Spring officially arrived with Thursday’s vernal equinox and gave us another gorgeous day for riding motorcycles. The northwest winds from Friday shifted to the southwest under sunny skies, giving us temperatures approaching a balmy 70 degrees. In fact I had no chill whatsoever on this ride and was perfectly comfortable.
My comfort extended to my ride as well. Early in the ride, as Bill and I turn off my parents’ block, the road is terribly torn up with the different neighborhood projects. There are cuts in the asphalt, small metal access lids sticking out, and slippery gravel patches all over. As I returned to riding, I’ve had some concern over this stretch of road picturing tire slips or boot slips as we come to a stop. I’ve even thought I might catch the front tire between asphalt chunks, but so far I’ve navigated the rough roads OK. But the damage to the street does make me extra cautious and aware.
I focused on my engine braking, enjoying the chugga-chugga rumble of the down shifts. I also worked on my no-look turns and, since Bill led us into more U-turns, tightening up my turns. I feel my skills are returning back to their pre-break levels. I’ll know I’m fully back when I can do the on-street U-turn and my quick stops and restarts.
Just like last week, there was a cabbage white butterfly fluttering about before our ride. And two miles into the ride, I began seeing even more cabbage whites—eight in all and a little yellow sulphur whom I got an excellent view of as it fluttered beside me for several yards. The only large bird I spotted in the clear blue sky was a great blue heron lazily making its way down to the river. When Bill led us into a cul de sac where we stop and gaze at the view of the river, I spotted a little goldfinch moving about a large pine tree.
I did have my first bug run in. As I headed up the long road, I felt an impact against my throat from what I suspect was a bumblebee. Luckily, I had my neck tube on, so if the bug didn’t make it, I wouldn’t have bug guts on my neck (she made it). I’m not surprised the bees are out; the flowering trees are filling with blossoms. This week during the ride, I spotted several weeping cherry trees blossoming and the beginning blooms on the Yoshino trees.
It’s funny to realize that as a motorcycle rider, I am as excited to see the spring as a kid who’s been waiting to get to play outside. I suppose it is very comparable. Kids ride their bikes, fly kites, run around; I ride my R Nine T, and the fun I’m having makes me feel like a kid again.
Officially spring begins this Thursday with the March 20 vernal equinox. But it was already abundantly clear that spring has sprung. The forecast was for clouds with the sun making an appearance around 4:00, but the sun pushed the clouds aside and shone brightly down on a gorgeous Saturday in the mid-60s. As I set the gear out, I looked out the window and saw a very small cabbage white butterfly making the unofficial start to spring “official.”
Later, as we were gearing up in the garage, another cabbage white flew from the left to right across the top of the garage. The spring riding season has been butterfly blessed. And I spotted the first cabbage white of the ride two miles in and the second one a few seconds later. All in all, I spotted five cabbage whites during the ride moving about the dandelions, daffodils, camellias, and flowering trees. The sugar magnolias are reaching peak bloom as was the one plum tree I saw. I also spotted two star magnolias in bloom and wished I could smell the blossoms. More trees are showing buds especially the red buds on the oaks. I did get to enjoy the crisp smell of freshly mown grass as there were several early mowers out trimming lawns.
My ride was very smooth. I focused on engine braking and “no look” turns. A no look turn is actually a turn where I look in the opposite direction for oncoming traffic. For example, if I’m making a right turn, I look toward the left. Again, I was very pleased with how easily the skills returned. It was such a beautiful day for riding I found myself weaving back and forth several times in sheer bliss.
Since we’ve entered daylight savings time, the sun remains higher in the sky for our rides, so there’s no issue with light in my eyes. On this ride Bill detoured us to the side of the road to discuss the approach to a tricky intersection with a yield sign. He pointed out that on our motorcycles, we are essentially unseeable by drivers who approach the yield sign and, if they don’t spot large movement from a vehicle, blow right through it. It doesn’t help that there’s a large patch of pampas grass and some cedar trees impeding the view. So Bill explained why he slows down and goes a little wide as we approach this yield sign to give us an opportunity for avoidance.
We did a little bit more with slow speed maneuvers, heading into the small church’s parking lot to do a few figure eights. I spotted a small group of Canadian geese in the field beside the church, a duck and drake enjoying a swim, and lots of crows. I was surprised to not see any vultures, and I wondered if it was too warm for them, and they prefer to float later in the cooler part of the day.
