End Of Year Mileage

I'd been hoping to hit 8,000 miles on the bike before year's end.  Thankfully, with the help of Matt, Zig and Nelly; I was able to do that and a little more;

Not too shabby for only having had the bike about 6 months (not including the 3 weeks away in Europe).

I'll certainly be getting my money's worth out of the advanced service plan.  Have I mentioned that before?  It paid an extra something like $2k when I bought the bike, but what I got in return is free services for 10 years.  Yes; completely-free, and it automatically upgrades me to synthetic fluids, all covered, all free.  AND, I am allowed to transfer that plan to another bike, once during the 10 years.  So given my history, I'll have free services on this bike and the next one, for as long as I own them.

I've already had it in for the 1,000 and 5,000 service, and depending on how the winter treats me, I'm hoping to have it in for its 10,000 service before Springtime (the guys in the service department have already told me that Harley is going to take a bath on this from me).

The weather gods have been kind to us this December.  No real snow to talk about, and not too much salt, either.  I'm planning on taking the bike out tomorrow (New Year's Day) to start the new year off right.

I hope everyone has a safe New Year's Eve tonight, and a happy and successful 2015!!

Ride Hard, Take Chances

Danger!

I was out riding with Nelly on Saturday and we were exploring some new deep-wooded roadways we haven't ridden before.  As we rounded a corner, I spotted something and thought "Man, I would really like to turn around and get a picture of that."  However, Nelly was in the lead at that point, and the roadways were too narrow and windy for me to make any kind of attempt at riding up next to him to get his attention.  I resigned myself to trying to remember how we'd gotten there so that I could return at some point and get the pic taken.

As luck would have it, we came upon a stop sign less than a mile later, which allowed us a chance to discuss which direction we'd go in, next.  It also allowed me the opportunity to let him know that we needed to go back so that I could snap the pic.

So, I present you with the thing which caught my eye;

DANGER!

But what kind of danger?  (Aside from the sign-eating trees!)  The top word can still be made out; "BAD", but the bottom word wasn't so easy to make out.  I zoomed way in on the pic to see if I could make out what the word had been.  My best guess was "Curve" (especially since there were lots of very sharp turns in the area), but I wasn't certain.

So I did a Google Images search to see if Bad / Danger / Curve was a common sign...and couldn't believe what I stumbled upon;

http://blog.ivman.com/signs-of-spring/

It a guys blog post from April 2009, and it's got the exact same sign.  It's got the red/rust coloring over the "A" and everything.  In his pic (from 4.5  years ago), it's easy to see that the bottom word was indeed "CURVE".  The thing that's even more interesting about this is the guy whose blog it is, claims to be from South Carolina.  So how did he get the pic?  It was way, WAY off of the beaten path.  (Judging from the other pics in his post, it looks like he may have Googled it himself.)

Pretty cool.  And another example of how you never know what you're going to stumble upon when you roll that front tire out of your garage...

Ride Hard, Take Chances

Christmas Conspiracy

It appears that my friends have hatched a bit of a prank on me.  I first began hearing some light chatter about a week ago, but didn't think much of it at the time.  But, as the days went on and the evidence grew, I now have to freely admit that I have been gotten, but good.  Do I know who is behind the conspiracy?  Let's just say that I'm pretty sure that yes, I know exactly who is behind it.  And to those people, I say; well played.  :-)

RIP Times Two

Today is the anniversary of Dana's passing.  Unfortunately for us, we've lost another of the Maine Event originals; Garv passed away two days ago.  Maybe Dana has rolled out a welcome for Garv, and they're now looking down on us and smiling.  Or maybe they're catching up with each other.  Either way, I'm sure Russ is up there with them, and they're all having a fine time.

Down here, we're missing them, though.

RIP Brothers

Merry Ho Ho Ho

This'll probably be the last post I get up here before Christmas so I wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas!  Hopefully Santa will be in a forgiving mood for all of you naughty boys and girls!

Don't forget that there are many folks out there who are struggling with issues, both seen and unseen, at this time of year.  Sometimes the best gift of all is a smile, a hug, a thank you...or all of those combined.

Oh, and don't forget to get some miles on!!  I ticked off another 17 this morning on the way in.  And while the forecasts are calling for some flurries over the weekend, as well as lots of rain next week, the good news out of that is there's no major snowfall coming for a bit, still.

I may make it to 8,000 on the odometer after all...

Ride Hard, Take Chances

It's The Little Things That Can Drain You

As the weather has gotten colder and the daily bike riding has morphed into every other day...then every few days...and then once a week (as weather would allow), I'd begun to notice that when I first cranked the bike over, the battery had been sounding weaker and weaker.  The bike is still effectively brand new (5 months old), so I was worried that my battery was a lemon.

Then it occurred to me early last week; I wondered if my iPod - which I'd been leaving connected on the bike - was draining the battery?  At first thought, it seemed implausible.  How could that tiny little thing register a significant drain on anything?  But, after the bike almost didn't start last week, I figured what the hell, I'll disconnect it and see if it makes a difference.  I'd taken the bike out for over an hour so when I got home; I knew the battery was fully charged, and I disconnected the iPod when I put her away.

I'd hoped to get out riding on Saturday but unfortunately wound up working here for most of the day.  That meant the bike didn't get rolled out of the garage until yesterday morning.  We'd had some real cold temps since the last time she'd been running, so I crossed my fingers and hit the button.

Vroom!  She fired to life just as strong as she'd ever done.  The battery didn't seem low or tired or anything.  Huh.  How about that.  Disconnecting that little tiny iPod really did seem to have made a difference.

This morning, when I fired her up to bring in to work, it was the same thing; the battery was all kinds of ready.  Well whaddya know.  I guess I need to disconnect that iPod each time I shut the bike down.  Well, at least during the winter months, anyway.

...which reminds me...I forgot to disconnect it when I arrived this morning...

I'll be right back...

Some Miles In The Near Future?

It's been a pretty messy week; lots of sleet & rain, a bit of snow, lots of icy mornings.  We haven't seen the sun since last weekend but I hear there's a chance we'll see it tomorrow (Saturday).  The salt that was dumped all over the roadways on Tuesday has been washed off and the roads were nice and dry on the way in.  I'm hoping that today's precipitation is very light and doesn't result in any more salt being put down.  If that works out, then tomorrow will find me out on two wheels again, ticking more of those elusive last 300 miles that I'd like to get onto the odometer for this year.

Wish me luck!  Or even better; come join me!

Ride Hard, Take Chances