  I did find myself putting on the heated grips on low with these new gloves.

            As for the pants, they will certainly need some breaking in.  I have to get used to the snugger fit which I found made mounting the bike a leg lift exercise.  I also need to adjust the knee pads.  Throughout two-thirds of my ride, my left knee was under pressure from the knee protection.  It was so uncomfortable, I thought for sure I’d have a bruise on my knee after the ride (I didn’t).  l finally managed to get the protector adjusted by kicking my left leg out straight.

            The ride itself was fantastic.  The sun was bright but, because we headed out earlier in the afternoon, not shining into our eyes.  Most of the Christmas decorations had been packed up, thought there was a cute inflatable of Santa in a car still waving at us.  We passed a snowy egret and two ducks chilling in the lake near the road.  Overhead, turkey vultures were lazily circling about.  No crazy squirrels in the road on this ride.  And, when I ignored the pants, I realized how wonderful a motorcycle the R Nine T is to ride. 

            For starters I easily found first gear which was helpful as my mind was distracted by the feel of riding in the new pants.  I realized how wonderful the Daytona boots are as I had no trouble shifting or braking wearing the boots with the new pants.  I’m very pleased with that as the Daytona’s have a one-inch lift which will help me flat foot the BMW R 1250 GS later in my riding career.  I also realized how easy the clutch is out on the road.  When we were practicing our slow turns and braking out of a curve, I could easily manipulate the clutch.  With the BMW G 310, I often stalled on slow speed drills.  The dry clutch really is fun.

            Yet, the motorcycle did mess with me a little.  We were parked and chatting about how the ride was going when Bill suggested he film a short video of me riding in my new pants.  Now I should have warned him that I hadn’t found neutral when I stopped my bike.  Restarting the ignition, I tried to find neutral as Bill walked away to start filming.  I never saw neutral, but I did believe I had shifted into first.  Nope.  I started riding toward Bill and the engine cut off on me.  Since I was struggling, I let Bill hop on and play with the clutch.  I was in third gear which is a surprise as I never leave first gear during my slow speed practice.  So I still have quite a bit to learn about using that dry clutch.

            I don’t mind more to learn as that’s another reason to ride.  Not that I need any more reasons because riding motorcycles is a total blast.

            Happy New Year!  I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and the new year is off to a great start.  My holidays were great except for the Arctic blast that prevented us from a Christmas Eve ride.  When the high barely crept into the low 20s, we decided to stay snug and warm at home.

            After Christmas, our area was blessed with gradually warming temperatures, giving us multiple sunny days in the 60s—perfect riding weather.  And Bill did get a short ride in on Thursday; the Ducati was due for its annual state inspection, so we headed off to Honda of Norfolk.  While Bill patiently waited for the inspector to become available, I was able to check out the CRF250F.  This motorcycle is an off-road trail bike that we are considering.  We’d like to purchase two of these bikes and, as Bill calls it, “rag” them off-road.  Bill got his first motorcycle at the age of thirteen, and he had a large field next to his house to ride it in.  So he appreciates the riding skills one can learn on a lighter bike in the dirt.  Because it is designed to ride off road, it is a tall motorcycle; a seat height of almost 25 inches.  But the suspension is soft and sank down as I mounted the bike so I could easily flat foot the bike.  We haven’t gotten to the serious purchase phase yet, but it was great having the opportunity to see and sit on the bikes.

            Now I mentioned that we had a week of spectacular weather, riding weather.  And I was off from work the whole week.  So why didn’t we take advantage and go for a weekday ride?  Well, my Mom was having trees removed, so the yard was torn up and there were large machines all around the house that week.  Our motorcycles were trapped in the garage.

            Also, unfortunately for us, rain moved in late Friday and lingered all through Saturday into Saturday night.  Road surfaces become slippery in the rain, especially if there are oil slicks on the road.  Plus, I’m using 50/50 on/off-road tires, which means the tread is chunky, so there are gaps where the tire is not in full contact with the ground.  These gaps don’t make for the best traction on wet roads.  We began to believe there would be no ride this weekend either.

