It's been rainy and cold here. The reprieve came on Saturday. The rains let up early Friday, the clouds cleared out a little, the sun came through and the high pressure helped it all. Saturday was looking to be a perfect day to get out on the bikes and stretch the legs. The high was supposed to be 74 and all sunny all day.

Alex traded in his Sportster on a V-Rod and hasn't had the chance to really take it out. So this was a mercy ride... Yeah. Right.

Even though the day was going to be warm doesn't mean it started out that way. We awoke to temperatures of 44 degrees at 8 AM. This was going to be a cold start today. We were planning to meet Alex at 10 and were hoping to take a little ride on our own before then. We suited up, readied the house and dogs, started the bikes and promptly discovered another pre-ride problem: the rear exhaust pipe on the Sportster was detached.

It brought back memories of my mother and Henry building the house in Arizona. There was a time when we came to expect a vehicle would break down just prior to a trip to Arizona. I would have to ask my mother for a list as I don't remember them all. I just remember a break down could be expected. Oddly, my car was the only one that could regularly be relied upon. Once we even had to abandon plans to take the van and transfer everything to my car at the last minute. And mind you, I drove a 1963 Dodge. It was a wonderful car.

So far we have pulled the bikes out of the garage and had to perform 3 surgeries, last-minute, on C's bike: 2 battery jumps and 1 exhaust repair. My bike has always started and run flawlessly.

This time C discovered that his rear exhaust pipe was loose. Last month C took his bike in for warranty work on his exhaust pipes. The manifold between the pipes was broken. What is so annoying is that the mechanic that fixed the bike never re-attached the rear exhaust pipe. So C has been driving the last couple hundred miles with a problem.

C quickly fixed the exhaust problem and we were on our way. But we had to go directly to Alex's.

We planned a short route to keep Alex on the prescribed "break in" on his engine. And for a change we planned the route for the west side. Ok. We cheated a little and had it go a little north, but not far into the mountains. Actually just barely nicked them and headed south again.

Thought up this route a couple weeks ago when I was hoping that Kim could also go. If you remember, Kim and I took our first motorcycle class together and rode together when we could last year. Unfortunately she hasn't been riding since Thanksgiving and she needs a break in ride too. So I wanted to keep this on their side of town and easy. Looking at the map I had my inspiration seeing the town name Funkhouser. Seemed interesting...

Unfortunately there really isn't a Funkhouser. We rode right through and there wasn't anything there but an intersection and a house. Didn't even get a town sign to document the area. So we stopped a couple miles down the road in Fairmount, got some gas and told some tall tales. We hadn't seen many bikes on the road, but we sure saw lots of them pass by as the weather warmed up.

We all had evening engagements so headed back towards Alex's. After dropping him off we headed towards the lake for the rare ride of just us two. Our first glimpse of the lake revealed that the storms we have been having definitely helped Lanier. The lake has recovered about 8 feet, but still has 10 or so feet to go.

We stopped at an old boat launch, snapped some promo shots (mostly of my bike since I was doing the snapping) and soaked up some sun.

C and I enjoy talking with people about the bikes. We especially enjoy determining which camp they belong in. We've discovered that people wanting to talk with us are either Harley lovers or BMW lovers. Once they reveal their preference we internally laugh at the blind eye turned to the other bike.

Once again, laying in the sun at the boat dock, someone walked up and asked how I like my R bike. My general snicker and fool's grin always tells the truth. He is a K man from long ago. Owned 4 and would love to have any one of them back. Used to sell beemers at the dealership that I work with. Never once laid eyes on the Harley, nor acknowledged it was there. We've had the similar encounters of the reverse, but we always have fun. This time Beemers 1, HD 0.

And as far as those pre-ride break downs, I know I am not above having problems. I take care of my bike and keep on top of issues. Little things happen to everyone and I am certainly not above them. Something stupid can happen to my bike just like C's. And as for that car...when it did fail right before a trip to Arizona? It was an absolute doozy. I just hope the beemer doesn't have a similar breakdown.