North American Tour 2010.

Holy back on tour bat man! Rush, on tour oh yeah

Neil, Alex, Geddy

The greatest musicians on earth bar none. Sorry for those that don’t like them thbpbpbpbpbp! Planning a trip to either Columbus on August 29 or  Pittsburgh on September 16. I was sure that the Snakes and Arrows was the last we would see of Rush, my bad and my delight. Then to top off the experience, “Moving Pictures in its entirety”! This is the album that most of us of my generation started on getting into Rush.

Moving Pictures

One of the memorable moments in my life was in high school, I was arguing with somebody about Rush (he happened to be a Judas Priest fan).  Yes this is high school and this is what boys do in high school, too bad.  Anyway, he asked me “what is Rush’s most well known song?”. I told him “thats easy, ‘Tom Sawyer’”, so he stopped the next girl on campus, asked her “Do you know who sang ‘Tom Sawyer’?”. She responded (in a very sarcastic high school girl way “Well, yes, Rush” looked disgusted and walked away. He looked at me dumbfounded, I was smiling. Yes, I know, how stupid, well it is just one of those memorable moments.

Rush Signals

My first Rush album was not ‘Moving Pictures’ it was ‘Signals‘, the follow up album to ‘Moving Pictures’, I wore that cassette completely out.

Then to top it all off there is a Rush documentary coming to television.

Rush: Beyond the lighted stage web site

Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage video

Q: what the motivation to keep doing it?

Alex Lifeson: Chicks!

Well, the evening of 4/19 came, lets get up to speed. In the course of the time that passed between Rod getting Baby back and today, Baby started having some problems with her charging system again.

Pearl in the Drive

The same code as before (this started happening down at Daytona), P052 or something. This indicated a low voltage at the injector, in addition the battery light was coming on. Rod had purchased a new battery (if nothing else it was a little insurance) and installed it. Rod called John at Hale’s and told him the problem showed up as before, Jon was apologetic. Rod tested the battery and it was showing a straight 12 volts while the engine was running, so there was definitely something wrong with the charging system. John told Rod to bring it back at the same time that I brought Pearl in and he would get it in.

So here we are on the night of 4/19 and Rod called earlier, said he would meet me at Bob’s (Bob Evans). Rod was going to trailer Baby because he was nervous about the charging system, good call. Rode Pearl as she was for the last time to meet Rod, after a bit of chit chat, off we went. Heading west on US30 Nice ride and uneventful, Pearl was her usual self, I loved the ride. Got to Hale’s and met up with John in the service department. John started with Rod apologizing for the problems that he is having, telling him that they tested it thoroughly. Rod stated that John did not need to apologize, just wants it fixed. John finished up with Rod and turned to me, “ok you got a noise in the engine”, he remembers me and the problem, nice. We checked the bike in and put my fob on the counter, then thought we should try to get Pearl to make the noise. I asked John and he agreed and wanted Kevin (his mechanic) to be there to “he’ll appreciate the cigarette break” John said.

We met Kevin out side by Pearl and Rod, I fired her up and (naturally) she didn’t make the startup noise. Kevin still kneeled down on the right side of Pearl listening to the engine.  He reached up and cracked the throttle, and sure enough “rattle, rattle, rattle”.  Kevin stood up and thought for a moment, said “Cam Bearings”. I was elated, finally something was gonna get done. Rod and I, finished things up, dropped the trailer  and headed back east. On the way we talked about how nice it was to have a descent dealership finally.

The next day I was on pins and needles, waiting for a call from John. Got a couple of texts from Rod asking if he had heard anything. I mowed the lawn that day and did not have my phone right at my side. When I finished I looked at my phone close to six o’clock, John had called left a voice mail he was only there till 5:30 and would call me in the morning if I missed him. Next day John didn’t call till after work, he didn’t have what I wanted him to say. They felt that the noise was normal! Damn! Well we talked for a bit, in any case he has done more for me on the matter than anybody else has, he set me up with a Reference number after calling Harley-Davidson technical support. I think he sympathized with my plight. Rod’s bike Baby, had four riders, the last being Kevin who finally got the bike to mess up. Turns out the voltage regulator was on its way out. John talked me into putting a Tuner on Pearl and having it dyno’d. So they had that done the next day (that cost a lot of money).