Soon the mating osprey will start building nests, and I hope to spot a bald eagle, though we haven’t been up the curvy road due to construction. Still, the eagles have to build nests too, so I’ll keep my eyes open. And of course, as we officially move into springtime, I’ll start to see a greater variety of butterflies during my rides; plenty to look forward to.
Due to some goofiness with the usually reliable R Nine T, we had to delay our weekend ride until Christmas Eve. We tried Saturday to head out. Bill’s Rocket fired right up with no issues. The R Nine T, though, wouldn’t start.
At the end of last week’s ride, I had inadvertently knocked the right turn signal loose in its setting. Ironically, as well-built as most of the BMW motorcycle is, the turn signals are rather flimsily attached. In the past Bill has knocked the turn indicator loose himself, but with the right tools, it can be reattached. So while I visited with my mom, Bill was in the garage working on the turn indicator. When I came out to check on him, it wasn’t going well. The screw part was easily dealt with as the correct socket was engaged. However, the backing nut was protected by extraneous plastic bits that made locking it in place was proving extremely difficult. Eventually, Bill got the nut encased in one of my dad’s old small wrenches, and the indicator was reattached.
At this point it went downhill. Bill shifted the motorcycle around in the garage and went to start it to get it down to the street. The bike spit out a high-pitched “rawr, rawr,” and went dead. After pushing the motorcycle back into the garage, I climbed on the seat and straightened the chassis so Bill could check the oil; it appeared to be low. We couldn’t just add some oil, however, as the special tool that is needed to remove the boxer cylinder head to get to the oil intake was back at my house.
With a night to think on it, we returned the next day with some gas because Bill thought the weird engine sound was possibly caused by some bad residual gas in the tank. Luckily, filling up the tank got the motorcycle started and it ran beautifully throughout my ride. The ride did get off to a rough start. Passing onto the next block at the beginning of our ride, a black Merecedes SUV which I thought was just parked facing the wrong direction on the road, drove out into the street just as Bill was riding past on the Triumph. The driver saw Bill and stopped (luckily the Rocket is nearly the size of a small car). Silly me, I assumed the driver would take that near miss as a lesson and take a second to check for passing traffic before trying to drive off again. He didn’t, so I came to a stop on the side of the road and waited for the Mercedes to clear off down the street. The driver may have been drunk judging from the state of inebriation on his friend who was standing on the side of the road laughing as though hitting a motorcyclist was a game.
It was a rude way to begin what was otherwise a lovely ride. As we stopped at a stop sign after riding up the curvy road, Bill pointed at me and then pointed to his right. At first I thought he was signaling to me to watch for pedestrians on this pleasant day out for a pre-holiday walk. But at the next stop sign, he came to a stop over toward the left, and I realized that he wanted me stopping on the inside of him should there be any cut off turns into our lane. Realizing how we managed the communication got me to thinking about helmet audio systems. There are communication systems that would allow Bill and I to talk to each other while we ride. My mind then wandered to people who have their helmets connected to their phones. While I ride, my phone goes into a driving mode so there is no audible signal of a call or message nor is there a vibration (not that I would feel that through the layers of protective gear nor over the vibration of the bike). But I don’t even want to listen to music while I ride. Maybe if my ride lasted more than an hour or so, or I was trying to ride six or more hours on a trip, music would be a desired distraction. But while I’m riding for my hour or so, I want to hear the rumbles and roars of the motorcycle shifting, accelerating, and decelerating. One of my all-time favorite sounds was the Leo Vince exhaust we had on the Ducati Scrambler. So I found myself recognizing the enjoyment I have in hearing the sounds of my ride.
The trees are wintry in their bare branches with some dry, brown leaves clinging in places. I only saw crows flitting about and squirrels rushing around. But I did enjoy even more of the Christmas decorations; by Christmas Eve pretty much all the decorations are out and inflated even during the daytime.
One thing I worked on during my ride was turning my head all the way during U-turns. Bill had suggested it after watching my practice in the gravel lot last week. I learned that I have been cheating on my head turns and stopping them short. This realization became obvious to me after I had to dab my foot four times during U-turns. A “dab” is when the rider puts a foot down to protect the motorcycle from a fall. I haven’t had to dab in a long time as the R Nine T is such a well-balanced bike. I will be spending the week thinking about what it is about the head turn is causing me to feel unbalanced. And I will spend the week excitedly waiting for my chance to practice and ride again.
