Riding in my backyard (November 26, 2012)

Something rare for this page...guy said, "I will take your photo" and I took the photo at left of me in front of Charlotte Motor Speedway. That is the tree (a tree shaped collection of lights) in the background. Charlotte Motor Speedway is the big attraction in the area (along with the massive Concord Mills complex, which is actually the number one tourist attraction in North Carolina- so I have read) but it is one massive race track. It is all decorated for the season, and you can drive inside the track and see all sorts of lights (for a price per carload) for the next few weeks. I had a great ride today; went to Speedway Harley-Davidson, Concord Mills, Concord Regional Airport and Roush-Fenway Racing. I have a few photos from that on my "Richmond and Me" page, but here I have a few photos from Speedway Harley-Davidson which is near Concord Mills Mall. It was a great day to ride with temps around 60, and as you can see it was a bright and sunny day. I love days like this in late November.     

Seen at left is a Harley-Davidson "Muscle" which is part of the V-Rod line for 2013. Nice motorcycle with the 1250 cc (60 cubic inches) v-twin engine, and one of the few Harley's that fit a taller rider such as myself. It is also part of the only line that is water-cooled: most of the Harley-Davidson's still being air cooled. Water cooled engines to me are better, got to figure because how many people still drive air-cooled cars. Makes for better more dependable performance, plus makes for longer maintenance periods, and frankly the engine lasts a lot longer as it does not get so hot.      

Seen below are two Screaming Eagle versions of the Harley-Davidson Line, in the foreground is a CVO Electra Glide, and in the background a CVO Road King. Something like $70,000-80,000 would get you the pair. I talked about air cooled bikes, well these are both air cooled. Beautiful and iconic for sure but you pay a good price to get that nametag on your gas tank (but these are special editions of what are somewhat cheaper bikes in the basic versions). I enjoyed seeing some of the new Harley-Davidson motorcycles, but unless I win the lottery sometime soon will be riding Japanese motorcycles for some time to come!

New Bikes, and the Lake (November 23, 2012)

Good day to ride. Rode with three friends; a former boss at my old job, a hot air balloon pilot, and a retirement adviser..a diverse bunch. We met up at RideNow, a bike shop in Concord, NC and there I saw for the first time a brand new 2013 Kawasaki Ninja 300, which is seen at left. The bike is a punched out version of the Ninja 250; and it is a pretty nice ride. Even though I am 6'2' it is a very roomy bike, and the extra power will come in handy. Seems to be a nice quality bike too, with a lot of nice features. Will be interesting to see how this does, I think the 250 was their top selling bike.  

This is a 2013 Star (aka Yamaha) Stryker, one of the big cruising bikes from that company. Looks like (as did Victory Motorcycles) that they have changed the tank logo on the bike. Have quite a few friends who ride Star Motorcycles (have quite a few who ride about everything) and they are fine motorcycles.
As for our ride, started out today on a sunny day in the 70's and headed out to China Grove. Went to see if a friend was going to have his famous Christmas light display this year (and that will be a no it seems) but fun rolling out that way via some great backroads! 

We headed out to High Rock Lake, which is close to Lexington, NC and I got a photo of that at left. Covered a total of 86 miles in today's ride, and we all had a very good time. It is nice to get out on a fine day, especially when it also is a warm one, and that was a real plus in my book. Have ridden with Phil a few times, but a nice plus to get out with the two other riders. The "Salisbury" area is one of my favorite areas to ride here, lots of real nice country roads. Being as this is "Black Friday" seemed like a good idea to stay as far away from the cities, and especially the malls, as possible!

City/Country Ride (November 11, 2012)

 Go figure, November 11, and its around 70 degrees. As you can see, a beautiful day to take a ride on the Vulcan. I rode via a country route, went to Charlotte via NC 24/27 but took a very small detour to Wilgrove Airport which is a small private airport just off that main road. Nothing much was flying at the time, but they were moving some planes and fueling another up, so sure they enjoyed the day too. As you can see, its pretty dry in the area, has not been any rain for some three weeks, and they are quite a few inches below normal at this time of year. That may change in the next couple of days.  

