The happiest time of year, the saddest time of year

Christmas and New Years are just around the corner. Celebrating The Birth, and the start of a New Year as well. Its a beautiful time of year.

Yet, it is the first full winter day. Kermit is in the garage with no plans until spring. In years past, I have been able to ride just a few days before Christmas, and on New Years Day. This year, with snow and ice covering the roads and temperatures often dropping near zero, Kermit will simply have to sleep quietly in the garage. It is such a sad sight to see a bike like this simply leaning on the kickstand with no where to go.

Sleep well, Kermit. Dream of spring rides and VROC rallies in 2011.

5th annual Biker Bash - Findlay OH

Just 65 miles ride (with construction detour), the 5th annual Bike Bash in Findlay OH is a great destination. Its a family friendly event (Friday 8/27 from 5pm-9pm) with live music, great food, and bike parking on Main street which they block off for the evening! Its free and a LOT of fun. There are auctions, 50/50 raffle, services, food, etc where proceeds go to United Way of Hancock Country.

2010 Interlochen

Four hundred miles riding north from Columbus Ohio to Interlochen Michigan. Its the annual VROC rally held in NW lower peninsula near Traverse City. After the long (repeat LONG ride for me anyway), I get to set up camp. There is very little better than a motorcycle and tent. The grounds have the hottest showers around. Oh does that feel good after a long ride and sweaty day.

The best part of the time is the people. We had probably 30 VROCers and shared the park with the Goldwing riders and a couple of small Harley groups. It is amazing how such a great diversity in people, machines, and friendships can enjoy the same lifestyle. We had some tough weather, and also great weather.


There are a lot of great things to experience on these rallies. One of my favorite is the local food. We ate at a restaurants that served huge amounts of good food, a tavern that had good perch right on the lake (they would even cook up your own catch as you came in from a day of fishing), and my favorite - The Cherry Hut. This area is famous for its cherries, and this restaurant has some traditional fare as well as cherry burgers, cherry chicken salad, and wonderful (I mean WONDERFUL) Cherry Pie.

Areas all over the US have some amazing history. As we drove around, we took route M37. It dead ended at the Old Mission Lighthouse. It is half way between the equator and the Pole at the 45th parallel.


But all good things have to end. And with most camping trips, there are plenty of challenges that inhibit sleeping comfortable. We had a huge storm which flooded the tent, and then the final night the mattress we slept on a 1/2 inflated mattress. Why we did not get up and inflate it with the pump, I will never know. But we got up, broke camp, and started back on the 400 miles home.

Sleep deprived, we rode off about 40 miles and grabbed breakfast. Three cups of coffee, but still drowsy. Stopped at McD's for their heavy duty caffeine which eventually did the trick.

Its that time again! Interlochen!!!

In a little while, I will be able to head back up to Interlochen for a VROC rally. Its about 400 miles up there, about 7 hours if I road straight through. I wont! I will probably stop every 100 miles or so, fuel up, get some water, stretch the legs, and take some additional ibuprofen for the saddle sores. There is a common knowledge rule that states that if it is the Interlochen weekend, then it is rain season. The first year I went, I rode back in thunderstorms and tornado warnings virtually the entire trip. The last time, it rained while I was up there and the tent flooded. Yet, it is a good time!

After we get up there, we will have to check in, and then drive back into the camping area of Cycle-Moore. Its a couple of large circles of gravel roads with plenty of sandy ground to pitch a tent. The bath house is known as the showers with the hottest water.

Wow - Time slips by too quickly!

I appologize for the LONG delay on posting an update on the Michigan ride. It was a great ride North. Stopped a few times, had some water, then got back on the bikes.

I had a great time in Michigan with my friend and their family. A little (ok, a lot) of drinks, a little work, and a lot of fishing. The place was nice (see below) and we had some interesting drink/gun discussion combination.


Here are the two GPS runs. First one was on the way up, second is the return trip. Had to make it on my own due to a job possibility.

300 miles - great ride!

Put 300 miles on the bike. It was a great ride. The vest kept me comfortable, and we stopped every 100 miles to refuel and stretch. The place is absolutely beautiful and spent a few hours fishing after dinner. But there is no wireless here, so I will update the site more later. Putting pics on Facebook too!

Getting ready to head out!

I have the privilege of riding to Michigan with a buddy of mine. His family has a house on a lake up there. During the day, I will still be searching for employment and following up with applications already submitted. It really does not matter where I am, as long as I have cell and internet access! In the evening, I will be able to enjoy the area and quiet of the country.

