Posts Tagged ‘motorcycle touring’

Motorcycle Ride to nowhere… unless Lisbon and Damascus count as destinations.

Posted: September 2, 2016 in Motorcycle Rides, motorcycle touring
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Debbie and I had a, nearly, 200 mile motorcycle ride this past Sunday.  We left quite early in the morning as it was supposed to be over well over 95F by early afternoon.  Our plan worked as it was 94F as we made it back to the house about 1PM. Hot and muggy, but we beat the worse of it.

Pulling out that morning we really did not have a true destination in mind other than to ride through the towns of Lisbon and Damascus.  We wanted to hit those locations to add to our “Great Cities” motorcycle tour! With no real plan this was just going to be one of those “it’s the journey not the destination” rides.

After rolling through Lisbon we decided to just ride north.  Riding through small towns and rolling farmland made for a wonderful morning.  Toss in some light fog here and there it was just one of those rides were you just love the fact that you ride a motorcycle!

After about an hour we turned the motorcycle towards the west until we ran into US Route 15 which runs right by our home. Heading south we rode the motorcycle into Frederick, MD to stop for lunch and a quick stop at the Frederick Harley-Davidson shop.  The stop at the dealership was to take a quick peek at the new 2017 motorcycles and see for myself how the new engine looks.

A bit later we pulled the bike into our garage with about 192 miles on the trip meter.  All in all just another good day behind bars (motorcycle handlebars)!

Shipping Your Bike Overseas? Things to consider! (Guest Post by Jason Mueller)

Posted: August 23, 2016 in Motorcycle, Motorcycle Rides, motorcycle safety, motorcycle touring
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(This is the 2nd post by Jason. Check out his other post Motorcycle Riding in Paradise!)

You can chose to ship your motorcycle overseas. This can be an excellent choice if you do it right.j1

Before you get your bike crated and ready to ship (the photo is an example of a typical shipping crate) there are some steps you must first take. You must determine where and how you will ship your bike. Additionally, you must go through a process to ready your bike for its boat its trip.  In the sections below, we’ll go over some of the details of what you need to know before shipping your bike overseas.

Having your bike transported by boat is more cost effective than air freight, though both are relatively affordable. Perhaps the most important thing to keep in mind when having your bike shipped to another country are the laws and regulations of that region.

Depending on where you’re shipping to, prepping your motorcycle to ship overseas can be tricky. In certain Latin American Countries like Brazil, Bolivia and Chile you can expect steep import taxes and tariffs, while shipping your bike to Nepal will require an import license.

To learn more about these laws and taxes, and how they will affect vehicle imports in particular countries, this PDF has some helpful information.

Crating & Insurance | Overseas Shipping Considerations

After you determine the specifics for where you would like to ship your bike, you have some options as to how you ship your bike. The most cost effective method is to have it crated and shipped in the cargo area of the ship. Some transport carriers are equipped with a special docking area for bikes that keeps them secure during shipping, but crating is the most typical method.

You are encouraged to consider purchasing marine insurance to assure that any damages to your motorcycle are covered. Insurance does come included as part of any transport agreement, but if you have a high-value or vintage bike, it’s a consideration worth making. It should be noted that your current insurance may also offer some coverage during shipment–check with them to see.

Now that you’ve determined where and how, you must start getting your bike ready.

  • First you must clean your bike, making sure the wheels and tires are spic and span.
  • Next, take inventory of any previous damage to the body. It’s a good idea to document any preexisting damage with pictures.
  • Reduce gas level to a quarter tank. Most shippers will require it.
  • Locate the battery and disconnect it. Remove negative cable first, then the positive cable.
  • Check your fluid levels and tire pressure.
  • Remove anything that is not attached and store them safely as items may come loose during shipping.

Check with your international shipping company for any company specific requirements. Once you’ve crated and strapped down your bike, take a picture of it before leaving it in the care of the shipping company to prove that you in fact did deliver the motorcycle should damage or theft take place.

 

Jason Mueller is an entrepreneur living in Costa Rica with family from Canada.  After graduating from high school and getting his pilot’s licence he lived to travel the world looking for adventure.  He is currently working with A-1 Auto and is the owner of Jaco Ropes.

Motorcycle vacation: Riding the Natchez Trace Parkway

Posted: August 16, 2016 in Motorcycle, Motorcycle Rides, motorcycle touring
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Ijustwant2ride.com

One of our goals of this motorcycle vacation was to ride the entire length of the Natchez Trace Parkway.  For those that may not be familiar with the Natchez Trace it is a National Parkway similar to the Blue Ridge Parkway or Skyline Drive.  But as it runs 444 miles between Natchez, MS and just south of Nashville, TN there are few mountainous sections or twisties involved. Yet this parkway is a SPECTATULAR substitute for any interstate trip if you are headed in the general direction of those two cities.

