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Posts Tagged ‘Ducati’

Motorcycle Charity Ride: 9/11 Rattle the Runway 2014

Posted: September 11, 2014 in custom motorcycle, Motorcycle, Motorcycle news, Motorcycle racing, Motorcycle Rides, Rally
Tags: air and space museum, Ducati, Harley, Harley Davidson, Honda, Motorcycle Ride, Pentagon 9-11 Memorial, rattle runway ride, sport bike, Sportbike

Debbie and I rode our “Army” motorcycle in the 2014 Rattle the Runway ride to support the Pentagon 9/11 Memorial Fund. This commemorative ride is an attempt to honor the memory of the people killed in the attack on the Pentagon. The ride loosely follows the path of Flight #77 from Dulles International Airport to the Pentagon

The weather for the event was great; I rode in a t-shirt and leather vest (yea I know ATGATT…) while Debbie started in a light jacket and switched to her vest at the staging area. We left the house a little late this year and missed the opening ceremonies but arrived in plenty of time to make the start.

As always the ride starts behind the National Air and Space Museum – Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. In the past the museum had opened its doors for the riders to stroll through and view the exhibits before the ride starts, not sure if it happened this year as we arrived a bit late. The staging for the event has riders park their bikes six abreast in an area about three to four hundred years long. Almost every major and minor brand of motorcycle is represented in this ride, this year I saw:

Harley Davidson	Honda	Iron Horse
Yamaha	Star (I know)	Suzuki
BMW	Motor Guzzi	Cam-Am
Victory	Triumph	Ducati
Stallion	MVAgusta

But I must say the turn out this year was about half of what it was last year. More often than not the bikes fill the staging area, this year my guess would be that the bikes numbered at about 1000. Maybe that this was the first day of the NFL season reduced the number in attendance.

To reduce the traffic congestion that a ride of 1000+ motorcycles would bring around Dulles airport the ride is broken in serials of about 100-150 bikes. We were in one of the last serials to pull out and the ride to and past the main terminal of Dulles were smooth and quick. The ride to the Pentagon was also uneventful with only 2 cars merging through the line of bikes to enter or exit the highway.

When we reached the Pentagon the mood of the group became more somber as we visited the Memorial site. If you have never been to the Memorial site you should consider adding it to your list of places to visit, at a minimum look at it on line, it is quite well done. After paying our respects we mounted up and headed for home.

PS…. On the way home we saw the BING version of a Google Street View car. It was pulling onto Route 267 near Reston, VA. I will be keeping a look out on Bing for the updated street view as it should show me flipping the driver the bird because he nearly ran us off the road!!!!

: Back side of the Air and Space Museum

Servicing your Motorcycle: DIY or Dealership

Posted: April 10, 2014 in Motorcycle
Tags: BMW, Ducati, Harley, Harley Davidson, Honda, Kawasaki, sport bike, Sportbike, Suzuki, Yamaha

I see a lot of this type of question on many of the other blogs, websites and forms. Most typically they start off congenial but spin down to the “the dealership sucks and charges too much” and “if you don’t do it yourself you are a wimp”.

My POV on this subject originates in 2000 at a Ford dealership in Fayetteville, NC. I was there buying a new vehicle, the first Ford Sport Trac sold in Fayetteville, when I overheard a heated and loud argument at the service desk.

Ostensibly a man had, what he considered, warranty work performed on his transmission (it was older F250 with a couple 100K of what looked like hard miles). As I was waiting for my vehicle to be taken off the truck (I said it was the first) I listened to the conversion between the service representative and the owner of the truck. Just like all these type of conversations it started politely but got heated in a hurry.

The dealership wanted to charge him over $1500 dollars for the work while he insisted it should be covered by warranty. What it boiled down to was that the dealership stated with that many miles the transmission should have been serviced, if I remember correctly, five times. The owner was stating that it had been serviced, he did it himself. She responded that for the warranty to be honored the service had to be performed by a “certified” mechanic, that they would not honor the warranty.

Now I do not know how the situation was resolved, my brand new Sport Trac came off the truck and I was checking it out. But that argument left an imprint on me that have lasted to this day. If my vehicles are under warranty the dealership gets all service work, with the occasional exception for the standard oil change (and I keep records of that). I also attempt to be very prompt in getting the services performed at the appropriate mileage points, give or take a few thousand miles.