I will be taking pictures and posting as I have time and access. For now, here is the map. Its over 300 miles, and I suspect it will take 7 hrs when you factor in stopping for drinks of water and some dinner. Its going to be hot, and my rear end and my back will be really sore. Ah, but the stories I can tell when it is over!

Another 100 miles

On the early news, they have the "2-Minute Mechanic" who shows things that people should look out for on their cars. Today, he talked about "Jax Wax" products - something I have NEVER seen him do. He was head-over-heals over the products.

I did a quick search and found the company at www.jaxwax.com. Dropped them a note about what would they recommend for a motorcycle. Within minutes, they sent a message back with a phone number indicating I should call and they have exactly what I need. Thinking that I would get the $100 package recommendation, I gave him a call. Instead, he suggested one of their lowest cost products, and said that is all that I would need! We talked more, and he also gave me an alternative suggestion if I wanted to go with a little more flexible solution for both wet and dry cleaning/waxing.

It was such a beautiful day today, and I just had to get out and enjoy the day. So around 1:00, I jumped on the motorcycle and headed off to pick up the product. It was a little hard to find, and found that he was a very small business (but with a successful history). Also found out that he was out of the building and no one else was there! CRAP. Well, I called him and he is sending me the product I wanted to buy, covering the shipping costs! HOW COOL IS THAT! I am hoping the product is as good as his customer focus!

In the same area was a couple cool things. The H2 was mod'ed out for Big Star promotional activity. The building was an old Railroad station that had been converted to a bar/carry out.



Ran around for about 100 miles. It was good, but not great. I had to run through a lot of high traffic areas. I hate the busy areas where cars just do not pay attention to their driving, and stop-and-go traffic.

Sometimes I forget...

It was a bright, sunny morning and I had several tasks that I had to run. So I decided to ride my bike. The first task was to get my hair cut. I rode up to the local barber - an old style place run by two older guys. No foo-foo stuff.

I grabbed a parking spot in front of the shop, shut the bike off, and headed off into the store. Since it is downtown, I did not bother to take my gloves off or helmet. As I walked into the shop, I started taking the bike gear off and noticed that one of the owners was really nervous. So I laughed a little, and told him that as soon as I get this helmet off he would recognize me! He immediately relaxed, laughed a little, and said "oh yeah, I already recognize the voice!"

I guess sometimes I forget that riding gear with smoke screen visor can be a little intimidating.

300 mile long weekend

Had some commitments this weekend, in Norwalk and in Toledo. So I decided to make a long weekend of it and take the bike on the first real ride of the season. Temps when I started was in the mid 80's. I was in my winter bike jacket and definitely hot by the time I got to Norwalk. By the time I went to Toledo, the temps were in the high 40's/low 50's - kinda cool with no chaps or neck balaclava and just my summer gloves. By Monday morning, the sun was out and temps were in the 50's - great riding weather

On the way back, I put about an hour under my belt before stopping for coffee. I decided if I was going to have coffee, I best get something to eat as well. So I stopped in Findlay for some traditional breakfast; coffee and ice water, eggs, sausage, grits, and biscuits and gravy. If that does not fill up your belly, nothing will!

By the end of the ride, only about 120 miles, my butt was killing me. Guess I need to toughen up my tush!!! 200 miles should be a no-brainer...

A little bling...

I added a little bling to the bike this afternoon. Harley's have these script name tags attached to their front fender. I bought similar name tags years ago to call out the model I have. This afternoon, I decided to finally put them on. But I did not like the way it looked on my fender. Plus - its not a Harley, so why copy them?

I checked several places, and thought the script "Nomad" looked great on the tank, augmenting the Vulcan Logo.

Reconstructed!

I finished the maintenance on the bike. New clutch and brake fluid, new antifreeze, rerouted the custom wiring for the air horn, driving lights, accessory plug, LED accent lights , etc. I also did a once over on the bike, tightening all connections - this appears to be a common problem as the bikes come out of the factory.

I was amazed at the crap that came out of the brake lines. There was black crude that flushed out of both the front and back rotors. While I have not experienced any problems with the hydrolics, it was a problem in the making.

The clutch fluid is hidden behind the engine cover which was a real pain to remove! There are only four bolts which go through rubber grommets. Since the cover has not been removed since it was initially assembled clear back in 2006, it did not slide off easily. I spent 15 or 20 mins trying to gently wiggle it off. I gave up and went in for lunch. I came back out and applied some muscle. The thing finally released!

