Into Every Life, a Little Rain Must Fall

Went to Carolina the weekend of March 26-27, but unfortunately winter came to roost in Early Spring. I am told they even had some sleet and snow over the weekend in the Richmond area, in Carolina it rained...and rained..and rained. For the first time in a long time, no riding at all this weekend during my visit home. I did move the bike (which had not moved for a couple of weeks since the last time I rode it) to keep from flat spotting the tires (and was not able to get that new rear tire I am planning to get real soon) but it is waiting for me and a ride will be coming up in the near future. The next visit forecast (though early) looks a lot better.
I did enjoy reading and getting some photos from my friend Phil who took a motorcycle ride to Florida; making some good stops in the Daytona area. I think he missed bike week, but had a great time nonetheless from what I read and saw. They had a lot better weather there, but we have been short of rain (don't miss a lot of riding due to rainfall) so it was not all bad. I did see some bikers riding down the highways even during the showers, bundled up against the cold (barely got out of the 40s this weekend) and braving the rainfall.
Not even a lot of motorcycle racing on tv this weekend, but did enjoy seeing local Richmond college VCU (well not seeing actually, I was on the road back to Richmond at the time) beating Kansas and getting into the NCAA Final Four. That is big news in the city (Richmond made the Elite 8, but lost to Kansas in an earlier game).
Won't be long at all till the next trip home, and looking forward to a bit of quality time in the wind.

Greeat Roads and other items of interest

Saw that the American Motorcyclist Association ( great group that you should join, they do a great job protecting the rights of motorcyclists as well as a being involved in motorcycle racing) published a list of the top "motorcycling roads in the US." #1 was the Beartooth Highway on the border of Montana and Wyoming. Got to admit, there was a photo, does look like a hell of a road to ride. Of course the great Pacific Coast Highway made the Top Ten (have not ridden it, but was lucky to drive a part of it in my Navy days, and it is a hell of a thing).
North Carolina had three roads in the top ten, which says a lot for the state. #7 was the Cherohala Skyway (got to love that name) near the border of North Carolina and Tennessee. The other at #3 is the famous "Tail of the Dragon"; US Route 3 also near the NC/TN border. I have not ridden either of those (yet) though came close to a dragon ride until the big work change in my life (the VA thing) put an end to that for a while. I have ridden a number of times on the AMA's #2 Top Ten US Road; The North Carolina section of the Blue Ridge Parkway. As far as riding goes, for an "OH WOW" experience, I have had more of them on the Parkway than in virtually any other riding. Riding the Blue Ridge Parkway in the fall is a breathtaking experience. Lots of great sights along the way from the town of Blowing Rock, to Grandfather Mountain, to all the lookouts and the great views, plus some fantastic roads. One of my favorite places to ride, and will be going back there again in the near future. Someday hope to ride the entire parkway, which runs all the way into Virginia.
As for Virginia, it also made the list at #12 (just outside of the top 10) with US Route 33, Harrisonburg, Virginia to Seneca Rocks, West Virginia . Have not been on that ride either, but could be done in the future. I have driven though Virginia and West Virginia, beautiful scenery and roads; West Virginia is a very interesting state.
One ride that really stands out, but did not make the list for me, is riding in the area of Mt. Airy, NC. The website www.visitmayberry.com in its things to do section notes that "motorcycles are welcome", and even suggests some riding routes. I find that refreshing, and have been to that area a number of times. It has some really good sights to check out, plus Mt. Airy (which was the basis for the Andy Griffith Show) is a neat town to explore.
Mentioned the ride last weekend, I also got to check out the Daytona 200. They had some major tire problems which black flagged the race for a couple of hours; I had to move on as time on my weekends home is limited, but I did enjoy seeing the bikes race. Daytona is a classic race with a long history, if the NASCAR version is the "Great American Race" (though I think the 500 has a better claim frankly) then the 200 is the "Great American Motorcycle Race". The racing season is in full swing both in the US and around the world and in a variety of types of motorcycles. If you want to get in on some of it at any level; once again the AMA is a great source for racing your type of bike in a number of state and local events.
Looking forward to the next ride. As I write this, it is the last day of winter; Spring starts tomorrow on March 20. Thank God!

White Trees...and a Leaf

Enjoyed a short but beautiful Sunday March 13 ride in the Concord area; temperatures in the 70's and very sunny. While spring is officially a week away, the trees are all ablaze in white (Bradford Pear Trees which are very popular in North Carolina) and I enjoyed seeing all of that after the blandness of the winter landscape. Other than the green evergreens; it has been looking pretty barren among the many trees in the area. I took this photo of my Vulcan which even has a sign thanks to the Vulcan Materials (now just Vulcan) quarry near the airport. Gives a real good look at all of the things that I have been talking about.

