I have not been blogging a lot lately and what I have been posting has not been about our motorcycle rides.
Life and work have been getting in the way of riding! LOL
My wife had knee surgery and cannot yet get on the motorcycle. She has tried a few times but can’t quite make onto the bike. Maybe in a few more weeks.
And, I am retiring this year, which is taking a lot more time than I expected. Once I retire, I would expect that I will have a lot more time to just get out and ride!
For now, I will continue to post irregularly on random things!
At least once a year you should check your helmet to make sure everything is right and correct. As April is Motorcycle Helmet Safety month, now is a good time to do those checks.
What are the things you need to check? Here are the minimum items you should check:
Is the shell in one piece? No cracks or splits?
Are the straps and connectors in good shape, no adverse wear or tear?
The internal padding is connected and stays in place?
Remove the padding and check the foam. Is it dented or have cracks?
While looking at the foam, most companies place a sticker printed with the helmet’s birthday. Is it over 5 years old? See below for some discussion on this item.
Does the rest of the internals look in good operating condition?
Check the visor for damage that might obscure your vision can you see clearly?
Are the screws or other visor attachments tight?
Make sure that insects/creatures are not living in your helmet. Will be VERY interesting if you put your helmet on with some bugs living inside?
Checklist item 5 is the 5-year rule. Most manufactures recommend that after 5 years you replace your helmet. While the cynical among us will cite the “more money” theory of why they want it replaced there is evidence that the foam lining (the part that does most of the work in a crash) does deteriorate over time. It is your head, so it is your decision whether to replace or not if everything looks good.
Do you have any additional tips or recommendations on making sure your motorcycle helmet is good for another riding season?
Spring is here, and your motorcycle is beckoning you to hit the open road.
Before you embark on your two-wheeled adventures, take a moment to prepare your bike for the riding season. While the T-CLOCS (Tires, Controls, Lights, Oil, Chassis, and Stands) inspection is essential, let’s delve into some often-overlooked tasks:
Check Your Gear:
Retrieve your riding gear from storage. It might have been sitting in your saddlebag for months.
Clean your gear thoroughly. Run it through the wash or clean it by hand.
Apply water repellent or waterproofing for added protection.
Remember, rainstorms are not the preferred method of cleaning your gear!
Inspect Your Helmet:
Your helmet deserves special attention. Start by cleaning the exterior. Those bugs from 2023 should be easy to remove by now.
Remove and clean the interior padding following the manufacturer’s instructions.
Don’t forget to check every nook and cranny for any unwelcome guests—SPIDERS (not the Can-Am species).
Evaluate and Replace Gear:
Take a close look at your riding gear. Are your helmet and gloves still in good condition?
Remember, you are responsible for your own safety. If something isn’t right, repair or replace it promptly.
Give Your Motorcycle a “Colonoscopy”:
If you didn’t adequately prepare your bike for winter, it’s time to peek up your tailpipe.
Inspect all areas for leaks and ensure everything is in ship shape.
Give your bike a rub down: Happy ending optional!
Give it a good wipe down to clean off the dust and debris that adhered to your bike over winter.
Now is a good time to give your motorcycle a waxing to help preserve the paint.
Restock your saddlebags or backpack:
If you pack a first aid kit replace what you used last year or what is now expired.
Sunscreen and ChapStick…might want to swap them out for new.
That candy bar you had for an emergency snack, go ahead, and eat it now and put a new one in its place.
Review the owner’s manual:
Get yourself reacquainted with the bike.
Check your insurance:
Did you stop or reduce your insurance on the motorcycle over the winter? Give a quick call to your agent to get your insurance up to date.
Remind yourself about PANIC STOPS:
Find an unused bit of road or parking lot, get up to speed and BRAKE HARD! Get that feeling about what you and your motorcycle will do when you must make a sudden stop.
Ride with a passenger? Then run this exercise with them on the motorcycle as well. It is best to know how it feels in a controlled environment before you really need to do it. OH, check your brakes before you do this to make sure they are good to go.
This is not an all-inclusive checklist or recommendations, I am sure each of you can add more items, but it can get you started for the new riding season. Remember, a well-prepped motorcycle ensures both safety and enjoyment during the riding season.
Every year I like to make a post on what I think are the best motorcycle related posters. Most are for events, but some can be works of art. This year I started with 17 very neat posters and worked it down to the 9 best motorcycle posters for 2024.
Which one is your favorite? Do you have one that I missed?
Riding your motorcycle in the fall can be a fun, pleasant, awesome adventure! But it can be hazardous as well. Here are a few reminders to help make fall motorcycling more of an adventure than a hazard.
1) Gear Up
Weather during the fall can turn quickly. I started a day in sunny warmth then misty rain and then snow and back to sun during one ride. I am sure many others have had the same occurrence. So, this tip is to wear, or take, gear to protect yourself from the cold and rain…. just in case.
