Pictures

My camera is in the shop for a repair.
So until I get it fixed or get the use of another camera I can't post any pictures of my bike.
Until then, here's a photo, from a good few years back, of my Suzuki GSX 1100 which, when I customised it, looked (a little bit) like a Harley.

Last for a while?

Sunny day that is.

So, this morning I was desperate to get everything I needed doing out of the way as quickly as possible. Then it was onto the bike and off into the west!
Well out towards the Campsie Fells at least. That's the closest we've got here in the West of Scotland to "heading for them thar hills!"

The more I ride my night train, the more I'm getting to appreciate what a great bike it is.
The feet forward, arms stretched out riding position takes a little getting used to. Though I have ridden this style of bike before, it was so many years ago and I've had more conventional bikes since. So, I do find I get a bit stiff after an hour or so in the saddle but not as much as I was dreading. I am 50-something after all.

I also found out today that the ideal cruising speed is just below 50. Just a tad fast for posing in town!

Sunny days are here again

The weather continues to be very spring-like, so I'm managing to get out for an hour here and there. I'ts great just to be out riding, getting used to the feel of the bike and the controls.

There are one or two things which are taking just a little longer to become familiarised with. The indicators for one. This is the first bike I've had which has had one indicator control on each side. I keep wanting to change direction and use my left thumb for both left and right indicators. I eventually worked out how to use the small button at the side of the tacho to give me readings like time, trip meter and distance remaining in the tank.

I also wore my open-face helmet for the first time.
I went into WCH yesterday to buy a pair of goggles. The ones I tried on just didn't feel right and were slipping down my nose. Any of the other ones with a smaller frame would not have been suitable to wear with my specs.
I ended up buying a half visor. It fits, with little clips, into the rim of the helmet which is just as well as my lid doesn't have any visor studs. It worked well and protected my eyes from the wind well but allowed enough wind around it to still give that airy feeling that is half the fun of wearing an open-faced helmet.
It's Italian made and the translation in the instructions is hilarious.

Hopefully this good weather will continue over the weekend as I'm back to work on Monday which will curtail my freedom somewhat. I'll try to get some photos posted when I take them. (I've been more interested in riding rather than stopping to take pics)

Danger

I couldn't get out on the bike today despite it being perfect weather for biking. so I've had to make do with spending the latter part of the evening reading through the owner's manual, a thing that H-D recommend you do thouroughly before riding for the first time. Yeah, like that's going to happen! "I'll not go out on my new bike until I've read all 192 pages."

What I did notice was that almost every page carries the following words:- "which could result in death or serious injury".
Makes me wonder if Harley-Davidson ever write to owners who have had an accident and say, "We told you so!".

Though, for me, the best line has to be:-

"Motorcycles are different from other vehicles. They operate, steer, handle and brake differently. Unskilled or improper use could result in loss of control, death or serious injury."

Happy biking from Harley-Davidson, Milwaukee, USA.

Wwww-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-de

That's the only way to describe the smile on my face!
I went down to West Coast Harley at noon today. I had told them that it would be early afternoon but I just couldn't wait any longer.

I was nervous. It's been a few years since I've been on a bike and here was I, just about to do a couple of firsts.
My first time on a brand-spanking-new bike. One mile on the clock. The nearest I'd been to that before, with any bike, was 19 1/2 K.
It was also my first time on a Harley-Davidson, apart from a cabby around a car park years ago.

So, there's me in the shop, full of nervous trepidation and my bike is still on display. Somehow wires had gotten crossed along the way and they weren't expecting me for another day. I could excuse them that little oversight, especially as the diary proved me right, as they'd had a busy weekend at the Scottish Bike Show.

It wasn't too bad a wait. I got the chance to talk with some of the staff about all things Harley. I also racked up a few more extra pounds on future purchases. Then finally I got the shout that my bike was ready. A quick run through the controls and switches, directions out of the yard and I was away.

My first time, proper, on a H-D was definitely all I had dreamed it would be. The sun was shining and once I got out of town, the roads were reasonably quiet. A good thing, as I was having to take it easy to break the machine in. Must be a Harley thing that, as most vehicles get "run" in. Even taking things easy I could feel the power of the 96 cubic inch engine rumbling away beneath me. Heads were turning as I made my way through traffic up the busy main route out of town. The feeling was so good I just had to keep going. Practicing low speed manoeuvers would come later. I wanted the open road.

By the time I had reached Aberfoyle and felt like a coffee I had clocked up my first 25 miles. The coffee was really just an excuse to get off and look at my bike, so I didn't take very long over it. The run back home saw me clock up my first half ton.

I'm sure that every mile will just keep on getting better and better.
Happy St. Patricks day! It certainly has been one for me to remember.

.....and closer

Just a few days to go and all's ready for me to collect my bike.

I've purchased everything I need, for now, to get on the road. The insurance is in place with a copy to the dealer so they can get the tax sorted. I've got the locks, helmet, jacket, gloves and spent as much as I can afford for now. So anything else I want to buy will just have to wait. Some of it is gear I've had around the house since my previous bike. Other items I've had to go out and buy.
My helmets, yes I have bought an open face as well as a full face, are both matt black, so match the bike. Hell, I'm nowt but a poser!