I did stop at the Concord Mills airport, enjoy my visits there. In the parking lot saw this Harley-Davidson trike and got to talk to the rider who was also out there watching the planes fly. Airports are interesting places and the one I stopped by (Concord Regional which is I believe the fourth busiest airport in North Carolina) is a nice one for a short stop. Plan for the day was to be there which is near the big Concord Mills Shopping Center. I wanted to check out the Nissan Leaf, the all electric car that was having demo drives. Interested in technology and electric vehicles may be the wave of the future. There are even some electric motorcycles of note.
Got a lot of photos of the Leaf. Looking at the engine compartment you would not know its an electric car. The Leaf has no tailpipe though and is really quiet. It is all-electric: 90 mile per hour top speed, and a 100 mile range before recharging. Electric cars were used in the distant past as some of the earliest cars were electric. There was not a lot though that would tell you it was different from any other car out there. That I believe is the plan. I will have more photos on my
"Richmond and Me" blog, also on my photo page where you can see more of it.
The Leaf is made by Nissan of Japan, and my heart goes out to the Japanese for the problems they have had with the tidal wave which struck much of their country and the problems they are and will be facing in the months (if not years) to come. The loss of life and the scale of damage is almost impossible to believe.

A look at some 2011's....Ride Now, Concord, NC

Made a real quick stop at RideNow in Concord, NC on my way home on March 12. There I saw for the first time, the Yamaha FZ8 which is seen at left. It has been sold in Europe for a while, but is making it to these shores for the first time this year. The FZ8 is in in-line four somewhat based in the R1 sportbike engine though downsized from that 1000cc engine (this bike also exists in a 1000 cc version, as well as the R6 based FZ6 . I like 750-800cc engines, and this bike looks like it will be a good motorcycle for Yamaha. I read that this is the only color it comes in. Should be a lot of fun to ride and has been getting good reviews from the motorcycle magazines.
Another bike getting good reviews from the motorcycle press is the Kawasaki Ninja 1000. It uses the same engine as is found in the Z-1000 but is said to have better room for taller people such as myself, and has an adjustable windshield. I did like this bike, and it is another naked as is the Yamaha FZ8. Next photo (the red cruiser) is the new Kawasaki Vaquero, also new for 2011 with a 1700cc v-twin. Like the look of this bike, which has a definite Harley look, though the 1700 in the Kawasaki, unlike the HD engines is water cooled (though Harley does have water cooled engines in its V-Rod series). The last bike is one of Victory Motorcycles fine line of bikes, like the look of their bikes and they are getting a good reputation for quality and reliability. Many of them have a custom look and are interesting motorcycles.

Down time and Motorcycle Racing

When I am not riding, I enjoy motorcycle racing (in fact, am a big fan of all sorts of racing including auto and air racing even!) which is a good way to enjoy some top professionals hitting the tracks, trails, and flying motorcycles though the air in races such as Supercross. The AMA races at Daytona will be televised on Speed Channel this month. In fact, the "flying motorcycles" will be shown on March 5th with AMA Supercross at 8PM. On March 12, the two big road races will be shown; the Daytona 200 which will be LIVE at 1PM and later that night (think that will NOT be live, but I could be wrong, not real clear at the Speed Channel web site) will be AMA Superbike starting at 11PM. On March 13 will be AMA Flat Track. A special event for me, in that I have been to a number of events in Flat Track in Louisville, Kentucky and also in Concord, NC..though both events are no longer held in those cities unfortunately. Those races were always a great time.
Speed Channel has a lot of motorcycle coverage including other Motocross and AMA Road Racing series, as well as World Superbike, and of course the remarkable MotoGP. If you enjoy motorcycle action, you can find a lot on the TV this time of year.
Still smiling after last weekends great ride, though will be in Richmond this weekend will not be long until I get some riding in. Going to be a great season I think for riding, and looking forward to some great rides. Got a number of friends heading to Daytona for bike week, have seen some amazing photos from that in the past, and look forward to some more this year.
Hope you all are enjoying some great riding. Weather temperature wise has been sort of back and forth with a warm day or two, and then a cooler day or two both in NC and VA, but the warmer weather is coming. Spring officially starts March 20, and I am looking forward to it!

