Sunday Ride(s)....(June 26, 2016)

Friday and Saturday were wet days.,with some serious rain on Friday, and light rain on Saturday. Made to to see the new Independence Day movie. The movie was actually pretty good.
On Sunday though the Sun came out and got in a ride early to check out the river. While we had gotten a bit of rain, West Virginia got hammered by rain, and in fact had a number of deaths from it, as well as a lot of damage.
River was really up, and was quite impressive. This was taken prior to seeing that, as I was heading down Riverside Drive. Love that train bridge I was crossed under (well shortly and when I took this was stopped of course).
Had a nice ride for the first ride, going around 40 miles. Went to the Fan and had lunch at Home Team Grill, Just basically putted around a bit, did not have a real destination in mind just wanted to get a few miles in on a nice if warm Sunday. Humidity was not real bad, and enjoyed the ride a great deal.

In fact, enjoyed it so much that I took a second ride a bit later. Rode out to Church Hill and stopped at Libby Hill Park there. Love this view which as I have noted before was said to be the view Richmond was named for (same sort of view in England). For the day got just a bit short of 60 miles just going here and there and enjoying the ride.

Out on the Streets (June 20, 2016)

 Pretty good ride today, got out on the bike and headed to Colonial Heights. Went to visit Commonwealth Power Sports which is probably the biggest dealer in the area. Least so in the type and number of brands. Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha, Kawasaki and Victory (and that may not be all, just what comes to mind). Cool shop with nice people.  

As far as Victory goes, this was my first look at the Victory Octane. It is based on the Indian Scout. The Indian Scout is a water cooled V-twin motorcycle which comes in two sizes. The Octane is even I have read a little bigger. Very interesting series of bikes. So far Indian is not sold in Richmond or the area, though there are dealers for the brand in Fredericksburg and I think the Virginia beach area. Interesting motorcycles and are also owned by Polaris which also owns Victory. A flat track motorcycle also based on this engine (Indian branded) will be racing next year.

At any case it was a good ride. After the visit to the bike shop I made a stop at Buffalo Wild Wings and then got a few miles in. After the earlier long ride I cut this one a little shorter but still enjoyed being out on a beautiful Monday in the RVA. Was a dry weekend and that was a nice thing...seeing as I got in some very good rides.
After the ride I cleaned up my motorcycle and that is it at left.
Kawasaki sure made a great machine when they made my Vulcan 1500 Classic. Looking forward to some very good and exciting rides in the days to come, as the upcoming weekend is looking like a lot of fun again.  

Father's Day Ride (June 19, 2016)

Fun day. After all the work on the bike, and a not small amount of money (motorcycle tires....whew) and a test ride yesterday to get the new tires broke in got going at 10:30 and headed north some 100 miles. Two or three miles off I-64 ended up on the Blue Ridge Parkway and got to see this view. Nothing like it during what was a fantastic ride.

They have a mountain farm on the Parkway near its start in Virginia. Funny thing is this WAS an actual farm site.This building is not one of the original ones, but the ones they have out there are not recreations but actual period buildings. I think I was told this cabin dates to the 1880's. Lots of cool things to see there and in fact all along the parkway. It is a remarkable road with great views, neat sites to explore and lots of fun things to discover no matter how many times you go (and I have been a lot).
After checking out some sights, and traveling a bit of that great road, I was on the road again.
 

Back on I-64 I stopped in Charlottesville, VA for fuel and while there checked out some more of the city. As with the Blue Ridge Parkway I have been there "a few" times but things such as this old downtown were new to me. Its fun to just ride around a bit and see what there is to see. I was real close to an Amtrak Station which was right across the street.
Anyhow after a while there, got back on the road and headed toward Richmond again. Going to put some more photos from this trip on my "Richmond and Me" page. Just a great ride. Stopped in Short Pump for an early dinner and got back just a while ago. Traveled some 228 miles and just had a fantastic ride.  

