Bike Lust on a Fine Richmond Day

Beautiful weather outside this Tuesday morning; and I am in Richmond with my motorcycle waiting to be ridden some 230 miles away in Concord, NC (where the weather is also wonderful). However, got a big period of visits there coming up very soon, so this will not be long. Will be in Concord for three days this weekend (Saturday, Sunday, Monday), then here for three days, and then home again for four days (if not five....a curtailment day add on is I am told possible).
Felt kind of bad about Saturday, went to see Star Trek (great movie by the way) but drove past a bike gathering at a local motorcycle dealer. Did go back out to it later, but it was wrapping up when I got there. If you can't ride, nice to be around motorcycles.
Have been reading about the Myrtle Beach Motorcycle Rally; sounds like the crowds are down, but the cops are for sure up; and seem to be writing as many tickets as they can. However, most of the bikers seem to have gotten the word and are spending most of their time (and money) in North Myrtle Beach (which is not part of the area which is hassling the motorcycle crowd). I also read that many of the hotels in Myrtle Beach have empty rooms. Good!
Did see that BMW has put out the new sportbike with the in-line four. Looks pretty awesome, said to have 192 hp. Interesting bike; BMW has really been doing a lot of interesting bikes.
As for my interesting bike, plan to be taking it out some this weekend if the weather holds up. Been wild both in NC and VA with the weather of late....but rain is a good thing (just not during a ride). Luck has been good on visits home so far, keeping my fingers crossed!

Three Bikes from Suzuki

Before the bike show (previous post) we met up at RideNow in Concord, NC as a meeting point. Only Phil made it to the store (ride turned out great as the skies cleared and not a drop fell) but did before he got there check out some new bikes. The first is this blue Hayabusa. One of the great sportbikes of the current day; it is (along with the Kawasaki ZX-14) one of the fastest and quickest bikes out there. That motor also powers the Suzuki B-King. One can get amazing power out of the Hayabusa's inline four; truly a monster at the drag strip, or on the open road.


Not at all the power house of the Hayabusa, but also with a great engine is this Orange Suzuki V-Strom. The version seen here is a 650cc engine. I like the bike, being tall it fits me well as it sits high. Said to have good wind protection from the fairing, and not only does it get great fuel mileage, but also has a very reliable engine. The bike also comes in a 1000cc version for those who want more power. I am told this bike has been a strong seller for a number of years.






Final bike is the blue and white Suzuki Gladius. It is the upgraded version of the SV-650, which was one of the "The" bikes to own according to the vast majority of the motorcycle press. Inexpensive, powerful it appealed to new riders and also experienced bikers as well. Was a great deal of fun on a twisty road too. Suzuki took a page from Ducati and put a trellis frame on the bike, and upgraded the styling, but kept the amazing 650cc V-twin engine. Tough bike with that motor, and though I am 6'2" found the bike fit me well (did not feel cramped on it).

Suzuki has always been a maker of very interesting motorcycles, and has been on the cutting edge for years. They made the first water cooled mass production bikes, once made one with a rotary engine, and is among the world leaders in racing. Did I ever have one? Oh yeah, had a GS-400 back in the 1970's while in the Navy. A very reliable motorcycle, took me on many great rides on the island of Hawaii, and back in Indiana (had it shipped back when I got out of the Navy after my four year hitch). Was the perfect motorcycle back then; got it right after the Arab Oil Embargo, and the run up in gas prices. Fuel in Hawaii was (gasp!) over one dollar a gallon there, had ridden in high school, and getting a motorcycle was a no brainer. Glad I did, great bike, fantastic riding, and a fun machine to see that amazing place on!