I do know how to do a lot of the work myself. I can do a lot of the basic things (that do not require a computer and there is less and less of that every year) like all the fluid changes, spark plugs and wires, batteries, lights, etc.. I have worked with friends to change transmissions and I have helped work on the pumpkins of four wheel drives. I even use to know how to use the tire changing machines and wheel balancers and I think I could figure out how to use the modern equipment to do that job too.

So where does that leave me? I have the knowledge to do some of my own work, but I do not want to jeopardize my warranty just in case I have a major problem down the road. All my vehicles get their service at the dealership at least through the end of the warranty, and I do typically get the extended warranty. To some folks I will be a stupid wimp but I think I fit in there with the majority of the population.

Motorcycle Product: Now have I seen everything?

Posted: March 10, 2014 in Motorcycle news
Tags: Aprilla, BMW, Ducati, Harley, Harley Davidson, Honda, Kawasaki, KTM, Motorcycle, Motorcycle Ride, sport bike, Suzuki, Triumph, Yamaha

I can now say if I have not seen it all, I must be getting close. These products are produced by 2×2 Cycles out of North Carolina. Their motto of “Who says you can’t take it with you?” explains their reason for being.

They look safe and secure and if I could still golf I might consider this for my bike. They make products for: Honda, BMW, Kawasaki, KTM, Suzuki, Yamaha, Triumph, Aprilla and Ducati motorcycles.

Check out their website here! image from 2x2cycles.com

Washington DC International Motorcycle Show 2014

Posted: January 14, 2014 in Motorcycle
Tags: Café Racer, Ducati, Harley, Harley Davidson, Indian, Motorcycle, sport bike, victory

International Motorcycle Show

I went to the show (Debbie had to work again) with my friends Tim, Karma and their daughter McKenzie. We got a bit of a late morning start but got lucky with the metro (subway) and made to the show at about eleven AM.

The show was held at its now normal location, the DC convention center. The last time I had attended the event was two years ago so I was looking forward to seeing new products and get any cool swag. One note of interest was that attendance was free for military, with ID cards, but Deb had bought my ticket as a Christmas gift before we knew of the discount….oh well.

Progressive Insurance is the major sponsor of the event and their area was front and almost center to the entrance. They and an old school electric slot car race track setup for people to race in order to earn a t-shirt. We did not race but the race track was cool. OH, Flo was not there.

In addition to the major manufactures there were a lot of vendors but, I do not think there were as many as the last time I attended. The crowd was about the same, it was a nice turn out on a wet, rainy day.

The only disappointment for me was in the helmet area, I am looking for a new modular (flip-up) helmet to replace the Fulmer that I currently own. My Fulmer’s locking latch broke and is over five years old, it needs to be replaced. I am interested in the Nolan 104 and was hoping to check it out at the show but no one had the Nolan helmets.

2014 Honda Valkyrie

We took a good look at the new Indian bikes, they are nice! I was surprised to see that they are using a mono-shock on the rear end (see pic below). There were a lot of folks swirling around the Indian booth which made it hard to take good pictures but also indicated that there was real interest in the bikes.

I also looked though the Victory, Honda, Yamaha and Ducati venues. The new models for those bikes were out and had a lot of interest from the crowds. The Honda area was very packed with bikes. Because of how close they were to each other and with the crowd of people it was almost impossible to get a picture. The Honda that was getting the most attention, at least when I walked though, was the Valkyrie.

After we were done with the show we headed back to Tim’s and Karma’s house. When we got off the metro the consensus was to go to Chili’s for lunch…this was where the most interesting part of the day occurred!

As we were walking into the restaurant a guy was coming out and asked Tim for a smoke, to which he replied “Sorry, we don’t smoke.” At that the guy became belligerent and started yelling and cussing at Tim. This guy was a bit on the big, solid size and I thought he might be trying to start something. I moved to the right of the two of them, I was placing myself in a position to jump in if the guy made a move, it was very clear that he had been drinking….or something! Luckily for him (it would not have been a fair fight) he chose to move on.

When we went into the restaurant we found out that they had just refused him service because he was causing problems. But, even with that we had a good day with friends and motorcycles!