Rod and I agreed to ride with my wife in his truck to Hale’s, Rod really wanted to ride Baby and having the trailer made that tough. It was agreed that the three of us would ride out to Hale’s and Kim (my wife) would drive Rods truck and trailer back to Wooster and Rod and I would ride.

We got to Hale’s, Pearl and Baby were sitting on the side of the building waiting for us. We had to wait a bit for John to finish up some other stuff before he could get to us. Rod was first, Baby was all better, we took a look at the old VR and John took the time to show us the tell-tale signs. Rod was happy that this was behind him. My turn, John showed me the dyno pointed out the base run, it was definitely not a smooth line (as John had indicated on the phone) it was very erratic in the power delivery. The final run was certainly much more impressive, I had only gained a bit more than one horsepower but the torque on the other hand, much more torque, over five lb/ft of torque. Just as important, the power delivery was much smoother.

We got Kim on her way with the truck and trailer, Rod and I stayed behind to get ready for the ride. We chatted with a few other customers, I asked John a few more questions about my bike including how to get the junk off the tank, he suggested I use some 3M General Purpose Adhesive Remover. Hand shakes all around and off we went.

Wow, is all I can say, the power delivery is much smoother, the bike is much smoother. Throttle response even better than before.  I liked the way pearl rode before, this was much better. Rod and I switched bikes about half way back to Wooster, and he agrees, Pearl is much better than before.

A stop off for some dinner at Bob’s Barbecue and headed home. I helped Rod get Baby loaded in the trailer and off he went.

Overall, I am pleased with the experience with Hale’s, I believe they tried to help. I am going to take their suggestion about the oil (I am running amsoil and they are suggesting that I switch back to dino oil) and see if this helps with Pearl’s noises. Honestly, I haven’t heard Pearl make a sound since I got it back, the whole way home that day, a ride latter in the week and a wash (that includes a startup), No noises yet.

I did find that the seat is getting torn and the saddlebag latch is messed up again (this is the second time on that one). I need to get ahold of John for those things and to change the transmission oil (had a problem at the 10K mark ended up with a new transmission cartridge.

I will let you know.

My bro Rod B. has been having a major problem with his scoot for years (it is a 2006 Road King Classic), the problem has been getting worse in recent times.

Rod and Baby

Let me see If I can get you up to speed;

The King is a beauty it is a very nice blue, and because of that blue Rod calls her “Baby”. Rod bought Baby brand new from Adventure Harley-Davidson in New Philadelphia Ohio. Since he got the scoot it has not really run right, the motor has (when warm) coughed at random on take off sometimes stalling without warning. Apparently Adventure adjusted the throttle cable and called it “fixed”. Obviously this did not fix it, so the next step, Adventure talked him into purchasing a “fueler” for his bike at a high price tag. Now understand Rod has done very little to the engine of this bike. It is all stock except for a set of screaming eagle slip ons. There is no reason for this bike to be running the way it did. Well, as with all things related to a crappy Harley-Davidson dealership like Adventure (wait till I recount my problems with them), they dawdled and dawdled until the bike went out of warranty.

Rod has pretty much dealt with this until lately.

We went to Daytona Bike week 2010 and that is when the real problems started. First, Baby was getting rotten gas mileage, I figured this was due to the hard driving (people in Florida drive fast). Then, the “Check Engine” light came on.

