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."

My 2009 Road King Classic Before Delivery

My 2009 Road King Classic Shot From Right Hand Side

My 2009 Road King Classic Shot From Left Rear

My 2009 Road King Shot From Left Front

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.

2009 Road King Classic and My Middle Child

2009 Road King Classic and My Oldest Child

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.

Other Road King Classics For Sale:

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Harley Davidson Touring Road King Bronze Pearl colorTouring

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Harley Davidson Touring Road King Classic 2009 HARLEY DAVIDSON FLHRC ROAD KING CLASSIC

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Everyone was a bit anxious, including me. From what I heard, some people didn't sleep much the night before, worrying about the written test that we were going to take today, or worrying about the riding skills test.

I wasn't really worried, but kind of a little...on edge. It was hot and I hadn't slept between 2 in the morning and 4 in the morning because I had some great idea that absolutely had to be worked on right then and there instead of waiting for the morning.

We'd all done the motorcycle scenarios, learned the techniques, ridden around a bit and gotten more or less comfortable with the bikes. Still, some people were still having problems with starting out and easing out on the clutch. They were stalling and having to restart the bikes, which threw some people off their game.

We did an exercise where we rode around in a circle, crossing 2x4's using the proper technique. Nobody had any problems. We did a few other exercises without any problems. Everyone was doing well.

The class started the organized practice run for the actual test after a short break. The test was going to consist of doing a figure 8 at low speed in a small box, then going up to 2nd gear and swerving to avoid an obstacle while coming to a stop and braking correctly. After that, we were going to do a braking test where you had to stop in the shortest distance possible after your front wheel passed two cones. After that, we were going to do a turning test where we had to stay in the lines of a wide turn while in 2nd gear and then coming to a stop on a line.

Not especially difficult stuff. We'd all done it before. The problem was that this time, it counted. You could lose points for putting your foot down, or missing a line, or not going fast enough, or anticipating the stop, or stopping late, or taking too long to stop. You'd automatically fail if you dropped the bike, or did something else that was unsafe.

I went first and evidently passed the first evaluation with flying colors. I thought I hit a line during the figure 8, but I guess the instructors didn't see it.

The second person went and passed, then the third, then the fourth.

Then, at some point, one of the girls taking the course used her front brake while turning through the figure 8 and went down hard.

Since she'd dropped the bike, she was done. And, since she was done, we were all left thinking about how easy it would be for us to screw up and end up having gone through these three days for nothing. So I think I speak for everyone else when I say that we were all biting our nails while we finished the rest of the tests.

Nobody else failed.

So we took a quick lunch break and came back to take the written test, which wasn't hard at all. Everyone passed that too, which was a relief to all of us.

Our Group Tour Of Dillon Brothers Harley Davidson

After we were notified that we'd passed, it was time for our tour.

Regularly, Dillon Brothers Harley-Davidson General Manager Mike Bischof is the guy who gives the Rider's Edge classes their tours of the dealership. He was busy that day, however, and sent his substitute:

Jason Davis giving a tour of Dillon Brothers Harley-Davidson

Jason walked us all around the dealership, answering question after question and being patient with new riders.

I've been around the dealership before, but this was a good little tour. We went into the service department where I saw...my bike, being brought out to be worked on.

Yes, I've finalized my deal with Dillon Brothers Harley-Davidson and Jason Davis. We came to some numbers I could live with, added a whole slew of parts (that will probably be followed up with by a whole lot more) and set the delivery date.

I get my bike on Friday. At noon.

Sharp.

Yeah, I'm a little excited.

Jason Davis giving a tour of Dillon Brothers Harley-Davidson Service Area

I learned that the bike that Dillon Harley sells the most of is the Ultra Classic, followed by the Heritage Softail Classic.

I learned about Buell bikes, which Jason happens to ride. He's a big proponent of Buell motorcycles, and after hearing his spiel on why they rock, I'm inclined to agree - Buell bikes are pretty damn well-thought-out. And their most expensive model is something like $10,000 or so. Not too expensive.

Jason showed us the VSRC - the V-Rod. I actually didn't like that bike before for some reason, but after Jason showed it to me and went over it somewhat, I started having second thoughts about it. Maybe as a second bike. Who knows?

