Ray Price Racing Team Announces Retirement

I read yesterday I read that the Ray Price Racing team is retiring... I was sad but not surprised. Immediately I thought back to the times I got to see Ray Price, his bike and the racing team.

I got in to motorcycling too late to actually see Ray at the throttle. But where the race or the bike, you could be sure to see Ray there, actively involved in all aspects of the race.

The first time was in 2005 at the AHDRA (now defunct) in Rockingham. I rode with the Raleigh HOG club and the race was quite an experience. I remember sitting on the concrete seats, listening to the deafening noise as the bikes took off and the stands shook. I never realized those bikes could produce so much noise and power. Amazing.

During events at the Capital City Bikefest, Ray and his crew would fire up the nitro bike. In downtown Raleigh you could feel the building shake for blocks around. Before firing up the bike, the crew would carefully inspect and prepare the bike. Ray was very focused on making sure everything was in place before having the bike fired up.

But when he wasn't occupied the the bike or racing, Ray would take the time to talk to you about anything you wanted. The race team, the bike, motorcycles, anything under the sun. He was never too busy to say hi. And he always had a smile.

Not sure if I'll go to another drag race, Ray Price was my big reason to go. If I do, I know it will be impossible to watch without thinking of Ray and his team...

With Sadness...

Ten years ago I bought my Harley Davidson Road King Classic. I had ridden before but this was the first bike I owed. It opened up a whole new world and passion in me. Since getting the bike, I've been on many adventures, I've met many people, I even became an instructor.

Buying the bike also opened up another world I wasn't expecting. Buying a motorcycle isn't like buying a car, where you go in, haggle over a price, buy the car and leave. Maybe only to return for service if they sold you on that. When I bought the bike at Ray Price Harley Davidson, I met and made friends with the folks at the dealership.

In particular was Brenda in Motorclothes. Our son was just over one year old and Brenda would spoil him every time we walking in the dealership. Through the years, we got to know Brenda and her husband Pete. When we met Pete, he was working in the used parts and clothes shop he had opened for Ray Price. If I would ever walk in the dealership without my son, Brenda would ask where he was. Then she would send me home with Tootsie Rolls for him. We would run into Brenda and Pete at the local Waffle House. We were fortunate enough to celebrate Brenda's birthday with them earlier this year.

About an hour ago I learned that Pete passed away today. I'm really at a loss for what to say. Pete will be missed. Brenda is in our prayers. I'm sad. Our family is sad.

R.I.P. Pete.

morning ride...

took a ride down to ray price hd this morning to pick my t-shirt and assignment for the capital city bikefest, taking place this weekend down in raleigh... can't believe it's already this late in the year!! i'm gonna help out on friday but unfortunately miss all the fun the rest of the weekend...

the ride this morning was a little chillier that i expected - at least i was prepared for it this time!! it got me to thinking about riding this time of year, how the lower temps seem a lot colder when you start moving on a bike. then i got thinking about my ride up to pennsylvainia on saturday. i knew it would be cooler up north. but after riding this morning, i'm thinking it's going to be colder than i am expecting. i believe i'll be packing my heavier coat for the trip.

well, the weather for the bikefest tomorrow is supposed to be terrific. looking forward to that!!

ray price capital city bikefest today….

the ray price capital city bikefest starts today!!

40000…

took the bike to ray price last week for the 40k service… a smaller service this time. the usual fluid change and general inspection of the bike. i did manage to get new spark plugs too.

i have an extended service plan with ray price which is due to expire next month. the service plan has really been a good deal for me. when i got the bike i didn’t know anything about maintenance. over the years i’ve picked a couple things up. next month i’ll be picking up a lot more. and i’m looking forward to it.

the service department at ray price has really taken care of my bike. i’ve been extremely pleased with the service they’ve provided – i feel they’ve gone above and beyond to take care of me and my bike. i would definitely recommend their service department…

for this service i managed to trade my bike for an ultra classic. unfortunately i was only able to get a picture of it on the road…

it’s the one on the left…

great service…

was heading back from the smoke out last weekend when the shift lever shaft stripped. luckily i was close to home and could temporarily fix it by tightening the screw on the backside of the shaft.

i took the bike to ray price tuesday to have the shaft replaced. i asked them to also check the front brakes and do an inspection. when the bike’s dropped off the tech looks over the bike. he noticed that i could also use new tires.