Today was another perfect day for riding, and we saw other motorcyclists everywhere. In fact our first stop was at Sunrise Cycles which is the local Triumph dealership, and we saw eight other riders. According to Cycletrader, an online motorcycle sales site, there were four Triumph Rocket 3s in stock. Since we hadn’t visited for several months, we decided to stop by on our way over to ride.
Inside we saw the same Rocket in Cranberry red that has been on the showroom floor for a year at least. But I was still hopeful that the Triumph dealer showroom might have the other three. No luck, though we did see the pretty Baja Orange Scrambler was still there. We did get to see the new Triumph Tiger 1200 adventure bike series. They had four of the five bikes in the series: the GT Pro, GT Explorer, Rally Pro, and Rally Explorer. These are designed to compete with BMW’s R 1250 GS and GSA motorcycles. Bill got on the Rally Explorer, the large competition for the GSA and wasn’t able to flatfoot the super tall motorcycle. I played it safer and sat on the GT Pro which I could flatfoot. I immediately felt the weight of the bike, all 540 pounds of it because the weight sits up high. I liked it better than the KTM Super Adventure, but I didn’t like it better than the GS.
We had fun with the little Triumph Speed Triples. These small motorcycles carry a large punch—1160 cc engine with 177 HP at a weight of 437 pounds. Talk about a zippy little bike! But we were disappointed not to see more Rockets. Heading back into the main showroom, we were meandering toward the door when I saw Duck, the Triumph salesman. I decided to check with him on the arrival timeframe for the 2023 models and confirm that my name was still at the top of the contact list. It was lucky I did so for two reasons: 1. My name had been accidentally erased from the top of the board during a misguided cleanup session and 2. There was a 2023 Triumph Rocket 3 GT in Carnival Red/Sapphire Black that had arrived a week ago.
I told Bill to follow us because there was a surprise. Duck took us back to the arrivals garage where the motorcycles are unboxed and assembled. Hiding in the corner like a naughty child was the glorious motorcycle. It was love at first sight for Bill. He has been admiring the Rocket for almost three years, but it was the Carnival Red/Sapphire Black color combination that pushed him over the edge into possible ownership. Duck kindly allowed Bill to sit on the motorcycle, and he even pushed it outside into the glorious sunshine where the motorcycle looked truly spectacular.
We asked Duck to work up a quote for us as we headed over to ride. Bill has told me several times that sometimes when you see a motorcycle, you just know that it’s what you want. I hoped the quote would be to Bill’s liking and laughed a little inside thinking on the irony. We’ve been discussing and looking at possibles for my next motorcycle, but it looked like the next bike purchase would be for Bill.
The day was glorious. I had on my longer motorcycle socks, so the wind chill didn’t ride up my pants leg. Before we headed out, Bill installed the baffle inside the LeoVince LV10 exhaust to tame the volume. The baffle slipped right in, but the exhaust would not slip back onto the pipe. Instead of being perfectly round, either the baffle or the exhaust pipe has a slight elliptical to it which blocked part of the pipe. Eventually, Bill was able to jerry-rig a setup using a shoelace that allowed me to ride the Ducati, but the frustration of the assembly took a little shine off the Rocket glow.
But once the Scrambler was up and running, the glorious exhaust sound soon returned the smiles to our faces. With the baffle in, the engine noise was now tolerable, and I could truly enjoy the rumble, grumble, pops, and roar from the exhaust. I found myself particularly enjoying the downshifts as the grumbles and pops are at their acoustical best. I don’t think the Canadian Geese care for my new exhaust, but the sound does help get them out of our way.
We rode most of our usual route though there was a lot more traffic we had to navigate around. Bill led us into a new parking lot that I liked a lot because there was lots of shade. I was fine cruising and doing our U-turns and figure 8s in the courts, but when we hit the hospital overflow lot for our straightening and stopping drills, I finally felt the engine heat and became uncomfortably warm.
So we didn’t stay long in that parking lot. As we headed over to the field for my R Nine T practice, we ran into traffic trying to turn onto the school’s road. So Bill led us up a little further and we turned into the office park and rode through the parking lot to get to our route. I had a glorious ride on the R Nine T with no stutters or stalls. I was having such a good time, I found myself hoping the deal on the Rocket worked out because then the R Nine T would become my next motorcycle.
We finished the ride and headed home. The quote came and it was over what Bill is willing to pay. But now that we know what he wants, we can keep looking until we hopefully find the right deal on the beautiful bike.
2023 Triumph Rocket 3 GT in Carnival Red/Sapphire Black
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
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.