I took Kermit (the bike) for a test run, and it shorted out about one block away. I never knew how hard it was to push an 800 lb bike! Thankfully, my neighbor came out to help me get the bike up the driveway and back into the garage.

There were only two harness connections that I disconnected. So I took the first one apart and reconnected it. This time, I made sure all the wiring was correct. Unfortunately, I did not check to see if it was wrong before taking it apart, so I dont know for sure that this was the problem. I did the other connector, and then reconnected the battery. Started right up!

I need to test ride it again, but waiting until I have someone to help if I break down. But things look good and I dont expect problems.

OK - took the BIG STEP

Finally took the big step - took off the gas tank. As I took a couple of the electrical connectors apart, I noticed that there was this red/pinkish dielectric grease. Weird color, but OK... And then I started noticing it on parts of the bike. I had it on my thumb. So I wiped it off and continued. I noticed that it was on more parts! Oops - not dielectric grease, but blood from a slice on my thumb. Oh well.

Poor Kermit looks like a dog that has been given a bath - skinny and frail. But now that the backbone is exposed, I can get a lot of work done. Need to change the antifreeze, brake and clutch fluids, and might as well do some rewiring too.

Temperatures were in the 50's today - huge change from the 20's and 30's just a few weeks ago. There are snow drifts on the side of the road and along my driveway. The news' talking heads droned on about great weather and that we are only a few days from Spring. The sun called its siren song, tempting me to jump onto Kermit.

I have too much work to do, told myself. And my shoulder still hurt, was stiff, and still weak from the injury of a month ago. Its too risky, and just not the right thing to do.

But desire overtook the better part of judgement. The final piece of the puzzle fell into place - I needed to get my coffee beans from my coffee roaster. I was out and it simply had to be done! So why not use my bike.

I climbed onto the bike about 11:00 this morning. I took a picture of my boot propped up on the floorboard for a Facebook Group that wants pictures of what you are doing each Tuesday, with your shoes as the focal point.

I put on my heavy bike jacket, gloves, helmet. I climbed onto the bike and started it up. I looked at ClasicChap's engine guard chaps which protect legs from the wind in these cooler days. I should check the tires pressure, oil, etc. but did not. Bad Tim...

I pulled out of the drive between two snow piles straddling the entrance onto the road. The engine thrummed confidently, the cool wind rushing under my helmet and within my coat arms. Each bump in the road sent a small sharp pain through my shoulder, but the sense of freedom was worth each pin-prick.

I rode out of town. Fields were mostly still snow covered. Others had recently been tilled and the faint scent of manure somehow seemed to trigger a comfortable feeling of spring in my mind. Here and there were snow drifts along the road where just a few weeks ago snow was being pushed out of the roadway to allow cars to pass.

Twenty miles later, I pulled into Mechanicsburg and parked outside of the Hemisphere Coffee Roasters. I left with 2 lbs of my favorite, a 1/2 lb of a flavored decaff, and a handfull of chocolate covered beans.

The ride back was uneventful, but so wonderful. I pulled into the garage where I would be taking Kermit apart to do some major maintenance (fluid changes including breaks, clutch, oil, antifreeze), wiring maintenance, and installing a used trunk bought over a year ago.

I stepped out of the garage, and back into the house where I had work left to do and a meeting scheduled to review a revamp of a website. It was a great 40 mile ride, the first of the year.

sigh....

It is March, and Kermit sits silently in the garage. He has been neglected throughout the winter. No maintenance done. Its been started and run a couple of times to keep the moisture down within the crankcase, and there is fuel stabilizer, and the battery charger has been thrown on a few times.

Tomorrow, I will take a few minutes to pull the bike out and run it around the block. Then pull it back into the garage so I can change the oil, and try my hand at the various fluids.

Tsk tsk...I have been such a bad bike owner.

Where is the time going?

Winter is a great time to do maintenance on the bike. I need to bleed the brakes and clutch and change the anitfreeze. Brakes/Clutch should be fairly easy (he says with hesitation in his voice), but the antifreeze seems like it might be a bit more challenging. Apparently, I will need to either remove or at least slide the gas tank backwards on the bike. Like most things, the first time will be the most difficult, but it needs done. "They" say every two years, and it has the original still in it after 4 years.