"Trade your ride day" (November 22, 2013)

 Very good riding day for November, sunny and 70's....had to get out. Was funny, at a stop light guy said "Hey do you know what today is? It is trade your ride day" (he was in a car). Gave me a nice complement on the bike, asked me how it has been (told him great). Then he told me about his old Harley (which was not so great).
Anyhow, using the timer on the camera took this photo of me on the bike in front of the Virginia War Memorial. Nice place and a good ride beginning, though did not go through it this time, but I have in the past. 

 Went downtown which is still firing up for Christmas. Nice to visit this place, its the outdoor ice rink which opens this weekend, and will be open till early January. Nice, and with the forecast this weekend, timing is good, going to get very cold very soon.
Sure enjoy riding downtown, a lot of things to see and enjoyed this place and some others which I put on my Flickr Photo Page, and there is a link here. Nice downtown, and today traffic was not bad, and even found some parking to take a few other photos there.  

Went by Velocity Motorcycles on Marshall Street, was told they have got in some unique bikes. Was told right.
This is a Kawasaki 900, but has been heavily modified. Punched out to 1300, longer swingarm, and some other bells and whistles. That is a Honda 750 Custom behind it. Some nice rides to be found there, and the prices are not bad. If you want to have a fun motorcycle, you could do worse I think.
One of my favorite places to visit, and it is real close to Buz and Neds Real BBQ, which I often stop in for a meal (but not today). 

 This really brought back some memories. Its  Honda 550/4 had  72 model some years ago. This one looks very, very nice. If it is anything like mine, could be a very trouble tree ride.
I had a lot of fun on the bike, though of course had to do some work on it...was my first used bike (all the rest have been new) but turned out to be a trouble free ride. I had a lot of fun with it, and sold it in one day (put a sign on it in a K-Mart parking lot) then got the 600 Shadow. Got the Vulcan now, sure have been lucky some great bikes in my past, and even before those three.  

Finally got a photo of this Ducati, and a Honda Pacific Coast. Love these things, and you don't see either of them very often. Prices on them are not bad either. If you want more information, check the Velocity Motorcycles web site or Facebook page.
As for my ride, went on from there, down to Cary Street, around Byrd Park past the lake (very pretty) and back to the where I store the bike. Not a long ride (some 23 miles in all) but a great time. Was just a really, really, really wonderful day to get out, and sure put a big damn smile on my face. 

Veterans Day Ride (November 11, 2013)

Just a short ride on a very nice Monday, as a former "Employee" of the USN, and having taken a day off (my last vacation day) thought it was a good day for a ride. Photo here was taken at a red light on Midlothian Turnpike, which I rolled up. Did find during the ride that Ultimate Cycle (where I got the oil leak fixed a few weeks ago...finally that is) is moving to a new location a few miles up the same road. I am looking forward to seeing that, course now it is not in walking distance, but will be fine with me....they have great bus service here, or my girlfriend can get me there.

Took this photo during the ride, called it "X Marks the Spot". Was a good ride on this day, not a huge number of miles, but had a good time. Got out to Westerchester Village for a time and had a frosty cold beverage (one) while I was out.
Bike is running well, and nice to get a November ride in. As I write this, temperatures for the past few days have been in the 30's with lows in the 20's...but warmer temperatures are said to be on the way soon. Looking forward to that, sure be nice to get some more riding in. This time of year it can be an iffy thing.
This ride though was very nice and it was good to get out in the breeze.    

Motorcycling in Asheville Part II (November 9, 2013)

As I mentioned in previous post, the BMW dealer in Asheville, NC has also added KTM motorcycles, and one can be seen here, an RC8. They make some very interesting motorcycles and of various types. Like BMW they are a technology driven company and have a number of very fine designs.
The RC8 seen here is in front of a bunch of BMW's -to be honest while I don't see a lot of BMW's as a rule, KTM's are even more rare, but sure are a beautiful bunch of motorcycles. Seem to have a lot of attention to fit and finish and some very interesting designs. 

 This is a KTM 690 Duke, a water cooled single cylinder motorcycle. Said to be a ton of fun to ride, and certainly a very cool looking bike like the simplicity that would be found in this motorcycle.
I like different designs that are coming out not just from KTM but also from other brands. It has been a long dry spell with new motorcycles, but good to see that a lot of new designs are coming out as the economy seems to be improving.
There are a lot of interesting bikes out there, but often it is not easy to actually see them.  

Finally as our trip ended, went to Chimney Rock and Lake Lure, NC on the way home, once again some of my favorite places to ride my motorcycles (took both the Honda 600 and the Vulcan there over the years) and there I did get to meet someone who rode a BMW touring bike with the in-line six engine. They are seen in this photo at the Visitor Center at Lake Lure. They were real happy with the bike, though they did not have it very long, but with all bikers showed me some of the features and I got to hear the sound of the six running (which was not at all loud, and that I think is a nice thing). Was a great weekend to be in Asheville for all of us.  

