I have been taking my wife to some of the great cities of the old world. Last year I was able to take her to Lisbon and Damascus. Two years ago we rode the motorcycle to Paris.
Not sure where we will ride the motorcycle to next… but you can count on her getting to London and Glasgow sometime soon.
We started our motorcycle vacation today. We left the house about 8AM and headed out to Ohio on our Harley Davidson Ultra Limited. Our, path for all but a few miles on day one, is via US Route 50.
We picked up Route 50 just a few miles south of Leesburg, VA. I have to say that Route 50 from this point to our endpoint is a fantastic motorcycle ride. In Virginia you ride through horse and wine county (I quite counting vineyards and wineries at 15). In fact in Middleburg we saw folks preparing their horses for a jumping contest (I am sure there is a proper name for this contest, but I do not know what it is) there were dozens of horses and riders milling about. My wife said she thought it was called “Trials”, to which I replied then they are all guilty!
Shortly after crossing into WV you head into the Appalachian Mountains. These mountain roads are some twisty fun for a motorcycle! Swooping around turns, quick climbs and steep descents (up to a 9% grade) with spectacular views from the mountain tops and rolling farmland in the valleys make this a route, in my opinion, as much fun as any of the roads around the Tail of the Dragon. By the way I dragged the floorboards of the bike a few times without even trying!
I had forgotten that Route 50 passed into Maryland for a few miles so today we traveled in 4 states. When we left Maryland and rode the motorcycle back into WV Route 50 also became the Northwestern Turnpike one of America’s Byways. Stopping for lunch and gas in the little town of Grafton, WV we ate a McDonalds, which had to be one of the least clean stores we had been in…unfortunately I did not notice this until after we had received our food.
We did make a side trip to Cairo … I am still taking my wife to all the great cities of the old world, via motorcycle. I was able to get her to Lisbon and Damascus last year. Athens is next on the list!
The first day of our vacation motorcycle trip is now over. 315 miles through some of the best country for motorcycle riding. I highly recommend this part of Route 50 to anyone passing through WV, MD or VA. OHHH… for got to mention, that per Standard Operating Procedure, we got wet in a thunderstorm!!! Storm Chaser powers ACTIVATE!
Several posts ago I wrote an article about the wife and I trying to decide where to take our “motorcycle vacation”. I called it “Where Oh Where do we go ride?”, well now we know! We are going to tour New England on our motorcycle.
It took a while but we settled on touring the Northeastern states via the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland and Niagara Falls. We are not going to be in any big hurry so as we travel along we will stop at anything that catches our attention. We are planning to stop and visit Lake Placid (home of the Olympics), Mount Washington and Bar Harbor, Maine.
We are also going to make sure we get to every New England state. That way we can check them off our motorcycle touring map!
So in a few weeks you should start seeing post about our motorcycle vacation. If you have any thoughts about places/things or roads that we should consider drop them in the comments below. New England is not an area either of us have been to before.
Babes Ride Out – Not sure how I missed this from 2015 but this is a nice, short 
documentary on Babes Ride Out! Babes Ride Out founders Ashmore Ellis and Anya Violet wanted to create an environment where women bikers can come together to share their cross country journeys, triumphs, close calls and disasters on the bike. GoPro Production Artists Tina Marchman and Annemarie Hennes joined these five hundred ladies in Joshua Tree for this women’s only event. See what happens when they hit the open road.
Adventure Bikers Pwned by a Woman Riding a Harley! – LOL not only does she out ride him off road he laments get dirty!!!! BMW GS owners hang your head in shame or laughter.
Chasing an Off-Road biker with a Drone – A very nice video and some fancy drone driving! This is worth the few minutes to get a different perspective of an off road motorcycle.
Cops Ram Speeding Motorcycle – On the night of April 21, 2017 the police saw a 
motorcycle that was driving 101km/h (62mph). Police tried to pull over a motorcycle, but motorcyclist ignored and increased vehicle speed to 200km/h (124mph). Speed limit in Tallinn city is 50km/h (31mph). Bad guy, but does be nearly killed for speeding justify the stop?
Bikers Prank Regular Couples at a Theater – Calsberg Beer hires out every seat 
at a movie theater except for two in the dead center. Bikers dressed the part fill all the other seats. Do any of the couples dare take their seats?
Recently the Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Company stated that they were going to introduce 50 new models in 5 years. From my perspective there are now 49 models still on the delivery line now that the “Street Rod” has hit the road.
