Ride With Tank

These are the dog days of winter for motorcycle riders in Ohio.  This is the lowest point of the year, but the IMS really helps me get through the winter.

The show this year was pretty disappointing.  There really was not much to see.  The displays were smaller than in previous years.  BMW, Victory, Triumph, KTM, Ural, Moto Guzzi, Aprilia, and MV Agusta were all no shows.  Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Yamaha, Ducati and Harley were the only ones in attendance, and most everything they brought can be easily seen at your local dealer where there are no admission fees and parking is free.

I did get a look at the new Honda VFR and while it is a very interesting machine I just think there is too much technology and complexity there for me.  Many will love the bike, but I would prefer something simpler at a lower cost.

Honda also brought the NT700V.  I was really looking forward to checking this one out.  It really does look like a great bike.  This would be a great machine for someone who just loves to ride and does not need to own the latest technology.  Priced very reasonable, it appears to be a fantastically useful machine, with limited maintenance expense and bother.  I was hoping one of these could end up in my garage, but once again seat height is the issue.  The seat is just too high for female riders.

It seems like I say this all the time, but I just don’t understand why every motorcycle does not have adjustable seats, pegs, and handlebars.  One size does not fit all, but the manufacturers just don’t seem to understand this.  Forget about the dual clutch transmissions and variable valve timing and all that other crap and give us a motorcycle that adapts to us instead of forcing us to adapt to it!  Will this ever happen?  I am beginning to loose hope.

Another thing I can’t figure out is wide tires.  Is there any limit to how wide people want their tires?  Why do people like them so much?  Am I the only person who thinks they are completely stupid?

The best thing about the show this year was running into all my friends.  I’m not even going to try to mention you all by name, but it seemed I could not go more than 5 or 10 minutes until I ran into someone!  I will mention a few by name because they came from so far away.  The first distant friends I came across were Brad and Charity from the Deals Gap Motorcycle Resort.

Brad talking to future Dragon slayers.

I have to say that guys seemed like they wanted to talk to Charity more than they wanted to talk to Brad, and she was doing a great job.  Even late into day three she dtill had a big smile and lots of energy.  I would have been pretty wore down by then.

Next I ran into Darryl and Lori from Killboy.com.

It was great to see them also!

I did get to sit on a bike I have been dreaming about a lot lately, the Honda Ruckus.

I’m gonna get me one of these some day.  They look like a ton of fun!

Another highlight of the show for me was a presentation put on by Lee Parks, author of one of my favorite books, Total Control: High Performance Street Riding Techniques.  The presentation was a quick overview of the book and it was very interesting.

Lee Parks IMS presentation

I talked with him for a little while abd he seems like a nice guy.  Then I got a picture of us for my wall of fame.

Lee Parks and Tank

After the show on Saturday I met up with some folks from rideohio.org for a fun evening.  There is a great bunch of folks on that board and I encourage everyone who loves riding to pay it a visit!