See how my seat is right above the engine? Hence my hot rides on the Ducati.
At 6:00 AM the roads were wet and it seemed our ride wouldn’t happen. But three hours later, the roads were drying off and the sun was peeking here and there through the large storm clouds. We decided to race the rain and work our ride in before the storm arrived.
The temperatures were in the mid 80s but, with the gathering storm, the humidity was way up making for a sticky ride. Some of the neighborhood construction had been completed, so we headed off into a small neighborhood that we hadn’t ridden in for over a month. The road was newly paved and nice and twisty. One of the skills I was working on this week was counter steering or, as Jerry Palladino of Ride Like a Pro calls it, pushing.
With counter steering the concept is more confusing than the action. Counter steering is how a rider leans the bike into curves on the road. In a car the driver turns the steering wheel along the path of the curve. On a motorcycle the rider counter steers the bike into a lean because turning the handlebars at speed would cause the bike to fall (and, most likely, the rider too). The reason it is called counter steering is because as I push forward on either the left or right side of the handlebars, the front wheel seems to steer (just slightly) to the opposite side. This counter steer guides the motorcycle into a lean to follow the curve of the road. As I said, the application is easier than the concept because counter steering and leaning the bike, to a non-rider, might seem likely to lead to a crash. But in reality, the counter steering allows the rider to follow the curves of the road and is quite enjoyable.
So I had success and fun with that skill practice. Another skill we were working on this week is turning from a stop. In the case of turning right or left from a complete stop, the rider should turn the handlebars. By turning the handlebars first and then heading into the turn, I can maximize the available roadway for the turn and avoid going into the opposite lane (right turns especially). The challenge here is once the motorcycle starts moving, the front wheel tries to straighten out. I was better able to keep the handlebars turned when going to the right and found myself straightening the handlebars on left turns. It wasn’t until the second to last left turn that I was able to keep the handlebars turned.
This week I again had trouble remembering to watch my mirrors when stopping. Not until we were halfway through the ride did I begin to incorporate the mirror checks. I did better at checking them as I approached the stop rather than as I stopped, but I need to development my stop awareness at the get go. Then all of my stopping skills will be going well.
I had a few moments riding the Ducati where the heat nearly overwhelmed me. I think the bike’s heat coupled with the humidity makes for a challenging ride. This unpleasant warmth made our slow circles and S-turn practices a challenge. I found myself almost target fixating in the gravel lot and narrowly avoided the wooden beams laid down to form the parking lot. But I managed to squeak by and opened up my visor fully to allow more cool air inside.
Not too many animals about as they were probably already sheltering from the impending storm. I did have a dragonfly zoom into my path flying straight at me before lifting himself up and over my helmet.
When we went to our stand up and stop practice lot, we felt the first drops of rain. I could hear the rain hitting my helmet and saw the drops on the gas tank. It was an early warning as the skies did not open up, but we proceeded to the school field so I could practice on the R Nine T some. I seem to be in an on/off pattern with the R Nine T. Last week went smoothly, so this week I stalled constantly. And this week was when I added coming to a stop and restarting. I did not have one successful restart from the stop. On the bright side, next week’s practice should be another on week.
We returned the motorcycles to my parents’ garage and headed home. The storm began just as we pulled into the driveway, so the motorcycles let us outride the rain. Next Saturday is showing clear skies, so let’s hope it stays that way.
We had a lovely day for a ride having made the effort to get up and out of the house a little earlier. This early start was to take advantage of the cooler temps before the day hit its high of 93. The 85 degrees was preferable, especially since there was a strong wind to keep a cooling breeze blowing.
Today’s lesson was to work on using my mirrors at stops. On a motorcycle this extra awareness of what’s coming up behind is necessary as I may have to get out of the way. A fender bender for a car is annoying; getting hit from behind on a motorcycle can be tragic.
I had started practicing checking my mirrors at stops when I’m in the car. But I found it was not as easy on the motorcycle. Stops take a lot of mental gymnastics on a motorcycle. As we all know, when we arrive at the stop, we check both ways for cross traffic to safely cross or turn onto the roadway. On a motorcycle I am also focused on how I am stopping, getting my left foot down, making sure the motorcycle doesn’t fall, switching from the rear brake to the front brake, and checking my mirrors for unaware drivers from behind. I have the additional mental check of paying attention to which direction Bill is going and when he takes off and keeping up. So I was well into the ride before I remembered I was supposed to be checking my mirrors as I stopped. Part of my delayed thinking was that I had some hair blow into my left eye and needed to find a stop to get it out. Bill, being in the lead, takes off, and we don’t have a communications system in the helmets. I rode along patiently until we got to the court at the end of the long road. There I stopped and brushed the remaining hairs out of my left eye.