Motorcycling in Asheville, NC (November 9, 2013)

 No, this time I did not get to ride, went via car, but riding is never far from my mind, especially on these roads. Some of the best roads you can ever ride are found on the Blue Ridge Parkway. I have only ridden (and driven) on the North Carolina sections, but yes...I have been here and many times. This biker was one of many I saw taking the ride. He got to see some amazing views and got in some fantastic riding. I loved riding and am looking forward to doing some in the Virginia sections of this amazing road. I have more photos of the views and the Asheville area on my Flickr photo page. 

My girlfriend and I (she also rides, her ride is a Harley-Davidson, I though ride a Kawasaki) but I am very impressed with the motorcycles from BMW and they have a very nice dealership in Asheville not far from The Biltmore Mansion (which I also saw while visiting there, and there will be some photos of that on my Richmond and Me page). They just started selling KTM motorcycles and they are pretty cool. This is one of the best sportbikes out there, the BMW S1000RR and it is said to be one remarkable ride. Gets really good reviews by the motorcycle press but best review was from a guy who had one who described it with one word....wow!

 Red bike is a K1600GT, one of the big touring bikes from BMW. It has the fairly new (couple of years I think) in-line six engines. Fully water cooled, and also said to be a great motorcycle and one of the best touring bikes out there. Honda Gold Wing owners and Harley-Davidson Ultra Classic riders may debate that though. It is a sharp looking motorcycle and comes with all sorts of bells and whistles to make your ride from Point A to Point B an epic event. Told it is a remarkable bike, though as of yet don't know anyone who rides one.

Like this: the R1200R, a pretty sporty ride and a nice looking motorcycle for those of us who like their bikes with a bit less wind protection. This one has the famous Boxer engine, which was both air and oil cooled, but they are now coming out with factory versions that have air and water cooling (though it is not common to all Boxer engines as of yet).
BMW was a former aviation company (the famous emblem is a propeller) and have also been making motorcycles for a long, long time. Though a bit on the expensive side, they tend to be technological marvels. Those who own them...love them.

Riding on a Midweek RVA Day (November 6)

 Short ride on a beautiful November 6 day, sunny and warmer than it has been (around 70) made for a great ride. Was a lot of road work going on, and some good backups, but did make it to Carytown where my bike sits next to an old bicycle and Galaxy Diner (I have eaten there and its good...but not today). While on Cary Street my motorcycle passed 28,000 miles, and still going strong. Sure enjoyed riding it, and got a "nice bike" comment today. Who says you need a Harley to be a biker. It has been a fine motorcycle, other than an oil leak (this year) which got fixed, its a great ride.   

This is the bridge to Brown's Isle in Richmond, and the Canal Walk. Rode around downtown and ended up there, nice area to explore (and plus had restrooms cause I had to pee) but good during the week....it gets a lot more crowded during the weekends. They hold a lot of special events there, and always seems to be something going on.
Place has a lot of history as does nearby Belle Isle which has over the centuries had a lot of changes including once being a Confederate Civil War Prison. Said to be haunted too, but never have seen any ghosts though would not mind it.

This was on display at the Tredegar Iron Works.+ Gold sort of plate at the left is from the CSS Virginia, and the black from the right is from the USS Monitor. Those two ironclad warships met in battle (neither could sink the other) and ended the era of wooden war ships (the CSS Virginia sank a number of wooden war ships before the Monitor got there). That is a fun place to explore and Tredegar was the armory of the Confederacy during the Civil War.
Did not get a lot of miles in on this ride, but it was a great day to be out, and sure make me smile for quite a long time. More to come this wonderful fall.

Bikes of the Urbanna Oyster Festival (November 2, 2013)

Went to Urbanna Oyster Festival on November 2, where I got these photos. Often its about my ride, but like checking out motorcycles in other places (and will be doing that again in a few days) .
This is a Boss Hoss, and I have seen a few of these over the years. I think though this is my first trike model. Interesting in that they have automobile engines and tend to be big heavy massive things. It is the kind of motorcycle that can really spin the tires-saw one once do a almost two block long burnout. I think (but not sure, will have to check on this) they are made in Georgia. Interesting rides! 
Also seen during the parade were these Virginia State Police Motorcyclists-both male and female. They did a bit of stunt riding-mostly very, very tight turns on those big Harley's. It was neat to see that many, especially as they were not behind me with the lights on. Seemed to be a happy bunch-and if my job involved riding motorcycles all day, I think I would be pretty damn happy too!    

Finally got this photo of some Shriners during the parade, and they also were doing a bit of stunt riding (though like with the cops, precision riding would be a better description)They were a fun bunch and seeing the bikes was a great deal of fun. I always try to take note of the motorcycles, and was fun to see these and others. A lot of people also rode in, it was beautiful weather for this event at Urbanna, Va, and had a blast there.