Race Shop Rides (February 25+27)

Back to Concord, NC on Friday February 25. It was a warm and very windy day; but after two weeks of just wanting to be on a motorcycle, was good to again be on mine. Took this photo in Concord; got a kick out of my shadow following me, and thought this photo was sort of different. Turned out better than I thought, as did the ride. Friday in the area is pretty busy traffic wise, and this day was no exception, but I knew a few roads that were usually not bad traffic wise. Rode up NC-73 and turned onto the Kannapolis Parkway where I came across Stewart-Haas Racing. I had not seen that shop, did a little backtracking, and found my way to the door..which was open.
Inside the shop was a lot of really cool cars (which will be featured in my "Richmond and Me" blog) but also this motorcycle. This bike was built for Stewart Haas Racing by Orange County Choppers (aka OCC) in 2004, and it is quite a ride. Good quality job from what I could see, and its quite a looooonnnnnngggg motorcycle; I would think it could be a real bear to turn. This is the second OCC bike I have actually seen (another one was on display during one of the races, and can be seen on a previous post to this site) but it was a lot of fun to check it out. I was always a big fan of that show, and the work that those designers did. Kind of wacked now there, but whatever!

Got another view of the bike here, sort of a closeup of that big massive tank. Visited the shop for quite a while, and then went up NC-3 (figures don't it?) to Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Surprisingly, the museum there is still open as most of the racing operations have been moved to the area of the Concord airport as a merged "Earnhardt-Ganassi" operation, but the older shop still had a lot of things on display and it was nice to be back there (and that shop was also open, which was a surprise). Rode some of my favorite roads back to the house in what was a three hour ride. It sure felt good to be back in the saddle again, and enjoyed a fun and interesting ride.
Non-bike on Saturday visited Wood Brothers Racing in Harrisburg, NC, but back on the bike on Sunday. Saw this sport bike on sale (just liked it, so snapped a photo) and rode for an hour. That and the previous ride gave me a total of 103 miles for the weekend. Much less windy on Sunday, and much less traffic too.
As I noted, got some good photos of the three race shops and also some of the items in it, which you can see on the Richmond and Me blog as noted.
Certainly was a smile-inducing weekend, could not have asked for better weather, and as always no better places to ride than can be found in NC.

It's a Gas...the rising costs of fuel and motorcycles

Funny, just a short while ago, a few previous posts back I talked about the future and electric vehicles and the problems with gasoline. Now the problem is paying for it, events in the Middle East have caused a big rise in fuel costs. Many people will be considering motorcycles as an alternative, and they can be a real good one. Many things to consider though before the big leap into two wheels, not that it can not be a good move but research is important. Motorcycles can get really good fuel mileage, but not all bikes are the same. Like with all things, some are better than others. There is also maintenance costs to consider; valve adjustments can be a real huge cost (especially on multi-valve four cylinder engines) and tires can be expensive as can chains and sprockets (if so equipped). Do your research before you leap.
As for great fuel saving motorcycles; two come to mind. One is seen directly below in the previous post; the Kawasaki Ninja 250. I believe (last I read) that bike is the top seller for Kawasaki in the motorcycle division. It is a twin with a long history (been basically unchanged for a lot of years) with a low initial price new, and with many used models on the market as well. Getting some competition this year from Honda which is coming out with a 250 single; I hope to see that soon. If gas gets in short supply, or prices zoom up the Ninja 250 will get in short supply (that happened a few years ago when gas hit $4). The bikes are highway rideable, smaller bikes than 250 get even better mileage, but they get real limited on highway travel. Suzuki makes a pair of street 250's that are well worth a look. To me 250cc is the smallest and most versatile motorcycles you can get, though for just commuting without highway travel smaller is possible if you can get there via side streets.
The DL-650 also seen (and other bikes in the 650-500 range) also are good on fuel. Not as good, and more money to buy, but would be a big improvement on the vast majority of cars. Generally bigger bikes will get less mileage as horsepower goes up.
There are also a number of scooters out there. Again size is a factor both for fuel mileage and what you can do with it. Laws also depend on size, at a certain point in many states a motorcycle license is required. Those laws vary, so you need to check that before you sign on the dotted line if that is a factor. One "scooter standout is the Suzuki Bergman (there is a 650 and 400cc version). Automatic, and also have some good storage space, these bikes also give good motorcycle performance.
Know I said it before, but I will repeat...most important thing is to do a lot of research. If you get a motorcycle and have not ridden, be sure to get some training. It saves on insurance, and also can save your life. Well worth the time and the small cost of such programs. Most motorcycle dealers can point you to places (many even can provide) training on riding. Good luck, and best wishes!