Sunday, November 23, 2008
The Barber Museum
You have got to check this out!! I'm adding it to my links so I don't lose it. I will be going on vacation to Birmingham, Alabama soon. http://www.barbermuseum.org/index.html
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Then came Bronson
Heres the link http://www.thencamebronson.tv/. Be sure and check out the video of the opening of the show, its a classic. I can remember that line as being one of the catalysts that got me into the motorcycling world. Theres also an old L&M commercial on the page.
I have the pilot movie of Then Came Bronson. I'm currently attempting to get the entire series.
I have the pilot movie of Then Came Bronson. I'm currently attempting to get the entire series.
Interesting Motorcycle Facts
Interesting motorcycle facts - from MCN
The pneumatic tyre was invented by John Boyd Dunlop in 1888 for use on push-bikes.
Boyd also invented the word “pneumatic”.
Slick tyres offer more grip in the wet than treaded tyres up to the point at which they aquaplane. Modern sports bike tyres don’t contain any natural rubber.
Front tyres disperse water at three times the rate of rear tyres.
When cornering, 75 per cent of a bikes grip comes from the front tyre.
The GS in GSX-R denotes four cylinders with overhead valves.
The X means four valves per cylinder and the R is for race replica.
Vespa means wasp.
Cucciolo (the name of the first Ducati) means puppy.
Hayabusa is the name of a Japanese falcon that preys on blackbirds (you gotta larf!).
It was also the name of a WW2 Kamikaze fighter plane.
Steve McQueen didn’t do the famous 65 ft motorcycle jump in The Great Escape.
American Triumph dealer Bud Ekins did it – in one take.
The first Honda motorcycles were pushbikes with generator engines for army field telephones bolted on.
Kawasaki also makes spaceships.
Yamaha makes swimming pools and unmanned helicopters.
Ducati once made radios.
BMW is the only current major manufacturer to reject the use of telescopic forks on its big bikes. Yet BMW was the first to use and patent them, on the R12 in 1935.
Devil, Satan and Lucifer have all been names of motorcycle manufactures.
Suzuki went from GP also-rans to world champions in 1962 after works MZ rider Emst Degner defected to the firm with all the company’s technology.
Yamaha started making bikes in 1954 but didn’t produce a four-stroke motorcycle until 1970, when the firm built the XS2 650 twin.
Harley-Davidson built push-bikes between 1917 and 1923.
The Kawasaki motorcycle division was established in 1962 for no other reason than to publicise Kawasaki ’s heavy industries, which was huge but unknown to the general public.
Evel Knievel holds the world record for breaking the most number of bones and surviving.
His real name is Robert Craig Knievil.
The nickname Evel is said to have been given to him by police when he was jailed alongside William (Awful) Knofel.
Knievel used a double in the film Viva Knievil.
During his stunt career, Knievil spent a total of three years in hospital.
When Knievil came to Britain to jump 13 buses at Wembley in 1975, he refused to drive his Cadillac on the left-hand-side of the road, insisting on driving on the right.
The Fonz (aka Henry Winkler) couldn’t actually ride a motorcycle.
In the 1970s cop show CHiPs, Larry Wilcox and Erik Estrada, who played bike patrolmen Jon and Ponch, were so dissatisfied when their Kawasaki Z1000s were swapped for BMWs that they put the BMW fairings on the Kawasakis and continued to use them.
Contrary to popular opinion, the motorcycles used in Easy Rider have not both been lost or destroyed. One of them, which was wrecked during filming, has been restored by Dan Hagerty, who played Grizzly Adams in the TV show of the same name.
No one knows what became of the Triumph 6T ridden by Marlon Brando in The Wild One. its worth £500,000.
Street Hawk only ran for 13 episodes.
Although BMW claims it has been making Boxer twins continually since 1923, production stopped for a few months in 1986 when the company decided its future lay in triples and fours.
Customer outrage persuaded the Germans to restart the twin-cylinder engine production lines. MZ invented two-stroke expansion chambers.
The current owners of Bimota-Lorenzo-Ducati is a direct descendant of the original founder of Ducati.
Cagiva is a shortening of the words Castiglioni - the founder - and Varese - the town where the company is based.
Triumph also makes golf balls.
