A Lesson in Humility

 I’ve been riding Harley Davidsons for about 15 years. Not exclusively, but preferentially, for sure. For the first ten years, I rode stripped down bikes with no frills, mostly Sportsters and then a Dyna Glide that I loved through and through, but we can discuss some other time. Then I took a week long police motorcycle skills course where we used police issue dressers and I fell even more in love with the big bikes. I went out and bought a used Ultra Classic and truly enjoyed all of the amenities it had: the big cushy seat, the ample storage space, the fairing and windscreen, but mostly the seriously deep cornering, which came as quite a surprise to me. 

When I eventually traded in that Ultra Classic, there was no way I was going back to the bobbers. I left the dealership in Woodstock that day with a Road Glide Ultra and it has since been my favorite set of wheels for which I’ve ever held a title. There is, however, a point of overkill. I bought a big touring bike, arguably one of the heaviest production bikes Harley makes, but in the past year and a half of owning it, I have only once crossed the state line with it once. In fact, lately I rarely even travel more than 200 miles in a day.

I didn’t come up with the realization all on my own that I could do with a bit less of a package than an Ultra. No, the realization came to me when I dumped it near the front end of a group ride pulling into a parking lot. Coincidentally, it was also the same moment that I realized I cared a little more about people’s opinions than I thought I did. That is to say, I was completely embarrassed. 

It was a perfect storm that brought the situation on, rather than any single factor. Here are the excuses, er, I mean, reasons why I spilled over. First of all, yes, it is a big bike with a full touring pack and I was riding with a passenger, meaning I was top heavy. Secondly, we were moving ever so slowly, ending the ride and coming up a steep angled parking lot, at a slant rather than head on. This put me in such a spot that I could barely extend my leg to full reach, so that when the bikes in front of me came to an abrupt halt, my bike was already tipping before I got my foot to reach the ground. Lastly, I had just recovered the week prior from a bad case of food poisoning that caused me to drop 20 pounds in a week. Alright, that’s the list of excuses, I mean, the perfect storm that did me in. 

No one was injured in the fall, and the crash bars ensured the bike wasn’t damaged, but my pride was deeply wounded. I figured there must have been some people thinking I was some inexperienced rider who spent a bunch of money on too much bike. Of course, I’m actually a well seasoned rider with decades of experience and advanced training, but it doesn’t matter. None of that experience or training kept my wheels down that day and I was justifiably embarrassed for it.

So, how did I fix the issue? Well, like I said, the amenities of a big old Ultra are a bit overkill if you’re not traveling 500 miles a day or taking long road trips. I’d love to have that freedom someday, but for now, I’ve still got a full time job and then some. So, what I did is replaced the big cushy sofa seat with something a little more stylish and surprisingly more comfortable on the short rides. I put on a Mustang Hightail Fastback seat and I love it! The seat actually brings me about two inches closer to the ground, which will come in handy on those dreadfully steep angled parking lots. Secondly, I removed the touring pack. The pack itself only weighs 44 pounds, but it did create a top heavy situation that I didn’t realize until it was gone. Once I took the pack off, just walking the bike out of the garage was easier, not to mention the deep lean corners and, of course, those dreadfully steep angled parking lots!

The changes I made have helped to fall in love with this bike all over again. Just changing out the seat and removing the tour pack made it feel like an entirely different motorcycle. It handles better, it’s less top heavy, and I feel like I’m sitting more into the bike rather than on it. Had I not taken that embarrassing fall, I wouldn’t likely have thought to make these changes for quite some time to come. In a way, I’m glad it happened. Aside from the motorcycle itself, it caused me to have a little bit more humility regarding my time in the saddle and my training, which is always a good thing to have. Oh, and as it turned out, everyone there was totally cool about the incident. I had a number of other bikers telling me about similar incidents they’d been through and someone had even helped me get the bike back rubber side down and out of everyone’s way. Now I can go back to pretending I don’t care what anyone thinks of me.