Harley Owners Group Rolling Rally: History in the Hills Day 1

Posted: June 18, 2016 in Motorcycle, Motorcycle Rides, motorcycle touring
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Ijustwant2ride.com

This year Debbie and I decided to try out the national Harley Davidson HOG Rolling Rally.  It has been occurring for the last seven years and this year it is close to home. The theme for this year is “History in the Hills”. 

The start of the rally is Gettysburg, PA and it end a week later in Oak Ridge, TN.  In between there will be the chance to stop at numerous points to fulfill the title of “History in the Hills”. 

Today was the rally registration sign in, a trip to a special event at the Seminary Ridge Museum and the kickoff diner. Our sign in point was Battlefield Harley Davison. It was well organized and took us know time to get signed in, collect our kit of items and talk with some of the folks who are participating in the ride. 

I do have something negative to say about Battlefield HD.  When have been here several times over the years and have always found the folks polite and friendly, willing to go give a hand.  Today that promise of the past did not hold course.  I had forgotten to check the preload on my motorcycles rear shocks and could use a pound or two of additional air to get a better ride.  In the trip from the house to Gettysburg I realized that I needed the additional air and thought I would be able to borrow a pump to add the additional pressure.  NOPE, the service representative said that someone had “borrowed” their pump in the past and did not bring it back thus they did not have a pump for me to use.  Hummm, a complete service center did not have a pump to add air to a motorcycle shock. 

After that we road over to our hotel to check-in.  NOPE, the room is not read, come back after 3PM. Oh and do not park your motorcycle in front of the hotel. We reminded not to park out front at least 3 times.  OK Country Inns and Suites of Gettysburg, I get it you don’t want us to park out front. 

So onto Seminary Ridge and the museum.  We have been to Gettysburg many times and have never been to this museum and plan to take the full tour on day two.  Today the HOG folks (the tour is run my RUSH LLC) had arraigned a special presentation for the group.  We were broke in 4 groups of about 40-50 people and had a round robin education on Civil War soldiers backgrounds and the 1st day of the battle, ambulance wagons, the Seminary itself and a demonstration of how Civil War soldiers formed and marched.  It was quite nice. 

After the presentation were over we rolled over to the Pike Restaurant for the welcome dinner.  The food was good and the folks we shared our table with were awesome.  We had two highlights during the dinner, I was chosen (because I pulled a small prank) to be the first to wear the “HAT”.  The hat is the stereotypical “hillbilly” had from the comics and shows like “Hew Haw”.  I was told that last year the hat was a lobster, so at least I do not have to wear seafood.  I get to pass the hat on to someone else tomorrow….. Let’s see who that will be. 

The other highlight was that we won a $25 Harley Davison gift certificate.  All said we have had a great day and are looking forward to tomorrow’s events.

New Motorcycle Tires! Trying something different.

Posted: June 16, 2016 in Motorcycle, motorcycle safety, motorcycle touring, Product Reviews
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WP_20160423_12_06_42_Rich

I just had new motorcycle tires installed.  This time I chose to go a different route then my normal Dunlop OEM tires.  I bought Pirelli Night Dragons for the Harley Davidson Ultra Limited. 

I did a lot of research on the different tires that are available for my motorcycle.  I looked at Michelin, Metzeler and other brands motorcycle tire stats, reviews etc.  I went with the Night Dragons as it was the only motorcycle tire that seemed to get better reviews in an area that concerned me quite a bit, grip in the wet.  As much as Iijustwant2ride.com love riding, it always seems to rain when we go out and a good “wet tire”, all things equal, got my attention. 

Now I do have concerns about not using the Dunlop OEM tires.  Those motorcycle tires are available at all Harley Davison dealers and would likely be in stock should a worst case scenario occur.  While it would not be optimal to run to different brands of tires on the motorcycle, I am sure worse things occur every day.  

The wife and I will be leaving soon on a 2,000 mile vacation ride so I am sure we will get to try these motorcycle tires in the wet and dry!  I will post a more in-depth review when we return.

Motorcycle Riding in Paradise; Costa Rica (Guest Post by Jason Mueller)

Posted: June 9, 2016 in Motorcycle, Motorcycle Rides, motorcycle touring
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sloth road

One of the road hazards in Costa Rica… don’t expect them to sprint out of your way!

