My First Ride To Work

Rode into work on Saturday.

I'd already ridden for about an hour that morning.

I made a quick stop to check out the new Dillon Yamaha/Honda/Suzuki/Kawasaki dealership that opened up today right next to the Dillon Brothers Harley-Davidson dealership.

I quickly realized a few things:

• Don't let your shirt hang open while you ride. Button it up. Sucks at highway speeds to have your shirt blowing around.
• Secure saddlebags before you go.
• I need the Detachable Solo Luggage Rack ASAP.
• If you have the Harley Profile Sunglasses/Goggles, don't forget to bring the case containing the clear lenses for the ride home at 11 at night.

Great ride home. Lots of fun. I went the long way, via surface streets and took my time.

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A 2009 Road King Classic Is Now Mine

I couldn't sleep very well Thursday night, knowing that at noon, I'd be taking possession of my brand-new 2009 Road King Classic.

So, it wasn't quite Christmas eve, but as the long hours stretched out it sure felt like it was.

I finally got some sleep, only to find myself waking up at dawn. I looked at the clock and immediately found myself thinking back to the past yearly ritual of enduring the last day of school and how it felt to watch the clock slowly mark out the passage of time. I told myself that I'd better find something to do or I'd drive myself nuts.

For a while I kept myself busy by working on a few projects and got a few things done.

I remembered that I needed to shop for some motorcycle insurance, so I looked on the Internet for some of the more-recommended motorcycle insurance companies. I called GEICO and after talking with the insurance agent for a while, signed up for motorcycle insurance through GEICO for $736 a year, which would drop to about $360 for renewal next year. I was told the amount would drop once I got a year of riding under my belt.

At the time, I didn't care about what anything cost. I just wanted to get everything done and make sure that I had no hitches when it came time to pick up the motorcycle. I was pretty much the perfect customer for anyone selling...anything.

Well, after wasting time doing this and that, the time finally came for me to head over to the dealership to finish everything. My wife dropped me off, and after making sure that I'd be OK, that the bike was OK, that everything was fine - she took the kids and headed home.

Jason Davis, using one of the 2009 Road King Classics on the floor, went over the entire bike with me, explaining each feature on the motorcycle and some general maintenance tips that'd come in handy. The guy knows his stuff and had an answer for every question I had.

Once I was in the finance office with Mark, everything went smoothly. Mark even managed to save me a bit of money. I mentioned what my insurance cost was and Mark let me know that I could save some money with a 15 minute phone call to their own insurance group. He dialed, I talked, and 15 minutes later I had a policy that was half the price as what I'd paid GEICO.

5 minutes later, I cancelled my GEICO coverage. They were nice about it, although it'll take 10-15 days to get that premium back onto my credit card.

I wrote my check, signed my name and shook everyone's hand as they handed me the keys to my new baby, who I will call, "Wheelface."

After Jason loaded 3 huge boxes of parts into my parent's Highlander, I climbed onto my new ride and took off for a little ride before heading home and showing it off to everyone. My two boys both wanted a picture with the new motorcycle as well.

Buying A Motorcycle In Omaha?

If you're in the market for a new or used Harley-Davidson or Buell, I highly recommend you give Jason Davis a call, or shoot him an e-mail. Jason kept me in the loop throughout the entire Harley-buying process, explained things to my satisfaction and helped get the ball rolling again when it had stopped briefly in the service department.

If you stop into Dillon Harley sometime, let whoever you talk to know you read about my experiences with Jason Davis and with Dillon Brothers Harley-Davidson in general.

Let me know what they say.

I'm off to ride.
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2009 Night Train

The 2009 Night Train stands out from most motorcycles out there, and in my opinion is the base of what can be a hot-looking black-out project.

Part of Harley-Davidson's "Dark Custom" lineup, the 2009 Night Train is the least expensive model of Harley's Softails.

As you'd expect from something called a "Dark Custom," Harley's thrown out the chrome and shiny bits you normally see on a motorcycle and, on the 2009 Night Train, replaces them with blacked-out versions of those parts straight from their factory. The 2009 Night Train power train has been blacked-out, along with the air cleaner, the rear fender supports, the oil tank, the fuel tank console and the drive belt sprocket.

The engine covers have also been darkened, with wrinkle-black trim.

The front end on the 2009 Night Train is the standard FX, with a new low-profile fender that sits on top of the 21-inch laced front wheel. That big front wheel offsets the thick rear 200 mm tire that's covered by the Bobtail rear fender.

