Posts Tagged ‘Motorcycle Ride’

My motorcycle ride to Shanghai…or HOW in the heck do you lose one glove??

Posted: August 18, 2015 in Motorcycle Rides, motorcycle touring
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The view of the Shanghai skyline.

I have always been interested in going to Shanghai but a trip to China is not in my future. So a motorcycle ride to Shanghai West Virginia would have to do.

Leaving the house the early cool air hid the fact that it was going to be hot, the mid 90sF according to the weatherman. I headed west toward Martinsburg, WV where I stopped for a quick breakfast.

SOMEWHERE between getting off the bike and getting back on the bike I lost a glove. I back tracked into the restaurant and searched all the places I had walked and sat and then back out to the bike but, NO GLOVE…what the heck?!?! There was only so many place the glove could be and it was nowhere to be found. Dang. This made no sense, how do I lose one glove!

Giving up on ever finding my glove in the Bermuda Parking Lot of missing gloves, I rode out of Martinsburg on US Route 9 looking for WV Route 7. Somehow I missed the turn onto Route 7, maybe it was the awesome rolling road and wonderful scenic vistas. But no worries…….it is the journey not the destination, right?

Route 9 took me into Berkley Springs, WV were I turned onto several different roads ending up on WV 13 which was also Shanghai Road. Shanghai Road climbs up the and over the steep mountainside with a lotof switchbacks.

If the pavement had been in better condition this would have been an INCREABLE ride. Shanghai Road has MULTIPLE 150-170 degree turns with serious elevation changes, both up and down the mountain, and almost no traffic! The tarmac on Shanghai Road was so poor that that a good bit of fun was sucked out of the ride, some but not all.  A better conditioned road and this would be a sport bike heaven.

Dropping down the other side of the mountain you end up at the cross roads of Black Creek Valley Road and Tuscarora Pike which is also SHANGHAI, WV. Not too much in Shanghai other than a small scrap yard, a Mom and Pop country store and farms. I stopped at the store for some water and a snack. Back on the road I rolled back through Martinsburg and on to home.

A couple notes of interest. First is, part of this ride was on the George Washington Heritage Trail (an American Byway) and second I went past the Morgan County Observatory. The Observatory was closed but it looked very cool way out in the middle of nowhere.

There is not a lot of pictures from this ride as my wife/photographer was out of town. After this 175 mile ride I can now claim I have been to Shanghai….. Shanghai, West Virginia.

Motorcycle Touring Vacation: Part 3 – Breakdown on the Highway

Posted: July 5, 2015 in Motorcycle, Motorcycle Rides, motorcycle touring
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Towed away!

As I noted in Part 2, we left the Wheels Through Time Motorcycle Museum headed north on the Blue Ridge Parkway. But my internal navigation system “honed through years of military training” (LOL) kept telling me we were going the wrong direction. The crazy GPS lady was stating we were headed in the right direction but my trust was not there.

So going against the rules of my “man card” I stopped at one of the overlooks with several bikers taking in the awesome view. After a bit of small talk they confirmed I was headed in the right direction…so much for my instincts LOL. BUT, I was not completely wrong, turns out that this portion of the parkway made a long southern dip before turning to the north. So…vindication!!!

The next day we left the hotel at about 8 AM and hit Interstate 40. WOW, if you have to ride on an interstate highway let them all be like I40. Lots of elevation changes, even more gentle twists and turns on good to great tarmac, I40 is a motorcyclist dream of how every interstate should look. The next time I head to that part of the country I will roll through there again.

That wonderful feeling you get when the bike, the road, the weather and everything else comes together for the perfect ride came apart about three hours into our sojourn when the bike came apart. I was feeling an odd tap on my boot but when I looked down there was nothing there, when Debbie looked she said my shifter looked loose. Turns out it was more than loose, the linkage had come apart!!!!

I was in 6th gear and unable to change gears! I saw an exit coming up and decided to try and baby the bike off the highway, down the exit ramp and into a gas station. I was afraid that if I had to stop that the bike would stall and I was in no mood to push. Luckily, there was no traffic at the bottom of the ramp and with a wide turn I made it through the exit and was able to roll to a stop in front of the Hartford, TN Citgo.

