Monday, July 03, 2006

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.









6 Comments:

Blogger Praveen said...

In response to ur comment in my blog:

You said it vinod. :) surely was a life altering experiance. Still got the hangover even after a month:) But cannot cruise there, most of the time eyes are glued to the next patch of the path. Its the terrain. The pix will be up by sunday:).

1:00 AM  
Blogger Christine said...

Whoooohooooo what a great ride!! Sigh...I'm homebound for a bit...of course..why should I be complainin'? 1,600 miles in a week...

Well, that was then...what am I doing NOW...not riding *sob*...

Cheers..great story...

And added you to my blogroll *wink*

9:09 PM  
Blogger Mustang said...

wow, thats a cool ride... about a windshield, wouldnt that affect dynamics of the machine while riding??just curious..
neat pics mate..

and yes, the fish curry was truly awesome... lol,i can see someone packing his bags already !!! :)

Ride safe mate

cheers
D

3:09 AM  
Blogger Biker Betty said...

I've been reading a lot of great rides from others at the Smokies. The pictures I've seen are breathtaking. Often we have to deal with wind when riding. When it's really gusting, what a pain. Glad you had fun!!!

Betty :)

2:18 PM  
Blogger AngiPants said...

Sounds like a lot of us are taking advantage of this perfect riding weather and taking off on long rides. I want to ride outside of CA soon.

12:16 PM  
Blogger Vj said...

It's always a pleausre to visit your blog.
Amazing pics and wonderful description.

thanks for sharing,
You have been tagged :)

11:44 AM  

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