I had the most amazing day recently. My riding friend asked me to join her on a sunrise hike in a local park, followed by a motorcycle ride out to a late lunch spot. In between, we needed to perform some motorcycle maintenance and change the battery in her bike. We rounded out the day with her joining my family for a home-cooked dinner. Read more below!
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Riding Friends for Life
My friend, Jenn, and I met only a year ago. We were both accompanying our teenage daughters on a trip to Greece and ended up as roommates. We hit it off immediately and had the most amazing trip experiencing food, history, sites, adventures, teenage shenanigans, and more.
It was only later that we started talking about the fact that she had ridden motorcycles since she was 16 and I was looking forward to learning one day.
She was with me when I bought my first motorcycle jacket and gear, encouraged me in parking lots, and led me on 20, 30, and 40-mile trips. She’s my riding friend for life!
*I would always encourage someone to ride with someone else, especially while learning. While there are groups you can probably find in your local community, if you have a friend who happens to ride, that is an excellent place to start.
Morning Hikes and Bikes
Jenn asked me to come with her on a sunrise hike. We went out in the dark and hiked to the top of a hill. I had an emergency blanket with me (they pack small and come in handy in a pinch) and we were able to sit on the hill to watch the sun start the day. We also took that time to chat about what was going on in our lives.
Then we continued through the park for another few miles disturbing some deer (who disturbed us just as much when they shot up and jumped away right in front of us. I didn’t even see them over the brush, but they saw us and probably heard us coming).
On the way back to her house after the hike, we stopped to get her a battery at a local shop so we could ride later that day. We already knew we would need to do our own motorcycle maintenance and she has a lot of experience working on her own motorcycle. So, I got a lesson as well.
It is important to note that anytime you are buying equipment for your motorcycle, whether that is online, over the phone, or at a shop, it is important to check the fitment of the part.
What I mean is, in most cases, you will need to give the make and model of your motorcycle, and if it’s an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) part, especially for a Triumph, you will need to give the last six digits of your VIN. This will help to ensure you will get the part that fits your specific bike.
We did this (or we thought we did) and then headed back to the bike to replace the old battery with the new battery.
Replacing a Motorcycle Battery
For most motorcycles, the battery is under the seat. (They can also be under the fuel tank or somewhere else. You should always check your owner’s manual for the proper motorcycle maintenance requirements and equipment locations.)
To get to the battery, you must remove your seat and this should be locked down and accessible with the key. Once you key it open, the seat should pop up, and at least on our two Triumphs (Jenn has a Street Triple), the seat lifts a little up and then slides straight back.
Put this off to the side and then disconnect the old battery (you’ll need a screwdriver, and make sure you hold onto those bolts).
*At this point, we should have dry-fitted the new battery (put it in and made sure it fit before we went further). We didn’t. We were so excited to ride that before we thought to dry fit, we had moved on to the next step.
Put the battery acid (which comes in a separate plastic container that fits into the ports) in the battery.
Then, connect the battery to a tender to charge it. (This is a link to the tender that I use. I have two of them- one for each bike, in preparation for winterization.)
When the battery is fully charged, you can reconnect the battery to its position. Then check that the bike starts.
Once your bike starts with the new battery in position, put the seat back on (slide it in then push down until it clicks, lock it down with the key).
And you’re ready to go!
Riding Along on a Windy Afternoon
So, in our story, we did have to make a second trip to a different store that had the proper-sized battery. The first one was too tall for the seat to fit, even though Jenn gave the original shop the proper make and model and size requirements. We also just didn’t double-check at the shop. And once the battery acid was in, we couldn’t return it.
But we did get out there. The ride out to a new spot for lunch was about 20 miles with many crosswinds on the way. We were fortunate to have some rolling hills, falling leaves, sunshine, and few cars. We did also pass a few other motorcycles along the way (I actually LOVE being able to greet other motorcyclists with the “wave”). It was a great time and a great ride, but when we got back, it did not take me long to realize how exhausted I was.
We had a nice family dinner and then I went to bed earlier than normal for a Saturday night. I felt truly blessed to have my friend with me doing all the fun things that day. We hiked, we shopped (for motorcycle maintenance parts), we ate, we rode, we talked. That’s all the amazing friend things in one day!
Tell me about your riding friends in the comments!
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