trip report - tail of the dragon...

what a busy but great two days... before i get too far into the trip, i again have to send props and thanks out to my wonderful wife. without too much detail, the kids were out of school, i was on vacation and we were supposed to do something as a family. well, appointments were scheduled during the week and we never did plan something for the family. instead, my wife talked me into taking a couple days and riding the dragon. although that's probably not totally true... my original plan was to hold out and not go - especially since we were supposed to do something as a family. my wife kept talking about me going and the thoughts of riding the dragon became too much - the next thing i knew, i was agreeing to go... so, my plan fell through - but i wasn't complaining...

wednesday morning i packed up the bike for my overnight trip. i left around noon, figuring that would give me plenty of time to get to hickory by 1600. plans were to meet doug at the hooters in hickory. he was spending the morning having his bike serviced in charlotte. i tried to get my bike serviced before i left, but it was kinda short notice. i called the dealership tuesday afternoon but they couldn't get me in that evening. the guy did offer for me to drop the bike off wednesday morning and he could get it back to me by friday... uhhhh, that's not gonna work. so, i'll get it serviced after the trip...

it was a little after three when i got to hooters. doug was already there - which surprised me a little since i wasn't expecting him until closer to four. this was either going to give us an earlier start on the rest of the trip, or some extra time to kill a few drinks at hooters. we ended up doing both... we killed a little time having some leisurely conversation and a couple drinks. i had never really thought about it, but the place is a little slow in the late afternoon/early evening. i was tempted to get my camera from the bike, but there really wasn't much reason...

after the few drinks, it was time to saddle up and head out. we managed to get going before four. the earlier start was good because it would be late by the time we got to the "inn" and it would be dark. not that i necessarily mind driving in the dark, i'm just not so sure about in on unfamiliar, twisty mountain roads.

we decided to take i-40 / rt 74 / rt 129 to get to robbinsville. we had reservations at the two wheel inn - which was just south of robbinsville. the trip from hickory to robbinsville was about four hours. while we wanted to get there, we did take our time and make it a leisurely journey. i took the lead towards the end of the trip because it was getting dark and i seem to have particularly bright lights.

we ended up missing the turn off for the inn. how the heck are you supposed to find a driveway on a two lane road in the dark without some sort of sign?? well, they do have a sign, but it's apparently not lit up at night. figgers... so we turn around and pull up to the office. as we're reading the notes taped to the office door, one of the owners comes around the corner. seems they had just closed the office and were heading home for the evening. instead of just bolting out of there, she showed us our rooms, and opened the garages for our bikes. yes, garages for our bikes.



the neat thing about the two wheel inn is every room has a garage for your bike. it's a really nice set up - and what more could you ask for?? towels to clean your bike?? they supply those. it's great being able to store the bike away for the evening. i would highly recommend the two wheel inn to anyone traveling in the area.

after unloading the bikes and getting them into the garage, we relaxed for a couple minutes. it was probably getting on ten and we were getting tired. the ride out was about 380 miles. a good ride i would say. weather was nice, not too many idiots on the road - the kind of ride you want to have...

thursday morning was up by six. kinda sleeping in for me since i normally get up at five thirty. even after the longer ride the day before, i felt rested. i peeked outside to see a fairly dreary day - i was hoping it was mostly fog and it wouldn't turn to rain. if it does rain, will i still ride the tail of the dragon?? i guess part of that would depend on how hard it was raining. assuming it wasn't raining hard enough to make it a total bust, would i still ride?? since this is my first time riding it, i would be real hesitant. in fact, i might not ride it - but that would be a bust after riding all the way out here. i'll keep my fingers crossed this is just a foggy morning and it will burn off.

i killed some time watching the news and waiting for doug. we didn't plan a specific time, so i wasn't sure what time doug would get going. i guess it didn't really matter since we weren't tied to a schedule - which is one of the beauties of motorcycling. as i was waiting, the fog was starting to burn off. they were calling for some rain, but later in the day. looks like it's going to be a good day for a great ride.

we killed an hour or two waiting for the fog to burn off. it was burning off, but slowly. we packed up the bikes, checked out of the rooms and caught some breakfast before heading up to the tail of the dragon. by the time we finished breakfast, the fog was pretty much gone and i was ready for the day.

doug led the way to the tail of the dragon. i find it's a little easier following someone on unfamiliar roads. you can watch then to see which way the road goes and you can judge the appropriate speed if they are slowing down or speeding up.

the roads leading up to the tail of the dragon are nice. not too twisty - enough to lean the bikes a bit through the turns. as we get closer, the turns start getting tighter. now i'm trying to imagine what the twists and turns are like on the dragon. will they be too much?? you hear about people wrecking... and there is the tree of shame...


but plenty of people have ridden it without problems. no need to psych myself out - if i just ride within my limits, pay attention to what i do, i will have no problems. besides, this ride up to the dragon is practice.

until we cross fugitive bridge. then the road narrows and the turns are tighter. the turns must seem tighter because the road is narrower. whatever, i figure this is going to be the way it is. besides, this is probably mild compared to the way it is. no need to panic - doug and i already said we were going to take it slow. at least the first time through.

we're cruising along the winding road, twists and turns... we pass a sign, "stay in your lane." a reminder this is a double yellow line, two lane road. then another sign, "do not cross the centerline." i don't actually remember if there were skulls and crossbones on the sign, but i do remember some sort of message of death for failing to heed the signs. hmmmmmmm, must the beginning...

twists and curves... just concentrating on the road - applying what i know about turns and counter steering... looking ahead at the line i want to follow into the turn. after the first couple curves, i can feel myself getting into a groove. of course, the more relaxed i am, the better i ride. this is actually a lot of fun. now i can understand what all the hype is about.

i'm managing to stay on my side of the double yellow, which was probably my biggest concern. i realize going off on the shoulder side of the road wouldn't necessarily be a walk in the park, but crossing the double yellow is worse in my mind. at one point, we had three or four cruisers pass us in the opposite direction. the last one was crossing the double yellow into our lane - that was not a good feeling. and now i really understand why they say not to cross the double yellow.

we were cruising along at what i think is a decent speed - especially our first time through. before i know it, i'm being passed by a sport bike. didn't even see this guy coming, next thing i know, he's between doug and me. he stays there for a couple curves and then passes doug. boom, he's gone. i can't necessarily say i agree with what he did... but i never did feel that my safety or riding was compromised by what he did - he didn't interfere with me at all. i guess i can't blame him for wanting to go faster and he managed to do it without affecting me. let him...

before long, we're pulling off at an overpass. kind of a nice break, but i was hoping to ride the whole dragon without stopping. well, i really can't complain, i needed a potty break, which some low-lying shrubs provided great cover. besides, the view was so beautiful.





after admiring the view and exchanging pleasantries with others, we hopped back on the bikes to ride to the end. i decided to lead the rest of the way... we didn't get too far before we realized the overlook we just left was the end. so we found a nice place to stop and turn around. funny, in what seems like the middle of nowhere, we find the official tennessee state toilet.


we're heading back and i'm in the lead... we only got to the overlook before we stopped again. this time it was because we were behind a ridiculously slow cage. not that we were trying to speed back through or anything, but the vehicle was going so slow i could have probably walked faster!!! we decided to let it get some distance before heading out again.

after a couple minutes of watching people come and go, we decided it was our turn again. i took the lead as we pulled out. this time through, i was going a little faster. although to someone who's ridden the dragon a few times i probably looked like a snail going through. it was fast enough for me. i seemed to take the curves a bit faster, dragging the floorboards a couple times. i was definitely enjoying the ride.

there were more people out as we rode back. some riding, some pulled over on the side of the road at pullovers. at one of the larger pullovers, there were quite a few bikes pulled over. i glanced at them, resisting the urge to watch - fearing i would end up with them instead of still on the road. as i passed them, i noticed one bike in the ditch. although it was a quick glance, what i think i remember was a white bike, harley davidson, female rider, she appeared to be okay, and there were two or three other people over there helping her. i do remember thinking how lucky the rider was to have not gone over the other side of the road.

