I had the most amazing interaction with a young man on crutches today at the gas station. Being the perpetual jovial person I am I proclaimed out loud while in the check out line how beautiful the day was for a moto ride (I was in a damn good mood). The guy on crutches in front of me laughs, turns around and says “hell yeah, If I had not just wrecked my S1000 double R (not his fault) last week I’d be riding too”. We then went on to talk for nearly 15 minutes about bikes.

It’s crazy how often a perfect stinger will take a surprising amount of time out of their day to chat you up on the subject of riding if they partake or did in the past. I really enjoy this aspect of riding, especially the stories riders tell me.

There were lots of bikes out today and not too long after my pleasant interaction at the gas station I managed to ride for a brief amount of time with two stretched CBR1000s which is always fun stop light to stop light....until the road opens up and my 90° twin’s torque advantage and super easy to hard launch advantage gives way to the lethal top end heavyweight punch of a 1000cc inline four.

Anyone else get a fun ride in today?

Rain all morning & Thanksgiving prep, so no ride here.
Supposed to rain Saturday, too.

Snow and 21 degrees.

I agree. Didn’t ride today. Have been riding in the afternoon weather permitting. Enjoy the comradeship when on the motorcycle.

I didn’t expect to see nearly that many bikes ou t there today, it was a lot of fun. The roads were mostly empty of cars.

I had a blast with those two Honda riders. The 1000cc 90° v twin SV in the hands of a light rider can be quite the weapon from a stop light race against a CBR that’s a Gen or two from what ever is out now (it’s a pretty old design iirc).

It’s actually a close race until 3rd to 4th gear (prob only 2nd to 3rd shift for the CBR as its geared to the moon) when the CBR begins to reeeeealllly stretch its legs and continue to build to its wild rate of acceleration. It’s neat to see a 1000cc superbike race replica inline four engine vs a 1000cc 90° twin with its engine roots based in the same race series. Sure the SV has detuned/road tuned parts but it’s primarily based off the TL engine and shares many parts with the widow-maker (TL1000R) as well as the ability to put the performance parts onto my bike. Which compared to the modern I4 power is a waste of time...those things are crazy fast.

In contrast, I love the solitude and break from life tearing up corners by myself. Leaned over half the day, passing other motorcyclists putt putting around. No time for chat. Gas station, I’m in/out as fast as I can put the gas cap back on. No need to scream “I’m a motorcyclist” to anyone. And when the stars align, and I can ride with the boys, nobody is real interested in chit chat. We are a couple bike lengths apart, near knee down, like a formation of F-15’s in the sky. Comms are finger pointing, and taps on the helmet for those who don’t have Sema’s.

Looks cold this weekend so that means the fair weather folks won’t clutter my twisties. I’ll have them to myself

The Motorcycle Gods of Fate hates me this year.

Since April it was so damn hot every single day I didn't get out to ride more than a couple times. Some days I'd get a mile away and be dripping with sweat already and just turn around and go home.

And now, with the weather being relatively warm every day, it's absolutely beautiful out, perfect for riding, and 6 weeks ago broke/sprained my left ankle. And just waiting for surgery to be scheduled which will probably be right after new years. Hopefully fully healed to ride again in the spring.

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:
Rain all morning & Thanksgiving prep, so no ride here.
Supposed to rain Saturday, too.

Glad I rode Tuesday and got in a little over 100 miles. It's been shit motorcycle weather since then. Tomorrow looks nice, but likely puddles from 1.5 days of rain.

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:
Rain all morning & Thanksgiving prep, so no ride here.
Supposed to rain Saturday, too.

Glad I rode Tuesday and got in a little over 100 miles. It's been shit motorcycle weather since then. Tomorrow looks nice, but likely puddles from 1.5 days of rain.

My father in law just got the carb rebuilt on his Indian, so we've been waiting to get out for a couple hours to heat cycle it a few times.
Hoping for better weather next weekend & an opportunity to get on the road for a while.

There is a group of dual-sport riders from Austin that meets the first Saturday of every month. Got to ride with some cool people. So far everybody has been very cool (which sometimes isn’t the case with group rides).

Very diverse backgrounds, income and education levels, nationality, but we all just want to ride.

I’m one of those guys that can sit and talk with another biker, and often times tell them more about their bikes than they know. If not, I’m an avid learner.

I was able to visit my son in San Antonio, (I live in PA), and I seriously thought about taking my GoldWing (not the V-Max), but I’m glad I didn’t. It’s been raining non-stop in Texas, and snowing in PA. So I spend my time on the airlines, watching motorcycle videos.

I envy those of you with good roads (and good weather).
Riding in Michigan is bumpy and for the most part, boring.

Normally I don't say anything to other riders, especially if I'm in my truck. "Hey look, another Harley!" Yawn...

However, the other day, I was walking out of the store and an older guy was getting off a Triumph Rocket III. He was geared up for long touring. I had to walk back and say "A Rocket III! You don't see those out in the wild much." He lit up like I'd just told him he'd won the lottery. We talked about the awesome bike, and my bikes, for fifteen minutes. Good times, great people.

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:
Rain all morning & Thanksgiving prep, so no ride here.
Supposed to rain Saturday, too.

Glad I rode Tuesday and got in a little over 100 miles. It's been shit motorcycle weather since then. Tomorrow looks nice, but likely puddles from 1.5 days of rain.

My father in law just got the carb rebuilt on his Indian, so we've been waiting to get out for a couple hours to heat cycle it a few times.
Hoping for better weather next weekend & an opportunity to get on the road for a while.

120 miles planned for Sunday morning.
Looking forward to some 2-wheel time. Haven't had much since the Vulcan went away.

I just met 4 new friends on a group ride. Turns out they also mountain bike, and are all engineers.

Luckily they have a good sense of humor. I'm not the one one the blue bike, I'm taking the video.

Older BMRs have a unique key to start the bikes...barrel shaped. If I see one on a persons key ring, I'll blurt out and ask what kind of BMW do you ride. They are always dumbfounded. Thus the stories start.

A few days ago I was at the post office mailing something to a fellow forum member. While walking back to my bike I noticed someone walking around my Suzuki and checking it out.

Turns out the guy was a hardcore Suzuki V-Strom fan (the V-Strom and my SV use the same engine). He even managed to correctly guess the year of my SV1000 and was aware that the naked versions are not all that common.

We ended up taking about Suzuki v twins and various motos for about 10 minutes.


Last night while riding home I got caught in a torrential downpour. I decided to pull into a gas station until the wind died down a bit. I had three people talk to be about my bike and probably five more drive by and tell me to ride safe. Bikes get a lot of attention.

115 miles today with member tatortodd.
My father in law was supposed to join, but his Victory was having battery issues.

So it was just the 2 of us on Indian Scouts, built about 20 years apart.

A good ride, though my phone battery died about halfway. The speedometer on mt Scout is about 15% off, so I run Waze to know true speed.
Waze + Bluetooth music = dead battery.

I think near 60 midweek. If I didn’t have my battery out, I’d crank up.