I am not sure what to I think of this video.
A VERY well done short film by Scott Winn captures some very expressive moments of these guys “surfing”. The score and editing make this look like something that all riders should do…but we all understand how dangerous this type of stunting can become.
It is the way Indian Larry died!
Ken and Phil RANT about Virginia International Raceway before heading to MotoAmerica races at VIR.
Victory Motorcycles to race an electric bike at Isle of Mann.
Lost motorcycle rider found in Guatemala.
Yamaha and Triumph motorcycles recalled for the same bad part.
Ducati customers are the most satisfied?
World Superbike in Imola.
Dani Pedrosa returns.
I was asked by “Rude Biker Chick” if I would be willing to review a motorcycle product for an associate of hers. Being the gadget guy I am, of course I could.
A few weeks later a package from Pensacola, FL arrived. ProGuards had sent me a set of their “Original Crashbar Protectors” to check out. 
According to the packaging and their website ProGuards are:
“sleeves made of black polypropylene that fit over motorcycle crash bars, engine guards, and highway bars. They’re designed to protect against scratches and scrapes during a fall. ProGuards are easily removable and inexpensive. They’re perfect for beginning riders and recommended for motorcycle instruction classes.”
Designed for the standard 1 to 1 ¼ inch crashbars (or engine guard as Harley prefers), I had no issues getting them on the crash bars of my 2008 Heritage Softail Classic, they went on with a gentle rap from my fist. Now as soon as they were one I had a concern, as you can see in the picture the guards have a little “pointy” top to them and I thought that, at speed, they might whistle. A quick ride with the wife to dinner ameliorated that concern, no noise at any speed (well at least to 75MPH)!
I did have a mounting issue on my 2014 Ultra Limited BUT it was not due to the product. The fitment issue is due to my height and length of legs. The distance between the lower fairing mount and where I have my highway pegs mounted prevented the ProGuard covers from fitting onto the crash bars. Now this would be of no big consequence as I would only need to trim about an inch from the bottom.
I was perplexed by the little set of covers designed for the rear saddlebag protection. Both covers had a little circular “tab” attached that I could not readily deduce the purpose. After much thought I decided to get the answer and call Priscilla at ProGuards. Turns out those little tabs are part of the manufacturing process and they left it attached to the guards as an aid to separate the small guard from the large guard. The little tabs can be cut off with no impact to the product. I did feel a little less smart at the end of the call. LOL 🙂
So what do I think about the ProGuards Crashbar Protectors? I think that they will do exactly what they are designed to do. They will protect your crashbars from scuffs and scrapes for those inadvertent occasions you forget to put the kickstand down before you get off the bike. J Because they do what they state they will do, are reasonably priced ($25 or $30) and do not really detract from the appearance of the bike I give them 5 out of 5 starts. Also, the fact that Priscilla answered the phone on the second ring and did not laugh to hard was a big plus.
Now I need to decide whether to trim the covers to fit the Ultra Limited or put them on the Heritage. I think I will go with the Heritage to cover up some… hummm… scuffs.
****** This is something I found in a dusty corner of my harddrive. It is about a ride we took with friends in 2009*****
Friday morning my wife Debbie and I and our friends Tim and Karma pulled out of Ft. Belvoir headed for Atlantic City. Atlantic City or Bust…well, I hope not to bust! We decided that we would stop at all the dealerships we could on the way there just to check them out as well as work on our ABC of Touring pin.
Our first stop was Old Glory in Laurel. We had been there before of course but the trip there was a bit different. Going up the George Washington Parkway, as always, was a nice ride. Running along the river with little traffic is always fun. But the fun ended when we crossed the Woodrow Wilson Bridge and headed up I-295! Man O’ Man was that road rough, I know that these are tough economic times but at some point the holes have to be filled. I ride a Heritage softail, Tim has a Road King and Karma a Sporty, and because of the road conditions Karma was really riding a horse trying to throw her at every opportunity. At one spot I thought she went six inches off the seat! All I have to say is thank God for softails!
Our stop at Old Glory was short. We looked at their merchandise for a bit made a couple of small purchases, got the ABC picture and rolled out. Next stop was HD of Maryland, again the ride was a bit rough. None of us had been to this particular store and all were happy with what we found. A well laid out store with free dealer dots! We grabbed our ABC photo and away we went.
