Cruiser Vs. Sportbike - The Debate

Wacky world we live in...get a kick out of the Party of Big Business (The Republicans) debating the Socialism of the Democrats. One party says the other is taking over business, and they would know...having been taken over BY business many years ago. We are Americans, and we like to debate things; such as which type of bike is "better". For instance take this sport bike (actually a sport touring Kawasaki but with that amazing ZX-14 engine more like a jet fighter). Exceptional performance, great technology, wind cheating fairing and fun to ride. It gets you out into the wind and down the road with authority. During my early days of motorcycling rode bikes like these, and loved every minute of it! Fun and come with amazing handling..these are remarkable machines. Took this photo at a Virginia rest stop on June 21, the first day of Summer.
This is a cruiser, photographed in Concord, NC at the start of the trip back to Virginia...specifically a Harley-Davidson. I currently ride a type like this (though a Kawasaki Vulcan, which opens up a whole other "which bike is better" debate with some). More of a classic technology, many of these bikes (as is this one) are air-cooled and not quite as nimble, certainly nothing close to as quick and fast as the sportbikes. Harley though is an Icon of Motorcycling, and it is the bike of a very passionate community. It is motorcycling which has roots back to the early days of riding but also gets you "out into the wind and down the road with authority."
That last line is my point, that whatever the differences in what we ride (and to be honest, there are even other sub types of these two; pure sport bikes, motocross, enduro, street/dirt, and trikes...and that does not cover it all) we are all motorcyclists first and foremost. Forget what is better, instead focus on the things that joins; a love for the open road and the in the wind feeling that keeps us going back again and again.
Remembering what joins us...now if only we could get the political parties to do the same thing, what a nation we could have! Summer is here, enjoy the ride, and as always keep safety first!

Riding in the Piedmont (June 19, 2010)

Enjoyed a great ride in North Carolina; good to be back though it was a hot and humid day. Photo here was taken in Salisbury, NC. Salisbury is a fun town to explore, and I did a little bit of walking there to see some of the sights. What I also love about that area is some of the best riding roads in the area can be found there. Salisbury has a long history; and goes back to Pre-Revolutionary War times. Course, much of the old buildings are being redeveloped, and these buildings have a number of new businesses in them. I liked this brick street in front of the store fronts and stopped here to get a photo of the area.
This is the old English Cemetery, which goes back to the days of the British. In fact, some of the troops of Cornwallis are buried in this cemetery. There are other cemeteries with Confederate troops and a big National Cemetery with some (estimated) 11,000 Union troops who died in a Confederate prison which was located in Salisbury, NC. There are many sights to see, and will be posting some more photos on my "Richmond and Me" blog (which deals with both North Carolina...as that is my home, and my current time working in Richmond, VA) and also some photos on my Photo Page (and a link to that can be found here also).
The Bald Eagles were taken at Dan Nicholas Park; which has a very nice zoo and some other interesting sights. Had a great ride, covering some 100 miles today. Bike ran perfectly after the work I had done on it, and I enjoyed a fantastic few hours exploring one of my favorite towns, and riding on the backroads to and from this very interesting city. It has been a while since I have been able to ride, this being the first visit home in a few weeks, and it was a remarkable day indeed. Always good to get back to ride the Vulcan on the roads of North Carolina...and this was a most wonderful day!

Child Savers Charity Ride (June 5, 2010)

Went by this last year which left from the same place (the Cloverleaf Mall on Midlothian Turnpike). Quick note on the mall a new sign went up yesterday, apparently its going to be re-developed. Told it was quite the mall back in the day. Anyhow, though my motorcycle is in North Carolina (where I had hoped to be this weekend...but work had other ideas) went by the ride. This ride is a charity ride for Child Savers and brings a number of riding clubs (not gangs in this case but groups that like to ride together. The Tuskegee Airman Motorcycle Club puts this ride together. They were formed to ride and to honor the brave black pilots who broke racial barriers in WWII flying P-51 Mustang fighters in bomber escort missions over Germany.

Speaking of fighters, you do get to see some very interesting motorcycles which have jet like performance. One I had not seen before is this BMW S1000 RR (in fact had to look it up to see the model name) which is BMW's first sport bike. Unlike most BMW motorcycles which use an opposed twin "Boxer" engine, this one uses a very powerful inline four and from the reviews I have read its quite a ride indeed. Enjoyed checking out this bike, and many of the others at the ride. If I can't ride today, always fun to hang out with motorcyclists especially those riding for a very good cause. Hopefully next weekend, I will get out in the wind again!

"Vulcanized" Again! (May 28, 2010)

Photo of my bike that I took on May 28, 2010....first ride since the last one on April 17 which was the ride with Steve to Mac's Speed Shop. Thanks to general time it takes to get a bike fixed (early spring or summer is bad time to have problems) and of course the "Tale of Two Cities" which is my life now, took some time to be able to get back and get it. Good thing is though got some maintenance done on the shaft drive (preventative) and got the electrical problem (which turned out to be a replacement bad battery fixed). Got in a nice ride, in fact missed a great photo along the way, but riding is nice when it has been some six weeks.

Took the photo here and at bottom at Grumpy's Custom. Was very pleased with the work done there, the price was outstanding, and no complaints. I had replaced the battery, but it had died was the initial problem. Turned out after they checked out the electrical system which was fine that it was a bad new battery. Got me another one from Ride Now, got it in the bike, and serviced the shaft drive (grease on the splines). Work was first rate! They also do custom work such as this Bobber here which they are working on, will be quite a ride when it's done. Think I will be returning to Grumpy's Custom for my future work, one of the best shops in the area!