Classic Bike Show, Spencer, NC (May 2, 2009)

Rode out to Spencer,NC this morning with my friend Phil. I did not think we were going as I woke this morning to a 50% rain chance, some sprinkles, and a black sky. In fact I had called a few off; and a few said they were getting ready to tell me they were not going due to the weather. I did not have Phil's number though, and also Randy was going to ride to the meeting point at Ride Now from SC, so I rode there. Randy did not show up, but Phil did. As he said, "if it rains we will turn back". I had rain gear, really wanted to go, so said what the hell, and off we went. Started the ride from RideNow in Concord, NC heading down to Old Concord/ Salisbury Road. One of my favorite roads with a lot of twists and turns, past farms and fields.Got to the show about 11, and was pleased to see a lot of motorcycles there. The Indian seen at top was started for us. The BMW in the middle was (I was told) ridden to Myrtle Beach a few times "back in the day"and struggled to make 70mph, and the old Triumph below was one of many classics of British engineering. There were a lot of Triumphs, also many BMWs, some BSA's, Nortons, and some Italian Moto Guzzis there.
As for Japanese bikes, many classic Hondas were on hand, and I also enjoyed the two cycles. I saw a Yamaha RD-250, and a Kawasaki 500 triple. Many of the classic four cycles were also there, among them a factory Suzuki rotary engined bike. Too many great bikes to name, but will be posting more photos of those bikes on my Flickr Page in the next few days (a link to that is in my links page).
Enjoyed the tour of the museum. The show was held on the grounds of the NC Transportation Museum which was a working rail yard, and has a great collection of aircraft, trucks, cars, more motorcycles, and especially trains. Most of the trains are in running condition, and they have train rides available each day the museum is open.
Anyhow, we left about 12:30. By that time the skies were clearing, and as I write this at 5pm, it is still beautiful outside. It turned out to be a really remarkable day.
I also while at Ride Now saw some interesting new bikes, including the new Suzuki Gladius which is the replacement for the legendary SV-650. I will be posting those photos to Flickr also over the next few days, and those bikes will be the theme of another post soon!

Riding Back in Carolina (April 26, 2009)

Back to Concord this weekend, drove on Saturday morning April 25 down I-95/I-85. Lots of motorcycles out enjoying the upper 80 weather and bright cloudless skies. I got the honor of joining them Sunday April 26, when I rode around the Concord, NC area. Beautiful weather and a great ride. Took the time to visit some friends but also got out and enjoyed the open road. Being in Richmond is sometimes hard, but always wonderful to be back home and felt good to be on the motorcycle again. I also went by Speedway Harley-Davidson where I saw this Bobcat themed mototorcycle; liked it a great deal. Got out for some two and a half hours, and really, really enjoyed it. I needed that ride; its been a tough period here in Richmond, always good to be home!
Noted that the DMV now has license tags for motorcycles in North Carolina with a Blue Ridge Parkway theme. They look pretty neat and cost just a little more than the plain jane tags the state issues to motorcycles. Check them out at the NC DMV web site.
Besides that, big ride coming up next Saturday with the Classic Bike Show at the NC Transportation Museum in Spencer. Went last year and had a real good time. Looking forward to (weather permitting) doing that show again next Saturday May 2. Will have a glorious four days in Concord, look for my next post then!

West Viriginia Motorcycling

I spent a good Easter holiday weekend traveling via car (unfortunately) but with my wife Patty from Richmond, VA to Louisville, Kentucky. That is my original home town, and always good to be back. There was a fatal motorcycle crash in the Louisville area over the holiday, and also some in the Richmond, Virginia area as well. This time of year (and whenever you ride) be careful and watchout for those cars! Ditto for auto drivers; watch out for motorcycles especially this time of year.
While I am a few days away from my next ride on the Vulcan, while in West Virginia at a Visitor's Center got a great flier on "Motorcycle Riding in the Heart of West Virginia." I checked and it is on line, added that very fine site to my favorite links. Good to see a state promote motorcycling, and thought it was well put together. Got some good rides on there, and they also have a list (though nothing is listed right now) of upcoming motorcycle events in the state. You might enjoy checking it out.
Still looking for a great Virginia site with good motorcycle information, sure that will come up soon in my searches. Hope you all have good and safe rides!

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.