I made a big jump from a sportster to a Street Glide and it didn't take me long to get used to it. At speed it seems much more stable. Getting used to the weight at low speed was my biggest issue.

Good luck on a safe trip home.

 

Sounds like a fun trip. They all ride in a similar way once your feet are up. Twist it and go and just don't give them too much front brake when going slowing as that is when they get wobbly.

 

Just take it slow and give yourself plenty of room to adjust for braking...you'll be fine.

 

I'd be more worried about heading out after that service.

 

I've boughten (ya like that hillbilly word? LOL) many things off of eBay, but a vehicle that I intend to hit the road immediately will never be one of those, for all the obvious reasons...

 

As long as you have a credit card and cell phone, no worries. Make sure the dealer goes over it with you and get familiar with it before heading out.

 

So here's my follow up post... It was quite a journey, complete with some comedy, some drama, and some outright stupidity. This is a crazy long post, but read up if you want to feel better about yourself in comparison to some of the rookie mistakes that I made...

Flew down to Houston, TX on Friday to claim my ebay winnings, a 2005 Electra Glide Classic. From the pictures and some discussion with the seller, I decided it was worth the risk. Turns out, I was right. The bike was immaculate, and I could tell the previous owner didn't really want to let it go, but he and his wife just weren't riding like they used to. When we got to the bike, he had it absolutely spotless and gleaming from fender to tour pack. After a test ride (my first on any Harley Davidson) I had no problem forking over the check. I know the bike meant a lot to the guy when, after talking with me for awhile, he looked at his wife and said "this is good, we were hoping it would go to a good home."

We complete the transaction, they leave, and there I am standing with my luggage next to my new bike at 5 pm in the middle of a city of over 2 million people, 675 miles from home. My first real ride took me through rush hour traffic in Houston. Probably not the best idea, but it wasn't like I had a choice. Stopped for dinner about 50 miles out, and upon returning to my bike realized that the headlight was broken. When I say broken, I mean the lens had a hole in it an the rest of it was totally spidered. My first fear was that it didn't light anymore, which I quickly discovered was not the case. A quick text to the previous owner confirmed what I already knew... I didn't buy it that way.

I made it another 110 miles or so before dusk, thinking I had already had my bad luck out of the way. I decided to stop for the night in Nacogdoches, TX, and that's where things indeed got worse. After checking into a hotel, I decided to run to Wal-Mart to pick up a couple things, including some clear packing tape to patch the hole in my headlight and help hold the rest of the glass together. Upon leaving Wal-Mart, I decided for the first time to simply leave the keys in the ignition for the ride back, assuming that like any other motor vehicle I have EVER seen, this would not be a problem. I got back to the hotel, parked, and locked the fork. I hadn't even take my hand off of the the ignition before I immediately knew the keys were no longer there. Panicked, I patted myself down like I was a TSA agent. Still no keys. They were gone. Flat out gone. As I type this, I'm sure they are still lying on the road somewhere in Nacogdoches, TX somewhere between Wal-Mart and the Econolodge. Fortunately for me, the ignition switch was unlocked. Unfortunately for me, I had no way to secure my bike overnight. Further complicating things, my luggage was all locked inside the tour pack and one of the saddlebags. My luggage included my warmer clothes, an iPad, my .357 magnum revolver, and the TITLE TO THE BIKE.

Amazingly, Texas Thunder Harley Davidson in Nacogdoches is about 300 yards up the road from the Econolodge, but it was by this point 8:00 in the evening. Knowing that anyone who darn well pleased could just hop on my bike and ride away didn't set well with me, so I spent a good half hour trying to figure out where I could keep it overnight that would allow me the peace of mind to get a few hours of sleep. I wound up going back to wal-mart and buying the best chain I could get and locking it, bicycle style, to the post under the hotel's drive thru. Sheesh. After some research, including on this forum, I decided that because the town didn't seem to have a decent locksmith, my best bet would be to go to the nearby Harley dealer and see if they could at least get me a key to my gas cap. The good folks at Texas Thunder HD not only opened the cap for me, they gave me an old key out of the drawer and threw in their own keychain, free of charge. I showed my gratitude by buying a Texas Thunder HD t-shirt, you know, so I won't ever forget the experience.

On the road again, it was 52 degrees and completely overcast. A bit chilly, considering all of my layers were locked in the tour pack. Fifty miles down the road, I stop again and buy some replacement clothes. Returning to the bike in the parking lot, guess what? Yep. I had already lost the key. At this point I'm both pissed at myself for being careless and upset that I didn't just have the bike shipped to me. I knew, from prior research, that there was another HD dealer 100 miles up the road in Texarkana, and I had just enough gas to get there. They weren't quite as friendly at Whiskey River HD. They had some old keys, sure, but they were in "inventory", meaning I had to pay $13 for them. I did NOT buy their T-Shirt.

At this point, I was "just" 350 miles from home, but I just wanted the experience to be over. The weather wasn't cooperating, I was adding to my own misery with careless mistakes, and I was just in an all around bad mood. To compound my problems, central Arkansas was expected to receive rain in the morning, and I was not about to try and navigate my original route, the pig trail, on an unfamiliar bike in wet conditions. I called an audible, and aimed for Conway, AR, about 175 miles away and just 175 miles from home. The Electra Glide just plain ate up those interstate highway miles, and as I pulled into Conway more than an hour before dusk, I was starting to feel a lot better about things. Then came a moment of pure terror...

I got the last room at the last decent hotel in town. Finally, something good had happened. Then I went to park the bike. Now, being that my bike was still unlocked on account of my not having any keys, I decided that I would again park it so that I could use my ridiculous chain and padlock method on a guardrail almost right in front of my room. After I finally got the beast positioned to where the front wheel was right next to the rail, I flipped out the kickstand and leaned her over. Ever think your kickstand was all the way out but it's not? I wasn't looking down, but my assumption is that the kickstand folded back in, and the bike laid down. Yep. Just 25 hours after taking possession, I had already laid her down. Fairing-to-guardrail, no less. I was pissed. I was panicked. I did what all self-respecting people would do and I looked around to see if anyone else had seen me. They hadn't. I instantly realized I had not watched the video on the proper way to pick one of these massive bikes up... Not this way. Not that way either. I nearly tore my rotator cuff, I nearly tore my bicep. Nothing. Finally my brain began to work again, and I realized that if I turned the fork straight and lifted with my legs it wasn't all that hard. Long story short, the crash bars did their job, the little bit of paint that transferred from the guardrail to the fairing scraped off with my thumbnail and a wet washcloth, and after some buffing nobody will ever know it happened. I think.

Anyway, this morning I completed the last 175 miles of the journey in 45 to 50 degree, overcast weather. Not ideal, but not "that" bad on a touring bike. I breathed quite a sigh of relief when I wheeled that bike into my own driveway about noon today. Quite a journey, one that I will never forget.

At the end of the day, I absolutely LOVE the bike, and I'd do it all over again next weekend if I had to.

 

By the way, my luggage is still locked in the trunk and saddlebags. Suggestions for getting into them? Harley dealer? Locksmith? Clearly I am going to need new keys all-around (bags and ignition).

 

All I can say is...... WOW..... Hell of a first ride and story...... Locksmith is your best bet..... And any barrel key will open the gas door for ya.....

Good luck and enjoy the new scoot!

 

I know if you have the key number you can just order a new key, I wonder if the dealer could look it up and order you one using the VIN?

That sure was one heck of a trip! At least you made it home safe.