Lawyers Road, Concord, NC (April 6,2009)

Saturday drove the car back from Richmond, VA to Concord, NC which is my home. Working in Richmond for the next few years, and Friday night we were running behind and worked over late. So on little sleep, went for a close to 300 mile drive in the car to Concord. I was worn out from the trip and the work, but did stop by RideNow just before going home for a few minutes to see the Open House. There, they were giving rides on the Victory line of motorcycles; had a big trailer and many bikes to ride such as this Victory Vision on the lift. Being pretty worn out, I passed on the rides, though would liked to have done that. Have heard many good things about those bikes.

RideNow was formerly Excel Motorsports. The dealership is located in what was formerly a Lowe's Home Improvement and has a lot of room as you can see. The bikes there are only a portion of what they have on hand. I purchased my Vulcan from them in 2005, they also did most of the work on my Honda 600 Shadow (which I purchased in Indiana, brought that to Concord with me during the move in 1998 from Indiana). The Vulcan being what it is has needed (knock on wood) no work from the dealership, but they have put tires on it. Have been very pleased with the work so far that I had them do.

On Sunday, rested and refreshed from the visit with my family, took a morning ride down NC601. That is the main road to the beach, but I did not ride so far. Turned down Lawyers Road, and visited Goose Creek Airport, a small private field there. The road is a very nice drive in and of itself, past some green fields, and some housing developments. I went to Albemarle Road, and then to Robinson Church Road. There I visited another airport (Wilgrove) which is another private field. Went for a ride down Robinson Church Road and then to Rocky River Road. A good 90 minute ride in the country on a quiet Sunday morning. Nice to be able to enjoy the beautiful weather, feel the sun and the wind on my face, the curves of the road, the rise and fall of the gentle hills.....nice to be alone with my thoughts in my helmet and to feel the feeling of being alive that a motorcycle can give you. Recharged and refreshed, I am back in Richmond, to deal with the days to come!

Hondahouse and the DN-01

Went for a drive on a rainy Saturday, down Hull Street, and went to Hondahouse there. Nice dealership, the people there were friendly, the store was very clean and well laid out with a good selection of motorcycles. They also had other Honda items, such as boats and even lawn mowers. They also had this DN-01. Very interesting motorcycle, its sort of a cross between a sport bike and a cruiser in styling. Big item on the 595 pound, 680cc V-twin bike is the hydro-mechanical transmission; which is a fancy Honda way of saying....its an automatic. The bike does not have a clutch lever at all. It does though have two modes of operation; Drive mode, and Sport Mode. Honda is always on the cutting edge of motorcycle design and engineering and this is just the latest example. I have had two Honda's in my life; a 1977 Honda 550 Four and a 1997 Honda 600 Shadow. Both were excellent motorcycles, especially the 600 which I had for some eight years and 36,000 trouble free miles. Other than tires, brake pads, chain and sprocket (normal wear items) nothing else was replaced on it. It even had the original battery when I sold it. Selling the DN-01 may be somewhat of a big job for Honda though as the bike has an MSRP of $14,599. Still, I would imagine there will be some discounts from that price on the bike. The idea of automatics is to expand interest in motorcycling. Its also technology that will be coming more and more; Honda is not the only maker offering automatic motorcycles. A few years ago, water cooled engines on motorcycles was very rare, now it is virtually the norm.

Hondahouse was a fun dealership to explore. People were nice without being high pressure; in fact have not had problems with that in the three local dealerships I have been in so far. I like that, sometimes you just want to look around. Know when I purchased the Vulcan, I did a lot of looking and comparision. It came down to the Vulcan 1500 and the Honda VTX 1300; a few more features on the Vulcan made the decision for me (place I purchased from in North Carolina sold both brands so they did not have a problem with the choice). Honda though makes many outstanding motorcycles, and is an excellent choice. It is a very interesting company which makes a wide range of products. Honda even makes a small jet aircraft (the company called HondaJet is headquartered in North Carolina). Unless you live in a cave, you have to know that they also make some outstanding automobiles.
They have over the years created some motorcycles though that have changed the way motorcycles and motorcyclists are seen by people. Not only do they have a great racing history, but also have created such bikes as the Honda CB350, CB750 four, the Gold Wing (a legend in motorcycle touring) and the Honda CBX (an air cooled in-line six!). Some of their bikes have become motorcycle legends, some have been failures of a sort. It remains to be seen what will happen with the DN-01. They have tried this before in the past; but it may have been an idea ahead of its time. This motorcycle will certainly be worth watching in the marketplace.

