During the past 6 months of practicing the Art of Motorcycling, I have learned and experienced many unique things. What I hadn’t expected to learn, and experience is time spent when your motorcycle can’t…well…be a motorcycle. For the past 3 weeks, my Moto Morini 650cc Scrambler was parked in my mom’s garage, not motorcycling; a shadow cast against the wall. I would occasionally sit on my Moto Morini and envision myself cruising around the Lowcountry, seeing sweet sites and hitting some dirt roads. But my crash on New Year’s Eve created a huge hole in my life. I had to figure out life without motorcycling. A lack of throttle time was difficult. Time away from my bike did provide me opportunities to invest in reading and writing about motorcycles. I also found myself watching short films on riding and even watched YouTube videos of riding motorcycles in different countries. Even without seat time, I spent my time learning how to improve as a motorcyclist kept me encouraged that I would successfully return to riding in the future.
Watching the U-Haul employee hook up the motorcycle trailer to the hitch on my Mom’s Outback gave me a brief window of returning to the road on two-wheels. But I have never towed a trailer before much less a motorcycle trailer. Add to the fact that I would need to load and unload my Moto Morini onto the trailer really blew my mind. Driving down Spring Street in Downtown Charleston with an empty motorcycle trailer and hearing the loud bangs as the trailer tires hit bumps made me sweat. “Could I do this?” I thought. I will say that driving a trailer forward is not as hard as I thought. But, backing up a trailer into a driveway is a whole other level of trailer experience. Quickly I learned you have to reverse engineer your driving habits when backing up a trailer. Turn left to go right. Turn right to go left. I had a headache after I got the motorcycle trailer parked on my mom’s driveway.
Lucky for me I had a set of ratchet straps to tied down my Moto Morini to the U-Haul motorcycle trailer early Friday morning. I have been using the ratchet straps the past 6 months during times when I lifted my Moto Morini on my motorcycle lift. Once I secured the bike it was time to travel to Charleston Triumph. Would I make it out the driveway without the Moto Morini falling over? Would I do more damage to my bike before it got repaired? Do I need to hookup my trailer lights? All of these questions floated through my thoughts as I pulled out of the driveway from my mom’s house. Checking the rear-view mirror and seeing my Moto Morini upright as I traveled through James Island and West Ashley feeling more confident as each mile passed.
Arriving at Charleston Triumph I knew God was with me. The ride was not too bad. Traffic was light. The weather perfect. Once I arrived, I thought I was good to go. Walking into the dealership I spoke to Lowell who had been my point of contact for synching up repairs for the Moto Morini. Then he said something that made me sweat in places I don’t wish to mention. Lowell said, “just back up the trailer to the back of the shop and I will meet you there”. Back up the trailer? Avoid parked cars? Does he know I only have two hours of motorcycle trailer experience? “Ok, no problem” I said. I think it took less than 10 minutes to back up the trailer, but those 10 minutes were the most stomach-turning moments of my life.
Unloading the Moto Morini at my mom’s house with a new gear shifter, gear shifter adjustment bar, lubed clutch cable, clean and lubed transmission chain felt euphoric. I had completed my mission of towing my Moto Morini by myself. This feeling is what I love about motorcycling. How you must overcome specific odds against you. Having experienced this sensation I know I will be prepared for what happens next. I feel that if shit goes bad, I can handle it. My advice to everyone is that when you start something new in your life and it takes a turn, don’t worry, just rent a motorcycle trailer from U-Haul and all will be fine.
Rolf