Riding in my backyard (November 26, 2012)

Something rare for this page...guy said, "I will take your photo" and I took the photo at left of me in front of Charlotte Motor Speedway. That is the tree (a tree shaped collection of lights) in the background. Charlotte Motor Speedway is the big attraction in the area (along with the massive Concord Mills complex, which is actually the number one tourist attraction in North Carolina- so I have read) but it is one massive race track. It is all decorated for the season, and you can drive inside the track and see all sorts of lights (for a price per carload) for the next few weeks. I had a great ride today; went to Speedway Harley-Davidson, Concord Mills, Concord Regional Airport and Roush-Fenway Racing. I have a few photos from that on my "Richmond and Me" page, but here I have a few photos from Speedway Harley-Davidson which is near Concord Mills Mall. It was a great day to ride with temps around 60, and as you can see it was a bright and sunny day. I love days like this in late November.     

Seen at left is a Harley-Davidson "Muscle" which is part of the V-Rod line for 2013. Nice motorcycle with the 1250 cc (60 cubic inches) v-twin engine, and one of the few Harley's that fit a taller rider such as myself. It is also part of the only line that is water-cooled: most of the Harley-Davidson's still being air cooled. Water cooled engines to me are better, got to figure because how many people still drive air-cooled cars. Makes for better more dependable performance, plus makes for longer maintenance periods, and frankly the engine lasts a lot longer as it does not get so hot.      

Seen below are two Screaming Eagle versions of the Harley-Davidson Line, in the foreground is a CVO Electra Glide, and in the background a CVO Road King. Something like $70,000-80,000 would get you the pair. I talked about air cooled bikes, well these are both air cooled. Beautiful and iconic for sure but you pay a good price to get that nametag on your gas tank (but these are special editions of what are somewhat cheaper bikes in the basic versions). I enjoyed seeing some of the new Harley-Davidson motorcycles, but unless I win the lottery sometime soon will be riding Japanese motorcycles for some time to come!