york trip...

day one - june 8

packed up the bike in the morning and made our way up to manassas. as instructed we called father-in-law to let him know we were leaving. he would be leaving soon as well and call us when he was in position - where ever and when ever that might be...



i had daughter on the back of the bike with wife and left over kids in the chase vehicle... it was a hot day which made for a longer ride. still, i would prefer to be on the bike in the heat than in a cage...



trying to catch up to father-in-law was interesting to say the least. between crappy/non-existent cell phone reception, father-in-law moving locations and no communication between the bike and chase vehicle, it was an adventure. he was in at least two different locations, trying to find the perfect location.



it ended up being at a burger king in orange. luckily before we passed it. after grabbing some grub, we headed the rest of the way up to maanssas.

day two - june 9

the final leg up to york... we decided to leave mid-morning, between the morning rush hour and the heat of the day. if all goes well, we could miss traffic in the larger cities and get to york around noon, before the heat of the day hits.



we loaded up the bikes and headed out...

trip went pretty good, mostly back roads and not too much traffic... until we got to leesburg. unfortunately our timing was off a little and we managed to spend about thirty minutes in stop and go traffic. might not sound like much, but when it's already warm outside and you're sitting on an idling engine, it's not what you might call comfortable.



after getting out of traffic and up the road a little, we decided to make our first stop for refreshments. a welcome break...

second half of the trip was uneventful. we arrived at the best western in york. i think we were all happy to get there, out of the heat and into some air conditioning...

after checking in and unloading, we wandered out for some food. leaving the bikes parked and opting to walk, figuring it might be a tad cooler than riding...



a recommendation from the check-in girls lead us to the westgate restaurant and lounge.

unfortunately the 'free' and 'beer' weren't associated other than being on the same pane of glass...

a nice looking diner that i wanted to try - apparently no one else was interested...

in the evening, daughter and i decided to go for a ride. i think the others were still a bit worn out from the ride up. besides, this would give daughter and i a chance to hang out - it was her trip anyway...



not sure where to go, we decided to head to laugerman's, the nearest hd dealer. i plug the location into my gps and off we go...



while a gps is a great too and very handy to have, it's not perfect. and for some reason, the gps decided to route us around every back alley street between us and the dealership. using a conventional paper map, i could have plotted a direct route to the dealership taking us all of maybe three miles. but the gps chose a route for us that was no less than ten miles.



most of the time, this would have been less than ideal. and i was getting kind of frustrated because i knew there was a shorter route. but sometimes taking the wrong turn can lead to greater benefits. in our case, we stumbled upon prospect hill cemetary and quite a site it was...

we finally made it to laugerman's about thirty minutes before they closed - one of the few dealerships that are actually open late. i imagine it has something to do with the proximity to the factory.

we wandered around the dealership, looking at t-shirts and talking them out of a screw-it bandanna. we discovered the dealership has little collection, museum as they like to call it, of vintage and collector bikes. an impressive collection...

after leaving the dealership, we took a little ride around york, looking for the twisty little roads we didn't find on the ride up. or at least a cooler ride we could enjoy. it was a nice ride and a great way to end the day...

day three - june 10

got up, grabbed some breakfast, packed up the bikes and headed to the factory to take on a tour. reading the literature, it sounded like we needed to get there very early in order to have a chance at taking a tour. i wasn't about to miss my opportunity and planned to be pulling the bike into the parking lot as they opened the doors.

once the doors opened, we got our tickets for the first available tour. we wandered around the visitor center, checking out displays and just had some fun...

all the pieces needed to assemble a 2008 road king classic

part of the manufacturing process - from sheet metal to final product...

a couple other artifacts from the museum/visitor center. this is the bike vaughn l. beals was given when harley was purchased from amf.

waiting for the movie to begin before the tour... no picture taking on the tour...

after the factory tour, a quick stop by laugerman's for father-in-law and son to check out... always making memories...

then the trip home... despite the heat, we decided to take the longer route home, figuring heading through the mountains might make for a cooler ride. as well as the fact we'd hit slightly more twisty roads.



the ride longer ride through the mountains were certainly welcome. but we did pay the price when we had to stop on the hot asphalt for about fifteen minutes for road construction. even shutting the bikes off wasn't much relief.



once we got moving again, twisting through the mountains, the misery of sitting in the heat was quickly forgotten.



we made what we thought was our final stop in berkeley springs for an icy treat.

once we got moving again, the skies got dark and the rain clouds rolled in. one final stop to put on the rain gear. we decided to press on in the rain, as long as we could safely see in front of us.