I bought a Davida Jet open face. I had tried other makes but the spec of the British made Davida was the factor which won that one over for me.Being ACU approved for racing in the UK it carries their Gold Sticker. It is constructed from fibreglass and has a leather and satin lining.
Though, to be honest, I nearly didn't buy it at all. I tried a large size on and it hardly went over my ears. Even the XL was painful to put on and felt as though my ears, never mind my earrings, were being ripped off when I removed it. The assistant in the shop assured me that everyone who had bought one found them tight at first but with use they eased off. When I tried on an XXL I realised that the size below was the correct one and that if the padding round the lower edge were to ease up then it would be an extremely comfortable and secure feeling helmet.
So I forked out the £215 and took it home. I seriously questioned my wisdom when I almost had a panic attack at the thought of the pain I was faced with, taking it off after the third or fourth attempt. I was beginning to doubt if it would ever ease off enough to allow me to comfortably wear it.
Then I had an idea. The sales assistant had mentioned to me that they change the helmets on the display mannekins regularly in order to allow for some stretching (or is it compression?) of the padding. So I looked for something I could use as an alternative head and came up with the arm of my sofa! I squeezed the helmet over the arm and left it over-night. It worked! The following morning the helmet went on much easier. Another couple of times with that treatment and it should be a comfortable fit. Then I can go get the goggles!

I've now got everything but the bike and I'll be sitting on that on Tuesday. All I want now is a dry day. If the weather is half-way good I'm going to just get the bike from the shop and ride and ride and ride.

So my next post is going to be the first after my first ride on my FXSTB night train.

Getting closer....

But still so far away.

It's now only three days 'till I collect my bike. Fiona, the sales assistant, who has been very helpful I must point out, phoned me today to ask if I had arranged insurance so they could get the bike taxed and ready for me on Tuesday.
I have but I could really have done without the reminder. I had managed to put the agony of waiting slightly further back in my mind. Away from the area which would be so unbearable I would have had to go down to the shop on some pretence or other, just to look. Now I will have to go tomorrow and doubtless that will end up in me spending money.

One drawback with Harley-Davidon is the branding. It has become so succesful over the years that anything can be purchased bearing the H-D logos. It's all good stuff even if you can't think of a use for a pet's skip hat or furry coffee mugs with Harley-Davidson written all over them. But, and it's a HUGE but, write Harley-Davidson on even the most mundane item and suddenly it takes on a value far beyond anything its manufacturers could ever have dreamed of.

So with the list of customising bits and pieces getting longer by the day, I can see I have a future of empty pockets and stretching my overdraft to look forward to.

Why a harley?

That's a question I've had put to me several times since I announced to friends and work colleagues that I was buying a Harley-Davidson.
Though, if I'm really honest many more of them have exclaimed, usually with a fair amount of incredulity, "Why a motor-bike?"
Well, I suppose I can understand that way of thinking. More understanding than I would expect from anyone who hasn't enjoyed the experience of being a biker I suppose. It's just one of those things that you either are or are most definitely not.

I've been riding bikes, on and off, for more years than I care to remember. For years I always believed in the old adage that if you wanted four wheels then get two motor-bikes. Once I got stopped by a traffic cop who was so interested in the fact that I didn't have any car entitlement on my licence that he nearly forgot to do me for riding an un-taxed bike.
I haven't had a bike for a few years now but that's mainly because I had no place to securely store it. Lock-up garages, where I live are so rare. I've been waiting years to get one so my first thought when I was offered one to rent was, "Now I can buy a bike".

So, why a Harley then?
Harley-Davidsons, for as long as I can remember, have always had this iconic place in my biking consciousness. It started with the old monochrome movies with motorcycle cops racing around after bad guys. With their distinctive upright riding position and that wailing siren which just shouted out "I'm king of the road!" Then there were the Hogs, ridden by Fonda and Hopper in Easy Rider in '69 which woke the rebel in me . A rebel which would never really lie down again.
Motor-bikes have always symbolised a wild untamed freedom and Milwaukee Iron has always been the epitome of that feeling. Owning one has long been a dream. It has, at the same time always been just out of reach. Sadly, often because of nothing more than the antithesis of that freedom, the cost.

So now, like so many other people who reach middle age and find they can finally afford it, I'm chasing my dream.

On order

Well, my bike's in the shop.

I went in to West Coast Harley, here in Glasgow, yesterday to sort out the finance on my bike and it was there, parked up in the show-room. It was sitting there, looking broody with its black finish, in a sea of shiny chrome and bright coloured paint schemes. I could barely believe that within just a few signatures time it would be mine.

From what was just a notion a few weeks ago, I'm now the owner of a Harley Davidson FXSTB Night Train.
The last week has been one of those where time just seems to drag and it felt as though Saturday was never going to come. Well, if I thought that was bad, I'm just dreading the wait until a week on Tuesday when I can finally go and collect my bike.

The smile was seldom off my face yesterday. Every time I thought about my bike or looked at the custom parts list, I had to pinch myself just to make myself stop thinking I was dreaming.
Then today as I fastened my Harley-Davidson pin to my leather jacket it hit me again. I can now wear Harley gear as an owner.

And, as the old joke goes. "How can you tell a Harley-Davidson rider?" "Easy, it's written all over him!"