With a low seat height and clean lines, coupled with the powerful rigid-mounted and counter-balanced twin cam 96B powertrain, the 2009 Night Train isn't bad looking at all in it's stock configuration - and can be customized to look as sharp as any motorcycle as you can find on the road today.

In the base vivid black, the 2009 Night Train has an MSRP of $15,899. If you'd like your Night Train in one of the color options, the price moves up to $16,244.

A factory-installed security system will add $345 to the price, while selecting the wheel option will cost you another $550.

The 2009 Night Train is available in black pearl, black denim and red hot sunglo.

Pictures:

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My Motorcycle Financing Has Been Approved

Wednesday was a busy day.

The wife was a bit more patient with me than usual and agreed to head over to the First National Bank over on 168th and Maple for a quick check on what the numbers would be on a business loan for whatever motorcycle I end up buying. I left her and the three kids in the car (for whatever reason they didn't want to come into the bank) and talked to a loan officer, who took down all the info relating to the purchase and told me she'd call me back later.

Initially the plan was to put down about $9,000 or so, which would leave me financing no more than $10,000. But once I finished the sit-down with the finance gal and got back into the car, Jamie brought up that it might be a better idea to put less down and to just pay off the loan faster. Less risk and lower carrying costs on our part if anything happens and there's no pre-payment penalty when you're talking about a motorcycle loan.

Jamie left open the option to drive to Lincoln to check out the Frontier Harley-Davidson dealership there, but I figured I wouldn't do that to her. Three kids in the car, one of them teething, not a good idea to drive an hour there and an hour back just to take a look at some bikes. So we headed over to Dillon Brothers Harley, which is about a 5 minute drive from our home and less than a minute from the First National Bank I had just left.

It helps to have all the bikes at a dealership available to browse through on the Internet. Here's Dillon Harley's inventory of new bikes online - what I used to narrow down my search for what's available and (hopefully) easy to make a deal on. I was particularly looking for a deep turquoise and antique white 2009 Road King Classic.

So the family and I walked in, the kids sat down with their mom and I started looking for Jason Davis - who wasn't around. After a little bit of wandering around the dealership searching for any deep turquoise and antique white two-tone bikes, I was approached by Mick Ruff.

After talking with Mick for a while I quickly felt put at ease. Mick's a cool guy, very helpful, even if he rides a bagger with fairing. I asked to see the 2010 Harley-Davidson color chart, he got it out for me and let me check out what's in store for 2010. I showed the wife the future colors and she agreed with me - Harley-Davidson's really in love with purple for some reason. I am not sure why. So, since I didn't see anything in Harley's 2010 color scheme that was particularly appealing - other than the basic vivid black - I decided that it might not be worthwhile to wait until 2010's models were released to actually buy a motorcycle, like I'd been planning.

So, after telling Mick that I'd like to look at the deep turquoise/antique white Road King Classic that they had in stock, Mick took us all to the back storage area to check it out.

Oh yeah. It was nice. I don't know if anyone else sees the potential to really "classic" out that particular model and color, but I've got a few ideas I'm rolling around in my head about it. More on that later.

The only thing left to do was to check on the financing options, to make sure I would be approved to buy the thing. I might as well have something to compare with First National's financing numbers, right?

Mick introduced me to Mark Gifford, one of the finance guys at Dillon Brothers Harley-Davidson. Mark and I chatted a bit about our day jobs while we waited for the financing application I'd filled out to be approved.

We figured out the numbers for a deal slightly different than what I asked for at First National - $3000 down and stretching the financing terms over as long as possible, as suggested by my wife.

And yeah, I got approved.

Life is good.

2009 Softail Custom

Considered to be one of Harley-Davidson's most comfortable softail rides, the 2009 Softail Custom has classic looks combined with the functional ride that Harley riders want.

The looks are accentuated by the low ape-hangers set on a custom riser, along with the one-piece seat. The 21-inch front wheel is covered by a new low-profile fender, while the 200 mm 17-inch rear wheel brings 87.90 foot pounds of torque @ 2750 rpm to the road when you want it.

In 2007, together with the 1,584 cc, air-cooled, V-twin, DOHC engine and the addition of a standard six-speed gearbox, the Electronic Sequential Port Fuel Injection (ESPFI) system became a standard feature on the Softail Custom.

The 2009 Softail Custom comes in these colors:

• Vivid Black
• Dark Blue Pearl
• Red Hot Sunglo (New for 2009)
• Two-Tone Deep Turquoise/Antique White (New for 2009)
• Two-Tone Flame Blue Pearl/Pewter Pearl (New for 2009)

Pictures:

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Worth Harley-Davidson Offering Employee Pricing

I'm about a month (maybe two at most) away from actually pulling the trigger and putting the money down on a new motorcycle, but if you're in the Midwest and looking for a Harley...you really should be checking out Worth Harley-Davidson in Kansas City.

