An Interesting Week

Prologue: I’ve been thinking on and off for a long while about a little commuter vehicle, specifically a scooter. A couple weeks back I began thinking about it again, reading reviews, looking at bikes, and reading the forums at BurgmanUSA.com. I’d pretty much settled on a Suzuki Burgman 650 after reading all the various reviews and discussion. There were two used 650’s available locally. A 2004 model at Sloan’s and a 2003 model at Yamaha Suzuki of Cool Springs. I got a pretty good quote for the 2003 model and the 2004 model was sold before I had a chance to begin negotiating. So after less thought than I probably should’ve given the matter, I accepted the offer on the 2003 Burgman 650… trouble is I didn’t know how to ride a motorcycle

Thursday: My cousin offered to help me pick up the Burgman in his pickup truck so I made arrangements to inspect the bike and take delivery assuming everything looked good. Everything looked great with the possible exception of the rear tire but I was planning on replacing those with Pirelli’s anyway. I couldn’t wait to get it home. After unloading it at the house, I tried to pull it into my driveway. I managed, but decided I better quell my enthusiasm until after the Motorcycle Safety Classes I’d signed up for for the weekend.

Friday: Class started at 6:00PM. All classroom work, no riding until tomorrow There were 9 people in my class, 7 guys and 2 women. Most of us had little to no experience riding. Our instructor Vicki Wilson led the class and informed us that Rick Fredette would be joining us for the riding portion of the class tomorrow.

After class I found out that Aaron had driven in the winning run on the final play of his T-Ball game! The coach awarded him the game ball. I wish I could’ve seen it.

Saturday: I’m going to miss another of Aaron’s T-Ball games, but we’ll begin learning to ride motorcycles today! The class is a nice slow progression from the basics through more advanced skills. They do a great job of bringing people along at a nice pace so your not intimidated, but also not bored. We met our other instructor Rick today. Both Vicki and Rick are a lot of fun to be around. Great instructors. Before we can finish up all the exercises scheduled for the day, thunderstorms appear and we head to the classroom to discuss a few more things and then take the written portion of the test. I got a 100%

When I got home I couldn’t resist the urge to take the scooter (which Aaron calls a spaceship) around the block a few times. I really like this bike! Aaron’s team lost their game today though. The other team was using some questionable tactics though.

Sunday: Final day at Motorcycle School. I feel like I regressed a bit. I popped the clutch several times today stalling my Nighthawk. That’s something that didn’t happen on the first day. Other than that things go pretty well. I passed the riding portion of the test with 7 points off. Your allowed 20 points off before you flunk. Certificate in hand I’m ready to get my motorcycle endorsement added to my license tomorrow! However, Vicki informed us that the information needed may not be in the computer until later that week. Another student says that a couple of his buddies went to get their endorsements the next day and had no trouble, so I plan on taking a long lunch tomorrow and getting mine.

Another couple trips around the block on the Burgman Also, I poked around the bike checking various things, one of which was the air filter. It has what appear to be wood chips all over it. I cleaned it off as much as I could and made a mental note to have a chat with the dealer about this.

Monday: My long lunch was a lot longer than I expected. I spent 4 hours at the Tennessee Department of Safety! But now I have a license. Next I have to get insurance taken care of. I had planned on doing this all online with Progressive, but for some reason it won’t accept my VIN. Crap. Well, the ball field isn’t that far from home, I’m riding The Spaceship to Aaron’s T-Ball game when I get home. I finally get my scooter going faster than 35 MPH and it handled great as fast as I went, which was about 60. The Marlins destroy the other team in T-Ball, but Aaron didn’t play as well as he’s capable.

Tuesday: Susie calls our insurance company for me while I’m getting ready for work and they direct her to Progressive. By the time I’m ready to go to work the insurance is in place. I’m taking The Spaceship to work! I decided I’d drive on the back roads for awhile until I’m more comfortable while it before venturing on to the Interstate. The trip in to work ends up taking almost an hour! And while it was a fun hour, I can’t spend that amount of time going to work when it usually takes me 20-30 minutes. Also, I have to be home to go to a kindergarten meeting with Susie at 6:00PM. I have to take the Interstate home. The buffeting is kind of distracting, but not horrible. I can do this Top speed so far: 86 MPH indicated. The speedometers on the Burgman have a reputation for reading about 10% too high, so I’m probably only doing 78. Oh, I had to get some gas today. Cost $6 to fill up the tank.

Wednesday: This time I take the interstate in the morning. The buffeting wasn’t nearly so noticeable. Maybe because I’m not wearing my jacket. Also took the interstate home. I managed 90 MPH (81 accounting for the speedometer error) at one point. That’s about as fast as I’ll need to go, but there’s plenty of power available if I want more. The bike runs about 5500 RPMs on the interstate and redlines at 8500. Top speed is supposed to be around 105-110. I gave Sue, Alex, and Aaron rides when I got home. I never went faster than around 20 MPH with Sue and maybe 10 MPH Aaron. I took Alexandria for a ride around the block and she had a blast. Aaron loved it too, but he’s too little to go far. Susie was terrified

Thursday: It’s supposed to storm today. So I’m keeping The Spaceship at home. I finally called the dealer about my air filter situation. The service department was as good as advertised. They’re going to take care of me.

At the last I minute (pretty much my modus operandi) I decided to go with my neighbors and my son to see the new Star Wars tonight. It’s pretty good. I need to learn to stop thinking so much while watching movies though. Aaron made it through the whole movie, but complained that it was too long so it gave him a headache.

Well that’s the news on my latest mid-life crises. I can now operate cars, trucks, boats, ATVs, JetSki’s, airplanes, snowmobiles, motorcycles, oh and forklifts… I wonder how you go about getting blimp training?