This being the 4th of July weekend, we rode past many houses flying Old Glory. I also saw a cute stars and stripes pinwheel, and we passed one large white house with red, white, and blue bunting under two upstairs windows—very impressive. It was fun and refreshing to see so many people getting into this holiday’s spirit.
The heat did get to me a bit. As we were doing S-turns in the second church lot, my mind drifted a bit to wishing I was cruising in a long straight line for the cooling breeze. But I quickly refocused on my riding and shrugged off the sweat.
The dragonflies were back, not in as large a number as a few weeks ago, but I enjoyed watching several fly beside me as I rode. No butterflies in sight. I had hoped our earlier start would allow me a glimpse of a few but no luck. My luck was back on the R Nine T as I was able to start it up, find first gear, and take right off. This week I did shift into second and back into first as I cruised along in the shade of the woodland trees. My next challenge for the R Nine T is to stop the bike and restart as I cruise the little field.
As we left the school grounds and arrived at the stop sign, my wish was to see Bill’s left indicator come on not his right. And I got my wish, extending our ride. We cruised the arch twice as there were patches of gravel in the roadway due to construction we could ride across. All in all, a lovely Independence Day weekend ride; I can’t wait for the next one. Happy Fourth of July!
Last week’s ride was more motorcycling badassery. We were lawbreakers, unintentionally but, as Thomas Jefferson said, “Ignorance of the law is no excuse in any country.” So this week I rode alone to keep us on the right side of “Johnny Law.”
I’m having fun, but we did inadvertently break the law last week. Our beautiful riding Saturday this week came to an abrupt end when, as I was moving around the R Nine T so Bill could check the oil level, I spotted the annual safety inspection sticker—5/22. The state inspection was past due which meant no riding until we get it inspected for this year. The oversight came because we got the R Nine T last June and the registration renews in June, so we thought the safety inspection would be June too. However, our beautiful bike had sat in the dealership for a month before our purchase. Had we bought both BMW bikes at the same time, we’d have been better aware of our deadlines.
We left my parent’s house with the thought that riding was out for this weekend. But by a happy twist of fate, Bill left his glasses in my folks’ garage and didn’t realize it until we had arrived home. This slight mishap led to a new plan for me to ride solo on Sunday as we had to go back over and get the glasses anyway. I offered to let Bill cruise first, but he chose to let me have all the riding fun.
The late morning was hot and humid and wit the Ducati I sit on top of part of the motor, so it was uncomfortably warm when stopped or doing slow-speed maneuvers. I chose to do long stretches of cruising to maximize the cool air washing over me. I didn’t speed, but I did ride down several roads to their end just to stretch out the cooling sensation.
Because this was a solo ride, I mostly was able to work on my rider awareness. I always try and work on awareness of the road and other drivers, but riding behind Bill makes it easy to rely on his awareness a little too much. Everything went well, though I noted a lot of people roll through stops. I did have to watch out for one car’s wacko turn around, but otherwise traffic was light. I avoided the church parking lots as church was still in session and there were cars in the lots. I did get to practice in the gravel lot and had one slip that almost caused me to put my left foot down. I look forward to riding the R Nine T on the gravel and feeling how it handles.
I did take the time to practice my standing and stopping and surprised myself by how well that went. But the hospital lot was out for straightening and stopping drills as that lot doubles as overflow parking for the church across the road. I didn’t mind much, though, as I got overly warm doing my drills.
It seems it was too hot and humid for both the butterflies and the dragonflies as I didn’t see either during my ride. That or I was paying closer attention to the road and missed seeing them. I did see some critters though. A small rabbit leapt across a driveway as I roared into a court. And I spotted an osprey delivering building materials for a nest. I had the most fun when I entered our quiet little viewing court and saw a small Eastern Box Turtle making his lethargic way across the court. He stopped as I rode into the court and kept an eye on me as I circled around. I stopped to get a picture of him as he resumed his slow trudge, enjoying the fact that a motorcycle makes it easier to stop on the side of the road and take nature photos.
I headed home in perfect time as large, dark clouds rolled in. I was able to finish up my ride and get home before the storm hit. Next weekend marks the start of my summer vacation and I’m looking forward to the new riding adventures that await!
