My buddy Erik and I went for a nice long ride today with me on Betty the Bonnie Black and Erik on his 1980 Honda 250 dual-sport, which probably made us an interesting pair. We rode for a bit more than 60 miles all told, putting my milage up to 276. That means I'm only 24 miles away from the end of the "break-in" period for the engine, which means I can stop worrying about varying the RPMs and just ride the thing. We even ended up on some gravel roads and the Bonnie did just fine, though I certainly didn't test it. I just kept the speed down and did my best to go straight. ;)
We made a gas stop near Longmont and a couple Harley guys (Christian Riders, I think...) gave the Bonneville a long hard - and seemingly approving - look. But then one of them came in the store to remind me I had left the key in the ON position and my light was on, so I lost all my cool there...
Then after stopping by Erik's house, I ended up at the Huron/120th light with a couple of Harley dudes and they loved the bike:
Harley Guy #1 to Harley Guy #2: "Hey, check it out... Triumph!" HG1 to me: "How do you like that?" Me: "I love it!" HG2 to me: "What year is it?" Me: "Brand new - 2006." HG2: "Noooo SHIT?! Cool!"
Though certainly not a long ride by any stretch of the imagination, it's the longest one I've had so far. My back's a bit stiff, I have a blister on my throttle hand under my Order of the Engineer ring, and the arid Colorado air has dried me right up. My new schmancy Triumph gear did alright: my jacket was well vented and comfy and my gloves were nice and cool, though they pressed on my knuckles quite a bit. Just a little breaking in due there, I hope.