The DawgHouse Motorcycle Radio Show on NTNradio.com
Looks like I am becoming a regular host on the “Dawghouse Motorcycle Radio Show“. Just hit the listen live button.
If you are interested, the show will be live 6-8 (EST) tonight and available on Podcast sometime after the show ends.
I will post about the podcast when it is up.
If you would like to hear Ken, Phil and I talk about motorcyles, motorcycle riding and racing check out the podcast here.
This show we talked about:
Patriots ride to U.S./Mexico border to retrieve soldier abandoned by Barack Obama.
Motorcycles can now run red lights in Washington State…let the carnage begin.
Harley Davidson preparing to release an electric motorcycle into production?
Australian government revokes visa of Rebels Motorcycle Club president while he was on vacation in Malta.
2013 Motorcycle theft statistics.
Harley Davidson and KTM recalls.
19 year-old does 155 mph “NOT” evading cops in Florida.
Motorcycle Racing:
Olaf’s British Superbike report.
MotoCross from High Point.
Moto2 and MotoGP results from Catalunya (Barcelona.)
Good description of Harpers Ferry Road!
This road kind of parallels the Potomac River and the C&O Canal starting in the south on the Maryland side of the river across from the town of Harpers Ferry, WV and is a great road for motorcycles. We rode from there to Sharpsburg, MD which is where the Civil War battle of Antietam was fought (this link will take you to our ride to the Antietam Battlefield).
The road is only about 13 miles long it is twisty, with lots of elevation changes, stomach dropping dips, blind corners and blind entrances to the roadway; it is not a road for the beginning rider to take lightly or with speed. It is also scenic and lots of fun, even if the speed limit is only 35 MPH. There are several neat places to stop along the route including the C&O Canal, Antietam Battlefield, Antietam Iron Works Inn, and Harpers Ferry of course.
The road has views of some great stuff; railroad tunnels, rail road overpass, small towns, rock walls, open farm land, cool barns, mountain cliffs, and on and on!
If you are ever in this area I highly recommend a short side trip to ride this road…and then get some ice cream across the river in Harpers Ferry!
Electric Harley?
Electric Harley Davidson Spotted?
The folks over at “Asphalt and Rubber” posted this article about how an apparent electric Harley Davidson was spotted on the set of the next Avengers movie.
If you look close at the pics you get the clues that it might be real:
Looks like a Daymaker headlight on the bike.
Safety reflectors on a one off movie prop?
Plus the other items pointed out in the article.
Park Entrance
This past weekend Debbie, our friends Tim and Karma and I took a motorcycle ride to the Flight 93, 9/11 Memorial and National Park.
We mounted our bikes and had kickstands up at about 9AM, headed north and west on Interstate 70. WOW, the traffic on I70 was very heavy; it was like a Friday afternoon on a holiday weekend heavy. I understand why everyone wants out of the Washington DC metro area, but come on guys; did you not know I wanted the highway to myself?!?!
The first point where the traffic begins to thin, but only slightly, was as we passed the Hagerstown Outlet Mall. But traffic did not really become light until we reached the I70 and I68 intersection, from that point on things were calm and smooth. At least until the temperature began to drop the further north and the higher elevation we made.
While I was comfy behind the fairing on the Ultra Limited the others were quite cool and in the mood for warmth and food. We stopped for breakfast about 10:30 at “Cathie’s County Store” near the intersection of I70 and PA 915. Debbie declared that Cathie’s home fries were the best she ever had! Pulling back out onto the interstate it was not long before we were onto US 30, also known as the Lincoln Highway.
Just a short way before the actual park entrance we crested a ridge and saw dozens of wind turbines and at the same time understood why they were there. From the time we crested that ridge until we nearly reached the interstate again there was a constant wind, sometimes enough to cause the bikes to move a bit in our lane.
When we reached the Flight 93 Memorial I was pleasantly surprised how full the parking lot was for a cool, overcast Saturday. We arrived at the park just as a park ranger began a presentation of the events of that day. His presentation was a pointed reminder of the events of 9/11 and the courage of the crew and passengers of Flight 93 knowing that the terrorists were intending to crash the plane into a building. While their efforts cost the lives of 40 they likely saved the lives of hundreds if not thousands.
After that solemn stop we rode south stopping at Highland Harley Davidson in Somerset, PA. Tim needed to buy a heavier shirt for the trip back. While he claims otherwise, I am sure he bought one off the women’s rack as the shirt he bought had thumb holes “to hold it in place”…. 🙂
From Somerset we rode south to Cumberland, MD and I68 then back towards home. We stopped for diner at the Longhorn Steak House in Frederick, MD. After a good diner we said out goodbyes and head for the house.
Get up and ride on the 16th!!!
The NTN Radio studio (Phil in the fore and Chis on the board)
I was asked back to guest host on the DWAGHOUSE motorcycle radio again. That make two weeks in a rows! The show is broadcast live on the internet Tuesday 6-8PM EST.
