Danielle's Corner

What a Weekend! May 30, 2012

Well, we had quite the weekend around here… although it had some high points and some low points… the low ones being that the bathroom is a complete disaster area! LOL… Bill was fantastic and replaced both faucets, and then the toilet started running. Well, we have these neat-o low-flow low-height toilets that are a total pain in the ass. They don’t sell the kits in a small enough size for the bowl, so now we get to go to a specialty plumbing place to get it. Great fun, right? And we finally got around to trying to fix the toilet paper holder that was lopsided since I can remember… and that was a total joke, too… so we took the old one off and patched the wall. Waiting the 24 hours, and then we get to repaint it before putting on the new holder. Although it will look much nicer than the one that was there, that’s for sure!

Now, on to the good news… on Friday, Bill and I drove down to the Cleveland area to go see Jon Cornell (UFO Performance Products), whom Bill had found through the VMax forums.  He has been on the hunt for a new, custom seat since he got the bike.  Since Jon is within easy driving distance, we decided to go for it.  We hopped into the car and drove down to meet him… and I must say, what a treat it was!  I’m not the most mechanical female, but Jon made me feel very comfortable in his shop.  I was impressed with the craftsmanship and care that everyone there exhibited.  He spoke with both my husband and myself in a very easy-going manner, and he gave the hubs some great tips and tricks about his bike.  He generously took us by his place, too, to see his motorcycle museum… it was incredible!  Lots of eye candy, lots of fun toys… he certainly has a good sense of humor and a TON of knowledge.  I must also add that one of the highlights of our trip was meeting Maria, Jon’s 4-year-old daughter.  She was an absolute delight.  Oh, and I got to sit on a very lowered VMax… I could touch the ground and almost be flat-footed!  Never in a million years did I ever think that would happen… something to think about for the future, right??  We walked out with a new seat for Bill and a new set of turn signals, which will greatly update the look of his bike — and hopefully make for a more comfortable ride, too.  This was a road trip that was definitely worth the time.

Okay, now on to the best news of the long weekend… We also found a new bike for me!  On Saturday, Bill and I decided that we would do some looking around.  I decided that the Vulcan, although a pretty bike, was not for me.  It is too top-heavy and hard to maneuver… and I hated that I scraped the floorboards!  The sound is not one that I care for.  So since last year, we’ve been looking casually at different bikes, different styles, different weights.  Bill thinks that after seeing me drag a boot in the Motorcycle Safety course that I like to lean much too much for a cruiser-style bike.  So we started a hunt for a more sport-bike style — or at least a lighter, easier-to-maneuver bike.  As we soon discovered, I’m on the short side for most bikes, and for almost all sport bikes unless they are modified.  For the last couple years, we have been in and out of a Ducati dealership near the house, TT Motorcycles.  Bill has been mildly (and now very) interested in the Diavel as an addition to or replacement for his VMax, and I have been interested in the Monster.  Well, on a whim, our first stop on Saturday was the Ducati dealer.  Lo and behold, they had a used Monster for sale… in our budget, and with the ability to be lowered. So today, we went in and did the paperwork… tomorrow, we pick it up!