Posts Tagged ‘blog’

It is that time of year again!  Finding gifts for motorcyclists can be a bit difficult.  So, I put together this list of 9 ideas for your consideration. If you have other gift ideas, put them in the comments below, I am sure others will appreciate the thought! 

9. Motorcycle T-Shirt Blanket

If your motorcyclist is like us, they have a lot of motorcycle themed t-shirts in the closet or drawers.  Use some of them to create a blanket, throw or quilt.  We have done this three times, and they have turned out quite well!

8. Gift Card

An easy but effective gift.  There are many motorcycle stores out there in addition to your local dealers.  J&P Cycle, RevZilla, and Cycle Gear are just a few I have used in the past.

7. Motorcycle Themed Art

This could be anything from a framed picture of your rider and their motorcycle or prints like these from Road Runner Magazine. Over the years I have received both nice pictures of us riding and prints from places we have been, and I have loved them all.

6. Replace Gear

Take a sneak peek at their gear.  Does your motorcyclist need new gloves, pants, jacket, or helmet?  Replacing gear is always a good gift.

5. Books or Magazines

Motorcycle related books are always good for the winter season.  I recently read Ride Free by Wille G. Davidson and it was exceptionally good. Do a google search for “IJustWant2Ride Books” to get a listing of all the books that I have read over the years and my ratings.

4. Bike Themed Hat

Almost all motorcycle riders like to have a hat nearby to cover up their helmet hair!  Most will prefer a hat themed with the motorcycle they ride … you know a Triumph hat for a Triumph rider.

3. Motorcycle Maps

While maps on the computer are good, there is something about holding a map and planning a trip.  There are many map makers out there, but I have a preference from both Butler Maps and Mad Maps.  Both make maps geared for motorcyclists.

2. Improved Lights

While some motorcycles come with good lighting, most could do better.  Luckly there are more than a few companies that make high quality aftermarket light kits.  You can get anything from headlights to turn signals.  My preference for those lights is Custom Dynamics.  I recently installed their Pro Beam Taillight to improve my rear end.  

1. Membership in the AMA or MRF.

Motorcyclists need to make sure their rights are not trampled upon.  There are two good groups that help preserve those rights.  Sign your rider up for either or both!

American Motorcycle Association – Membership does not only help in the political arena but also include discounts on products and emergency towing.  The AMA is the largest motorcycle lobbyist group.

Motorcycle Rider Foundation – In addition to their pro-motorcycle lobbying efforts membership will get you a $4000 AD&D insurance policy and regular weekly/monthly updates on what is going on in Washington DC.

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If you follow me on Twitter (@IJustWant2Ride) or FaceBook  or Instagram you know that I post, what I think, are some pretty cool motorcycle pictures.  I post those photos up as “motorcycle porn”.

This year I started with 26 candidates for the “Best Off” but got it down to the Top 9.  Why 9?  Because everyone does 10 and 11 is to much work.

 

 

top 15

Well at least according to the folks over at Test Facts IJustWant2Ride is a motorcycle blog that you should be following, but if you are reading this you already know that!  LOL      It is always nice to get some recognition for the things that we do and this is no different.  Thanks team Test Facts for making my motorcycle blogging day!!

Test Facts is a web site that “independently review and analyze products to find the best in each category”.  A few of the motorcycle related items that they have reviewed are the best modular motorcycle helmets and best motorcycle rain suits.

After looking at their site I have added them to my favorites.  I added them not because they included me on their list of best motorcycle blogs but because, as I look through their motorcycle offerings, I was impressed enough that I will to back.

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Today’s HOG motorcycle tour started early.  We were on the road a couple minutes after 7AM (tomorrow will be earlier).  Pulling out of the motel parking lot we headed towards Natural Chimneys State Park, the first stop of the day.  

It took us a few days to figure this out but this HOG event is really an unstructured structured event.  You can go to as many of the stops as you want or none of the stops. You can follow the pre-planned routes or set your own.  We all just start and stop at the same location each day.  This day we chose to skip the State Park and go directly to the second stop the Museum of the Confederacy. 

