Breakdown and phone call

 

My daughter is home from college, and still has the motorcycle “bug”. She has begun venturing out on her own after doing her first couple hundred miles following me around the local countryside.

 

Yesterday at about 4 pm I got a call from her. She's fine, there was no accident - but the bike abruptly lost power while she was riding. She pulled it over to the side of the road next to a farm field. 

 

I grabbed my tool box and drove over to meet her. No power. No headlight. No crank. 

 

No obvious loose connections that I could see, we ended up trailering it home to my garage. 

 

I woke up this morning thinking about digging into that bike. I asked her if she was ready to get started, and she said, "But I have a big paper to write." (She's taking classes in the summer too, hell bent on graduating early I guess.)

 

Now - you may recall the terms of this arrangement between me and my daughter when she bought her bike: I won't buy it for you, and I won't fix it for you. But I will help you pick it out, and if it's broken, I will help you fix it. 

 

I really didn't want to ever find myself in the situation where I was lathered in sweat and grease in the garage while she sat in air-conditioned comfort painting her nails, asking, "Daddy, is my bike fixed yet?!" 

 

So, the bike sits inoperable in the garage this Saturday, waiting on such a time that she and I can work on it together.

 

Yamaha Demo Days: Review of the Super Tenere and the R3

 

I test drove a Yamaha Super Tenere and my daughter drove a YZF-R3 at todays Yamaha Demo Days. She did great after being a bit nervous riding a brand new shiny bike.

 

I don’t think I’ve attended a demo day before - not where there’s a factory-supplied truck and team hosting the event and taking you on a sedate, ten mile loop.

I walked up to the tent to ask the dude if they still had slots open for rides. 

 

He said “what do you wanna ride?” 

 

 And I said “whaddaya got?” 

 

He made a face like this:

Which I interpreted as “I hate you, and also, I think I hate my job”

 

I settled on the Tenere having heard so many friends endorse it. 

 

My review: It was okay. Perfectly capable. Steady. Comfortable.  Not exciting.

 

My daughters review of the R3 - handles really well, turns really well. The suspension is great ( — compared to her ‘95 Intruder) and the throttle was really smooth. 

 

“It was easy to restart after I killed it - twice. Then I got the hang of it and it was really nice.”