2) The deadly leaf
Pretty when they turn colors but when they fall, they can become “Leaves of Death”! It’s a bit dramatic but, if you take a wet leaf to your visor, it can be a problem. Leaves on the road, wet or not, can make traction dicey, as well as hiding potholes and other hazards. The tip here is to pay close attention to where you are going.
3) Beware of shade
There are dangers in the dark. Cold temps at night can bring freezing conditions to the roads, ice can appear and hide beneath the “Leaves of Death!”. While the warming morning sun may melt most frozen paths, those in the shade may not melt as fast. Tip, be extra cautious as you move from sun to shade.
4) Lighting the darkness
T-CLOCs is your friend. Darkness comes quickly this time of year. Are your lights working properly? Check to make sure.
5) Tires, hoops of hazards
Yes, it is part of your T-CLOCs but if you are wanting to ride in the fall with slicks (or just worn-out tires) you might what to change your mind. Those slick tires + slick leaves and possible ice patches just might just make those hoops of hazards into something much worse.
6) Squirrels and deer HATE you!
Animals are looking far and wide for food now that winter is approaching. That patch of green grass across the road looks mighty tasty to a hungry animal, so much so it will walk or run right in front of you. Tip, pay attention to the sides of the road for Bambi and Thumper.
7) Tighten up your riding skills
Just in case you have a Bambi moment, when was the last time you practiced a panic stopped from 50MPH to 0? Have you practiced panic stopping with a passenger? If not, please do yourself a favor and do so!
8) Check the weather… often
Referring to item 1, in the age of the cell phone it will pay to check your weather throughout your ride. You might have all the right gear on, or stowed, but riding in the rain on a cool fall day across leaf crusted roads is not something you should do if it can be avoided.
9) Grab Fall by the Leaves
There are not many good riding days left in year. Get out and ride, just make sure you are fully prepared.
If you have any fall riding stories or anecdotes please add them to the comments.
If you ride a motorcycle you need to add Skyline Drive to your Bucket List!
Skyline Drive, part of the Shenandoah National Park, is one of the jewels of the National Park system. It is 105 miles of vistas, twists, turns and occasional wildlife. It is possible you will see deer, turkeys, squirrels, or even bears!
This year we toured the entire length of Skyline Drive, south to north, a few weeks before peak fall color. Traffic was quite light, and the overlooks had few if any other travelers.
We stopped for lunch at the Loft Mountain Wayside. My wife and I shared a delish smash burger with a side of giant onion rings. We have traveled this road many times and have never had a bad meal at any of the restaurants.
Fall Colors on Skyline Drive
I have said it before, Skyline Drive proves that riding in a car is like watching a movie, riding a motorcycle is being in the movie. Riding this road in the fall will prove that to anyone.
One thing everyone should know is that during fall, when the leaves are at their most colorful, the road become packed with “leaf peepers”.
The 35 MPH speed limit becomes difficult to reach due to all the vehicles. I would avoid the area unless you are ok with spending the entire day on the parkway (emphasis on park).
Riding Skyline in the spring or fall can be cool experience. By cool I mean that the temperature can be 10-15 degrees cooler than the valleys below. Throw an extra shirt on just to be safe. Also, the road is not cleared of leaves, ride carefully especially in the mornings when the leaves are damp from dew.
Front Royal, Virginia
When you are at the northern terminus of the park you are in Front Royal, Virginia. There is a lot of great riding in that area as well, spend a couple days exploring the area and the town, Main Street is a must see.
When we arrived home, we had ridden about half the day and 251 miles. Another great day on a motorcycle.
A couple months ago the wife and I had a lot of fun riding what we called our West Virginia Cryptid & Paranormal Motorcycle Tour (links to the posts below). It was a fun trip to a few of the more “weird and strange” spots in West Virgina.
In each of those posts I tagged the West Virgina Tourism Facebook and X/Twitter pages. I thought this is something that they might want to promote for “paranormal tourism”.
Well, well, well. The West Virginia Tourism office now have their own page promoting just that activity. They are calling it the West Virginia Paranormal Trail.
They are promoting paranormal sites and providing give aways with going to these places like stickers, bennies and posters. Not all the sites listed for the WV Paranormal Trail, align with our trip. We only had 3 days, and we picked spots that we wanted to visit.
I think this is great, but I would have appreciated a note saying thanks for the idea (and a sticker or poster). Sad face (LOL)
In August we attended the Wild and Wonderful Harly Owners Group (HOG) regional rally centered in Charleston, West Virginia. If this was your first HOG rally, I am afraid it may have been your last as well. If it was not your first it was disappointing when compared to other HOG rallies.
Now do not get me wrong, the rides, the main reason you go to one of these events, were great. The guides, on the guided rides, were good and made changes on the fly to adjust to the group.
