Riding with the CVR (April 21, 2012)

Got a message that the Charlotte Vulcan Riders were heading out on their "Mid-Month Ride", and seeing that I am still in the area, and enjoy riding with those guys (though get to do it very rarely due to my schedule) I met up with them at RideNow in Concord, NC. While there, checked out a new bike, this being "The Judge" by Victory Motorcycles. Nice bike though I find them a bit expensive, and as I noted as one drove by they sure have clunky transmissions (though have a good warrenty on them, so must be pretty good). Think this is a sharp ride-also comes in orange!   

Here are some of the guys , nice bunch and we have been on some really good rides. Club was put together a little over three years ago (which was the time I started doing the Richmond thing that I am still doing). Went on the first ride with them, and whenever schedules work out, I get out with them. They have been on some good rides, and have hosted the National Vulcan Rally for two years (though will be in Iowa I think for 2012). They do a lot of charity stuff too, and frankly they are a blast to run with. I will be glad when this whole Richmond thing is over-looking forward to doing some riding with them on a regular basis.

They went to the Webb Road Flea Market, that place burned down around a year ago, and has been both completely rebuilt and updated. There is a bunch of cool stuff there, lots of motorcycle and many other types of items, its a remarkable place indeed. Many of the motorcycle things are much cheaper than you would find in a bike shop. Trike you see here is based on a Vulcan, though you have to get a kit (a number of places make them) to make it a trike.
I could not stay too long, this being my last full day in the area before heading back to Richmond tomorrow, want to spend as much time as possible with the family. It has been a great week of vacation, did a lot of fun things with Patty, Robby and the dogs. As for the motorcycle, got in some good rides, and went to some really fun places with some really outstanding friends-and those are the memories that will keep me keeping on in the days and weeks to come. Hope your rides are as good, ride safe!    

Visit to Eurosport Asheville (April 19, 2012)

While in Asheville, NC, visited "Eurosport Asheville" which is a BMW/Husqvarna/Vespa dealer in the city. The dealership is located not far from Biltmore Village and is a really nice looking dealership. Got greeted by one of the salesmen who was really into having me purchase this motorcycle at left which is the new BMW K1600 (not sure which model this is, as there are two of them). This is the biggest touring model BMW offers. Designed to compete with the Honda Gold Wing its engine is a 1600cc in-line six. The last inline six built for motorcycles was the Honda CBX many years ago.   

 BMW a few years ago purchased the motorcycles built under the Husqvarna name. The Swedish company had been building motorcycles since 1903, and was real big in the 1970's as a maker of motocross and enduro motorcycles winning a number of championships.  The company was purchased by Italy's Cagiva and run under its MV Agusta division in 1987 and production and development was moved to Italy. The location of the factory and development continues there since the purchase by BMW in 2007. In addition to the off road bikes the company is famous for, they are also developing some road bikes.  

Finally have seen this bike (a couple of years ago at a motorcycle event in Richmond, VA) before...its the BMW S1000RR-BMW's entry to the world of superbikes. Powered by a 999cc in-line four the bike has made quite a splash in World Superbike. Designed to compete with a number of Japanese sport bikes in both performance and in price, the bike as does all motorcycles made by the German motorcycle company has a lot of interesting technology and is one of the most cutting edge motorcycles on the market.
There is a BMW dealership (which also sells Triumph and Ducati) in Charlotte, NC, but none in the Richmond, VA area...so it was pretty neat to see these motorcycles during my very interesting trip to Asheville. One of my wife's and my favorite areas to visit in North Carolina, photos from the trip (which is a motorcyclists paradise) can be seen on my "Richmond and Me" page. 

Kings Mountain Battlefield Ride (April 16, 2012)

A nice day out with Phil, we took the motorcycles to Kings Mountain, SC. Met up around 11:30AM at RideNow in Concord. Saw this row of Yamaha R1 motorcycles-these 1000cc in-line fours have a long history in motorcycle racing, and Yamaha in fact has a long, long history of success in roadracing (AMA and MotoGP) which continues today. Over the years some great riders (some of which I was lucky enough to see) have crossed the finish line on Yamaha motorcycles. Way back when (during my high school days) I even had one of the more legendary ones-an RD-350.     

We headed out to Kings Mountain National Battlefield, which we got to via I-85. Road construction was pretty wild with a lot of dirt being moved; both by construction equipment and by the wind which was fairly well raging. Took a tight grip on the bars and soldiered on. Pretty much an epic ride to Exit 2 in South Carolina, and a short ride to the battlefield. It was the site of a major victory by American forces over the British forces on October 7, 1780. The commander of the English was killed on the battle. Col Patrick Ferguson was buried on the field, and this is his grave. We walked the battlefield trail of some 1.5 miles while there.   

