The very best feeling, EVER!

My ride or die

The alarm filtered dimly through my sleep crusted eyes.  My brain screamed, "NO", and I felt myself drift away again.  9 minutes later, the alarm again drilled through my consciousness and I finally rolled up out of bed.

Unlike at the Suzuki Demo truck, I rode the HECK out of the Indians!

After doing the usual morning routine things, I dressed in yoga pants, jeans, and my favorite long sleeved Indian Motorcycle T.  I looked out the window at the gray, drizzly day and wondered if we were totally wasting our time by making the hour and a half drive down to Chattanooga.  I got the coffee going as I gathered up all the things necessary not to freeze riding motorcycles, and David and I loaded up the backseat of the car.

True story; I almost dropped this Springfield!

The rain continued as we stopped into a small town breakfast joint and consumed yummy omelettes.  My heart was already beginning to race as we got closer to our ultimate destination; Crockett Powersports and host of the Indian Motorcycle Demo truck.  It was almost one year ago that my very FIRST time EVER riding on the open road was the demo truck at Knoxville.  I had test driven a Scout in the parking lot of a church, trying out the skills I learned in my MSF course, but I had yet to put tires to asphalt in traffic.  It turned out to be one of the best things I ever did, making 5 passes through the track and gaining confidence each time as I rode the Scout 60, the Scout, then back to the 60 for 3 more rides.  2 weeks after that, I got my Scout 60 and have never looked back!  Here's a link to that blog from a year ago ;)  Last year's demo truck!

Just sitting on this bike gives me heart palpitations

Today, I had a new goal.  That goal was to take out a Thunderstroke 111 bike; one of the Big Boys.  I planned to start with the new Scout Bobber to "warm up", then take the Chief Darkhorse.  The Chief DH has no saddlebags or windsield, and is regarded as the next logical step up from a Scout.  Really, Indian has no "transition" bike.  The Chief, Springfield, Chieftan, and Roadmaster all run the 111 engine, and they all weigh in the neighborhood of 850 lbs vs the Scout's lean 550 lbs.  The engine is about twice the size of the Scout, at 111 cu inches vs 60 cu inches.  So Ms. Stuck in her own Head was already freaking out about reaching for something, and envisioning falling over in a corner, or dropping the bike at the first stop sign.  I've sat on and picked up every one of the big bikes (with the exception of the Roadmaster; I will never have one of those) on the showroom floor and to be honest, I can't IMAGINE actually driving one.  The long, stiff pull of the clutch ... the fact that I'm up on tip toes ... the fact that I've never ridden a motorcycle with floorboards ... all the electronic "stuff" and the fairing of the Chieftan ... yeah, I wasn't going down that road in reality, just in my head.

Ride #1; Scout Bobber

My pulse picked up as we turned into the driveway and my eyes took in the long line of beautiful Indian Motorcycles.  They make a magnificent sight, and get my blood pumping like nothing else.  We'd barely parked before I was jumping out of the car and making a beeline to the motorcycles.  I immediately picked out the gorgeous, glittery Chieftan Elite with the 116 Big Bore kit.  I was so excited, I grabbed David's arm and blabbered on about him riding the 116 AND the Elite, and how excited I am for him.  He just pulled me close to him and laughed at my enthusiasm.  No one was outside, which was no surprise because it was cold, windy, and dry at least!  I of course zeroed in on my beloved Scouts.  I threw my leg over one with the stock "runaround" seat, which I'd never seen in person.  It felt awesome!  If I failed to ride a Chief, I'd try that one.  There were 2 Bobbers; one with pegs and one with actual FLOORBOARDS!  I was excited, because I'm thinking about ordering floorboards for Khaleesi.  I chose that one as my first ride, and we went in to register.  I looked around for an Open Road Girls windsister that I knew was going to be there, and I think I found her right away.  She shares my name, Jennifer Leigh, so I felt a bond with her right off the bat!  She was hanging with the owners, and was there helping out.  She proclaimed she's too new to demo, and we talked for a few minutes.  Super nice woman, hopefully we can ride together some day.

SUCH a beautiful sight!