We participated in in 3 of the guided rides:
Black Mountain/Dragon Slayer – A 10-hour day and I loved it 90% ride. That 10% of nearly hate was when we got behind a DOT road painting crew on the down slope side of the mountain. We really missed out on some very twisty mountain roads fun.
About halfway though, we stopped in Lynch, KY at the Dragon Slayer shop. The shop, with very friendly staff, has some neat souvenirs, a few of which we purchased.
Butcher Hollow Ride – Another day long but enjoyable ride. The destination for this ride was the childhood home of county singer Loretta Lynn, the coal miner’s daughter.
The visit to her home was very interesting, reminded both my wife and I of where we grew up.
Interesting side note: Loretta Lynn was big into motorcycling. So much so that when she made it big and bought her big money home, she bought enough land to create a motorcross racing facility. To this day amateur racers still compete at the “Loretta Lynn Amateur Championship. ALSO…. She is in the AMA Motorcycling Hall of Fame!
Moonshine Ride – This ride was only a high day. Hitting the back roads is goal was to visit the Appalachian Distillery and the Hatfield Family Distillery. As a guy that enjoys a good ‘Shine, commercial or not, I was pleased with both our destinations.
Interesting side note: The Hatfield Family Distillery is run by a descendant of “Devil Anse” Hatfield and uses the family recipe going back to the time of the “Hatfield’s and McCoy” feud.
So, what was my problems with the rally?
I did not feel it was well organized. I never felt like I was at a rally, based on my previous HOG experiences. Why:
There was no central location/HQ for the event.
The opening night was on Brewer’s Row, you chose which Brewery to visit. No opening ceremony.
With one exception, there was no solid nightly get togethers.
The nearest dealership did not really have much going on, beyond demo’s, to lure us in. We visited twice, once it was closed and the other, we were in and out in 15 minutes.
The claim was that there were over 1000 bikes at the event and I have no reason to push back. But, I never got a feeling that there were more than a few hundred at most.
It was a motorcycle rally that just did not feel like a rally.
If this was your first HOG rally, please do not judge, most are a lot more fun.
It was already a warm day when we pulled the motorcycle out of the garage at 7:30AM. The weather forecast called for a heat advisory and temperatures reaching 98. That is 98 Fahrenheit which would, for us, not include the extra degrees of pavement heat! But we had more of West Virginia paranormal to explore!
Ohio River Scenic Byway
We were soon on the Ohio River Scenic Byway headed north to Moundsville, WV home of the Indian Burial Mound and the WV State Penitentiary. The Ohio River Scenic Byway runs 452 miles alongside the Ohio side of the river.
The road, for the entire distance we traveled, was in great shape. As far as “river scenic” I would have to say NOPE! The trees and brush have grown to the point that you only get a short glimpse of the river and that is mostly around the areas that have a bridge.
However, if you are like me and consider industrial views as scenic you are in for a treat. This part of Ohio and West Virginia are heavily dotted with industry. Electrical plants with cooling towers rising, to what looks like a thousand feet. Miles of stainless-steel pipes and trestles moving “stuff” back and forth between the plants and the river. It is quite spectacular.
West Virginia Penitentiary
Crossing the river back to West Virginia we were soon at our first destination, the WV Penitentiary. From its start and up until it was closed this was always one of the most dangerous prisons in America. Until capital punishment was ended 94 men met their end at the end of a rope or in the electric chair. Many more died at the hands of fellow inmates.
Closed in 1995, it is now not only a tourist destination it is also a training center, and a film location. Because of all the death and violence many people claim that the prison has a large and heavy paranormal presence.
The penitentiary has been on many paranormal TV shows as well as movies. Movies were filmed here as far back as 1955 with stars like Robert Mitchem, Jimmy Stewart, Kurt Russel and others. One of my favorite TV shows, Netflix’s Mindhunter also filmed in this prison.
Well, this day we did not see any ghosts, although I have not checked all the footage, but maybe if we do the overnight tour?
Indian Burial Mound
Directly across the street from the Penitentiary is the Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex. It is the site of one of the most famous and the largest of the Adena Burial mounds.
Unfortunately, the complex was closed that day. The mound has been here since about 250 BC, so I imagine that I have some time to stop by in the future! It is quite a bit larger than one would imagine so I am looking forward to checking it out.
The Trip Home
Boy was it a hot day! We rode for a bit and then stopped a Quaker Steak and Lube in Wheeling, WV. As always, never had a bad meal at one of these restaurants. Before we got back on the bike, we put our cool vests on. These vests are the water evaporation type, you soak them then put them on. Today they lasted about 150 miles before they were dry!
Normally we would wet them down again but today we were only an hour or so away from home we just packed them away in the tour pak.
This 3-day adventure was well worth the time and was an enjoyable ride!
I JUST WANT 2 RIDE!! 