At last, the real sign that spring is here and winter is history is that I took the cover off my motorcycle and cranked it up for the first time in 2023.
I'm a moron, though. I waited until I had a place to be and little time to spare to engage in the task of kickstarting a motorcycle that has been hibernating for four months. The euphoria of removing the cover was quickly eclipsed by the letdown of putting the key in the ignition and seeing a blinking key light and no green "neutral" signal. I messed with the gears over and over to make sure the transmission was catching neutral, but nothing was happening.
Last year when I started up the bike for the first time after winter it jumped and nearly knocked me to the ground. I was a double moron because I didn't triple check the gear and just started it up without the clutch or the brakes engaged. I don't know what the experts recommend, but today I took steps to make sure I didn't need medical attention.
The neighbor kids must've been looking out the window and laughing at the gaijin trying to start up his motorbike.
Once I realized it was gonna be a tough wake-up call from the winter sleep, I rolled the bike down the driveway to the street. If I messed up and there was gonna be any mayhem, better in the street than near houses, cars, and kids. And concrete walls.
After a few more kickstarts I got the ol' Yamaha SR started up and let the engine run for a few minutes while I shook off the cover, stowed it in the shed, got my backpack all situated (the main reason for my outing was to return company tech hardware like my old laptop, my old phone, and my team members' mobile wifi routers), and made sure my pockets and zippers were secure.
There are days when I can just slap on the helmet and crank the engine up and go cruising. Today I had to properly check the preparation boxes.
Once the engine was warmed up I hopped on and headed out. It's exactly 10 kilometers to the company and the sun was shining. Plus two of my coworkers who happened to be there today invited me for lunch.
There's this Chinese place down the street front the company that is soooo delicious. We had a fun conversation and I gobbled down a tripe stir fry set with some serious red peppers that made me sweat. I had to leave one behind after eating two. I was borderline hallucinating.
I told my coworkers I was taking the afternoon off, but I just did that so I could get some work done.
And not feel so guilty taking a little extended walking break to enjoy the fully blooming cherry blossoms all over this little part of Izumi Ward Sendai.
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