DAYS AFTER A MAJOR STORM dumped 16 inches of snow on Faribault, I spotted a motorcycle in the parking lot of a local liquor store. It wasn’t exactly bike riding weather with the temp at around 30 degrees.
Days after the storm, a fleet of city snow removal equipment lined up in front of my home as sunset broke.
Perhaps this Bold North biker had something to prove. Or maybe not.
I snapped a few photos of the bike with my smartphone, not even noticing the expired tabs and the travel bags until I reviewed the photos later. Hey, I’m not one to stand around outside in cold weather without proper warm attire.
Once inside Fareway Spirits & More, I mentioned the bike to the clerk. Turns out it had been sitting in the parking lot for days, moved there from the unplowed street (which is now plowed). She wondered if the abandoned motorcycle might be stolen, but had not phoned police. I didn’t either.
Monday evening the bike was still parked in the same spot in the cold and snowy Bold North of Faribault. From all forecasts I’ve seen, the weather in Minnesota won’t be suitable for riding anytime soon, including on Sunday. Forecasters are already predicting the coldest Super Bowl on record with lows of minus 10 – 15 degrees and a high above zero. If we’re lucky.
UPDATE, 7:15 pm, Tuesday, January 30: The bike, still parked in the same lot, is a Yamaha Star, Arkansas license, so reports the husband who stopped to check this evening.
© Copyright 2018 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
Definitely not motorcycle weather anywhere around you. Brr. Makes me cold just thinking about riding in the snow. Hopefully the bike will be reunited with its owner in time for warmer temperatures.
When the temp reaches around 45 – 50 on a sunny winter day, bikers do ride here in Minnesota. But last week, no, I can’t imagine anyone out and about on a motorcycle.
Bold north! I like it! I guess that would make me the shy north? Milquetoast North? Glad I’m watching the Super Bowl on TV
The Minnesota Super Bowl Committee is marketing Minnesota as “Bold North.” I love that tag because it encompasses our climate, our hardiness, our strength.
Things that make ya go, “Hmmmmm.?!” My brother is a die-hard motorcycle rider, but even he won’t ride at 30 degrees. I can’t help wonder about the circumstances of the person who got it there–stolen or not. I love a good mystery.
I’m with you on loving a good mystery. It’s my favorite genre to read.
That Motorcycle seems to be a mystery, Hopefully the rightful owner will reconnect soon.
I hope so, too. I expect it may end up in the impound lot after the next snowfall in which that parking lot needs to be cleared.
HUMM an expensive piece of equipment to leave behind, you’d think someone would be missing it. So begins the start of a good mystery……………………standing by for any updates…………………
I am doubtful I will learn the story here. But I can ask next time I see the clerk with the initial info.
Interesting images. Fresh snow for a bike is not all a big problem. In December my brother and I drove up to Flagstaff Arizona after meeting out on Interstate 8. In Flagstaff, I called the weather folks and found out we were due to get between 12 and 14 inches of snow in 24 hours. Weather was 4X4 only going east on I-40 but I-40 west was clear (at the time). We came out of the mountains near Seligman AZ, my horns were frozen and wouldn’t work, I was frozen and ice cycles came straight back off the safety bar on my motorcycle. We were on motorcycles. But all that is another story! Drive safe!
I need to know what you were wearing while biking in that type of weather.
Interesting… it makes my bones cold just thinking of that chilly wind
The bike has since been towed. I guess we’ll never know the story behind its abandonment.