pick up...

picked up my bike today... was nice to ride the new '08, although i didn't get to ride it as much as i wanted. i would have really liked to play around with the 'lectronic throttle a bit more. maybe next time...

i did get to confirm the worthiness of the 'lectric gloves and the elephant ears. ride to the dealership was without and ride home was with. well worth the time running the wires through the coat and hooking up the gloves. i could have made it home without using the electric gloves, but why?? it's also nice to know i can ride in colder weather since i didn't have them cranked up all the way...

was a little disappointed in the service this time. i had asked for the clutch to be adjusted to bring the friction zone back a little as well as have the front brakes bled. didn't seem like either of those happened. thinking about taking it back earlier to have those done. will be needing new tires soon too.

on the bright side, i finally got my fender fixed from my little fiasco... well, it was fixed before, the finish on it just needed to be, well, finished. looks so much better now - although, for the most part, i had forgotten about it...

nice to have my own bike back in the garage. now i just need to make some time away from work to ride!!

peace...

20k service

took the bike in for service today... 20k!!! finally hit 20k. a mark i was hoping to hit last year, but fell a couple miles short.

temps outside were a little chilly. so i bundled up for the ride in - throwing on the 'lectric gloves and elephant ears. i was actually quite warm on the ride, thinking i may have overdone the bundling up part... i always say it's better to be warm and strip a few layers off than to get cold and have to try to warm up...

i get to the dealership, drop the bike off and pick up the rental. managed to pick up an electra glide classic. oh-eight model. with the anti-lock brakes and fly-by-wire throttle. i've been hearing a lot about these and finally have a chance to see what they're all about. well, maybe not the anti-lock brakes - i'll just trust they work.


on the ride home, i discovered how well the 'lectric gloves and elephant ears worked. i didn't get cold to the point of being uncomfortable, but the ride home was certainly colder.

as far as the bike - i really like the throttle. maybe, just maybe a fraction of delay between twisting the throttle and feeling the response. it seems some people are leery of it - thinking it's new technology and prone to failure. yeah, it's probably new to harley - at least the implementation - but the technology has been around for years.

the fly-by-wire is the first technology harley's come out with since i bought my bike that makes me consider getting a new one sooner. i know there's no chance of that right now - but, it did get my attention...

'round the lake...

do i have the best wife or what??

here it is, sunday, late morning, sunny skies, temps projected to be in the high forties/low fifties. i've just finished cleaning up the kitchen from my usual sunday routine - morning paper and breakfast in bed for the wife - when she says, why don't you go for a ride? i'm thinking, huh?? i'm heading out of town tomorrow for a trip, i had planned to do a couple things around the house and spend time with her. now she's tempting me with a ride. on such a beautiful day...

after a little back-n-forth with the, 'are you sure?' i decide to accept her offer before she changes her mind. i run upstairs and ask my son if he wants to go - knowing he won't turn down the chance to go for a ride. i figure once i enlist him, we'll have to go!!

we decided a ride around the lake, with a stop for lunch, would be a nice ride. we geared up and headed out...

i considered seeing if our neighbors wanted to go, but decided to spend time with my son on this ride. as we're cruising away from our subdivision, we we see our neighbors at a stop sign. we wave as we go by. it's a good feeling you get inside when you know you're out for a ride and they're stuck in their cage. i can imagine they were wishing they were with us. thoughts of them fade as quickly as we do from their view. we're off for a wonderful day.

in short order and one stop for gas, we make it to gatrells in virgilina, va. we've been here once before. i like the place. it's got that small town, this-is-where-it-all-happens feeling. i'm sure many politics have been discussed and decided over a couple of beers here.

right now, it's kind of dead. in fact, it doesn't even look like it's open. we were here on a sunday before and they were open. maybe they have new hours with the new year. checking the sign, i realize we're a little early - they open in thirty minutes. we decide to wait.

my son decides to call his grandpa to rub in the fact we're out riding today. while he's doing that, i start snapping a few pictures... pretty soon a guy comes out of the building and asks if he can help us - in that don't-think-of-causing-any-trouble tone. i explain we're out riding and decided to stop here for some lunch. we talk for a couple minutes and he introduces himself. i think he said his name was rusty. even though they're not open yet, he invites us in and says he'll start serving food as soon as the grills are heated. i'm really liking this place...



we head in and grab some food - after waiting for the grills to heat up. but that's not a bad thing. this place has character. every time you look around the room, you pick up a little more. with all the vents going on, this is certainly the meeting place for the town. car shows, parties, bands, drinking games with no alcohol. they certainly keep it family oriented.



after eating and before heading out for the rest of our journey, we take a couple more pictures.

the grocery store across the street...


the fire station - again, across the street...


the rest of the ride was great - stomachs full, heading down the road. a mix of two lanes and four lanes. i need to replace some of those four lane roads with two lanes.

the ride around the lake is beautiful. coming out of boydton, winding through the two lanes. mostly tree lined roads, with some openings around farms - gorgeous scenery. the roads twist and turn, finally opening up and bringing you across the dam. i wish i could just look over the lake as we're crossing the dam - it's an amazing site. but i decide it's better to keep my eyes on the road and only take the occasional glance. especially considering the ninety degree turn at the end of the dam!!

we finally make our way home - content with another day's riding. what a refreshing and relaxing feeling getting home after a ride like this...


you can check out the 2008 ride map to see the route - this one in blue...

