New Horse in the Stable....

I walked in to Classic Iron about 2 weeks ago just to look around and get some ideas on prices.

Then as I'm leaving I spot her...

2008 Heritage Softail Classic, Copperhead Pearl/Red Hot two tones and only 3250 original miles. Not a scratch or ding. Even the chrome is perfect and the price was just right.

After some figuring, research and stress on buying a second bike I pulled the trigger and brought her home today.

What a sweet ride! Totally different from the sporty. Smooth, quite and very comfortable. I still will be riding the sporty but now I have a true long distance bike.

I had to take the windshield off. I never have like using those things and added a little extra insurance...

Fall is coming...

My Shendoah Shag performance sucked beyond bad. It pretty much killed my wanting to play disc golf for a while.

This weekend the temps dropped dramatically and I decided to drive to the mountains today.

Plug the headphones in. Crank up some of my favorite music and head out for an all day ride.

Getting up on Skyline and the warm day turned a nice cool. Not a lot of traffic, you can ride for miles before seeing another vehicle.

It takes a lot of the disc golf misery away when you can ride for the day and have fun.

Last Day of Vacation

So I took a week of for family visiting. They went home early leaving me free for the weekend. Yesterday I had a great day of disc golf and today was pretty good too.

Ken wanted to go for a ride today so I met him for a ride down to Waugh's in Orange for a classic car show. Then a sweet ride north on 522 to Culpeper to stop by our favorite restaurant "The Stable".

As usual I got the Robert E. Lee and Ken ordered the U.S. Grant.

As we were leaving I stopped and talked to a couple at the bar, Pete & Terry. They had recently moved to  the 'Burg from Maine and didn't know the area too well. Ken & I wasn't sure where we were going after lunch. Pete & Terry had never been on Skyline Drive I suggested we hit it and they were happy to come along.

We continued north on 522 to Sperryville and rode Skyline south to Ruckersville and then back to The 'Burg. Pete & Terry were great and we had a great day of riding and looking forward to our next ride.

Rolling Thunder XXIV

Winter Project: Mission Accomplished!

A month and $90 later the custom seat for my AirHawk pad is done. It totally changes the look of the Sporty. The old Sundowner seat beat the hell out of the paint on the rear fender. Repaint this Spring is the next project.

Winter Project: Update

Just about got the seat pan done. Smoothed out the metal & filled out the shape with a little body mud. The mounting base plate is ready all that's needed is the mounting brackets that are on the way.

Now it's time to start practicing on sewing the custom cover.

Winter Project: Update

The SP Project is coming along. The seat is starting to take shape. I found an interesting way to smooth out the metal, a Craftsman Hammerhead cordless hammer.

All 105 Miles Today...

Weather was cooler so I went out for an all day'er.

Rode up to Front Royal and took Skyline (again) all the way down to the end then back home. Lots of bikes out there today and the traffic was light. The Loft Mountain section I was all but alone. I met a couple of guys from Frederick, Maryland that were headed home the slow way. All the way up the Blue Ridge Parkway & Skyline.

Today's ride was about 325 miles today.

Finally Went for a Ride

It had been a while since I went for a ride since the Deal's Gap trip.

Honestly, after 1600+ miles I really didn't want to go on an all day run. But the weather cooled off just enough and I headed to the mountains today.

Up on Skyline the air was crisp and cool enough to need a jacket.

It was a great day for a ride.

Rolling Thunder XXIII

Ken & I rode up to D.C. for Rolling Thunder. It was a hot day but not too bad. We didn't ride the parade route today. Our first attempt at parking on the other side of the Memorial Bridge before anyone else was there got us chased off by the cops. So we ended up on the back side of Constitution Ave. When we tried to get in to the parade route the cops made us take a side road and before you know it we are on 66 west headed out of town. So we just headed home.

But it was a great day anyway.

Day of Backroads

Spent the day riding the backroads. It was a perfect day. Riding the roads with full tree canopies really cools the air. Every now and then the sweet smell of blooming honey suckle.

Tidewater Stamp Run

400 miles, only 2 wrong turns, 3 HD Tour stamps, 1 HD helmet for $50. It was a windy ride, almost blown off the road a few times.

I go all the way down to the Outer Banks and figure I'll see a light house while I;m close by.

It didn't go as I planned...

New Boots...

I'm not much of a boot person. Never have been. I constantly get comments that I shouldn't wear sneakers while I ride.

But a deal came to my attention that was too good to pass up. Beleive it or not Sears has a discontinued Harley Davidson Paraspinna 8" boot for $49.95.

Normally this would be a good deal. The Harley tax on boots is pretty high. Other sites have this boot listed from $100 - $160.

What made this an irresistible was once you dropped the boots in the checkout the price dropped again to $36. If you put the code word in the discount box you got another discount that dropped the price to $29 for a total of $36 including shipping.

Even if they didn't fit I couldn't pass up this deal. To my surprise they fit great. It's going to take me a while to get used to walking in shoes that have a big sole. It reminds me a little of the boots Frankenstein had.

Richmond Run

The weather held out and I was able to get Colonial, South Richmond & North Richmond Stamps. Seven stamps down and only 10 to go...

225 miles today, 2 rain stops, 10 mile traffic back up, 4 wrong turns, 3 Virginia HD Tour stamps & a few backroad twisties.

Great Day... Bad finish

Rode out to Staunton to get my HD tour stamp. Rode Skyline Drive on the way home. It was such a great ride & great day how it ended just sucked.

A piece of angle iron fell off a truck and bounce off a car right in to my path. I was able to not hit it head on but it hit the edge of my front tire and shot out and hit the car in the next lane. The debris put a nice slice in the side wall of my new front tire.

At least I didn't get wiped out...

Backroads History Tour

Nothing special planned for today. I ended up riding about 150 miles of backroads and stopping at every road side historical marker.

There are a lot of markers in the Fredericksburg - Caroline & Spotsylvania area.

I found the remains of the Garrett House where John Wilkes Booth was killed. It's actually in the median of the road divider but all that's there are a couple of large foundation rocks.

Virginia HD Tour stamp #2

It was cloudy & cool this morning. Looked like rain was on the way but I headed out to Winchester any way.

By the time I arrived at Grove's HD to get my passport stamped it cleared up and warmed up nicely.

I rode Skyline Drive from Front Royal to the Sperryville exit for the ride home.

Best Week Ever & it's not done yet!

It's been sunny & warm all week. Leaving for work sometimes several hours early to take the long way in.

Today I stopped by Carl's for a Cherry Slush Float.

Forecast for great weather all weekend. The plan for tomorrow is to ride to Winchester & get my HD tour stamp and then ride Skyline south to Sperryville and end up passing through Culpeper on the way home.

Hopefully The Stable will be open.

16 more to go...

I picked up my Virginia HD Tour passport today and East Coast was my first stamp.

16 more dealerships to visit before the end of Summer.

Cloudy & Warm ...

The sun wasn't out as much today but it was just as warm. I didn't venture out as far today. Rode though the back roads of Spotsy county.