Lucille goes to the doctor

Lost

I knew I had to be to the BMW dealer by 1300, but I had no idea how long it would take me to get there. I had to finish going through Connecticut, Rhode Island, go through Massachusetts, including Boston, and get to North Hampton, NH by 1300. Overall it was only a couple of hundred miles, but with the rain and traffic, who knew how long it could take.

I was ready at 0630, but when I went to get on Lucille I realized I hadn’t put her navigator back on. I looked in my saddlebag, but it wasn’t there. I had turned my key in, but no one was in the office yet so I couldn’t get it back. I emptied every bag to look for it and it was nowhere.

I know I complain about the thing, but it’s a very expensive piece of equipment and I didn’t want to just walk away from it. I went back to the office and there was someone in so I asked for a key to my room. He gave me one and i searched everywhere. No navigator. I checked the bags again, still nothing. Back in the room, I looked under the bed, nope. But, while I was on the floor, I looked over at the air conditioner. Underneath was the navigator. It’s in a black case and the baseboard is black, so it’s a wonder I saw it. Thank goodness.

I was now an hour behind my schedule, so I jumped on Lucille, backed her up like I knew what I was doing and rode her in stop and go traffic on steep hills like a pro. I was hardly even nervous!

Next new state

I made it to Rhode Island where the speed limit is very slow.

Welcome to Rhode Island! 

I didn’t really see anything special there, but I did drive through it and into Massachusetts.

I’ve been here many times, particularly the Boston area and I recognized a lot here. Of course there was an accident headed into Boston, a police action in Boston with someone riding a moped the wrong way in the Interstate, and an accident leaving Boston. My left hand got quite the workout!

Lucille gets help

I went through the tunnel and over the bridge (another damn bridge!) and made it to the bike shop at 1145. Time to spare!

Made it! 

They told me I was early and the service would take quite some time. The low oil light had come on AGAIN today, so I asked them to please see what was wrong with it and to check everything as I was traveling. They told me I could get lunch at the bar next door and could wait in the showroom until it was done.

Time

I had a great lunch at the bar and made my way back to the dealer. I looked at their bikes, wondering if I should trade Lucille for something smaller to finish the trip. I didn’t of course, but I enjoyed looking anyway. The weather was bad (surprise) or I would have walked the couple miles to the Ural dealer. They had a bunch of bikes with sidecars lined up when I passed them earlier.

They weren’t kidding, Lucille wasn’t done until 1630. She got a clean bill of health. She wasn’t low on oil, apparently her sensor was malfunctioning. The tech reset it. They told me lights, tires, battery, and fluids were all good to go and she should be healthy for another 6,000 miles. WOOHOO!

Characters

I rode her to our hotel for the night and parked out front. The hotel seemed like a home for misfit characters, though it was nice and clean. An older couple was gossiping with the front desk couple but they all were curious when I walked in wearing my motorcycle gear.

After some conversation about the trip and things I’d seen, they checked me in and told me to leave the bike right where I’d parked it. I’d be able to see it from my third floor room that way.

I went out to unload her and an older guy, probably about 70, vaping his marijuana told me I couldn’t cover Lucille if she were hot. I have a half cover that I can, in fact, put on her when she’s hot. He argued with me, so I let him talk. Then he said,  “No offense, but if YOU can ride that bike, then I can ride that bike.” I’m not insulting the guy but he was really fat and pretty high. I’m not going to lie, I was tempted to let him try. But I smiled and told him Lucille made it easy for everyone to ride and I went to my room.

Lucille parked at the hotel in New Hampshire. 

Tomorrow we head to Acadia in Maine and I am so hoping for good weather!