What you miss in twists and turns is made up in miles of wonderful cruising with no large trucks (prohibited) or traffic snarls around metro areas.  If you are a history buff there are dozens and dozens of roadside stops to check out.

In our case we started at the southern end of the Trace, knowing we would not Ijustwant2ride.commake the entire length in a single day (hey, we started south of New Orleans).  We checked out the visitors center grabbed a quick bite and hit the trail.  It did not take long to settle in; with next to no traffic we were free to enjoy the views and the ride.  We stopped at the historical sites that were of interest to us and just had a lovely time.

In 2011 a series of tornados ran nearly parallel to the parkway for nearly eight miles. The amount a damage still remaining to the forest on both sides of the road is amazing.

ijustwant2ride.comAs we were passing Tupelo, MS we decided to head off the Trace to have lunch at Johnnies Drive In.  This is the little dinner that Elvis Presley frequented as a child and young adult. The food was excellent and if you have time the Elvis Presley childhood home park is nearby (we did not stop).  Turns out we sat in the “Elvis” booth, the one he nearly always used.  We did not know that until others were turning down seats in order to wait for use to leave. LOL, we did not take our time, but we did not rush either.

Back on the parkway we continued to make good time even though we stopped at multiple historic sites and a visitor’s center.  Near the end of the parkway was the historic site called “She Boss”.  The story behind this stop was that widow who owned a small lodge along the trace remarried a local Indian who spoke little English.  As visitors approached he would point to his wife and say “She boss”!

Ijustwant2ride.com

We rolled of the Trace in the late afternoon and, thanks to friends we made on the HOG Rolling Rally, knew to stop at the Loveless Café for dinner.  Wow, were they right about stopping for a meal at this restaurant. This was some awesome down home cooking.

There are a few things you need to know about the Trace 1) keep an eye on your fuel you have to leave the parkway to top off  and 2) there are a lot of animals out and about (we saw squirrels, rabbits, turkey, deer and a mule).

I also recommended that you take a few minutes before you ride the trace to look at all the possible stops and pick out the ones that gain your interest.  It would take four days of riding to stop and investigate each and every historic stop along the way.

If you can’t tell, I really enjoyed our ride on the Natchez Trace Parkway.  If you are not pressed for time I highly recommend the Trace to the interstate highways.

Our motorcycle vacation continued! With a major repair tossed in.

Posted: August 9, 2016 in Motorcycle, motorcycle touring
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After the HOG Rolling Rally: History in the Hills was complete the second half of our motorcycle vacation started.  Debbie and I were going to go south of New Orleans to visit her sister for a few days and then head home via the Natchez Trace Parkway.

The intent was to “blast” our way south in order to maximize the amount of time we could visit with her sister. “Blasting south” meant interstate highways, hot concreate on hot days, drinking lots of water (which means lots of bio-breaks LOL).

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The compensating sprocket under the front sprocket.

The first leg of the ride we stopped for the evening to visit in-laws in Alabama.  The next morning back on the highway, but something was not quite right with the bike.  We made it to Tuscaloosa and pulled into T-Town Harley Davison.  The service tech took only seconds to state that the compensating sprocket was loose and the bike  went straight into the shop.

I am not sure what it does but if your compensating sprocket does not compensate then your transmission is having issues.

I have to give the team at T-Town a lot of praise. Knowing we were on a long trip they took us to the head of the service line. Worked with us on the cost (gaskets & transmission fluid) and had us on the road in about three hours (a chunk of which was the bike cooling down so they could work on it).  Debbie and I felt that they really cared about making sure we could get back on the road as soon as possible!

Ijustwant2ride.com

Can’t go to New Orleans without one of these pictures.

By the time we did get back on the road it was nearly 100F degrees and high 90s in humidity!  Once on the interstate it was quickly apparent that that the concrete was hotter than the ambient temperature, it had to be well over 100F. This was where we figured out when it was time to call it a day.  At a certain point in this heat we would begin to verbally snipe at each other.  When we started to argue about where do you what to eat, where do you want to stop, where do you want to sleep it was time for a cool room and long shower!

The rest of the ride to New Orleans was really uneventful.  We had a good time with Mark and Vicky, got to see a bunch of the local area including Alligators in the wild and a fishing trip/boat ride into the Gulf of Mexico.  Mark is a fishing guide and runs Hunting Red Fishing Charters, if you are into fishing check out what he has to offer

Too soon it was time to begin the trip back to Virginia.  My next post will be about our ride on the Natchez Trace Parkway.