Costa Rica is well known for its white sandy beaches, laid back atmosphere, heaps of wildlife and pleasant climates.  It is no wonder that many want to take a vacation and ride across Costa Rica.  If you are one of those this is a guide to help you make your dreams a reality in paradise.

The first question to ask yourself is, what to ride? Should I ship my motorcycle to Costa Rica? Should I rent a bike in Costa Rica? Should I ride to Costa Rica?  Most likely shipping is out of the question but we are talking about riding your own personal bike so get a quote, you never know and you might decide to never go home.  Riding from USA to Costa Rica can be dangerous, despite what you have probably heard about Mexico it is an amazing country to ride and mostly safe just like Guatemala and Nicaragua but Honduras is the country that you mostly have to worry about.

Many people have made the overland trip with no problems and if you’re the adventurous type then it can be a challenge to accept.  But for many people this may be out of the question, especially if you don’t speak Spanish.   Renting a bike is a great option, you can find many different makes and models, from touring motorcycles to street legal dirt bikes.

costarica_roadmapThe most dangerous part about riding a motorcycle in Costa Rica is dealing with the bad drivers, especially in the capital San Jose (which is no different then most capitals).  Other than that and the odd sloth on the road the country is incredibly safe.  The dry season is the best time to ride, between mid-November thru April the climate is perfect for riding.  You definitely won’t need any under layers along the coast and cruising in your t-shirt will feel so refreshing.  During the day the temperatures in the mountains will be around 68 degrees F.

The country is relatively small, only 19,730 square miles and there is a mere 155 miles of road separating the Caribbean coast from the Pacific.  The prices of gasoline are known to be some of highest in Central America but not out of reason.  The roads are mostly windy with the speed limit is set to around 40 miles per hour, but there are some straight stretches where you can hold back on that throttle.

The government in Costa Rica is doing a very good job of improving the out dated roads but like most things in Latin America it is a slow process, some of the new roads are outstanding but you will definitely have some potholes to dodge.  It is important to know that you do need a motorcycle driver’s license in Costa Rica, your out of country  license is good but will only be valid for 90 days.  If you are willing to rock a scooter under 50cc you don’t need a bike license, just a regular driver’s license.

If you spend 2 weeks in Costa Rica you can visit all sides of the country but once get here you will want to take some time to relax at each destination so plan for a longer trip if possible.

jaco

The view of Jaco

From the bright blue Caribbean waters of Puerto Viejo de Talamanca to the small party beach town of Jaco this must do trip will offer a little bit of everything within 200 miles. The Caribbean side is much like Jamaica where you will find Rasta men smoking on the beach mon. No matter where you go in Costa Rica you will notice that everyone is so laid back and happy, in fact it is known to be the happiest place to live in the world.  The mountains between these two beach towns will be a nice break from the heat of the coast and the views will take your breath away.  Once you get to Jaco you can unwind with a little party and hit the casino if that’s your thing.  You can find many adventure tours in Jaco and there is even a motocross track to ride.  You will want to make your way up Miro Mountain to enjoy the views from the abandoned hotel/restaurant project up on the hill.

From Jaco head south to the bio diverse secluded nature land called Osa Peninsula and be sure to stop by at Manuel Antonio National Park and hang out with the monkeys on the beach, this is the most visited park in Costa Rica for good reasons.

When most people visit Costa Rica they think about the beaches but if the cooler mountain climates are more your style then you will have many options for mountain rides.  From Dominical head up to the fastest growing city in central America San Isidro de General and beyond up to Chirripó the highest peak in the country at 12,533 feet, you will only be able to ride your bike to about 3300 feet and if you want to make your way to the peak you will need to hike.  From San Isidro the back route # 2 towards San Jose will test your abilities with steep grades and sharp switchback corners.

Arenal Volcano

Arenal Volcano

Within 2 hours on San Jose you can ride to several other beautiful mountain escapes such as Poas Volcano, Monteverde, La Fortuna where you can visit the Arenal Volcano and make your way around the splendid Lake Arenal.  Atenas is known to have the best climate in the world but don’t forget to escape to the northern beach towns of Playa Del Coco and Tamarindo.

Most people never think of Costa Rica as a riding destination but with all there is to offer, maybe they should!  The often used quote “I don’t ride a bike to add days to my life. I ride a bike to add life to my days” truly applies to Costa Rica!

Jason Mueller is an entrepreneur living in Costa Rica with family from Canada. After graduating from high school and getting his pilot’s licence he lived to travel the world looking for adventure.  He is currently working with A-1 Auto and is the owner of Jaco Ropes.