overall i’ve been very pleased with the service i’ve gotten from ray price. i have to give them props for this last experience. it’s nice to know they go above and beyond instead of just settling for getting the job done. it’s always good to have another set of eyes looking over the bike.

and it’s especially nice to have new tires on the bike before i head out for another saddle sore 1000 tomorrow. look for an update next week on how i made out. as well as updates on the smoke out and rolling thunder – on which i’m woefully behind…

37500…

picked up the bike today from ray price after having it serviced… it didn’t as take too long since my last service to rack up the miles. the trip to milwaukee helped that out.

not much done at this service – usual oil and filter change. they even changed the air filter for me. best of all, the bike got cleaned. not as clean as i would have done. but i can’t complain since i didn’t have to do it.

while the bike was in for service i got to cruise around on a 2010 electra glide classic.

35000…

took the bike in to ray price this week to have it serviced… i can’t believe it’s been so long since my last service. only twenty five hundred miles in six months. sad… (I do plan on making up for it over the next several months, though.)

i was actually looking more forward to having it cleaned than the service itself… it’s been a while since it’s been cleaned – since the last service!! considering the long cold winter we had, i can’t be blamed for choosing riding over cleaning…

it was nice to be back on my own bike today. every time i get back on my bike after being on a different one, i like mine so much more. the seating position and the handling feel so right. my wife talks about getting an ultra classic one day. while i do look forward to getting another bike one day, i can’t imagine not having this one to ride.

this service i was hooked up with the same bike i had for my last service. fun to ride the newer model with the updated frame, electronic throttle and larger engine, but nothing new to report. and i guess i can’t complain since this is the first time i’ve gotten the same bike in all the years i’ve been taking the bike in for service…

friday night at bikefest...

looking down fayetteville street...

30000 service…

the trip to dc for rolling thunder finally put me over 30k… and looking back at my last service, i haven’t been riding very much - gotta start riding more…

took the bike to ray price to have them do the service – a big one this time. in addition to the normal oil/filter change, gaskets and plugs, they also, replaced all the brake pads, mounted a new rear tire, replaced the steering head beams and a cam bearing kits. the best part, other than finally getting the bike back was it’s was all free!!! what?!?!?! because i’m a preferred customer. okay, i did have to pay to become a preferred customer, but the cost of this one service was more than i paid to become a preferred customer.

and… the above doesn’t include the cost of the rental i got when my bike was in for service – a crossbones this time.

i like the looks of this bike, the mini-apes, the tires, the solo seat. but i don’t like the ride. what really surprised me at first was how much i feel like i’m sitting *on* the bike. even with my road king, i feel like i’m more in the bike than on the bike.

another thing that really surprised me was the lean angle around corners – as in the non-existence of. i was surprised when i drug the floorboards just leaving the dealership. i don’t know if it’s something i could get used to. of course, i wouldn’t want to think about having to replace the boards every year or so because i ground them off.

i’m glad i got the opportunity to ride the bike as long as i did. the more i rode it, the more i got used to it. but that might have been because i was just itching to ride and, since my bike was in for service, i made due with what was available.

time with the wife…

had a nice ride with the wife last week. recall the earlier post when daughter lost wife’s glove. well, the gloves finally came in and we decided to go pick them up.

being the knucklehead i am, i start heading out the door with car keys in hand. okay, it was early and i was still mentally asleep. mostly due to the fact that i was faced with another day of work and it would be easier to sleep through it!!

we get out to the garage and wife says she thought we were taking the bike. like a deer in headlights, i freeze. hmmmm, bike… it is a pretty day outside, what better way to spend it that riding around with the wife!!! why didn’t i think of that?? suddenly awake, i head inside and change into more appropriate riding attire…

we hop on the bike and head to ray price. but not without a stop at waffle house first. i think that’s going to be a recurring theme here – what’s better than riding and toppin’ off the tummy with some scattered hash browns all the way?? the waitress didn’t think i was serious and was surprised i finished off the whole plate.

with full tummies, we made our way to ray price. when ms. brenda presented the gloves daughter ordered for her, wife wasn’t real keen on them. no surprise there. so i encouraged wife to pick out another pair. ironically, the pair she ended up choosing is one pair we looked at and thought she wouldn’t like. go figure!!! not only that, wife ended up picking up another pair of lighter gloves for summer riding. in the end, wife ended up with two pairs of gloves and daughter got the pair we originally ordered for wife.