Rode to Charlotte, down to Central Avenue. I like that part of town, lots of interesting apartments (such as the building behind the restaurant) and of course some fine restaurants as well. This was a great day to eat outside, and a number of people were taking full advantage. Central has a lot of interesting stores, and a lot of foreign owned stores (many of which seem to be Vietnamese) so a good place to get a lot of variety. It is just outside of town, in fact a good view of Charlotte from this street can be seen on my Richmond and Me Page (which is also a lot of Charlotte and area, as this work thing I am doing involves two places, as does this blog).   

Heading back, went from Charlotte to Concord via NC 49, but made a stop at NoDa (or North Davidson) which is a suburb of Charlotte (which you can sort of see, at least some of the tall buildings wayyyy off in the background at the end of the street). Nice place, again a lot of neat stores, bars, music venues...it is a real artists town or at least it was started that way, as the neighborhood went into decline due to the closing of the mills in the area. Now a lot of people are moving there due to a lot of new apartments building in that area. It is a fun place to explore though, and a lot of interesting businesses can be found there.
Ride ended up being around 40 miles or so- did not pay a lot of attention to distance on this one. It was just a great day to be out, though we can ride most of the year in the Carolinas, you don't get a lot of rides quite this nice in November and it was pretty remarkable. I had a great time, and fun to see these sights on a Sunday in NC. The ride was a fine addition to a really great weekend. Before heading home visited a former co-worker and then rolled back after a two hour and thirty minute ride!  

Fall Ride to Morrow Mountain (October 28, 2012)

Got in a fine ride to Morrow Mountain on October 28, as with the previous week ride to the Blue Ridge Parkway (Previous Post), it was not too cold, and the skies were clear. I snapped this photo of these bikers at Morrow Mountain - I have a lot of photos of the views there at my "Richmond and Me" blog as well as my Flickr Photo Page. I hoped it would be near peak color, and I was not disappointed  with what I saw. Really has been a long time since I was able to go to both the Blue Ridge Parkway and Morrow Mountain in the same year and at the best time. Sometimes things do work out. 

I enjoyed some nice riding, took this photo of a pumpkin patch (it is fall after all!)  in Mt. Pleasant, NC, visited Hermanco's (a very good restaurant) in Albemarle, even saw a huge field of Sunflowers in Millingsport, NC. I enjoy riding near and in the cities in North Carolina, but I also really enjoy riding in the country, and both can be found close by in the Charlotte area. Have ridden in a lot of states but for year round weather and variety it is hard to beat North and South Carolina.
Upon my return to Richmond on October 29, Hurricane Sandy also impacted the area, and I have a feeling those winds and rain will pretty much take care of fall color in the Richmond area. The impact of the storm in the Charlotte area will be a whole lot less.

Fall Ride on the Blue Ridge Parkway (October 19, 2012)

On October 19, took a ride to Blowing Rock, NC on a fine Fall day. It was very sunny (though foggy at the start) when I rolled out at 9AM. Rode to the mountains via NC-73, to NC-16, to I-40, and then via NC-321. The last road has been getting reworked for the past few years, and is now done on the uphill section, though they are doing road work in Blowing Rock itself. Visited the town a bit, and then made a stop at the Cone Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway where I took this photo of Fall in full color. It was pretty much peak there during my visit.      

 I am a huge fan of the Blue Ridge Parkway, which is fun on two wheels or four (though in my opinion more fun on two wheels). Wonders can be found along its 469 mile length,and I have been on some pretty good sections of it. Loved coming across this lake, you just seem to see the bluest waters in mountain lakes. It was a very nice day for this ride, the temperature was in the 60s for the ride, last two motorcycle rides it seemed this fall I was either not dressed enough or too much for conditions, for the mountain ride I was right on the money. Being warm is important in cold conditions - chill can be unsafe as it can distract you from the ride. 

Finally, got this photo of my bike in front of Grandfather Mountain. A very cool sight, the mountain is also home to the "Mile High Bridge" (with one of the most remarkable views in the Blue Ridge) and a zoo which is really something to see. There are also a lot of trails to check out, and there is also an admission charge to see it. However it is well worth the price (and I have paid that a few times over the years).
It had been a long time since I have made the motorcycle ride to the mountains. I really enjoyed this one, as it was a chance to see the fall color (last time some three years ago at best guess, I missed it by a couple of weeks - was more the bare trees/pile of leaves tour).
Ride back was a lot of fun, though did come into a great deal of heavy rush hour traffic in Huntersville and Concord, NC. Had kind of forgotten about that. Still, it was an impressive ride and visit which covered 264 miles over a nine hour period (with a lot of walking and sightseeing during that visit). I am looking forward to a return visit to the mountains as soon as possible. As far as favorite places, the mountains of North Carolina are tough to beat, and make for some outstanding motorcycling!

