Family Rides

This year we said that we were going to ride more often on day trips as a fam.  Last Sunday (we've had lousy weather for weeks) I convinced the fam to ride to church.  Not more than five miles from the house it began to rain.  We pulled over and suited up.  We then hit SR528 (called B-line or Beachline: runs from Orlando to the Cocoa beach area).  The rain started coming down harder.  Soon we had to come to a complete stop as a car had spun out in front of us and blocked the entire road.  By this point it is dumping on us.  When we exited onto the next highway another car was crashed into a pole.  We pulled over at the next exit and called from the underneath the overpass.  We then proceeded on the secondary roads to church.  The road the church was on was under construction and so we were driving on pure mud from the depaving of the road.  A car hit a large puddle and drenched me, my bike, and my son in mud!  We arrived at church wet even through our suits.  It was raining so hard the rain was hitting my neck and wicking down my shirt.  Someone asked me, "What do bikers do when it rains?"  I replied, "Get wet!"

Anyway, my family was a great sport and no one complained.  I felt sorry for my wife and daughter, they had flat ironed their hair and it just frizzed out from the wet.  Still, no complaints. Needless to say, we did not go for an extended ride after church.  We did go to a birthday party but then rode home.

I recently heard a story of a guy who asked a girl to marry him, but she said that she only would if he promised to get rid of his motorcycle.  Now I love my wife greater than anything, but I have to say that had she asked me to give up riding I'd have given her up instead.  I think that guy should have told his miss priss to hit the road!  Not because he loves his mc more than her, but because it is part of who he is.  Part of her is drawn to him precisely because of this edginess.  Now she wants to change and 'domesticate' him.  As a therapist in training (I'm in year 5 of a 3 year program), I smell trouble on the horizon for these two.  Don't ask me to give up riding, it's part of who I am.  If you don't want a rider, look for different guy.  I don't understand women that find a man and then try to make them into what they want.  I have an awesome family and feel very blessed that they share in my love of the open road.  I'm truly a lucky guy!!

Below:  A pic of the fam at fuel stop on a drier/happier day.

New 1200Rex

So here is my new ride. 2001 ZRX 1200R. Great bike. One that I have wanted for years. It has loads of power and a "I was going how fast officer?" streetable torque curve. It's a brilliant motorcycle.

Mods I have added:
 - Corbin seat (bought used in great condition)
 - Throttlemeister cruise
- T-rex racing frame sliders
- (most importantly!) Akrapovic bolt on!
- also have a set Givi bags, but am waiting for the hardware to install (backordered from Germany)

 It will be a iron butt cruise ready bike when all is said and done. Hopefully we can pull an iron butt off this summer/fall. We'll have to see. I love the bike. It will crush most SS off the line and is more my 'old man' style. Sadly I'm realizing I'm getting too old for the classic crotch rocket style. :(

Parking

A great thing about riding is that you can always find a place to park.  One word of caution, don't park too close to a Harley unless you know the rider.  That can end in disaster.

Weather FAIL!!

So yesterday I didn't ride to work.  Not that I don't ride in the rain, it's just that I don't like to ride in tropical storms or possible tornadoes.  Yesterday morning the weather people said that we were going to be smashed all day with a storm moving in from the tropics.  Well... my house got .1", that's right .1".  In case you missed it, THAT'S A PERIOD BEFORE THE NUMBER ONE!!!!!!!!!!!  Anyway, proves once again that you should ignore the weather and just ride.  The weather is gonna do what it's gonna do.

Start 'em early!

If we want more motorcyclists that are good riders, we need to start them on it early.  Both of my kids ride with us.  They have since they were old enough to reach the foot pegs (at least a little) and be trusted to hold on.  As a result, they have grown up with the feeling of leaning into the corner and being aware of the risks.  They both will get their own motorcycle before they get their own car.  I believe that this will make them better riders and more responsible citizens.  Our dream is to take a cross country trip in about 7 years.  We're toying with the idea of doing it on 250s to promote the usability of small displacement motorcycles.  (Maybe I need to lose some weight first.)

RAIN!!!!!

OK, so I haven't made my goal of blogging or riding everyday.  I rode on Friday despite the call for rain.  On the way to work I got dumped on.  I stayed dry enough with gear, so all was good.  On the way home, I somehow managed to miss most of the rain, but soon after I got home, it started to POUR and that continued until this morning in the early AM.  Now I'm not one to avoid riding because of rain, but this was a monsoon with some pretty good wind gusts.  It was the most rain we have had in Florida for decades that wasn't attached to a named tropical storm.  The weather guy said this morning that the only reason it was not named was because named storms develop on the surface and this developed in the atmosphere.  Now, looking out the office window, I see the first sun in days.  Ahhhh.  Good to be back.

Fizzergoo

This was my first street bike.  1993 FZR 600.  Great bike.  Very light, very flickable.  I loved to run the snot out of that thing.  Owned it for about two years.  I had a girlfriend that didn't like riding on the back so I traded for a car.  Worst decision of my life vehicle wise.  I lost the girlfriend and was reduced to riding in four wheels instead of on two.  It still makes me sick when I think of it.  My freshman year I rode this bike from Hobe Sound, Florida to Binghamton, New York.  Talk about saddle sore.  On the return trip, I was riding through a tropical depression from Richmond to Jacksonville.  It was so wet that my gloves bleached dye so much that my fingernails turned back.  The wind was so severe that my rain suite shredded at the seams (not what they are today) so badly that when I finally rode out of it in Jacksonville, I stopped at the Florida visitors welcome center and just threw it away.  Also when it rained, the wet would short something out and not allow the battery to recharge, so when I would stop, I would have to run the bike and dump the clutch to get it started again.  Those were the days.  I still miss her, the bike (the girlfriend, not so much).