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August 4, 2008
Bernalillo and Back
Under normal circumstances, riding to Bernalillo and back along 2nd St and NM 313 would not be an especially noteworthy event. This time, however, Roomie accompanied me on the back of the Ducati. Two weeks ago, Roomie and I went out and purchased her a helmet just in case she wanted to ever take a ride with me. Later that day she surprised me by stating that she was ready to go for a short ride on the Benelli, by far the most approachable of the bikes in the garage. We zipped up 2nd St to Alameda, across the the river, and over to the Indian restaurant. We both had a great time on that ride, and we left it at that.
Saturday, she was not sure if she would feel as safe on the Ducati. As a stop gap measure, we drove once around the block, and she was astounded at how much safer she felt on it versus the Benelli. What two decades in age and three decades in technology will do for one's confidence! Anyway, we took the 750 Sport to the Range Cafe in Bernalillo, Roomie borrowing the Vanson perforated leather jacket while I sweated in the Schott Perfecto. But we both thoroughly enjoyed the ride, and Roomie did not even flinch when we passed a very slowly moving vehicle on the way home.
Before we take a ride up to Madrid (or Heaven forbid, Santa Fe) we will have to find Roomie a proper jacket and perhaps some gloves. Certainly, this new interest of hers in motorcycling has given us much more to talk about, and I for one am looking forward to where it goes from here.
Posted by Underblog at 2:16 PM | TrackBack
Pam and Don
Friday, I went over to Pam's storage area to take a look at the Benelli 125 she had for sale. Arriving there early, I spoke to her neighbor Don who was polishing out his 2005 Night Train Harley, which had had much of its blackout surfaces replaced with chrome. He was nice enough, with two Motori Franco Morini and one Honda mini-bikes under a cover in his living/motorcycle room.
As it happens, the Benelli that Pam was holding fast to her sales price was not a 4-stroke "egg motor" but rather a 2-stroke. I was therefore not interested in it. Don came over from across the street and after not having seen a Benelli in the past couple of decades, he came across two in one day. After some explanation of the mechanical differences between 2 and 4 stroke engines and how to tell one from the other, Pam and I parted company. The Benelli probably could be made to run for not too much more money, but then one would have a 2-stroke 125 and just how often would that bike be taken out of the garage? Once again, I am relieved to have found a motorcycle that I can pass up.