Rolling Thunder 2016

Posted: June 5, 2016 in custom motorcycle, Motorcycle, Motorcycle Rides, Rally
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2016 DAV Rolling Thunder Raffle Motorcycle

2016 DAV Rolling Thunder Raffle Motorcycle

I am not sure, as I have never heard any official numbers, but from my perspective attendance was way down over Rolling Thunder 2015.

Normally, starting from the Wednesday before the event, I would start seeing motorcycles headed inbound to Washington.  This year, even through Saturday afternoon, there was little thunder in the area.

Almost every motorcycle dealership in the Washington metro area has some form of pre-event the Saturday before the actual Rolling Thunder parade. Debbie and I attended the pre-event at Fort Washington Harley Davidson.  This dealership is also the Harley Owners Group (HOG) “pin stop” which leads one to believe that there would be a large crowd, as there has been in the past.  Not this year, I was very surprised at the lack of numbers at the dealership.

I make it a point to wonder around the parking lot to check out the bikes and license plates.  This year there were, of course, a lot of motorcycles from the east coast nearly every state from Maine to Florida were present. A couple plates from Texas and one from Montana were the furthest western representatives.  On the international front Canada contributed bikes from Quebec and Newfoundland.

On the way home we stopped at the Jukebox Diner in Sterling, Va.  It was a quite enjoyable meal.  The restaurant is a hat-tip to 1950s in theme and our server, Erich, was having a lot fun with his customers.

Sunday morning, the day of the Rolling Thunder parade, I decided to support my local HOG chapter with the staging for the ride to the Pentagon.  We parked 373 motorcycles in Frederick Harley Davidson parking lot. That was down from 2015 and way off the 750 staged during the 25th anniversary of Rolling Thunder.

Next year is the 30th anniversary so maybe the numbers will return to the norm.

Motorcyclist Safety: Open letter to the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration & Department of Transportation (subtitled) “Worst decision EVER!”

Posted: June 1, 2016 in Motorcycle advocacy, Motorcycle Rides, motorcycle safety, motorcycle touring
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First thing—–   I looked at your website and if there is a link for a motorcycle rider to report unsafe conditions it sure does not stand out.  If you really support motorcycle safety, add a link for us to quickly alert you to conditions that affect us.

NOW my problem —— This past Memorial Day (2016) I was out for a nice morning ride on one of the favorite roads of motorcyclist in the area (MD, WV, VA), Harpers Ferry Road. Always a classic, always a go to road to enjoy the ride, the view and road.  NOT SO MUCH NOW!

A very large (10+ miles) of this formally nice, paved road is now covered in GRAVEL. Small, pea sized gravel.  While there may be a study somewhere about how putting TONS OF GRAVEL on a paved road will improve conditions it DOES NOT IMPROVE SAFTY FOR MOTORCYCLIST.

Every turn I had to concentrate on my approach to ensure I was in the wheel path with the least amount of gravel.  Every oncoming car I had to worry about taking a face full of gravel.  Every time I came to a stop I had to slow well ahead and make sure my feet were firmly placed.  Harpers Ferry road is (was) supposed to be a great relaxing ride through the Maryland countryside.  Instead it became a gruesome exercise on how to torture the safety of motorcyclist.  I can only imagine how terrible this road will become in the rain!

Leaving this to nature to resolve will result in no resolution.  There is simply too much gravel splayed across this paved surface.  The turns, of which there is a lot, will never be completely safe for motorcyclist without mechanical intervention.  The Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration must get this road cleaned up before someone is killed!!!  I typed that properly … BEFORE SOMEONE IS KILLED!

While I am at it—- The round-about at the intersection of Route 15 and 464 is now unsafe to motorcycles as well.  Not nearly as bad Harpers Ferry road but just as unsafe. One of your road crews used tar to seal road cracks, motorcyclist call these “tar snakes”.  Tar snakes are mostly just a pain in the backside type of road repair as they are easily ridden over.  Not so in a round-about, the slow speed, coupled with the higher lean angle, combined with cross traffic and cars to the left and right this is another area where road conditions will result in an accident.  At this particular intersection, the VERY high traffic volume will result in a gruesome accident.