Once the tour was done, we all went back upstairs to have cake, get our certificates and some other goodies. We each received a $25 gift certificate to Dillon Brothers, which will be gone very quickly in my case. We also received a bike coaster, to keep the kickstand on a motorcycle from sinking into hot asphalt.

That done, I left, drove over to the DMV and had them put the M in the endorsement section of my driver's license. That cost $5 and...I was done.

I am now an authorized rider of motorcycles in the state of Nebraska.

Just Starting The Work On My Motorcycle

My 2009 Road King Classic 1

My 2009 Road King Classic 2

My 2009 Road King Classic 3

My 2009 Road King Classic 4

Random Rider's Edge class

I was looking forward to today's class, because, according to the instructors, we were going to spend a lot more time on the motorcycles and less time in the classroom.

From 7:30 in the morning until about 1 in the afternoon, we were on the bikes and riding. The class went through about 10 exercises, some more difficult than the others. The little Buell Blasts made it all pretty easy, however. I'd hate to have to do some of the low-speed stuff on a full dresser.

One lady dropped her bike twice on her foot. Once after she came to a stop and (I guess) forgot to put her feet down, and once after she forgot to put her kickstand down. Some people learn the hard way.

All the little exercises were fun, and I could definitely tell that I was better at controlling the bike by the end of the day than I was at the beginning.

We had a bit of rain while we were riding, which was sometimes coming down pretty hard. I didn't experience any wheel slip, which was my biggest worry.

Tomorrow, we're going to be on the track the first thing again to practice a bit and take the final riding test. After that, we're going to head into the classroom on the top floor of Dillon Brothers Harley Davidson and take the final written exam. Presumably, after that's done, I can go pick up my motorcycle endorsement and shop for motorcycle insurance.

I pick up my new motorcycle on Friday at 9 in the morning. Can't wait.

Motorcycle Training Course

After waking up, I gathered all the equipment I'd need for the class - one of my helmets, my sunglasses and my gloves - and headed over to Dillon Harley, showing up there at 7:30 in the morning. It was already warm and muggy.

The door to the service entrance was open, and after walking in I was directed upstairs to where the class was going to be held.

A few other people who had signed up to take the class were already in the classroom, watching an introductory video. I was very surprised to see that there were 5 men, the oldest of which was 75, and 5 women, the youngest of which was 19 or so. Most of the other people in the class seemed very interested in buying and riding a Harley-Davidson bike of some kind.

It looks like Harley-Davidson's marketing to women might be paying off?

The instructors were great, they really made everyone feel at home and welcome. They did remind everyone that in order to get on a bike later on that day, we'd have to be fully equipped to ride. Helmet, eye protection, long sleeves, long pants, boots and gloves were all necessary. Because of the heat, I would have preferred to be able to wear some long shorts instead of jeans, but that idea was nixed during an earlier phone call I'd gotten from the safety course instructors.

Did I mention it was already hot at 7:30 in the morning? Did I mention that the temperature was supposed to get up to about 100 degrees? Did I mention how humid it was?

Still, I was excited that I was finally in the class that'd result in me getting my motorcycle license, so I figured I'd suck it up for a few days. The result would be worth it.

After a few "get-to-know-everyone" exercises, we started to go over the Motorcycle Safety Foundation manuals that we'd gotten mailed to us the weeks prior to the class. A lot of the information was review to me, but there were people there who obviously hadn't ridden a motorcycle before so they were getting some valuable info.

Breaks were frequent, but not excessive.

The information presented was useful, and refreshed a lot of what I had known previously but forgotten.

Lunch was at 11:30 and lasted for an hour. Since Dillon Harley is about 5 minutes from my house, I just went back home and ate lunch there. Other people who were taking the course and who didn't live so close to the Dillon Brothers Harley dealership had a good selection of places that they could pick up either fast-food or not-so-fast-food.

After lunch we did some quick review over the common controls of a motorcycle and then headed over to the range, which was right next to the new Dillon Brothers Yamaha, Honda, Suzuki and Kawasaki dealership that was being built right next to the Dillon Brothers Harley dealership. One-stop shopping for just about every motorcycle brand that could interest you. Not bad.