I finally got to ride the BMW R Nine T Urban GS—sort of. But since that came at the end of the ride, I’ll explain in a bit.
As I sat on my Ducati waiting for Bill to mount the R Nine T, my Mom’s neighbor walked by. She immediately was drawn to the R Nine T, appreciating the beauty of the motorcycle. She asked if it was my brother’s bike and said she used to ride the pillion on her old boyfriend’s motorcycle when she lived in Canada. After walking around admiring the R Nine T, she politely asked me what I was perched on, but it was clear the BMW motorcycle was the big draw.
A lovely 80-degree day with lots of sunshine for our ride greeted us this Saturday. Gearing up was quite warm, but once the ride started, I felt almost chilly from the cool breeze washing over me. We rode again straight down the long road, letting the cool air waft over us and enjoying the lovely day. Yardmen were loading up their riding mower with lovely rose bushes at the end of the road as they continued their month-long landscaping project.
The magnolia blooms scented the air as we headed on our usual neighborhood ride, checking in on the progress on the two houses under construction. We stopped the bikes in one court as Bill noticed some plastic barriers up leading down to the water and posited a boat ramp may soon be under construction. As we checked out the water which was conspicuously missing all waterfowl this week (usually we see some ducks and an egret), a duskywing butterfly fluttered right between us right at eye level. It fluttered too fast for me to get a clearer look to know which kind of duskywing it was; I did see the grayish/brown body and new this was a new butterfly.
Our ride continued with lazy loops in the churches’ parking lots and on the gravel lot. My tires slipped again on the gravel, so I have begun to wonder if the softer ground makes the tires slip more. The R Nine T has 50/50 tires, meaning 50% for on road and 50% for off road, so it has a better grip.
As we rode, there wasn’t much traffic. But whenever we were at a stop sign, we had to wait for several cars to pass. At one stop we waited as 7 cars went by, very unusual. But I didn’t mind as I could practice my stops and my looks. It was at once such stop that spied a spicebush swallowtail dancing along in the air.
One MSF skill we’ve added back to our practice is the swerve. On some of the streets, there’s some leftover yard debris on the side of the road—sticks, leaf piles, pinecones. We ride straight at the debris and then apply pressure to the left handlebar to swerve the bike around the obstacle. This is great practice for swerving to the left, but it doesn’t give us the chance to swerve to the right. So when we were in the large church parking lot, I aimed at the parking space stripes to swerve right.
This week we did remember to practice riding while standing and then stopping suddenly. I need to work on my right foot position so I can start braking with the rear brake while still standing. Otherwise, it went really well.
We also continued our straightening up out of the curve and stopping practice and the straight-line quick stops. I had one bauble where I put my right foot down on one of my quick stops. I need to work on a quicker reaction time so I can use my head shift to help me use the correct foot. More work for next week.
Now we did not start the ride by letting me putter on the R Nine T on the grass because as we drove into the neighborhood, we saw cars in front of and to the side of the school. These weren’t the cricket players, so we felt constrained in using the field. Our thinking was we’d do our neighborhood cruising and swing by the school to see if the cars were gone at the end of the ride. No such luck. I feared my R Nine T ride was going to again be postponed. But as Bill signaled his turn, I began to hope we were heading to the back of the school field. Sure enough, at my dead-end practice street, we turned left and rode up past the Armco onto the grass.
Now the R Nine T has what is called a dry clutch. This means the clutch is similar to that on a manual transmission automobile. My Ducati Scrambler and BMW G310 GS both have multi-plate wet clutches. In terms of riding, this means my two bikes have a more forgiving friction zone. But that was what Bill wanted me to practice—getting a feel for the dry clutch and friction zone. So I began my ride dabbing my feet and stalled almost immediately. I restarted, got moving very slowly, hit a depression in the ground and stalled the bike again trying to give it enough with just the clutch to get out. I realized I needed to add a bit of throttle but carefully as Bill always talks about how the bike just wants to go.
After the second restart, I found the sweet spot in the dry clutch’s friction zone, put my feet up on the pegs, and began my slow circle cruise around the young magnolias. I loved riding the R Nine T and was really tempted to roll on the throttle and ride up the field. But I was the good student and did as my instructor asked. Plus, with people in the school, we didn’t want to overstay our welcome. And that just gives me something to look forward to with next week’s ride.
Me puttering on the gorgeous BMW R Nine T Urban GS.
Flutterby Biker 