As soon as I was off the bike it was clear that this was a big issue around a little part. Somehow the linkage that connects to the shaft that connects to the heel/toe shift levers had disconnected. The torx screw that is used to tighten the linkage to the shaft was still there, the whole thing just vibrated right off.

The multi-tool that Harley gives you with the Ultra Limited was of no help. One bit was to small, and the next bit was to large, even so I am not sure I would have been able to fix the problem with the tool based on where I needed to be to reattach and tighten the screw.

So, as Harley Owners Group members, we called in for a tow. A few hours later we were talking with Joe at Smoky Mountain Harley Davidson of Pigeon Forge, TN. Less than 30 minutes after it was off the tow truck it was fixed and ready to ride.

From what I can tell, based on comments on Twitter, Facebook, user forums and HD techs this is not an uncommon problem. In fact I have had several people comment that, based on my roadside breakdown, that when they checked their linkage they found loose connections. IF YOU HAVE AN FLH… CHECK YOUR SHIFT LINKAGE!

Anyway, the entire ordeal lasted about 6 hours altogether. Which put us behind our semi-planned scheduled. We stopped for the night right after crossing into Virginia and then rode the all the way home the next day… through some rain of course!

The entire trip was 6 day and 1700 miles in length. We spent some quality time together even if the weather and traffic and breakdowns put a crimp in our trip. We had a good time and look forward to our next adventure. Hopefully with less rain!

Motorcycle Ride: The Beach to the Mountains

Posted: June 27, 2015 in Motorcycle, Motorcycle Rides, motorcycle touring
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Today we left the beach and headed to the Wheels Through Time Motorcycle Museum in the Blue Ridge Mountains.  BUT what should have been an easy six hour ride turned into a long, hard slog.

350 miles

2 rain showers

2 thunderstorms

1 wet t-shirt contest…

1 interstate highly congested

Another interstate closed due to an “incident”

Plus when it was not raining it to hot wear the rain suits.. thus the wet t-shirt contest.

We stopped at a few Harley Davidson dealerships in a failed attempt to wait out the congestion and cool off.  The cooling part worked but the congestion never really let up, a couple bad accidents missed up our ride today.

We had hoped to make it all the way to Maggie Valley but ended up about an hour out when we stopped for the night.

 

Motorcycle Ride: I took the wife to Paris

Posted: June 22, 2015 in Motorcycle, Motorcycle Rides, motorcycle touring
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Paris, Virginia!

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The city of lights!

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Hancock Visitor Center: C and O Canal Motorcycle Ride

Posted: June 11, 2015 in C&O Canal, motorcycle touring
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Location – Hancock Visitor Center

Mile Marker –123

Historical Comments – The Hancock Visitors Center is located in the Bowles House.  Construction of the home began in the mid 1700s and thus pre-dates construction of the canal. The house sits near Lock 52 and after this part of the canal was opened the residents would sell/trade with the canal boats as they transited through the lock.  Passing through several hands over the next century it remained private property until the 1980s.

Hancock is one of the oldest settlements in western Maryland.  George Washington stayed here several times while he was surveying the area as a young man.  During the Civil War Hancock was held for ransom by the Confederate Army, but no one paid ransom.

Ride to Site – The Hancock Visitors Center is not easy to find and is poorly signed. If you are approaching from the east you are riding on I70, the visitor’s center is almost immediately on the left side of road (Main Street/MD 144) as you reach the bottom of the exit.  It is hidden between guardrails and trees as you ride down the interstate exit. I rode past the entrance, the fact it was there never registered.

Coming from the west you might see the sign for the visitor’s center if it is not hidden by tree branches.  It is located between the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) building and the ramp to I70.

Amenities – Visitors Center, public restrooms, parking, all normal amenities in the town of Hancock.

Road Conditions (from main road) – rough pavement with loose gravel.  The entrance/exit is on a somewhat sharp incline please pay attention to your line of travel for the gravel that has been kicked onto the pavement.

Railway Situation – none

Parking Lot Conditions –Pea gravel and dirt with a bit of pavement.