the rain never did get bad enough to stop us. and as i've been discovering in the last few journeys in the rain, i actually like riding in the rain. not that i would chose it over riding on a sunny day, but i wouldn't not ride simply because it's raining...



we finally pulled back into manassas. another great end to a great ride.



looking back, i really enjoy riding with my father-in-law. i'm glad we can share these adventures and journeys. i hope we are able to put on many more miles together. and having the kids with us made the trip that much more special...



check out the 2008 ride map to see the route - this one in  green ...

million mile monday...

took a ride this morning to participate in hog's million mile monday. ended up contributing 120 miles towards the goal of one million miles. may not be much, but it's my part...

i decided to take my familiar loop around the kerr lake... i figured it would take a couple hours, give me a few miles without getting to crazy - after all, it is monday and i do have to work... if work wasn't a factor, who knows where i may have ended up!!!

when i took off this morning, it was overcast. left over from last night's storms and looking like the sky could open up at any time... i wasn't letting the threat of rain stop me - that's why i have rain gear in the saddlebag. the overcast sky actually made for some nice riding - temps were cooler and i didn't have to worry about the sun in my eyes.

stopped at the lake to get a few pics before heading on around and back home... as i rounded the north side of the lake, the sky cleared up and the sun came out, making for an awesome ride home.

it was a really nice ride this morning - great way to start the day. would like to make a habit out of it, but the need for exercise will probably outweigh the desire to ride everyday before work...

still coming - details of the trip to york, pa and the smoke out...

quick update...

things have been busy here and more details coming...

off the heels of my last post - the trip to york was indeed interesting and fun... more to come when i have a chance to get the pics uploaded.

last weekend was smoke out 9. wasn't sure what to expect, but turned out to be a great event. new and much better venue... again, will post more when i get the pics uploaded.

looking forward, have million mile monday coming up... it's hog's attempt to get as many members to ride and tally up a total of one million miles. not sure where i'll ride, but planning on doing some tooling around...

july brings up ride to work day... not sure if i'll ride or where i'll go... can't even remember if i went out last year...

seems like there's other stuff, but can't remember right now... stay tuned for updates...

road trip!!!

have a week off work and going to do some riding...

daughter and i leave tomorrow, ride up to manassas, spend the night. monday father-in-law, daughter, son and i ride up to york, spend the night. tuesday, take the harley factory tour, return to manassas. rest of the week will be spend squeezing in riding between son graduating, visiting and graduation parties. should be a very busy and fun week.

today, we get a call from father-in-law. he wants to know what time we're leaving so he can meet us on the road. i asking him where he wants to meet, thinking he'll probably pick waugh harley davidson. he says he wants to meet in some small town south of orange. i proceed to ask him if he wants to meet at a gas station, greasy spoon or what. no, he says he'll be on the side of the road, i should look for him. to help out, he'll call me when he parks himself on the side of the road. i explain that i won't be able to answer because i'll be riding. not a problem - he'll call wife, who'll be riding in the chase vehicle. i guess he figures she'll be able to communicate with me while we're cruising down the two lane road.

it ends up easier just to go along with him than to try to work out a more identifiable location to meet.

two things are already apparent on this trip:

• it's going to be very interesting


• it's going to be a lot of fun

stay tuned...

coincidence??

interesting... two days after the fallen officer memorial ride, the news & observer reports a raleigh police officer's family settles a lawsuit...

"The family of a Raleigh police officer who died in a 2002 motorcycle wreck while chasing a speeder settled a lawsuit with Harley-Davidson Motor Co. and the Raleigh store that leased the vehicle to the police department."

"The confidential settlement was brokered in December, but the product liability lawsuit wasn't officially dismissed until May 5, according to court records and Mark Kircher, who represented Harley Davidson. The city of Raleigh also paid nearly $366,000 as part of workers' compensation, according to the City Attorney's Office."

"The settlement was between Paul's estate, Harley Davidson and Ray Price Harley Davidson, the Raleigh area merchant for the motorcycles."

"The lawsuit had claimed that a high-speed wobble caused the motorcycle to become uncontrollable, a problem that some Harley-Davidson enthusiasts, motorcycle mechanics and personal injury lawyers had noted previously. The cause of the wobble has been a matter of intense debate, with some lawyers and accident victims claiming a design flaw in certain Harley models as the source. Others have pointed to improper maintenance. Paul's lawsuit is one of several filed in recent years that center on high-speed wobble."

i'm thinking ray price's sponsorship of the memorial ride may have been part of the settlement...