Due to the wind, decided NOT to go back via I-85, but instead took NC74/NC29 though some interesting cities and towns. That road also took us into Charlotte, NC. Being rather hungry we stopped at The Burger Company for food and beverage. Nice place, had not been there before, it is not very far from Bank of America Stadium in Uptown Charlotte. A bit on the pricy side, but the food was very good, and certainly an interesting place. There is a lot of inside dining, but with the temperature being close to 80, and especially with the wind, decided to eat inside. For the day, with some other trips I made via my bike, rode a total of 145 miles-and enjoyed every one of them, even the windy ones! It was a very damn fine day indeed!  

University and Concord (April 15, 2012)

 Nice day to ride, sunny and warm on a beautiful Sunday. Actually did more visiting then riding, spent some time seeing some good friends-but did get out to Boardwalk Billy's in University. Not only does it have a good beer selection, but also some free peanuts in the shell (and free is good, peanuts is better). Nice area there, its near UNCC so generally has a good sports crowd there. Watched some hockey on one tv, and the truck race at Rockingham (Nascar is back there are taking a few years off) and enjoyed the visit as always. A nice friendly place to spend a little time.  

I rode out by Charlotte Motor Speedway, the Z-Max Four Wide Drag Race was going on. I did not want to get too close, cause the crowds were pretty impressive (and I had places to go) but love visiting the big track. Will be just a few weeks until the All-Star Race and the Coca-Cola 600 is going on there. It is a very impressive place to visit though, with a nice gift shop and a lot of things to see and do. In addition to the big track there is also The Dirt Track (went there a few times for the Flat Track Motorcycle races, unfortunately no longer held there) and of course Z-Max. That is one remarkable place and the sounds from the track of dragsters running four at a time was something to hear even from a distance. I really enjoyed the visit there, as I always do. That is my trusty Kawasaki Vulcan 1500 in the foreground, which has over the years taken me on many outstanding rides, and April 15 though a short one (around 26 miles in all) was a good one. It was just a great day to be out on two wheels!   

Wanted to get a photo of this, as has been noted I am a big fan of aviation, and thought this was really a cool thing. It is the DirecTV blimp which was a big sight over the skies of Concord over the weekend. Got this photo as it made a pass overhead. Looks like a fun thing to fly-kind of goes low and slow, but that would be fun. Never have been in one, though would not turn down the chance to get up in one of them.
Sure is nice to be back in North Carolina. Have quite a few days here, and plan to get in some really good rides while I have the chance. This is a very interesting area to explore, and I plan to do some while I am in the area.
Be looking for some of those posts in the next few days, hope to bring some interesting sights your way.

Easter Weekend Rides in NC (April 7-8, 2012)

 Enjoyed some great riding over the Easter weekend. On Saturday April 7 I rode out to Goose Creek Airport off of Lawyers Road near Stallings, NC. Lawyers is one of my favorite roads, twisty and very scenic. The airport is one of many and is one of my favorite stops.
On Easter Sunday  went through Concord, Kannapolis, Landis, and China Grove, NC...some really cool small towns. Have spent the last few weeks in Charlotte, and wanted to get out "in the country" a bit. I got some great photos during the ride(s) and have those on my Photo Page (link at the top of this page).

I love aviation, always have. In fact both the Wright Brothers and Glenn Curtiss (two of the pioneers of aviation in the US) learned a lot from "two wheels"-the Wrights from bicycles, Glenn from motorcycles. Like a plane we turn and bank, and certainly both ride the wind though in different forms. Part of the fun of riding is to check out different things- and watching some takeoffs and landings from a number of interesting planes was a great deal of fun.
Got some great rides coming up, and will be going to some interesting places this month-I hope you can come back and see some of them here in the next few posts.
Also of note, the MotoGP season got underway Easter Sunday, and those races are being covered again this year on Speed Channel, be sure to check their web site for those and other upcoming races.    

Motorcycles in the RVA

Went for a walk on the last day in March, but did get this photo of this biker (and a friendly wave) as he and a friend (on another bike not seen here) rode past me at Forest Hill Park in Richmond, Va. Have to do the four wheeled (or on foot) thing here in Richmond, but I do enjoy seeing motorcycles out and checking out some of the motorcycle events and the shops here in this city. Colonial Harley Davidson, Universal Cycle on Midlothian, Honda House, and especially Velocity Motorcycles are some of my favorite shops to check in on. I also enjoyed last years Hog Rally and always liked the start of the Childsavers Ride (which I don;t think was held this year.    

Saw this fine looking Honda 600 Shadow while out walking at well (also on March 31). A Honda 600 (mine was black) was my previous ride before getting my current Kawasaki Vulcan. The 600 was a great bike; had mine from 1998-2005 and in all that time never had any sort of mechanical problem in some 36,000 miles (of course the Vulcan is closing in on 24,000 and I can also say it has been stone cold reliable). I always have been big on preventative maintenance and it has really paid off.
Spring is a really remarkable time to ride, and there are going to be some fun rides coming up. I will see you on the road very soon!