new brakes

took the bike in to get new front rotors and brake pads that were found during the 12500 mile service...

it was a good ride in - a lot warmer than my last ride to the dealership. today's the kind of day you just want to blow off work and keep riding. but, on the bright side, i am out and riding a bit, which beats not riding at all.

i got to the dealership before they opened. i have a knack for doing that. i guess coming in so far, my fear is getting stuck in traffic and being late. i would much rather show up a bit early than late. so i had a couple minutes to kill waiting for the shop to open. made small talk with some of the mechanics before they headed in.

took a couple minutes but i finally realized the shop doors were open - so i could go inside and wait. scan through a motorcycle rag or two while i'm waiting. i looked on the shop floor and saw the mechanic that i thought was going to work on my bike. he was the one who would have worked on the bike had that parts been in stock originally - i just figure he'll be the one doing the work...

after a couple minutes, the service counter dood shows up, punches in on the computer and start printing out some paperwork. i figure i'll give him a couple minutes before i check in. before i know it, he's handing some paperwork to the mechanic who's supposed to work on my bike. after the exchange, he looks over at me and says i'm all set, should be about an hour or so. i'm thinking cool... this is the way service should be!!!

i sit back, relax and read through some more rags, just killing time. after reading for a bit, i decide to watch the guy work on my bike. i don't know why, but i feel kinda odd doing that. it's almost like i'm at a zoo or something, watch the exhibits. and i'm wondering what these guys are thinking about people watching them. of course i think it goes something along the lines of, what a bozo, doesn't know how to work on his own bike. and maybe that's true...

so i start to watch him and notice he doesn't even have the wheel off yet. hmmmmm, maybe this is going to take a little longer than expected. which i really don't care about - i'd rather the job take longer and be done right than rushed and wrong.

i keep switching from reading to watching, waiting for the wheel to come off. i do believe they have to take the wheel off to replace the rotors. could be wrong... before i know it, he's riding my bike out of the shop. a couple minutes later he returns and says it's done. wow!! that was quick. he says he took the bike down to be detailed but it didn't look that dirty. he offers to take it down there anyway. i decide to pass. and finally confess that i had only ridden the bike once since it was detailed last. so they busted my chops a bit for not riding more. of course i wasn't going to offer any excuses since they would only give me a harder time and there weren't really any excuses for not riding...

the ride home was beautiful. temps had warmed up a bit and the brakes felt sooooo much better. it's amazing how much your confidence increases when your bike is in top shape - or at least you believe it is but just don't know any better.

i was enjoying the ride home so much, i decided to stop and pick up some flowers for my wife. it'll be a nice surprise for her.