Well I had a very cool email waiting for me when I got home today. I get to test ride the Harley Davidson electric motorcycle Project LiveWire when it arrives at Rommel HD in Annapolis, MD.
You can be sure I will do a review with pictures and video of that event!
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!!!!
As a lot of Goldwing owners have known of the problem with the rear breaks sticking, dragging, overheating and some even catching fire! Honda has initiated a recall on the bikes to fix the issue. The bikes that are affected are GL1800 Models from 2001- 2010, 2012, and GL1800A models from 2001-05.
“The recall notification letter Honda sent to the NHTSA states a “preliminary letter” will be sent to owners with instructions on how to conduct pre-ride and post-ride inspections so they can identify the condition. If the condition exists the bike should be taken to the dealer to be inspected, at no cost to the owner. A second letter will be sent to owners to let them know a repair exists or that replacement parts are available.”
So this is NOT a do not ride recall!
This will be a good chance for Gold Wing owner to try out the new government Safercar.gov website. This is the website where you can enter your VIN number and find out if you are affected. I wrote about it in an earlier post.
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Ken’s News:
Charity motorcycle stolen in Brooklyn, New York.
Rocket powered motorcycle from the 1920s.
Massachusetts woman decides backing over cop is a good idea.
Speeding on crack – why didn’t I think of that?
Warren’s News:
Sold your bike… better cancel the insurance!!!!
Supercharged Ninja imminent
HD CVO owners hot over coolant
New Indian off the reservation Scout
3 Terrific Charity Rides and 3 Rallies in the DC Metro Area.
Racing News:
MotoGP & Moto2 from Silverstone.
My wife Debbie is a huge fan of the TV show “The Waltons” so this ride was for her!
The creator/writer of that show, Earl Hamner, based the show loosely on his life growing up in the mountains of Virginia in the Depression era 1930s. Our 301 mile round trip took us from our home to the Walton’s Mountain Museum, across the street to the house that inspired the stories and back home.
The museum (in the former Schuyler High School) and Hamner’s childhood home are located in Schuyler, VA. While they are really out in the middle of the mountains and woods, it is easy to get there….just go until you think you went to far then go another couple miles! 🙂 This area of Virginia also has a lot of motorcycle friendly roads, a quick internet review will show you many.
The museum itself has multiple exhibits including replicas of the sets used in the TV show. It even has a real “confiscated locally” moonshine still to represent the Baldwin sister’s “Recipe Machine”. Earl Hamner’s home is across the street from the Museum and is on the Virginia Historic Registry.
While I knew a little of Mr. Hamner’s life story I was surprised at some of the things he wrote or was connected to. For example he was the creator of the series Falcon Crest, wrote for the Twilight Zone, wrote the tele-play for Hidi, Charlotte’s web and the book that inspired the move Spencer’s Mountain (based on his family, where his dad was played by Henry Fonda).
If you are a fan of the Walton’s, or not, and are in the area this is a nice little side trip and if you are on a motorcycle it is so much more fun.
The US DOT on the 20th of Aug mandated that all major manufactures now list all the VIN numbers of vehicles affected by recalls. And you can check that list at the Safercar.gov website. Well not quite all manufactures yet, but the stragglers are coming around.
What is the mandate, all major light vehicle and motorcycle manufacturers are required to provide VIN search capability for uncompleted recalls on their own websites. This data must be updated at least weekly.
NHTSA’s new VIN look-up tool directly relies on information from all major automakers.
Determining whether there is a recall that consumers need to take action on is easy. After entering the VIN number into the field, results will appear if the consumer has an open recall on their vehicle, and if there are none, owners will see “No Open Recalls.”
If this works as advertised it will be, in my view, the second website that the government has gotten right. The first being the American Byways site that I wrote about here.
From a tweet from HD… LOVE that silver flake!
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Ken’s News:
Best 10 Motorcycles of 2014.
Betting on death.
Warren’s News:
Attention European Motorcycle Riders – This Is A PSA
Conn. state trooper faces prison for theft from dying motorcyclist.
KTM to enter MotoGP in 2017.
Cow has beef with woman following motorcycle crash.
Racing News:
AMA Motocross Indiana National.
Czech MotoGP/Moto2 from Brno
Michele Smith & Jay Barbieri
If you watched any motorcycle TV at all I am sure you saw an episode or two of American Thunder (or Two Wheel Thunder as it was known for a single year on Discovery) it was on for 14 years. The Thunder has been off the air for nearly 5 years.
Well…. The hosts of Thunder, Michele Smith and Jay Barbieri, are attempting to revive the show. They are not looking for the traditional network TV route but are using a KickStarter campaign to raise money to create an Internet only show. This is point where the motorcycling community can help support Jay and Michele.
If you liked the Thunder and want to see another version of that show consider contributing to the cause. Go to the “Bring Back Two Wheel Thunder” KickStarter site and pony up.
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What was your favorite Thunder moment? Mine was the time that Jay rode through a snow storm on the way to a Daytona Bike Rally.
I just read an interesting motorcycle list from Womenridersnow.com. They took their reader’s input and surveys from the last six years and came up with the list of most popular motorcycle with women riders.
10. Star V Star 250
9. Kawasaki Vulcan 900
8. Harley Davidson Street Glide
7. Kawasaki Ninja 250/300
6. Honda Shadow Spirit 750 C2
5. Star V Star 950
4. Harley Davidson Softail Deluxe
3. Harley Davidson Sportster 1200 Custom
2. Star V Star Custom / Classic 650
1. Harley Davidson Sportster 883 SuperLow
Debbie owned an 883 SuperLow…she is #1 too!
You can read the entire article here!
HD Softail Deluxe
I JUST WANT 2 RIDE!! 