Road Trip

Okay, Road Trip is relative. It was about 400 miles round trip, and I know some people who do that in 1/2 a day before lunch, then continue on. So let me qualify this. A friend and I took off for a 4hr trip into another state and stayed there 3 days before riding back. So... road trip. Longest ride for me so far on the Road King.

The purpose of this adventure was to attend the NE Motorcycle Skills Training and Challenge Event being hosted by Ride Like A Pro Palm Beach and being held at Wilkins Harley Davidson in Barre, VT. They have a really great dealership, tons of stock and everyone there is very friendly and helpful.

My friend Scott has been training with Mike this year to work on slow speed riding skills utilizing patterns of cones. Mike was planning to attend this event and compete in the expert class and suggested my buddy go and register in novice class for the experience of it. I was along for the trip. You've likely seen this type of thing before, sometimes with police motor officers participating in a competition, demonstration or rodeo. YouTube is loaded with tons of competition videos and many people offering training and advice on slow speed motorcycle handling.

I would say that after several decades riding sport-bikes, I was fairly confident with them in most riding situations, but at this time I have very little low-speed riding skills with my big, heavy FLHR. I am committed to changing that. Like with any performance activity, it is one thing to see videos or TV shows of skilled people performing, and it is entirely different to be there live, in this case for days, watching, hearing and smelling it. Seeing people take a 900lb bike and toss it down, then flip it back up, grinding floorboards as they navigate hundreds of cones in tight, complex patterns is amazing. And allow me to point out that almost every single one of them was using a police-style solo seat and sitting right up against the tank. This gives a posture that is surprisingly close to that of my Ninja 1000 and provides maximum control of the motorcycle.

My friend's ability to remember the entire course layout and eventually navigate it completely without touching a cone or putting a foot down was impressive at his stage. I do not believe that right now I could complete any single section of it, and there are dozens. Then seeing the top-level competitors go through the course at several times the speed was incredible. Made me quite self-conscience just navigating in and out of the dealership parking lot...

Vermont has some really great roads and the ride was a good one. Only problem was that the weather was not cooperating on our departure day. Phone app said no issues, clear skies... That changed during our lunch break when it rained for 10 minutes. As we left for home a couple of hours later, we ended up riding in rain on and off for stretches, the entire duration of the return trip.

No mishaps, and even with the inconvenience of the rain, it was a great few days. I am waiting on some more equipment and putting on a few more miles, but plan to aggressively practice these types of manuvers next year. I have no illusions of ever competing but truly see the value in being able to control my motorcycle to the full extent of my abilities.