detroit...

traveled to detroit this week... not by bike unfortunately... i did manage to squeeze in a visit to one of the local harley dealers. got a shirt and this shot...

17500 service...

here i am, taking the bike in for it's 17500 mile service - hard to believe. although it actually has closer to 18300 miles... it's been a very frustrating adventure - if i can call it that...

started out with the ride in - traffic wasn't too bad with the exception of one or two cages. since i was riding in the morning commute traffic, i was expecting to see (and avoid) a few bozos. they're usually easy to spot: reading the paper, on the cell phone, putting make-up on, shaving, still rubbing their sleepy eyes, trying to drink their hot coffee without spilling it in their laps, etc - we've all seen them... i'm cruising down the road - keeping with traffic but keeping a margin around me. then i get some asshole riding my tail. i've got nowhere to go - i'm in the left lane, cages to the right, cages in front. it's not like i'm holding traffic up. and he's got to be riding on my rear wheel. i tried looking back at him, thinking it might make him realize - nope, that didn't work. if i slowed any, he got closer. not what i needed this morning. eventually he was able to weave in and out of traffic and get in front. funny thing is i passed him a little later on. seems his cutting in and out of traffic got him stuck in a slow lane.

i make it to the dealership and talk to the service doods. seems my preferred customer plan has run out. last month!!! i explain to service dood that i called last month, explained that i was close to the 17500 mile service, had about 17200 on the clock, and was planning a trip. the trip would take me over the 17500, closer to 18000+. would that be a problem. they told me it wouldn't be a problem - besides, they were booked and wouldn't be able to get my in before the trip anyway. long story short - took trip, got fender fixed, called to schedule service, couldn't get me in for two weeks. i'm arguing they should give this service to me. i also throw in the fact that i thought the preferred program was until 2011 - that's what it has printed on my card, and i show handy dandy card. service dood explains that the program wasn't explained clearly and a lot of customers have that confusion. then it hits me - what about the rental bike?? that's usually included - now i'm going to have to pay for that too... he says hold on, he'll talk to a couple people and see what he can work out.

one thing i will mention, the service people at the dealership are super - they really go out of their way to help out. and this dood was certainly doing what he could to take care of me.

he comes back a little later and tells me the rental is taken care of. at least i can get home without a lot of hassle. he says he's still checking on the service and has to wait for someone else to come in. he says that no matter what, he's still going to service my bike as a preferred customer - prompt service, bike cleaning, etc. he preps the bike and i wait.

he comes back and tells me that i can renew my preferred customer plan. he quotes me a price and tells me what i've already saved being a member of the plan. without going into exact numbers, it's saved me over seven grand. i have to admit - it's been a great plan. i just wasn't expecting to drop that much money today.

now i have to go talk to underwriter dood. main dood isn't there, so i have to talk to assistant dood. he doesn't seem too friendly and quotes me a price twice as much as service dood. i about fall out of my seat. i tell him that's not what i was quoted. he asks if i talked to main dood. i tell him i talked to service dood who talk to someone else - that's how i got the price. in addition, i wasn't expecting to drop that kind of money and wouldn't be able to pay today. we work it out so that i can pay when i pick up the bike.

i get the rental bike and start my venture home, not happy... on the way home, some woman decides to try to run me out of my lane. she was oblivious to the fact that i was even on the road. i'm in the middle lane, a cage in front, a cage to the right, this woman to the left and, thankfully, someone not too close behind. the woman in the left just starts coming into my lane. i can't go into the right lane and i can't speed up past her. i start hitting the brakes and the horn, quickly moving to the right portion of the lane to avoid her running into me. i was able to slow down enough that by the time she was fully in my lane, i was behind her. i don't think she ever knew i was there - even after that little mishap. today's a day i'd be happy to park the bike and wait for another day to ride...

here's a pitcure of the rental bike i got this time - a 2007 softail custom. rides smoothly. i like the lower seating position. i don't like the position of the forward controls - they need to be out a little further for my liking.

another ride...

finally got out for a longer ride yesterday... it was between riding and cleaning - and believe me, my bike is pretty dirty right now. so instead of sitting around cleaning most of the day, i decided to ride. the other factor is that i'm taking it in for service tomorrow and they usually clean the bike for me. might as well let them do it and i'll enjoy riding. so off we went, destination: no where in particular.

i did say we - my father-in-law and me. i need to come up with a good nickname for him - i don't want to keep typing father-in-law. sometimes i call him old man, but that seems to be a bit cliche-ish. sometimes it's gramps. who knows, i'll come up with something...

i really enjoy riding with him. he loves to ride and is eager to head anywhere - except interstates. but that's just his style - he doesn't want to be on interstates even in his cage. he's fun to ride with - no matter where we go, where we stop, he's got something to say to someone. i know i'll have a day filled with laughs when i'm riding with him.

as usual, it was a good ride. i plotted the route to take us around a big circle. he wanted to stop at the lake, so i put that in. what i didn't realize at the time was how big i made the loop - guess i wasn't zoomed in as much as i thought i was. the only real problem with the longer ride today was he was riding home today - about a two hundred and fifty mile ride. i was worried the back-to-back long rides like that may be a bit much for him to handle.

anyway, off we went. ride was nice - found some new roads. spotted some places i should have pulled over and taken some pictures. gives me a reason to go back... while it was nice to ride, it was also good to get home - it was hot!!! one of those days you needed to keep moving. total ride came out to about one hundred and fifty miles - all but about twenty of it on two lane roads.

you can see the route we took on the ride map - this one in orangish red...

and here's one of the few pictures i got...

rocky mount...

in an effort to catch up on some of the rides i've taken...

back in may, i rode out to rocky mount... my brother and the guys were heading to myrtle beach for bike week and they overnight in rocky mount. since it's not too far from the house, i decided to ride out and see what's up... of course, i would have liked to have been going to bike week with them, but i was leaving sunday for a week in columbia, south carolina. i think if it would have been closer, i would have tried to make it out to myrtle beach one night - but that never happened.

i ended up spending the night in rocky mount and headed back saturday morning. i made an early start back on saturday, leaving before most of the guys were up. but it's probably a good thing, because it would have taken me forever to get out of there otherwise...

it was a nice ride out to see my brother - and i think he was a bit surprised to see me...

you can check out the 2007 ride map to see the route - this one in purple...

finally...

...got the bike back together and took it out for a ride. a very short ride, mind you - around the "block" which included a stop for gas. took it easy leaving the neighborhood mostly because i wanted to make sure the front brake was working before i got too far or too fast. by the time i got to the top of the neighborhood, i was fairly confident everything was back in working order - so off to enjoy the (short) ride...

it was great to be back on the bike again - even if it was less than thirty minutes. there's also something to be said for just having the bike in working/riding condition. even though i didn't have much time to ride while i had it apart, just knowing i couldn't take it out didn't feel right. it doesn't really matter if you have the time to ride or not, it's about being able to ride. and when you can't, it's a bummer.

the state of things...

well, it's been a while since i've posted... doesn't mean i haven't been out and about - just not taking the time to post... although lately i haven't been able to do much riding since my fender is under repair...
you'll find out more about what happened when i recap the trip to the smoke out in june. over the next couple days i also hope to post about the ride to the tail of the dragon, down to south carolina, rocky mount and maybe some others...

until then, peace...