New Tires Once Again (June 18, 2016)

Well, got the bike back this morning. Very pleased with the work done at Scoot Richmond in Richmond, VA. Close enough that I was able to walk to get the motorcycle. This is one of the two tires...being the front) and the rear is the same type. Commander II by Michlin. Said to be a really good high mileage tire. With the price of tires thought that I would try them as I have heard a lot of good things about the brand.
After getting the tires, went to my local auto guy and got it inspected. The state inspection is a yearly thing both for the car and motorcycle and this year, thanks to a healthy investment in the case of the tires it passed.
I also had put front brakes on (which is in an earlier post) and have done the oil change along with spark plugs. I also had an electrical problem which I worked on and that is also holding up. Hoping that the work I have had to do will be worthwhile for the rest of the summer. At any case, now that it is done maintenance wise and money wise it was time to take the tires for a ride.  

Told they would be slick for the first 100 miles. Got to say in this case, that was actually a fact. Couple of times it got to be a handful with these new tires. Not sure how many sets (guess would be 3-4) I have had on the bike besides the original but these were "interesting". Did settle down though as I put the miles on it.
Came up just short of 100...but only by around 5 miles. Rode to Goochland; a little back road journey where I took the photo of the Courthouse at left. I also went to Riverside Drive after lunch at a Buffalo Wild Wings in Midlothian which was really good. Bike was absolutely fine and it was a wonderful sunny day with low humidity and temperature in the low 80's. Got a carbon copy day for tomorrow and plan to get out and get a little more riding in tomorrow after it warms up a bit. Low tonight is expected to be around 50 with the same sort of high as today.    

Tire Day...Part 1 (June 17, 2016)

 One gloomy day outside. Rode the Vulcan to Scoot Richmond, a local motorcycle shop. As noted earlier not a lot of local places in Richmond. Most motorcycle shops are outside of town, with a few exceptions. Scoot Richmond started selling scooters, but has now added Triumph and Moto Guzzi. Nice shop and enjoy going in there. So I ordered the tires.
Bike at left is a Ural, and I always get a kick out of those. They don't sell em, but you do see one around now and then. Motorcycle is made in Russia and from what I have read its based on a WWII BMW that Stalin either allowed them to copy or else they stole the design when the Russians invaded.

At left is my motorcycle at the shop. Interesting day in that we got some pounding storms last night. In fact the news is calling it a "Historic Wind Event". I had no damage at my house and had power but in the area something like 100,000 were without power. Many trees were also down and quite a few homes damaged.
I had an appointment and was going to wait but was told due to trees in the road some of the mechanics were going to be late. So I just told them that I would get it tomorrow. Was not much of a day to ride anyhow. After I got home...just after..the rains came pouring down again. Not as bad as last night though. Around 5 PM the sun came out and its supposed to be a wonderful next three days. Looking forward to that and to getting some good riding in. Humidity and temperatures are also supposed to be a lot better. Looking forward to all that.

A Cooler Ride in almost Mid-June (June 13, 2016)

 Over the weekend, dry days but also blazing hot and very, very humid. Had company over the weekend, Debbie from my Navy days, so did not get out and ride. Many good reasons to just relax in the house and get out with her in the car and the air conditioning.
Monday though woke up to the "as promised" lower humidity and comfortable temperatures. Got fuel for the bike and headed out with a first stop at lunch followed by a nice cruise down Riverside Drive. Love that road and have been going down it quite a bit of late. Hell, its scenic and pretty.
This I took just outside of Shockoe Bottom, a little park on the river. Above you can see the elevated train tracks...fun to walk under them. They run though a lot of Richmond, and are very nice to check out. Lots of neat things to see downtown and I enjoy walking around there.    

