I left Lakeland this morning under clear skies, but arrived in Plant City with clouds blanketing the heavens. Parking my banged up but rideable Burgman (more on that later), I met up Boyd, Wes, Kyle and Robert for breakfast at Snellgroves.
When Wes arrived leaning on a cane, I learned that it was a compromise with his physician who wanted to put him into a motorized wheelchair to accommodate his ailing back. Wes declined the chair. He is still looking for a bike that will allow him to ride comfortably. He has tested a trike, but I think he would rather ride the wheelchair. Good luck with the search.
As breakfast wound down, we consulted several weather radar maps. Finding heavy storms moving in from the Gulf of Mexico along the I-4 corridor and lighter storms moving in farther south, Boyd, Kyle, Robert and I headed southeast to get in as much riding as we could before the weather overtook us.
Our route took us south to Hopewell, Keysville and the northern edge of the Alafia River State Park. Stopping on the Jameson Road bridge over the South Branch of the Alafia River, we heard thunder rumbling close to the west. Abandoning my plan to continue west to CR-39 before again turning south, we turned around and headed back to CR-640. From there, we turned west to ride Agricola Mine Road.
At the east terminus of Agricola Mine Road Robert and Kyle turned back to Plant City. Boyd and I switched bikes for the ride into Ft. Meade. I had been considering switching my Burgman for a Concours 14. My initial test ride on a Connie was less than stellar since the riding position on a stock model quickly enflamed the arthritis in my neck. Boyd's Connie is equipped with risers and I was anxious to see if that would make a difference. On the ride to Ft. Meade I found that my neck was much better, but my shoulders were still uncomfortable. Guess I'll have to stick with something with a more upright riding posture. Too bad because I otherwise love the Concours.
After a comfort stop in Ft. Meade, we decided that we were not going to be able to avoid the rain much longer, so we turned for home. We had not yet arrived in Bartow when the rain began, lightly at first but quickly turning into a downpour. Once in Lakeland, Boyd continued on home while I rode over to the local Suzuki dealer to have a burned out tail light bulb replaced.
I rode a total of 90 miles today, most of it very enjoyable. Hopefully next Saturday will treat us better as I will be off to North Carolina for the first two weeks of September.
Now, as to my still banged up Burgman, you will recall that I was involved in an accident 11 weeks ago that badly damaged the scooter. It was immediately delivered to my local Suzuki dealer. Things went smoothly at the start but quickly fell apart when it was learned that Suzuki had sent the wrong replacement frame as the correct frame was not listed in their parts directory and was not available anywhere in North America. We had to wait for one to be manufactured and shipped from Japan. The correct frame finally arrived last Wednesday morning and I was advised that the scooter would be completed and ready for delivery late Thursday. On Thursday afternoon I called to check on the progress and was informed that there were a couple of damaged parts that had apparently been overlooked on the repair order and would need to be ordered. Needless to say, I was quite upset and conversations with the service manager, the general manager and insurance adjusted did not achieve and satisfactory resolution. After much finger pointing between the dealership and the insurance company, the only thing that was clear was that, after 11 weeks, the necessary parts to complete the repair were not available and would not be available before weeks end. The dealership finally conceded that they could get the Burgman back into safe riding condition by Friday afternoon and complete the repairs once the parts were available.
On Friday afternoon I was advised that the Burgman was ready for delivery and I went to the dealership to pick it up. While it was technically safe to ride, I found 15 broken, missing or improperly installed parts. Needless to say, both the dealership and the insurance company have an awful lot of work to do before I can ever be convinced to do business with either again.
Until next time,
RIDE WITH PRIDE
Glenn "Gunny" Monroe