5 Motorcycle Things that interested me this week!

Posted: May 24, 2016 in custom motorcycle, Motorcycle, Motorcycle racing, Motorcycle Rides, motorcycle touring
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Britain’s First Female Motorcycle Wall of Death Star Yvonne Stagg

Smallest motorcycle in the world?

Bike Shed Motorcycle Club Paris 2016

A town’s forgotten motorcycle history!

Ride 50 at 50! 3 Amigos from Britain go to the US to ride the Lonely Road!

Motorcycle Safety Technology

Posted: May 13, 2016 in Motorcycle, Motorcycle advocacy, Motorcycle news, motorcycle safety
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fail

With May nationally recognized, in the US, as Motorcycle Safety Month I thought it might be an interesting idea to look at the future.  What are some of the safety features that might be appearing for motorcyclists in the near future?   

One place to look is the safety features in the automotive industry.  A lot of safety features have already crossed over from cars to high end motorcycles, think ABS, and those features are working their way into becoming standard features in most bikes.  So what is the next big safety feature to cross over?  It might be one, or all, of these: 

Honda-blind-spot-detector-patent-1Blind Spot Monitoring – Honda, BMW and others are working on migrating the technology to motorcycles.  Honda recently requested a patent for a system of camera and millimeter microwave transceivers to help the rider know what is in the blind spot.   

Heads Up Displays (HUDS) – Multiple developers are working on this technology.  One of the more famous is Skully and their smart helmet. Some of these products are already out there but at higher end price points.  In a year or three I expect these costs to go down. 

BMW-Motorcycle-SOS-Intelligent-Emergency-Call-01Emergency Accident Notification – Think “On Star” here in North America. BMW has a big push to introduce their “SOS System” which, similar to a car, is made up of multiple sensors and a mobile phone connection. There is also several other products that connect to your phone via a fob or other device, but I think the BMW system is the first one I have seen integrated into the bike itself. 

Additionally, I think we can expect more trickle down technology to get to the average person’s price point.  As I mentioned above ABS is appearing on more and more motorcycles and in some parts of the world will even be mandatory.  So what other safety features or items might make to the point of ubiquity and reasonable cost for motorcycles?  How about:

LED lights – Yes they have been around for a while, but they are not yet on a majority of bikes.  In a few more years I think all new bikes will come with LED lights. I recently put all LEDs on the back of my bike.

Adaptive headlights – These are the headlights that move a bit to help you see while cornering. BMW, KTM and a few others are experimenting with these lights but I do not think they are coming as original equipment on any motorcycle yet.  BUT if you want it now you can buy aftermarket and install adaptive headlights yourself.

4Smart helmets – Although they typically include HUD, smart helmets are a lot more.  Some offer dynamic noise cancelation, rear facing video, connections to phones, bike to bike communication, etc., etc. You just have to decide how much “connectivity” you want while riding, how much before it become a distraction to you.  I like the concept of a smart helmet but I have not yet had the opportunity to test one out.  

giorgi1Airbags – A few years ago Honda came out with airbags for their Goldwing. I really have not heard much about bike mounted airbags since. But airbags embedded in jackets has started to take hold in the market place.  First introduced for racing, you can now buy, for a bunch of money, for normal street riding.

Traction Control – Or launch control, or one of several other names.  This is on a lot of higher end sport bikes now and some large touring bikes.  It would be a safe bet that in a few years it will be extremely widespread and maybe even mandated.

Automatic tire pressure gauge – Harley Davidson, BMW, Honda and others all have these built into their higher end bikes.  So there is no reason to think that we will not see them on a lot more bikes in the future.

Cornering ABS – Smarter ABS, a system that knows you are in a turn and adjusts the braking to maximize its impact without affecting your turn.

Smart Helmets/HUD            Adaptive Headlights

BMW HUDS                       JW Speaker Adaptive Headlight 

Skully

Intelligent Cranium              Airbags

Sena Smart Helmet              Alpinestars Tech Air Street

Samsung                              Dainese D-Air Street

Motorcycle Racing… I am a fan now!

Posted: May 10, 2016 in Motorcycle, Motorcycle racing
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OK… the boys at Dawghouse Radio have made me a fan of motorcycle racing. 

A while back I wrote a post regarding how I was not a fan motorcycle racing and why I did not care for it.  That post got me an interview on the DawgHouse which led to a hosting spot.  My view on road racing began to change the more I began to pay attention to the racing in order to be better prepared for the podcast. 

