Ah 80's (March 11, 2014)

 Short but sweet post....Tuesday was the warmest day in the RVA since sometime in October (they said the date, but I forgot) but was just wonderful. I wore a "hoodie" but to be honest did not need it. Seen here is the Vulcan on Jefferson Davis Highway (at a red light) just short of Colonial Heights, VA. I went way out, just hammered down I-95 to just before the I-85/I-95 split about 25 miles from my starting point. Nice ride down the highway, even better down Jefferson Davis. Traffic was heavy on the expressway, but better on Jefferson Davis and it sure was a wonderful ride. 

I rode all the way down that road, finally ending up at Legend Brewing Company for a (and I mean...one) cold beer. They have some really tasty beer, but was able to relax and get out for a few minutes and enjoy the view from the deck.
Got back on the bike and rode out to put the bike up...a short little ride. Once again passed a whole lot of motorcycles; there were a lot of people taking advantage of this great weather. While an early taste of spring (we might even get a little more snow before the week is over, colder weather for sure) it was fantastic and really makes me hungry for Spring.
For the record, got a grand total of 49.5 miles with the beer stop and a two hour (from 4pm-6pm) ride time. I am hoping though to do better and maybe even as soon as this weekend. All I can say is it was a great time, and I am still smiling from the ride!  

Saturday Ride into History (March 8, 2014)

 Beautiful RVA day, 60 degrees (thereabout) and sunny after last weeks snow; and was funny riding with just a bit of snow still around (surviving in the shady areas) but a great day to ride. Got out a bit before noon, and headed out to downtown Richmond, here seen on Grove Ave. Love those old houses and just felt real good to get out (also happy the bike started with no problems) and get some breeze between my knees. Did not have to dress heavy...long pants, a hoodie under my jean jacket and gloves. Of course, being Richmond (or anyplace for that matter...a helmet as well.

Made my first visit to a spot on the Slave Trail, this one in Shockoe Bottom and one of the most famous (though not in a good way) sites here...The Lumpkin Slave Jail. Read that the jail was used to keep runaway and "spare" slaves to be sold in the slave markets in Charleston, SC and New Orleans, LA. It was a place of horror and in fact got the nickname "The Devil's Half Acre". Made a big impression on me, as I have always been very interested in the war, but this was coming face to face with the primary cause of it. Also near by was a Negro Cemetary and the site of the gallows Richmond used. It was a hallowing visit.   

 Made a stop (along with some other bikers) to Alamo BBQ....a favorite place of mine to eat in Church Hill, and there was quite a crowd there today. Of course I had some of their excellent BBQ and a drink called "The Arnold Palmer". That is made of sweet tea and lime aide, and it was very, very good. I rode some in Church Hill and then went to Manchester and made a stop at Legend Brewing Company. Not a huge ride but sure had a great time, seeing some neat things (many for the first time) and some favorite old places. Richmond is a great city to explore and there are many cool things to see here.     

While out (and this is at Legend's) went by Scoot Richmond (scooters, but also some cool bikes) and nearby saw this R1200GS. This bike is BMW's best seller, and a great bike for those around the world trips. It is great I am told on highways or a dirt road.
Sure was good to get out and enjoy another taste of Spring. Get even more of that this week, Tuesday supposed to be in the 70's. I am looking forward to getting out for some of that during the week ahead. As always enjoy your ride, and ride safe!

A visit and a ride (March 1 and 2, 2014)

 On Saturday March 1, went to visit (among other places) Velocity Motorcycles in Richmond, VA. They are great at restoring old motorcycles, also great (I am told and will find out) at maintaining newer motorcycles. As my bike shop here has moved way out of town, will be using this shop for things such as tires and other sorts of maintenance (such as fork oil and the like). I do a lot of my own maintenance, but now with no garage (since the divorce) have to do all my work outside. So a good shop is (and was also in the past important). Luckily Kawasaki built me a great motorcycle.