Motorcycle Product Review: Bone Dry Seat Covers

Posted: July 30, 2016 in Motorcycle, Product Reviews
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Ijustwant2ride.com

I bought a Bone Dry Motorcycle Seat Cover for our 2014 Harley Davidson Ultra Limited just prior to our nearly 3700 mile vacation.  The impetuous for this purchase is the fact that it always rains on us when we ride and we do not really enjoy putting our butts on wet seats, especially after a good night’s sleep. We also knew that a hot seat, after stopping for lunch, can be a real pain in the butt.

I looked at several different manufactures and no one product jumped out more than another except for Bone Dry.  Their product comes in different colors other then all black and that is why I purchased their product.  We have a blue bike and the blue striped cover matched, simple as that.

In operation the cover worked as expected. The Bone Dry Motorcycle Seat Cover kept our seats dry through several storms and keep the seat cool in the hot sun.

CONS

Now there are a some drawbacks that would apply to any cover of this type.  The first drawback is that in the deep south of the United States there is a LOT of humidity. There was always some condensation under the cover, especially after a thunderstorm. This was expected so no big deal.

The second drawback was what to do with a wet seat cover after a storm or early morning condensation.  Our solution was to “spin” dry the cover a much as possible before stowing.

Lastly, just like most covers of this nature, Bone Dry makes the seat covers in generic sizes.  I am sure that their covers for a pre-2014 Harley would be perfect fit, but Harley Davidson slightly changed the seats on the “Rushmore” bikes.  This change forces the cover to be tightly stretched to fit the seat.

PROS

The cover looks great on the bike!

The cover folds into itself for storage, no need for a separate case to loose.

Made in the USA.

It worked.

The ONLY reason I am giving it 4 and not 5 stars is that we had to stretch the cover to fit our seat more than I would like.  Over time, I really think that the stitching will become strained because of the difference in the pre/post 2014 seat sizes. But, I am willing to bet that this is an issue with many, if not all other covers  so this should not restrict you from buying the Bone Dry Motorcycle Seat Cover.  If you are in the market for a motorcycle seat cover, I suggest you consider Bone Dry.

4 out 5 stars

Harley Owners Group Rolling Rally: History in the Hills Day 6

Posted: June 29, 2016 in Motorcycle, Motorcycle Rides, motorcycle touring, Rally
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ijustwant2ride

Waking early for our 630AM kickstands up we rolled out of bed and got dressed for the day.  Our first stop was the Mast General Store in Valle Crucis, NC.  The store is a great example of the old time general store and has been in operation since 1882.  It is still the local store, post office and community gathering place.  This was a very cool stop, make sure to ask about the “chicken chute” when you visit to see how people bartered for goods “back in the day”.

Ijustwant2ride.com

Mike got a lot of mileage from these simple wax lips!

We also swung by the Mast Candy Store.  The store focused on old school candy like wax bottles and lips, Bit’O Honey, caramel chews and pretty much any type of candy from your childhood.  Of course we had to buy back some of our childhood, one of our new friends (Mike) bought some glossy red wax lips and proceeded to scare and delight riders the rest of the day.

Rolling out of Valle Crucis we hit the Diamond Back! Our route took us about 2/3rd of the length of this snake.  This 38 mile diamond shaped loop includes NC 226A, US 221, Toms Creek Road, NC 80 and the Blue Ridge Parkway.  Riding through Little Switzerland on our way to the Mountain Gateway Museum (and lunch) was one of the highlights of the day.  One of the low lights of the day was zipper of my Kevlar pants blowing out (as well as a pocket).  The rest of the day the crew we were riding with (Mike, Dale, Stacey, Tori and Don) would occasionally call me McFly….sad day indeed!

ijustwant2ride.com

1 of 30+ machines

The next stop was the Mountain Gateway Museum where I found out there was a Spanish Fort in this area well before any English or French outposts, very interesting.  After lunch at the museum we rode to Asheville to check out the Pinball Museum. If you are into classic to modern pinball games or 1980s video games that are fully playable this is your place.  I had a lot of fun playing a vintage 1978 KISS pinball machine then jumping over to an 2015s KISS machine was completely awesome!  I could have spent hours in there…sad that I don’t but glad I don’t live in Asheville I would spend a lot of money at the pinball museum.

Back on the bike we rode a little more than an hour to the Wheels Through Time motorcycle museum. Debbie and I visited Wheels Through Time last year when on vacation.  It is an awesome facility that every motorcycle enthusiast must have on their list of sites to visit.  This time, because we were part of the HOG rally, we got to spend more time with the owner Dale as he told us stories about how he acquired several of the very rare bikes in the collection.

