It was meant to be?

Sometimes the wind blows us in strange directions. Take all this into account:

• Stu had never been to North Dakota
• Stu needed a Harley-Davidson t-shirt from North Dakota
• We were already in South Dakota, ready to head east to Milwaukee
• We bought land in Jamestown, TN
• I bought my first Harley in Jamestown, NY
• Jamestown, ND was due north of where we were in North Dakota
• We had several days leeway in our time table for getting to Elkhart, IN

See? Everything was conspiring to get us to the Harley dealer in Jamestown. So we routed a slight detour (ended up adding 435 miles to our trip) and headed north. We made it to the Harley dealer about 5:15 (they closed at 6:00).

As soon as I walked in the door I saw it....I heard it calling my name....I was entranced. Ever since I read the review in our H.O.G. (Harley Owners Group) magazine about the new, improved Sportster...the SuperLow...I was hoping to get a look at one.

Not only was it a SuperLow, the color combination drew my attention immediately. The colors on the Harley website just hadn't done justice to the two-tone orange and white bike. I had to sit on it. I had to touch it. I had to drool over it.

After Stu dragged me away from the bike, we picked up our t-shirts and asked if we could stay there for the night. They have a huge gravel parking area where we had parked, perfect for an overnight. They said sure and we told them we might be back in the morning.

We talked a lot last night, checked out the HD accessory book, talked some more and left it that we would see what they might do for a trade-in on my bike.

Fast forward to 4 pm today....and Stu loading my brand new 2011 Birch White & Sedona Orange Harley-Davidson SuperLow motorcycle. I got a fair trade-in and a discount on all the accessories I wanted...unfortunately they didn't have any of the bigger accessories in stock so those will come later.

So why a new bike? I'd only had my Nightster for a year (7000 miles worth). Well, we want to ride Route 66 next spring. My old bike had a 3.2 gallon gas tank, the new bike has a 4.5 gallon. That means we can ride close to 200 miles before stopping for gas instead of the current 100 or so miles. (Some of the difference is the new bike has a smaller engine.) The other is a completely redesigned motorcycle...all lowered bikes have rougher rides. Harley made some major improvements in this area and from all the reviews, I think my back is really going to appreciate the softer ride. Add in a better seat and a brand new 24 month, unlimited mile warranty...just makes sense.

I'm looking forward to many miles on my new ride....

Till next time - keep on rollin',
Donna and Stu