Oh, Day 4 is/was a doozie!
So, we had beakfast at our hotel, and it was still raining, so, we donned the rain gear and headed out. Not the coldest or hardest rain I have ever ridden in, but still, leaving in rain sucks. Haha...The temp maxed out around 52, but hovered around 43/44 most of the morning, so the ride was cold and wet. I had my rain gear on, and my warm gloves, along with the grip heaters, and I was fine.
We were forced onto a motorcycle detour onto 11. We made the right turn from the off ramp, and immediately, some clown in a yellow Mustang pulled out from a parking area on our right, crossed our lane, making a left and going the opposite direction of us. The problem with that was he pulled out in front of the lead rider. I'm amazed Todd missed him. If we had been going 10 mph faster, they would have crashed.
We made our only gas stop 120 miles into it. On the 64 exit off of 81, there is a Shell Station that is like this little country store. The awning over the pumps actually went over the parking lot to the front of the store. AWESOME, dry and out of the rain! They had good coffee, and what looked like really good snacks, like hand-wrapped fried blueberry pies. I should have bought one, but I had just eaten.
Of course, the MC gear sparked up some conversation with the older locals that were hanging around at the tables inside. I have to say, I love old people. They are cool as shit. They're smart and say what they think. So, anyway, I got asked where we came from and where we're headed. I got a couple gasps of disbelief when I said we rode from Albuquerque, but the real fun started when I said we were riding to DC. This older gentleman immediately warned, "Don't take that freeway if you want to live." Ok, I'm not a panicker, but this guy was dead serious, and this was the second time I'd heard this in 3 days. The Harley guys in Fort Smith said the same thing, and no offense, but I don't really care what Harley guys think about riding conditions. Haha, is that mean? I mean, I heard them, I just didn't give what they said much credence, until that man repeated it. He suggested 302 or something, and warned more than once to be super careful of the truck traffic if we decided to stay on 81. Turns out, he was both right and wrong.
I walked out and told the guys what I was told, and they, with their 1600 miles of experience, brushed me off. They didnt want to get lost or held up, and I partially agreed, so I hold some blame also. We got back on the freeway, and it turned out the trucks on the freeway were fine. It was the standard cage drivers that were murderous pricks. I think they were all related to the yellow Mustang guy!
1st, a guy in a Durango moved left, nearly hiting the lead rider. Todd swerved and the guy saw him, and swerved back to his lane. Paul was second, and made it worse when he motioned to the guy to pay attention. Well, Durango driver got mad and then had a short period of pacing the two lead bikes, while cussing and yelling from behind a closed window. Then, he swerved to the right and got off. Yay him!
A short few miles later, we were cooking along in the left lane and the three lead riders passed a Black Ford Focus. As I was at his driver door, he just changed lanes. I saw him coming, so I was good, but I laid on the horn. He never even responded, he just took the lane. I have a LOUD horn. I moved around his rear to his right and passed him. He got a good sight of my middle finger as I pulled in front. He didn't care, he just continued to putt along 10MPH slower than we were, in the left lane, for no reason. There wasn't anyone around to pass.
Finally, same scenario, the first 3 bikes in the left lane make a pass, and here comes a white SUV from the midle lane. That guy heard my horn and nearly shit himself. He didn't get a finger, just a raised hand, like, "WTF? Pay attention." Funny thing about him was, he was looking at his passenger when he started the lane change. I was watching him. Never even looked. Then, he kept his spot and continued on behind us. Again no reason to changer lanes. Werid.
So, Paul and I made it to his mother-in-law's and she is super cool. Has a really nice house. We unpacked some stuff and decided to get his bike over to Patriot Harley Davidson, where it was originally bought by his late dad. So, I followed him to Patriot HD.
It took me a second to park and find the right door, so when I went in, Paul was already talking to the service guy behind the counter. Right off the bat, I knew something wasn't right, because that guy was being an ASSHOLE. He was going off about how he had a bunch of police bikes to fix, how he was backed up for two weeks, and how he did not have a tech available to listen to Paul's bike. He explained how he didn't care that we are 1800 miles from home and Paul was no more special than his worst customer, best customer, or best friend. Paul was keeping calm and said, "I just need someone to look at it, to tell me if I can get home. We're leaving Monday." Smart-ass service guy says, "Well maybe you're not." That was it for me. I KNOW how I am and know I'm an asshole, and know I am capable of saying mean things. I didn't want to get blamed for us getting kicked out of the dealership, so I just walked outside and started checking email and this thread.
Then I heard Paul say, "I'm fucking sick of your shit!!" He more yelled it than said it. So, I ran in to see the asshole and 2 service guys gathering around Paul. Now, what you don't know is Paul is 6'3" and built like a bull with big meat-hook hands. I'd fight him if I had to, but I wouldn't like it. Since it looked like it was going to get physical, I did the mature thing and picked which guy I was going to hit first. I knew they weren't expecting me, and I was gonna break some shit. Well, lucky for mine and Paul's jobs, and those guy's physical well-being, some nice woman came out of nowhere and asked if she could help. She took Paul to the showroom and had him explain what was going on. She went outside, listened to the bike for 3 seconds and immediately had a tech come out and get it.
Initially, that guy said the noise was "normal," which was BS. Then he took the bike into the shop, and then took it on a ride. He rode it right back into the shop and put it on a lift. Last we heard, they were checking tolerances and spacing. Sounds like the part the first dealer replaced may have required the replacement of another part, so they'll call Paul when they have more. That lady guaranteed Paul it would be ready before our departure time on Monday.
We ran into a guy that is the Rep for all the HD police bikes in this area, who retired from a highway patrol in a state I don't remember. Hooked us up with a mug, and we yapped for a while.
HD just called and said the bike is fine, the parts just weren't torqued correctly. I call BS, but if it gets him home, I don't care.
So, we're in Herndon VA. May go ride some tomorrow. On Sunday, I'm supposed to meet FYB, for a good day of FJR riding. Sweet!!
Still no phone pictures. You know why? Because I suck, and it was cold and wet. Sorry!!