This time we also got to hear the story of the Traub motorcycle, a one of kind bike found sealed behind the wall of an apartment building.  I will write a separate post on this story.

After Wheels Through Time we rode on to our hotel in Hendersonville, NC.  We met our new friends for drinks and laughs and then off to bed.  Day 7 brings the Dragon.

To see what happened on day one check out that post!

 

 

Harley Owners Group Rolling Rally: History in the Hills Day 4

Posted: June 21, 2016 in Motorcycle, Motorcycle Rides, motorcycle touring, Rally
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Today’s HOG motorcycle tour started early.  We were on the road a couple minutes after 7AM (tomorrow will be earlier).  Pulling out of the motel parking lot we headed towards Natural Chimneys State Park, the first stop of the day.  

It took us a few days to figure this out but this HOG event is really an unstructured structured event.  You can go to as many of the stops as you want or none of the stops. You can follow the pre-planned routes or set your own.  We all just start and stop at the same location each day.  This day we chose to skip the State Park and go directly to the second stop the Museum of the Confederacy. 

On the way we had multiple animals try to kill themselves by throwing themselves at our motorcycle.  A rabbit, a squirrel, a blue bird, yellow bird, robins and a couple other critters all threw themselves at us, luckily they all missed by quite a bit.  

WP_20160620_10_45_40_RichThe Museum of the Confederacy is laid out in a fashion that walks you through from what leads up to the succession to the aftermath of the civil war.  In addition to the main museum there are several outdoor features including a “log cabin” built in 1832 and used as a home up until the 1960s. 

From there we headed to Lynchburg Harley Davison.  The Lynchburg HOG chapterWP_20160620_23_08_39_Rich was hosting us for lunch and we had to be there between 12 and 1.  I enjoyed the brat’s and thanked the HOG crew for their hospitality.  By the way, I now have yet another dealer pin for my collection. 

After lunch we remounted the Ultra and headed towards the National D-Day WP_20160620_13_18_32_RichMemorial.  The memorial honors all the soldiers, from twelve nations, that participated in the invasion of Europe in WWII.  As a retired soldier I can say the memorial was quite impressive and provide a poignant reminder of the cost of that invasion.  If you are in the area a few minutes of your time to visit this site would be a good idea. 

Debbie and I skipped the next stop, Foamhenge.  Turns out I wish we had not. Apparently the display will be removed in a couple months.  Oh, well. 

The last stop on this leg of the motorcycle rally, and our hotel, is the Natural Bridge Park and Historic Hotel.  The Natural Bridge is really a bridge with traffic running across the top.  Down below you can hike under the bridge and admire the vista in the same manner as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.  As part of our package we also got to view a light show projected upon the face of the cliffs.  About 10PM we were in our bed with dreams of the  next day.  

To see what happened on day one check out that post!

Harley Owners Group Rolling Rally: History in the Hills Day 2

Posted: June 18, 2016 in Motorcycle Rides, motorcycle touring, Rally, Uncategorized
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WP_20160618_09_14_54_Rich

Day 2 started with breakfast in the Hotel (Gettysburg Country Inn and Suites).  The eggs were……weird, all uniformly round and the same thickness. It was if they had come out of one of those automatic pancake machines.  The taste???…well with the three scopes of salsa I applied they were barley ok (Debbie did not like them at all). 

Our ride around the Gettysburg area started with a trip to the Jennie Wade house. ijustwant2ride.com Jennie was the only civilian who was killed during the battle.  She was shot dead while baking bread for the Union soldiers encamped around the home.  It was a stray shot that went through two doors and killed her instantly.  Her story was quite inspiring during and after the war, I highly recommend you take a few minutes to check it out.  

After our docent led tour of the Jennie Wade house we rode back to the Seminary Ridge Museum.  We did not get a chance to see the entire museum on day one and wanted to finish the tour.  There was a lot of neat history on display. 

Debbie wanted to have taco pizza for lunch but the local Pizza Hut does not make that kind of pizza so she was quite disappointed.  Subway was her second choice so that is where we went. 

ijustwant2ride.comAfter lunch we rolled out to Mr. Ed’s Elephant Museum.  If there is an elephant toy, figurine, picture, painting of any size it is likely in Mr. Ed’s collection.  In addition to the elephant museum, Mr. Ed’s is also a candy store with a large selection of old school and newer candy as well as homemade fudge. 

From Mr. Ed’s we decided to ride to Jack’s Mountain Bridge. It is your typically ijustwant2ride.comstandard covered bridge but, the ride up and over the mountain was a lot of fun.  Nice cruiser style riding with sweeping turns and quick elevation changes.  It was short but a lot of fun, we rode it twice! Make sure to check out the video of our ride over Jack’s Mountain.  

