MLK Day Ride (January 20, 2014)

 Martin Luther King day (he was a great man) was a fine day, temperatures got to 61 and it was sunny (the following day it snowed here, and temps fell to -3 on Wednesday morning, go figure) but it was a great day to ride. Took this photo in Shockoe Bottom, traincars (actually two) and it was running on the inside (some sort of heater or motor) not sure what they were there for but made for a good photo. Actually went to a friends house in Church Hill, we visited a few places, with lunch and some other sights in that very interesting area.  

 Took this photo from a lookout at Church Hill, as you can see was a very good day for a ride. I waited until it was later in the day for the ride, so got to enjoy the warm temperatures. Nice view of Richmond from here, like the Church Hill area which is one of the most interesting parts of the city.
Lots of cool things to see there, and have a great time. It was good riding and frankly with the snow currently on the ground will be a while before I get to get back on the bike again. Wish I had ridden more did not cover a lot of ground due to the visit with Tony.  

 Did ride out to The Diamond, which is the baseball park in Richmond. They are planning to build a new one (in Church Hill) as this is a very old facility, but still pretty cool. Went to the shop in there, but did not get any baseball items this trip (was just looking). Charlotte Hornets (MJ is changing the Bobcats to the Hornets) will have some new stuff, sort of saving up for that...saw the Hornets a few times when I lived in North Carolina.
At any case, was a nice ride out there. Being sort of late in the day traffic on I-95 was pretty heavy so got off and got into town for a bit.  

Liked this last photo, its of the Stonewall Jackson monument on Monument Ave (though I am on the Boulevard coming up to Monument at a red light). You see some of the traffic I was talking about previously.
Nice as I said to get out....and will soon have some photos from the first snowstorm of the year here. It was a good ride, glad to do some visiting, and glad to get a few miles in. Wish I had been able to do more, was sure a wonderful day for it...especially in late January. Looking forward to some serious riding in the next few weeks.

Mid-January Ride (January 13, 2014)

I often talk to this guy, he lives in the apartment complex next to me...rides a Honda Shadow 600. I had one of those, consider it one of the best motorcycles I ever had....other than routine maintenance and fuel never cost me an extra dime. I put some 38,000 miles on that bike, and got a good price for it when I sold it. Course it was well cared for.
I store my Vulcan in a storage unit, he keeps his under a tarp. We talked about that, and yes...his bike has some corrosion from that method of storage, but not too bad.

Still, the Vulcan is a very fine motorcycle also. Was in the upper 50's on this day, and took the bike for a ride. Took a stop at nearby Forest Hill Park, which is one of my favorite places....thought this would make a good photo. Took a photo there with the bike by The Stone House last year I think.
From there went into Richmond and out on the ride. Kind  of got lost, as this place is still sort of new to me, and was out someplace (but it was nice) in Glen Allen. Without having all day to ride (had to go to work later on) headed back toward what I thought was "To Richmond".  

Turned out it was, found Highway 1 and on the way back came across Richmond International Raceway. Neat to find that, and took a stop there to get a few photos. Love Nascar and it was fun to revisit this place. Its not very long until the season starts up again. Likewise for better motorcycle days (could be a bit warmer) though it was not bad. Did around 40 something miles, did not pay a lot of attention to the distance but just went out to enjoy the ride. Very nice to get out this time of year.

Bikes in Colonial Heights (January 4, 2014)

 Did not get to ride, my girlfriend got a Harley-Davidson gift certificate over Christmas (from yours truly) and we went to redeem it at Colonial Harley-Davidson at Colonial Heights, VA. Nice Harley dealer, though a lot of the bikes have that usual Harley pricetag. Pretty expensive (though it tends to vary from shop to shop) but some remarkable motorcycles. This is one of the CVO models, with the bigger engine and a fantastic paint job, plus a lot of bells and whistles. A beautiful thing, and they have a lot of bikes like that at the dealer. I do like to check them out.

Went to Commonwealth Powersports (within sight of Colonial Harley-Davidson) and took a look at some of the Victory Motorcycles. Interesting brand, in that they are also made in the USA. Last year Victory brought out three new Indian Motorcycles to rave reviews from their purchase of that brand. I have ridden Victory bikes (they have an aggressive test ride program) and they are impressive motorcycles. Tend to be priced between the Japanese bikes and the Harley-Davidson's. I find the to be a bit clunky sounding shifting (least the ones I have ridden) but said to be reliable.     

This is a Yamaha (aka Star) FZ-9, an improvement (again according to the reviews) of the FZ-8 of last year. Priced at a remarkable $7,990 it has 106 horsepower and weighs 417 pounds. Engine is a water cooled 847cc triple. Not a bad deal. Some of the Japanese manufacturers (Yamaha and Honda especially) are really lowering the price of motorcycles. Commonwealth also had some Vulcan motorcycles (from 2011 and 2012) with zero miles at prices way below normal.
Had a great time checking out the new rides. Very happy with my motorcycle, and not in  the market right now, but always interesting to see what is out there, and happening in the amazing world of motorcycling.