This is Velocity Motorcycles shop...got a nice tour from one of the workers there, and enjoyed that. They really like BMW motorcycles and have a number of them, but also have a lot of Japanese brands, some Italian motorcycles (especially Ducati) and some other rare things. Strange that Richmond has no BMW, Triumph, Ducati, Moto Guzzi (to name a few) dealers here...used to having all that and more in the Charlotte area. They do have a few Harley dealers, but even then fewer than many places I have been for cities of this size. This though really fills a niche in my book.  

On to Sunday March 2. It was in the upper 60's (if not warmer) and unlike the last time a few days ago it got that warm the previous battery charge held and the bike fired up without a problem this time. Went riding to Amillia Courthouse, VA on a very beautiful day-nice heat and sunshine. Wore a coat (jean jacket) and no gloves (though could have worn that last). Went down I-95 and 288 to Hull Street Road (think that is VA301) to this spot. Was one of the last places that General Lee took the Army of Northern Virginia on the way to surrender a few days later to General Grant in the Civil War.   

It was a great ride, here I am getting ready to turn into my girlfriends neighborhood, stopped by there and also had lunch at Glory Days (very good food, had been there, but never tried the food) before getting the bike back. Can walk from where I park it and back..just got home to the apartment before the rains started. While very warm today, calling for a major snow storm..that may be documented tomorrow on my Richmond and me blog. At any case, got in 91 miles on a beautiful day and got to have a great smile on my face in three hours of wonderful riding. I am sooooo ready for Spring!

Late February Ride (Feb 24, 2014)

 Damn! Was a remarkable 70 degrees yesterday, but as I found moments ago (looking at my previous blog post, last ride was in late January. When I went to start the bike, it was dead...battery. Took it out, charged it up, and got in a ride today on a much cooler day though. Oh well, glad to ride anyhow, and glad that it came back to life. Here is the motorcycle in Carytown. Though the temperature outside was 51 degrees, I was dressed for it, and it was fine. Put in a good couple of highway rides, and kept it running, when I stopped for fuel it started right up again. 

This is the bell tower in Maymont Park, which is one of my favorite places to visit. Like going there, but sure was a lot of road work going on there, and in fact virtually everywhere I went today. Good though as winter has been hard on Richmond area roads. Glad to see them getting the attention.
I rode as I noted highways, also got out on Monument Ave, and quite a few different roads...was out near Ginter Park even not far from Richmond International Raceway (though did not stop by there this time) as I was in Florida a few days ago and got to see the qualifying races (aka The Budweiser Duel). 

This is at Dogwood Dell, also at Maymont....they have a number of events there. Rode down Jefferson Davis Highway and back up 150 before putting the motorcycle up for the day. Came to a 50 mile ride, nothing fantastic but hopefully I will be able to get out sooner next time...waited far too long for this ride...both in regards to the battery and to myself as well...for I enjoyed the hell out of this ride. Nice to be out in the breeze and did see a number of other motorcycles out there. Spring is getting ever closer, and sure looking forward to one of the best times of the year to ride coming up soon. 

MLK Day Ride (January 20, 2014)

 Martin Luther King day (he was a great man) was a fine day, temperatures got to 61 and it was sunny (the following day it snowed here, and temps fell to -3 on Wednesday morning, go figure) but it was a great day to ride. Took this photo in Shockoe Bottom, traincars (actually two) and it was running on the inside (some sort of heater or motor) not sure what they were there for but made for a good photo. Actually went to a friends house in Church Hill, we visited a few places, with lunch and some other sights in that very interesting area.  

 Took this photo from a lookout at Church Hill, as you can see was a very good day for a ride. I waited until it was later in the day for the ride, so got to enjoy the warm temperatures. Nice view of Richmond from here, like the Church Hill area which is one of the most interesting parts of the city.
Lots of cool things to see there, and have a great time. It was good riding and frankly with the snow currently on the ground will be a while before I get to get back on the bike again. Wish I had ridden more did not cover a lot of ground due to the visit with Tony.  