This past weeks show is now up in podcast form (available at the link above and iTunes). So if you have time check it out and drop me a note if you like it…if you don’t like it well, grandma said if you can’t say something nice don’t say anything! 🙂
You can also get linked to the podcast on the DawgHouse Facebook page.
We only found out about this motorcycle event a few weeks ago and it was a last minute decision to attend. I am glad we did decide to ride.
The Mission of the Some Gave All Foundation “ensures the memories of Sergeant Joshua J. Frazier and Sergeant Nicholas C. Mason are not forgotten through service to local wounded veterans and an annual motorcycle rally.” This ride/rally was the 8th event and according to speaker has raised over $168,000. Check out the website to learn more about this organization.
Debbie and I left the house at 7:30 for the two hour trip to ride’s start point. After a quick Mickey D’s and gas pit stop (insert joke her) we head south on Route 15. The ride there was very nice, with cool crisp air and limited traffic, if it were not for the fact that we hit 98% of available red lights it would have been an awesome morning scoot.
The ride begins at Spotsylvania High School (Spotsylvania, VA) and ends at a rally at King George High School (King George, VA). When we pulled in to the High Schools parking lot I was blown away by the number of motorcycles attending the ride! I was expecting, for no real reason, about 200-300 bikes, there was at least 1000+ bikes in the lot. In listening to some of the conversations of folks who have attended before I gathered the impression that this was the largest turn out to date.
As you will see in the pictures bikes of all types were in attendance. Harley Davidson, of course, had the most bikes in attendance but, I saw more Spyders and Boss Hoss bikes in this one location than I have ever seen outside a dealership. At one part of the parking area there were 12 Spyders in a row (I am sure Miss Muffet would have passed out from fear).
Even with such a large number of attendees the organizers had everything down, from my point of view the start point was well run and superbly organized! The actual ride to the rally started on time and the police had everything well managed, we had the road to ourselves with plenty of well-wishers waving from the sides of the road. But, as with all groups of this size, there was the expected “accordion affect” which may have caused an accident. We passed a point where EMTs were dealing with two bikes off the road and over a small embankment. I did not look (I am a safe rider you know ) but Debbie told me that there appeared to be little damage to the bikes but that someone was laying in the grass while the EMTs were looking them over.
We arrived at the end point about noon and it was as well organized as the start point. The bikes were all lined up in a manner that, when ever wanted to leave, there would be no issues about getting your bike out. For the rally part of the event there were a good number of vendors, the small business type, in attendance along with a sport bike stunt team (the 540 Boyz), a half dozen “moon bounce” type of things for the kids and a local bomb squad and their robots. The event was anchored by an area setup for a pretty good band (Bad Monkey) and a bike show.
Debbie and I decided to put our bike in the show and we won “Best In Class”, not too bad for a last minute decision. Right after the bike show awards we decided to head back home, we pulled into the garage at 5:30. We both agreed that this was a very nice event and there is a very good chance that we will do it again next year!
P.S. 251 miles round trip.
#BikerLive – Discovery Channel (which I salute for all its motorcycle related productions) will premier its newest bike series #BikerLive on May 12 at 10PM EST. It appears from the commercials and the website that it is a “build-off competition” with the twist is that WE get to vote for the winner by tweeting.
“We’ve found the country’s best hometown motorcycle craftsmen. And their future is riding…. on your tweets.”
You can read about the first three shops in the competition here.
While on a different channel….
Biker Battleground Phoenix – On July 1st the History Channel is introducing us to “Biker Battleground Phoenix”. Another “build-off” show that this time pits five custom bike ships in the Phoenix area competing for the title of the city’s “best custom bike building business”.
There was nothing on the History Channel websites about this show yet, but here are a few links to more details.
Grab your wallets and purses, politicians want more of your money.
Both houses of the Illinois General Assembly, in an attempt to curb illegal gambling (and increase tax revenue) created a law that put poker runs under the control of the Department of Revenue. Now every motorcyclist knows that a poker run is only about gambling, right?
As part of the law there are new regulations, permits and fees. From what I could gather the permit is $400 and each stop (venue) is charged an additional $150. If you don’t pay the fees you will be an illegal gambling operation and subject to all the appropriate fines and imprisonments.
If you have ever participated in a poker run you know that they typically support a charity of some sort. You also know that they normally do not raise huge sums of money and if it rains they might even go in a hole. But, in Illinois I guess that the state is the only real charity that matters.
Luckly, there are a few members of the General Assembly who understand what a poker run really does and are attempting to change the law. So if you live in the People’s Republic of Illinois you might want to contact your beloved leaders and let them know your opinion on this subject.
If you live somewhere else, keep an eye on your esteemed politicians, if it works in Illinois it might becoming to your state soon.
I JUST WANT 2 RIDE!! 