Riding to Charlotte, NC

Good day to take a ride on the Vulcan, it is mid-October, and getting cool, but was rising close to 70 degrees when I headed out. Nice day though a bit overcast but been a while since I had been out on the bike, and I really enjoyed it. Had the leather coat on and gloves, but was really overdressed, but better to be warm I think than cold, and that will be coming soon enough (the cold anyhow). Took this at a red light, heading toward Charlotte, NC. The ride for the day covered 52 miles and love riding on Sunday when the traffic is lighter and things move at a slower pace. 

 Took this photo in Uptown Charlotte, one of my favorite places to ride and a very interesting city. This was near where they are building the new baseball stadium for the AAA Charlotte Knights (which has been playing just across the border in nearby South Carolina) and close to the Bank of America Stadium which is the home to the NFL Carolina Panthers. Time Warner Cable Arena is more Uptown and is the home to both the NFL Charlotte Bobcats and the ECHL Charlotte Checkers hockey team. If you like sports Charlotte is a fine place to be. If you don't, lots of museums and places to eat can be found Uptown.  

This is something new. They have a bike sharing thing, a period of time is free, after that they charge you, but its a very cool idea (and a number of bikes were seen out and about in the area as I rode around. Thought this was pretty cool, and a neat idea as well.
I always have a good time in Charlotte, and enjoy my visits there. I have a few more photos on my Richmond and Me blog, as well as a number of photos to my Flickr page, and both of them can be found via links on this page. Looking forward to some great times in the Carolinas over the next few days - more to come here!

Bikes! In the RVA! (October 6, 2012)

 An open house at Colonial Harley Davidson brought me to Prince George, VA to see some of the new 2013 Harley line. For this year no real engine upgrades, just a few new colors and paint jobs, but some fine motorcycles nonetheless. Harley is all about history, and for 2013 they are celebrating 110 years in the motorcycle business, which is pretty damn impressive in my book. While in most cases they have really changed very little, they do have a big line of air cooled bikes, and of course the water cooled V-Rod line of motorcycles. They are certainly iconic motorcycles.

 I really like the CVO (Custom Vehicle Operations) which has made special versions of their bikes (with a "special" price tag to match) using the 110 cubic inch Screaming Eagle Twin Cam Engine. They are certainly beautiful motorcycles, and if it can be said that motorcycles are a work of art, nothing says that more in my opinion than a Harley. I was hoping that they would have a few more from the line, but they did have this Road Glide which is the new version for 2013. I do like that when the new bikes come out, they come out first at Harley-Davidson; and it is cool to see what The Motor Company has to present. 

 Liked these, called the "72" liked the metal flake, and the high handlebars of these bikes, so much like the choppers of the 1970's (without long raked out front ends, but some degree of ape hangers for sure). The small peanut tank would not give you a great deal of range mileage wise, but certainly the styling is pretty cool. Not a lot of Harley-Davidson's really fit me, they seem to be made for smaller people (I am for the record 6'2") and this bike is no exception to that. Still, it is a neat motorcycle, and really brought back some memories. If you are looking at a classic, Harley is your bike for sure.  

Near Colonial Harley Davidson  is Commonwealth Power Sports which is a Suzuki, Yamaha (Star), Kawasaki, Honda and now Victory dealer. There was a Victory dealer in Richmond (just outside of Hopewell) but it went out of business, well now they have the line. Big dealership, and very friendly people there, I often have visited to the shop. Victory Motorcycles are also made in the US, and have a more modern feel to them than the Harley-Davidson line does. They are pretty aggressive as far as marketing, with a very good test ride program, and in fact I have ridden quite a few.

I have a few more photos from the day at my Flickr Photo Page, and it was a good time. I also did a few more events in Richmond which I have on my Richmond and me blog page, it was a very good day for some fun events in the RVA. More riding in Carolina is coming up in a few day and that will be the subject of my next blogs!