meeting up with (new) old friends

That's what it felt like when I went to my first ever meeting of Clyde Valley HOG chapter.
There were around twenty bikes, their riders and a few pillions, just standing around chatting bikes, especially Harleys, or in the cafe having tea or other refreshments.
My arrival gave everyone watching a humorous moment when I got lost in the car park.
When I finally got there, after a detour to avoid a road closure, I could see all the Harleys parked up with folk standing around chatting. So I knew exactly where I wanted to be. Trouble was they were on a paved area with a high kerb so I naturally figured out that there MUST be another way to get there and surely it would be round the back. So off I went looking for the way onto the concourse, to give it a posher name.
Round and round I went. It took a couple of circuits before I noticed a worn down pedestrian crossing just at the exit of the roundabout they were all standing beside.
I might have known, that the way to take your bike onto the pavement was across the pedestrian crossing!
Anyway, a pleasant couple of hours ensued, chatting about bikes, picking up tips about customising and wistfully regretting that I cannot make the "Gathering", Clyde Valley's annual bike show, which is on at Ayr racecourse this weekend.
I did get to look at a couple of examples of sissy bars and have decided to go for a wrinkle black medium-low one with fixed plates as they are neater than the detachable ones.
So, I'm going to sacrifice a little adaptability for a sleeker look. Hopefully I'll get them next weekend and fitted soon after.

decisions

The weather has not been too great lately. Nor have I had the time (life keeps getting in the way of enjoyment) to get out as often as I'd like for long runs.
So I've been grabbing a few miles here and there. Like this morning. The forecast was to be rain later in the day so I headed out at nine for an hour or two. Being Sunday morning there was also the benefit of really quiet roads.
The one good thing about not running up a huge mileage tally, is that I'm taking my time and considering how I'm going to customise the night train.
There are three areas I'd like to personalise. Comfort, style and performance.
Style will most likely be "keep it black!" Then for performance, some new pipes.
So, the first is probably the one I should take time over to get right.
Although I do like the drag styling of the stock "train", I feel that I'd fit better with a more upright riding stance, so I've decided to replace the high riser and flat bars with apes. It's just getting the style of riser and height of the bars right. There are so many choices it's not an easy pick.
Hopefully I'll have it worked out in my mind soon.