Magnesium wheels are porous, and allow tyres to deflate if the protective paint is scraped off. The same process occurs with alloy wheels, only much more slowly.
Dynos only measure torque and engine speed.
Peak power is then calculated using a mathematical equation.
Titanium ore is abundant.
The reason its known as an expensive material is because its strength and hardness makes working with it difficult and costly.
Early bike helmets were lined with cork Before becoming famous for bike helmets, ARAI made helmets for building sites.
The founder of ARAI, Hirotake Arai was a stunt rider.
Princess Anne and George Harrison have both owned custom-painted ARAI helmets.
Barry Sheen’s King helmet was Bell Star helmet with a King sticker on it.
The term ‘motorcycle’ was first coined by British inventor Edward butler when he built a twin-cylinder tricycle prototype in 1885.
Some poly carbonate helmets are made from melted-down bottle crates.
Helmet manufacturer FM also make bottle crates.
British superbike rider Scott Smart is Barry Sheen’s nephew.
Smart’s mum 42, Maggie, was the first ever MCN grid girl in 1971.
Mike Duff, the Canadian rider who won the Belgian 250cc GP in 1964 and the Dutch 125cc in 1965 is now Michelle Dufff, following a sex change.
Castrol Honda makes a special sticky tape that improves airflow over race bikes’ bodywork.
Laid across the nose section, it allows the air to slip up and over the helmet and leathers of the rider more smoothly.
Under WSB rules, acid is used to check if a component that should be aluminium or steel, say it isn’t in fact titanium.
A colour change indicates the presence of exotic lightweight material.
The first motorcycle ever was the SH Roper 1869 steam cycle.
The first production bike to advertise a top speed of over 100mph was the Brough Superior.
The first bike to ever top 200 mph was supercharged 499cc NSU in 1956.
It achieved 211.4 mph The first rider to ever go over 300mph was Don Vesco in 1975, on a 1496cc Yamaha-engined streamliner.
The first production motorcycle was the 1488cc, 2.5hp Hilberand & Wolfmuller Motorrad, made in Germany from 1894-97 Super-fit Troy Bayliss has a resting heart rate of 36 bpm, around half the normal rate.
During a race, Bayliss’ heart rate rises to 186bpm. Nobody in the 2004 GP, WSB or BSB series has the number one plate on his bike.
Honda only started racing to win the TT, in 1959 with the RC142.
Jean-Phillipe Ruggia was the first racer to regularly get his elbow down without crashing.
When Valentino Rossi was five, his dad, Graziano, built him a go-cart to discourage him from getting into bikes.
Jim Moodie and Sean Emmett have both worn sanitary towels inside their helmets to stop sweat dripping in their eyes in hot conditions.
Joey Dunlop was once a passenger on a fishing boat that sank on the way to the Isle of Man TT. Brands Hatch started life as a grass track circuit.
“See God. Then back off” Kevin Schwantz on his late braking technique.
“I did not come here to (make love to) spiders. Rob Phillis , when asked about his ambition of a podium finish.
“You can only piss with the cock you’ve got” Neil Hodgson.
“If anyone can go faster on that Aprillia, [Mod edit]" Colin Edwards.
The con-rod of a sports bike engine at full chat is enduring alternate compression and tensile forces of 10 tons, 500 times a second.
The foot-operated sequential gear change was invented by Velocette’s Harold Willis in 1927. Shoei helmets have been known to withstand bullets.
The most technically complex production motorcycle ever was the Honda NR750 of 1992, with its oval pistons, eight valves per cylinder and two con rods per piston.
When torque in ft/lb. and power in bhp are plotted on the same scale, the curves always cross at 5252rpm.
In 10,000 miles, the average four-cylinder bike engine will have done 100,000,000 revs.
****’s angels’ founder Sonny Barger says in his autobiography that he prefers Japanese bikes to Harley Davidson!
Gatso speed cameras were invented by dutch rally driver Maurice Gatsonides.
The front page picture of the first ever MCN shows six tweed-suited gents drinking coffee together.
After he saw Honda NR750, Massimo Tamburini tore up his design for the Ducati 916 and copied all the Honda’s main styling cues.
Lawrence of Arabia was killed while riding his Brough Superior.