Well, we had talked to a fellow at 2 Wheeled Pony (Mike), who suggested we contact the folks at Hales Harley-Davidson in Mansfield Ohio. Rod and I getting screwed by so many Harley-Davidson dealerships were naturally skeptical. Unfortunately, things with Hales did not get off on a good start. Phone calls were not returned and a general feeling of dread. Mike had told us that the guy at Hales that does the Dyno is a magician. Yea Yea

Rod is a salesman for a major power equipment company, they had a show in Dayton, while down there Rod found a fellow sporting a “Hales” t-shirt. He talked with the guy and found he lives in the Dayton area and still traveled clear to Mansfield to do business with Hales. This really spoke to Rod.

So yesterday while I was washing Pearl, Rod showed up in Big Red (his old Dodge Pickup) pulling the trailer with Baby in the back. Off we went to Mansfield, bit of a trip out US-30 but we got there. Had to wait for a bit to be waited on but they are a tad under staffed, also it was toward the end of the day. We talked to the fellow behind the counter, seemed pretty descent so we unloaded Baby and handed her over. We knew full well that Baby was either going to take one for the team or be better than before.

They were moving stuff in so Baby wound up just inside the door, they were nice enough to let Rod leave the trailer while Baby was getting worked on. On the way back to Wooster I could not help but worry about Baby, I was nervous as hell and it isn’t even my bike! That was April 5th

Update April 6th. I have been waiting all day for word from Rod. Finally I got a text. Rod telling me that he wants me to call and he seemed happy. I could not wait, a little more prodding and I find out that they took the stupid fueler off. The Dyno guy sniffed the exhaust and apparently Baby was running at 11:1 air fuel ratio. Apparently the ideal is 13.8:1 the guy got Baby to 13.5:1 and was still trying for more.  I may just take Pearl to them for some work.

Pearl runs good

Update  April 7th. Got a text from Rod “Baby is ready”. Got home after work and Rod was already waiting. On the way to Mansfield we talked about how Hale’s has managed to keep him in the loop and how they are telling him what they are trying to accomplish on the dyno. I am impressed. Still, the proof is in the pudding right? Got to Hale’s, rolled into the service area and the big guy went to the service department and rolled Baby out. Now, I would have straddled Baby, but the big guy had no problem walking this bike out. He rolled her out to the parking lot and commented to Rod how nice of a bike Baby was. Then he turned on the switch and hit the kill and with a smile at Rod turned the engine over. Baby lit up with a rumble that I have not heard from her, wow did she sound good. Rod had a huge smile on his face as his hand found the throttle and gave it a decisive twist, Baby lit up and rumbled with authority. I could tell things were better. Rod took my sun glasses and threw a leg over the scoot. I do not think I have ever seen Rod ride without a helmet, but he set the bike upright and kicked up the jiffy stand. Pulling in the clutch he kicked it into gear and with a twist of the throttle he was off. She did sound good. Pausing briefly at the road he was gone.

A short while later he came up the other side of the dealership with hair all mussed up and a smile even bigger than before. I was busy talking to the fellows about what they did and what exactly a tuner (the H-D tuner). Rod came in, handed me my sunglasses and said “take her”. I jumped on the bike fired it up and was off. I have to admit the bike was a LOT more responsive, third gear and a twist of the throttle, the bike jumped like never before, more like the way pearl is, very nice. I did notice the decel pop and took note, other than that, wow Baby was a new bike.

I went back to Hale’s and decided to start talking to them about Pearl. I was so anxious to get some answers about my bike that I forgot to turn the switch off on Baby  (I will be paying for that). I got the same iPhone recording of the noise that Pearl makes from time to time out that Century H-D passed off as me trying to scam them (what a bunch of morons). The big guy listened to the recording and asked if I “recorded this on the primary side because it sounded like a compensator going bad” I said “Nope, on the right hand side” and showed him on a bike in the service bay exactly where I was holding the phone. He called the guy over to the desk that worked on Baby to listen. They both commented that the bike should not be making that noise.

