10,000 Mile Check up

Thursday August 7, I rode up to State College, well it was #1 Cycle Center in Centre Hall, Pa. This is the Harley-Davidson Dealership I bought my bike from. My rear tire was getting balder than Mike Jordan and the front tire had just enough tread to pass inspection. Plus it is time for the Beast's 10,000 mile check up.

The ride up was uneventfull. I took it easy because it was the first time I rode it since I dropped it back on July 19th. I went around turns 10 to 20 mph slower than I normally have. I got up there 2 hours ahead of time and they wouldn't get me in any earlier. So I sat and waited. They didn't have too many bikes in there. 2 V-rods, one Softail 105th ann. model, 1 fatboy, 1 1200 Sportie and a new 2009 Screaming Eagle Ultra Glide. This was an awesome bike! It had the 110 ci motor, the new frame, the new 180mm rear tire, special paint, and heated seat and handle grips all for $35,495.

At 5pm Brian in Service asked me if I wanted to wait while they wash it. I wanted to leave until he told me that there are severe thunderstorms ahead of me. Not again. 4 of the last 5 rides I rode in Thunderstorms!!! So I waited for another hour and headed home. At the dealership a father and son were looking around and taking pictures of eachother on bikes. The boy was 11 years old. I was wearing my leather vest with my SW Florida HOG Patch on. I took it off and gave it to the boy to wear for the photos. He was so happy. The father didn't even realize what it was to have someone take off their vest and let a kid wear it. Sure it wasn't like it was some club cut but still.

Coming home there were a few areas of wet roads. Since I was used to not having as much grip in the turns and first time out riding since I dumped it at 5 mph, I took things easy. I missed my turn off in Boilsburg and wound up in downtown State College, no problem. I turned up the Aerosmith CD I had on the sterio and watched the college kids give me the thumbs up. The ride home was great. I got on top of Pine Grove Mountain and still feeling a little tense going down the other side. I took it nice and easy around the sweeping turns. Then heading back towards Huntingdon I was gaining more confidence. I opened the throttle a little bit more and even more once I got to Cassville Mountain. Riding down Rt 839 was time to open up the throttle a bit more. The next thing I knew I was doing 70 mph in a 45 zone in the vilage of Calvin. Cassville was just 3 miles ahead and no challenging turns. A little faster and I made it into town. The first thing I did was get off the bike and in the house to get my medicine ready to take for the next mornings Colon surgery. YUK, why did I ride so hard to get back for this?