Under its own power, Triumph’s rocket III can accelerate 0-60mph at almost exactly the same rate as it would when dropped out of a plane.
Honda Super Blackbird riders crash, on average, once every 10 years.
One in five ungaraged bikes in inner cities gets stolen.
Insurance companies estimate that up to 25 per cent of bike theft claims are fraudulent.
An average of £50 from every bike insurance premium is spent on settling a relatively small number of very expensive personal injury claims.
On average, engineers are the most likely people to crash.
Lecturers are the least likely.
The first monkey-style bike, the excelsior welbike, was designed to be dropped from planes with paratroopers during world war 2.
The highest altitude reached by a land motor vehicle under its own power is 20,065ft by two Chinese Jinlong motorcycles on Mount Everest in May 2002.
The world’s smallest motorcyclist, Hungarian circus performer Pityu Toth, is only 2ft 4in tall.
__________________
The pneumatic tyre was invented by John Boyd Dunlop in 1888 for use on push-bikes.
Boyd also invented the word “pneumatic”.
Slick tyres offer more grip in the wet than treaded tyres up to the point at which they aquaplane. Modern sports bike tyres don’t contain any natural rubber.
Front tyres disperse water at three times the rate of rear tyres.
When cornering, 75 per cent of a bikes grip comes from the front tyre.
The GS in GSX-R denotes four cylinders with overhead valves.
The X means four valves per cylinder and the R is for race replica.
Vespa means wasp.
Cucciolo (the name of the first Ducati) means puppy.
Hayabusa is the name of a Japanese falcon that preys on blackbirds (you gotta larf!).
It was also the name of a WW2 Kamikaze fighter plane.
Steve McQueen didn’t do the famous 65 ft motorcycle jump in The Great Escape.
American Triumph dealer Bud Ekins did it – in one take.
The first Honda motorcycles were pushbikes with generator engines for army field telephones bolted on.
Kawasaki also makes spaceships.
Yamaha makes swimming pools and unmanned helicopters.
Ducati once made radios.
BMW is the only current major manufacturer to reject the use of telescopic forks on its big bikes. Yet BMW was the first to use and patent them, on the R12 in 1935.
Devil, Satan and Lucifer have all been names of motorcycle manufactures.
Suzuki went from GP also-rans to world champions in 1962 after works MZ rider Emst Degner defected to the firm with all the company’s technology.
Yamaha started making bikes in 1954 but didn’t produce a four-stroke motorcycle until 1970, when the firm built the XS2 650 twin.
Harley-Davidson built push-bikes between 1917 and 1923.
The Kawasaki motorcycle division was established in 1962 for no other reason than to publicise Kawasaki ’s heavy industries, which was huge but unknown to the general public.
Evel Knievel holds the world record for breaking the most number of bones and surviving.
His real name is Robert Craig Knievil.
The nickname Evel is said to have been given to him by police when he was jailed alongside William (Awful) Knofel.
Knievel used a double in the film Viva Knievil.
During his stunt career, Knievil spent a total of three years in hospital.
When Knievil came to Britain to jump 13 buses at Wembley in 1975, he refused to drive his Cadillac on the left-hand-side of the road, insisting on driving on the right.
The Fonz (aka Henry Winkler) couldn’t actually ride a motorcycle.
In the 1970s cop show CHiPs, Larry Wilcox and Erik Estrada, who played bike patrolmen Jon and Ponch, were so dissatisfied when their Kawasaki Z1000s were swapped for BMWs that they put the BMW fairings on the Kawasakis and continued to use them.
Contrary to popular opinion, the motorcycles used in Easy Rider have not both been lost or destroyed. One of them, which was wrecked during filming, has been restored by Dan Hagerty, who played Grizzly Adams in the TV show of the same name.
No one knows what became of the Triumph 6T ridden by Marlon Brando in The Wild One. its worth £500,000.
Street Hawk only ran for 13 episodes.
Although BMW claims it has been making Boxer twins continually since 1923, production stopped for a few months in 1986 when the company decided its future lay in triples and fours.
Customer outrage persuaded the Germans to restart the twin-cylinder engine production lines. MZ invented two-stroke expansion chambers.
The current owners of Bimota-Lorenzo-Ducati is a direct descendant of the original founder of Ducati.