Needless to say, and to make a long story short, I made an appointment for 4/20 and I feel very good about this. On the way home I texted the wife to ask if we could put pearl up on the dyno at the same time.  This will be yet another post.  I told Rod in the truck that Hale’s has gone a great distance to calm my skepticism, enough that I am willing to trust my bike to these guys. I am excited about the future with this dealership.

I will chronicle how Pearl does with Hale’s in another post.

I guess I don’t get it…

From L to R Rod, Baby, and Pearl

I realize I am just a customer that spent upwards of 20k for my motorcycle (twice) and have spent another 10k on the Sportster for the wife.

I guess I don’t get it…

I have spent literally thousands of dollars on stuff to make my beloved Pearl mine and more money than I care to admit on clothes.

I guess I don’t get it…

Maybe an open letter to the customer service department – no – to the owner of my favorite dealership: Century Harley-Davidson. Why do I have so many problems with your service department? I have had more problems getting these people to take care of my bike than I did with Honda dealerships. Apparently it is not just me either, my bro Rod B. has a beautiful 2006 Road King Classic, he calls her Baby. He has had problems with two different dealerships now. Bought his baby at Adventure Harley-Davidson in New Philidelphia Ohio. The bike has never been right. Took it to Freedom Harley-Davidson in Canton Ohio. They made it worse than before. It is much better now that he and I have taken matters into our own hands.

I digress, back to the problems I am having. Pearl has an occassional problem with an aweful noise on warm startup. The noise happens at random times, I accept that this makes diagnosis troublesome. However, last year I had the bike at Century And it started making the noise. I immediately got the service manager. He listened to the bike and heard the noise it was making (sounds for anything like a hydraulic lifter having problems) and declared that they needed to take a look at it. I made an appointment, and brought the bike in hoping that this matter would finally be fixed. Several days later I called, they said “there is nothing wrong with the bike”! Needless to say I was very disappointed. Then on October first of last year the bike started making the noise again! This time I recorded the noise with my iPhone, and emailed it to the dealership I thought I finally had this licked, I got evidence of the bike making the noise.

Fast forward to today, I went to the dealership to discuss finally getting the problem fixed. I talked to the same fellow I dealt with last year. He basically told me that the recording I made on the iPhone is not good enough to prove there is something wrong. Apparently they decided to spend time with another iPhone to discredit my recording. They actually (alledgedly) got another iPhone and was able to make the same recording on other bikes. What the hell are they thinking? Where is customer service. I don’t understand this. So basically the service manager spent a lot of time working to discredit my iPhone recording.

I am trying my best to get this fixed before the bike goes out of warranty which is this year. As I see it, the motor company does not pay the dealership as well as I do for repairs, but this is a huge risk on their part. In my world customer service is number one.

In another post I will tell you about the 10K service at Adventure! oh my was that a disaster!

I guess I don’t get it…

I’m not the only one either.

H-D on the Horn cover of Pearl

While I am not an economy and business expert, I do like to learn as much as I can about all things related to business and economy, after all they affect us more directly than most of us realize. I have studied the history of several of the most interesting businesses in recent history including Chrysler, Allis-Chalmers and International Harvester as well as Harley-Davidson. I watch certain stock tickers on my phone and on the computer one of those stocks is (of course) Harley-Davidson stock (NYSE:HOG). My iPhone and computer use Yahoo finance to supply the information, among the information is related articles as well as stock status.

Last year about this time HOG stock was down to over 8 per share, this is down considerably from some of the “norms” that Harley-Davidson has experienced. I really wished that I would have take $100 and purchase a pile. Coulda woulda shoulda… still thinking I will.

One of the articles that was most intriguing was the article about somebody interested in buying Harley-Davidson. Not sure who these people are that they are suggesting are interested in buying H-D, I am going to look into them. I am wondering exactly what all this means to H-D. Could Harley-Davidson be going private? Is this even a realistic event?