About an hour later we rode through the harbor tunnel, now that was cool. The sound of the big twins (and the Sporty) reverberating in the tunnel was excellent. Of course there were a few extra twists of the throttles just to make sure everyone was awake! Just a bit later we pulled up to the HD/Buell Store of Baltimore. We all liked this dealership; if you have not been there you should make the trip. There shop is in two buildings one for the bikes and one for clothes. We grabbed our ABC photo and away we went.
We rode up I-95 a ways before pulling on to the back roads to get to Chesapeake HD. This was one of the spots that Google Maps was off on. This dealership moved recently and no one has updated Google. We pulled up to an intersection at which our map said turn left and go 4 miles. Lucky for us the big HD sign was visible from the intersection. According to the dealership crew that worked there they had moved during the summer. The new facility is designed to look like a big red barn and has plenty of neat stuff inside, like a 60’s hippy in a period phone booth and a 1940 something Harley trike. It was also at this dealership I realized that I had left my wife’s anniversary card at work so of course I bought a Harley card (one that had a real nice looking heart pin attached).
Tim asked about directions through the countryside that would get us back to highway Instead of backtracking to I-95. Those directions took us through some cool little towns and along the Susquehanna River. One of the towns that caught my attention was Port Deposit; this was an old time railroad town with a lot of the old time company houses still in use. In another town I glanced to the right and spotted a warehouse that had rows of sport boats stacked six high along the river! Soon we were back to I-95 but we decided to use Route 40 and travel the back roads to New Castle and Mike’s Famous HD. Along the way I spotted a 10 foot tall, 10 foot wide golden Buddha outside a Chinese restaurant and the world’s largest postcard store (self-proclaimed).
Mike’s Famous was very nice, likely the coolest dealership on the trip. Mike’s is very Art Deco on the outside and warehouse chic on the inside. I particularly like the windows into the shop area. They had a spot from which the customer could watch a bike undergoing work. One of the guys I spoke to said that they always put their best mechanic in that spot. I don’t know what happened but when we compared notes as we were leaving the girls said that the employees there were rude but Tim and I thought they were quite friendly. Maybe they liked the way Tim and I looked in our black leather chaps!
The next stop on the grand dealer tour was to be Salem County HD. But it was getting late so we said that unless it was easy to get to we would roll on to AC. As it turned out the dealership was only a mile out of the way, so off we went. Salem County was one of the smallest if not the smallest dealership I have visited. They did have some shop cats that were friendly and purred almost as loud as our engines! Since the day was getting long we only stayed for a few minutes before we rolled on.
At Atlantic City HD
We rolled into Atlantic City just after dark and spotted our hotel off in the distance. We were staying at Harrah’s and the front of the building is like a giant video screen! Giant stars, logos and other symbols moved across the building making it easy to find our way in the dark. It was at this point I remembered that the game Monopoly was based on AC and sure enough we were soon passing Baltic, Tennessee, Pacific, Atlantic Avenue’s and other game properties. But, we never did see Marvin’s Gardens.
After a long day in the saddle everyone was glad we were at the destination. Even though the saying goes “It is the journey not the destination” at some point you just want to get there. After we checked in it was time for dinner! We had a nice meal at the casino and then went out on the floor to try our luck. Of course if anyone really had luck the casinos would not look so nice! We all tried our hands at the penny slots, boy those thing can be confusing! You can bet one line (similar to the old time machines) or three, five or nine lines with multiple combinations. Turns out if you are going to win anything you have to bet the max on each spin with the max possible lines, on the machine I was playing I had to bet 9 cents per spin ( if I had won big it would have been $200). Of to bed and some rest, after $20 or so went to Mr. Harrah’s college scholarship fund.
The next morning we were having breakfast when we spotted several other guests being escorted by hostesses carrying blue lights. I asked our waitress what was up with the blue light specials; turns out those are VIP guests who get to go to the front of the line for anything in the casino/hotel. Turns out that to be qualified to be a blue light VIP you have to have lost over $100,000 dollars at the games. This is one VIP club of which I don’t want to become a member.
