This morning the local HOG Chapter had a members only ride organised. A short ride from Beresfield was planned, taking morning tea at Warners Bay and then heading out to the freeway and back to Caves Beach via Warnervale, Toukley and the swansea bends.
This was to be the "unveiling" of my new Road King to the HOG's and I was very pleased that it was given some attention. Plenty of questions were asked and some ideas from experienced members provided about care and future directions for it. It was clearer than ever the level of the group's passion for the Harley Davidson machine, not just the so called image.
About 12 members left Beresfield and after a little cul-de-sac practice we were on our way. It was a cloudless, sunny day, so despite it being mid winter it was pleasantly warm. Morning tea was not rushed and I got the opportunity to chat with members that I'd not previously had the opportunity to meet properly in larger rides. Two of the members were undergoing training for Road Captaincy so the director provided lots of tips to them about how to keep the group together, safe and within the speed limit. It was interesting to hear first hand how the actions at the front spread and magnify through the group and on review that chat made be understand better the chaos that was my last ride through Thunderbolts Way a couple of weeks ago.
We then struck out through Speers Point, Toronto, Awaba, onto the F3 and the opportunity to sit back, use the highway pegs and the rumble of my new Tourer. The Warnervale Interchange came all too soon and we found ourselves winding through traffic for quite some time. Interestingly this was the extended period I've spent in traffic with lots of stops, starts and roundabouts. Exacerbated by being in the group it took me a while to adjust to the differences in the new bike, the faster grabbing clutch, touchier brakes, more torque down low and a different feel during slow manoevering. This too wasn't helped by my son's dozing off behind me. A few times I was helmet-butted and at one stage his helmet found a resting place between my shoulder blades and I'm sure if not for the rumbling of the surrounding Harley's I'd have heard him snoring. Nice to know he finds the Ultra Seat comfy, and today he also had the King Tour Pack to lean back on.
We then emerged onto the dual carriageway and through the Swansea bends, a quick right and off the the Caves Beach Hotel. We all found a table outside in the Winter sun and sat and chatted for quite some time. We were joined for lunch by my wife and daughters and after quite some time we reluctantly left to get on with our planned afternoon activities.
Today was a good day. 171k's travelled.