Concord Rides (March 23-23)

Got to spend some quality time on the bike this weekend. On Sunday March 22 took a short ride around downtown Concord, NC. Some neat old buildings there, and its peaceful on a Sunday morning with very few people there. Was a wonderful day for a short ride. It was warm and sunny. I posted some photos of town on my Flickr Page (link can be found on my main page).
On Monday March 23, took a ride with Phil to High Rock Lake. That is his bike in the foreground (A Yamaha) and thats my Kawasaki in the background. Phil is a former boss of mine at Concord.

Went to High Rock Lake, which is a very beautiful lake near Salisbury, NC. We rode up some of my favorite backroads; lots of twists and turns, past some farms and fields, and past a lot of horses and cows. There are some old houses there; some of wood and some falling apart in that very old way that are really neat. The roads are fun and being an early Monday afternoon we got in a good ride with virtually no traffic at all to deal with. We sat by the lake and had a good talk about work both in Concord and in Richmond. Phil spent some early days with the company working in Richmond, so had some good insights.
Phil is seen here on his bike at the beginning of the ride. The truck is owned by another friend of mine (Ray Kellis) who I visited with earlier along with Keith at One-mor in Concord (great local place to eat on Union Street). Was a very good ride, I needed that. Been some time since I got to put 2.5 hours and 70+ miles on the bike, and was a perfect day. Was also my first ride with Phil, and he was great company. I look forward to the next ride, which will be hopefully in two weeks. So far the weather in Concord has held up for my visits home, no rain there during the last three (however, has rained every weekend I have been in Richmond, VA.
Some news on motorcycling. Atlantic Beach (near Myrtle Beach) city council has voted to support the Atlantic Beach festival. Have made some changes to vendors but nothing that should directly impact the riders like Myrtle Beach City Council has done. The Atlantic Beach rally is mostly sport bikes and is also known as "Black Bike Week". The annual event brings a lot of money to the town and the area. It also brings a lot of very interesting motorcycles and motorcyclists there as well. I have friends who good every year and enjoy it a great deal. I was pleased to see the town did not follow the lead of Myrtle Beach.
Riding season is getting better and will soon be in full swing. Will have more news, upcoming events and other items of interest in my next post...."April Motorcycle News"

Three Days to Concord (News from the Motorcycle Front in Virginia and NC)

Just a post today to catch up on a few interesting tidbits. Will be riding back in Carolina over the weekend; time for the bi-weekly visit home. Will be the first ride of Spring 2009 (which starts Friday), and will be featured here in my next post. As for today, took a walk as the sun finally came out after about a week of clouds and rain here in Virginia. During the walk visited Ultimate Cycle (which I had a post on previously) and once again impressed with the friendly shop and nice selection of motorcycles there.
Did note while web surfing this week that Honda will be selling a bike it calls the CG150 Titan in Brazil. The Titan will be the world's first flex-fuel motorcycle. Brazil "grows" most of its fuel (believe they make it from sugar can) and the Titan will be able to take advantage of it. The bike will go on sale on Mid-March there.
Being a fan of motorcycles and air shows; did note that the weekend of the New Bern, NC Motorcycle Rally (May 15-17) is also the weekend for the Havelock Airshow. The rally is expected to draw around 4000 motorcycles, the air show to draw a crowd (estimated last year) of 178,000. Many of the motorcyclists are expected though to attend the air show, which is said to be one of the best in the state of North Carolina (and I can vouch, we have some really good airshows in the Carolinas...have been to a few).
Motorcycle racing of all types is in full swing. Speed Channel shows many of the races and they can be amazingly exciting to watch. Check the web site out for more information. One of the things I am most excited about is that road racing happens in Virginia at VIR, and that season will be cranking up real soon. I will have more on those races in future posts as they get closer.
Until next time, keep the rubber side down!