            If you search “motorcycle riding as therapy,” you’ll find over 15 million hits.  The Semel Institute for Neuroscience at UCLA found that riding a motorcycle decreased cortisol, a stress hormone, by 28%.  Even I have written about how therapeutic I find my riding (“Hint of Fall Riding” published Dec. 5, 2021).  When it became obvious that Saturday’s ride was a no-go, we headed over to Southside Harley-Davidson to see if they were as well stocked as Bayside.  They did have a good number of motorcycles, including a gorgeous red Fatboy, several Pan Americans, Nightsters, and even a few Livewires (HD’s electric motorcycle).  Bill was amazed to realize that the Harley’s didn’t seem as large now that he’s been riding a Triumph Rocket.  But looking at motorcycles isn’t the same as riding them, and I admit I was getting a bit depressed.

            Our only hope was that the promised sunshine for Sunday would show up and shine enough to dry out the roads if we were patient and planned on a much later start.  Thankfully, 2023 gave us what we wanted and the roads dried out enough to allow us our ride.  I needed the escape as my football team came out in the second half and stunk up the field.

            The Arctic storm brought enough strong winds to blow clear almost all of the trees.  But with the sunshine, warm temps (65), and most people having tomorrow off, there were lots of people out and about.  We saw several kids playing on new Christmas bikes, scooters, and skateboards.  Bill had a near run in with a screwy squirrel; I watched from behind and I swear, it was like the squirrel was playing chicken with the front tire of the Rocket.  Finally, he darted off the road and let us resume our ride. 

            I worked on keeping two fingers on the front brake as I worked the throttle.  This position is known as pre-loading because the slack is pulled in on the brake to pre-load it so that when pulled, actual brake pressure is being applied to the front wheel.  It is considered one of the safer ways to ride.  I believe I was successful at the pre-load on this ride because I was able to wear my summer gloves on the warmer day. 

            Because I found it easier to pre-load the front brake, I was better able to work on braking into the curves.  I found turning easier, and I was able to turn tighter in courts.  I only had to widen out my turns to keep clear of Bill on the Rocket. 

            One aspect of our ride that has changed some since Bill acquired the Rocket is how we now make multiple runs on the 35-mph road.  It is clear that he feels the grunt of the torque on his new bike, and I found myself wondering as we rode if we would venture out onto a higher speed road soon.  We’ve discussed some options; maybe if the weather cooperates, we can put one of those options into play.

            The one downer on our ride was the position of the sun.  Due to our rain delay, we were out riding much later in the day than usual and, being winter, the sun is much lower in the sky. Together, these circumstances meant we were riding into the glare of the sun on several roads.  My helmet does have a visor, but I had taken it off in December because when I wear my leather jacket, the collar pushes the helmet in the back and the visor blocks some of my vision.  But the low sun shouldn’t be too much of a problem as we don’t usually ride at 3:00 in the afternoon.

            After such a wet and dreary Saturday, however, I’ll take the sun even in my eyes a bit since it means I get to ride.  And the days are slowly stretching out.  It’s far too early to think about spring, but some more weekends in the 60s in the middle of winter would sure be wonderful.  Next week’s ride will be more wintry as the high is only in the 40s, but that will be my chance to try out my new winter riding pants.

Our ride was late today, after 1:30.  In part we delayed a bit waiting for the day to get as warm as it could.  But we also ran a few errands beforehand.  By the time we mounted the bikes and headed out for our ride, my stomach was rumbling louder than my motorcycle.

            One reason for the delay was our stop at CycleGear.  I asked for some kind of insulated pant to wear for my winter rides, and we were hoping the Rev’It style Bill found online would be available at CycleGear for a try on.  No such luck; in fact we couldn’t find any Rev’It gear in the store.

