Harley or Bust...?

Ocean City, Maryland -- wettest senior week ever. Thursday through Tuesday was incredibly stormy, practically hurricane conditions. There were garbage cans blowing down the street at 30+ mph!! BUT Wednesday was the most beautiful day of the week, about 70 degrees and sunny. I rented a Harley Davidson 1200N Nightster for 8 hours, and -- as you can imagine -- it was one of the most spectacular experiences of my life.

Not only was the riding great, but the whole experience was fantastic. The guy who ran the rentals was very nice, and when I got there to pick up the bike it was waiting outside for me, and he had all the paperwork together. Fitted me with a helmet, gave me a walkthrough of the bike's features, and set me on my way. Turns out that the bike was BRAND NEW .. 13 miles on it.

Picked the bike up, rode around for about an hour to get comfortable on it and then of course went to show off to my friends ^_^ Then I went down south to the barrier island just below Ocean City, Assateague State Park, where I cruised open highway and saw the famous wild ponies of the park. Then I just set out for about an hour and a half with no destination, and then fired up my portable Garmin GPS and made my way back to the dealership to return it.

There was a classic car show going on in the parking lot when I got back, and the rental guy actually set up cones to block off a parking spot for me right in the front of everyone -- it was a pretty cool feeling! All in all, I put 152 MILES on the bike and I couldn't be happier! Here's some pictures:

I think I look pretty cool!! =-D

Ocean City, Maryland

We're in Ocean City, MD for senior week. The weather so far hasn't been anything spectacular, but the sun should be coming out soon.

BUT...

Wednesday should be a nice day, so I went to the local Harley Davidson dealer and made a reservation to take a 1200 Nightster out for 8 hours. I am SO psyched! I'll let you know how it goes.

Back to school on Thursday; graduation on the 19th! Now, if I could just check my Structural Geology grades to make sure I passed.....

I Passed!

According to the state of New Jersey's Motor Vehicle Commission, I am qualified to operate a motorcycle. I passed the Basic Rider Course with [moderately] flying colors!

We took the course on Suzuki 125cc bikes which were small, but so much fun to learn on -- I was a bit nervous when we started, but now I feel pretty confident that I can handle a small to medium size bike, and at least get a large one moving.

As far as the Harley goes ... I unfortunately think that I need to start small -- maybe just for this season. I originally was considering a 600-750cc Honda, and I think that's what I'm going to go with. I'm sure I'll be riding a LOT this summer, so by next season I'll be able to handle something in the 1200 neighborhood.

Thanks to everyone who gave me the input on bikes and all .. but the Harley is going to have to wait a bit. However, I really do think I will get one in the near future.

Anyway, I just spent the afternoon at Mountaintop Campus with my neighbor Matt riding around on his 1981 Honda 400 Hawk. A fun sport-cruiser that he just got into [semi]running condition; a big improvement over the frame/engine/box of carburetor parts that it started as when he got it off craigslist! I was able to handle that bike perfectly fine .. actually I feel like I would have liked it to be a bit bigger and more powerful. I know that probably sounds cocky since I've been riding for exactly four days, but that's just what my impression was.

And!! I experienced my first [and hopefully last!!] back tire blow out in a corner! Apparently, 20 year old severely cupped tires don't work well in 10mph corners in an empty parking lot. I got to practice my quick stop in a turn technique that I learned in the class! Needless to say, the bike is parked up there until further notice. Luckily, we don't have to worry about tickets since the bike has Massachusetts plates that expired in 1996...

I spent the morning at the Firing Line breaking in my brand new Bersa Thunder 380. I couldn't wait for the Taurus PT-99 (that I'm picking up on Monday) so I went to Jim Flynn's to browse what he had in stock and ended up with the Bersa... I'm very happy with it. It's a compact sized handgun but actually has a fixed barrel, so it's surprisingly accurate. I've put 250 rounds through it so far, and I'm getting pretty good with it. I'm definitely looking forward to Monday when I pick up the PT-99 ... it's incredible how much cheaper 9mm ammunition is than 380 auto.. especially since it's basically the same thing except that 380 auto is 2mm shorter than 9mm.. (9x19 versus 9x17).

Well, I guess I've put off studying long enough -- tomorrow's exam in Environmental Groundwater Hydrology is the only thing standing between me and the end of college! Wish me luck!