Mar 12, 2010 Ouch! That dang saddle’s getting expensive!

Yesterday I drove the RV to our local body shop where they would install the newly painted replacement rear quarter panel. You remember the one I killed when I jackknifed the trailer awhile back? Hauling Red Dog home from Rich’s Custom Seats?

For the most part the installation went OK although I’m a bit uncertain about the paint match. The new panel is a shade or two lighter than the rest of the panels and when I commented on it the shop owner said “Don’t worry about it, colors like grey tend to darken up in time.” I have this thing that goes on in my mind whenever someone uses the phrase “don’t worry about it” red flags pop up all over the place. Another element is the catch-phrase “in time”. Whose time I always wonder? His? Mine? Dog years?

One thing I know for certain, once your rig is back together and parked in the body shop’s driveway you’re probably not going to see it pulled back inside for a re-do. As it happens I like the body shop guy so I’m willing to wait and see.

While writing this posting my phone rang and it was Rich calling to let me know the saddle is on its way back today. He told me they’d changed the profile a bit and added some softer material that should correct the sliding problem so my fingers are crossed.

During our talk I mentioned to him it seemed like the costs for the saddle were mounting exponentially since the jackknifing incident. An odd strangling sound emmitted from the telephone after which he pointed out his saddle had damn little to do with my lack of driving skills... I guess I'm alright with that although it does seem a bit one-sided to me. Moving right along we talked a lot about different bikes, Ducati‘s for the most part and what makes a great touring bike. Red Dog didn’t make the cut in that regard. We’ll see…