            However, the trip was still beneficial.  Our route to our next stop was roundabout, but it allowed us to scope a future riding route.  In particular we wanted to see if the new Lesner Bridge had a large grate.  The bridge only has two small expansion grates, so less chance of slippage.  This route would be my first out into real traffic, so we are being careful in our approach.

            After delivering some Christmas cards to a friend, we finally headed over to my parents’ garage to ride.  The sun was mostly out with a chilly wind blowing.  I had prepared by wearing my fleece lounge pants under my riding jeans.  I also had on a wool blended thermal, so I was comfortably warm on the bike.  I again had a struggle to shift into first, but I may have found a solution as later in the ride I had another struggle for first.  Instead of playing the clutch in and out and shifting as I do, I simply let the clutch all the way out slowly then pulled back in before shifting.  That worked on the second struggle, so I will experiment next ride to see if it is the solution.

            Once I caught up to Bill, we headed onto our twisty road.  I was better able to use trail braking on the twists.  It may simply be a matter of training my grip to become comfortable with the preload position.  I also took breaks to let my hand rest, and these breaks allowed me to work on the preload throughout my ride.

            I was able to focus on some training objectives, but I wasn’t able to really enjoy the Christmas decorations as my mind was on my rumbling tummy.  Usually on our ride days, I eat a slice of peanut butter toast and that holds me through the ride until we head home for our delicious brunch of blueberry French toast.  But since we didn’t head straight over for our ride, my PB toast had to keep me full longer, and it was not up to the task.  At several points during the ride, I had to refocus away from my hunger.  At one turn, I came in too fast but, because I had been working on preloading the brakes, I was able to slow my speed and straighten the motorcycle, preventing me from going too wide.

            That wider than I wanted turn shook most of my thoughts of food out, and I was better able to focus on my ride.  I didn’t have any full locks on my turn practice, but I had fun doing some first gear turns without the friction zone.  On my other motorcycles with the more typical wet clutches, I have to keep feathering the clutch in the slow speed practices or the bike will stall.  With the dry clutch much like a manual transmission car, once it’s running in first, it will stay running in first.  I like this as it allows me to rest my left hand which tires more easily on the R Nine T’s clutch.

            Since the R Nine T only has an analog dial showing speed, I have no idea how long we are out on our ride.  It was probably only an hour or so as we didn’t ride through all of our usual route.  Even so, next week I’ll hope we don’t have any errands to run.  Next week my thoughts will be on the cold—the high for Saturday is supposed to only reach 33 degrees—yikes!  I’ll find out just how good my heated grips really are.

Who hasn’t had “one of those days”?  A day where everything is just off.  Maybe you oversleep and are late for work.  You’re wearing two different colored socks.  Perhaps you spill your coffee down the front of your shirt after you’ve arrived at work.  I had one of those days on my ride.

            Weatherwise we lucked out.  The roads had dried off and, despite the accu-weather forecast for a mostly cloudy day, we had bright sunshine throughout our ride.  The temperatures were in the low 50s, so I was wearing my Rev’It gloves.  I also chose to again wear my Daytona boots; I figure I should get used to them in preparation for the GS.

            The ride didn’t begin right away as I again struggled to find first gear.  I remained calm and remembered what Bill had told me about playing with the clutch lever until it shifted.  I found first much more quickly than last time and was off.  But I wasn’t the only thing off.  I couldn’t find the sweet spot on the foot peg where I needed to be so the front of my boot would slip under the shifter.  I struggled through several miles of the ride before I found that if I have the middle of my foot arch on the peg, I can readily slip my toe under the shifter.

            Additionally, I could not comfortably preload the front brake for trail braking practice.  Last week, I was surprised how easy the preload was, but this week every time I tried, it was awkward.  Preload is when the rider has one to two fingers on the front brake lever pulling in the slack so the brake is “preloaded.”  Preloading is a safe riding technique, and it is a skill I work on.  But I am beginning to believe the design of the grips and distance to the brake lever and clutch are adapted to men’s hands.  I am a tall woman with long fingers, but I can’t comfortably ride with a preloaded grip even with the levers adjusted to the closest position.  Perhaps motorcycle companies should consider a female-friendly handlebar option.