we reached the end and we pulled into the deal's gap motorcycle resort to stretch our legs, take some pictures, buy some mementos, admire the tree of shame and be thankful no pieces of our bikes ended up on the tree today. we talked to a couple other riders, commenting on how nice the ride was, how beautiful of a day it was and each other's bikes. here i am standing at the sign...


after riding the dragon, we headed back into robbinsville. we decided to catch some lunch before heading home. well, i was heading home, doug was continuing his motorcycle adventure with a couple more days in western nc.

we ate at wendy's. while i don't usually mind fast food, i was definitely getting tired of it. i can't wait to get back home and have some real food. it seems like every meal has been fast food.

the journey home begins. it was actually a nice ride home - fairly uneventful. doug and i stay together until asheville - he split off to head a little north. i kept heading east. two stops and six hours later, i was home. and while it was an awesome trip, it sure was nice to be back home. eight hundred miles in two days - not a bad trip at all...

tail of the dragon...

was talking to a buddy of mine yesterday... he tells me that after he gets his 6k service done on his ducati, he's riding the tail of the dragon... i mention how nice that's going to be - of course he invites me along... i can't - although i have the week off work, i have stuff to do appointments. besides, i'm teaching this weekend and i need to make sure i'm back in time for that. he says if we ride the dragon on thursday, i can be back in plenty of time to teach on friday - probably so...

later in the day, i mention to my wife that doug is riding the dragon. she says i should go. well, it's not like i don't want to go... it's just that i had taken a week off work thinking we could do something together - maybe the beach for a day or two, something. but, with life the way it usually goes, the kids were going here and there and we didn't really have time to get away like we wanted... so she's pretty much pushing me to go. and i had my defenses up pretty good, resisting her efforts to get me to go. don't get me wrong, i wanted to go - but i really wanted to spend time with her.

well, i don't know what happened, but she talked me into going. not that that's a bad thing - i just wanted to hold out and spend some time with her. well, i know i'm on the hook to make this one up to her - and i will. all i can say is that she's the greatest - i'm really lucky to have someone like her... thanks boo.

okay - enough being mushy... so now it looks like i'm finally going to ride the tail of the dragon. i was supposed to ride earlier this summer with my bro, but somehow that fell through... it won't be the same not riding with my brother, but it will still be fun. three hundred eighteen curves in eleven miles - that's crazy!!! you'll hear plenty about it when i get back...

2nd annual rally in raleigh...

attended the second annual capital city bike fest / rally in raleigh... i'm not really sure what it's called - it seems to go by both names.

the day started out heading down to the dealership for the charity ride. i ended up going down there early because i wanted to claim some warrenty work on my bike. i have some chrome chipping off one of the pipe endcaps. i wasn't going to claim it, but after talking to a qa guy from harley, he said it was contamination in the chroming process. soooo, i decided to talk to someone at the dealership to see what they could/would do about it. turns out the guy is going to file a warrenty claim for it - i'm not holding out much hope. even after talking to someone else who said harley hardly ever turns down a warrenty claim. i'll wait and see what happens.

after taking care of that business, it was time to wait around for the charity ride to begin. and after waiting, it did begin... it was a nice day for a ride - clear, sunny skies. the morning was a little cool, but by the time the ride started, it was perfect weather for riding. the charity ride was to support the united way - bikers seem to want to support charities. i actually think it just gives us another excuse to ride - like we really need one!!

it terms of time, the charity ride was a couple hours. in terms of stops, it was short - only two stops. well worth it, though. the first stop was harris wholesale - our local budweiser distributor. they were offering free drink, of the non-alcoholic variety. the closest they came to beer was o'doules. so i downed a monster drink that was pretty tasty - can't rightly recall what it was offhand. i think they were scraping the bottom of the barrel to make us feel welcome:



after giving us a quick thank you speech, it was time to hop back onto the bikes and head for the local caterpillar plant. this was pretty cool - of course it was more like big toys for big boys. while we were there, they gave us a demo of some of the equipment they manufacture at the plant - digging holes, moving holes, filling holes up... it was pretty cool - but you probably had to be there to really enjoy it. or at least be me!!! a couple of pics from the demo...





after being entertained at caterpillar, it was time for the ride back to the dealership. a couple notes/thoughts about the ride... fisrt, we had over two hundred bikes on the ride. i was kinda of in the first third of the pack. while i saw the beginning of the line several times, i never did see the end. this as easily the largest ride i've been on so far.

speaking of large groups of bikes - it's amazing how many highway drivers have a disregard for motorcycles - even when we're being escorted by police. i was suprised at the number of cars that would just pull into our lane - despite having bikes there. it was crazy. i guess they figured they had to get into the lane on the opposite side of us and just pulled on over. i'm sure that if we, as riders, hadn't been on the look out, some cage would have caused an accident. it amazes me how many cages don't pay attention to motorcycles on the highways. but haven't a group of two hundred bikes?? how can you miss that??

okay - enough about the charity ride. we did all make it back in one group and no one was wiped out - as least as far as i know.

while killing some time at the dealership, waiting to ride into the rally to kick it off, the occ caterpillar bike showed up. not really surprising since they had the bike made and they were also sponsoring the rally. while i can honestly say that i'm not really a fan of occ's, i do watch their show and seeing the bike was pretty neat. they do put some thought and detail into the bikes they build.




after killing time looking at the bike and snapping pics, it was time to ride into the rally to kick it off. kinda uneventful really. more or less stop and go riding - and not really that far. once i got there, i walked around for a bit before starting my stint volunteering. since our local hog club is sponsored by ray price, and he/they're really the ones putting on the event, they asked for volunteers. being the sucker that i am - i worked friday night. i ended up hanging out at one of the entrances - killing four hours.

didn't see much of the rally friday night, but went again saturday. there was more of a crowd saturday andi imagine saturday night was very festive - although i didn't stick around for that...

i think i've run of of things to day - or at least i don't feel like saying any more right now...

not a virgin anymore...

well, i officially taught my first class this weekend... and it went very well. but that's about all i'm going to say about the class itself and instructing. after thinking about it a bit, there is a certain image we're supposed to uphold. that being the case, and me not necessarily wanting to confine the content here, i've decided not post more about teaching... doesn't mean i might not post about antic dotes or certain aspects of the class - i just won't go into boring detail like i usually do!!!

speaking of boring details - sunday's ride to and from class was a reminder of the brotherhood of bikers... there's just some connection you make with other people on two wheels when you're cruising along. people are friendlier, more interested in taking the time to talk, or help should you need it.

i left the house about 0600, heading for smithfield. the road i take is pretty much two lanes the whole way - which makes riding there extremely nice. not even ten minutes out, there's a biker behind me. what are the chances?? here it is, six in the morning, two lane, rural road and another biker.

as he's following behind, conversations start in your head - wonder where he's (or she's) going, wonder what they're riding, wonder what they're doing out so early, etc. soon enough, we come to a red light and he pulls up next to me. we exchange hellos and i soon find out that he's a cork-maker in zebulon and he's on his way to work. he literally lives around the corner from me. we ride together for a bit longer. stop at another light and talk some more. the nice thing about traveling together so early in the morning is you can chat a little longer when the light turns green because no one is around. and we do... we ride together until we pass through zebulon - then he turns off to head to work. i'll probably never see him again - although every time i ride down his street, i'm looking for him and his bike.

on the way back home, heading north towards zebulon, i pass another biker... after i pass, he turns onto the road behind me. i slow a little, trying to close the distance between us... however, he seems to keep his distance - a constant distance. as i speed up, so does he. as i slow down, so does he... we finally get a red light in zebulon and he pulls up beside me. as we're exchanging hellos, i do a double take... donnie?!?!?! sure is... of course with a full face helmet on, he's not quite sure who i am... i tell him my name, remind him we rode to the smoke out together in june... then the light bulb goes off in his head. about that time the light turned green - unfortunately, he turned at the next light and i was going straight. short conversation...

it's amazing the people and friends you meet when you're out riding... and this is what makes riding so great...

flashing high beams...

and not of the female kind!!!

