Some of you may remember my mentioning that Steve’s bike was the first I’d actually ridden on. Well, Steve put the following picture up on his flickr stream.

That’s Steve, back in ‘85, on his little 250cc Suzuki.

I rode on some other bikes after that — Jeff Wood’s 500cc Honda, and another fellow’s Harley Sportster; and I always really like the Harleys that my cousins Allen, Bob and John have. But, it was riding with Steve that really got me hooked — all those years ago.

When the temperature drops to below 45 or so, it’s a good idea to close the vents on your helmet to keep your ears from freezing…

I took the bike to work today. You knew I would. And, I’m home now. Both the bike and I are in pretty much the same condition we were in when we left this morning!

Before taking off across Columbia, though, I thought it might be a “good thing” to ride around the neighborhood a bit to get used to the new ride. It definitely was.

The Shadow is a completely different animal than the little Nighthawk. It’s not as forgiving when it comes to the clutch, and it really hates being “lugged,” even the least little bit. The first little bit of chugging around would really have been a little embarrassing if more people had seen me. I stalled a few times. The fork angle is also a good bit different from the Nighthawk, and so slow speed steering and sharp cornering is a bit different. You really have to pull it back straight.

Next, I trundled over to the easiest-to-get-in-and-out-of gas station that was nearby — the new Cifco in Dobbin Center. The Shadow’s an “old school” bike, in that checking the fuel level involves peering into the top of the tank to see how much is left. The main tank holds two gallons, and there’s a 0.9 gallon reserve. I put 1.34 gallons in it to top it off. And from there, I rode off to work.

The ride to work was completely uneventful, which is a really good thing. I did catch my boot on the seat top getting off the bike after I got to the office, and the seat cover about fell apart. I’ve ordered a new one. I’d planned to do it anyway, ’cause the seat cover was starting to split its seams a little, but I thought I was going to be able wait a few days first! I’ve also got a bid in on a new radiator cover. I’m sure I could sand and repaint the one that’s on there, but heck, if I can get a new one at a reasonable price, I might as well just replace it.

Riding home was also quite uneventful. One stall at a light. I’m gonna hafta learn how to adjust the clutch! I also want a little more action out of the rear brake, so I can drag through corners a little better.

The next priority is getting some luggage. I traveled really light today, knowing that I wasn’t going to be in the office for more than a few minutes before going to a trade show (in the county SUV). But soon, I’m going to have be able to carry my laptop and paperwork along with myself. The windshield also needs to be worked on. I’m going to try polishing it first, but I’ll probably want a new one in the long run. And, I need some appropriately colored touch-up paint to deal with the areas where a previous owner’s saddlebags rubbed through the paint and into the plastic.

Notice that all of the little things I’ve mentioned that I need to work on are either cosmetic or adjustments for personal preferences, and, if cosmetic, things that I knew that I was going to have to do, anyway.

Now, where’s that C.L.R. and a toothbrush…

Sounds like an episode of The FBI. Remember? That incredibly bad crime series from the sixties?

Anyway, Bill from Clinton Cycles just called and asked, “Are you ready for me to deliver your bike tonight?”

Dumb question. It should arrive around 8PM. I might even ride it to work tomorrow.

8PM UPDATE: IT IS HERE!

The saga continues …

Today, I spoke with Jeff, the service manager at Clinton Cycles, since Steve is out today, and Bill wasn’t answering his page (he is the GM, so, he might actually have been doing something important. “According to the computer,” Jeff said, the gas new tank arrived sometime earlier today. However, it hadn’t yet been unpacked and inspected.

If the tank actually did arrive, and if it’s the right color, and if it wasn’t damaged in shipment, and if all of this if figured out, the gas tank (remember the tank?) could be installed late this afternoon or tomorrow. That means that I could finally have my bike Thursday or Friday.

Or not.

We shall see.

Late yesterday afternoon, and again, I had been on the phone with Steve at Clinton Cycles. Seems that the tank came back from being re-lined on Tuesday, and it wasn’t good enough to use. But that didn’t get communicated to anyone until yesterday. So, now they are having to order a new gas tank from Honda, which is expected to be another week!

I am now beginning to be a little annoyed — not so much that they’re doing the work on the bike, but that the bike was supposedly made “road ready” before the auction was opened up on eBay. Steve (the sales manager) and Bill (the general manager) seem to be more than a little frustrated with the folks in the service department over this as well.

Again, there’s an up-side to the story. The bike will have a new gas tank now, instead of my having to deal with it down the road. This makes about $1100 that Clinton has spent to support a $1000 sale, not counting eBay fees, credit card fees and shop labor. And they’re going to drop the delivery charge when the bike is finally ready. So, while this is becoming an unnecessarily lengthy transaction, they are bending over backward to make things right.

I just got off the phone with Steve at Clinton, and got a little more detail on what’s up with my “new” bike. It seems that on last Thursday when they were re-assembling the bike after cleaning the carburetors, they found some rust in the gas tank, and needed to send the tank out to get it cleaned up and re-lined. They expect that the bike will be ready sometime tomorrow, so I can hopefully have it delivered either tomorrow or Thursday evening. I’d really wanted to be able to ride it to work this week, but, it appears that’s just not going to happen, except maybe on Friday.