I also liked this custom bike at Grumpy's, and think they will do well. You can see many of their bikes at local bike nights and various shows around the region. Charlotte has a lot of good motorcycle events, and I plan to make a few during the next few months.
Looking forward to Hog Happening next weekend, but in the meantime, have some riding here to catch up on, and hopefully will be able to do some of that this weekend. Nice to be back in the wind again, and looking forward to some good rides during the summer. Be sure to be safe, as there are a lot of bikes out this time of year, but drivers in cars can pop out from everywhere!

Bike show at Hooters/Chesterfield Towne Center (May 22, 2010)

Out exploring in the car today (bike is still in the shop, and besides..both are in Carolina) but got out for a while doing some exploring in the Versa. Saw a couple of nice motorcycles (a Harley with ape hangers and a nice Ducati) and those are on my Photo Page (which there is a link to on this page), and came across a bike show at Hooters at Chesterfield Towne Center. Did not know about it, but saw the bikes on the way back to the apartment...heard the band and stopped in. Had a few nice custom bikes, but I really liked this Kawasaki KZ-1000 LTD. Just a nice looking piece of work! You don't see bikes this nice from that era very often.

I also liked this Harley-Davidson Rocker; which is one of the newer motorcycles from "The Motor Company", and its a nice looking motorcycle. I like the design (I believe this is the work largely of Willie G. Davidson) and of the newer Harley's it is one of my favorites..though this design is two or three years old. My favorite remains the V-Rod, and there was a neat looking orange one at the show, but I have featured those on these pages before, and wanted to show off another of their designs here. There is a passenger seat under the "solo seat" which folds out in a very interesting way. The bike comes in two types the Rocker and the Rocker C (C standing for Chrome).
Last bike I am featuring here is a Honda 300. Amazingly this bike is still running, though seems that old Honda's never really die. Thought this a very nice version of a very important bike in the Honda line. I remember seeing those running all over, and get a kick out of seeing them now...drum brakes and all.
Show was nice. Of note, there were some motorcycle gangs there; I gave them a healthy dose of respect, having found that long as you don't give them grief you don't get any. I used to see a lot of Outlaws in Indiana when I lived there, but few motorcycle gangs (at least in the Concord area) at local events. The occasional 1%er does snow up though from time to time, but usually not in large numbers. At any case was surprised at the show, and enjoyed the event. Nice to stumble on something like that on a nice day in Richmond, VA.

Non-Riding Weekend in Virginia (Mothers Day 2010 weekend)

Yeah, spent the weekend in Richmond; bike has spent its weekend at Grumpy's Customs in Charlotte, NC. What I thought was a battery problem has turned into a charging problem, plus an opportunity to get maintenance done (greasing the splines) on the shaft drive while they fix the problem (which is either the voltage regulator or the stator). Good timing, as I could not ride it anyhow. However, while in Richmond on a very windy Sunday (Mother's Day) saw quite a few bikes out riding, such as this Kawasaki Ninja. Read this week that in March Kawasaki (which has been putting out a slew of new models) was the #1 selling Japanese brand in the US. When I ride I ride a Kawasaki. Its an 05 Vulcan Classic 1500, and this is the first problem after some 21,000 miles.
While out saw this Harley-Davidson, like those this being one of the V-Rod based water-cooled Harley's. Line is getting bigger though they are still not popular with most of the HD faithful, though water-cooling sure improves both the power the bike can put out, and the reliability of the engine over the air cooled motors. It is one of the reasons we don't drive cars with air cooled engines. While relaxing with my favorite beverage on a laid back and windy Richmond afternoon, I watched some motocross on Speed Channel and chatted with the rider of this bike. Hopefully my bike will be out of the shop soon, and I will be back in the wind again as early as possible. Got a great ride planned for the first weekend with June; that will be huge.

Carolina Classic Bike Show (May 1, 2010)

A mixed sort of day; on the bad side, planned to ride my motorcycle to the Carolina Classic Bike Show in Spencer, NC, which was held at the NC Transportation Museum, but seem to have a charging problem. Bike will be going into the shop later this week, but from what I am told is not a major repair problem. Things do happen, but can be fixed. These bikes are a prime example. Had a great time at the show, where I saw bikes such as the Triumph at left. Museum has a number of "planes, trains and automobiles" plus a few bikes as well. It is a great museum to visit (was once a working train yard) and you can see one of the trains (which offer rides) also in the photo.
Bikes in the show covered a wide range, being many from Italy (Ducati, and Moto Guzzi), and a lot of German and British bikes, plus some great Japanese bikes. The Japanese bikes included a number of classic two-cycles such as RD-350's and Kawasaki triples, and other bikes such as this Honda CB-X inline six. Most were ridden in (in fact in the background you can see a Kawasaki 900 and a Kawasaki triple). I posted a lot of other photos at the photo page; but what I enjoyed a great deal was hearing these bikes running...really brought back some great memories of some fun bikes. Many of these bikes I had ridden back in the day.
Bike shows are a great way to see some great old motorcycles, and to get into the history of some great motorcycles. In fact, not only was the show great, but had a fun time exploring the NC Transportation Museum. Just outside of Salisbury, NC it is a great place to visit if you are interested in transportation of all types.