One Week Later - Motorcycle Adventures #2

Still having fun. I rode the bike, named Kristi by Oldest Daughter, to work Tuesday through Friday. No chances to get out and ride on Father's Day weekend, so only forty miles or so ridden, and practically all of it on city streets.

Here's the thing: while I'll admit that I'm still in the new toy/honeymoon period, so far this motorcycle has done something I wasn't sure was possible: make the five or so mile trip to work not only fun, but something I look forward to doing every morning simply for its own pleasure. It's shaping up to be a hot midwestern summer, but in the morning it's been a pleasant 70 degrees, just perfect for riding.

The other riders I see in the morning seem to agree. I try and drop a wave to any other rider I see, and I feel like I get a lot more return waves in the morning than I do in the afternoon. Maybe that's just perception though.

The other thing I want to note is that the folks at J&L Harley-Davidson have taken excellent care of me. The purchasing process was excellent, and made me feel like a valued customer the whole way through, but what really impressed me was their post-purchase follow-up. The day after I finally picked up the bike last week, the sales manager called to make sure everything was all right and that I was enjoying my purchase. I told him I was, and that was it.

Until about two hours later, when the bike wouldn't start. No ignition, nothing. One of the owners of the dealership (The 'L' in "J&L") came out personally to check things out, and helped me push my new bike into a trailer to haul back to the dealership when he couldn't find the problem in my office parking lot. Two hours later, the service department called to tell me they'd found a bad starter relay, and that I could come pick up my bike. No charge, and back on the road.

No other issues other than that. On Saturday I checked the tires, finally got around to setting the clock, and figured out a better way to wedge the bike in my one car garage. I'm looking forward to another new week of commuting!