A FUN DRIVE NORTH

Anxiety

The check arrived about 2:30 Thursday afternoon, and my BFG and I hit the road.  That was a very long 450 miles, but my BFG is fun to talk to and we had a good time.  We checked in to our hotel and I told him I wish they had sent me the owner’s manual so that I could read it before riding.  He told me to check the internet and I struck gold.  I downloaded the manual and spent the entire night reading it.  I told you I am nearly a professional insomniac, and I absolutely could not even close my eyes to sleep with all the excitement.  By the time I woke him in the morning, I felt I knew what almost everything on the bike did.

Hurry up!

The dealership opened at 8am, so we checked out of the hotel pretty early and stopped to get some breakfast.  While the food at the Studio One Café in Eugene was delicious, the service was terribly slow, probably because we sat outside due to COVID-19.  I just wanted them to hurry up so we could finish and go pick up my bike.  Could you tell I was a bit excited?  I felt like a kid at Christmas.  We finally finished our food, paid our check and headed to the dealership.

We rolled up to European Motorcycles of Western Oregon in my Prius and I think I jumped out of the car before it stopped rolling.  I looked around to see the bike and found it right inside the window.  It was even more beautiful than the photos Adam sent me.  I couldn’t wait to go inside. I begged my BFG to hurry and in we walked.  We were met by a man wearing a mask who, in spite of both Glenn and I in masks, he welcomed me by name, having never seen my face.  To be fair, he probably recognized the excitement and awe shining out of my eyes when I looked at the bike that was soon to be mine.  MINE!

The new ride!

Finalize

If you’re from anywhere near, or maybe even not so near, to Eugene, Oregon and you need a great motorcycle European Motorcycles of Western Oregon is the place to go.  No Japanese bikes here, I saw only European models, but the folks there were fantastic!   They all seemed to know who I was the minute I walked in the door and they were wonderful to work with.  I dealt with Adam C. and if I ever have to buy another motorcycle (which I don’t think I will) he will be the first person I call.  After everything was signed and the money exchanged, he took me over to go over the bike with me.  He didn’t hurry anything, but I don’t think he’s ever dealt with a customer that has stayed up the entire previous night, reading the owner’s manual cover to cover.  He did show me a couple of things that I didn’t quite understand after reading the manual.  Some things are easier to understand when you can see and touch them.  And I told him what I knew about it, which surprised him quite a bit.

Grateful

I don’t know if anyone else suffers from this, but when something really nice comes into my life, I often feel like I don’t really deserve it.  Like it’s some sort of mistake.  As I sat listening to Adam and looking at this gorgeous bike, I felt that strongly.  Thelma was a nice bike and I never thought I’d be able to do any better than her.  Here I was standing next to a bike I had dreamed about for years (I almost bought one when I bought the Intruder 1400, but it was out of my price range), and it was mine.  I really felt like something must be wrong.  That didn’t stop me from being tickled to death and oh so grateful that I would be riding this thing away from here shortly, but it’s definitely a weird, sad feeling.

Woohoo!

When the last of the tour of the bike was over, I asked to use the restroom and when I came out, the bike was running in the parking lot for me.  There was one thing I had to take care of prior to getting on and riding away, insurance.  I sat in the Prius and got my new baby covered by insurance.  We were ready to go and I hopped on the bike and started it up.  Dang, it sounded awesome!  It was going to be a fun trip home!

Here I am, ready to go!