By Joe Tatulli
At this stage of my motorcycle life it only takes a few hours to get my gear staged, the bike prepped, and to make the mental notes necessary so the trip is more about the ride, rather than about worrying that I may have missed some insignificant detail. The week before our departure on Sunday, October 11th I had the good fortune of riding on a new set of tires and a fresh oil and filter change. Valentina was all set and ready to go. Or so I thought.
Saturday, October 10, 2026
Saturday usually starts with a ride to breakfast somewhere in the area and ends with a visit to my sister’s place in Lincoln, RI. We talk while she watches the bread dough rise for the bread and pizza she hopes to make on Sunday. It’s a nice time to catch up and hang out for an hour or so. Saturday the 10th was no exception. When it was time to head home, I said my goodbyes and headed out to the bike. It wouldn’t start.
I tried three or four times. It’s a keyless ignition. Hit the ignition button. Make sure the transmission is in neutral. Hit the start button. Nothing. All my deepest fears were becoming reality. I thought I was ready to go and now this. I waited ten minutes and tried again. Nothing. The dashboard would light up, but it was gray with lots of strange icons and weird symbols. Everything was doom, despair, and misery. Time to call Bill.
I took a video of what was happening on the dashboard, sent it to Bill and called. “Joey your battery is dead.” I was in complete denial. It couldn’t be the battery. Something much worse was happening. I explained in great detail each step I had taken, and how all this crazy stuff had appeared on the dashboard, and how the lights would flicker on and off when I hit the start button, and all the strange icons, etc. etc. When I finally stopped talking there was silence. I said, “Bill are you there?” Bill said, “Are you done?” “Yes.” “You’re lucky I didn’t just hang up on you. Your battery is dead. You need a new battery. Is there a Walmart near Denise’s?” I asked my sister if there was a Walmart nearby and there was. She asked me what was wrong with the bike. “The battery’s dead,” I said.
We were in the car in two minutes and headed over to the Walmart on 146A just a few minutes from her house. Just a mile from the house my phone rang. It was Bill. “Do you have the old battery with you?” “I do not,” said I. “I would take that with you to be sure the size is right.” “Thanks, roger that.”
I know, I know, you are all saying the same thing. “Joey, the battery is dead.” Well Walmart had the exact battery I needed for $99.00. I connected everything back up, said goodbye again, and off I went. All was well with the world. When I got home I called Bill and thanked him for his help and patience. “If you hadn’t gone to your sister’s place you would have had the dead battery tomorrow morning,” Bill said. “Yup. I thank God for my sister, and for you too.”
Sunday, October 11, 2026
The weather was looking okay, gray and not great, but okay. There was rain here and there up north but if things worked out just right, we would miss it. The four of us were meeting at Dunkin 6/102 at 7:30am.
The other great thing I’ve experienced this year and last is my heated shirt from Warm & Safe. I can’t tell you enough about how this has revolutionized my cool and cold weather riding. I tried the Gerbings gear, the Aerostich Kanetsu jacket, nothing worked for me. Last October was my first trip with the Warm & Safe shirt and it was awesome. Real warmth for my arms and torso. Now I’m headed to Dunkin, and NO HEAT! Crap!
I remembered when I was reconnecting everything yesterday that there was one wire that seemed like it should go on the hot post and not the ground side of the battery, but maybe not. Perhaps that would do it. I got to Dunkin and waited for the other guys to arrive. Bill and Bryan arrived. I asked Billy about the wire, and he said that it was probably the issue. Then he said, “Me and Bryan are going back to the house. His front wheel is on backwards. Not the tire, the wheel.” Yikes! Ray Goppold arrived as they left. I moved the wire to the correct (I hoped) post, we had our coffee and when Bill and Bryan got back we headed out. I dialed up the heat and sure enough I had heat.
Thinking back to yesterday at my sister’s place and now, with even a new battery and the heat warming my bones, I was very thankful to be out and about heading north for a couple of days of fun on the bike.
To be continued.
