Bonneville America Forums Forums Off Topic Discussion Forums Lounge So let's hear about your 1st ride in 2008.

I'll go first.

It was a freakish 80 degrees out so I decided, since I am independently wealthy and I have LOADS of time, that I would take a quick spin.

I went over to where I keep my bike for the winter where I met up with Peter Egan of Cycle World fame.

He said "I was in the neighborhood and thought you would like to take a quick spin."

I mentioned that I loved his stories and that it would be an honor to ride with him.

He was riding a concept bike that one of the major manufacturers had lent him. He wanted ME to ride it for a bit and give my 2 cents so that the 'company' could make little tweaks to the bike before launching the model next year.

HOLY COW, what an opportunity!

Anyway, We spent the next 4 hours and 300 miles riding the best twisties in Massachusetts. We were wide open throttle on the secondary roads without a care in the world with the sun beating down on us.

Everything smelt fresh and clean and the sun was more then warming. It was energizing. It was like recharging our batteries after a LONG cold winter.

The bikes ran strong and the 'concept' bike will be released with the name PT1100. Short for Peter Egan/Toe Knee 1100. Pretty cool, huh?

POOF! Then I woke up. It's below zero here today and it doesn't look like I'll be able to ride for quite a few months.

I waited on Dec. 31st until the fireworks went off in Sydney then I rode to work in the fog at around 29 degrees, got wet and thoroughly chilled. At least it was sunny and 35 when I came home...after that the temps fell into the teens and the bikes have been parked in the shop waiting for slightly warmer riding conditions.
Totally bypassed the New Year's Day BareBack Polar Bear ride at the local bike shop...

Great read...err...dream, I guess, Tony!

Yep! Mr. Egan's column is always my first stop whenever I receive each new month's Cycle World.

Okay...here's an outline of my "first ride of the year".

Deciding to pick the Britten V1000 out of my vast collection of motorcycles(yeah...I'm one of the Uber-rich just like you, dude), I had my personal valet help me load it into the back of my Silverado. I jumped on my BA and rode it to Willow Springs Raceway here in SoCal while Higgins was driving the Chevy there.

After we arrived, the Britten was unloaded from the truck and I donned my riding gear for a few hours of fun aboard this most rare, beautiful and innovative machine. As I threw a leg over it, I looked up to the heavens and thanked the Kiwi who built this fantastic bike, a man who unfortunately passed on to his reward at much too young an age. And then, off I went to "track day nirvana".

Between rides, Tanya the part-time Umbrella Girl was peeling grapes and feeding them to me as I lounged.(don't tell the wife)

The day ended much too quickly, but as Higgins and I loaded the Britten back onto the truck and then as I jumped upon the Triumph for the return to my estate, one could spot the broad smile(no..not Tanya) upon my face from yards away.

That's what I'm talk'n about!

Well if you absolutely have to know here is a decription of my first ride of 2008.

Woke up yesterday and realized that it was a perfect day to ride my trusty steed. So i pulled my nice shiney black Ford F150 Superduty Turbo Nutter Harley Davidson edition with the shiny chrome spinners truck out of the heated garage and parked her on the front underground heated driveway. Then i went in for a nice refreshing cup of tea.

THEN, i went into the garden to my rear temputrure controlled trailor garage and pulled out my ac/heated four wheeled three bike trailor and using my JD Tractor towed her to my front underground hearted driveway. Then i went in for a nice refreshing cup of tea.

Then putting on my finest white rubber gloves i pushed my HD Fat Person bike out of its tempature controlled oxygen tank and very carefully pushed it into the pre-heated trailor and tied her down. Then i went in for a refreshing cup of tea.

Then, after consulting with the Weather Channel on my computer i entered the grid coordinates for my intended destination into my GPS system and after realizing that this trip was going to take the best part of 15 minutes i decided to have a refreshing cup of tea.

After my tea, i called all my riding buddies and checked that they were all ready. Billy Bub said he would be late as he was filling up the winnabago with gas, and Jim Bob was having difficulty deciding which dew rag to wear. I wish HD would stick to one color of dew rag. It does make it difficult to decide when there are 227 different shades of HD Black to pick from.

Anyway, on with my trip. With Stepponwolf blasting out of my Bose 38 Speaker Quad in-truck stereo system i headed out onto the open road. And 3 minutes ahead of schedule i pulled up outside my local hooters ready for the annual bike lunch afternoon ride. Shortly after Billy Bub drew up with his trailor in tow. I do wish he would get it color coded to match the winnabago. His dayglo orange 'bago just looks wrong with the C-Rod silver trailor. Got a cell phone call from Jim Bob, he is so confused and flustered over what dew rag to wear that his blood pressure is up again and so he wont be comming. I do feel sorry for Jim Bob, that's the second year in a row that he has missed this ride. I will check in with him on the way home, he sounds very down and im worried that he may hit the hard stuff this afternoon. That Folgers superdark plays havoc with his heartburn.