rode in dark a couple times this weekend... seems everyone like everyone thinks i ride with my high beams on - and want to remind me by flashing their high beams at me. or worse yet, just leaving their high beams on.

i usually ride with my running lights on. which, i will admit, throws a lot of light. and i like primarily for two reasons - one it helps me see better. two, it helps other people see me better. so, i will continue to ride with them on. and i guess i will subject myself to having cages flash their high beams at me.

when people flash their high beams at me, i used to flash mine back at them. this was okay, but usually left me fumbling around a little for the switch and sometimes i was a little late in blasting the cages back. but i've decided to take a slightly different tact. since i know the lights are bright, and a lot of cagers aren't, i'll let them flash me once. if they do it again, i'll flash mine back at them. if they leave theirs on, then, obligingly, i'll turn mine on. seems fair to me...

anyway, the next time someone flashes their high beams at me, i would prefer it to be of the female kind...

today's the day...

i finally go live with motorcycle training... i've helped out on a couple classes, but this time it's all me. well, not quite all me, me and someone else. but this will be the first time actually teaching my own class. i'm really looking forward to it. the weather has been awesome today - which means i'll definitely ride the bike to smithfield. i'll have to make sure i pack the lining for my jacket - once the sun goes down, i'm sure the temp will follow.

i'm a little nervous about tonight - but i don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. it will make sure that i take a little time and think about what i need to take and what i need to teach. don't want to be taking things for granted. also, since this is my first time teaching, there will be a lot of administrative stuff i have to clue in to - like signing the contract, filling out the correct paperwork for the students, etc.

well - i guess i'm just rambling here and not really saying much - at least i don't think i'm saying much... guess i'll head out of here and fill you in later...

tragedy...

a week ago today billy lane, a custom motorcycle builder hit and killed a fellow motorcyclist, as reported by florida today. it's a sad story all the way around... i'm not sure where to start, other than noting the saddest part is the death of gerald morelock.

when something like this happens, the death of a biker caused by the wrongful actions of a cager, the cager usually gets off with a fine for the traffic violation. for example, if a cage makes a left hand turn in front of a biker and kills the biker, the cager is usually just charges with failure to yield the right of way and slapped with a fine. obviously this doesn't sit well with the biker community - which the ama is trying to do something about...

unfortunately this time a biker did it to another biker. through negligence, billy lane, in his cage, was passing two other vehicles on a double yellow line. before he could get back into his own lane, he hit the gerald head on - killing him. those are the facts. there's still speculation whether billy was drinking or not and the tox reports have yet to come back.

looking back on billy's past, i, unfortunately, have to believe he was drinking when this happened. i've seen billy four times in person, each time i've seen him, he's been drinking. no, that doesn't mean he rides after drinking. but i can't imagine he's the type to let someone else cart him around after he's tipped a few. not only that, when he was in town for the smoke out, he was arrested on charges of drunk driving, riding on the wrong side of the road and riding without a helmet. it would seem that billy might have learned from this earlier episode. but he didn't, at least not with his reckless driving behavior. and so it follows that he probably didn't with drinking either.

there's so much speculation about what should happen now. rightfully so, nothing will happen until the tox reports come back. if they show he's been drinking, he'll probably have the book thrown at him. what if they come back clean?? should he get the slap on the wrist and the fine?? should he get charged with something more serious for killing a biker??

and what should billy do?? a lot of people say he should do the right thing. but what is the right thing?? should he try to help out the family for the damage he's caused?? should he let the legal system handle it all?? at a minimum he should give up drinking and driving/riding. since he's been lying low, it's hard to know what he's doing. and i don't blame him - he's under a microscope right now and no matter what he does, someone will criticize him for it. at a minimum, he's got to live the rest of his life knowing he took another biker's life. and that's truly sad.

only time will play the rest of this story out. and not matter how it plays out, nothing will put all the pieces back together again. maybe the third saddest part of all this is stuff like this probably happens daily - we just don't hear about it because a famous bike builder or media star usually isn't involved.

peace out...

cool weather...

went to the hog meeting tonight. actually, since i hadn't been out in a while i wanted a reason to go out and ride... not that i really need a reason, i just feel less guilty about taking off and leaving the family behind...

the meeting was pretty much the usual same-ol-same-ol... well, they did talk about the rally in raleigh - capital city bike fest on september 29/30. it was basically and advertisement for the rally and a plea for volunteers. i'll probably end up helping out friday night. would like to go saturday as well, but will probably set aside some time to spend with the family - maybe take a trip or something...

like i mentioned earlier, the real reason to go to the meeting was get out and ride. and what a great night for a ride - cooler temps. after getting home, i was thinking i should have just blown the meeting off and ridden the whole time!!! it's nice to have the cooler weather here. i'd much rather ride in cooler weather and have to bundle up in layers. there's something about being wrapped up in warm layers and feeling the cool air seep in... i love this time of year. ahhhh hell, i like just about any time of year as long as i can ride!!!

friday night...

rode to durham last night to help teach another motorcycle class... friday nights are just classroom. - motorcycle familiarization, riding gear, controls, basic motorcycle operation. basically preparation for the next two days on the range.

ride out was nice - wasn't as far as i expected. had to travel through some rougher parts of town. getting there didn't concern me as much as the ride home. i knew it would be late, after 2100, possibly after 2200. it's not so much that i'm worried about being targeted as much as being hit by a stray bullet. yeah, i know, probably very unlikely, but it would be my luck.

being friday night, the class is only a couple hours long... like any class i've been involved with so far, this one wasn't without its own drama. classes generally have twelve students. tonight's class started with ten. in walks a college age dood about twenty minutes late. he apologizes for being late but hasn't really missed much, so dave lets him stay. well, every break, and sometimes not even on break, he's heading outside to make a phone call. i'm thinking he's scamming on some chick - whatever, he's young, that's probably all he's got on his mind.

class goes well. again dave got me involved and i get to "teach" a couple of the sections. i think i did pretty good and the experience is invaluable. it's about 2115 and we're wrapping up for the night when college-dood's buddy walks into class!! makes an attempt to be funny with some comment about being late and wondering if it's too late to participate in class. dave tells him yes. he asks if he should he should leave - dave says yes and waits for him to leave before we continue class.

we wrap up class, reminding students to bring the proper gear for the next day. everyone leaves and we're gathering our stuff when who should appear?? college-dood and his buddy no-show... they're scheming to get no-show back into the class - striking deals. if no-show can answer every question in the book correctly before ten o'clock, can he participate in the class. dave says no - participation is a key part of the class, in addition there are liability issues... they insisted until dave turns his attention to college-dood and said he was lucky he was in the class for showing up twenty minutes late. it was about then they decided to walk off...

until we got into the parking lot!!! college-dood came over asking for dave's name and phone number - saying he wasn't trying to cause any problems. yeah right... when you're in that situation and asking for names and numbers, it's usually not to invite people over for dinner!!! he walks over to his car then comes back - handing dave a cell phone saying it's his mom. dave starts talking on the phone and walks off. when he came back about ten minutes later he was not very happy. handed the phone back to college-dood and said something to the effect of i don't need this shit... that was pretty much it for the night...

rode my bike home in the evening. ride home was nice once i got through the no-so-nice parts of town... i made a wrong turn - actually turned too early and went through some side streets i didn't want to be on. fortunately i was able to navigate to where i needed to be without having to back-track. the ride home was cooler, which made it nice. kind of invigorating to ride home after dealing with jerks like we did...

overall, the experience was worthwhile. now i've helped out all three days of the course - not all consecutive, but i did help. i've even got some classes lined up to teach. i'm looking forward to those... would like to do more, but maybe i should get my feet wet and see what i'm getting into...

ride on...

picked up the bike today...

although i picked up the bike today, it started yesterday with a phone call saying they replaced the wheel!!! excellent - the wheel was replaced. but... there was a fiddy dollar extended warranty charge. what?!?!?!

confession time... when i bought the bike, i got the preferred customer plan - some sort of extended warranty. the deal is it would cover everything with the bike for x number of years, including the regular service. they said if a bulb blew, they would replace it free. figuring this was my first bike, i wasn't real familiar with servicing it myself, this might be the way to go. yeah, yeah, i know, sucker born every minute!!! since i've had the bike, i haven't paid for a regular service - and i've been getting them every twenty-five hundred miles. they even replaced the back tire free of charge when i needed it replaced. so, it seems like it's been a good deal for me so far.