 It now looks as if it will be late next week or early the following week before the bike makes it to me. Apparently, the shop found another task that needed to be completed as they were re-assembling the bike — something to do with re-spraying the tank liner? Anyway, it whatever it was takes a couple of days to complete. I guess that they can spray it one day, and it takes a couple or three days to dry.

At this point, Clinton’s not making any money on this bike. In fact, they’ve probably lost money on it, as what I’ve paid them has been more than eaten up in labor time and shop materials. In a way, I feel bad. But not that bad. Frankly, they can find and correct anything they want to before turning it over to me — as long as there aren’t extra charges involved. I’d rather that they ”find things” before I get it and find things.

I’m a big, bad biker now. Well, sorta. We went down to Clinton Cycles this evening to pay for my bargain eBay find 1994 Honda Shadow VLX 600. According to the guy who handles the internet sales, there were 35 “watchers,” a whole lot of questions, and one bid: Mine.

Works for me. For just under $1200 on the road, I got a bike with a NADA book value of about $2500.

The shop was finishing up the prep work when we arrived — they wanted to tear the carbs down and clean them again before letting me have the bike, so it won’t actually be ready until tomorrow sometime. And, rather than risk the DC Circle of Death (aka Beltway) on my first ride, I’ll have it delivered to the house. So, I probably won’t actually have it in my possession until early next week.

If you look at the picture, you can see that it has some cosmetic deficiencies. However, the picture makes the bike look a bit more worn than it actually is — I went down yesterday and looked it over before thinking about bidding on it. That’s an advantage to being local!

Of course, there are few things it needs: New windscreen (or the old one simply removed), a little surface rust removal, a little paint, a new seat cover, and a little TLC. And, I’ll want to add a few accessories like saddlebags, an accessory power point, highway bars, etc. But otherwise, it’ll be ready to ride as soon as it appears at the house!

I thought not.

One thing that does not instill confidence when traveling on airplanes — a pilot who comes on board whistling the chorus from Ring of Fire.

At least I got the a seat in the emergency exit row…

I spent the weekend in Ft. Myers, Florida, doing some consulting work for a new club-jazz band down there. Mainly, I was there to help them get their PA designed, get their temporary practice space designed and configured, help work out the logistics of their live performance, and measure and design their permanent practice space and demo studio, as well as discuss various business aspects involved in funding and operating a band.

The way the band is going to work is pretty interesting — or different, anyway. Basically, there will be three live performers with well-executed and produced backing tracks. The live performers will be a bassist/keyboardist/vocalist (who will also handle the arranging and pre-production duties), a guitarist/vocalist and a female lead vocalist. Their goal is to be up, running and on the circuit in the southwest Florida area in early November. During mid-November, I’ll be going back down for the build-out and setup of the permanent practice/demo space.

A little later on today, I’ll be going out to look at a motorcycle — a 1992 Suzuki VS800 Intruder. At 800cc’s, it’s a bit bigger bike than I had originally wanted to go for, and will need certain accessories added (saddlebags and windscreen) or changed out (I don’t think I like the highway bars that are on it, and the seat is not designed for a passenger). Otherwise, this machine looks to be a pretty decent deal, even if it’s more than a couple of years old. It’s already Maryland state inspected, has supposedly low mileage (the odometer shows around 12,000 miles), the price is right in the ballpark for identical models being sold around the country, and there’s still excellent support in the way of aftermarket accessories made specifically for this model.

I had originally envisioned something in the 500cc size range. However, it seems that, over the years, the size of the “beginners’ bike has changed radically! In the “cruiser” style category, about the smallest bike available is a 650cc. The next step “down” is a 250cc, and I just plain don’t fit well on any of the Japanese 250s.

Speaking of the 250cc bikes, I’ve learned that the one up at Scootertronics isn’t really that great a deal. New ones are selling, on average, for only about $300 more than the used one.

The bike that my friend Thom mentioned to me looks to be a wonderful machine, and will be an excellent deal for somebody. It’s a gorgeous 2005 Honda Shadow Aero 750 with under 1000 miles on it. But, at $5500, it’s a bit more than I want to spend for a used bike, for two reasons. First and foremost, it would dramatically interfere with the overall goal to get the maxi-scooter. And second, I can get a newer, similarly used Yamaha V-Star Classic for $900 less, state inspected, from a dealer.

I’ve decided that, when the time comes to get the maxi-scooter, I will be buying the Kymco Xciting 500 that I mentioned last week from MotoStrada. It’s not so much for the machine, but for the dealer: Mark at MotoStrada has been the only one who was willing or able to give me an exact out-the-door price on a vehicle, including all shipping, prep, tax and registration costs. In fact, he’s got it marked right on the scooter! While the Kymco is not quite as well appointed or quite as powerful as the big Suzuki, it’s still a very nice machine, and gets great reviews in all the related magazines, forums and web sites. About the only gripe people seem to have with it [in the U.S.] is the speedometer.