Well before we get the bikes out i pulled out my HD flask for a refreshing cup of tea.

2.30 time to get the bikes out. Again, wearing my finest white rubber gloves i carefully untied my gleaming pink Fat Person from the trailor and very carefully backed her out of the trailor and parked her in front of the Hooters front door. Being sure to put my metal foot plate under the side stand. We dont want a repeat of last years incident when Mary Lou's 1200 Hipster sank into the soft verge and it took four guys and a backhoe get it back on its wheels.

Anyway, bikes in place its time to put on the safety gear. But first. A refreshing cup of tea.

Whoooeeee, helmet on, shades on, denim cut off on, its time to start the bikes up. Billy Bub went first. Oh man, i swear that thing has got louder since last year. What a glorious sound. The people in the office block across the street were all at their windows gawking at our rides and the sound of Billy Bubs bike. They were trying to shout something at us but we could not hear. I hate triple glazed office blocks.

Then it was my turn. Oh the humiliaion, it wont start. Im am so distressed. This is so heart breaking. Ive been waiting a whole year for this moment and nothing. Not even a pop and a bang. Dead Battery. Billy Bub reved his bike up a few more times while i pushed my Fat B1tch back into the trailor, no need for my dissapointment to ruin his ride.

After a refreshing cup of tea it was time to go home. only 365 days till we do this again and i have promised my self this time i will charge the battery before i set off.

With all the tea drinking going on, it's amazing you have time to ride at all!

This is the first winter since I had my America that I haven't ridden in December or January. I'm a little bummed at all the snow we've been getting.

I tell you about my first 08 ride. I went out with the BIL and the wife cousins. Carved and jumped in the 3ft powder in Concord NH for 2 hours. And suffered a loss of compression in the left cylinder. Burned a hole right through the piston. So now the sled is in pieces in my garage right next to my bike.

Quote:

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Between rides, Tanya the part-time Umbrella Girl was peeling grapes and feeding them to me as I lounged.(don't tell the wife)

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So that's where Tanya went!

The wife really impressed me!! 25 degrees out, but clear skies and sunny so we both layered up and jumped on the bike for an hour ride around the local lake. Not bad for a New Years ride!

Three days in, and nobody's sobered up yet.

as soon as I get this free snowmobile running I will post my first ride of 2008 story.
Oh, that's not what you meant??

I missed my first ride of the year, the Polar Bear ride with the CMA and Southern Cruisers, due to my spark plug issue.
Winterizing a motorcycle:
Windscreen - a must.
Polar Hands,used by snowmobile riders for years - a very nice addition.
Heat lamp to clamp on your lower frame to warm the engine enough to start at 20°F - another must have.

I got a free snowmobile 2 years ago,it turned out to be not quite so free. The clutch has broken parts in it but still works but I'm afraid to take it anywhere and the intake has a crack in it. It does start but up to this point is a lawn ornament. I am afraid the track might not be so hot now sitting in the pine needles for 2 years. I pulled the rope this fall and the engine still turns. It's some old single cyl. Ski-doo.

I could go on and on about my New Years ride, but there really isn't much to say. Weather was nice, rode out about 150 miles, stopped for something to drink, rode home..................Oh, Is that not what Y'all wanted to hear?

Lets see 0530 air temp 23, i can see my breath, I am gonna ride the bike to work. And I dont know why. Wak out to the garage, hit the button onthe wall and the door opens. The wind blows in and it feels like a artic blast. I shrug it off, its only 14 miles to work. I turn the key on, ights come on, dash lights up, and I pull the choke. I figure i will lets the "carb heater" do its job brfor I thumb the starter. I push her out the garage and into what felt like the artic tundra. (yes my garage is heated) I thumb the starter button and she comes to life. Idle is a ittle low, but quicky comes up. I leave her there while i go inside to fetch my lap top bag and put the heavy coat and gloves.

Come back out and she is purring like a kitten. Throw my leg over the seat, stand her up, flip the side stand, pull the clutch and kick her into first gear. Close my eyes, clear my throat and pull off. In the 1 mile form my drive way to end of my neighborhood I am frozen. Not talking "oh I am cold",I am talking my hands are stuck to the grips frozen. I turn the bike around open the garage, park the bike and take the truck to work..

Well there you go. My first ride of the year was a whole 2 miles lol

Love,Peace, and Monshine for all
Matt

hey Matt, being that i have lived in the north and have seen times when the only way i had to get around was my bike, and then i remember times...just like that!!!! and you telling it??

I did my first "organized" ride. It was a Polar Bear run, and unusually sunny here in the land of rain. Made it about 90 of the 103 mile ride at a balmy 42 degrees. We got turned around several times with the lousy directions, and decided that Pizza was sounding good, 'cause we couldn't feel our feet anymore. Since I bought my '07 Speedmaster in September I just try to ride between the wind , rain, and ice storms. You gotta love the Pacific NW. "Don't like the weather? Wait five minutes."

lol must be. That or the fact I hate driving anything with a steering wheel.

