Urban Boondocking and the Harley-Davidson Riding Academy

For the first time in over three months, the van has moved! Much to my surprise, we found ourselves camping in the Pig Trail Harley-Davidson parking lot over Labor Day weekend while Melissa went through the Harley-Davidson Riding Academy. How did things come to be this way? Let’s back up a bit.

The best way, and in some states the only way, to earn your motorcycle license is to take the Motorcycle Safety Foundation Basic RiderCourse. They start from nothing, teach the fundamental operation of the controls, move on to countersteering and slow tight turns, and by the end, you’re able to do some pretty intense maneuvers, like emergency swerves and quick stops. Passing the test at the end usually waives the state road test or even earns your motorcycle endorsement automatically, depending on the state. I wish driver education for cars worked this way, since they teach you how to actually control the vehicle, something that’s sadly lacking in many drivers on the road. Remember when staying in your own lane without electronic aids to do it for you was a fundamental skill to get your driver’s license?

The only school within a vaguely reasonable distance of here was one offered through the Harley-Davidson Riding Academy at Pig Trail Harley-Davidson in Rogers, a bit over an hour away. They take the MSF Basic RiderCourse, wrap it in a Harley-Davidson package, and offer it through their dealers across the country. It’s a brilliant bit of marketing. More than anything, H-D wants to bring people into their dealers and put them on their motorcycles, because that’s how they make money. They’re a big enough company that having a complete in-house school makes a lot of sense, tapping into the Harley-Davidson brand for those who are fans and doing a “soft sell” for people who go through the school and are not Harley people. Melissa and I are not Harley people, but we were welcomed regardless and only received a little bit of friendly ribbing that, hopefully, we’ll end up on a Harley someday. Honestly, that could happen.

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Our trip actually started early Friday morning. Melissa had to work, and then only had a two-hour break before the classroom portion of the class, so there was no time to drive home and go back. Plus, after class let out at 9 PM, she had to be back before 8 AM to get on the bike and ride. The hour-plus drive each way would’ve made her too tired, so it made sense to take the van and urban boondock in Rogers for the weekend. We made as many preparations for warp speed as possible Thursday night, and then I drove her to work in Springdale early Friday morning. After that, I got coffee, an oil change I was due for, and found a nice park to hang out in for a while and got some work done.

It felt strange to make the sudden switch from life at Melissa’s place back to the urban boondocking routine I’ve done many times in the past. It was no problem searching for places where I could spend the day while she was at work. I even had a series of permissive Walmarts and Cracker Barrels lined up for our overnight stays. It just felt weird being back on the road again, even if only for a few days. I might be getting used to staying put with Melissa.

Around lunchtime, I picked up a few groceries, including sandwich makings for myself over the weekend. Melissa’s lunch on Saturday was included with the class, but I needed to feed myself. Then, I hung out at another park for the afternoon. Lister seemed to enjoy the change of scenery and new grass to chew on.

Finally, I drove back to Melissa’s work and parked out front (the parking lot was too small for the van to fit in it) until she was finished. We had an early dinner at Fuzzy’s Taco Shop, then continued on to Pig Trail H-D. We got lucky with our timing. Fuzzy’s was empty so service was fast, and a traffic backup on I-49 started just after our exit, not before. A few people were late to class because they got stuck in the backup as it grew.

I hung out and watched videos in the van while Melissa was in class, not unpacking anything because my plan was a late-in, early-out at a nearby Walmart for the night. I’d mentioned in passing that it would be really convenient if we were allowed to spend the night in the dealer parking lot and thought nothing more of it. Melissa, being the direct person that she is, simply explained the camper van situation to the instructors and asked if we could stay. They said yes! I’m not about to go put Pig Trail H-D on iOverlander as a free overnight parking spot for anyone to use, but in our case, we had explicit permission to stay. So that’s how we came to camp out in the Harley dealer parking lot for the weekend.

I won’t go into a lot of detail about the class itself. For one thing, this is a van life website. For another, I will be going into a lot of detail about the class in an article for ADVRider, which I’ll try to remember to link here once it’s written and published. What I will say is that it was two intense days of learning, mostly on the bikes. I’d intended to mostly keep to myself during the class to not be disruptive, but the instructors invited me to hang out, and Melissa liked having me there, so I ended up spending most of my time watching and taking pictures and videos. (I’m going to put together a 1980s action hero training montage sequence of Melissa becoming a badass biker chick.)

It was a long, grueling weekend for her. But it was all worth it in the end. She passed!

Strangely, the state of Arkansas still requires her to take the state’s written test for a motorcycle endorsement. Most states I know of accept the MSF class as a full replacement for their testing, including the written portion. But that test should be easy, and she’s already completed the riding skills test. Most importantly, she’s learned how to ride a motorcycle. It was amazing to watch her go from not knowing how to turn the bike Saturday morning to effortlessly weaving through cones and speeding through sweeping turns on Sunday. She’s ready to ride her KLR.

We had a celebration dinner at Chuy’s, then decided to spend one last night in the Harley dealer parking lot instead of rushing to get home before dark. They were closed on Labor Day, so we wouldn’t even have to rush to leave before opening to not be in the way. This let us enjoy one last sunset together in one of the most unlikely locations I’ve ever parked overnight.

It was a leisurely trip home Monday morning. The roads were quiet, and it felt good to let the van stretch its legs a bit for the first time in months. We got parked, plugged in, and a little bit of camp set up. Most importantly, I moved the motorcycles to their usual parking in front of the van. Now, both bikes and both riders are ready to ride.