(and in case you're wondering, i didn't make it in home to take my wife to lunch. although she did manage to make us a wonderful dinner!!!)

19974

well, i didn't quite make it to 20,000 miles last year. just twenty six miles short. i could have stretched my last ride of the year out another twenty six lousy miles, but i wanted to get home in time to take my wife out to lunch. ;-)

i did manage to put 6480 miles on this year. as it always seems, not as many as i wanted. my bike was out of commission for a little while, but i don't really think that made much of a difference.

we'll just sit back and see what the year brings...

peace

2008 rides

once again, various rides...

routes:
------ 01/06/2008 - first ride of the year - the lake loop
------ 02/09/2008 - saturday ride - smithfield, nc
------ 04/03/2008 - gettin' fish sammiches - wilmington, nc
------ 04/09-10/2008 - myrlte beach pre-party - rocky mount, nc
------ 04/12-14/2008 - bike week - myrlte beach, sc
------ 05/26/2008 - world's largest frying pan - rose hill, nc
------ 06/09-12/2008 - harley davidson factory tour - york, pa
------ 06/21-22/2008 - smoke out 9 - mocksville, nc
08/17/2008 - 25k - spring hope, nc
------ 09/28-29/2008 - visit appalachian state university - boone, nc

last ride...

...of the year...

took the last ride of the year today up to danville, va. a nice ride to close out the year.

this year, "santa" got me a(nother) gps for christmas. larger screen, which i need for my aging eyes - you won't believe the number of turns i missed because i couldn't see the turns on the small(er) screen. touch screen, making it easier, and probably more dangerous, to modify my route while traveling. the only thing left is to come up with a name for her.

yesterday was spent replacing the old cradle and wires with the new ones. it was surprisingly easier than i thought it would be. mostly because all i had to do was follow the wires/installation for the old one. the toughest part was removing the tank - which i had already done several times installing the led lights. on trip to the hardware store and before you knew it, i was done...

today i took advantage of the gps, plotting a route up to danville, va. i was contemplating a trip to one of the lighthouses on the coast, but decided didn't want to be gone quite that long. that'll be a trip for another day. danville seemed like the right kind of ride for today. long enough to get out and enjoy the weather, but not long enough to need the whole day.

the gps crapped out on me for the ride home. don't know what happened. i was eating lunch, plotting an alternate route home - through yanceyville. when i put it on the bike to leave - nothing. could not get it to turn on for anything. into the saddlebag it went and i was left to navigate home the old fashion way - road signs!!!

the ride was nice. chilly. but let's face it, you can't complain too much when you're riding on december 31st... it was good to be out, but nice to get home... a great way to close out the year...

check out the route on the ride map, in some shade of blue

peace

roxboro...

put about a hundred miles on the bike yesterday... had a chance to get out for a couple hours. i quickly plotted out a short loop that would take me on some new roads...

checked the outside temps before heading out - was about 60... forecast called for sunny skies - which didn't quite materialize. seemed i was always heading into darker clouds, wondering if it was going to start raining. i was prepared if it did...

ride was nice. saw some nice views of the leaves changing colors, but not as much as i would have thought. most of the trees were already looking bare. guess the drought had something to do with that...

did manage to see a deer cross the road in front of me - about two hundred yards. a single deer, crossing from right to left. then i start thinking, where there's one, there's more... as i approach, the deer stops in an open field, about thirty yards from the side of the road, and looks back. okay - i'm looking around for the rest of the pack... i'm slowing, looking everywhere as i pass the point where the deer crossed the road. i don't see anything but the deer run off. was glad not to see more deer. another reminder deers are rampant now and to be careful...

anyway, a couple pics from the ride. and a link to the ride map if you want to see the route - this one in orange...




one other interesting thing... or maybe it isn't that interesting... i noticed just inside the tree line where i stopped to take these pictures were a whole mess of rusted cans. about fifty of them. they looked about the size of the cans oil came in many years ago. i shuffled a half buried one with my foot and sure enough, that's what it was... the tell sign of the u-shaped opening in the front brought back memories of opening oil cans by shoving the funnel into the top of the can, piercing the lid. if i was lucky, i would get the funnel in straight. most of the time, though, i ended up getting oil everywhere!!

peace...

weekend riding...

