My Brother's First GW Ride

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Well....Finally....5 Days after he purchased his "new" 1985 GL1200 Aspencade ( I rode it home and right now it resides at my house), he finally done more than sit on it!! He has rode before...it's just been years and nothing as big as the Wing.

Approx 9:30am....He (Mark) shows up at my house. I back it out of the driveway...gave a few pointers and told him toride around the neighborhood making only left turns. (In my 'hood, 3 of the roads connect so you can circle around and end upback at my house). After a few trips around....stopped him...had him go around to the right. Right hand 90* turns were a bugger for me to stay in the correct lane. After a few trips around, he stopped and we discussed how the bike felt and what he thought of it. He liked the feel and was surprised on the "get up and go" of a bike so big. It was around 10:45am and he had someerrands to do and was coming back in a couple of hours to do some more practicing, so I put the bike back in the driveway (nestled up next to Pearl) and he left in his truck. I came back inside, fixed a couple of sandwhiches before I was going to chase down an electrical glitch on the Aspy.

Decided to get the title and Bill of Sale down from the china cabinet and see what needed to be done so he can get his tag next week. The Bill of Sale was made out to me because the seller had to turn the tag in and I was riding it home without one when Mark bought it. I re-wrote the Bill of Sale to put Mark's name on it as he was planning on taking it out "on the road" when he got back. They are mostly secondary roads with light traffic. Did the re-write just in case an LEO decided to question a bike with no tag on it.

As I was looking at the Title, I said &#%^....the seller had accidentally signed the buyers spot!! Talked to the wife....she has a cousin who works with titles all the time...and she made a call to find out what we had to do. When she got off the phone, she said we had to fill out an Affidavit of Corrections, the seller had to line through the mistake and sign the title in the right spot. The seller lives 90 miles from here. So I gave him a call to find out if he would be home and to figure out our next move. He was very upset that he made a mistake. I assured him that it was OK...no harm done really. It will just delay getting a tag. When he said "I will be home all day" my mind went into action!! I made a call to my brother and asked...."How would you like to ride to Dublin, GA? It's a nice day and the way down there is 2 lane back roads with light traffic and what better way to get a feel for the bike!!"

The plan was hatched....Mark would be here in 30 minutes...just enough time for me to shower and get dressed! I will be riding Pearl and he will take his Aspy. I told him we would fill up in the next town (about 30 miles). I had 50 miles on my tank and he had 100 on his so he would need gas before I would.

Markshowed up at 1:15pm as I was finishing getting dressed. Told the wife I would call her when we got there...kissed her goodbye (she had some errands to do or she would have gone with us) and off we went.

As promised....I stopped at the next town to gas up. Now with both of us having full tanks, I knew we had plenty to make a round trip. I pull off from the pump, look in my mirror to find Mark still sitting at the pump fidgeting with the key/start button. I back up and asked him if he could get it started. He shook his head, hit the start button.....nothing!! Tried it a couple of more times.....still nothing!! He looks down...and then with a sheepish grin looks at me and says....It's in gear and I haven't pulled in the clutch!! I just laugh, shake my headas he cranks the bike!!

It was a beautiful day to ride and most of itwas uneventful, except the concrete Dolphin mailbox holder that someone had put Red and Yellow swim trunks on!:cheeky1:

When we got to a small town on the way down that wehad to make a 90* right hand turn from a stop sign, I made the turn and looked in my mirror to watch Mark, who took the turn rather WIDE....(remember the trouble I mentioned earlier?) I just chuckled as there was no traffic to impede his turning.

We arrived at the seller's house (approx. 3:30pm)....got the paperwork taken care of and traded stories for a while. He is a hell of a nice guy!!

Decided it was time to leave and we pulled out about 4:30pm, headed up the road to the first convience store and got some cold drinks and called our respective significant others to let them know we were on our way back. Again it was uneventful (just a beautiful ride) and chuckled again at the Dolphin as we passed by.

As we got back into town, we stopped at a red light. He pulled up beside me, I was turningright and he informed me he was going straight to show off the bike to his girlfriend and her family. This was approx 6:30pm. I turned right....went to Subway to get dinner for my family, on to the gas station to fillthe bike up (riding to work in the morning) and got home approx 7:00pm. I had put about 200 miles on Pearl.

I ate dinner, got a hair cut and took a shower. Discussed the day's events with Snorebabe and wondered what time Mark would be back. He show's up at 8:30pm, grinning ear to ear and put almost 230miles on the Aspy. :action:

He said he will be back in the morning to get the bike again!! He doesn't have anywhere to park it right now, plus there are a couple things I need to look at so it's easier to have it here.

I do believe he is in love with the Wing!!

He said he will be signing on here soon!