Cagiva is a shortening of the words Castiglioni - the founder - and Varese - the town where the company is based.
Triumph also makes golf balls.
Magnesium wheels are porous, and allow tyres to deflate if the protective paint is scraped off. The same process occurs with alloy wheels, only much more slowly.
Dynos only measure torque and engine speed.
Peak power is then calculated using a mathematical equation.
Titanium ore is abundant.
The reason its known as an expensive material is because its strength and hardness makes working with it difficult and costly.
Early bike helmets were lined with cork Before becoming famous for bike helmets, ARAI made helmets for building sites.
The founder of ARAI, Hirotake Arai was a stunt rider.
Princess Anne and George Harrison have both owned custom-painted ARAI helmets.
Barry Sheen’s King helmet was Bell Star helmet with a King sticker on it.
The term ‘motorcycle’ was first coined by British inventor Edward butler when he built a twin-cylinder tricycle prototype in 1885.
Some poly carbonate helmets are made from melted-down bottle crates.
Helmet manufacturer FM also make bottle crates.
British superbike rider Scott Smart is Barry Sheen’s nephew.
Smart’s mum 42, Maggie, was the first ever MCN grid girl in 1971.
Mike Duff, the Canadian rider who won the Belgian 250cc GP in 1964 and the Dutch 125cc in 1965 is now Michelle Dufff, following a sex change.
Castrol Honda makes a special sticky tape that improves airflow over race bikes’ bodywork.
Laid across the nose section, it allows the air to slip up and over the helmet and leathers of the rider more smoothly.
Under WSB rules, acid is used to check if a component that should be aluminium or steel, say it isn’t in fact titanium.
A colour change indicates the presence of exotic lightweight material.
The first motorcycle ever was the SH Roper 1869 steam cycle.
The first production bike to advertise a top speed of over 100mph was the Brough Superior.
The first bike to ever top 200 mph was supercharged 499cc NSU in 1956.
It achieved 211.4 mph The first rider to ever go over 300mph was Don Vesco in 1975, on a 1496cc Yamaha-engined streamliner.
The first production motorcycle was the 1488cc, 2.5hp Hilberand & Wolfmuller Motorrad, made in Germany from 1894-97 Super-fit Troy Bayliss has a resting heart rate of 36 bpm, around half the normal rate.
During a race, Bayliss’ heart rate rises to 186bpm. Nobody in the 2004 GP, WSB or BSB series has the number one plate on his bike.
Honda only started racing to win the TT, in 1959 with the RC142.
Jean-Phillipe Ruggia was the first racer to regularly get his elbow down without crashing.
When Valentino Rossi was five, his dad, Graziano, built him a go-cart to discourage him from getting into bikes.
Jim Moodie and Sean Emmett have both worn sanitary towels inside their helmets to stop sweat dripping in their eyes in hot conditions.
Joey Dunlop was once a passenger on a fishing boat that sank on the way to the Isle of Man TT. Brands Hatch started life as a grass track circuit.
“See God. Then back off” Kevin Schwantz on his late braking technique.
“I did not come here to (make love to) spiders. Rob Phillis , when asked about his ambition of a podium finish.
“You can only piss with the cock you’ve got” Neil Hodgson.
“If anyone can go faster on that Aprillia, [Mod edit]" Colin Edwards.
The con-rod of a sports bike engine at full chat is enduring alternate compression and tensile forces of 10 tons, 500 times a second.
The foot-operated sequential gear change was invented by Velocette’s Harold Willis in 1927. Shoei helmets have been known to withstand bullets.
The most technically complex production motorcycle ever was the Honda NR750 of 1992, with its oval pistons, eight valves per cylinder and two con rods per piston.
When torque in ft/lb. and power in bhp are plotted on the same scale, the curves always cross at 5252rpm.
In 10,000 miles, the average four-cylinder bike engine will have done 100,000,000 revs.
****’s angels’ founder Sonny Barger says in his autobiography that he prefers Japanese bikes to Harley Davidson!
Gatso speed cameras were invented by dutch rally driver Maurice Gatsonides.
The front page picture of the first ever MCN shows six tweed-suited gents drinking coffee together.
After he saw Honda NR750, Massimo Tamburini tore up his design for the Ducati 916 and copied all the Honda’s main styling cues.