It was about 1:30 or so when we stepped foot on the range, and it was hot - at least 100 degrees hot. And it was humid. I started sweating immediately. Fortunately, I had brought a cooler filled with 4 water bottles, some coke and ice - which I went back to whenever we had a break. By the time we were done, all my drinks were gone.

We each picked out a bike. The motorcycles we were going to learn on were Buell Blasts. A Buell Blast is a smaller sports bike - only 500cc. The bikes had seen better days, which I kind of expected. These are the motorcycles that people train on, after all. They're going to get dropped, and they're not going to be pristine.

The class ran through some directed exercises which looked like motorcycle aerobics. We got on, we got off, we turned the bikes on, we turned the bikes off. From there, we graduated to walking the motorcycles back and forth, learning how they felt. Then we moved to turning them on and finding the clutch friction zone, rocking back and forth.

Fun stuff.

It was a little slow for me, but I could tell that some people were having difficulty with it. Others just needed a little practice and picked it right up.

Eventually we got to go from one end of the course to the other, after which we'd go back to neutral, turn around and do it again. My group was slowed down by two of the people in it, but what are you going to do? Because I was being slowed down a bit, I kind of got a little frustrated with the speed of the class and started to "forget" to shift down to neutral while turning. It all came back to me and I did quite well. I would, at this point, have no problem hitting the street on this little bike.

One of the older gentlemen in the group seemed to have a very hard time controlling his motorcycle. He didn't drop it, but didn't manage to figure out how to get to the point where his feet were up. He also looked like he was having a very tough time turning the thing while he walked. I don't think we'll see him back tomorrow.

Another lady seemed to sort of grasp the concept of letting the bike do the work, but she also seemed to have problems controlling things. It was the whole "slowly let out the clutch and roll the throttle" concept which she struggled with - which is understandable if you've never driven a standard shift. She managed along while we were out there, but when it came time to finish up, she neglected to put the kickstand down while getting off the bike and it fell on her.

I'm not sure we'll see her tomorrow either. We'll see.

Tomorrow, we are going to be out on the course the first thing in the morning, which should help a bit with the heat. We'll have a whole slew of exercises to go through, so I'm hoping to learn something.

At this point, I'm chomping at the bit to get my own motorcycle.

Jason Davis at Dillon Brothers Harley-Davidson is in the process of helping me out with that, and I'll give you more info on that later.

I've ridden a number of times before, but never while actually licensed in the state of Nebraska. For some reason the California license I originally had a motorcycle stamp on didn't transfer that over to the Nebraska license I got when I moved to Omaha. I had a Nebraska permit for a while, but let that lapse.

So while I was shopping for a motorcycle, I was doing it while knowing I'd have to get my motorcycle license sooner or later. If I forgot, my wife would politely remind me, with kind of a cackling undercurrent present in the conversation.

I figured that taking the Rider's Edge course would be the easiest way to go about getting the motorcycle certification. I took it in California and it was a lot of fun. Plus it would be two days off work, riding bikes and hanging out with other potential riders, which is much better than sitting in a housing unit watching inmates - which is what I'd otherwise be doing.

Motorcycle Safety Course

Since cash talks, in early June I put down some actual money down on a bike deposit in the hopes that a spot would open up on an earlier class. That night I was called by Dave Halen, who let me know that they'd had a cancellation for the class scheduled for the 23rd, 24th and 25th of June and asked me if I wanted to be put into the class.

Well, yeah, Dave. Yeah I do.

So now I'm going to get my license sooner, which makes me very happy, because that means I'll get my motorcycle sooner and be able to ride a bit during the summer before the good weather goes away.

My wife has invited me to come with her to Lincoln on Thursday of this week to have lunch with her friend and to take a side trip to Frontier Harley to see what deals they have going on right now. Two co-workers of mine have been singing the praises of Jay Eilts at Frontier Harley, telling me that they won't buy a Harley from anyone else. I suppose I'll have to go see what they're raving about and see if they're right. Since I've already been approved for motorcycle financing through Harley Davidson Financial Services, I can buy from whatever dealership wants me as a customer the most - so we'll see who does, I guess.

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.

Inside Dillon Brothers Harley-Davidson

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.

Mark Gifford - Dillon Brothers Finance Guy

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.