Back in the Shop (August 22, 2013)

 Bit of a non-riding photo, but did see this Yamaha (Star) V-Max at the South of the James Farmers Market in Forest Hill Park. Nice bike, I remember them back in the day. A very few years ago, they updated this bike, and this is the new version of that classic motorcycle...which was in the day a real hot rod (and I am sure it still is).






This was taken at Dogtown, which is near Legend's where I went to a festival there with Kaye...and saw this Triumph Thunderbird...beautiful take on a cruiser by Triumph. Both that and the V-Rod photos were taken on August 17.

 

Took the Vulcan out on August 22, there had been some leaking which I thought was residual oil, but turned out that it is the return of the leak; this time from the cover gasket. Sucks, and for the third time the bike is back at Ultimate Cycle to attempt the repair. Not sure what will happen with this one, has been a good motorcycle, and all bikes can have problems...but this one is really getting old. I hope that they can fix it this time...will keep you posted. For now, I am back on two feet, hoping to get back on two wheels (and without an oil leak) real damn soon! 

Carytown and Training Camp (August 15, 2013)

NICE day in the RVA....somewhat overcast, but in the 70's, and yes it is mid-August...good day for a short ride. Went to Carytown, where I saw this old BMW - good day to get out and see some sights there. Nice in the weekday late morning, not very crowded, and had a good time in that area. Just took a little walk during the ride, nice to get out and see a few sights, and might be a place where I go this weekend with Kaye, because it is not looking like the weekend will be great riding with a forecast of cooler temps again (good) and a 60% chance of rain (which is not good).   

 Did see this Suzuki Boulevard motorcycle again on Cary Street in Carytown but did like the passenger on the back (and yes that is a real, live dog!). See that from time to time, especially here as this is a real good dog friendly town. Man's best friend loves to ride. Used to have a shirt which said "Only a Biker Knows Why a Dog Sticks His Head Out the Window" and for sure this one does. His owner was inside Can-Can (a Carytown Restaurant) while he waited on the bike. I thought this was very cool Love seeing this sort of thing, and nice day for man and best friend to be out on two wheels. 

 Went by the Redskins Training Camp, my only visit during their stay, but did get to check out this motorcycle they are selling tickets to win. Think the drawing is the last day of camp (which is tomorrow by the way). Good looking Harley and I think the team signed the saddlebags, but being a Chicago Bears/Carolina Panthers fan I did not get a ticket. Was very cool though and glad I got to see it. One lucky Redskins fan will be very, very happy with this bike I am sure.

Got this photo of the crowd at camp. I did not have time to stay for the players - they were going to come out at 1230 and I have to go to work in the mid-afternoon. I did like to see the sights though and the people were really fired up. I thought it was a neat thing, and looking forward to seeing it better next year when they return. Looking forward to some football this year.
As rides go, this was a good one - short but sweet. Nice places to visit, some new sights to see and always good to get out, even when the ride is just around 2 hours and covered a distance of 30 miles . Looking forward to the next one!

Test Ride (August 8, 2013

 Went out for a ride on Thursday August 8 to check the leak repair on the Vulcan, and this time can report it was a success. Again, kudos to Ultimate Cycle for the great service and especially not charging me for the second repair. When its time to get a new bike, this place is a leading contender.
As for the ride rode down Midlothian Turnpike and got on 288 and rode out toward Hull Street. Visited my girlfriend at work, and then stopped at Sunday Park where I took the photo at left of the bike. Nice lake there and a very good (though expensive) seafood restaurant, The Boathouse.   

Beautiful place to hang out for a break, fun to ride in Richmond, and cool to see many interesting things. Was a nice day, and enjoyed the ride a great deal. Got to ride around 40 miles, as it was a work day, but seemed like a good idea - and it was.
Glad to have it up, and even better to see humidity and heat are starting to get less and less. Though both will rise again, signs of Fall getting closer are starting to get in the air...and that is my favorite time of year. To me, Fall is why we ride motorcycles, and looking forward to some great rides this fall. Plus glad to be on the Vulcan again - it continues to be a fantastic motorcycle and a joy to ride!

Ultimate Cycle - the Sequel (August 7, 2013)

 Got the call this morning, the Vulcan is ready and this time they said it is fixed for sure! Went to the dealership about 10:30 and got the bike. Repair (which was for the same leak) was no charge- took the time to thank the General Manager (who is a great guy) and rode the bike down to the storage place (which can be seen in the photo below). Due to work soon did not ride it far at all, and have it sitting on a clean piece of cardboard "just in case" but think it will be fine this time. They replaced the part that was leaking not just the o-ring this time. Hopefully it will do the trick. 

Love the Vulcan, and up to this point (purchased in 2005) no problems with it. Nothing though is trouble free forever, but my motorcycles over the years have been (with a few exceptions) the closest thing to trouble free (certainly better than most of the cars I have owned). Once I got the bike stored away after a too short ride down the Midlothian Turnpike, walked back to the dealership to get the car and go home. Nice day at least for that...under 90 degrees and low humidity. Good to have it back and looking forward to some really great rides again. Fall is not far away, and that is some of the best riding of the year, and this will be the first fall in the RVA on the motorcycle. Looking very, very forward to seeing some new sights, and getting to do it with my girlfriend (who by the way rides a Harley-Davidson). So....here we go again !  

