First Ride of August, 2012

 Actually got a couple of rides in, one very short to visit a friend on August 4, and the second a bit longer on August 5. Still, both rides did not cover much more than 40 miles- a short ride (or a pair of them) is better than no ride at all. Glad to get any in during the two day visits of late home. This is a look at Quaker Steak and Lube in Concord, NC. I stopped by there; enjoyed getting on the motorcycle simulator they have, it was a lot of fun. They have a bike night on Wednesday's, and it is (least the last time I was there the biggest (though not the only) bike night in Concord.     

 I made a stop at RideNow to see up close (and to try on) the new Honda NC700X. Like with the competition between the Kawasaki Ninja 250, and the Honda CB250R Honda's new NC700X is matched up with the Kawasaki Versys (which is taken from "versatile system"). Both bikes use vertical twin (though Honda's is much more slanted forward) engines, 4 valves per cylinder. The Versys has been around since 2006 (with many over the years updates, and the Versys was the 2008 Motorcycle of the Year. MSRP for the Honda is $6999 (though other features can increase that) and for the Versys $7899.
 

This is the new Victory tank badge as America's "other" motorcycle company makes some changes for 2012-2013. Already some new 2013 motorcycles have been introduced, such as the new Judge and the Boardwalk. All motorcycles in the line up use the 106 cubic inch (1731cc) Freedom V-twin. They use air/oil cooling, and come with six speed transmissions. Victory builds its bikes at Spirit Lake, Iowa and that includes now Indian Motorcycles which they purchased in 2011. Formerly made at Kings Mountain, NC, the Indian factory production has been moved to Spirit Lake. Victory started production in 1998.
So, a fun day, and saw some interesting new rides (RideNow has the Judge by the way, the Boardwalk is on the way I am told) and got out in the wind for a while at least. For the first ride of the month, the heat and humidity was lessened from the brutal combination of the last few weeks. Morning rain delayed my Sunday ride, but the shorter version I did get in was good. Looking forward to some more rides in the next few weeks as Summer 2012 continues.