saturday at shelton's...

we weren't doing much... contemplating how we were going to spend the day when my wife suggested a ride on the bike. now what's not to like about that?? spend some time on the bike. and, more importantly, with my favorite person.

we decided to head out to shelton's. the local hog club was having their annual chili cook-off and bike show. we called up our neighbor's to see if they wanted to ride out as well.

our neighbor lead us on back roads out to durham. when we got to shelton's, the place was getting packed. they had closed the road to cars (although some knuckleheads were still driving through), and were parking bikes along the side of the road.

we parked, hopped off the bikes and started walking towards the dealership, admiring the bikes along the way. i really wish i would have brought my camera. (sure would have made this post more interesting!!!)

after making our way in, we head for the chili. they were soliciting a dollar for the tasting. unfortunately my wife and i didn't have any cash. yeah, only two bucks and we don't have it. the pitfalls of living in an electronic world. i didn't see any card swiper device near the chili table, so we passed on the chili tasting. although i don't think we missed much since there were only two pots. looked like there had been more. i don't know if people just backed out or ran out of chili quickly.

it reminded me of the time we went to ray price for their chili cook-off. we got there about ten minutes after the event started and they were already out of chili. i don't know, seems you should have enough chili to last at least an hour...

after getting dissed on the chili, we headed over to the hot dog tent. free dogs and soda. i'm there... after choking down two dogs and a water, we decided to check out the bike show.

of course they had the whole range of bikes. some really nice bikes, some average bikes, and some bikes you wonder why people even put them in the show. maybe they're hoping to win because no one else put a bike in that category. now is when i really wish i would have brought my camera.

while making my way through the bikes, i ran into hank from widow maker custom design and repair. i think he's becoming my local favorite builder. not that i've really had a favorite, but i really like his builds. i spoke to him for a bit and need to follow up with him about getting one of his work shirts.

after visiting all the bikes and casting votes in each category... well, every category except one. i can't remember which category it was, but it only had one bike and it wasn't worth using the graphite from the pencil to make the mark on the paper. i cast my vote for eMVee as best in show.

since it was getting cloudy, our neighbors decided to head home and try to beat the rain. since we had our rain suits in the saddlebags, my wife and i decided to go into the dealership so i could pick up another free neck gaiter. which i've been using more as a beanie - makes a heck of a hat.

i was a little concerned with our decision because i know my wife hates to ride in the rain and really, really hates to get cold. but we decided to head in and check out the dealership. after walking around and watching more and more people stream inside because of the threat of rain, we decided it might be time for us to make tracks home.

when we get to the bike, we start hem-hawing about whether we need our rain gear. it's only sprinkling, very lightly. and it looks like it might pass over. what the hell?? let's ride. if it gets bad enough, we'll pull over and gear up...

the light sprinkle never really let up on the ride home. it didn't get worse either. the question became whether we would be able to make it home before the rain soaked through our clothes. i kept telling my wife to let me know if she wanted to pull over and gear up. if we waited too late and our clothes got too wet, there wouldn't be much use putting the gear on. the other problem was there really wasn't a good place to pull over... so we rode...

it turned out to be a really nice ride. sure it was raining, but this riding in the rain really isn't too bad. best of all, my wife really seemed to enjoy it. or at least she didn't mind it!! i'm sure that given the choice between riding in the sun and riding in the rain, she'd choose riding in the sun. but i don't think she'd choose not riding over riding in the rain.

the best part of the day was being able to share time with my wife - which doesn't seem to happen too much when you have kids to run all over the place... i'm looking forward to spending more time with her. and maybe one day we can even get away for a trip on the bike...

new shoes and a hat...

took the bike in for new shoes yesterday... had planned on getting both the front and rear replaced. rear needed replaced - it was in the red zone on the depth gauge. front was getting close - still in the green, but barely.

but more important than the gauge was my comfort factor... i just didn't have the confidence riding through corners. i realize i probably still had more traction going through corners that i would use, but i wasn't confident. and since motorcycling is mostly mental, i was putting myself at a disadvantage...

checking in at the dealer, their suggestion was to only replace the rear since the front still had a little left. i suggested since i had the bike in and it was close enough, i would prefer to have both replaced, even though the front probably still had some miles left in it. check-in dood says we'll let the service-dood decide. fair enough.

the bike heads towards service and i head into the dealership to pick up my free neck gaiter from buell. (note to self: check the neck gaiter link to see if it's still valid after the offer expires.) unfortunately the weather hasn't been cold enough for me to use it riding. although i did get to use it once as a beanie - worked nicely...

i decided to check out grips for the handlebar replacement i'll be doing soon. my goal was mostly to narrow down my choices. a quick scan ruled a lot out quickly. and it didn't take long to get it down to one. guess picking them out is going to be easier than i thought.

with not much else to do in the dealership, i head back to service to read a couple motorcycle rags until the bike is ready. while i'm waiting, service-dood comes out and asks about replacing the front. i could tell he's a little hesitant to replace it. he says there are a few miles left in it. when i tell him i've already got over twenty grand on it, he strongly suggests i should wait. and since i only have two thousand before my next service - i decide to go with that. when i take it in for the next service, it will definitely be replaced. while i was mostly concerned about the rear, i'll definitely feel a lot better when both are finally replace.

after a new tire and clutch adjustment, the bike comes out and is ready to ride. it feels good. i certainly have more confidence in the bike again.