A Loooooooooooong Hot Ride

Yesterday, Sunday June 27th, we took our first looooooooong road trip with the NJ Road Riders motorcycle club. The route took us up along the PA side of the Deleware, across to New York where we went through Port Jervis, up a winding road to a high overlook called Eagles Nest. We could see the High Point Monument in NJ through very hazy air. The return trip took us through High Point, south through NJ, to home.
It was a hot, hot day. Because we opt to wear heavy safety gear we sweated to excess all day long. Safety can have a price. Although we had plenty of water on board you can't drink unless you are stopped.
I feel like the 'hobo' rider because we bungee the cooler to our luggage rack (the saddlebags are supposed to come today).
I am always amazed how the smell of a badly rotting carcase of a dead deer will get through to you as you pass by. It's actually quite awful. It seems to linger longer than the stench of a skunk and on a bike there's no avoiding it, no escaping it.

Father's Day Covered Bridge Ride

On Father's Day, June 20th we joined the group at Mt. Holly Powersports for a covered bridge ride through Bucks County PA. This was our second group ride; which had about 30 bikes. The briefing was brief. We started our ride up Rt 206 and it was immediately apparent that this group was kind of loose, switching lanes and weaving around cars.
We took our first break at NJ Washington's Crossing Park. Here we decided to break away from the group with three other bikes. We weren't comfortable riding with this large group and thought we would enjoy the ride more on our own.
Our leader programmed six covered bridge locations into his GPS and off we went. We visited six bridges, stopping at each for a short break. It was nice.
We stopped for lunch at Dillys (?) then headed home through NJ, stopping in New Egypt for Ice Cream.
I need more practice on uphill starts!

First Group Ride - Ice Cream

Before I took the Motorcycle Safety Coure I went on my first group ride on June 13th. Although I was driving on my permit I was with licensed riders. I went with the NJ Road Riders Club; a great bunch of folks. My wife, Barbara went along, riding on the back of our bike.
It started with a rather thorough briefing, emphasizing safety. The ride started at a diner in Bristol PA and went through Bucks County to Tanners Farm Market near Richboro PA. The Ice Cream cones were cheap and LARGE.
We stopped at a covered bridge then made our way back to the Burlington Bristol Bridge.
There were thunderstorms in the area which we were hoping to avoid by heading straight home and navigating around, relying on Justin's GPS, weather map.
It didn't work. A few miles from home we were on Rt. 70 and ended up in a downpour. This ended up being the first time I rode in the rain.
We got soaked. There was standing water in my boots!
I guess we need to invest in good rainsuits.

Motorcycle Safety Course

Everyone I know that rides suggested that I take this course...for beginning riders. It took place over two days, June 14th & 15th. It was hot, hot, hot.
I learned alot and enjoyed the course. Especially driving the 250cc bikes around. I would have liked alot more time to practice the slow turns and a hill for practicing uphill starts would have been nice.
Overall I did quite well except for the wide turn where I went too slow..."ready for south Florida".
When it was over I had qualified for my NJ motorcycle license.
I would suggest it for any new riders.

Practice, Practice, Practice

It's been a long time since I've been on a bike, especially one this heavy. The slow, tight turns have been the hardest. I've been taking rides around the neighborhood, making lots of turns and emergency stops. The neighbors must think I'm crazy or really, really bad at riding.
I also go out onto Rt 70 to get up to speed and practice tight, faster turns around the traffic circle. It's amazing how many people, especially the ones returning from the shore, don't know how a traffic circle works. Either that or they are really, really bad drivers. It would also help if they would put down their damn phones. That goes for everyone. Especially the idiots that text while driving, Stupid!

Bringing It Home

Now that I purchased the bike I had to get it home. Since I only had a permit I couldn't ride it home myself so I was going to have Chris ride it home for me. There was a forecast for thundershowers so we took the trailer to the dealer with us, just in case. No rain so Chris was going to ride it home. I rode his bike first so it was only fair that he was the first to ride my bike.
The ride home was without incident, although I was nervouse the whole way.
Once we were home I immediately hopped on the bike and started riding around the neighborhood.

The Next Step

Now that my son had a bike my wife and I decided it might be nice if we had a bike too. Yeah, my wife had alot to do with it. There was a used bike, just like Chris's but silver, at the dealer. I had to return to Florida for another few weeks so I figured it would give me time to think it over and if the bike was still there maybe we would see about buying it.
When I returned from Florida the bike was gone; sold three days earlier. Fate? Since I had finially decided to get a bike too I started searching dealers for another used V-Star 650.
While at a dealer in PA I found a bike that was close to what I wanted but then they showed me a used Honda 750 Shadow. As soon as I sat on it I knew this was the bike I wanted. Next the salesman showed me some 2009 leftover Shadow's that were reduced in price to move. There it was...a two tone Honda 750 Shadow Aero.
I discussed it with my wife and we decided that a new bike wasn't that much more and with a new bike you know how it was taken care of.
SOLD

How It Started

It wasn't a suprise when I finally bought a motorcycle. I've always wanted a nice bike. I had a little Suzuki TS250 when I lived in Califiornia (although that was hardly a real bike). I've hopped on quite a few different bikes over time but I never owned a 'real' bike.

My son Chris got the bug to get a bike a few months ago, while I was away in Florida. While I was home on a break he had me go to the dealer with him to look at a bike he wanted; a Yamaha V-Star 650 Silverado. He was sure it was what he wanted, it was a great deal and there was a special on extended warranty so with my help he bought it.

Since he only had a permit we brought the bike home on the trailer. As soon as we had it off of the trailer I put my hand out for the keys and off I went. Since Chris had never driven a bike before I had to teach him the basics of how to shift, brakes, etc. which he picked up on very quickly.