It really started during the MOTOGP and World Superbike 2015 racing seasons.  There was a lot excitement all season long. Mark Marquez and Valentino Rossi feuding, Jorge Lorenzo working hard to be the champ was engrossing.  Combine that with World Superbikes Johnathan Rea’s utter domination of that series and the motorcycle racing world just pulled me in.    

Motorcycle racing also pulled my wife in as well.  The bug did not bite her for road supercrossracing but for Supercross and to a lesser extent Motocross.  She and I have sat on the couch and watched the 2016 Champ Ryan Dungey and the rest give it their all every weekend. This year Debbie and I have watched all of the Supercross events and have even discussed going to one next year.   

I still hold to some of my original thoughts about motorcycle racing in the US.  One of the reasons, I think, that Supercross is so popular is that all the spectators can see all (or almost all) the track at one time something you can’t do at motocross and road racing events.   

I also think a racing series limited to V-twins running on some of the NASCAR short track would take off in short amount of time. This would be a little reminiscent of the old board track days.  Harley, Indians, Victory, Star and all the others going at it on a short oval would be a lot of fun to watch.

Moto-AmericaIn addition to the MotoGP and World Superbike I have also been viewing MotoAmerica.  Even though I have only been watching for the last year, I can tell that a high level American series is really needed to help propel American racers to the world stage.  The racing on the American circuit has been fun to watch and I hope they will be able to expand their reach soon.   

So, twist the throttle, I am now a motorcycle racing fan

 

Motorcycle TV: Ride with Norman Reedus

Posted: April 26, 2016 in Motorcycle, Motorcycle Rides, Motorcycle TV
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norman

The “Walking Dead” star gets his own motorcycle themed show on AMC this summer.  The show will premier June the 12th at 10PM (EST).

If you did not know it by the way he has built and rode motorcycles on the Walking Dead Norman is a fan of the two wheel life.  So much so he was able to get AMC to produce a six episode series titled “Ride with Norman Reedus”.

Norman states this is not going to be a gearhead show but on where he and friends “explore local biker culture and celebrate the best and brightest collectors, mechanics and craftsmen around the country. Each episode will feature Reedus and a riding companion – a fellow actor, musician, friend or local chopper fanatic – as they journey to custom bike shops, tattoo parlors, collector’s warehouses, or a roadside smokehouse… with plenty of time for unplanned detours and tire changes”

But unlike us average joes Norman’s friends include Peter Fonda, Robert Rodriguez and Balthazar Getty. Guess I will have to wait for my own TV show to ride with those guys!

I LIKE TO DRAW ATTENTION TO MY REAR END! Product Review: Custom Dynamics HD LED Tour Pak GEN2 Magic Brake Light Flasher for Harley Davidson Motorcycles

Posted: April 18, 2016 in Motorcycle, motorcycle safety, motorcycle touring, Product Reviews
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“Baby got back” and I cannot lie that it fits the Ultra Limited and I want to try to get drivers to see my motorcycle’s rear end. OK.. that is Ultra Bad.

In the age of distracted driving I want folks to have a better chance at seeing me when I am stopped, breaking, or slowing.  So I looked around for a device that would cause my rear lights to flash when the breaks are applied.  There are more than a few of these devices for nearly any motorcycle on the market but I went with the Custom Dynamics Magic Brake Light Flasher.WP_20160417_11_44_23_Rich

I will admit that my section of the Custom Dynamic product was influenced by my earlier purchase of their  LED Turn Signals .  That product was easy to install and has worked well.

The installation of the break light flasher was easier than I expected.  Once the seat was off and you can see the Tour Pak wiring it was almost a no brainer.  Once the device was installed we had to choose the flash pattern.  It comes with 10 patterns of varying complexity.  The video shows you all the patterns, and while it might be less than evident on the video the lights are quite bright. We went with the “Blaster X Consistent” pattern.

When I showed our upgrade to my daughter, as she pulled into the driveway, she stated “that’s distracting”.  I took that as a job well done!

Now it is hard to review whether or not this is a good safety product, if I never get rear ended did the flasher help or did I just get lucky.  But I can review it on ease of installation and my subjective thoughts.  This product does what it says it is going to do, it was easy to install, and I think it is going to help draw attention (thank you daughter).  Based on that I am giving the Custom Dynamics HD LED Tour Pak GEN2 Magic Brake Light Flasher for Harley Davidson Motorcycles 5 out of 5 stars.

5 star

 

 

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