East Coast Journey Off To Good & Suprisingly Lucky Start

I reunited with Doc, my F650GS Dakar motorcycle, last week in Virginia and was able to spend valuable time with my brother and his family before heading north to my first east coast BMW dealer presentation in upstate New York. Of course, before heading out I had to give my sister-in-law, Maria, and my niece Emily rides on the bike around the cul-de-sac. Slightly younger and perhaps more cautious, my other niece Anna preferred to just sit on the bike with her friend Maddie.

Of course, brother Jon and I were able to dig into his cellar a bit and try some stellar wine and take in Roger Waters’ performance of the Wall at the Verizon Center in Washington, DC. The show was technologically amazing, the performance captivating and the nearly 70 year old Waters belted out the songs like there was no gap between the 80’s and today.

Emily kept asking me to go faster, faster… no wonder she likes those rollercoasters!

Roger Waters ‘The Wall’ – dynamic and elaborate stage production. Worth seeing if he’s playing near you.

My first stop on my journey north was my Dad’s place near where I grew up in southwestern Connecticut. With my preference to avoid interstates and highways, I cruised north through central New Jersey passing through many small towns. Along the way I stopped to check the map and survey the dark clouds which threatened rain. As I pulled to the side of the road I rode over some object about the size of a large rock. Funny, because the road was clear before I made the turn into a driveway. When I walked back to the road I saw a glimmering object that at first looked like an aluminum can, but as I got closer I realized it was the knob from the hydraulic pre-load adjustment on my Works Performance shock. Strange. I took pics of the parts in question and sent them off to my friends at works who quickly diagnosed the problem and promised to overnight a few replacement parts including detent balls, a set pin and acorn nut, to my Dad’s.

Somehow the acorn nut vibrated loose and the adjustment knob for the hydraulic pre-load fell out.
Just glad I was able to find it roadside. Quick response from Works and I’m on the road again!

Heading into NYC at sunset, I had hoped to arrive in Connecticut earlier.

While the rain never amounted to much more than a steady drizzle and mist, riding through the small towns slowed me down so by the time I made it to Newark I decided I’d have to speed up and make time so I would make dinner at my Dad’s. Once over the George Washington Bridge and through the traffic on the Cross Bronx Expressway, it was a straight show to my Dad’s — sort of. Since I lived her many years ago, my dad moved to a new home that is accessed off a unmarked private road. Now dark, I was challenged to find the street. To complicate matters worse, I forgot to load the east coast maps into my Garmin GPS (276C) prior to heading east. So pulled over to use the GPS on my iPhone 4. After getting my bearings, I shoved the phone into the top of my tank bag, zipped it in and twisted the throttle and move onward. Then I felt something drop onto my thigh and then fall to the road.

Oh no. Not my iPhone!

Yes. My iPhone. I grabbed a handful of break and skidded a stop on the side of the road. Just 50 yards away sitting in the middle of the road under a street light sat my exposed iPhone. Three cars approached my shining black object. I walked toward the phone with a brisk step. The first car, obviously cognizant of me, spotted the phone and turned to avoid it. The second and third cars were clueless, but thankfully my phone narrowly escaped what would have been a horrible fate. Inspecting the iPhone, there was no sign of damage. Not scratch, dent, scuff or any sign of damage; and the phone powered on without a problem. Lucky.

Dad’s Siamese cat “Baby” wanted to make the trip north with me, but I had yet to make the ventillation adjustments to my Jesse bags — next time Baby!

Bidding farewell before heading into the storm to Albany, New York.

Perfect time of year for riding the Taconic, but the impending doom of rain was always a concern.

I had hoped to spend more time with my Dad but the forecast showed a nasty storm, strong winds and several inches of rain. Sadly, after a couple nights I had to bid farewell and head north. Instead of the backroads that wind through the Hudson Valley, I decided to take the Taconic State Parkway, a nice treelined divided road that winds its way to Albany from Westchester County, New York.

I met Ben and Steve at Max BMW in Troy about 9am Saturday morning and over the next hour the showroom filled up with about 60 people, some who’d traveled 200 miles to come see my presentation. Thank you! I learned that Max BMW has both the number one and number two dealerships in terms of sales in the country. It’s a pleasure to meet the friendly team and great bunch of customers.

My ‘prepared’ presentation usually lasts just about an hour, but it’s the Q&A that is most fun. For the next hour I answered questions, shared further stories and casually chatted with those interested. After my presentation I had Max’s service department work on a few nagging, but not critical, issues with my bike related to the neutral light and kickstand cut-off switch.

With all those problems fixed I headed east to Northampton, Massachusetts where I connected with an old friend and roommate from my college days at Syracuse. He’s a musician and sound engineer and actively works New England. It’d been some 20 years since we’d connected, though after the usual pleasantries it seems no time passed at all.

I’m trying to connect with as many friends and family members I can while riding through the brisk and blustery weather of New England while also catching up with those who followed this blog over the years.

Showroom at MAX BMW in Troy, NY

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New England backroads to Northampton, Mass through the Berkshires.

Dave Durst – New England’s hardest working percussion player.

Next stop: North Hampton, New Hampshire at the second Max BMW location. Hope to see some of you there!