After breakfast we climbed on the bikes and road out to Atlantic County HD. This dealership has a level for bikes and two levels for clothes, and a separate level for a small museum (has a 1911 and 1917 Harley among about 20 old bikes) and a small ice cream pallor. Outside they have a 1900’s era locomotive painted up with B&B railroad markings as well as their store logo. Leaving the dealership it was looking like rain and shortly thereafter we got a little damp. We have been in so many rain storms this summer I am thinking of getting a “Storm Chaser” sicker for my helmet.
Around noon we went to the Hard Rock Café for lunch, turns out the café is inside of Trump’s Taj Mahal casino. Passing through the casino floor we spotted a section of slots with a Harley strapped on top. The bike was the grand prize for that set of machines. We all decided that we would play a few turns on those machines before we left.
The Hard Rock Café is on the Atlantic City Board walk and after lunch we decided to take a walk down the boardwalk. On one side of the boardwalk you have the beach and on the other you have miles of cheesy tourist traps. We walked about a half mile when Tim realized that the AC Harley shop was only a few blocks east of where we located. Now we had tried to stop at this shop earlier but after circling the block a dozen times looking for parking we drove on to the Hard Rock, so based on the lack of parking we decided to walk the “few” blocks. A “few” blocks later we were there. AC HD is not a dealership, just a clothing shop. I picked up a shirt for my brother-in-law and we were soon heading off the “few” blocks back to the boardwalk.
When we got back to the casino we all decided to play the “Harley Slots”. The grand prize was a 2008 Softail Custom with about an inch of dust covering it. Ten dollars later the bike was still strapped to the top of the slot machines and we were each a bit lighter in the wallet.
For dinner Tim had found a nice deal at a very high end steakhouse. For one hundred dollars we received a coupon for two hundred dollars worth of dinner. The steakhouse was located at the Bally’s casino several miles down the road, so we decided to take a cab. It was the cab ride that was the scarcest part of the trip; we were flying down the streets, and nearly hit two other cars! Everyone was ready to get out when we arrived at the casino. The dinner was great but not nearly as great as the conversations and friends!
Back at Harrah’s Tim and I decided to try our hand at blackjack while the girls played the slots. We each picked up fifty dollars in chips and found a seat next to each other at a table. Tim lasted 3 or 4 hands and I lasted about twelve….other $100 for the Harrah School for Wayward Girls and Boys! Debbie and Karma did not do any better and we all decided to call it a night. The next morning we were headed home.
The route home was a ride down the Jersey Turnpike to the Cape May ferry. We wanted to stop at the Wildwood, NJ dealership but between thick, thick fog and bad road signage we were forced to go straight to the ferry. The boat ride from New Jersey to Delaware was very neat! We were three of about ten bikes that loaded first. The ride, shore to shore, lasted about an hour of which the first twenty minutes was a bit rocky, but not enough to get anyone seasick. Our intention was to ride to the Rehoboth dealership after the ferry docked but we could not find it and decided to move on after spending an hour looking around.
The rest of the way home was uneventful and we made it back in time to watch some football. It was a fun weekend, a fun ride and a great time.
Boarding the Cape May Ferry
A bit ago my wife, Debbie, and I along with our friends Tim and Karma rode the length of Skyline Drive on our motorcycles. We made the ride
Pit stop in Front Royal, VA
before the leaves appear from their winter hibernation and the views from the drive were nothing but spectacular!
As we left Tim and Karma’s home the morning was crisp, cool, bright and sunny, it appeared that we had a great day form riding ahead of us. Mostly taking the small roads, it took a little over an hour to ride to Front Royal, VA, which is the northern terminus of the national park. When we arrived at Front Royal we stopped to top of the bikes (there is only three gas stations on Skyline Drive) and goofed off for a few minutes.
Getting back on the road, we immediately made a wrong turn and missed the Front Royal park entrance. That wrong turn became a disguised blessing as we got to ride up Thornton Gap to the next Skyline Drive entry point. Thornton Gap (US Route 211) is a twisty bit of motorcycle heaven, enough so that it warrants a special sign at the bottom to warn bikers that this is a high crash area. I HIGHLY recommend that if you are riding Skyline Drive that you jump off to ride this bit of highway!