On the way we had multiple animals try to kill themselves by throwing themselves at our motorcycle.  A rabbit, a squirrel, a blue bird, yellow bird, robins and a couple other critters all threw themselves at us, luckily they all missed by quite a bit.  

WP_20160620_10_45_40_RichThe Museum of the Confederacy is laid out in a fashion that walks you through from what leads up to the succession to the aftermath of the civil war.  In addition to the main museum there are several outdoor features including a “log cabin” built in 1832 and used as a home up until the 1960s. 

From there we headed to Lynchburg Harley Davison.  The Lynchburg HOG chapterWP_20160620_23_08_39_Rich was hosting us for lunch and we had to be there between 12 and 1.  I enjoyed the brat’s and thanked the HOG crew for their hospitality.  By the way, I now have yet another dealer pin for my collection. 

After lunch we remounted the Ultra and headed towards the National D-Day WP_20160620_13_18_32_RichMemorial.  The memorial honors all the soldiers, from twelve nations, that participated in the invasion of Europe in WWII.  As a retired soldier I can say the memorial was quite impressive and provide a poignant reminder of the cost of that invasion.  If you are in the area a few minutes of your time to visit this site would be a good idea. 

Debbie and I skipped the next stop, Foamhenge.  Turns out I wish we had not. Apparently the display will be removed in a couple months.  Oh, well. 

The last stop on this leg of the motorcycle rally, and our hotel, is the Natural Bridge Park and Historic Hotel.  The Natural Bridge is really a bridge with traffic running across the top.  Down below you can hike under the bridge and admire the vista in the same manner as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.  As part of our package we also got to view a light show projected upon the face of the cliffs.  About 10PM we were in our bed with dreams of the  next day.  

To see what happened on day one check out that post!

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ALLTOP is a news/blog aggregation type of site.  Today, on the ALLTOP MOTORCYCLE page, one of my “5 Things” posts has made it to the “Most Popular Stories” section. COOL

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So what do you think?  Do you like it?

THANKS GUYS!

THANKS GUYS!

Our motorcycle blog had its best month ever thank to you guys!  I don’t expect it to contiune over the winter and the days we will have to ride are going to diminish. I just want to thank you for looking at what interests me and the motorcycle rides that Deb and I take.

Really?!?!?!

Really?!?!?!

I have not even thought of this yet.  I typically ride until mid-December and as often as there are nice days in the winter, but I live in Virginia with mild winter weather (most of the time).  Yet I have seen a lot of stores with Christmas decorations and associated stuff for sale already so there maybe something to this.

Fox News’ website has an article on what to consider for storing your bike this winter.

Me…..Debbie and I are going to ride a bit longer!

pure-evel-dl-668x375Last night I watched the Discovery Channel’s premiers of “Pure Evil”.  This was supposed to be about Evil Knievel “behind the scenes”.  I did not think much of the show.

It was interesting to hear some of the “insider” stories regarding Evil. About how he drove his own public relations campaign, about his ego, and about the Snake River Canyon jump.  But, I do not think I learned anything new or titillating about his life.

Also, while it has been a long time since I have seen it, I think a lot of the “cut scenes” were from a movie about Evil Knievel that came out years ago.  Overall, I feel this effort was well below Discovery’s normal high caliber programing.

 

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pure-evel-dl-668x375Tonight at 10 PM (EST) on the Discovery Channel premiers its new documentary “Pure Evil”.  The show is about Evil Knievel “behind the scenes”.

On the Discovery website the show is described as “To the public, Knievel was an American hero and a dedicated husband and father. But behind-the-scenes, there was a much darker and more violent side. Using archival and candid interviews with family, friends and colleagues, the true story of the man behind the myth will be unraveled by those who knew Knievel best”

I have no idea how good this will be but the DVR is set and I will post my thoughts tomorrow.