My 1st REAL Ride!!!

Of course I couldn’t sleep. Up at 6AM but trying to stretch it to 7. I give up, get up, shower and shave and head off for the Cape. I checked Pocasset Harley Davidson’s website and they don’t open until 9AM on Monday. So I stop at Dunkin Donuts ¼ mile from the dealer and have a quick bite and refine my trip. I’m at the dealership by 8:45 but at 9:02 nobody has changed the Closed sign. As I’m getting out of my car I notice a sign on a farther window and notice they’ve changed their hours and are CLOSED on Monday’s! !! ! A quick call to Minute Man Harley in Dartmouth, 30+ miles away, tell them where I am and what are the 1st words out of the guy’s mouth? Oh, they’re Closed Mondays! Everybody knows this except me!
So I get to Dartmouth and get my spring, don’t you know it’s much shorter than the one I have. Sweet! Drive back to Paul’s and I’m on the road by 11:00 AM. AND… Every motorcycle shop I stop at is either closed or they don’t do stickers. But, by Noon I am on my way and legal! So where to go. There is a chance, a small chance, that CycleGear in Manchester Connecticut has received the smaller cheek pads for my helmet so… I’m headed West on RT.44. For those of you who don’t know, I have rebuilt the entire upper end on this Harley so I have to break it in. This means the 1st 500 miles have to be no faster than 50 miles an hour and have to be at varying speeds and RPM’s. So, I can’t just jump on the highway. It’s back roads until the trip meter hits 500 miles.
By 1:00PM I’m the other side of Providence Rhode Island. 2:30 and I’m in Connecticut. Of course the Cheek pads are not in but then, I already suspected that. So, I turn around and am headed back. One thing is for sure, I’m ordering the “Easy Shift” as soon as I get back! I call Glenn @ 6:30 to see if he’s up for a celebratory cigar. I don’t think either of us has said “no” to a good cigar. Karen calls from Virginia at 7:00PM to see if I’ve forgotten about her. (Not a Chance) and then I’m off to visit a few friends. Just to clarify, I’m REALLY cold but I want to hit 250 miles and I need 25 more. A stop at Steve’s and then to Peter’s and I’ve hit it. Park the bike and off to Home, food and Warmth!!! What a Great Day!!

Short Jaunt March 7, 2010

Well, everything is put back together and now it's time to take a quick spin to shake down everything. On the way to the gas station I heard a grinding sound... It seems my after-market chrome kickstand spring is too long. And it happens to be Sunday so nobody's open. After messing with it for half an hour I manage to mangle it shorter but on our inaugural shake down run it is still dangling and in danger of catching on a pot hole and launching me on a bad adventure. So, back to Paul’s house and I'll have to wait until a dealer opens to get an OEM kickstand spring.