Oh and I got a lot of comments about my hat from day one.  I was able to come up with a selection of statements for anyone that mentioned the hat (all in good fun), such as: 

Be careful or I will let the flying monkeys loose!

I have my eye out for my replacement.

I am a big believer in equal rights, there is a good chance a women will get the hat!

Whomever gets the hat next will have a hard time looking this good!

The highlight of the evening was being able to get rid of the hat! 

 

To see what happened on day one check out that post!

Harley Owners Group Rolling Rally: History in the Hills Day 1

Posted: June 18, 2016 in Motorcycle, Motorcycle Rides, motorcycle touring
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Ijustwant2ride.com

This year Debbie and I decided to try out the national Harley Davidson HOG Rolling Rally.  It has been occurring for the last seven years and this year it is close to home. The theme for this year is “History in the Hills”. 

The start of the rally is Gettysburg, PA and it end a week later in Oak Ridge, TN.  In between there will be the chance to stop at numerous points to fulfill the title of “History in the Hills”. 

Today was the rally registration sign in, a trip to a special event at the Seminary Ridge Museum and the kickoff diner. Our sign in point was Battlefield Harley Davison. It was well organized and took us know time to get signed in, collect our kit of items and talk with some of the folks who are participating in the ride. 

I do have something negative to say about Battlefield HD.  When have been here several times over the years and have always found the folks polite and friendly, willing to go give a hand.  Today that promise of the past did not hold course.  I had forgotten to check the preload on my motorcycles rear shocks and could use a pound or two of additional air to get a better ride.  In the trip from the house to Gettysburg I realized that I needed the additional air and thought I would be able to borrow a pump to add the additional pressure.  NOPE, the service representative said that someone had “borrowed” their pump in the past and did not bring it back thus they did not have a pump for me to use.  Hummm, a complete service center did not have a pump to add air to a motorcycle shock. 

After that we road over to our hotel to check-in.  NOPE, the room is not read, come back after 3PM. Oh and do not park your motorcycle in front of the hotel. We reminded not to park out front at least 3 times.  OK Country Inns and Suites of Gettysburg, I get it you don’t want us to park out front. 

So onto Seminary Ridge and the museum.  We have been to Gettysburg many times and have never been to this museum and plan to take the full tour on day two.  Today the HOG folks (the tour is run my RUSH LLC) had arraigned a special presentation for the group.  We were broke in 4 groups of about 40-50 people and had a round robin education on Civil War soldiers backgrounds and the 1st day of the battle, ambulance wagons, the Seminary itself and a demonstration of how Civil War soldiers formed and marched.  It was quite nice. 

After the presentation were over we rolled over to the Pike Restaurant for the welcome dinner.  The food was good and the folks we shared our table with were awesome.  We had two highlights during the dinner, I was chosen (because I pulled a small prank) to be the first to wear the “HAT”.  The hat is the stereotypical “hillbilly” had from the comics and shows like “Hew Haw”.  I was told that last year the hat was a lobster, so at least I do not have to wear seafood.  I get to pass the hat on to someone else tomorrow….. Let’s see who that will be. 

The other highlight was that we won a $25 Harley Davison gift certificate.  All said we have had a great day and are looking forward to tomorrow’s events.

New Motorcycle Tires! Trying something different.

Posted: June 16, 2016 in Motorcycle, motorcycle safety, motorcycle touring, Product Reviews
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WP_20160423_12_06_42_Rich

I just had new motorcycle tires installed.  This time I chose to go a different route then my normal Dunlop OEM tires.  I bought Pirelli Night Dragons for the Harley Davidson Ultra Limited. 

I did a lot of research on the different tires that are available for my motorcycle.  I looked at Michelin, Metzeler and other brands motorcycle tire stats, reviews etc.  I went with the Night Dragons as it was the only motorcycle tire that seemed to get better reviews in an area that concerned me quite a bit, grip in the wet.  As much as Iijustwant2ride.com love riding, it always seems to rain when we go out and a good “wet tire”, all things equal, got my attention. 

Now I do have concerns about not using the Dunlop OEM tires.  Those motorcycle tires are available at all Harley Davison dealers and would likely be in stock should a worst case scenario occur.  While it would not be optimal to run to different brands of tires on the motorcycle, I am sure worse things occur every day.  

The wife and I will be leaving soon on a 2,000 mile vacation ride so I am sure we will get to try these motorcycle tires in the wet and dry!  I will post a more in-depth review when we return.

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