Harley-Davidson has enjoyed some pretty good success in recent years, at least since the take back from AMF in 1984 (if you get a chance, at least study the history of Harley-Davidson during the AMF years (the Shovelhead era). The series of events that lead up to AMF and the series of events that lead to the final move to divorce themselves from AMF is some exciting reading.

close up of the air cleaner

The headlight

I went out in the garage with my iPhone and walked around the bike looking for great shots, fortunately it is not hard to come by. One of the goals was to get a shot of all occurrences of the Bar and Shield logo on the bike or where the “Harley Davidson” logo appears. I put these photos on Flickr, I think they look great, but then I took them. Here are a couple of samples.

You can see the entire collection on my flickr page here

I know I have pictures of Pearl as she progresses through the miles but the earliest I can find at this point is 5000 miles. So I will at least put this out there.

5000 mile mark

By 5000 miles I had removed the engine guard that was causing me all sorts of distraction. As I mentioned in the earlier post I have never had a bike with the engine guard and when I rode the bike I could not help but look at it. Besides it was additional chrome and bulk that I did not want. The bike already has enough heft with the fairing and the saddlebags, so off she came. The part of the bike has been sitting down in the basement ever since.

Custom Gear Shift Linkage - Slotted Black Anodized

When I bought the bike I wanted the shift linkage that I just paid $120 for off the Softail, Ron was nice enough to help me with that. The linkage was the new (at the time) black linkage with the milled out Harley-Davidson bar and shield logo. Harley-Davidson calls it Custom Gear Shift Linkage – Slotted Black Anodized

Again, I wanted this bike to be the anti-Harley Harley, but exactly what does that mean? Well to me the one defining characteristic of a Harley-Davidson is an air cooled engine. An aside here, I wonder how the new V-rod Revolution engine will fit into the future of Harley? Anyway, 45 degree air cooled single pin engine is a strong characteristic of a Harley-Davidson. What would make this bike the anti-Harley Harley? Well I did not want the spot or passing lights on my bike I think they detract from the beauty of the front end. I do not want a lot of chrome, hence the choice of the StreetGlide in the first place. This bike has to be clean and easy on the eye, so easy on the chrome and tastefully done.  This will make more sense as I move along with my vision.

Bar & Shield Logo Windshield Molding

One of the first things I did was add just a splash of chrome below the windshield. The chrome windshield trim (Harley calls it Bar & Shield Logo Windshield Molding) features some holes that allow the beautiful white to show through the chrome piece. I am 6′4″ tall and the low windshield is causing me problems at highway speeds which is a large portion of my riding. I immediately got on the internet and secured a taller windshield. The windshield would be a source of continuing frustration for some time, but I will get to that shortly.

By this point I really wanted to pull off the minimalist look, starting at the back. Harley-Davidson at this point still had the older chassis that included the chrome loop at the back, ugh. Well I had seen the Stealth Rack in the catalog and noticed it on random bikes. There is a Riders kit or something in the catalog and I found a real good deal on the internet. The kit includes the Stealth Rack, a bike cover, sissy bar and pad along with a dock kit and belt buckle. Got this home and installed all those goodies on the back of the bike.  Installation of the docking kit wasn’t too bad, had to rip a lot of the backend apart and the instructions were not all to clear, but in the end, everything was installed with little problems. The Stealth rack was a bit of a challenge, as the holes did not want to line up, apparently Harley-Davidson has some pretty open tolerances.

LED Brake Light

Looked much better, but there was still that red tail light and orange turn signals, along with the orange turn signal lenses on the front of the bike. I picked up some smoked out lenses and came across an LED tail light from the motor company. I thought that the LED tail light would give me a brighter tail light. Oh the look is fantastic it gives that backend of the bike a nice blackout look and the smoked out lenses help the front end as well. All the lights were real easy to install, pop out the lenses on the turn signals and replace with orange bulbs and the smoked lenses. The tail light was two screws and the plug into the wiring harness.