Lawrence of Arabia was killed while riding his Brough Superior.
Under its own power, Triumph’s rocket III can accelerate 0-60mph at almost exactly the same rate as it would when dropped out of a plane.
Honda Super Blackbird riders crash, on average, once every 10 years.
One in five ungaraged bikes in inner cities gets stolen.
Insurance companies estimate that up to 25 per cent of bike theft claims are fraudulent.
An average of £50 from every bike insurance premium is spent on settling a relatively small number of very expensive personal injury claims.
On average, engineers are the most likely people to crash.
Lecturers are the least likely.
The first monkey-style bike, the excelsior welbike, was designed to be dropped from planes with paratroopers during world war 2.
The highest altitude reached by a land motor vehicle under its own power is 20,065ft by two Chinese Jinlong motorcycles on Mount Everest in May 2002.
The world’s smallest motorcyclist, Hungarian circus performer Pityu Toth, is only 2ft 4in tall.
__________________
Nothing is more precious than time unspent.
I just now coined that phrase :). I guess everyone has noticed that I haven't posted in a while. I have excuses and here are two. I have been working many hours of overtime and I haven't had anything to post since I have been working so much overtime. I have been working overtime because its here. I know I'll regret it later but for now it's extra money. The bad thing is I missed going on those Fall rides I was looking forward to. Which gets me to the main theme of this post, time. I have fallen from grace I suppose. Years ago while working another job, I wasn't an OT hog like I am now. One of my favorite sayings then, one which I coined was, "you can always make more money, but you can never make more time".
You see, time/life is a collection of memories. The more good memories you have the better your life will be. We've all had times when we were feeling a little down. Sometimes when that happens to me, I'll think of the good times I've had in my life and things seem to get better. Because of all this overtime I've worked my good times have been few and far between.
Next year I'm going to rekindle that belief I once had, the part about money and time. There is nothing more important than time spent in a good place, doing something you love to do or just being with people you care for.
Next year I'm going to ride more and spend more time doing what I enjoy with whom I enjoy doing it with.
I'm looking forward to the ride I have planned for 2009. I'm going to circumvent Arkansas and I'm sure its going to be a blast. For now though, its back to work.
You see, time/life is a collection of memories. The more good memories you have the better your life will be. We've all had times when we were feeling a little down. Sometimes when that happens to me, I'll think of the good times I've had in my life and things seem to get better. Because of all this overtime I've worked my good times have been few and far between.
Next year I'm going to rekindle that belief I once had, the part about money and time. There is nothing more important than time spent in a good place, doing something you love to do or just being with people you care for.
Next year I'm going to ride more and spend more time doing what I enjoy with whom I enjoy doing it with.
I'm looking forward to the ride I have planned for 2009. I'm going to circumvent Arkansas and I'm sure its going to be a blast. For now though, its back to work.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
A letter from CP
CP sent me a letter the other day about what he did after BBBQ 2008. Melanie and CP went home for a day then decided to go for a ride through the Smoky Mountains. Heres what he had to say about it.
"After getting back from the Fayetteville motorcycle rally on Sunday, I needed to work on my bike. The shops are closed on Monday so Tuesday I picked up the parts. Tuesday night and Wednesday morning I changed out the intake manifold gaskets. Melanie's vacation was coming to an end, so we had to make every hour count. After a test ride, I felt good about the way the bike was running and the weather forecast in Tenn. and NC looked excellent. So, on Wednesday at 2 PM we left home on another trip "looking for adventure".
Melanie with the Ultra Classic in the Smokies a few years ago. On that trip they took the camper.
CP with the two Yorkies they take with them on their trips.
"Melanie and I have put alot of miles on my Ultra Classic so we often go 200 miles at a time, stopping only for gas. We rode 450 miles Wednesday and found a motel in Cookeville, TN around 11:30.
The next day we got up at 7 AM and rode 350 miles. Taking a back country road to Tellico Plains, NC, we rode the"CheroholaSkyway" http://www.westernncattractions.com/cherohal.htm and the "Tail of the Dragon" http://www.tailofthedragon.com/ a few times. The Tail of the Dragon has 318 curves in 11 miles. Afterwards we rode to Bryce City for the night.