Over the last few years Harley Davidson has put out a lot of new stuff that appears to have been setting the stage for this 50 models in 5 years effort. The electric motorcycle prototype “Live Wire” (which I got to test ride), the Street 500/750, the water cooled 104 and Milwaukee 8 engines are what I think are the underpinnings of this 50 models in 5 years push.
So with 49 motorcycle models still to go what can we expect? Harley Davidson has already stated that there is going to be a production electric motorcycle by 2020. In my mind that would be two additional models, one a variant of the Street line and one a cruiser (maybe based on the Dyna?). Which gets the 50 models in 5 years down to 47 unknown bikes.
NOW for question. Just WHAT would you like to see in that list of 50 models in 5 years? We spoke on that during the show #401 of the 
DawgHouse Motorcycle Radio show a while back. One of my ideas would be a true sport touring motorcycle. Something that would push back on the BMW and Triumph sport touring motorcycles. Harley Davidson did have a sport touring motorcycle in the past, the FXRT which, seemed to have good reviews. I just never remember seeing one.
If you were charged to creating one of the 50 models in 5 years what would it be?
Struggling to decide where to ride or tour on your motorcycle in the coming season? How about the two following websites to help generate some ideas.
The first site is a repeat of one from an earlier post. A few years ago I wrote about a website that could help you plan some cool motorcycle tours. This site by the Federal Highway Administration (can you believe that the federal government got a website right?) is called the American Byways. America’s Byways is an interactive, map based, website that will provide you a listing of each of the 150 different roads. Those roads are comprised of the National Scenic Byways and All-American Roads. You can select the road from a national or state map to see basic information on the road (length, average time to travel the road and historical background) as well as route maps, directions and photos.
Interactive map of American Byways
The second website to help you pick some motorcycle rides or destinations is “Only in Your State”. With this website you can find some out of the way or quirky places that you may never even heard or read about near your home. For example, here in Virginia, this website recommends the “Southern Virginia’s Donut Trail Is Everything You’ve Dreamed Of And More”. So the saying “Ride to eat. Eat to ride” fits in well.
There are a lot of other websites like this out on the ‘ole interwebs. If you have one that you like to use when it comes to finding a destination for motorcycle ride, tour or destination please share in the comments below!!!
Most years the wife and I take a long motorcycle trip or tour to somewhere. Last year we went to New Orleans via the Harley Owners Group Rolling Rally. The year before we went on a long ride that passed through Myrtle Beach, SC then through the mountains of Tennessee. At other times we have rode the motorcycle to Atlantic City and the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
So one would think we would have this the planning process for motorcycle trips and tours down by now. Well we do, step one we decide on a destination. This year is being a bit problematic, we really can’t agree on where or what to do. We have had a dozen ideas but none have really hit a cord. The northeast, Niagara Falls, Canada, Harley Davidson HQ… who knows. And that indecision is the peril as I have to schedule vacation and if we what to see anything that requires preplanning time is running short.
I am sure we will do something… I just do not know what yet!
So why 9? Because everyone does 10 and 11 is too much work.
First of all this list is not for one of those around the globe motorcycle adventure trips. I will not be mentioning things like lion repellant, spare tires or satellite phones. These tips are more for that multi-day to couple week trips via normal roads/interstates motorcycle trips.
These tips are primarily based on our own experiences and may or may not be fully applicable to you. However, Debbie and I are not any different then you guys so I hope that the tips get you to at least think about a particular item.
9. Carry a few tools. Yes, this is dependent on the type of motorcycle you ride. A sport bike is not going to carry as much as a touring bike. At a minimum get a multi-tool that is appropriate to your bike. By that I mean, if your multi-tool has a hex tool but your bike has Torx screws, it is not going to be of much use. Here is what I carry on the Harley Davidson Ultra Limited:
Multi-tool that came with the motorcycle, which turns out is quite limited based on our summer 2015 trip.
Mini screwdriver and ratchet sets with Torx, hex and standard bits in the sizes I need for my motorcycle.
Stop n Go tire Repair kit.
8. The weather is going to change, be prepared. No matter what you think is going to happen, plan on getting wet or cold or both. Again what you can carry is dependent on the motorcycle you ride. At a minimum you should carry rain gear. You need to stop and put on the rain gear as soon as you know that it is not a tiny little shower, especially if you are in the mountains. It sucks to put on your rain gear after you are soaking and then the temp drops.
7. ATGATT All The Gear All The Time – Every time I see or hear this I can’t help but think of the green Martians from the cult classic movie “Mars Attacks” (ack ack). But what it should mean is good boots, motorcycle pants and jackets that are armored and abrasion resistant and a full face helmet. I know that I do not do this all the time myself, it is something that we all know we should do!