            After the ride as Bill and I were debriefing, he asked me if I learned anything on today’s ride.  My response was “no.”  But I realized later that wasn’t entirely true.  I learned that even as I was unable to work on the skills I wanted to, I was able to enjoy the ride because I could work around the issues.  Even though I couldn’t trail brake in the curves, I could still enjoy the feel of the bike as I leaned it side to side.

            As for my boot, I knew I could place it where I needed to shift correctly, so I just kept working at it until I found the spot.  But I was able to shift with the only issue being a mis-shift into neutral when my boot brushed the shifter as I adjusted it on the peg.  But I have enough riding experience to stay calm and ride through what I am discovering are minor problems for me to solve.

            I did think some of the discomforts were due to the very tough week I had at work.  I was physically tired, my left-hand cramping on the clutch lever, but I adjusted and adapted.  At one point I stayed in first gear during my slow U-turn drills, clutch out, making larger circles so I could rest my hand.  But I made it through the ride, enjoying the sunny day, the glimpses of roses stubbornly blooming, the geese scattering away from the roar of our motorcycles.

            In the hospital practice lot, we dismounted to take pictures of the motorcycles in the bright sunshine.  Looking over, Bill spotted a yellow-leafed tree and asked me to move the R Nine T in front of it for a photo (see below).  The bare branches show as well as winter approaches.  I will need warmer leggings to wear under my jeans and see if I can find a flannel turtle neck, but with my heated grips, I find myself looking forward to our winter rides.  And this is a good thing as next Saturday we’ll see a high of 48, assuming the accu-weather is more accurate.

(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.

On Thursday Duck delivered the 2023 Triumph Rocket 3 GT with mid-pegs, and a fourth motorcycle was added to our growing bike family.  Bill got to ride it some while he waited for me to arrive so we could park it in the garage.  Temporarily, we had three bikes in my parents’ garage; the plan was to get up early Saturday to move the Ducati Scrambler Fasthouse to my garage.

            The perks to our early Saturday was I got to see seven snowy egrets heading out from their nighttime roost to start their days.  And I spotted an early falcon beginning his day as well as a great blue heron stretching out on a spillway as I followed Bill back to the house.

            When we returned for our joint ride, I was going to ride the R Nine T.  I was a little nervous about this.  While I’ve been doing much better understanding the friction zone in my field practice, I wasn’t sure I would be able to work in the friction zone while also turning the motorcycle from stops.  Oddly enough, though, I found it easy to work the friction zone out on the road.

            Since this was only Bill’s second ride on the Rocket, we were going easy and focusing more on just riding straight roads and turning around in cul de sacs rather than slow speed maneuvers.  Thus I was able to get a better feel for the R Nine T too.  I missed the burbles and pops of the LeoVince exhaust on the Ducati; the R Nine T was much quieter.  And I felt I was stretching a bit to reach the handlebars, so I scooted up on the seat.  I loved the smoothness of the acceleration and the gear shifts.  My turns went well, and I found it easier to turn the wheel at stops and keep it turned as I headed into the turn.

            The weather was a little nippy, and soon I will have to switch to my leather riding jacket.  But despite the cool air, I did see a cabbage white fluttering by early in our ride.  Lots of fun Halloween decorations were out including a 20-foot-tall skeleton with a skeleton dog.  We stopped by the building with the mirrored wall to take a look at us on our new bikes.  I’m still taller on my motorcycle than Bill on his Rocket, but we both are riding two gorgeous bikes.

            I worked a little on pre-loading which is where I ride with one or two fingers on the front brake and the clutch.  The clutch is too far out for me to comfortably pre-load, but I was able to pre-load the front brake.  However, I struggle with rolling on the throttle when I pull in the brake.  I might have better control if I adjust the brake closer, something I’ll try next week.

            Next week we’ll have temperatures in the low 70s, perfect riding weather for our first November weekend ride.