The next day we rode to Maggie Valley, NC to see the "Wheels Through Time" museum http://www.wheelsthroughtime.com/. This is a museum that every motorcycle enthusiast should see. They started up some bikes for us, including one built in 1920 which was one of only three known to exist, it started on first kick. They claim to be the museum that runs, because they take exhibit bikes out and ride them. Great museum, as you can see by the website. "
CP at the Wheels Through Time Museum a few years ago. When this pic and the two below were taken, the museum was at Mt. Vernon, IL. It has moved to Maggie Valley, NC.
"We originally planned on heading back home that Friday after visiting the museum. We intended to ride Friday evening and stop at a motel by nightfall, then get up Saturday and ride the rest of the way home. By doing so we would have Sunday to recover and rest before the end of Melanie's vacation.
It didn't happen the way we planned. Our bike wouldn't start at the museum. Some kind people from Conn. and Fla. pushed it and it started. As soon as the engine was running, I noticed there was no voltage charging. I knew what the problem was, it had happened once before. The stator was out and this was something that had to be fixed before attempting a return home.
I removed the headlight fuse since it would otherwise have drained the battery quickly, then rode out following some hand written directions to the nearest Harley-Davidson dealership. The directions didn't specify whether to turn right or left at the various intersections. At every turn, I kept thinking I was going the wrong direction. This just added to the stress as my engine continued to progressively run poorly. Soon into the ride, my trusted old ride was wanting to cease running as the bike battery was rapidly being depleted. We could only reach about 30 mph and it was becoming difficult to keep the bike running. With it coughing, spitting and only hitting occasionally we pulled into Ghost Town Harley-Davidson in Waynesville, NC. and the engine died. About 40 minutes later I turned on the ignition and the battery hadn't recovered enough to make the LED on my radio visible. I had totally drained the battery limping to the dealership.
Ghost Town Harley-Davidson gave us the best service and consideration you could imagine. They put us ahead of their work schedule and had the stator replaced by closing time. Our mechanic, Jason, test rode the bike after closing time. He didn’t feel comfortable with us leaving. The battery wasn't fully charged, and he felt there would be too much strain on the charging system. He suggested we spend the night in the Lodge Motel, so we took his advice.
Jason took us to the Lodge Motel in his private car and the motel was even kind enough to give us a discount because of our dilemma. Another GTHD employee (can't remember his name) picked us up late the next morning in his car.
During the morning they load tested my battery twice, recharged it and decided the battery was still good. How could you possibly get better service than all this. It was like we were family. This dealership was so helpful, and went out of their way to take care of us. This is one of the best experiences that I have had with a Harley-Davidson dealership. I just can't make enough great comments about GTHD and all of the employees. It made us feel good to know there are still dealerships like this in America and being a HD dealership made it even better. It seemed like everyone from the shop to the showroom knew about our situation and different employees would continually keep up updated on the repair progress. Everyone was super nice to us and helped us feel at ease.
The dealership has a large selection of clothes and riding apparel that I'd never seen, which is another good reason to stop in at Ghost Town Harley-Davidson http://www.ghosttownharley.com/ in Waynesville, NC. If you are near that part of the country and need anything, stop by and give them some business.
Also tell them that I am especially thankful of how they treated us and repaired our 1998, 95th Anniversary Ultra Classic Electra Glide during Oct 3rd and 4th of 2008.
When the mechanics decided our bike was back to pristine condition, they wished us a safe and enjoyable ride. We set out again on the return trip in the early afternoon. Since we were much farther East than originally planned, we decided to ride "The Blue Ridge Parkway" http://www.blueridgeparkway.org/ into and through "The Great Smoky Mountains National Park" http://www.great.smoky.mountains.national-park.com/info.htm.
We also took advantage of the clear weather and and climbed "ClingmansDome," http://www.clingmansdome.com/ the highest point in TN. During my previous visits there, thick clouds usually covered the mountain top so this was a great opportunity. After riding the remainder of Smoky Mountain National Park, we took the back roads to I-40.
We again rode in 200 mile increments on I-40 to make up for lost time. After many hours we reached Jackson, TN, We didn't feel safe riding any longer since it was near midnight, so we stopped for the night. We were confident we could have ridden all the way through, but what would that prove. We would have arrived home around 4 am and then we would have felt worn out all day, so we opted for the nights rest.