put about two hundred miles on my bike this weekend - not a whole lot, but enough to consider it some riding... closing on on the 20k mark... have a little less than a thousand miles to get there. hoping to be able to do it before the end of the year.

couple of things i noticed riding this weekend. cold mornings are upon us. have to make sure i'm prepared to ride... saturday morning i bundled up enough to stay warm. sunday morning was a bit cooler than i expected - could have used the chaps... maybe i would have grabbed them if i checked the temps before heading out...

saturday evening, heading home, i was driving right into the sun - at dusk. the glare and the sun shining directly into my eyes made it very difficult to see. as i was riding, fighting the sun, i was thinking of road trips. thinking if/when i ever take one, i'll have to stay aware of which direction i'm heading and when the sun is rising/setting. it's definitely something to plan around. i thought about pulling over saturday evening and waiting until the sun was down further. but i was already moving and anxious to get home. so i kept riding...

sunday morning was a beautiful ride - other than being a little chilly... the sky was clear and full of stars. granted, you can't constantly watch the skies while you're riding, but a glance up every now and then to see the sky lit up brightly with so many stars doesn't hurt. i managed to see three shooting stars on my ride - that was pretty cool...

riding sunday morning, i kept looking, waiting, watching for deer to be along the side of the road or pop out in front of me. luckily i didn't see any deer, but a rabbit did run across the road about ten yards in front of me, startling me. as i watched it run across, i was thankful it wasn't a deer!!!

i did have a problem with people flashing their headlights at me sunday morning. i complained about this before... haven't noticed that problem in a while. then again, maybe i haven't ridden that much in the dark lately.... i try not to let it bother me. if someone just flashes me, i'll let it go. if they turn their brights on after that, i'll flash mine. sunday morning seemed to be the morning of flashers - again, the wrong kind!!! after about the about the fifth car, instead of flashing, someone just turned their brights on. that was enough - i just turned my high beam on. didn't take them long to turn them off!!! i did think about leaving mine on, but that wouldn't have been right...

overall, good weekend of riding - nice to be on the bike... with the weekend coming up and no 'real' plans yet, might be able to get out on a ride for a couple hours with my wife. guess that means i need to find something to do with the kids...

3rd annual rally in raleigh...

went to the rally in raleigh a couple weekends ago... was a lot of fun. nice to see the event getting bigger. this year it was as big as the first and second years put together. there was talk of closing even more streets next year if it was big enough this year. that would be nice to see...

we left the dealership and headed over to the rally - normally a three minute trip stretched to about fifteen with all the bikes and confusion getting in... i think the original plan was to ride down fayetteville street and snake around to moore square, where the opening ceremonies were taking place. however, people started parking on fayetteville street as soon as they got there, choking the road for everyone else that was following... seemed a little odd, but the ride to start the rally was lead by one of dale jr.'s race cars. guess if i was more of a nascar fan, there'd be more of an ooohhh and aaahhh factor.



lots to see and a lot to do at the rally this year. one of the first things to catch my eye, both because of the bike and he was parked next to me was this 1947 harley. well, it wasn't just a 1947, more like mostly a 1947. the guy was real proud to talk about his bike, the miles he's put on it and the work he's put into it to keep it on the road. he's had it coast-to-coast several times and hasn't had any problems with it. of course with the amount of work he has to put into the bike to keep it running, he might not consider it broken down were the rest of us might... anyway, as with any old harley work its weight in gold, after about ten minutes sitting, there was a pool of oil forming...





another bike that immediately caught my eye was "plan b" from widow maker custom design and repair. this is the guy the build the gold school bike i liked at the first rally... i talked to hank for a couple minutes, found out he had taken it down to the smoke out this year. love his work - will have to check out his shop some time...







also talked to a marine what served two tours in iraq... thank you very much, by the way... apparently he had a sportster and his dad decided to trade it in to show his appreciation for what his son was doing. his son didn't know anything about what his dad was doing. when he returned from his second tour, his dad told him they had a problem with his sportster to lure him into the dealership. at the dealership, packed with family and friends, his dad gave him the bike. as you can see, it's been customized as a tribute to the marines and the six fellow soldiers from his unit that never returned... very interesting guy to talk to - very humble, very giving. we spoke to him for quite a while. if we had more people in this world like him, it would be a much better place... if you look closely at the picture of the derby cover, you can see the names of his six buddies that never came home...




while wandering around the rally, saw the new victory vision...



ray price and his new rider were giving out autographs...


the hero bike from homes for the troops...



various pics from the bike show... i don't know that this first "bike" should have been in the show - it was more like a three wheel car than a motorcycle.but the judges will decided that, huh?? seems like skulls were the theme this year...






not sure if this guy entered the "bike" show... guess he's a cool cat, huh??



other pics from the rally...











i guess if i was going to join a motorcycle club, this would definitely be one of the patches...