Davis Harley-Davidson, and the Saturday Ride

Took a drive Saturday morning March 7 down I-85 from Richmond, Va. Made a stop in Burlington, NC at Davis Harley-Davidson. Nice modern Harley shop was a good collection of motorcycles to view, and a lot of bikes for sale. The shop had some bikes that were easy to view such as this 1960 Harley Davidson Sportster. I like the Sportster though it has gotten a reputation as a girl's bike at one time was quite the motorcycle. In fact a show called "Then Came Bronson" was the story of a man's journey on his Sportster across America. I remember watching that as a kid and did enjoy the show. Sportsters are too small for a tall guy, but remain the most affordable Harley. If the most basic.

Davis is located in Burlington, NC right on off I-85. I followed some motorcycles to the dealership. Tough times in the motorcycle business; Harley and Victory have both been cutting workers (for that matter....who hasent?) and the Japanese are cutting production. On the somewhat bright side, when I got home to Concord at noon saw a beautiful sight on my kitchen table; the title to the bike. No more payments to the credit union, and that is a wonderful thing.


In celebration (and not in some small matter due to the fact that it was in the lower 80's and sunny) took the bike out and rode around the Concord area for two hours. I have been in Richmond for two weeks; so have missed doing that a great deal (not to mention my wife Patty, son Robby, and my two border collies...and yes, the family did get the VAST majority of my time this weekend) but rode around a bit down the familiar streets of Concord. Got in a bit of backroad cruising. I also rode out by the three big race tracks on Bruton Smith Blvd (and yes, he owns them all) and have posted them on the Flickr page I have (and yes again...there is a link to it on my blog). Went by Quaker Steak and Lube, which is starting the summer Bike Night on March 25 and then every Wednesday into the fall. Those tend to draw a massive crowd, if you get there around 7, you may not get in at all, so be advised. One of the best bike nights in the region, but many good ones in Concord and Charlotte too for that matter.
It was great to get out, and enjoyed the ride greatly. Will be getting out again soon; after another two week period. Some great Carolina events coming up, and I am looking forward to attending some of them in 2009.

Spring Rally Update

Interesting news out of the Myrtle Beach Bike Rally situation. Over the weekend, the "Myrtle Beach Helmet Freedom Ride" was held with some 200 motorcycles. The ride is to protest the helmet law passed to restrict the motorcycle rallies held in Myrtle Beach. The police did write a number of tickets to those not wearing helmets. Those tickets carry a $100 fine, but the plan is to contest them in court. Many other ordinances in the city have been passed including noise regulations and curfews.
I also read today that the Carolina Harley Davidson Dealers Association (the official sponsor of the Spring Ride) is planning to move their sponsorship of the rally to New Bern, NC. The city is apparently quite pleased to have the event there, and will host the event at the fairgrounds. The web site with more information is at http://www.chdda.com on the event.
Apparently there are still plans for a Spring Rally at Myrtle Beach, though the plan is to avoid the city limits in order to bypass the restrictions. All things considered, it ought to be a very interesting May in Myrtle Beach, SC and New Bern, NC.

Big Mileage Weekend (by various means)

Very wild weekend, for the first time rode the motorcycle after coming from out of town. I spent my first week in Virginia, and spent the weekend in Concord, NC. Was great to see my wife Patty, my son Robby, and my two border collies Cassie and Mollie. It was a great visit, and I had a fantastic time.
We also were blessed with some good weather; blue skies and temperatures in the upper 50's. I was not the only motorcyclist out enjoying the weather either. Visited with my friend Keith (a riding buddy who sold his motorcycle, but we went on many great rides while he had one) and also while out saw this motorcycle.


The bike is a Ural, which has an interesting history. Ural Motorcycles started out as the BMW R-71 in WWII, the Russians reverse engineered the bike and called it the M-72. From 1941-1950 some 30,000 were built for the Soviet Army. The bikes are now made for the civilian market (mostly in Russia) but also also sold overseas (including the US). Over the years they have been greatly improved, and some 3.2 million have been built. I saw this motorcycle at a local business in Concord, NC (an Army surplus place on NC-3) while I stopped nearby for gasoline, and had to check it out.
At any case, while a short ride (family comes first on these trips), I did get out, and had a great time getting to roll down some roads in the area. Certainly, this commuting back home from Virginia is going to take some getting used to, but does look like it will be possible to pull this off. Great enjoyed the ride, and the visit home was wonderful!