so, when the service-dood left the message saying the wheel was replaced and it would be fiddy bucks, i was very surprised. i called them to find out the scoop. service-dood says that he was under the same impression when he bought the preferred customer plan too and didn't find out until after he started working there and had his bike serviced. seems whoever was telling the story - selling the plan - was leaving some details out. now i can appreciate someone trying to sell the plan and highlight the positives. now i can't exactly remember what i was told - hell, i have problems remembering what i had to breakfast yesterday - but i'm pretty sure i understood the plan to cover everything one hundred percent. turns out that if an item is out of warranty, then check it under extended warranty. if it's not covered there, then they cover it under the preferred customer plan. my wheel isn't covered under warranty anymore, but it is covered under extended warranty, which carries a fiddy dollar charge. news to me!!! i say that's not right because i was told (under the impression) that everything would be covered one hundred percent. service-dood says i can talk to a manager type to straighten it out.

i don't know if i mentioned i just went through this with the rental bike. the dood that sold me the plan said, if available, i could get a rental bike when i brought my bike in. apparently it only covers service, not repair. i was on the phone with another service-dood when i discovered this little gem. when i told service-dood who lead me to that impression, he said screw it and put me through to the rental department to arrange a rental. see, sales-dood-who-leaves-out-details move from being sales manager to general manager. i'm thinking this was a way for service-dood to stick it to sales-dood-who-leaves-out-details. bottom line, i learned to schedule my repairs around when i can get a rental bike. as long as they have one available, i can get it. when it comes to service - they are more obligated to get me a rental...

okay - back to the story at hand... i get patched through to manager-dood, but he's not in, have to wait until today to talk to him... today comes and i give him a call. i explain my situation. he apologizes for my misunderstanding and without breaking stride, says they'll pick up the tab. wow, what customer service - although i don't think i'm the first one to come to them with this story. i tell you, i don't think the dood could have bend over backwards any further.

later in the afternoon i took the vrod back and picked up my bike. i asked what was wrong with the old wheel, but never found out. the service-dood was too busy trying to take care of too many things at one time; including verifying manager-dood was picking up the tab for the new wheel.

ride home was awesome - what a great feeling to be back on my bike again. and an even better feeling not to have it wobbling when i ride. it feels good again...

peace...

bike in for repair...

took the bike in to have the wobble repaired today... that was an experience...

the ride in was okay... of course i had to contend with the wobble that i was getting repaired. i didn't think i would have to deal with traffic because i had decided to take the bike in after lunch, instead of first thing in the morning, like i normally do. i was right in that i didn't have to face morning rush hour traffic. i did, however, have to deal with heavy traffic. i don't know what was going on, accident, road work, whatever, it sure was making traffic heavy and slowing things down. which might have been, in some sort of cosmic way, to keep the speed of the bike down and help prevent the wobble.

it was so nice to get to the dealership. no problems getting there - thankfully. first order of business, get the rental. i wasn't dropping off the bike without a rental - not that i was really contemplating riding my bike back home. no problem picking up the rental. they didn't really have much to choose from - so i'm glad i called ahead and made reservations. i was hoping to get a touring model, at least something with bags... all they had was a wide glide, a buell blast and a vrod. pretty much no brainer - give me the vrod. i've been wanting to ride of one these. can't say that i'd want to own one of these, but definitely wanted to take one for a spin... so i fill out all the paper work and finish up and head over to the service department.

i tell the service-dood that i'm dropping off the bike to have the wheel replaced. of course, me being the customer and him being the service-dood, my diagnosis of needing a new wheel couldn't be right. he replies with a comment about needing a new tire. i clarified that i needed a new wheel and not a new tire. he asks how i know - i tell him that the spokes are loose and i can move the wheel back and forth, causing a wobble when i ride. he agrees that something is wrong, but again, my diagnosis of the spokes being loose isn't correct. he tells me it's probably the hub or bearings. no, i tell him, it's the spokes. i've had the bike up on the lift, i can move the wheel back and forth and watch the spokes move. i offer to get the bike up on the lift and i'll show him. he declines my offer. i tell him it will take less than thirty seconds if we can get the bike up on the lift. again, he declines saying they'll take a look at it. i told him i was expecting a new wheel since i didn't know what damage to the spokes or rim might have happened as a result of the loose spokes. he didn't say much - but i figured i'd wait until they gave me the diagnosis before pressing the issue of replacing the whole wheel. i get checked out (or is it checked in??) and service-dood tells me he'll give me a call tomorrow afternoon about the bike... good with me...

i head over to the awaiting vrod. rental-dood checks me out on the bike. reinforces that this will be different than my road king - something about a little more power and speed. stresses being careful - not getting too aggressive until the tires have warmed up. excellent!!

so i head home on the vrod. i'm not really sure i like the position of the foot controls. not sure if it's because i'm used to my bike or if they are just awkward on this bike. it does have a lot of power - although i can't really push it since i'm in traffic on crowded roads. once i get closer to home, out of all the traffic, i start pushing the bike a little. while i just want to open it up and see what it will do, i don't want a traffic ticket even more - so i keep myself in check.

the ride home was fun. nice bike, but i don't know that i'd really want one. by the time i got home, my ass was sore - and it's only a twenty-five mile ride. a new seat would be the first investment for the bike. foot controls never really did start feeling right. fun to ride - but i'll let someone else purchase it...




btw, i would definitely remove the bag and the sissy bar - if you can call it that!!!

helping out...

helped out with a basic rider course today at alamance community college. was a looooonnggg day, but well worth it...

the class usually starts at 0800. today, it started at 0700 because the instructors wanted to get a jump on the heat. and i showed up a before that so i could help get the bikes ready and set up the range.

i got a lot more involved in this class than i did in the last one i helped out with... i actually got to provide some coaching to the students, ride some demos and perform the skills evaluation. overall, the class was a good one, but not without its moments...

the heat was grueling... i don't know how hot it got and i don't want to know - it'll make me realize how crazy (or maybe stupid) i am for being out there in the heat. anyway, i did survive with plenty of fluids. some of the students weren't fairing as well, so we were giving them more and more breaks - which attributed to the longer day. apparently yesterday they had an older guy drop the class because the heat was giving him leg cramps - probably a good decision.

today we had one "problem" student - she was having trouble figuring out clutch control and the friction zone. she would ease the clutch out until it hit the friction zone, the bike would start getting underway then she would pop the clutch out - the majority of the time stalling the bike. towards the end of the day, it looked like she was power-walking the bike to enough speed she could pop the clutch out without stalling the bike. no matter how stressed eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeasing the clutch out, she just couldn't grasp the concept. during the exercises, this was passable, but it would be her downfall during the evaluation.

when it came to the quick stop evaluation, she would get about ten feet and stall the bike. ten feet, stall the bike. about half way up, after stalling, i think she realized she was doomed. she broke down and started crying. of course she was blaming the bike. i do have to say that she was on a new bike during the evaluation - something we try not to do. but she was having problems shifting the previous bike she was on. as students do, they want to blame the bikes for their problems. i will admit these aren't necessarily the best bikes around - but they are adequate for the class. the majority of time the students the one with the problem. but we'll swap out bikes to placate them... there was no way she was going to get the shifting down - heck, she couldn't even get the bike under power. so, it was easier to swap bikes...

now she's sitting here, crying, and holding up the rest of the class. i think she pretty much knew she was going to fail... the other instructor told her that if she can get back to the starting point and run the evaluation without stalling, she could continue. she agreed. we started walking back to our evaluation position when we heard the bike stall. all i said to the other instructor was i know that wasn't the bike just stalling. once we got to our positions, we turned around - she hadn't moved very far. at that point, she realized she couldn't complete the evaluation. she got off the bike, removed her helmet and walked away... that was pretty much the last we saw of her - other than to come back and get the keys to the classroom so she could get her stuff.

