I finally had a day off with (reasonably) nice weather yesterday, coupled with enough cash to get some things done. I took the opportunity to ride up to Bergen County H-D to get the 1,000-mile service done on my bike. If I knew more about bikes I would have no problem doing this myself, but lack of knowledge (and a torque wrench) can be a dangerous thing. I don’t have much faith in the dealership that sold me the bike so I ponied up $300 and let the new dealer do it. Considering how many people have told me their dealers charge $400 I’m not too stressed about it. This is the second time I’ve dealt with Bergen County H-D and I’m pretty happy so far.
While I was sitting in the service area waiting for just over 2 hours, I struck up a couple of conversations. The first was a quickie with the dealer’s truck driver. He walked in, looked at me and said, “You know, I saw you coming down the turnpike and I thought ‘Ok, that guy’s got balls.’ ” It was a cool 35F outside, so I understood. I just looked back at him and said, “35 and dry roads means you just gotta put on another layer.” I could be wrong, but I think that earned me a couple points for being hardcore. The guy behind the service desk even whistled a bit and shook his head. =)
The second conversation started just about 90 minutes into my wait. One of the mechanics (Darren?) walked across the hallway to get some parts from the other counter and noticed I was reading some crappy novel. Who knew that a simple “What’re you reading?” would turn into a 20-minute conversation? If nothing else, it’s nice to be making friends. I also came out of it with a few book recommendations that I’ll get to after I finish the borrowed one I’m working on.
When I was signing the paperwork that lets the dealership work on and test-ride my bike, I looked at the comment sheet from the dealer’s walk-around. The only comment on it was “Generally good condition, but really dirty.” I knew the bike could have used a wash, but c’mon! I drove it 20 miles up salted winter roads the get it to you. What do you expect? Regardless I gave it a good wash today. It’s supposed to be the only day this week above freezing (a blamy 37F) so I figured why not? I’m just hoping the weather holds through the week; I hate walking to work.