From what I can tell, most Harley dealerships aren't very interested in getting too far away from MSRP, and that's good for people who want their bikes to retain their value. If you doubt me, just look at Chrysler and GM. Once you start offering significant discounts and rebates all the time - like Chrysler and GM did - everyone expects 'em and prices drop because everyone "knows" that their neighbor got that discount.

That being said, if the bikes aren't moving, you have to do something. According to the Journal-Sentinel Online, Harley dealers expect about a 10% drop in new motorcycle sales this year, although that number looks like it could be higher when you consider that new motorcycles sales are down between 20% and 25% from what they were a year ago.

Worth Harley-Davidson North is offering employee pricing on all the motorcycles on their sales floor.

Despite how annoyed some dealerships are going to be with this promotion, you have to respect Worth Harley-Davidson for making buying a Harley a slightly less financially damaging prospect. After all, the more people that can afford a Harley, the more people who are going to be buying parts, service and so on - probably from that dealership.

If I catch wind that another dealership within a day's drive of Omaha is offering a similar promotion in June, I would absolutely run down there on June 26th and put down my money and sign whatever contract they wanted. And I'd probably end up paying over MSRP anyway by buying a slew of accessories.

2009 Fatboy

Made famous as Arnold Schwarzenegger's ride in Terminator 2, the Fat Boy has consistently been one of Harley-Davidson's best sellers. With a 17-inch wheel in the front and a 200mm wide tire on the back, the Harley Fatboy has a look all its own and lends itself well to customization.

Priced at $15,999 in vivid black, picking a Fatboy in any of the upgrade colors will bump the price up a slight $350, bringing the total cost of the bike to $16,344.

Upgrading the Fatboy's wheels to the polished chrome aluminum set will cost you $700, and the Harley-Davidson factory security system option will run you another $345.

The 2009 Harley Fatboy comes in these colors:

• Vivid Black
• Black Pearl
• Pewter Pearl
• Flame Blue Pearl
• Black Denim
• Red Hot Sunglo

Pictures:

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2009 Softail Deluxe

If there's one classic-looking motorcycle in Harley-Davidson's lineup, the Softail Deluxe is it. The fenders cover classic wide whitewall tires on chrome laced steel wheels. There's a tombstone taillight on the rear fender and a whole lot of visible chrome.

For 2009, Harley-Davidson redesigned the seat on the Softail Deluxe, implementing collapsible pockets in the shell that make the seat narrower when the rider straddles the bike while it's at rest.

With just a 24.5 inch seat height, the Softail Deluxe is among the lowest riding full-sized motorcycles, making it a good choice for shorter riders.

Classic design touches include wide whitewall tires on Chrome Laced Steel wheels, tombstone tail light on the rear fender, intricate cloisonné and sparkling chrome.

Function has to follow form, and the Softail Deluxe features an easy-reach pull-back handlebar and riser package, a lowered suspension, an extended kickstand and an exclusive integrated luggage rack.

The 2009 Harley-Davidson Softail Deluxe comes in a good variety of colors. Solid colors on the bike will set you back $17,794, while the two-tone colors have an MSRP of $18,104. Basic Vivid Black is $17,449.

The 2009 Softail Deluxe has these colors available:

• Vivid Black
• Flame Blue Pearl (New)
• Black Denim
• Red Hot Sunglo (New)
• Two-Tone White Gold Pearl/Pewter Pearl
• Two-Tone White Gold Pearl/Black Pearl
• Two-Tone Deep Turquoise/Antique White
• Two-Tone Red Hot Sunglo/Smokey Gold

Pictures:

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2009 Rocker C

Pricing is pretty simple for this model. For the 2009 Harley-Davidson Rocker C, you've got three choices in colors. You can have Vivid Black, Flame Blue Pearl and Crimson Red Sunglo.

This bike's MSRP is $19,499 if you get it in black and will cost you $19,844 if you order it in one of the colors.

Available Options:

Security System - $345

Pictures:

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2009 Heritage Softail Classic

The 2009 Heritage Softail Classic in vivid black will set you back $17,999. Going with one of the colors will bump the price up to $18,344 and the bike in one of the two-tone color paint schemes will cost $18,654.

Available Options:

Security System - $345
Optional Wheel Upgrade - $500

Harley-Davidson's 2009 Softails offer neither an ABS option nor factory-installed cruise control.

Pictures:

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