Good grief, what is this darkness thing anyway? I got up fairly early for my monthly run down to Brookings to attend a Bikers Breakfast and it was still pitch dark. I guess old man winter must be on the way as all I could see was the moon. The weather people had predicted cloudy/sunny with a low of 45 degrees to get things started and later on maybe 59 degrees. They didn't mention a word about darkness...
I was pretty much ready to ride other than not having a full tank of gas but figured I could make it to Port Orford. Sunday mornings usually means nothing will be open much before 7:00am and that proved to be right; the Chevron station had just been open a few minutes when I pulled in. I tanked up and headed south as daylight continued its spread across the choppy Pacific Ocean. It’s around 80 miles from our place to Brookings via the twisty coastal highway and I always enjoy the ride. This morning was no exception, no nasty cross winds and no rain, just a bit of fog blowing in off the surf.
The guys & gals who attend the Bikers Breakfast are an eclectic bunch who ride all sorts of gear that includes cruisers, sport bikes, trikes, side cars, adventure bikes, and now even a scooter. Red Dog drew considerable attention from everyone as few had ever seen one of Piaggio's products and nearly all were curious. Most questions were centered around the mysterious front end configuration and how well it handled, etc. After the usual polite inquiries it always got around to "Uh, if you don't mind, uh, I know it's kind of personal" to which I would respond "9". I knew they wanted to know the price for one and I'm not offended by their asking, they're friends and besides anyone can find out what they cost by calling a dealer.
After breakfast I headed north towards Bandon, pausing for a brief photo op next to one of the bears currently guarding Brookings. The town was sporting a couple dozen of the critters, apparently part of a traveling show. Or maybe they're beginning to weird-out a little?
Nearing home the fuel reserve light came on and after a few miles I noticed a new display that hadn’t been there before. Evidently when you go onto reserve the computer begins recording how many miles you’ve traveled, sort of an extra visual reminder you’d better fill up. I like that whole idea as running out of gas is not my idea of entertainment. I’d traveled 15 miles on reserve when I pulled into the Bandon Chevron and I was anxious to see what sort of mileage I was getting. I pumped 2.83 gallons into the tank and if memory serves me right it holds a little over 3 gallons so I must have been nearly empty. That’s when I did a really dumb thing; I hit the reset button on the trip odometer before recording the mileage. Duh… Oh well what the heck, next time I’ll check it first.
Rain had started a few miles before arriving in Bandon and it was my first opportunity to ride Red Dog in the wet. As was expected good manners were exhibited and I felt very secure with the handling. This ride also provided an opportunity to fully test the new heated grips. They not only worked well, I had to turn the temperature down as my hands were getting too hot. Now that's a problem I can deal with!
More stuff to follow on the heated vest and the Air Hawk seat pad, stay tuned.
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