I was feeling a lot better today so Prozac, Bob, and I went out to Quaker City for the Rally at the Raceway. I always have a good time at this event and it was a great show again this year. The bike fest is September 10 this year and I really am thinking about running the Vstrom down the strip just for fun. Click here for a 2 minute video of highlights from the Rally at the Raceway.
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I am sorry to say that I am currently afflicted with a terrible case of bronchitis. I have called off from work and going to the doctor to try to get some kind drug that will cure me, so while I wait for my appointment I figure I should do an update.
I took bill- not davis and Prozac down to Cabelas for one of my favorite rides down WV88. The guys were ready to head home after Cabelas but I went ahead and went further south. In all the times I have been through Moundsville I have never gone and seen the mound, so I checked it out. Across the street from the mound is the former West Virginia State Penitentiary. Really all I did was pull into the parking lot and take a couple of pictures. My favorite type of sightseeing is the kind where you can take a picture without even getting off the bike and then move on.
Last Thursday was the first bike night at the new Quaker Steak and Lube. I saw this interesting bike there. Everyone asks how the bike night was and I just have to say that it is a bunch of motorcycles in a parking lot. Bike night is bike night. Credit goes to Mark for the picture because I did not have my camera with me.
Last Saturday Mark planned a ride to Breezewood, PA to check out Rt.30. The turnpike has all kinds of signs warning trucks not to take this road so we thought it would be a very excellent road. It turns out it is a nice road, but not really worth 400 miles of turnpike to ride. We headed down into Maryland and rode scenic rt. 40, and from there we went to Mt. bill- not davis, the highest point in Pennsylvania. Credit for that picture also goes to Mark because he took a much better picture than I took. If you go to Mt. bill- not davis, walk the short trail to Baughman Rocks. There is a body in the rocks.
I have given myself time to cool off, but I got really mad when we left Mt. Davis. It turned out that the road was a pretty fun road and before long we had caught up to three guys on cruisers. The last guy in the group waved Mark around and he started to pass, then the front two guys gassed it up. There was very little passing room on this road and they were coming up on a blind hill and the two in front actually moved to the center to prevent Mark from pulling into the right lane. Mark gassed it up and got around them safely, but it could have ended bad. Now there was no way in the world these guys were going to let me pass them. They would go 15mph in the turns and then gas it up on the short straights. This aggravated me to no end. At a place like Deals Gap slower traffic should give room and allow faster traffic to pass. Here I do not expect assistance to allow me to pass, but I really get angry when they try to prevent me from passing them. This creates a dangerous situation in two ways. The person who wants to pass gets aggravated and unless they are as well balanced as me (!?) sometimes will take a unnecessary chance to get past them. Watching these guys trying to keep me behind them was actually kind of scary because it was obvious they were riding well over their heads.
Well, I was supposed to be riding to Cabelas this morning but it is raining all over Ohio and West Virginia so instead I finished my Deals Gap update.
Let me say first that this trip would not have gone so well if it were not for Xtreme Suzuki in Bellaire, OH. I was having problems with my high pressure fuel filter and kept putting off buying one because Gollans wanted $235 for it. That is a lot of money for a fuel filter. I tried blowing it out with compressed air and all kinds of other things but nothing worked. As usual, I put off ordering it until the last minute. Xtreme sold it to me for $190 and I included in the order that I needed it by Friday. Thursday I called them and found out I would not be getting it until Monday. It really was not a problem to get it on Monday so I said that would be fine, but the guys down there felt bad and offered to meet me in East Liverpool with it so I could have it in time. One guy even offered to take it home with him and I could pick it up at his house. These people seem like real good people and a great place to order OEM parts at a decent discount. I got Suzuki OEM oil filters for $7.00 each.
Just before I left for the gap I got my pictures from Zee Photo of my May trip down. Click here to see the pictures. She does a great job out there so be sure to check her site out when you are looking for some pictures from your trip.
Skidpate and I are home from our trip to Deals Gap and the Parkway!
We met Jim at Deals Gap and hung out with him for a few days. Crazy thing was, coming home today up US250 near Cameron, WV we passed Mark sitting on the side of the road! That’s why these two guys are the true life blood of this crew. Nobody loves to ride like these guys!
I have many pictures and videos to post from the trip, but since I am tired and lazy it will probably be a few days until these get posted. It will probably be a few days until I catch up on my email also, so if you sent me one I am not ignoring you, I have just been on the road for the last 10 days and now I am tired and cranky.
In the meantime, I am posting the best video from the trip. Skidplate wanted me to get a video of her riding the gap. She is getting much better and I will be really ashamed when I can no longer keep up with her. Anyway, as we were taping we came across one of the infamous 18 wheelers on the Gap. Believe me, it does not look nearly as scary in the video as it was in real life. Thank goodness we were not running it too hard or this would have been court room evidence. Watch this video and remember the next time you are out riding that if you are running at 100% you have no room for the unexpected. Always leave yourself room for the unexpected.
Well, it sure has taken a long time, but the Pikes Peak update is finally done! Without much time to spare either, because we leave for Deals Gap in five days! Click here to see the update.
Last Wednesday I went to Sharon for the Small Ships Review. It was pretty cool and I have a video of some of the small ships here.
A couple of weeks ago at a poker run I won a $10 gift certificate for Warren Harley Davidson. My charger for my Chatterbox unit stopped working so I was headed up to Shadetree to buy a new one for the trip next week. On the way there I remembered my gift certificate and decided to stop and see if they sold them.
I have never owned a Harley but I do respect them. My visit to the Harley shop was a little bit alarming, and I’ll bet you there are a lot of Harley riders who share my concern. It really looks like Harley is not focused on motorcycles anymore. The majority of this shop is devoted to non motorcycle related items. They sold baby clothes, clocks, chess sets, ceiling fans, jewelry, candles. dart boards – the list goes on and on! I think it was the ceiling fans that blew me away the most. Ceiling fans? CEILING FANS????? On the plus side, I figured a motorcycle shop that has all this stuff probably sells Chatterbox equipment. I wait at the parts counter and ask if they sell the Chatterbox helmet mounted communicators. The guy behind the counter had no idea in the world what I was talking about. The guy had never even heard of Chatterbox. This was not some young 17 year old kid either, this was a middle aged biker guy. I’ll bet it breaks the hearts of serious old time Harley riders to see how things are changing.