after the range, we got to go into the classroom. an extremely welcome break considering the heat!! we covered a couple more topics before the students took the written evaluation. everyone passed - well, everyone that was still there!! after completing the written exams, i got to talk to the students about how they did on the skills evaluation. it was cool talking to people and gaining insight into their experience. one of the best feelings for me is transforming someone who's never been on a bike before into someone who's enthusiastic about riding and looks forward to continuing learning. we do stress that this is only a beginner course and that in order to become better - they must continue to practice and learn.

after the class, i stayed and talked to dave for a bit. he was happy to have me out there - especially since having an extra person on the range with the heat was helpful. he liked the way i interacted with the students today and thinks i'll make a good instructor. time will tell. i think he's going to try to help me get some more classes - that would be most excellent.

overall, it was a great day. i learned a lot - i think i'm really going to enjoy teaching... what i learned most, though, was it's time to stop doing these classes for free!! while the experience has been invaluable, and i wouldn't not do it, i'm going to have to carefully weigh my decision to keep doing it for "free".

harley wobble...

well, it's been a while since i posted, but that doesn't mean i haven't been riding... most of my riding lately, though, has been short trips around town - nothing big, no all day or overnight trips... just been too busy recently to take a longer trip...

over the last several weeks, i've noticed my bike is tending to wobble as i ride it. although i first noticed it many weeks ago, i wasn't too concerned as it wasn't that bad. however, as i've ridden, the wobble is getting worse and worse - to the point i'm becoming concerned for my safety. while i won't rule anything out, i don't think this is related to the famed harley wobble, which can be read more about here too. i will say, however, that as i was experiencing the wobble, the thought/fear of the harley wobble as at the forefront of my thoughts.

the first time i experienced the wobble, i was in a turn not far from my house. i felt it wobble, which was unusual and got my attention. it wasn't a bad wobble, but enough to get my attention. the road was newly paved, which i didn't think would/could be a factor as it was smoother that before. but you never know...

over the weeks, as i'm riding, i notice it more often and getting worse. worse in the sense that the wobble is lasting longer and longer and getting more noticeable. violent is the word that comes to mind, although that seems a bit dramatic. the other day it got to the point where i'm questioning my safety on the bike. i do realize that i'm not the most experienced on a bike, but i do consider myself a fairly competent rider. i believe the skills i've developed over the past several years have made me a very safe rider. i ride like i'm invisible and everyone is out to hit me. so when i begin to feel unsafe on a bike, something serious is going on.

last week i gave the bike a quick once over - checking the tire pressure, the steering neck, the air pressure in the rear shocks, etc. everything seemed to check out. not feeling confident i didn't over look anything, i called the service department at the local dealership. i explained what was going on and what i had checked. service department dood said outside of tire pressure he couldn't think of anything that would cause the wobble. and, he said, it sounded like i had the appropriate pressure in the tires... curses...

today i finally took the time to get the bike up on the lift. and i had my father-in-law (fil) here to help. we started with the front tire, everything seemed to be okay. my fil like to check things out from front to back, so he starts with the front tire and checks all the components as he moves towards the back of the bike. i like to check groups of components on a bike, tires, shocks, etc. so after checking the front tire, he starts moving to the middle of the bike and i move to the back tire. i grab the rear tire and move it from side to side. uh oh, i think i found the problem. i call fil over and tell him to take a look. facing the rear of the bike, i move the tire left and right about half an inch. uhhhh, houston, we have a problem - it shouldn't be doing that. as i move the tire, i watch the rim and the spokes. the spokes are definitely loose. not much to do now but call the dealership to make an appointment to get this fixed.

i call the dealership to schedule an appointment. i explain what's going on and that i'm a preferred customer. basically a preferred customer means i paid a lot of money to have someone else do something for me that i could probably do on my own for much less money if i would just learn how. but there are some perks, like a free loaner bike when i have to leave it at the shop. or priority seating when the service department is slammed. priority seating pays off this time. the first open slot they have is august 30. but, being a preferred customer, i can bring it in any time, drop it off and they'll get it fixed within three days - assuming they don't have to order out for parts. the dood tells me to bring it in at my convenience and they'll get to it. of course they'll need it for a couple days... no problem, i said, we just have to be sure a rental is available. oops, problem... seems the rental is only good for service, not warrantee or repair work. the work is covered because i'm a preferred customer, but not the rental. i explain it was my understanding the rental was good any time i had to bring my bike in for work. service dood says he wishes he knew who was telling people that because a lot of people are under that impression and he has to be the dood that breaks the bad news to people... and i don't blame him there - he is put in a bad spot. i inform service dood that i can tell him exactly who told me i get a rental whenever i bring my bike in. the false-advertising dood was the sales manager when i bought my bike and was promoted to general manager. one thing about false-advertising dood is he personifies a used car salesman. close your eyes and imagine a used car salesman. now you're picturing this dood. and, believe it or not, he really was a used car salesman in a former life.

i'm more than happy to spill the beans and offer false-advertising dood's name up. and when i do, service dood makes a deal. since that's what he told me, and he's the general manager, he's going to get me the rental!!! service department dood says that if i can work out a convenient time to pick up a rental, they'll be more than happy to get my bike in... excellent. i get my bike in and i get the rental i'm not supposed to have.

i'm mixed about what i discovered today. i'm extremely happy that i found the problem while the bike was still sitting in my garage instead of while i was tooling down the road. i'm happy that i'll get the bike in this coming week and that i get a rental while they're working on my bike. i'm disappointed because i'll miss riding until i can get the bike in and get the rental. and tomorrow i'll be observing a basic rider course and i was looking forward to riding the bike. but when i weigh the pros and the cons, it's a no-brainer that not riding an unsafe bike for a few days will be well worth the comfort and confidence of riding a safe bike. (did that make sense??)

one other thought - this probably all started when i had my tire replaced in may.

peace and ride safe...

on their way...

talked to my bro earlier today... they're on their way to sturgis - the trip i was supposed to be on... they were at their first refueling stop and already sounded like they were having a good time... damn, i really wish i was on the trip with them...

another trip, another time...

feasting on asphalt...

i just started watching alton brown's new show, feasting on asphalt. i wasn't sure what to expect from the show. when my wife first told me about the show, i figured it would just be another lame show trying to exploit the popularity of motorcycles.

for the most part, i like cooking shows. what i really like about cooking shows is learning new recipes or tricks i can use... i don't like cooking shows where the recipes are so far out, you wouldn't normally be cooking them in your kitchen. i really like to watch a show and think, hey, i can do that in my kitchen. or on my grill as appropriate. because of that, i like alton brown. what i also like about alton is that he gets into the science of cooking - like how different flours or sugars will affect recipes differently. i remember an episode he did cooking chocolate chip cookies - by using different amounts of sugar, he could make the cookie chewy-oowey-gooie or thin and crisp. one of the first shows i ever watch of his, he smoked salmon - i think it was salmon - in a cardboard box!! he took ordinary stuff you would have laying around the house and smoked salmon. that's pretty impressive.

soooo, i find out that alton was hosting feasting on asphalt. still not quite convinced, though... then i catch a commercial for it - and alton describes a little more about the show. the premise is alton and crew are traveling across the states on motorcycles. the goal is to stay off the interstate and travel smaller roads - thus running into more mom-and-pop type places. much like traveling before the interstate system was created. in addition, the trip will provide them the opportunity to showcase regional foods. pretty cool - it'd be nice to be on a trip like that!!! i decide i'm going to give the show a chance.

last night i watched the first episode feasting on asphalt. i must say, i was pretty impressed - which just goes to show it doesn't take much to impress me. first, i like the idea that they're traveling on motorcycles. they talk a little about their travels, but the show is more about the mom-and-pop shops and the regional food they find. in this episode they started in mt. pleasant, south carolina and traveled to savannah, georgia. alton gave some insight to what he feels makes a good roadside restaurant. not only does he describe the atmosphere, but also talks about the food - of course. overall, it's a very good mix of the travels, the places and the food.

i'd say the show is worth checking out. i've tivo'ed the rest of the episodes, just to ensure i don't miss them. here's the episode guide if you're interested...

