Saturday, January 16, 2010

A Midwinter's Ride

Since I had no appointments to look at motorcycles today, and it was a relatively warm (for January) and sunny day, I called my friend Duke and accepted his offer to take our motorcycles for a ride. I told Duke, who is in my CMA chapter, Romans 8 Riders, that I would meet him in the Park n' Ride commuter lot near the North Kingstown Home Depot. On the ride up, I saw another motorcyclist in my neighborhood taking advantage of 45-degree weather. After I met up with Duke, we went in the Depot, where I got three pairs of HotHands hand warmers.

Although there was still some snow on the ground, the roads weren't too bad, with standing water from melting snow in only a few spots, and manageable amounts of sand. We went south on Route 102 and caught Route 1-A near Wickford, where we passed another motorcycle coming the opposite way. Then we got on Route 138 east and crossed the Jamestown Bridge, with our final destination being Fort Wetherill State Park in Jamestown, R.I. We walked along some cliffs and looked out at the ocean, marveling at the natural beauty of God's creation. We agreed we were blessed to be able to ride while there is still snow on the ground.

Duke's motorcycle, which you can see in the background of the above photo (courtesy of Duke's cell phone camera), is a Yamaha Royal Star, which has a V-4 engine with a distinct exhaust note. It has clean, flowing lines with the gas tank, rear fender and hard saddlebags, especially when viewed from the back, and is a very comfortable bike. I sat on it and the riding position of the floorboards actually felt more comfortable than the Harley Fatboys and Heritage Softails I've sat on. Plus it has a really cool digital speedometer that is reminiscent of a 1960s Chevy Impala (long and horizontal). As much as his bike's got going for it, Duke conceded there is at least one advantage Harleys have over his bike: there are many more handlebar options for Harleys, he said.

1 comment:

  1. 45 is great riding weather if you're properly dressed. Got up to 34 here today, but with all the snow and ice on the roads there's no way I was venturing out. Just be careful with the sand. It'll put you on your ass before you know what happened.

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