Pearl on a Putt

To complete the look of the backend I removed the ultra-ugly stock license plate bracket and replaced it with the beautiful curved license plate bracket from Kuryakyn. This turned out to be quite a job to install. At the time I did not have a motorcycle lift and one has to get at the bolts that hold the bracket and the rear turn signals to the fender. This would be less of a challenge if I had the lift to move the back wheel away from the fender. My ten year old son came in quite handy, once I got the bolts broke loose, I sent him in to do the turning, love working with my son. The result of the installation is wonderfully tasteful and clean.

This is only part 1 of the changes to this point. Stay tuned.

Well not quite new but new since the last post. Gone is the 2007 Softail Deluxe that wound up laid down at the begining of last year. That will be another post, I have pictures and a complete story. Nope, now I turned that in last year for a shiny new 2008 Harley-Davidson Street Glide.

Oh is this bike wonderful…

Ron Orvis

Purchased on June 7, 2008 from my favorite motorcycle salesman Ron at Century Harley-Davidson. I was looking for a Street Glide, I like the idea of having a radio, not that I use it as much. I was also not all that happy with the Softail ride and handling. The Street Glide shares it frame and suspension with the rest of the touring bike line up. One of the more important options that I wanted was ABS, none of the other Harley-Davidson’s have it but the touring bikes. On the Softail I noticed that it was very very easy to lock up the rear wheel. In fact it was so easy that I usually did not even notice it. I also believed that condition contributed significantly to the demise of the Softail. I loved the look of the Softail, but honestly after the Shadow-Aero and the Softail the retro thing had pretty much run its course.

Enter the StreetGlide, everything Harley-Davidson in a bit more modern of a package and ABS on some models. Originally I was looking at a blue colored model at a H-D dealer north of Columbus but gave up on them because they did not have the financing I wanted. The wife encouraged me to go back to Century and work it out with Ron.

They had a few of them there the day we picked up my beauty, including a blue model but the blue one did not have the ABS nor did it have Cruise control. The cruis control is not a big deal as it is easily added but the ABS is a problem. there were two white StreetGlides sitting in the back row. My wife pointed to those and said what about a white bike?

white!

White! why would I want a white bike?

white? huh… white. why not? These beauties were not just white they were what Harley calls “White Gold Pearl”. A beautiful pearl white with gold flakes and they tend to shimmer in the sun. White…

Looked at the first it had all the options but was sporting laced wheels… too retro.

Studio shot of 2008 FLHX

Went to the second bike that was sporting the black non-laced wheels, ABS, cruise, perfect, I’ll take that one. Didn’t even fire it up till after we got the paper work set up. The dealership likes to take pictures of the proud new owners with their bikes and posts them on a wall. Pictures done, I rode that beauty home that day.

The first thing that I noticed about this bike was that it sat higher I felt a bit like I was sitting more “on the bike” than I did on the Softail, that took a bit to get used to. The second thing that I noticed was that the Transmission did not make the awful noise that the Softail did in fifth gear.

Pearls first day at the house

For what ever reason Harley-Davidson thought it would be a good idea to make fifth gear straight cut in their otherwise very nice Cruise Drive transmission. This made an awful whining noise, the StreetGlide has an interesting addition to the rear wheel pulley. It is an isolation system. I found that this is similar to the drive system for the alternator on my GoldWing, the two pulley halves (one being the part driven by the belt, the other the part driving the rear wheel) are isolated by rubber. Apparently this has the effect of canceling the harmonics from the transmission. Clever but I would have just made fifth gear helical cut. (Note: Harley did make the fifth gear helical in 2010. it was a wonderous thing)

Pearls first day from the front

The first thing I did when I got the bike home was look it over and start planning the changes that I wanted to make to make the bike mine. First thing she needed was a name, this was something the Softail never managed to get, honestly this is the first bike that I have managed to name. Her name is derived from her paint job, her name is PearlGlide or Pearl for short.

