400 mile weekend and visit to the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame

Toward the end of the Smokies trip, my gear-shift lever was acting a little sticky. After browsing through some online forums, I concluded it was a lubrication problem. Last week I took apart the shift lever assembly, cleaned and lubed all the joints with white lithium grease and now it shifts as smooth as butter! On Saturday, I rode for on some familiar twisties in Kentucky. Since last year, I've become a lot faster on corners (for a cruiser anyway), thanks to consistently practicing the techniques in books like Total Control by Lee Parks. What I'd really like to do is sign up for a weekend of performance riding training in one of the schools like The Riders Workshop by Jim Ford or the Advanced Riding Clinic by Lee Parks.

On Sunday, I rode to Columbus, OH and back, a 270 mile round-trip mostly on state routes (US 42, US 62 and US 22). It was a great ride, mostly on straight roads through small towns and big farms. Hardly anyone chooses to ride on these roads anymore, with the interstates running parallel. Wind was the major annoyance on the trip and I found myself wishing for a windshield on some of those straight stretches at 80mph. I also visited the AMA's Motorcycle Hall of Fame museum in Pickerington, OH with a friend. The museum had several vintage BMWs and dirt bikes on display. They also had some other vintage models but I thought the museum had too few exhibits to make it worth the $10 cover charge.