Harley Davidson in China (from “The Alantic”)
Harley’s are HEAVELY taxed!
Harley’s are categorized with horses, bicycles and electric bikes!
Harley’s cannot be ridden on highways and major avenues!
Harley riders in China are the same as Harley riders around the globe!
Well I have called my bike a steel horse, but really, not riding on highways that has to suck.
Well, after the post about the man killed trying to break 300 mph mark…. The 52 Express team is aiming to break the land speed record at either Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah and South Africa’s Hakskeen Pan. You can read more in a Fox New article about the attempt.
This photo is from their Facebook page.
I slipped in two afternoon motorcycle rides in this past weekend. I was hoping for longer rides but the weather was very fickle with strong thunderstorms projected for both days. Counter to what is typical for my rides….we did not get wet.
On Saturday I rode with guys from the neighborhood (Don, Charles, and Don’s brother-in-law Gordon who is visiting from Georgia). We pulled out of Leesburg, VA about 11AM headed south on US Route 15. It was not long before we had our first exciting moment of the day!
We were less than five miles south of town when an accident occurred right next to us. Two motorcycles were stopped to make a left hand turn with a SUV stopped behind them. A car, whose driver must have not have been paying attention, skidded hard into the SUV, which, luckily, did not hit the motorcycles. The car began skidding as it passed Don (on the lead bike) and hit the SUV as I passed (I was the trail bike). I pulled hard to the right to distance myself from the shrapnel from the collision. There had to have been less than two seconds from skid to crash.
The folks on the motorcycles stopped to turn left were very lucky the SUV was behind them it was a close call. The silver car would have hit and killed them; there is no doubt in my mind! We thought about stopping to help but the location really prohibited stopping on the right and Route 15 North had dozens of cars backed up immediately so we rode on.
Red Horse Tavern
At the intersection of Route 15 and US Route 50 we turned west and headed to our lunch stop in Middleburg (established in 1787). This part of Route 50 passes through “serious” horse country, it is nothing to see Polo matches, jumping competitions and such as you ride along. In Middleburg we had lunch at the Red Horse Tavern, which was ok and reasonably priced.
From the Tavern we left Middleburg and traveled through multiple back roads finally ending up on Snickersville Road (a Virginia Byway). We followed this road to its intersection of Route 7 where we turned east back to Leesburg and Payne’s Biker Bar then back to home.
On Sunday Debbie and I rode one of the local “loop” rides we like to take. It is a 45 mile ride that essentially begins and ends at Point of Rocks, Md. I will write about this particular route at a later date.
Red Horse Tavern
Interesting article! A man, out for a ride in Canada was chased by a gray wolf….even has pictures!
This past weekend was not one for any serious motorcycle riding for us. Saturday we attended an afternoon wedding and took care of some household chores. Sunday we oversleep and finished our chores.
We did get a short ride into town to pick up a few small items and get some lunch. We decided to eat at Payne’s Biker Bar (aka The Downtown Saloon), one of the few “biker bars” in Northern Virginia. The “décor” is biker themed and the menu has items named for bikes (Softail, Sportster). One of the most amusing items is a neon sign in the window (see pic) that states “Better off here than across the street”…well across the street is the county courthouse!
We have eaten there a few times in the past as well as visited when they have had live music. Debbie and I both had burgers which were served on cedar boards (different). The food was good and service was great.
June 23rd and 24th are the dates for this year’s HOG World Wide Ride (formally Million Mile Monday). Beginning a few years ago, the HOG recorded the number of miles its member ride during a set time period. In 2012 HOG members racked up 7.8 million miles!
While you need to be a HOG member to register your miles, there is no reason you can’t get out and ride too!
HOG 2013 World Wide Ride
Debbie and I rode to Waugh Harley Davidson in Orange, VA to participate in their 21st Annual “Big Damn Bike Show”! The ride to the dealership was nearly eighty miles and about ninety minutes long, passing through some of Virginia’s best farm and country land. Getting to and from the show we traveled on the James Madison Highway, the 29th Infantry Division Memorial Highway, the Seminole Trail, and the Zachary Tyler Highway.
We entered our bike, along with about 300 or so other bikes, into the show. There were another 600 to 1000 additional bikes lining the streets around the dealership which made this a bike watchers paradise. Waugh Harley Davidson, it turns out, has its own attached park called “Legends Park”, because of the tents erected in front of it I could not get a good picture of the park sign. The HOG (Harley Owners Group) club for this dealership has a sweet setup!
In addition to the bike show there were more than a dozen vendors and displays, including the ever present bikini bike wash! One of the more interesting displays was by a limo company; they had a stretched Harley Davidson Ford F250 Pickup with bubble bath in the truck bed. It was quite amusing each time a bunch of soap bubble would come floating across the park.
Musical entertainment was provided by the Zen Daddy band. They covered most of the hits from the 80’s, 90’s, and the 00’s (is 00 the right way to do that?). Debbie and I thought the band did a fine job. Mr. Waugh himself came out and played a couple tunes on the harmonica, for “older” gentlemen I was quite impressed with this talent and lung capacity. If you have time take a look at Waugh’s Facebook page for more pics and videos of the event.
Our bike finished second in our class and after looking at the winner I have some clear directions on what do for next time. Of course that means more chrome!
As a retired soldier I am always interested anytime the Army does something with motorcycles. During my time served the closest I came to bikes in the Army was when the MP’s pulled me over!
This electric “Stealth Bike” is an interesting concept, and very cool looking, but I am not sure how practical it would be in combat situations. A two hour run time does not give me a high degree of comfort, but maybe the manufacturer’s congressmen think otherwise!
P.S. LOL..note the police bike version!
I was looking at another WordPress Motorcycle Blog (Helmet or Heels: I’m comfortable in either!) and saw this info-graphic from MotorcycleRoads.com. I think this is a good portrayal of a something that is not only hard to quantify, but to display as well. By the way the Helmet or Heels blog is very nice and I am following it now.
If you go the MotorcycleRoads.com site, check out its Top 100 Roads list. There are several within riding distance of our home and I think we will check them out eventually.
The Ride To Work organization has designated, with the support of several local governments, the third Monday of every June as “Ride To Work Day. This year that day is the 17th of June. From their website:
Ride your motorcycle or scooter on this day to demonstrate:
If you have time visit their website for more information and access to supporting material.
I JUST WANT 2 RIDE!! 