Rolling!

Zig was convinced the problem with the front end was due to the (new) tire having not been inflated to proper pressure. I was convinced there was no way that that could account for things flopping back and forth. So, there was only one thing to do. I walked the bike out once again, fired things up and rolled out towards the nearest gas station. Keeping things under the 40 mph speed limit wasn’t a problem, as the front end felt like it was going to fly off in a different direction at any moment. Got to the gas station, popped a few quarters into the compressor and brought things up to where they should be (I figured I’d be a sport and check the rear tire while I was at it, and it took a few pounds as well). Then it was test-time. I twisted the front end from left to right a few times and was surprised to find that things actually felt much better. The real test of course, was to rock and roll down the blacktop and see how things handled.

Firing her to life once again, I rumbled to the edge of the pavement and awaited the next break in traffic. With the mental green-light received, I eased into the flow. Doing some leaning here, and some counter-steering there, I found that the bike basically handled like I felt it should. Sweet! I brought her up to highway speed and eased through the traffic, paying close attention to every twist, lean, and turn, to make sure that everything felt right - it pretty much did! I would rate the feel as being 95% of how I felt it should ride. There were a couple of times where the bike seemed to hesitate in reacting to a counter-steer, but for now, I’m chalking it up to getting used to the new risers.

So I took it out for a bit last night and she seemed to ride well, overall. Then this morning, I rolled up another 60 miles - in the rain. I suppose this would be a good spot to say something sappy like “Even though it was raining, it was the best ride ever!”…or; “It may have been raining on the outside, but I was all sunshine and smiles on the inside!”. Nope; the rain still sucks, period.

I suppose I could also point out that the two+ months that I’ve been down, have been the driest months we’ve had in years? And yet, the minute I’m back up and running, it starts raining? What’s up with that?

So anyway, with any luck, the saga of the front end has drawn to a close. I’m not 100% sold yet, there’s still that odd feeling every now and then, but we’ll see how things…roll. I’ll be…rolling…up the miles and we’ll see if that odd feeling goes away (or, maybe I’ll just get used to it). Time will tell…

Can’t seem to get the old Aerosmith lyrics “I’m Baaaaack! I’m BACK in the saddle, again!” out of my head. But that’s a good thing.

So I’m rolling again! I’ve got a couple of memorial runs coming up, some fall trips planned…there’s a lot of mileage to be made up, so hang on. This could get ugly.

Ride Hard, Take Chances