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Gummiente wrote:

Well, I lost it. I hauled that Ural down from 80kmh with the rear tire howling and the front tire juddering, then spun it into a u-turn so fast and so hard that the sidecar was still in the air when the rig left the road. I trundled down the grassy slope and chased that stupid peckerhead back into the treeline where he belonged, screaming obscenities at him the whole time.

Stupid. Friggin'. Bambi.

I see you have a deeply compassionate heart, Gummi. No doubt you will be rewarded one day for services rendered to dumb beasts.

That's a very funny story. And yes, you are crazy!

Cheers

P.S. Love the publicity shots earlier. You make a great couple.

I was heading west out of Kingston on the 401 earlier this evening, riding in the middle lane and right in the thick of rush hour traffic, when I spotted a suspicious looking vehicle coming up from behind in the fast lane. My attention was divided between watching it in the mirrors and scanning the road ahead, so I wasn't totally prepared when the minivan in the slow lane moved over NOW into my lane; no signals, no warning. I hit the brakes hard then leaned left to put as much space between the van and my bike, but couldn't make a lane change because of a car to my left. I managed to miss the minivan, but the angle of evasion gave me a good look into the driver's side window. And there she was, some dizzy b*tch yapping away into her cell phone blissfully unaware of what had just happened.

It was then that I looked in my mirror once more and finally recognised the suspicious car, which was now hanging off my left rear quarter. It was an OPP cruiser and they had obviously witnessed the incident. When I made the palm up, arm extended "wtf" signal and then angrily pointed at the minivan, the cruiser immediately wicked it up and pulled alongside it. They spent some time there, at least 15 seconds, trying to attract the attention of the driver. When that didn't work (why wouldn't they have hit the siren?) they dropped back and pulled in close behind her, positioning the cruiser so the flashing headlights and roof lightbar would be filling her left side mirror. Another 10 seconds or so and her signal light finally comes on and they pull her over as I motor on by.

I'm sure she was let off with just a warning, but you have no idea how happy it made me feel to finally have a cop around when I needed one.

^ glad you made out alright with the mini-van, soccer mom and the cell phone. What a combination. Glad the OPP was there for you. Thus providing a safe cushion between you and the van, after the can was pulled over

Continued safe riding.

.................It does feel GOOD, dunnit!

Angie wanted to head up to the Harley dealer in Perth today, as she needed to take some pics of their building to use as inspiration for her next series of paintings. She'll be doing 10 large canvas oil paintings of motorcycle scenes, some of them starring yours truly.

We had a nice, relaxed ride for the most part and stopped a few times along the way for some pics. Here's my bike at Narrows Lock, about 40km from Gananoque...


Here's Angie's bike on the opposite side of the road...


At Cameron's H-D in Perth, one of the last original and non-yuppified dealerships...


A gratuitous Llama shot...


And a cottage across from the locks on the Rideau Canal at Kingston Mills Road...


Tomorrow we'll be heading out on another country roads ride, but this time I'll be taking The Wonder Dog along in the Ural.

Took my last ride with Red Oktober this morning. Rode her to the Motosport Plus in Kingston and dropped her off, not because it's the end of the season but rather because I've traded her in. In about a week or two I'll be taking delivery of a new '07 Road Glide in Pacific Blue Pearl. Long story, but I've been thinking about doing this for a few months now and figured that this was the best time of year to do a trade-in, as dealers in this part of the country tend to run out of new stock pretty quick.

