Shakedown Ride to Taste of Charlotte (June 10, 2012)

 Did some work at 24,000 miles on the Vulcan. It was time for the oil change, spark plugs (the V-twin uses four plugs) and cleaned the K+N air filter, among a few other things. Got the bike dialed in, got to check a few things on it (always a good idea, as is a good pre ride check before every ride) and it felt like a new machine on June 10 when I headed to Uptown Charlotte. Photo at left was taken there heading to "Taste of Charlotte". Funny to do that, as just the week before I was at "Broad Appetit" in downtown Richmond, VA. Fun to visit both places as I really enjoy food. The ride was great, headed there via NC49/NC29 which is a more sedate way to get to Charlotte (the other method is via I-85). More lights and a lower speed limit, but that was perfect on a Sunday near noon. Clouds were building but that kept the heat down, and there was a nice breeze. Stopped to get a photo of Rosedale (built in 1815) on the way in, which goes to show there are a few old things in Charlotte (besides me).

This is the view from Taste of Charlotte. I always enjoy going Uptown, and usually it seems on most weekends (as followers of this blog will note) there is something going on down there. Very good food fest, I liked the food and beverages there, and there was a nice (and like with the Speed Street event, fast growing) crowd on hand. I think there are normally some 75,000 that attend this if the Charlotte Observer is correct. Good food, and a lot of things to see, also music plus a number of giveaways. There was even a place to get a free haircut. I could have used that, but will do that in the next few days in Richmond.  

While I was there (this is a motorcycle blog after all) saw this Suzuki (from the name plate on the engine) which I am pretty sure is a TL-1000. Nice V-twin which is no longer made, but a pretty quick bike (Honda also had one along these lines during the same time called the "Super Hawk").
Headed back via the same route as I came up, though did make a short stop in North Davidson (aka "NoDa") which is one of the most interesting parts of Charlotte. Ride covered just around 45 miles over a two hour period, but did a bit of walking and enjoyed the sights.