 Did ride out to The Diamond, which is the baseball park in Richmond. They are planning to build a new one (in Church Hill) as this is a very old facility, but still pretty cool. Went to the shop in there, but did not get any baseball items this trip (was just looking). Charlotte Hornets (MJ is changing the Bobcats to the Hornets) will have some new stuff, sort of saving up for that...saw the Hornets a few times when I lived in North Carolina.
At any case, was a nice ride out there. Being sort of late in the day traffic on I-95 was pretty heavy so got off and got into town for a bit.  

Liked this last photo, its of the Stonewall Jackson monument on Monument Ave (though I am on the Boulevard coming up to Monument at a red light). You see some of the traffic I was talking about previously.
Nice as I said to get out....and will soon have some photos from the first snowstorm of the year here. It was a good ride, glad to do some visiting, and glad to get a few miles in. Wish I had been able to do more, was sure a wonderful day for it...especially in late January. Looking forward to some serious riding in the next few weeks.

Mid-January Ride (January 13, 2014)

I often talk to this guy, he lives in the apartment complex next to me...rides a Honda Shadow 600. I had one of those, consider it one of the best motorcycles I ever had....other than routine maintenance and fuel never cost me an extra dime. I put some 38,000 miles on that bike, and got a good price for it when I sold it. Course it was well cared for.
I store my Vulcan in a storage unit, he keeps his under a tarp. We talked about that, and yes...his bike has some corrosion from that method of storage, but not too bad.

Still, the Vulcan is a very fine motorcycle also. Was in the upper 50's on this day, and took the bike for a ride. Took a stop at nearby Forest Hill Park, which is one of my favorite places....thought this would make a good photo. Took a photo there with the bike by The Stone House last year I think.
From there went into Richmond and out on the ride. Kind  of got lost, as this place is still sort of new to me, and was out someplace (but it was nice) in Glen Allen. Without having all day to ride (had to go to work later on) headed back toward what I thought was "To Richmond".  

Turned out it was, found Highway 1 and on the way back came across Richmond International Raceway. Neat to find that, and took a stop there to get a few photos. Love Nascar and it was fun to revisit this place. Its not very long until the season starts up again. Likewise for better motorcycle days (could be a bit warmer) though it was not bad. Did around 40 something miles, did not pay a lot of attention to the distance but just went out to enjoy the ride. Very nice to get out this time of year.

Bikes in Colonial Heights (January 4, 2014)

 Did not get to ride, my girlfriend got a Harley-Davidson gift certificate over Christmas (from yours truly) and we went to redeem it at Colonial Harley-Davidson at Colonial Heights, VA. Nice Harley dealer, though a lot of the bikes have that usual Harley pricetag. Pretty expensive (though it tends to vary from shop to shop) but some remarkable motorcycles. This is one of the CVO models, with the bigger engine and a fantastic paint job, plus a lot of bells and whistles. A beautiful thing, and they have a lot of bikes like that at the dealer. I do like to check them out.

Went to Commonwealth Powersports (within sight of Colonial Harley-Davidson) and took a look at some of the Victory Motorcycles. Interesting brand, in that they are also made in the USA. Last year Victory brought out three new Indian Motorcycles to rave reviews from their purchase of that brand. I have ridden Victory bikes (they have an aggressive test ride program) and they are impressive motorcycles. Tend to be priced between the Japanese bikes and the Harley-Davidson's. I find the to be a bit clunky sounding shifting (least the ones I have ridden) but said to be reliable.     

This is a Yamaha (aka Star) FZ-9, an improvement (again according to the reviews) of the FZ-8 of last year. Priced at a remarkable $7,990 it has 106 horsepower and weighs 417 pounds. Engine is a water cooled 847cc triple. Not a bad deal. Some of the Japanese manufacturers (Yamaha and Honda especially) are really lowering the price of motorcycles. Commonwealth also had some Vulcan motorcycles (from 2011 and 2012) with zero miles at prices way below normal.
Had a great time checking out the new rides. Very happy with my motorcycle, and not in  the market right now, but always interesting to see what is out there, and happening in the amazing world of motorcycling.