Early this summer we visited our kids in Florida on the Harley. Returning home, we stayed on the bike for 18 hours and arrived home at 3:30 am. We had no desire to repeat that experience. After sleeping at the motel in Jackson, Tenn., we got up late Sunday morning, ate breakfast, then rode I-40 for the remainder of the trip. We stopped at a great Oriental restaurant called HO HO’s in Forest City. Very reasonably priced and many selections on the buffet. We arrived home near 4 pm.
Within ten days we rode 2300 miles. We rode 850 miles during four days at the Fayetteville BBQ motorcycle rally http://www.bikesbluesandbbq.org/ . After BBBQ we went home for a couple of days in order to work on the bike. Then off we went again and rode an additional 1430 miles in 4 1/2 days. We picked a great time to go, no rain, the leaves were turning at higher elevations and other than the stator going out, the bike ran great. We really enjoyed our trip and look forward to returning to the Smokies. When I do, I will definitely stop and visit Ghost Town Harley-Davidson in Waynesville, NC and thank them again. And if I spend the night, I'll stay at the Lodge motel.
Motorcycle trips just don't get any better than that. Sometimes it may take a little stress and worry like a mechanical failure for one to be reminded that there are still alot of good people in this world and a lot of them live near Waynesville, NC."
"After getting back from the Fayetteville motorcycle rally on Sunday, I needed to work on my bike. The shops are closed on Monday so Tuesday I picked up the parts. Tuesday night and Wednesday morning I changed out the intake manifold gaskets. Melanie's vacation was coming to an end, so we had to make every hour count. After a test ride, I felt good about the way the bike was running and the weather forecast in Tenn. and NC looked excellent. So, on Wednesday at 2 PM we left home on another trip "looking for adventure".
Melanie with the Ultra Classic in the Smokies a few years ago. On that trip they took the camper.
CP with the two Yorkies they take with them on their trips."Melanie and I have put alot of miles on my Ultra Classic so we often go 200 miles at a time, stopping only for gas. We rode 450 miles Wednesday and found a motel in Cookeville, TN around 11:30.
The next day we got up at 7 AM and rode 350 miles. Taking a back country road to Tellico Plains, NC, we rode the"CheroholaSkyway" http://www.westernncattractions.com/cherohal.htm and the "Tail of the Dragon" http://www.tailofthedragon.com/ a few times. The Tail of the Dragon has 318 curves in 11 miles. Afterwards we rode to Bryce City for the night.
The next day we rode to Maggie Valley, NC to see the "Wheels Through Time" museum http://www.wheelsthroughtime.com/. This is a museum that every motorcycle enthusiast should see. They started up some bikes for us, including one built in 1920 which was one of only three known to exist, it started on first kick. They claim to be the museum that runs, because they take exhibit bikes out and ride them. Great museum, as you can see by the website. "
CP at the Wheels Through Time Museum a few years ago. When this pic and the two below were taken, the museum was at Mt. Vernon, IL. It has moved to Maggie Valley, NC.
"We originally planned on heading back home that Friday after visiting the museum. We intended to ride Friday evening and stop at a motel by nightfall, then get up Saturday and ride the rest of the way home. By doing so we would have Sunday to recover and rest before the end of Melanie's vacation.
It didn't happen the way we planned. Our bike wouldn't start at the museum. Some kind people from Conn. and Fla. pushed it and it started. As soon as the engine was running, I noticed there was no voltage charging. I knew what the problem was, it had happened once before. The stator was out and this was something that had to be fixed before attempting a return home.
I removed the headlight fuse since it would otherwise have drained the battery quickly, then rode out following some hand written directions to the nearest Harley-Davidson dealership. The directions didn't specify whether to turn right or left at the various intersections. At every turn, I kept thinking I was going the wrong direction. This just added to the stress as my engine continued to progressively run poorly. Soon into the ride, my trusted old ride was wanting to cease running as the bike battery was rapidly being depleted. We could only reach about 30 mph and it was becoming difficult to keep the bike running. With it coughing, spitting and only hitting occasionally we pulled into Ghost Town Harley-Davidson in Waynesville, NC. and the engine died. About 40 minutes later I turned on the ignition and the battery hadn't recovered enough to make the LED on my radio visible. I had totally drained the battery limping to the dealership.