ride on...

observing...

well, in order to get this motorcycle instructing thing kick started, i decided to observe a class yesterday. to most of you, observing probably implies something like watching - most likely from the edges of the range, not interfering with the course or the students... yeah - i was kinda thinking the same thing. the most i was expecting was to kick the cones around...

the day started as expected - getting up early and getting ready for the hour ride to johnston community college. i had gathered a lot of the stuff i needed the night before - so the morning mostly involved trying to wake up and packing up the bike. i wasn't sure what time to leave - thinking an hour should be enough time. knowing that, i left about ten minutes later than i wanted. one of these days i'm going to get my act together and leave on time - or maybe early...

the ride there was nice. cooler than i expected. which was a nice surprise, especially considering it was supposed to be a hot, humid, nasty day. they were also calling for thunderstorms, but i figured i could be out of there before those hit... ride was two lane roads the whole way. although there wasn't much traffic - a few cars - there was more than i expected. i was figuring for 0630 on a saturday morning, more people would be sleeping. but it didn't matter, i would get there when i got there...

and get there i did. so i pulled up to the college and started driving down the strip - trying to figure out where the class/range was. after riding the length of the college and not seeing it, i rode back to the entrance, pulled in front of a building and called doug. doug is one of the guys from my motorcycle prep class. this was his first time teaching, so i decided to come out and give him some support by observing. little did i know i was parked right next to the range. doug and bob pulled around with the wagons full of cones and other course materials. since i was there, i helped set the range up for the first exercise. technically it's the second exercise, but it's the first one that actually uses the range. the first exercise is motorcycle familiarization - which is exactly as it sounds. johnston community college (heretoforeverafter known as jcc) runs two classes a weekend, which means they have two classrooms and two ranges - double the fun!!!

once the range was set up, we headed back to the shed to pull the bikes out and warm them up... some of the bikes wouldn't start - a sign of things to come for the day!! luckily we ended up with enough bikes for each class plus a spare - although the spare had to be bump started!!! no big deal, that's what spares are for.

finally the students arrive and class begins. students are becoming more familiar with the motorcycle they have chosen. i notice a couple students struggling a little, so i jump in to help - trying to assist but stay out of the way. this seems to work pretty well. the familiarization exercise seems to go a little longer than expected - but i guess that's okay since it's fairly important the new riders feel comfortable and confident in the operation of the motorcycle.

have i mentioned how hot it's already getting?? well, it is...

now it's time to move on to the second exercise. speaking of move, we have to move the bikes from the shed to the range. how is this done?? by having the students push the bikes. normally this wouldn't be so bad because it seems to make sense someone operating a motorcycle should know how to push it around. however, in this case, it's quite a distance. and did i mention it's getting hot?? one student couldn't push their bike all the way - the heat was getting to her and she couldn't handle the bike very well. doug ended up pushing the bike to the range for her. it ended up that she wasn't handling the heat very well and dropped out of the class halfway through the second exercise. it's a shame to see someone drop, but probably the best for everyone involved.

the rest of the day had its share of mishaps... the extra bike we had eventually died, leaving no spares. the heat was starting to get to the students. the exercises were taking longer to run than they should have. i attribute this not so much to the learning of the students but poor time management by one of the instructors. i ended up helping run the exercises and participating in the teaching more than i expected. i didn't mind, of course, but i didn't want the instructors to think i was over-stepping the bounds. actually, i don't think this was the case - i know doug was thankful i was helping out - it seemed the other guy, to protect his identity, let's call him cool, wasn't taking as much charge of the class as he should have been. with the heat, mishaps and poor time management, we were ready for the lunch break...

we had a chance to cool off, get something into our tummies and prepare for the afternoon. one of the students was a little late in getting back from lunch - which holds up the rest of the class... as he approaches the range, we tell everyone to gear up and get ready for the exercise. he approaches his bike and starts fumbling around with his keys. then he announces that he can't find the key to his bike. he asks if he has time to run back to the restaurant to look for the keys. sure, but he has to hurry. what a way to start the afternoon... again, we can't start the exercises without all the students. we decide to give him some time, but if he's not back, we'll start the class and he'll be forced to drop.

now let me just say that i don't think it was fair to give the students the responsibility for the keys. this is something the instructors should take care of. however, he should have taken better care of the key. i do feel bad for him, though... and the worst part is we're now down a bike.

lost-key dood is gone, looking for the key and the class is getting anxious to start - especially with the heat. we decide the class needs to get going. and as we tell the students to gear up, he pulls back into the parking lot. cool... but he's not jumping out of his van so fast. turns out he didn't find the key at the restaurant. in fact, he's fairly sure he didn't even take it in to the restaurant. damn. i help him strip search his van. then we retrace his steps returning after lunch. he's obviously concerned and upset he lost the key. his primary concern is making sure we can do something with the bike - like use the spare key. since this is my first time here, i don't know what provisions are made for the spare key. and by the end of the day i learn there are no spare keys for the bikes. his second concern was having to drop from the class - which i could fully understand.

doug had taken charge for the afternoon sessions, which was probably a good thing. being the quick thinker doug is, he decided to run split exercises for the afternoon. this did two things - first it gave the students a break from the heat as they could spend less time geared up and on the bikes. next, it allowed the students to share bikes, which meant there was enough for everyone and lost-key dood didn't have to drop.

in vain, i tried to bump start one of the bikes, thinking i might be able to get it going. lost-key dood even offered to push the bike in order to help me get it started - i know he felt very bad about the mishap with the key. and i have to give him credit for trying to help out. but no matter what we tried, the bike wouldn't start...

the rest of the afternoon went okay. cool effectively bowed out of teaching, which left doug and me to do most of the instructing. the heat left a couple students feeling ill. by the time we ran the last exercise, everyone was ready to get inside and cooled off. thankfully, the students get to ride the bikes back to the shed instead of pushing them. i was really impressed when lost-key dood offered to push his bike back to the shed - of course we let him!!

once all the bikes were at the shed, we told the students to head into the classroom and cool off. cool, doug and i put the bikes into the shed. cool wasn't too pleased to learn we sent the students to the room without giving them their next assignment. hmmmmm - how were we supposed to know?? this was doug's first time and, heck, i'm just helping out. oh well... we'll get them started when we get to the classroom.

ohhhhhh and getting to the classroom felt soooooo good... nice and cool. a chance to sit down. i never thought the inside of a modular trailer would be so nice. the rest of the day would be downhill from here. excellent... i don't know if it was because i was there or what, but cool pretty much disappeared for the rest of the day - leaving doug on his own. the problem wasn't that doug was left alone, it was that cool didn't say anything to him about it... again, doug handled it and i helped out as i could...

about forty-five minutes before the end of class, the skies opened up with thunder, lightening and rain. as long as it passed before we were ready to ride, no problem. and with the way the storms blow in and out, it would probably be dry when it was time to ride home. and indeed that's what happened. it rained for about thirty minutes and was pretty much dry when it came time to ride.

the ride home was excellent. the rain and cooled the temps and there was actually a nice breeze riding home - much like the one riding in. traffic on the road wasn't bad - only one or two bozo cages. although i was exhausted, it was nice to be heading home... i enjoyed the road and will make the ride again. but that ride will be for pleasure...

peace...

riding again...

well, it's been longer than i expected since i rode the bike... didn't take it out on ride to work day. i didn't really have any place to go, so i didn't go anywhere. last sunday i did the usual ride to the store to pick up the paper, but that was about it...

today i decided to ride to lunch to meet john q. public and a couple other cohorts. it was a nice ride out and back. i took the interstate on the way out because, as usual, i didn't leave early enough to take the longer route. and because i'm not really sure how much more time the longer route takes. i've tried to keep track of how long it takes a couple times, but i get lost in the ride too much to pay attention to the time. but i made up for it on the ride home - taking the longer route. i don't really know if it's longer distance-wise, but it's certainly longer time-wise because i'm on two lane roads the whole way. and i'd rather be on those roads.