This is also down at the park, think it was used to load train cars. Looks very old and I don't think it is still used but who knows. Here in Richmond the old things are often reused again.
Nice to get out and explore both new things and old things. Bike is still working fine after all the work I did on it...no problems with the Fuel Injection and now am looking at some 150-200 miles since I fixed that problem. Pleased with that as bike shops in Richmond are few and far between. Will be going to one though next weekend - as I will be getting new front and rear tires on the bike for the upcoming rides ahead. The back is ok, but the front is way overdue.

Like to keep up on the tires but with the weather of late both heat and rain its been tough to get it done. There is a local Triumph shop and they will be putting the tires on. It is also where I ordered the tires.
Nearest Kawasaki shops are outside of Richmond and both are pretty much equal distance, a little over 20 miles from my house. Used to be a shop in Richmond not far but they moved it.
While I was out stopped by this favorite wall painting which is off of Grace Street. Always enjoyed this one and still do in fact, though it is a few years old. Used to be in the parking lot of a 7-11 but saw today they have torn the 7-11 down.
At any case, a perfect ride with zero problems except it made my mouth hurt from a few hours of grinning. A very good ride though and looking forward to some more this weekend hopefully. Got an appointment and I hope the tires are quick and easy and done while I wait. Will see how that goes.
    

Ride to Sunday Park and Beyond (June 6, 2016)

Due to the previous problem with the fuel injection this was delayed but did some more work on the motorcycle today. This was routine maintenance...the oil change was due, also the sparkplugs and I cleaned the air filter. The air filter I use for the bike is by K+N and I love them. I also used the type on my last bike. Cheaper than stock over time by a whole lot, also breathes better.
Nice day to get out, as it was sunny with some building clouds, and though hot and humid was better than it has been. Also was not raining, May we got a record amount, and June has not been much better.
At any case ran a few places early on and stopped for lunch here. I am real fond of Firehouse Subs. Good eats at a fair price. That is on my own, I get nothing from them except lunch which I pay for.
Anyhow after that went up the very busy Midlothian Turnpike which is a turnpike only in name, and headed via some back roads for a good ride.

Ride took me to Sunday Park which is a nice place, and via two lane roads is very nice. Photo of the lake is from the seat of the bike, and the bottom photo is of some of the boats by the lake of which there are a lot of. As it is the supply for drinking water in the area, engines are not allowed on boats.
Nice visit there and then down some more backroads (avoiding the hustle and bustle of Hull Street Road) and headed sort of back toward my house.
I say sort of back because I took a detour when I got near home and went to Stoney Point Fashion Park...not because I am into fashion, but because its another nice ride and frankly I was not ready to come back home yet. So stopped there and wandered around a bit and then headed back. It was closing in on quitting time at a lot of area jobs and traffic can get real bad here when that happens.
Nice ride though with no leaks and nothing was a problem with the work I did. Ride ended up being a very pleasant 55 mile adventure on a Monday in Richmond, VA.

Success! (June 3 , 2016)

After following Keith's suggestion on cleaning the contracts (see my Richmond and me page for the post on the problem with the motorcycle) the fuel injection problem seems (and I am very happy) to be fixed. I started out cleaning some of the contacts under the seat and the right side cover. It was happening on a regular if strange on off basis, but doing the ride on the 3rd I had no lights come on during the 60 miles that I traveled and no engine problem. I think that this might have licked it, least I sure hope so.
Sure am greatful for friends like Keith though seem to remember a simular problem with my old used 550/4 Honda some years ago.  

As I noted took a 60 mile ride. Started out close to home (just in case) and took the top photo in the Church Hill Section of Richmond, the bottom photo on Riverside Drive. That is the famous Z-Dam on the James River.
Had no problems during the ride. Did go back to the Triumph dealer and ordered tires. They could not look at the fuel injector problem but they can put tires on the Kawasaki which I ordered. Bike is also due to its oil and spark plug change which I plan to do over the weekend.
It was a very good ride and looking forward to the next one. Getting into another rainy period, which we have certainly had more than our share of of late.