There were a couple of reasons for doing this, one being my dissastisfaction with the level of vibration felt through the bars, seat and footpegs at one particular rpm. I'd taken it into the dealer three times for this, twice to replace torn motor mounts and once for a complete check to try and diagnose the problem. They couldn't find anything wrong, but I still believe there is because I demo rode two other Dyna series bikes and they did not vibrate anywhere near what mine did. Aside from the motor mount and vibration, I ended up taking a long, hard look at my riding style and at what I really wanted in a bike... I love the nimble handling of the FXDI, but the comfort just wasn't there on long rides. I had put hardbags, crashbars and a windshield on and it wasn't until someone called it a "mini-bagger" that I realised what I was doing. I was trying to make a touring rig out of a performance bike. After a demo ride on a Road Glide a couple years ago, I knew that someday I would own one but I figured the price would be out of my reach for a long time. So when I was at the dealer I had him compare the price of an FLHT, FLHR and the FLTR with the accessories I wanted and all three came out to within a few dollars of each other in monthly payments. The FLTR had the best value for the money, what with the stereo, cruise control and fairing so that's the one that made the most sense to me.

More to follow when I get the new bike.

Good choice....blue is so much better....

Picked up my new Road Glide at the dealer today and took the long way home (100km instead of the usual 27km route), riding through rain all the way. Didn't care, though, as I was one happy camper. Had the tunes blaring from the stereo as I varied the rpm's and got to know my new ride - from the first impressions I can tell you that "Bluebird" and I are going to be very happy together.

Here's my thoughts after the first ride...

Coming off the '06 Dyna Super Glide, the first thing I noticed was the lack of vibration at speed. This bike feels just like my old '04 FLHT, but more comfy. It shakes noticeably at idle, but as soon as it's put into gear and the clutch is let out she is smooth as glass. Lots of power from the new 96" mill and the gear ratios are better spaced than on the Dyna. The mufflers sound great - no need to change them at all, IMO. I was a little disappointed at the small, odd shaped fairing storage pockets. After seeing the lids in the pics on the Harley site I figured there'd be loads of room, but no. I can fit my sunglasses in one pocket and my camera in the other, though, so there's no need for a tank pouch. The handling was a real surprise; it was very windy today but the bike tracked nice and straight and the handlebars felt light as a feather - the frame mounted fairing is everything that RG owners said it would be. I think a taller windshield will be the first accessory, as I find it to be about 2" too low for my tastes (I'm 5'10"). The seat is very comfy and I don't see a need to change it to a solo just yet (the wife has her own bike), but the passenger floorboards were removed as soon as I got home. They really interfered with my legs at stoplights and when backing out of parking spots. I like the stereo, it's the first time I've ever had one on a bike. I find it easy to use, although it's a bit of a reach to the on/off button while riding. I tried the cruise control for a couple km's (keeping in mind I'm in the break-in phase for the next 700km) and couldn't help but giggle at the novelty of it all. So much better than having to fumble with that little star wheel under the throttle grip. However, the on/off switch is on the right side of the dash which makes for a bit of an awkward reach with the left hand when trying to turn it on while riding. Mine came with the accessory plug under the seat and it fit my electric vest hookup perfectly. I was surprised to find a tool roll in the saddlebag, with chrome tools no less, but I decided not to keep it on the bike. If this RG is as reliable as my FLHT was I'll never have to use it anyway.

That's about all I can think of for now. I'm off to the garage to stare at her again for awhile. Here's a pic taken at my parent's place when I stopped by there on my way home:

Hi Gummi

When I saw the pic of the Road Glide you posted a while back I have to admit I thought, Hmmmmm! No! (That's polite). I didn't like the big blunt front end and the raked lines. Cruisers are not my style anyway. But when I saw the recent pics I changed my mind. She looks really smart and the two of you look like a perfect fit. Good choice. Hope she matures well.

Cheers

Richard

Well, "poo poo". The time has come to put the Harleys away for the winter, as the weather is just too unpredictable and cold to risk the chance of one more ride. We store them at the dealership 27km away, so our last ride of the season will be later this morning as we head over there to drop them off. Just as soon as it stops snowing.

Angie is just 8km short of cracking the 10,000km mark which is her goal for the season. Kudos to my babe!

As for me, I've managed since 1 Jan 06:

16,051 on the Ural
14,500 on the Super Glide
2,130 on the Road Glide
32,681 for the season so far.

That number will increase before the end of the year, as I'll be riding the Ural all winter again.