the temps were a little warm out there. it's not bad if you can keep moving, but if you stop in traffic, it can get a bit warm under that full face helmet and riding jacket. in my head, i've debate not wearing the jacket on the warm (hot) days - comfort v. safety. so far safety has always won out (at least since i've purchased the jacket). when you do a pro/con approach to it, it just makes sense to wear the jacket. what's the worst that can happen wearing the jacket?? sweating?? what's the worst that can happen not wearing a jacket?? road rash?? (not to mention death if the rash is bad enough!!!) so i think i've convinced myself to continue wearing it - even in the heat. i guess it just makes me feel better riding, and i can deal with the sweat.

soooo, lunch was good. it's always nice catching up to the people that i should see more often but don't. working from home has a lot of advantages, but it does come with a couple disadvantages. like not seeing friends as much. but don't get me wrong, the disadvantages certainly don't outweigh the advantages. you just have to make adjustments to minimize the disadvantages.

well, that's about it for now... should have more to post after tomorrow as i'm going to observe a motorcycle class. one of the doods i took the prep course with is teaching. it will be a good chance for me to figure out where the range is, see how things are run and meet some of the other instructors. i'm looking forward to it...

later...

ride to work day - tomorrow!!!

as mentioned in an earlier post, tomorrow is ride to work day... you can check out more at the ride to work web site.

since i work from home, it makes it kind of hard to ride. my wife said i should ride to the end of the driveway, turn around and come back... sounds like a good idea, just a little short!!! i may have to go out at lunch for a longer ride. then on the way back, technically i'd be riding to work!!

whatever you do - get out and ride. and don't just make it one day - ride often!!!

ride to the lake...

didn't take my usual sunday morning ride... since my nephew was staying with us and he wanted to go to the store with me, i decided to take the cage. we were also planning to go up to the kerr lake, so it was looking like a day with no riding...

we got back from the store and we were waiting for my nephew to head off to his class when my wife asked if i wanted to ride my bike to the lake. wow!!! that was a surprise... of course i want to ride!!!

i was going to take matt along with me, but there was some confusion there. he went upstairs to change and came down wearing shorts. i reminded him that if he wanted to ride, he needed to change into jeans. so he proceeded to go upstairs when my wife said something to him. not sure what it was... but i know she was in a hurry to get up to the lake, so she was rushing us to get our stuff together. i told her that matt had enough time to change - heck i wasn't even ready yet. at that point, matt mumbled something and didn't change. so, i rode alone instead of being able to share the ride with someone.

leaving for the lake turned into a comedy... to begin with, we were rushing to get out of the house, which is always a recipe for something to go wrong. we had to go to the store to get some stuff - i wanted to get a life jacket for our youngest and my wife needed to get a new bathing suit. she's been looking for a suit but hasn't found one she likes. at this point, she just needed to get something since we'd be at the lake. and since we'd only be at the lake (and not at a fashion show), pretty much any suit would do. (btw, even if the suit isn't the best she could find - she looks hot in it!!!)

we head to the store, me on the bike, following my wife in the cage. when we get to the store, we break up and head in different directions - each with our assigned tasks. i had to get the life jacket and meet them back at the front of the store. my wife was heading to get the bottled water. one kid was heading off for school supplies and the other was heading to the music department.

after searching half the store, i find the life jackets and pick one out - a spiderman one!!! my son has a fascination with spiderman, so it was really nice to find one with spiderman that also fit. he was excited. we wander to the front of the store looking for family. no one. i decide to walk to where the water is - it couldn't have taken that long to get a case of water. nope, not around there. head back to the front of the store. as we're walking by the registers, we pass one kid rushing to the registers. i ask him what's up. he says he's buying a cd and needed to get some extra money from mom for the tax. ahhhhhh, i ask where mom is. he points, i start walking. and walking. and walking. i can't find her. as i'm heading back to the front of the store, music kid comes back with his new purchase. he looks at us and notes, assessing the situation quickly, that i haven't found mom. he says she should be around bathing suits. oh yeah, she was picking out a new suit - how quickly my small mind forgets. we find her and she's already got a suit in hand. excellent, we're finally ready to go... until my wife asks if i got the water. doh!!! i forgot to get the water. i go get the water and return. did i get the hot dog buns too?? damn!!! she heads off to get the buns and i get in line. while we're in line, i realize i didn't pack my flip flops. great, now we have to stop by the house so i can get my flip flops - another delay. so much for the earlier start we wanted to get...

after stopping at the house, we finally head on up to the lake, me on the bike and the family following in the cage. it was a nice ride, not much traffic, temps not too high yet. and we were heading to the lake to swim and hang out - what's not to like?? we went up the back roads that i found a trip or two ago. that's nice because now we don't have to get on the interstate at all to get to the lake.

we had a great day at the lake. we met my father-in-law up there. he got there early in the morning to cut down a couple trees. about an hour after we got there, he and his buddy headed back home. i think he wanted to stay but his buddy wanted to get back. since his buddy drove, my father-in-law didn't have much choice but to leave with him.

we spent the rest of the time swimming in the lake and hanging out on the dock. before heading home, we cooked up some hot dogs on the grills. sometimes i forget how tasty hot dogs on the grill can be. i don't know if it's our hunger after swimming all morning or what - but those hot dogs are soooo good. we ate, cleaned up and headed back home.

ride home was good - again all back roads. it was quite a bit warmer, but after a good day at the lake, it was a great ride...

easyriders rodeo

decided to head to the easyriders rodeo today...


the rodeo was taking place in wilson, nc which is only forty-five minutes away. i was figuring that would be a good ride - especially for the ride back home after being out all day.

i got there on the early side which was okay since i had to leave early. my nephew is staying with us and i wanted to be back at the house to visit with him. since he wasn't sure exactly where he was going, i lead him out to where he needed. after that, i headed straight for the rodeo.

the ride out was nice. still a little cool, which i was already enjoying because i knew it was going to get into the nineties today. the ride was also peaceful - not many people out this early. i got to enjoy a mixture of two lane roads, four lane roads and interstate. i don't really care for riding on the interstate. but in this case, i wasn't on it too long, so it didn't really matter. on the ride out, i was debating whether i really wanted to go to the rodeo. i mean i knew i wanted to go, but i also knew i would have to leave early. i also knew i was going to be hot. i was thinking i could just ride around for a couple hours and then head back home. i'd be fine with that...

i got into wilson and started looking for the fairgrounds. i knew it wasn't too far from where i got onto 301, i just didn't know how far up. i saw bikers riding in the opposite direction, looking for coffee and breakfast. of course there were those that were also picking up beer to start the day. i was kind of surprised i saw as many bikes out, it was only 0900 and i figured a lot of them would still be sleeping.

i keep riding north, looking for either the fairgrounds or signs for the fairgrounds. as far as i knew, it was on the left directly off 301. i ride for about five miles. i know now i've gone too far. well, i don't know that, but it had to be closer than this. i turn around and go back - i had to pass it and didn't realize it.

on the way back through, i see, for the first time, fairground parking on the left side of the road. now i'm wondering why they would put parking on the opposite side of the road. i'm guessing it's more or less overflow parking and they don't have enough space at the fairgrounds. just then, i see the fairgrounds. on the left side of the road - the opposite side i thought it would be one. okay, now i'm thinking i missed it because it was on the opposite side that i was looking for. but them i'm looking at how big it is and seeing all the campers and bike, how did i miss this the first time through??

i pull up to the ticket booth and purchased my day pass. i ask where i should park the bike. the girl tells me to keep going around the fairgrounds. i hop on the bike and go around, which leads me to an entrance at the camping area. the due asks to see my arm band - which is how they can easily tell who's allowed into which areas. i don't have the right arm band for the camping area. i ask him where i can park - he tells me up front, where the ticket booth is. damn - i was just there. why did the dumb blonde tell me to go around back?? why was i dumb enough to listen to her??

the place looks deserted, except for the camping area. but i guess that's expected this early in the morning. some of the vendors are still setting up. i guess they're not really worried about starting this first thing in the morning since it runs into the wee hours... i walk around checking out some booths and bikes.