after staying at ray price much longer than i expected, we decided to head home. the weather was awesome and i could have spent the whole day riding around with my wife… unfortunately work was calling and i had to get back… with that, i faced the bike north and started riding off…

the thought of work must have put me back to sleep… as we’re approaching a split in the road, i’m in the lane for the most direct route home. wife leans forward and suggested the longer, scenic route home. nice idea… i do a quick head-check and jump over a couple lanes to take the other fork…

once the road slimmed down to two lanes, i rolled off the throttle a little and took my time getting home – enjoying the beautiful scenery and sharing the ride with my wife… it got me thinking about a few years down the road – when the kids are grown (out of the house) and we can spend more time together. just heading out at the spur of the moment. much like we used to do when we were dating. i miss those days. and i look forward to them again…

chili today…

finally got around to taking my first ride of the year… ray price was having their polar bear run and chili cook-off today, so i decided to head down there…

the problem with the polar bear run, and it seems to happen each year, is the weather doesn’t turn out to be polar bear weather. which really isn’t a bad thing. it got into the 60s today, which made for some really great riding. and in hindsight, i probably should have taken a longer ride through the country rather than head downtown…

although, with the chili cook-off, i can’t say it was the wrong choice. we got to taste from eleven different entries, some really good and, well, some not so good. two or three were really bad, i couldn’t finish the small helping i had. most were average with three really standing out. i did manage to get seconds of those so i could do a final run off to make my choice. all three had great flavor, but i think it was the versatility of the one chili i liked the most. i could see myself eating it by itself as a meal or throwing it on top of a couple hot dogs…

i tried to get a couple pictures… unfortunately it was my first day with a different camera and i was having problems taking pictures. turns out i was in video mode and have a lot of footage of the ground. here’s what i was able to get…

so after filly my belly with chili, it was time to head home… wife needed me to pick up some stuff for dinner and on the way to the store, i passed one of the most beautiful (inanimate) sites i’ve ever seen…

first, some background… there’s been some new construction around one of the nearby gas stations… i’ve been trying to figure out what it could be. the footprint is very similar to bojangles, but too narrow in my opinion. so for a couple weeks i’ve been trying to figure out what it could be… of course they won’t put a sign in front to help anyone out…

and today, the mystery was revealed!!! a good ol waffle house!!

what a great day for riding it turned out to be…

27500 service...

hard to believe i'm at the 27500 mile service... i've been able to squeeze in a lot of good riding this year. would like to be able to hit 30k by the end of the year, but don't know if i'll make that.

when i think back on the miles i've put on so far this year, the thought quickly changes from the number of miles to the journeys i've taken. some planned, more unexpected, all good... it really does come down to the quality and not the quantity. although having the quantity opens more opportunity for quality...


when i picked up my bike, randy, the service manager at ray price, helped me out... what impresses me about him is he seems to know and care about his customers. as soon as he came downstairs, he knew who i was and greeted me by name. he always has a positive attitude and will take the time to talk to customers. it'd be nice if more people were like that...

while my bike was in, i got to ride around on an '09 road king. i was looking forward to testing out the new model because of the changes to the frame. let me say, what a nice bike...

the riding position is a little higher. i didn't know if i would like it or not. after riding for a few minutes, i got used to it and it didn't bother me. the bike certainly feels bigger with the larger tank. i think it's more of a perception thing because the bike wasn't any harder to handle. that may be due to the new frame...

the bike seems more balanced. i don't know if that was my imagination or the new frame. but i like it. i liked the power the bike had. nothing outrageous, but pretty peppy.

i've been liking the changes harley's been making to their bikes over the last few years. it gets me closer and closer to wanting a new one. this road king really put me even closer to that feeling. of course there's that part of me that says wait, see what they come up with next...

then reality kicks in and says there are too many other things before a new bike... but it doesn't hurt to look and dream...

here are a couple pics of the road king...

 

  

  

captial city bike fest...

capital city bike fest - 26-27 September 2008

sites from the bike fest

buffalo bike...

yes, it can actually be ridden...

nationwide insurance bikes...

car powered by harley...

not sure if this would be classified as a motorcycle or car...

pole dancers...

rat bike...

widow maker cdr...