Finally, fuel (and some updates)

Took a ride last Sunday, for the first time in something like two weeks. Combination of two things kept me off the bike. First was either a light flu, or a bad cold, but it really made motorcycling out of the question for a few days. I guess it came at a good time (if there is ever a good time for something like that) as due to Hurricane Ike, fuel was in very short supply. It was wild, no premium (and the Vulcan does not like lower grades of fuel at all, as I found out once by mistake) and very little regular. Some 80% of the stations were out of gas, some for a long time. Long lines, short tempers (some fights, even some guns pulled)......a real mess. Still some stations are out of some brands, and prices are among the highest in the nation (just in time to hammer the visitors here this weekend for the NASCAR race this weekend). I hope to get out to see some of the things going on around the racetrack; usually a lot of cool things to see sometime this weekend. Rain expected for the next few days here, but the weekend is supposed to be nice. We shall see.
Little bits of news here and there on the new bikes coming out (for those who have credit and could get one, the few, the proud, the rich!). I did see that Honda is going to bring the DN-01 to America, came out in Japan last year. Sporty looking bike, has a 650cc (or so) engine, and an automatic transmission. Its not the first motorcycle to have that, but considering that Honda is doing it, sure to have a lot of interest. Its a bit on the pricy side (around $14,000) but an interesting looking motorcycle which you can see on the Honda web site.
Other than Harley's not a lot of the 2009 motorcycles here yet (though a few of the older designs such as my Kawasaki Vulcan 1500 which returns for 2009) are in the dealers. I had hoped to make it to the HD open house in Salisbury, but had to work that Saturday. I will be checking out some of the new 2009 Harley's; they seem to get them out first, and the rest follow. I am also looking forward to seeing the new Triumph Thunderbird, a big cruiser with a big engine, and its a vertical (not a V) twin motor.
Read that the Myrtle Beach Fall Rally went ok; though there was one death there in a traffic accident. There were also a few protest rides over the restrictions (some were tested at the fall rally) being planned for the bigger rallies next year. Will certainly be worth following how it all goes, with the state of the economy, will be interesting to see how happy Myrtle Beach is about driving away people who want to spend money in their town.
As for me, will be doing some riding this weekend around the race track area; hope to get a few photos of that, and will try to get a good one for my next post. Race weeks are always a lot of fun, and have a lot of things going on here in the Concord area. Also coming up is a week of October vacation, and hopefully a ride to the high country to see some fall color. Did a ride last summer to the beach (Wilmington, with some friends) but looking forward to getting back to the mountains. Its a remarkable area to ride and always enjoy my visits up there.