6. Start Early End Early – This one is more from personal experiences with longer motorcycle trips. After so many years in the army I still wake up early. Because of that I get on the road early and, depending on where you are riding, that can get us out before traffic gets heavy. It also allows you to beat the heat in the summer months, for a while anyway. By ending early you have time to get your motorcycle unloaded and prepared for the next day, give you time for a shower and a bit of rest before dinner. I like to be kickstand up no later than 7AM and stopped for the evening no later than 5PM. This also helps with any bickering or sniping with your passenger because you are both tired or hot or cold.
5. Get in a Routine – Load and unload your motorcycle the same way in the same order. Do your post ride checks in the same way at the same time (after diner). A routine of this nature will help ensure you do not forget anything while loading and unloading. It will help to ensure that you perform your ride checks and preparation.
4. Inspect your bike at night – As part of your routine, do your T-CLOCS before you close down for the evening. Wipe down the grime on your windshield/faring and if you have room to carry one, cover your bike. Performing these activities on your motorcycle each night, I like to do mine after dinner, will allow you to be on the road little quicker in each morning. Do it in the evening or in the morning, but on all long motorcycle trips you need to do it every day. Things become loose or need attention, better to find out when you are parked.
3. Snack Smart – Eating a big turkey leg at noon and then riding on the interstate might cause you get a bit sleepy. Snack smart is just a tip to make sure that you can operate your motorcycle in the best manner possible. Drinking soda or coffee might not be the best option over water or a sports drink on those days where heat might be a concern. If you are on one of those rides where you only stop for gas consider adding a cup holder or hydration pack to your ride kit. Additionally, consider what you eat, would a banana be better for your riding or do you really, really want that turkey leg!!!
2. Tweak don’t Twerk – Move around on the seat to stay comfortable and avoid saddle sores on a long motorcycle trip. This is easy on a touring bike, with larger seats, highway pegs and large footboards the touring motorcyclist has it easy over the sport bike riders. But, either way, you have to remain a comfortable as possible. If you plan on lots of long distance riding, look into getting a seat that really fits your seat.
1. Stop and smell the roses! – Yes we all know we need frequent breaks but, if your breaks are only gas stations you are likely missing out. If you see something that peaks your interest check it out! Even if you have to turn around and go back to get the picture with the giant roller skate do it. You might never know what you are missing…. maybe dinosaurs! 
A few months ago I bought Pirelli Night Dragons for the Harley Davidson Ultra Limited. We have run these tires all summer, just over 5000 miles. They have been run through the mountains (including the Tail of the Dragon), in the rain and the hot concreate of the interstate highways in mid-summer. So how did they fair to date?
Very nicely, is how they performed! In the mountains I could feel the grip as we rolled though the twisties. On the rainy days I never felt that we had any slippage and the high temps never seem a problem either. In comparison to the Harley Davison OEM tires I can already state I prefer the Pirelli’s. That preference is not due to the grip in the mountains but due to their performance in the wet. I truly felt more in control in wet conditions with the Night Dragon’s v. the OEM tires.
So far, tire wear seems to be on par with the OEM, but with only about 5000 miles on the tires it is a bit early to tell. At about 10,000 miles I will have a better handle on this particular issue.
Soooooo, I cannot give these tires a grade yet and most likely won’t until it is time to replace them. But, I can say if you are not comfortable with the wet weather performance of the OEM tire you can truly consider the Night Dragons.
The DawgHouse Motorcycle Radio…The #1 Motorcycle Show in the USf
This week on DawgHouse Motorcycle News Rants & Racing show #383 …
10 Awesome roads to ride from around the world! These are not the normal rehashed and rehashed set of roads (well mostly). The #4 road on the list is the Iroha-Zaka in Japan which looks just unbelievable. Check out this map view of the road….
In an earlier show (DawgHouse 373) I discussed the possibility that motorcycles may not be allowed on the road as to dangerous to the riders. The framework that is working in Europe now is called “Vision Zero”, the Zero is for zero deaths.
Ken now has to admit I might be right! Recently the US government has introduced a discussion of a version of Vision Zero and guess what was left out of that discussion…. MOTORCYCLES! The AMA is worried that the reason the Federal Government left out motorcycles from it future planning is that they want to ban motorcycles.
In racing news…. MotoAmerica’s 2017 season schedule is out and there are some new tracks!!!! They have added Pittsburgh International Race Complex and Sonoma Raceway (and Ken again has to admit Warren was right). AND… Phil likes the change!!!!
I JUST WANT 2 RIDE!! 