Posts Tagged ‘motorcycles’

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Just a short motorcycle ride, just a bit over one hundred miles. Really nothing more than loop through northern Virgina and Maryland. BUT, we were out of the house, we were out on the bike, the weather was great (for a change) and it was fun!

Leaving our home in the late morning, it was still jacket wearing temperatures but with copious sunshine and a promise of great riding weather. Heading north we crossed both the Catoctin Mountain and creek before dropping down into Brunswick Maryland. The main street was like a ghost town. No lights in the windows and no one on the street. It is going to sad that when the quarantine is over that most of these building will still be vacant.

We did drop down next to the Potomac River and the Brunswick section of the C&O Canal to have a picnic lunch. There were a lot of folks moving along the canal towpath on hikes or bikes (peddle type). Everyone was observing the rules about social distancing so no need to freak out.

IMG_20200516_123801788_HDRBack on the motorcycle we headed up the mountain and stopped at the War Correspondents Memorial. This memorial is way out in the middle of know where but is an interesting and atypical to most memorials.  I wonder how many war correspondents are even aware of it?

From here we road about other hour heading south back into Virginia and then to home. A short motorcycle ride but one that was greatly needed.

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I ran across this list of dangerous states to ride motorcycles quite by accident. I was looking for something about riding in Virginia and up this popped on page 2 of the search results. The article was published in May 2019.

Interesting to say the least. Based on 2017 data QuoteWizard used the following methodology:

“We looked at 2017 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) fatality figures in each state and compared it with 2017 Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) motorcycle registration data to find which states had the highest rate of fatalities per registered motorcycle. Below is a ranking of all 50 states, with 1 being the highest rate of fatalities and 50 being the lowest.”

Below are the 5 worst and 5 best states to ride motorcycles. You can find the entire list here!

5 Worst                                                 5 Best

Mississippi                                           Montana

Texas                                                 South Dakota

South Carolina                                     Alaska

Florida                                                New Hampshire

Arizona                                                Minnesota

The 5 best also look among the top coldest too…… humm

 

Ride on, Ride safe

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The folks on Mighty Goods asked me to contribute to an article about preparing for a long motorcycle trip.  So I did!

My content is at the bottom of Mighty Goods article:

8 Motorcycle Tourers Share How They Packed and Prepared for the Big Trip

In the article I mention the motorcycle luggage we use for long trip along with tips that have made those longs days on a motorcycle a little more comfortable.

Check it out along with the rest of the Might Goods website.

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St. Michael is the patron of paratroopers. Bikers have a bit in common with people who jump from planes, so maybe another candidate?

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The Patron Saint of Motorcycle Riders?

 Who should be the patron saint of motorcyclists?There are a lot of saints in the race for this honor!

 We can start with Elijah the Prophet who was taken up to heaven in a fiery chariot. Although a friend of mine says Elijah was taken up in Triumph! (Maybe a Triumph Trident!) Regardless, they didn’t have Harleys in those days so he had to settle for something else. But I can still picture the dude doing this! Can you? Now imagine him on a CVO Harley Road King screaming with locomotive type clout in top gear.

Another candidate is Saint Frances of Rome who was declared the patron saint of automobile drivers by Pius XI.  There was a legend that an angel used to light her way with a lantern when she traveled, keeping her safe from hazards like deer and pagans. I’m pretty…

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Each year I keep an eye out for those cool motorcycle posters or prints.  This year I saw a lot of them, 33 as a mater of fact!

These are posters that I have seen for the first time, they may have been out for a while but I only spotted them in 2017.  Reducing them down to the typical, for me anyway, list of 9 was very hard.  Because of that I thought I would show you guys 5 posters or prints that did not make the cut this year.  Each of these motorcycle themed runner’s up are neat in there own right, I just thought the top 9 were a little better.

OH… if you are interested you can click here to look at the 2015 Best Motorcycle Posters and here for the 2016 Best Motorcycle Posters.

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Debbie and I attended the 2017 British & European Classic Motorcycle Day held in Clarksburg, Md.  While this event has occurred for many years it was the first one we have could make. 

We did not make it to the motorcycle affair until mid-afternoon, shortly before the awards were presented.  I was very pleasantly surprised at the number of Harley Davidson in the parking lo many more then I would expected for a European bike show.  But, this is one of those events that if you love motorcycles you should make time to attend. 

I must say from the start that I have never seen so many vintage European motorcycles in one place!  There were bikes of all types on display.  From concours level restorations to choppers made from BSA or Triumph engines and frames.  There were even a few Frankenstein motorcycles like…a Ducati engine in BSA frame with a Honda CB front end.  

ijustwant2rideThere was a couple motorcycle there that I had not seen or heard of before as well. A 1937 single cylinder AJS and an old Douglass (don’t recall the year).  Both are vintage British bikes that I need to learn a little more about. 

We had a good time walking around the event, which was also a swap meet.  It was fun looking at the old motorcycles, pieces and parts.  People were traveling from as far as New York, Ohio and North Carolina to attend, at least by the licenses plates of the bikes in the parking lot and those in the show.  If you are every near this event, you should make the time to check it out.