they had bikes from kendall johnson, randy simpson (milwaukee iron) and paul yaffe. i usually don't care for paul yaffe's designs, but i like the supertrapp bike he built - i think the paint is what caught my attention. kendall johnson's bike was for sale. it was the bike he built during one of the biker build-off shows. nice looking bike.

as the day went on, the crowd started to pick up and more and more bikes were showing up for the bike show.






the preliminary rodeo events started at 1300, with the main events starting at 1700. which was kind of a bummer because i was planning on leaving at 1700. i went over and watched some of the preliminary pulling events as well as the tire pull and bar stool races. i came close to entering the bar stool races - not sure why i didn't. still thinking maybe i should have. oh well, there's always next year!!

i spent the rest of the time wandering around, looking at the sights. it wasn't as crazy as i expected. but it was still early. and i'm sure a lot of the fun picks up in the evening and really gets rolling after dark. i'll have to catch that next year too.

not sure why, but i was kind of surprise to see a trough urnial in the men's room. i guess i didn't think they were still around... but it makes sense - better than all us guys using the sink when we gotta go!! i figured i had to get a picture of it...



i left a little earlier than i expected - pretty much saw what there was to see. besides, it was hot and i was ready to get moving on the bike. overall, i had a good time. was expecting to see a little more craziness like the smoke out. but again, it was probably too early. the ride home was nice - two lanes pretty much the whole time. the wind blowing felt great - it was a warm wind, but it was moving. next time i'll probably ride with the windshield off - that should make it a little cooler.

here are some other pictures from the day...

scotch-brite and other stories...

in a follow-up to my earlier post about trying to make my bike too shiny, i've found that scotch-brite works well to removed the "slickness" from the footboards.

i was going out to lunch yesterday. being the "plan ahead" type of guy i am, i waited until the last possible minute before trying to clean the footboards. i didn't want to chance riding again with the slippery footboards. and i've known about this problem since sunday. so it's not like i haven't had plenty of time to get to this earlier.

i grabbed a scotch-brite pad and started scrubbing. in the back of my mind, i'm already debating whether i'm going to resort to the cage if i can't clean the footboards well enough. needless to say, the scotch-brite worked well. now i'll have to do the same thing to the passenger footboards. i should have enough time for that, right??

speaking of going out to lunch - that was another experience. i left a little later than i wanted. having to scrub the footboards put me a little further behind. as i'm leaving the neighborhood, i notice i'm low on gas. i think i have enough to get me to my destination.

as i come to stops, i check the gauge - the red light comes on. but as i take off, the gauge readjusts and turns amber. so now i'm balancing between low and very low. already being late, i decide to press on. until... i come upon a detour.

now you never really know about the detours around here. sometimes the road is blocked and sometimes it isn't. i haven't figured out the madness behind these detours, but i will one day. in my head i'm debating whether to take the detour or take my chances with the road being open. i don't know how far out of the way the detour will take me. these are back roads and i could be going miles and miles out of the way. or maybe it's just a short jaunt around the "closed" road.

this detour wasn't here the last time i drove this road. again, the way these people work, they'll put up the detour weeks before they actually close the road and start work... i decide to take the road. i go through the barriers, which are open enough to let cage traffic through for the people that live on that stretch of the road. i wind down the road through a couple curves and what do i see?? a couple pieces of heavy equipment moving a pile of gravel that covers both lanes of the road!!! great, i need to turn around and take the detour.

did i mention that i was already running late?? now i really hate to feel rushed when i'm riding the bike. so i decide to just ride easy and i'll get there when i get there. i go around the detour which was surprisingly short. it also showed me a couple more roads that i'll have to ride to see where they lead. nothing like discovering some new roads. i'm back on track - maybe not time-wise, but at least i'm heading in the right direction...

i get to my destination. or at least in the general area. i start riding around parking lots looking for the restaurant. no luck... then i start thinking that i really should have looked over the directions before i left. i probably would have but i didn't have time!!! i decide to call a friend, he could look it up and give me directions. i couldn't call anyone i was having lunch with because i didn't have any of their phone numbers. well - it appears my friend was out to lunch too because he didn't answer. i decide to stop into a grocery store and see if they know where the restaurant is - i'm figuring they probably know the stores/restaurants in the immediate vicinity. i talk to the manager - he doesn't know where it is. so he decides to ask one of the employees. now there are two employees standing close by. he asks the hispanic one - i'm figuring this is because i was looking for a mexican restaurant!!! i was wondering if that was a racist thing or not. anyway, she doesn't know where it is. then she asks if i'm looking for a different mexican restaurant. no, i do manage to know the name of the place, if not the location!!! then she remembers where it is. down another roar - about two miles away. cool - i'll only be about thirty minutes late. guess i'll order a drink and some chips and salsa. i am getting hungry.

jump on the bike and head out. only to find the restaurant she directed me to was the wrong one!!! damn!! at this point, i decide to just head home - starved. i start riding out and then think about another location the restaurant might be. i do remember seeing a mexican restaurant - but was it the same one?? can't hurt to try at this point. i head over only to discover, yet again, that it's not the right place. now i head home for good - no more searching.

when i get home, i find out that i was on the wrong street, of course. now if i would have only taken the time to look over the directions before i decided to head out. lesson learned.

while i didn't really plan to ride around on the bike, it did turn out to be a fairly nice ride. a little hot and disappointing since i couldn't find the place. but it was a lot better being on the bike instead of a cage!!! like i say - any reason to ride...

so that it, my unexpected ride.

washing...

seems my bike washing episode has farther reaching cleaning effects that i initially realized...

after washing my bike, i absentmindedly left the key in my pocket. naturally, the shorts ended up going through the wash. which means the key got washed also!!

on the surface, this doesn't seem so bad. the problem comes in because the key is attached to a fob - the fob for the security system. so now, not only did i wash my bike and slick up my controls and footboards, i washed my key and fob. and, even though the fob is advertised as waterproof, it isn't. so now i have a useless piece of plastics and electronics hanging around with my key.

my first, lazy instinct is to just buy a new fob. but being the cheap person that i am (and in a money stricken state), i decide that maybe i only need a battery. i could buy a new battery and test out the fob. of course, i have to learn how to program the fob to work with my bike. i pull out mom* and read up on programming the fob. i learn that i really don't need the fob, i can set the alarm using a sequence of turn signals and the ignition switch known only to myself!! there are two problems with this. one, it would require me to program the bike (work). two, i would have to remember the sequence known only to myself. i revert back to using the useless fob.

after reading the programming instructions, i decide to remove the battery - after all, i am going to have to replace it. instead of just taking in the battery type, i like to take the battery so that i'm sure i pick up the right one. when i open the waterproof fob, what do i find?? water!!! not surprising, i didn't really expect it to be waterproof. i do the natural thing - start taking it apart and drying it off.

i don't know why, but i'm surprised the fob is made of only six parts - the key ring, the top and bottom outer shells, a circuit board, a rubber button piece that protects the circuit board and the battery. i take it all apart, drying each piece. figuring the fob was rendered useless when it went through its own wash cycle, i dry the circuit board using my t-shirt - not the brightest thing to do... i get it all dry and put back together.

now i have a finally dry fob sitting on my desk. what the hell, might as well go out and see if i can program it. following the instructions in mom, i attempt to program the fob. now the results of the different steps don't exactly follow the guide. but i don't panic - i follow all the steps. and when i'm done, it seems to be programmed.

i decided to set the security system. press and hold - bike alarms. cool!!! press twice (quickly) to deactivate - nothing. hmmm... press twice again - nothing. now a little panic starts to set in. i have it alarmed - the fuel injection is shut off - i can't ride the bike anywhere. not only that, i remember reading in mom that the whole security model needs to be replaced if the fob stops working while the bike is alarmed. damn, damn, damn... press twice again - still nothing. desperate, i start pressing the button many times is quick succession - it deactivates!!! schweeeeet... press and hold - bike alarms. press twice - nothing. press many times - deactivates. okay - so maybe i have to press more than twice - at least it works.

i walk in from the garage, proud of my accomplishment - especially since i don't have to spend any money to correct a stupid mistake of mine. excellent!!!

* motorcycle owners manual