On Saturday, October 9, 2010 I had the opportunity to take an unplanned ride to Daytona Beach with another old retired geezer who invited me to stay at his new place in Deland. We left at 0540, so it was pitch black dark and cold. Fortunately it warmed up as the day went on and we stopped periodically to remove various pieces of cold weather gear. We arrived at our destination 11 hours, 20 minutes later after navigating 735 miles, predominantly on Interstate 95. We only came close to getting run over a few times, so we considered ourselves lucky. We easily predicted two of the non-drivers who almost took us out. One was reading while travelling 70+ and drifted into our lane. Another had a broken driver’s window, so to keep the wind and rain out, they had taped a piece of plastic where the glass should have been. Needless to say, that yahoo was unable to see anything, including us when they decided to make a lane change.
Sunday was a great day and we took in a lot of the sights around Daytona Beach. I headed toward home on Monday as I didn’t want to try and make the trip home in one day. I stopped by Jacksonville, FL to see if I could catch an old Marine Corps buddy at home, but he was not there. The last time I saw him was in 1977. I’m gonna see him again one day before we die of old age. I ultimately spent the night at my sister’s house and as usual, we had a great time. I even spent an extra day so we could op-check her new fire pit. It worked great! Wednesday morning I headed for home and stopped by Wolf Creek Harley Davidson as I usually do. They had a beautiful 2010 Ultra Classic that really caught my eye. There were 25% off signs everywhere as Wolf Creek was closing down and consolidating with Greensboro HD, in Greensboro, NC. I bought a new smoked visor as mine was scratched and worn out after 60K+ miles and six years of use. A salesman asked me if I needed anything else and I asked him if the geezer glide was 25% off. He said it wasn’t. but he would make me a good deal on it. I inquired as to what a good deal consisted of. As I was not in the market for a new bike I was less than enthusiastic. He told me to take it for a spin and I told him that was an old trick and I wasn’t falling for it. Well, to make a short story long, I did take it for a spin and it was a quantum leap improvement from the ’07 which I had absolutely no complaints with. I wasn’t gone long and by the time I returned he had put all the numbers together. They were OK, but it didn’t appear to be a great deal. He asked me what it would take for me to get the bike. Mine was loaded down with a pack on the passenger seat and the tour pak rack had my ground pad, tarp and sleeping bag attached. I told him I had to get home and take all the gear off and look at the numbers again before I made a decision. The next day the numbers looked fair, but not exceptional. I received a phone call from the salesman and he asked what it would take to make the deal happen. I gave him my bottom line and he said the boss wouldn’t go for it. I wasn’t overly concerned as I wasn’t looking for another bike anyway, but told him to at least tell the boss what I had offered and see what he said. An hour later the phone rang with a counter offer which was so close it wasn’t worth quibbling about. I told him I’d be there Friday and pick it up. The rest is history.
I took her for the maiden voyage to the Blue Ridge Parkway on Monday. She ran perfectly for the 234 miles we went. As of today, Tuesday, Oct. 19, I have exactly 700 miles on her. Hopefully, by the weekend I’ll have 1K on her and change out all the fluids. I already put grease in the steering neck. She runs great and feels as though it’s on rails going around sweeping turns. If she serves me as well as the ’07, I’ll be ecstatic and thus far it looks like it will. I bought a service manual today, so I’m now looking forward to going on another across country adventure and putting her through the paces. Nothing like stimulating the economy with new toys!
Daytona Beach.
My sister's new fire pit.
Wolf Creek HD, Reidsville, NC. My geezer is behind the black and silver one.
Here she is at my ranch.
Her maiden voyage to the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Sunday was a great day and we took in a lot of the sights around Daytona Beach. I headed toward home on Monday as I didn’t want to try and make the trip home in one day. I stopped by Jacksonville, FL to see if I could catch an old Marine Corps buddy at home, but he was not there. The last time I saw him was in 1977. I’m gonna see him again one day before we die of old age. I ultimately spent the night at my sister’s house and as usual, we had a great time. I even spent an extra day so we could op-check her new fire pit. It worked great! Wednesday morning I headed for home and stopped by Wolf Creek Harley Davidson as I usually do. They had a beautiful 2010 Ultra Classic that really caught my eye. There were 25% off signs everywhere as Wolf Creek was closing down and consolidating with Greensboro HD, in Greensboro, NC. I bought a new smoked visor as mine was scratched and worn out after 60K+ miles and six years of use. A salesman asked me if I needed anything else and I asked him if the geezer glide was 25% off. He said it wasn’t. but he would make me a good deal on it. I inquired as to what a good deal consisted of. As I was not in the market for a new bike I was less than enthusiastic. He told me to take it for a spin and I told him that was an old trick and I wasn’t falling for it. Well, to make a short story long, I did take it for a spin and it was a quantum leap improvement from the ’07 which I had absolutely no complaints with. I wasn’t gone long and by the time I returned he had put all the numbers together. They were OK, but it didn’t appear to be a great deal. He asked me what it would take for me to get the bike. Mine was loaded down with a pack on the passenger seat and the tour pak rack had my ground pad, tarp and sleeping bag attached. I told him I had to get home and take all the gear off and look at the numbers again before I made a decision. The next day the numbers looked fair, but not exceptional. I received a phone call from the salesman and he asked what it would take to make the deal happen. I gave him my bottom line and he said the boss wouldn’t go for it. I wasn’t overly concerned as I wasn’t looking for another bike anyway, but told him to at least tell the boss what I had offered and see what he said. An hour later the phone rang with a counter offer which was so close it wasn’t worth quibbling about. I told him I’d be there Friday and pick it up. The rest is history.
I took her for the maiden voyage to the Blue Ridge Parkway on Monday. She ran perfectly for the 234 miles we went. As of today, Tuesday, Oct. 19, I have exactly 700 miles on her. Hopefully, by the weekend I’ll have 1K on her and change out all the fluids. I already put grease in the steering neck. She runs great and feels as though it’s on rails going around sweeping turns. If she serves me as well as the ’07, I’ll be ecstatic and thus far it looks like it will. I bought a service manual today, so I’m now looking forward to going on another across country adventure and putting her through the paces. Nothing like stimulating the economy with new toys!
Daytona Beach.
My sister's new fire pit.
Wolf Creek HD, Reidsville, NC. My geezer is behind the black and silver one.
Here she is at my ranch.
Her maiden voyage to the Blue Ridge Parkway.
