Two days of riding - well almost.

Last weekend was worth the wait. Saturday I rode to a swap meet in Columbia. I headed out early while it was still brisk - a little too brisk but worth while in any case. Jamie's friend Dana had a booth there selling leathers and do-rags. Dana was generous enough to give me yet another do-rag. This one had a Navy theme. She had made me a number of do-rags last year while I was still recovering. I have worn the new one almost daily. I have to get the bugs washed off of it. With a windshield most of the flying wild life are redirected toward my forehead.

I worked in the yard Sunday morning, much to my chagrin. Later that afternoon I rode out toward some old back roads Jamie and I have explored. I was getting a little apprehensive as I got a little lost and my gas was surely getting low. I still don't know the fuel range yet. I slowed down to conserve fuel and made it to the Peytonsville road intersection with I-65. Fortunately there are four gas stations there. The pucker factor was getting pretty extreme those last few miles.

All in all the sun was in full glory and the temps near eighty both afternoons.

Reason for the blog - and this past weekend

I created this blog solely for the purpose to record my motorcycle exploits. It was never to keep everyone updated with family information. It is used as a kind of motorcycling diary - nothing more.


On that subject, I rode with one of the Brothers to a club meeting. I had some apprehension with regards to how the club would view my retirement status. The bike does not meet minimum standards but that makes no difference as I am and will always be retired. Which brings me to my other concern. Chapter rides - I will have a brother accompany me as a tandem but I won't riding with the group anytime soon. My brothers were magnanimous and of course very accomodating.

The weather was perfect for the ride to and from the meeting.

Sunday was nice as well but I was tired and just rode for a short while.

Goofy - the badass biker

A couple weeks back I went to Ridgetop to look at a bike that had potential. Unfortunately, the owner was a complete goofball.
The original listing had a misspelling. He wrote "Honda Manga". It should have been "Honda Magna". I put it down as a typo. Then I went to see the bike in person. The guy tried to make his bike look badass by attaching some bullet shaped spikes on top of the handlebar clamp using ------ blue tub caulk. He also attached some spikes on the ends of the front axle using the same method. The amount of caulk used made a huge mess. Then I noticed the headlight glass bezel was broken but glued together using a inordinate amount of caulk around the edge and even through the crack creating a smear that was barely translucent.

The owner had attached some stickers to the gas tank and battery cover. He had vainly tried to remove a couple of them which left behind some adhesive and paper.

I still made an offer thinking I could remove the caulk and stickers.

I called the local Honda shop to inquire about getting a headlight. The closest place that had one was St. Louis and was about $300.00. The price alone put the bike out of my budget. I kept thinking this guy was goofy so I had extreme misgivings about buying this bike. So I called the guy and backed out the deal. The owner understood and agreed.

Later in the week he re-listed the ad. This time he wrote :  "Hoda Manga". Unreal!

Bike tease

Traditionally this is the season that drives me off my gourd. One day the weather is spectacular and the next it is either too windy to ride, or rainy, or cold, or some combination thereof. A couple of weeks back on a Saturday the temp was in the seventies and I saw bikes everywhere taunting me. Of course this was before I bought my latest bike. Now the weather barely cooperates. It will get better but my patience is sorely tested. When the weather finally breaks there is no telling where I'll be. It will be a case of not "Where's Waldo?" but "Where's Boomerang?"

My reward

After my Chemo treatment, which consists mostly of waiting, getting punctured twice, donated bodily fluids, and taking a nap, I rushed home as the sun was shining brightly and the temp was 64. I called Jamie and told her I was going for a ride. On the way home I spied a road I had not recognized so I looked it up on Google Maps but basically it went nowhere. So I decided to ride out to a a very large church near Leiper's Fork. I sometimes use their parking lot to practise my low speed maneuvers and decided this would be a good opportunity to practise. I got some practise in but I'm a little rusty and need to get used to the personality of this bike. The Harley had so much torque it was easy to modulate the clutch and rear brake to maintain a slow crawl. With this bike you need to give it more gas to keep power to the rear wheel. Plus the brake pedal tends to be under my arch rather than the ball of my foot so I cannot feel it as well as I should. But like anything, I will make the necessary adjustments to my methods to make it all work.
I arrived home just in time for dinner. Jamie made a very nice chicken tetrazzini.

My sister Megan asked if she could ride with me the next time she is in town. I would be delighted. Hopefully my skills will be fully reformed by then.