After the longest Monday in recorded history, checking and double checking all of my paperwork for the Driver License visit for Tuesday (to be able to meet Real ID requirements), and waiting through a longish work day Tuesday, I was finally able to get my updated driver’s license with the little letters, “DL-M Motorcycles”.
But this was no time to relax! Off to Reno’s Powersports, the only Ducati dealer in the Kansas City area.
Immediately inside and off to the right was exactly what I was looking for: a Scrambler 800 Icon in Rossi Red. I was hooked up with a salesperson and we started talking about what I was looking for. Sitting on the Scrambler felt great. I did allow the salesperson show me some other brands and motorcycles, but none were right for me (one of them I even banged the inside of my knee getting on and off, which is sensitive).
Besides the paperwork, I also needed to decide how to get it home. Only having something like 12 hours on a motorcycle and all of that in a parking lot, I did not want my first moments to be a nervous 20 mile ride home. They panicked a bit when I asked about delivery, but only because they did not have any slots open that evening.
No problem. I worked from home the next day and eager awaited my shiny new delivery.
Being around 10:30 and right in the middle of work, I had to be a little more patient.
My first ride was soon after, as I put on my motorcycle jacket, gloves, boots, and helmet and rode 1.5 miles to sit down and have a burger before going back home.
Each day, I rode a bit more and a bit farther, getting more comfortable in traffic (really hard to pay attention to both hands, both feet, and all of the cars around you!)
The next week was the first of many commutes into the office (still avoiding highways and interstates at this point)
Despite my concerns early on about not “getting my money’s worth” out of it as the temps turned colder, I just turned to my existing base layers along with some new gloves and other cold weather gear. That winter, I rode to work on a morning that was 25°.
I loved it.
But 5000 miles and 11 months after my Ducati Scrambler arrived: it was time for the next big thing.
Stay tuned!