The ride was about to go out, so I ran to the car, added 3 layers on top, my helmet, and gloves, then claimed the Bobber with floorboards.  It was just a handful of us, David got to claim the Elite first time out.  We talked back and forth on the radios, and he was ecstatic already before he'd even shifted into 2nd gear.  He rode past me, and I awkwardly picked up my feet.  The boards dug into my shins, and I felt like I was folded in half, with my knees up to my boobs.  David was raving and glowing, while I was trying my darndest not to bi&$# and moan the entire time.  The ride was slower, on a back road with a not so good quality surface, but some good curves.  The hard seat dug into my rear, and the shifter/brake lever felt foreign as I fought the different position of the foot controls, and wanted so desperately to sit UP, but forward handlebars and short arms do not allow one to do that! Each time we stopped, it was a struggle to position my feet again because the boards wanted to catch on my boot and fold up.  The ride was short, less than 15 minutes, and all too soon we were lined back up in the parking lot.  David was sold, ready to get his 116 Chieftan in blue right then and there.  I climbed off the Bobber, said I'd never go THAT particular route again, then before I could overthink it sat on the Chief Darkhorse.  I picked it up fairly easily, and swallowed hard as my heart raced.  One of the demo truck guys walked over and asked if he could make a suggestion.  I said of course, and he recommended the Springfield Darkhorse.  He explained how the rake on the Chief and the SF are different (which of course I already knew; my concern was NOT the handling of the bike, it was the WEIGHT coupled with my inability to flat foot).  I agreed to try the SF first instead of the Chief, then went up to the head of the line and straddled the beast.  I felt the same wash of love and adrenaline flow over me as I picked her up; my mouth was totally dry as I struggled to swallow.  The bike FEELS amazing and comfortable, I was just CONSUMED with the "What IF???"  He started her up for me, then I asked David to come get the kickstand for me.  No matter how hard I tried to reach, I couldn't grab it; it was too far away.  David raised my kickstand, backed away, and I was well and truly on my own, on the Thunderstroke 111, riding an 850 lb bagger ... what the WHAT??  As I twisted the throttle, I was instantly struck with how smooth and easy the whole process was; the clutch pull felt PERFECT, almost better than Khaleesi, and the throttle sweet spot was so big, it would have been impossible to choke it.  We slowly pulled out, and before I could panic, I was moving.  H-O-L-Y C-R-A-P.  I was consumed with this feeling like I'd never felt; something like panicked euphoria.  As we pulled onto the road, I squeezed the clutch and upshifted ... or rather, ATTEMPTED to upshift.  I couldn't get the dang shift lever to move!  I don't have a giant foot, but it's not like a size 5 either.  I looked down at my readout to see what gear I was in, and there was a horizontal line.  Really?  I told David, I'm not even sure I was IN a gear!  But the bike was moving, and not in N, so I was in something.  As we pulled to a stop at a light, I fought the shifter down into 1st, and right then the check engine light came on.  OF COURSE.  It was at that moment, my 'survival' instinct clicked in, and all of a sudden I started riding.  I remembered reading on the Indian Motorcycle facebook page, that the 111's are such "torque monsters" that 1st should only be treated as a "granny gear", and to kick it up into 2nd pretty much as soon as the wheels start turning.  As we began pulling away once the light changed, I again upshifted and this time no issues.  The light stayed on, but everything was working smoothly.  David laughed at me the whole time as I whooped and hollered the entire ride.

And then THIS happened!!  Springfield Darkhorse

I had absolutely ZERO issues from there on out.  I had a BLAST throwing that SF through the curves; she felt like a beefier/cushier Scout.  Each time we stopped, I was hyper vigilant to put BOTH feet down, but I had no issues to speak of.  The rest, as they say, is history!  We stopped back in line, and the demo guy said, "You're taking the Chieftan next, right?"  Lol.   No.  They cleared the code on the SF, and I agreed to take THAT out again.  David got back on the Elite again for ride #3, and I patted the SF on the tank and we got to experience 5th gear this time.

David's future motorcycle; Chieftan Limited in Jimmie Johnson blue!  Just needs the 116 on it!

We pulled in, and the demo guy once again asked, "Chieftan?"  I said, "YES"!!!!  Once again those butterflies abounded as I settled behind the wheel of David's Jimmie Johnson cobalt blue Chieftan (just minus the 116!).  I picked her up, and with the exception of feeling slightly overwhelmed by all the info on the screen and speedometers/tachometers in front of me, she felt very similar to the SF.  This time the demo guy got my kickstand for me, he looked me in the eye and said, "Ready?  You got this".  With the excitement bubbling up inside me, I pulled directly behind the leader b/c David wanted to be behind me this time ... NO, I WANT MY SECURITY BLANKET lol.  But the leader this time was one that hadn't led yet and he was going pretty dang slow.  We all got on the road and I felt nearly overwhelmed.  I was doing something I thought maybe I'd NEVER do.  Definitely not something I'd do weeks of my one year riding anniversary, and 2 weeks shy of owning my own.  He took us on a wonky, longer ride than we'd done so far, and we got on the highway again; this time, I kicked her up into 6th gear, and she just FLOATED under me.  Aside from the first 2 minutes on the SF, I didn't have one single issue shifting.  David and I were talking, and I threw up my arm in a victory "dance", loving the fact that I was in 6th gear for the first time!

The stunningly beautiful Elite

As we pulled back into the driveway, I almost wanted to cry.  I literally wanted to keep driving those bikes all the way home to Maryville.  If all goes well this year, maybe 2018 will be the year David gets his.  For me, it will be a 10 year venture (an Indian Chieftan is as much as a decent car).  I'm hoping by that time, the big bikes haven't changed too much; I know Harley has had the Street Glide/Road Glide for soooo long.  He plans to either sell Mufasa or trade him in towards his Chieftan.  I will be keeping Khaleesi for Colton some day; she will NOT be leaving my family.  Best part to this story?  The demo truck is at IMOK next weekend!  I get to do it all over again!  AND the demo truck goes to Bristol later in the year, so that's a for sure 2 more opportunities to ride the beasts.  I can't stress enough how blessed I feel.  David and I have been married a long time, and "extra curricular" activities have strained our marriage at times; mainly the ones involving horses.  Now that we have discovered this shared passion of motorcycles, the times of arguments are less and less.  Couples that ride together, stay together!