Lynchburg Ride (July 20, 2013)

Rode with Kaye (who rode her Harley) to Appomattox on June 20 (more photos on my Richmond and Me page) and took this photo at Appomattox. That is the site where the Civil War ended - this photo is said to be where the last shots were fired. Nice place with a small charge, and we explored it on a very hot and humid day. Nice that this place still exists so that all that happened during that time can be remembered, and we can see what happened back then. It is a remarkable thing to stand on that ground, and to see what they saw without of course all the carnage.

This is the War Memorial (WW1 with others added later) in Lynchburg, VA. Had not been to either of these places in a while, but sure was good to be back and after a quick lunch stop on a place near the James River, and a nice walk we got back on the bikes. I took this photo from the seat of the Vulcan. It was a great ride with Kaye, we covered some 260 miles in all, and sure felt good moving. I am looking forward to returning to this area and to seeing it again very soon.
On the negative side though, when I went to get on the bike, the oil leak is back...apparently it was never fixed. I put the bike back in the shop on Tuesday where they promised me this time it will be fixed! These things happen, but still sucks So for a while will be just enjoying motorcycles from a distance...but sure to have some fun things to do in the meantime.

Repaired and Ridden (July 13-14, 2013)

 So....had an oil leak on the Vulcan; a slow one, but a leak nonetheless out of the left engine cover. I put the bike in the shop on Tuesday July 9. Just like the inspection drove to where I keep the bike, rode it to Ultimate Cycle on Midlothian Turnpike and walked back. Did not think based on other shops (and was sort of told) it would not be back soon. However, got a surprise. The bike was done early....got a call on July 18 that it was done. In fact, I had them do a little more maintenance work on it, cause the price was lower than I expected. On Saturday July 13 Kaye took me to get the motorcycle. 

It was done, paid for the repairs, and got the bike. I also took the photo of the C90T by Suzuki at top (a very cool touring bike) and the photo of the bikes at the bottom photo.
I got a good feeling that when I am in the market for a new motorcycle that Ultimate Cycle is right at the top of the list. They were fast, the work was done right (in fact I think they cleaned the bike and also made a few other adjustments at no charge), and glad to be back on the streets of Richmond again. I did not get to ride much on Saturday, took it from the shop to storage due to weather.   

On Sunday July 14 though I did get a ride in. Here is the Vulcan on Midlothian Turnpike. It was a hot and humid day, but a real good ride. Went to visit a friend (Keith by name) down on Hull Street (we went to  Buffalo Wild Wings and also Guitar Center) and then I rode down some different roads to my neighborhood (got a smoothie at Crossroads Coffee) and then into Richmond.
Rode to Church Hill, around there for a bit, back into downtown before crossing the bridge and back to where I store the bike. It was a great ride considering...and came real close to 50 miles. Looking for some real interesting rides in the days to come, once the weather gets a little bit better...which is hopefully not far down the road!

Motorcycle Date (July 6, 2013)

 Something different....started July 6 out visiting HondaHouse in Richmond, VA. They now also carry Yamaha Motorcycles, and got my first up close look at the Bolt which is new for 2013. Cool bike which is to me a copy of the Harley-Davidson Sportster but (I am told) with better performance. I think its a neat bike; really liked the LED tail lights on it. Going to have to check this out later on, there are a number of really good motorcycles out this year. I also saw the adventure bike version of the new Honda 500 line, and of course checked out the Can-Am trikes.  

 This is Kaye who rides a Harley-Davidson Heritage (2006). As dates go, this was a good one, first time motorcycle date. We went riding to lunch at Alabma BBQ (one of my favorite places) and then went down Highway 5 to Yorktown, VA. Had not been there via that route...very, very scenic. I liked the ride on what was a very hot and humid day. Yorktown has a lot of very historic buildings many of which date to the 1700's. One of the cool things about Virginia is the history of this place, and also how well they have protected it over the years. Not just there, but also in Richmond.    

 Had this photo in Yorktown. It was really lively due to the heat, there were a lot of people there, and I got a photo of this bus. Sort of hilly but we walked around....think you can see a place better on foot.
After the visit to the city, walked to the bikes and rode along the amazing Colonial Parkway. It is a unique road and this time we rode all the way to Jamestown. Along the route is some great scenery but also a very cool tunnel that we went though. I think as with much of the area Yorktown is very old and very unique as well. Been a lot of places but there is nothing quite like it. 

Finally, got this photo from the Jamestown Ferry. First time to ride that, we crossed the water (to be honest, not sure what water) and headed back to Richmond via Highway 10. Once again a very scenic road...had a good time riding that one.
For the day, the entire ride covered 195 miles in total, one of my biggest days on the bike in some time. On the bad side have an oil leak; first problem on the 1500 since I got it in 2005....going to see if I can fix it, if not...its going into the shop later this week. That will be my Sunday project later on in the day. For now, I have a lot of happy memories and a really great time!