Helmet Decal

For some reason, I took a picture of my helmet decal for the Beehive social network at work. Figure I'd post it here too! I'm looking for patches for my black leather vest too. Right now some of the stuff I'm looking at is from Xpressmart.com.

Gas Efficiency

Here's what my current gas economy on my Yamaha Road Star looks like. I think I have some bad data where the mileage spikes to either side of 49 mpg...go figure!

Patriot Guard

My latest motorcycle run was for the Patriot Guard. It was on par with The Cruise as far as size and organization goes, so it was quite enjoyable. We had all the intersections held up to keep the riders together, which was impressive. Lots of veterans in dress gear and families lined the route and saluted, with some holding American flags. I would guess there were around 500 riders for this one!




The backpatches for Patriot Guard riders is very cool. It got me thinking about whether to start putting some patches on my own rider vest. I have a few pins from various rides I've done, but no patches. Guess I'll ask Harley Springer for some ideas!

I did the ride with Jim Soppa and Bruce Timmerman, but Bruce and I had to drop out at the Wabasha stop since we had other commitments. Here's some of the pictures I managed to get in Pine Island and Wabasha before I dropped off.

Skid Plates

I was leaving the local Kwik Trip when I had what was, for me, a new experience. That is, I leaned my Road Star over so far in the parking lot a loud metallic scraping noise grabbed my attention. What was it? I got my first introduction to the Skid Plates on my floorboards!

Skid plates are meant to take the abuse from contact instead of your actual floorboard. Notice the part of the floorboard that is lowest - it's a replaceable part! I suppose you can wear these down and need new ones!

And Then There Was Road Star...

As I alluded to earlier, I now have acquired a 2007 Yamaha Road Star Midnight Silverado. It was a 2 hour trip to reach the dealership in Osseo, MN, but with temps around 87 and a sunny day it was not time wasted. I rode as a passenger on my neighbors Road Star (yes, we have the same the bike)!

The handling of the bike in turns was most impressive and it is very forgiving with the clutch, unlike my 2000 Vstar. I posted pictures of my Vstar on craigslist.org and less than 12 hours later got my first request to see the bike. Sold to the first buyer for my asking price!

Specs on the Road Star are shown on the right. I'm told if you cruise at 60 mph the fuel economy is in the 50 mpg range.

Sheila even sat on the bike when I brought it home -- but much to my regret I neglected to snap a photo of the event!

The Cruise - Updated

We finally finished The Cruise today, just as the rain started falling the last 15 miles. The organizers anticipated 1000 riders (800 last year) but actually got 1200 this year! I scrapped together an impromptu team of Afee Abdulla, Jim Soppa, Bob Petrillo, Mark Bauman and myself.

Bob has a 1978 Yamaha Vstars and Mark has a 2008 Vstar but with the larger 1100 size engine. So we had 3 Vstars in our group and 2 Harleys.

Here's a partial view of the RCTC parking lot at the end of the ride - lots of bikes to admire!

Yamaha Road Star Silverado

Possible bike in my future? We don't know for sure, but Sheila is allowing me to consider it as long as its the last bike I ever get. I think this offer isn't going to come my way again, but this is what I'm looking at...hopefully the Midnight Silverado package.

Iowa Scenic Ride

Took my first ride down to Iowa since I moved to the Midwest. I've ridden along the Mississippi in Minnesota and Wisconsin, but I'll have to say the portion at the Iowa latitude is breathtakingly wide and muddy.



Shot of Mississippi from Mt. Hosmer in Lansing on the Iowa side. We put at least 400 miles on our bikes today, which was sunny with 78 temps.



The Mississippi bridge at Lansing, as seen from Mt. Hosmer overlooking the river. We crossed from the Iowa to the Wisconsin side here. You can see sand from dredging on the far side of the bridge.



Cassville Ferry coming in to dock on the Wisconsin side of the Mississippi. It picked us up and dropped us off on the Iowa side, which had a mile long gravel road to greet our bikes.

Cycle Gear

I got a new handlebar bag for my bike last week and it's finally attached to my windshield. Now I've got a place to switch my glasses and hold my garage door opener. What took me so long to get this? This tiny bag ran me $80, so it was kind of extravagant. But I've logged 16K in miles since I bought the bike in 2004, so it was time.

The Cruise

I'm looking forward to The Cruise after missing out last year. I managed to get a few riders in my neighborhood to come along too. This will be my 3rd Cruise, although I think my 1st was the best one. The local HOG chapter made 4" square wooden kickstand plates for everyone. I'm still using it in my garage to as not to mark up the floor. The ride itself is 132 miles, but I've put on over 300 in a day on at least 2 occasions.