It was colder than a welldigger's ****** in Montana, but I had managed to install my new quartz tube radiant heaters in my garage over the holidays. New Years day was kind of a downer as it marked the final day of 11 days off work and we hadn't won the lottery yet. So what better way to lift my spirits than a ride???

So, I opened the garage door, pulled the wife's Blazer out, closed the garage door and hopped on the bike. The heater's were slowly re-heating the recently changed air as I rode backwards, then forward, then backwards, then forward again until I had ridden to the center of the garage. I spent a good part of the day cleaning and waxing and lubing and polishing the bike. Then I installed the new flashing brake light I got for Christmas and test fit the new ez brackets and tiny hardbags I had scored off ebay. While I had the garage to myself, I decided to cut a piece of leftover indoor/outdoor carpet to put on the garage floor where the bike would spend the winter. With that accomplished, the only thing left was to take another ride.
I hopped on and went forward and backwards and forward and backwards until I finally had her close enough to the wall and the oil-filled electric heater and in her new carpeted winter nest.....

It was a short ride, but a merry one.

Then I went back in the house, drank beer, watched tv with the wife, said Happy New Year, got kissed a few times, then ate saurkraut, pork, kielbasa, mashed potatoes, and a hot dog, then went to bed and woke up with stomach cramps and gas.

All in all a good first ride of 2008....

I was going to tell you guys about my first ride for 08 but I couldn't do it to yus

This morning, 25 lovely degrees F with clear sky and roads.

Yee . Ha . 1:00 A.M. Cold , very cold . No bikes anywhere , very Twilight Zone-ish . Riding around Atlanta Southside , pulled up to a red light on a two - lane , I'm in the right lane , a car pulls up beside me on the RIGHT !! Well , when the light changes I can imagine the ensuing pain as I am squished between all the cars at this busy intersection . I coulda kicked in Stupid's fender with my right boot and took off . I just turned right and went home to live another day .

Well, I actually went for a ride on New years day, about 1130 here in Boston. IT was cold and mostly miserable, but it was the first ride. Short ride to the local bar that was of course open. Couple of glasses of umm, water? and I rode home. Plan on being out this weekend as it is supposed to be 50 degrees F.

Well Wade, as long as each and every story around here ends with that last line o' yours, "went home to live another day"...then we can safely call it a GREAT STORY with a HAPPY ENDING, right?!

So, does this "fictional misses" ever get her "fictional breakfast", and does this "fictional Triumph rider" ever get out of this "fictional doghouse"???

(ya know, I'm tempted to go directly to the last page of this story to find out, but I always feel I'm sort'a cheatin' whenever I do that)

Went out riding last night (20-25 degrees), thinkin maybe the bike doesn't like the cold so much. It was running a little rough under 2000 rpms. It still cruised along nicely on the highway though. Me? Well, I ride with a half helmet and no chaps, so I was a little chilly. That cold was like an ice cream headache in my forehead.

My hat's off to you cooler weather "seasoned" guys (and gals) that ride in freezing temperatures. I don't ride except in high 40s and above. Unfortunately, it's been way colder than it should be down here. We were in the low twenties the last two nights - hard freezes are rare here. I'm in the panhandle though, we do have winters.

This topic has been moved to CRAP FROM the ROAD .

My first ride of the year was this morning on my Thruxton.

Was a balmy 10 degrees, and man that feels a bit chilly at 110 mph. Coming down the off-ramp off of I-195, I found out my clutch (pretty sure it was just the cable) was frozen solid...FUN!

Got 'er down into 1st right before the light and somehow didn't get run over as I ran a red light in 1st and made it to work. The clutch still hasn't thawed out...hope I'll be able to make it home.

HEY!!! I think I see a BLOCKBUSTER of a MOVIE here, dude!!!
(tell Sly to forget that Rambo thing)

This story has BOFFO BOX OFFICE written ALL OVER IT!!! AND, it's even got an AK-47 in it TOO! Now that's SUREFIRE!(no pun intended.....much)

Now, tell ya what, Wade! Let me get a hold of my agent Murray Schwatzman for ya and see what he can do to help get this thing on the screen!

(you haven't given the Rights to this story to anybody else now have you?)

Murray Schwatzman ? Ha ! I already have a longterm relationship with ................Heinrich Helmholtz , but thank you . " Rights " to this story ? , this story has no right .

Thirty-seven degrees in Fort Lauderdale!!!
Had to ride to work anyway, dressed in about 6 layers, twenty miles of stop & go traffic.
I was glad for the red lights, it gave me a chance to warm my hands on the engine.
Up in the fifty's for the ride home, piece of cake.

But today I wimped out, 40 degrees and raining. Took the car.

I think cold rain is the worst, it just seems to cut right through you.

Took my new speedy bars, flyscreen and Kuryakin grips for a test ride, It felt like someone else's bike! Mid 40s around here. Ride Safe