Once on the parkway it turns out this ride was better than most of our trips to the park. Very little traffic, no park police, awesome views everywhere you looked and great friends made this a special day to ride. We stopped often to admire the panoramic views, but with 75 overlooks into the valleys below trying to stop at them all it would make for a very long day. With the stunning country view and nary a metropolitan area in sight, is hard to believe that we are less than 100 miles from the Washington DC rat race.
I have come to the conclusion that early spring, before the leaves exploded into life, has to be the best time to ride Skyline drive. As note before we did not encounter a lot of cars but we did see a lot of other motorcyclist riding everything from sport bikes, café racers to other touring bikes.
The ride from Thornton Gap entrance to the southern end of the park took us about 3 ½ hours. Charlottesville and the University of Virginia are a short trip to the east and we decided to ride into to town and have a late lunch. The last time Debbie and I were in Charlottesville we were picking up our black Ultra Limited, which we traded a year later for our new blue Ultra Limited.
During our lunch we debated our route back finally settling on Route 15. The ride north to our respective homes was uneventful. All in all we sent about 8 hours and a bit over 350 miles in the saddle that day. Good friends, good rides make for a good day!
So what does that mean to you and me, the average motorcycle rider?
While your helmet might look clean and shiny it does not mean that it not ready for replacement. Worse yet, a single drop to the ground might be enough to cause you to consider replacement, according to the manufactures.
Here are some industry guidelines regarding your helmet:
Now it is your head so you need to make the decision, but you should at least check out your lid to make sure there are no major issues.
You can also go to HelmetCheck.Org to get some additional information.
Today I found out I am on an FBI and Homeland Security list!!!!!!!
According to the FBI I am “67% more likely to be involved in illegal or criminal activity”!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now mind that I have NEVER committed a crime, have held multiple security clearance and just an all-around good guy.
I am on a list because I OWN a motorcycle, no other reason! If you OWN a motorcycle you are on the FBI list as well. Harley, Honda, off-road, café racer, it does not matter, if it is registered with your state you are on the FBI/Homeland Security List!
Oh and think the list only pertains to the government use? Agent Cornia stated “it can show up to potential employers on select background checks.”
I think I remember a time when our political leaders said state data of this nature would never be used outside of the purpose it was created for….how do you know when a politician is lying? Their lips move!
PLEASE READ the article from American Iron Magazine for more complete information. If you are as disturbed by this as much as I am contact your members of congress, they don’t care about you but you might as well get on their list as well.
Not sure why but I ran across two pictures of Gorman Harley Davidson motorcycle dealership (Shreveport, LA) on two different websites within 10 minutes of each other. A quick web search revealed that in opened in 1946 and that was about it.
Do you guys know anything about Gorman HD?
BMW recalls 300,000 R and K motorcycles
That is a bunch of bikes and is a worldwide recall.
The issue for this recall is over “The rear wheel flange that may crack as result of brake disc bolts or wheel nuts being over-tightened”. The recall begins with R and K series motorcycles built between November 2003 and April 2011. BMW Motorrad will replace the rear wheel flange as a precaution.
BMW states: “Based on ongoing quality analyses, it was found that in the case of incorrectly carried-out maintenance work excessive torque may be applied to the brake disk bolts or to the nuts when changing wheels, contrary to the values specified in the BMW Motorrad repair instructions or operating instructions.”
“Cracks and damage can occur in the wheel flange as a result of excessive torques. BMW Motorrad has therefore decided to exchange the wheel flange with a more robust part as a precaution.”
If you want to check for your particular motorcycle check out www.safercar.gov . You will need to enter your VIN number to get results for your bike.
Have loved motorcycles all my life.
I started riding motorcycles, according to my mom, at about age 5. Most of my best childhood memories have a motorcycle in them somewhere. When it came time to purchase my High School class ring I, like everyone else, flipped through books looking at options. The moment I spotted the motorcycle was the moment I knew what I was going to have.
Now to insure that mom and dad were on board, and also because I did not see any sense in it, I eschewed the standard gold for a non-precious metal. I also went for a more “common place” stone. Mom and dad approved and now, cough cough, a few years later you get to see my class ring too.
I JUST WANT 2 RIDE!! 