"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.

Velocity II-The Return (April 24, 2010)

On Saturday April 24, took an afternoon and did some exploring in my "other" (current) home town of Richmond, Va. Made a return trip to Velocity Motorcycles (which is near the Diamond Baseball stadium) on the Boulevard. On a previous visit, saw some very interesting bikes, this was no exception. At left, is a very, very rare Kawasaki 750 Turbo. For a time, turbocharged bikes got very popular (about the same time they were being added to cars) but fell out of favor. They were impressive bikes to ride, and Kawasaki was real big on them for a while. I rode one back in the day, made a very notable difference.
Bike at left (green and white) was an Excelsior-Henderson. Over the years there have been efforts to bring back some classic brands. Indian is in either its second or third attempt since the company folded in the 1950s (currently make the Indian Chief in Kings Mountain, NC), Triumph (the most successful revival by far), Norton (working on that by fits and starts) and this bike by Excelsior-Henderson. The brand folded in the depression, and if I remember my history right was owned at the time by Schwinn (the bicycle company) when it folded. This was the "Super-X which lasted for a year or two before the company closed the doors.

Velocity sells a lot of classic motorcycles, such as the BSA (another discontinued brand) in the front. They also sell Ural (Russian made) motorcycles (often sold with sidecars), Zero electric motorcycles (no gas needed) and a few other brands. It is a fine bike shop, with friendly people, and it is real close to Buz and Ned's BBQ (which is a fine place to eat in Richmond, Va. If yu are in Richmond sometime, and want to see some interesting motorcycles, be sure to drop by...it is well worth the visit (or in my case...visits) to check out what they have to offer. Be sure also to pet the dogs there...like the staff they are also friendly!

Another Mac attack (April 17, 2010)

Riding buddy Steve in this photo was enjoying some ribs and the Lil Pig at Mac's Speed Shop on April 17. We had not been able to ride for some time, but took off today to Charlotte, NC. Sort of a repeat of my last ride in the Carolinas, but I enjoyed Mac's (have been there a few times) and he has never been. Steve gave it two bbq sauce coated thumbs up today, and I enjoyed it too. The guys (and gal) in the flight suits behind us were a bonus; they were a C-130 flight crew who had dropped in for lunch. Like visiting Mac's and you never know who you will run into there. Only thing that pissed Steve off was the Slaw on the Lil Pig, still not used to that (though I like it that way)
Here he is ready to go, and I am getting the usual photo. Enjoyed the ride into town, was a bit warmer than usual; close to 80 today which is warm for this time of year. Was a good ride though, traffic on the weekends in the Queen City is a lot lighter than week days and there is a lot to see and do in Charlotte. We did not take a long ride (did that last week) but enjoyed running around there. Have to still be careful in Charlotte, as there is a lot to distract you and other drivers, but it was a safe and fun day for us, and a really good ride. I don't get tired of exploring that town which also seems to be constantly changing which is pretty cool.

We got back after some three hours, this is from my bike, looking at the road that goes right into my neighborhood in Concord. With spring, this entire area is green and growing (though if we don't get some rain soon, green will quickly turn to brown and dying) but for now its a remarkable thing to see.
Next ride will be to the Classic Bike Show on May 1, at the NC Transportation Museum and THAT is quite a motorcycle show. Have made it the past few years and have never failed to be amazed at the bikes that show up. See a lot of Japanese classics from the 1970's as well as some great Italian, British, German and even a few American bikes as well.

Richmond Road Riders (April 11, 2010)

Funny thing yesterday: while looking for a Richmond Ducati dealer (thought it would be fun to check out some of the new bikes here, don't think they have a dealer in this area anymore) came across a link for the Richmond Road Riders. Saw in their events they were having a Poker Run, and it was leaving from near (well, around 6 miles) from my apartment. Having to go to the grocery for needed supplies, thought I would drop by. Been on a few Poker Runs in Charlotte; they are fun. You draw a card which is put on a card you carry, and then you draw at the stops along the route. Best hand winds. At left is some of the bikes that went on the ride. Front and center is a Honda 600 Shadow; I rode one of those from 1997-2005 (great small bike).
Saw a couple of motorcycles of interest there. The blue one at left is a Triumph Sprint ST. Triumph like a lot of old manufacturers that had ended production "came back from the dead" under new ownership. Unlike many of them though Triumph has thrived and is making both some designs based on the old classics and some new designs that are in a class all their own. The Sprint ST is a "sport tourer" and uses a 1000-1050cc triple. It will get you across country and will do it at a really good clip too if you so desire. The sound of the Triumph triple engines is something to hear, a really unique and cool sound comes from the three pipes (which run under the seat).
The big bike at left is a Honda Valkyrie. It has been out of production for a few years but is a very good motorcycle. It uses the Honda Gold Wing engine (the famous flat 6) and shaft drive to roll along. Without the body work of the Gold Wing it is a much lighter bike which is said to improve performance. Have a friend that I ride with in NC who has one, raves both about the power and the reliability of the Honda engine. It was a very good motorcycle, but of course the motor lives on (and its now bigger, think the Valkyrie used the 1500cc, but the new Gold Wing's have a 1800cc motor). I have ridden my friends bike, got a good amount of thrust for a big bike. At any case, enjoyed seeing the bikes heading out to their Poker Run, hope all had a good safe ride. Looking forward to some upcoming two wheeled adventures on my Vulcan, and taking advantage of this great Spring weather very soon!