Motorcycling

Dying. Man I am dying to ride my bike. It's so nasty outside. And there it sits. In my garage. Just waiting and wanting to be fired up and hit the street. It's too freakin' cold. Michigan. Fricken winter. It's killin' me.

It's been a helluva week. It started out really good. I took Monday off and went for a ride with Marty, Tim, Johnny, and Jeff. The weather was well, half-way decent and it's probably going to be the last long ride of the season. I hope not but the weather is definitely not cooperating. We started out at The Yacht Club in Livonia and then made our way to The South Lyon Hotel. It was a cool old place. I guess it was actually a hotel back in the day. Looked like an old western saloon. From there we took off...

Ride safe. Ride often.

Would love to ride this. At least into Texas. I don't think I'd want to go all the way to N'awlins. http://tinyurl.com/ceenlf

I don't know who these people are but this is the ride I want to go on. Very cool song too. Might have to download it!

Looks like I'm going to Minnesota again this year for a another great time playing golf. I booked my flights tonight. It's gonna be a crazy, busy, summer. A bike trip up to Randy's place, golf in Minnesota, golf up north with my boss, my golf league. Hopefully there will be plenty of bike rides too. The big question is. Where's all the money coming from??

Busy day today. But not rushed busy. Just out doin' things busy. After getting the house in order this morning Kody and I went and got my truck washed, put some air in the tires, and had the oil changed. When we came home, I got a bucket of warm water and my artificial shamois and wiped the truck down. I'll tell ya, it's a nice sunny day but it's still colder than hell out there! So with the truck all set, I decided to fire up my bike since I haven't started it all winter. Of course the battery was dead....

I just finished watching Easy Rider for the very first time. I know. It was only made in 1969. Whatever. I really enjoyed it though. I have to say I was quite surprised at the ending. Believe it or not I've never really heard anything about it except that it was worth a watch. It's hard to believe people were like that. There are probably still some people like that. Sad. Anyway, the beginning ride through the desert was just unbelievable! It is exactly what I want to do before I die. I will probably watch that part again. Freakin' awesome! Live by...

This came in the mail today. My girls got it for me for my birthday. It is one sweet shirt!  Slowly but surely my wardrobe is getting blacker. Gayla bought me a hydraulic jack for my bike. It's now safely jacked up off the ground and nicely tucked away for the winter. I even have more room in the garage now. Nice job on the presents guys! Love ya. </p></body></html>

Today is the Great Lakes Regional Chili Cookoff and I'm goin'. We're riding our bikes and it's gonna be cold. There was frost on the grass the last two mornings but we're not leaving until around 11:30 so hopefully it will warm up a litte by then. Right now as I'm writing this it's a cold 44 degrees but at least the sun is shining and that should help. But still, we're only looking at the mid 50's by noon and a high of only 60 or so for the whole day.  I put the windshield on my bike so hopefully that...

I went for a ride on my bike tonight. Nothing big, just around town here a bit and then stopped by my mother-in-laws for a quick beer and off again. I have to say that I. Am. Hooked. I've gotten to a point where I can really enjoy myself while I'm riding. I'm getting comfortable, but not too comfortable. I still look everywhere and will obviously continue to do so. But the funny thing is, the closer I get to my house, the more turns I make in the opposite direction! I just don't want to get off this thing...

Step 1. Wheel that bad boy out from the garage and park it in the driveway. Step 2. Put a shine on all the chrome and then shine it some more. Step 3. Get the camera and snap some pictures. Step 4. Get on an ride!    I went on a ride with a 7 of my buddies yesterday from Livonia to Hamburg Michigan. We were going to go through the town of Hell Michigan but we decided not to. It was a great time. All the roads were pretty much two-lane, curvy back roads and it was a really good experince for me. The guys...

Picked up the bike tonight. Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. I didn't ride it home from the dealer. I went with a friend and he rode it home for me. We went by the local high school so I could test the waters and get used to the bike without any traffic. I drove around the school a couple of times and I was ready to go. I drove the bike back to my house which wasn't too far. It was unbelievable! We stood around the bike for a while in the driveway and shot the shit a little. My neighbor across the street...

Is that my name on that sold sign??? Oh yeah it is! I should get it on Tuesday. Somewhere, my mom and dad are probably very nervous.

I went to Motor City Harley-Davidson on Thursday to check out the bikes. I don't really want to buy a new one because they're so expensive so I mostly looked at their used bikes. This is a 2002 Heritage Softail Classic. Nice bike and in good shape. I wasn't sure about the colors when I was there but the more I look at these pictures, I've probably looked at them at least 100 time since then, the more I like the colors. The bike needs a new back tire and we asked the salesperson what his best price would be with a warranty...

I'm goin' to take a look at this tonight... http://www.motorcityharley.com/Bikes/Photos/582.jpg I've been looking like crazy but I keep coming back to that one. Must be fate? We'll see. Also, while I'm there, I might as well buy my first Harley-Davidson tee shirt.. I've always said, "I can afford the bike. It's all the Harley clothes you have to buy afterward that'll break you!".

Not the person. The office. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. Yesterday I flew out of work and raced over to the Secretary of State to get my motorcycle endorsement. I walked in the door at 4:35 PM. They close at 5:00 PM. They have a little information desk and the woman behind it asked me what I was there for. I told her I was there for the endorsement. She looked at me like I was crazy. "We're not allowed to give the test out after 4:30." she said. What?! Are you kidding me??? Give me a break. There are at least 100...

I passed the tests! Sweet! Now it's off to the Secretary of State to take their little test and get my motorcycle endorsement. I'll probably do that either tomorrow or Wednesday since I have golf tonight. Uh oh. Now comes the hard part. I guess I gotta buy a bike.

I'm up early doin' some dba stuff for work and thought I'd post a little update on the motorcycle safety classes. All in all, I think yesterday went very well for me especially since I have never driven a motorcycle before. The only thing I had a little problem with was making a figure eight inside a box drawn on the pavement. You're supposed to do the turns without putting your feet down and you have to stay within the lines of the box. Give me a break. Can someone please tell me the "real world" application of this task? Anyone?...

Good news! I got in to the Motorcycle Safety Class! Last night was the classroom stuff and today and tomorrow are on the range. Riding! Well, kinda riding. Anyway, I've already had my first session on the bike and if I do say so myself, I was awesome! It didn't take long at all to become pretty comfortable even though I've never driven one before. I think one of the biggest things that you need to be able to do is know how to shift and work the clutch (IMO, working the clutch is huge!) and since I've had a few...