DL1000 MPG, Part One

[Hubert Few]

More than one way to skin a cat I reckon:

>This may be a long offering....if you want the "bottom line" go to the
bottom line, or somewhere close to it.
>
>One day, early morning actually, I'm thinking it was a week ago Tuesday, I
forget....I felt like going for a ride.
>
>A number of factors seemed to suggest it wasn't the best time to go. 1)
didn't have enough money for gas if I ran completely out 2) a lot of gas
stations were out of gas 3) approaching front from the west promised
rain....if I headed east I figured I could count on riding back home in the
rain....no biggie, put my rainsuit in the tank bag.
>
>Bottom line, when you really NEED to go for a ride, that is what you do.
>
>Eyed the two 5-gallon cans of gas I had filled up for use in the lawn
maintenance biz. Put the bike on the centerstand, grabbed one of the cans
and filled the tank to the brim, about 3 gallons worth. Checked and
adjusted tire pressure, 42 rear, 38 front (yeah I know, save if for someone
who cares) chain tension good and freshly lubed.
>
>at around 4am I pulled out of the driveway.
>
>"East" I thought, that will be different, but what the hey.
>
>It was not yet a conviction that this would be a "mileage run"...good
thing because I managed to catch every light RED in the first ten miles, no
problem, stop, look around, proceed....I would have loved for some dipshit
road cop to try and write me a ticket for doing something that makes
perfect sense....fortunately I don't have to. Anyway, each start and stop
was transacted with very conservative braking, application of throttle and
I never revved it past 4K rpm the whole trip....My first confession as to
how this isn't the typical outing on the DL.
>
>20 miles into the trip I start to see glimpses of stuff other than the
typical urban sprawl around here...."anywhere USA" I call it, car
dealerships, burger joints, blah blah blah, the "best" modern civilization
has to offer, about as inspiring as someone else's farts.
>
>But what of that.
>
>Athens GA is about 45 miles from where I live. In a rare moment of
"planning" I decide it would be best to make SURE I make the turn for the
by-pass as there is nothing in Athens which appeals to me even if it were
my destination, which it isn't.
>
>In typical moment of cynicism I remark to myself "go dogs", my personal
tribute to "UGA" as I make the turn for the by-pass....like I give a shit.
>
>Now I'm 60 or so miles into the trip, clipping along at a blistering 56mph
(corrected) in 6th gear. A well tuned DL1000 will do this all day long with
no sweat or complaint, in fact (some may wish to cover their ears) with a
185 lb. rider (I have weighed as much as 230 lbs. in the past 12 months) on
fairly level terrain, she'll bee-bop along nicely in 6th at 45mph...believe
it, or don't! I've know this for quite some time but this is probably the
first ride where it became a mantra and mission statement.
>
>Mostly this ride was about escape...escape from the demons in my own head.
Soon the therapy begins to work. I begin to take notice of the fact that
not everyone lives in the same contemptable surroundings that I
do.....there is a sort of "openness" about rural life that is soothing.
People's shit is laying around with seemingly little regard for theives and
the harsh judgements inflicted by other's whose lives lack meaning. (my
assessment of sub-urban life, suits my particular needs) The whole place
positively reeks of humans doing stuff more or less in harmony with their
surroundings.
>
>With this rural openness comes other realizations and experience. You can
actually tell that someone LIVES in the scattered houses and what interests
them. You can freely absorb the various clues as to what their daily lives
must be like because the clues are not hidden the way they are around here.
the threat of approaching darkness seems to bring an especially high level
of secrecy in suburbia, or at least my little corner of it. I can go for a
ride around here at times and there is absolutely no indication the houses
are occupied, save for the eerie blue glow escaping from around the tightly
drawn window shades. I imagine that would be something of a mystery to
visitors from another planet....what IS that blue glow coming from? They
might try to understand the POWER it must hold over people's lives, some
sort of "religion" they might rightly conclude.
>
>But what of that....
>
>I become absorbed in this marvelous "here and now" experience. The
experience tempts one with the need to somehow "record" it for posterity.
The folly of that notion surfaces as quickly as the need exits. 
>
>At some point I decide to turn south on a paved two-lane state
road....naturally I don't remember the road number or location...doesn't
matter. For the past two hours or so about the only "threat" of substance I
felt being the possibility of a chance encounter with deer. I had already
passed one fresh roadkill...a four point buck. I briefly consider the
possibility of dragging it off into the bushes and returning with my pickup
truck. I decide not to, mostly because I am not a big fan of deer meat or
the way the insides of mammals smell when gutted. Like most people I'd just
as soon leave that task to someone else....although given the prices these
days of even the toughest cuts of cow meat, it's something of a moot point.
I decide to start packing a sharp serrated knife,  small bone saw and a
garbage bag for future early morning rides. I figure if an animal is killed
needlessly, at least someone ought to take a portion of it and eat it,
wouldn't even have to go through the dread "gutting" thing....just take a
hindquarter.
>
>I digress....again.

Continued in "Part Two"