Main Attraction – The first floor of the Bowles house has been converted in to the visitor’s center.  There are several artifacts of the construction period of the canal as well as photographs of the area during the period the canal was open.  Lock #52 is also on the grounds of the visitor’s center and is in good shape.

My Thoughts – This visitor center does not have amount of information on the canal as does the nearby Williamsport visitor’s center.  It is difficult to find and is only open Memorial Day thorough Labor Day.

Map

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Difficult to find!

 

 

Out and About on our Motorcycle

Posted: June 9, 2015 in C&O Canal, Motorcycle, Motorcycle Rides
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Last Sunday morning Debbie and I jumped on the Ultra Limited (I think I am going to call it Big Blue) for a day ride.  With no real destination in mind we thought about hitting a couple spots on the C&O Canal.  If you have been following this blog you know I am slowly documenting those spots along the canal assessable by motorcycle. 

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Old school McDonalds.

We left the house about 9AM heading west.  We stopped for a bit of breakfast at a McDonalds along Route 9 near Charles Town, WV.  As you can see in the photo it is one of those restaurants designed to look like an old school McDonalds, pretty cool.

 After filling out tanks (including Big Blue’s) we continued west on WV Route 9 then north on Interstate 81 then west on Interstate 70.  Normally we like the back roads much more than the Interstate but today we thought it would be better on the highway.  Pulling off into Hancock, Md we begin looking for the stops on the Canal but also found some other cool things as well, like the huge anti-aircraft missile in front of a Veterans of Foreign War (VFW) building.

We found both stops along the C&O, the Tonoloway stop and the Hancock Visitors Center.  The visitor’s center was very hard to find as it is not well signed and the road into the park was practically invisible unless you are looking for it as we were.  

Heading back east we wanted to stop at one additional canal stop (4 Locks) and we did but not the one we were looking for.  Again the signage was bad and we happened upon C&O Canal Dam #5 only because I noticed a street called Dam #5 Road (quite imaginative) and the fact that I knew there was a C&O dam in the general area.  But the fact we did not find the area we were looking for was no big deal as the area was great riding, rolling hills, great farmland views all made up for not finding the site. 

After looking about Dam #5 we mounted up and headed for home.  On the way home we started seeing hundreds of motorcycles heading north and west along our route. When we stopped for lunch we asked a couple who were riding if they know what was occurring.  Turns out it was the aftermath of “Operation God Bless America” a ride from New Castle, PA to the Veterans Hospital in Martinsburg, WV.  We have never heard of this particular ride before but with, according to the couple to which we spoke, over 2000 bikes it is one we will check out in the future. 

Unfortunately we had to head home to some yard work. But, as you can tell by the pictures, we had a good time on our 200+ mile day trip.

 

Motorcycle Ride: Skyline Drive 2015

Posted: April 26, 2015 in Motorcycle Rides, motorcycle touring
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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

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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!

Ijustwant2ride.comOnce 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!

 

BMW Recalls 300,000 R and K Series Motorcycles 2003-2011

Posted: March 12, 2015 in Motorcycle advocacy, Motorcycle news, motorcycle safety
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BMW recalls 300,000 R and K motorcycles

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.

Year round motorcycle riding…not so much for 2015

Posted: February 15, 2015 in Motorcycle
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The Grandsons out on the motorcycles

Well I wrote to soon on my year round motorcycle riding accomplishment. In 2014 I was able to ride in every month of the year. Wellllllll 2015 is already finished for this effort.

While there were a few days that were “reasonable” as far a riding here in Northern Virginia I had other priorities on those days and did not get out on two wheels. For example on January the first I could have rode in a “Polar Bear” ride with the NOVA MC but elected to spend it with my grandsons watching them learn to ride their new mini-bikes. It’s all about the priorities.

 

Modern Day Easy Riders : reBloged from The many thoughts of a Harley Girl

Posted: February 9, 2015 in Motorcycle, Motorcycle Rides, Motorcycle TV
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bc5dDPpNoVA

Not sure how I came across her blog…just the wonders of the web, I guess.  But she had this wonderful video on her site so check out the video above and her blog:

The many thoughts of a Harley Girl
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