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Side-by-side ride
Yesterday, the three week wait was over. The Suzuki shop called my girlfriend and told her that her 86' Intruder was finally ready. After sitting in the garage for three years, it wasn't a happy bike. The carbs needed to be gone through and it had minor electrical issue. She opted to put new Dunlops front and rear, while she was at it.
We picked it up and got it home. We already decided, got to go on an 'see if it's all working' ride and I got on the still-warm 1100E. 5:30 PM and we still got plenty of sunlight left to roll it. The temps up here in the High Desert of California were pleasant and we headed out to the barren north-western end of the valley, where the commuter traffic South from LA is non-existent.
Deb enjoyed romping on the Intruder away from the stop signs. The long empty roads provided plenty of room for that and it was amusing to hear how good the 700 twin sounded, when getting romped on. Naturally, I had to respond and I rolled it on, catching up and we rode side-by-side towards the rocky hills on a perfectly straight and lonely piece of highway.
This was our first ride ever and I'll bet that she was savoring it, as much as I was. The sun was getting close to dropping down behind the dark hills far to our left and we turned east to head back towards the freeway and ultimately home. As we headed towards Edwards AFB, the landscape of the desert transformed into a dark orange vista and soon a harvest moon started to rise from behind the barren mountains in front of us.
We were on the main two-lane highway and as we approached an intersection, I saw a pickup coming fast on the left to intersect our path. He had the stop, but was still a quarter mile away. I calculated the distance and I rolled on the throttle with some emphasis. Deb figured it out and did the same thing, as we beat the truck easily, before he ever had a chance of even doing anything remotely stupid. He could've run the stop sign for all we cared, as we already cleared it by a long shot.
The sun had set as we hit the southbound freeway for awhile, then exited for the ride to our neighborhood. At the house, we rolled the bikes into their spot in the garage side-by-side as they should be. The smell of hot metal and motorcyle exhaust filled the air with that loving odor. It's not far from the smell sensation you might get when you've seen and experienced a full room Lionel train layout. We took off the helmets, gave each other a hug and then went to go pick up a pre-ordered Sushi platter and some tasty Sierra Nevada Anniversary brews. The Intruder has been brought back from the dead and now it sits by my GS1100E, looking like a happy playmate and not a dusty crud collector. Long live good times.
We picked it up and got it home. We already decided, got to go on an 'see if it's all working' ride and I got on the still-warm 1100E. 5:30 PM and we still got plenty of sunlight left to roll it. The temps up here in the High Desert of California were pleasant and we headed out to the barren north-western end of the valley, where the commuter traffic South from LA is non-existent.
Deb enjoyed romping on the Intruder away from the stop signs. The long empty roads provided plenty of room for that and it was amusing to hear how good the 700 twin sounded, when getting romped on. Naturally, I had to respond and I rolled it on, catching up and we rode side-by-side towards the rocky hills on a perfectly straight and lonely piece of highway.
This was our first ride ever and I'll bet that she was savoring it, as much as I was. The sun was getting close to dropping down behind the dark hills far to our left and we turned east to head back towards the freeway and ultimately home. As we headed towards Edwards AFB, the landscape of the desert transformed into a dark orange vista and soon a harvest moon started to rise from behind the barren mountains in front of us.
We were on the main two-lane highway and as we approached an intersection, I saw a pickup coming fast on the left to intersect our path. He had the stop, but was still a quarter mile away. I calculated the distance and I rolled on the throttle with some emphasis. Deb figured it out and did the same thing, as we beat the truck easily, before he ever had a chance of even doing anything remotely stupid. He could've run the stop sign for all we cared, as we already cleared it by a long shot.
The sun had set as we hit the southbound freeway for awhile, then exited for the ride to our neighborhood. At the house, we rolled the bikes into their spot in the garage side-by-side as they should be. The smell of hot metal and motorcyle exhaust filled the air with that loving odor. It's not far from the smell sensation you might get when you've seen and experienced a full room Lionel train layout. We took off the helmets, gave each other a hug and then went to go pick up a pre-ordered Sushi platter and some tasty Sierra Nevada Anniversary brews. The Intruder has been brought back from the dead and now it sits by my GS1100E, looking like a happy playmate and not a dusty crud collector. Long live good times.
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