Ghost Town Harley-Davidson gave us the best service and consideration you could imagine. They put us ahead of their work schedule and had the stator replaced by closing time. Our mechanic, Jason, test rode the bike after closing time. He didn’t feel comfortable with us leaving. The battery wasn't fully charged, and he felt there would be too much strain on the charging system. He suggested we spend the night in the Lodge Motel, so we took his advice.
Jason took us to the Lodge Motel in his private car and the motel was even kind enough to give us a discount because of our dilemma. Another GTHD employee (can't remember his name) picked us up late the next morning in his car.
During the morning they load tested my battery twice, recharged it and decided the battery was still good. How could you possibly get better service than all this. It was like we were family. This dealership was so helpful, and went out of their way to take care of us. This is one of the best experiences that I have had with a Harley-Davidson dealership. I just can't make enough great comments about GTHD and all of the employees. It made us feel good to know there are still dealerships like this in America and being a HD dealership made it even better. It seemed like everyone from the shop to the showroom knew about our situation and different employees would continually keep up updated on the repair progress. Everyone was super nice to us and helped us feel at ease.
The dealership has a large selection of clothes and riding apparel that I'd never seen, which is another good reason to stop in at Ghost Town Harley-Davidson http://www.ghosttownharley.com/ in Waynesville, NC. If you are near that part of the country and need anything, stop by and give them some business.
Also tell them that I am especially thankful of how they treated us and repaired our 1998, 95th Anniversary Ultra Classic Electra Glide during Oct 3rd and 4th of 2008.
When the mechanics decided our bike was back to pristine condition, they wished us a safe and enjoyable ride. We set out again on the return trip in the early afternoon. Since we were much farther East than originally planned, we decided to ride "The Blue Ridge Parkway" http://www.blueridgeparkway.org/ into and through "The Great Smoky Mountains National Park" http://www.great.smoky.mountains.national-park.com/info.htm.
We also took advantage of the clear weather and and climbed "ClingmansDome," http://www.clingmansdome.com/ the highest point in TN. During my previous visits there, thick clouds usually covered the mountain top so this was a great opportunity. After riding the remainder of Smoky Mountain National Park, we took the back roads to I-40.
We again rode in 200 mile increments on I-40 to make up for lost time. After many hours we reached Jackson, TN, We didn't feel safe riding any longer since it was near midnight, so we stopped for the night. We were confident we could have ridden all the way through, but what would that prove. We would have arrived home around 4 am and then we would have felt worn out all day, so we opted for the nights rest.
Early this summer we visited our kids in Florida on the Harley. Returning home, we stayed on the bike for 18 hours and arrived home at 3:30 am. We had no desire to repeat that experience. After sleeping at the motel in Jackson, Tenn., we got up late Sunday morning, ate breakfast, then rode I-40 for the remainder of the trip. We stopped at a great Oriental restaurant called HO HO’s in Forest City. Very reasonably priced and many selections on the buffet. We arrived home near 4 pm.
Within ten days we rode 2300 miles. We rode 850 miles during four days at the Fayetteville BBQ motorcycle rally http://www.bikesbluesandbbq.org/ . After BBBQ we went home for a couple of days in order to work on the bike. Then off we went again and rode an additional 1430 miles in 4 1/2 days. We picked a great time to go, no rain, the leaves were turning at higher elevations and other than the stator going out, the bike ran great. We really enjoyed our trip and look forward to returning to the Smokies. When I do, I will definitely stop and visit Ghost Town Harley-Davidson in Waynesville, NC and thank them again. And if I spend the night, I'll stay at the Lodge motel.
Motorcycle trips just don't get any better than that. Sometimes it may take a little stress and worry like a mechanical failure for one to be reminded that there are still alot of good people in this world and a lot of them live near Waynesville, NC."
Congratulations CP and Melanie on another memorable ride.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Interesting Auction
I found this in the news today, oh boy. It amazes me sometimes how just thinking of a sentence reminds me of a song.
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/smallbusiness/0810/gallery.Bidding_on_Legends.smb/index.html
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/smallbusiness/0810/gallery.Bidding_on_Legends.smb/index.html
Friday, October 10, 2008
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