Some of the things that I like about the bike is the monochromatic look, it lacks an abundance of chrome and has a stripped down look. The lowered suspension helps it fee and look a little more nimble. No chrome on the front fender, no fender lamp, no chrome at the back of the front fender, makes for a very clean look over the wheel.

The office of Pearl

Low windshield that is smoked adds to the custom look. I had never had a bike with a engine guard and it wound up coming off. The black and Chrome of the engine help make the engine a real center piece. Tank, nicely monochromatic pearl white with the chrome “Harley-Davidson” tank badge with the 3-d look and topped with a beautiful chrome dash. Simple shotgun style seat, I ended up taking off the grab strap. The saddle bags lack the saddlebag guards normally found on the Touring machines (again the stripped down look). The saddlebags themselves have monochromatic theme extended to the painted latches. Finally the rear fender has a minimal of chrome with the tail dragger light connected to the bottom of the fender with the integral light.

Over all it is a wonderful bike and I could not wait to get started on making this beauty truly mine. The first part is done, her name is Pearl.

It has been a while since I updated my blog, no excuse other than, been riding all year and enjoying my scoot.

I did give up the Softail Deluxe in early June. I really liked the bike, but I grew tired of the ‘retro’ thing and the lace wheels are a pain in the ass. The black paint got a bit old, it is my second black bike. The bike also had an issue that was getting on my nerves that Harley-Davidson refused to acknowledge as a problem, the transmission was really noisy in 5th gear. This is a real and nasty problem. 

The bike did suffer an accident in the early part of last year but it got fixed very well by Century Harley-Davidson.  I was going through an on-ramp nearby on the way to work. I hit the onramp a bit too hot and found some gravel left over from the winter. long story short, the motorcycle

Sunday October 21st, 75 degrees here in North East Ohio. What an amazing day, fall is in full swing, the trees are absolutely exploding with Color. Decided late in the week after seeing the forecast for the weekend that Sunday was ride day. Right after Sunday Morning on CBS was over I started hearing the bikes running beautiful State Route 83, which is less than a quarter mile from the house. That served to get the blood boiling… time to go.

Thought it would be great to take my son on a ride. He is a bit scared of the Harley, for two reasons:

1. a) He got yelled at for allowing his shoe to get too close to the hot pipe (was hard to get that stuff off).
2. b) He is used to riding on the Goldwing which is a lot more enclosed

He seemed excited today though, set him up with my grandpa’s leather which was too big, a helmet, sunglasses, and a smile. We had to get the bike out of the basement, the whole process of getting going seemed to take forever. The Harley was a bit low on fuel so I thought it would be a good idea to stop by the gas station first. Originally I intended to do a Medina trip, but all the scoots heading south caused a change of mind. At the fuel station, filled up and stopped to chat for a moment with a few people on scoots fueling up for the day. One was riding a V65 Magna (Honda), having one I want to get rid of, thought I might try to sell it, they didn’t seem interested so I did not push the issue. Wished them a safe ride and headed out.

Heading south on SR83 I explained to my son that if he needed anything from the house or changed his mind about riding, this was his last chance. He seemed set in his decision to ride today. Joy!

The official Harley-Davidson chronometer integrated in the speedo indicated 11:14 when we passed the turn off to our house, we were off. Heading toward Millersburg I could see the kind of day that we were in for, it was warming up with only scattered clouds. The trees were off the hook with color, just insane color. South of Millersburg is where things start getting awesome on SR83. The twisting, the hills, the color, the vistas, creating a brain full of stimulation that added to the excitement of being on the bike. Got into Coshocton, and noticed that the Harley was getting ready to roll 3000 miles, not much further. Continued on SR16 out of Coshocton, toward SR60 heading toward Dresden.

Once in Dresden, I saw a road heading up a hill off to the left, told the Son “time for a detour”. It was first gear all the way to the top, yes it was that steep, turns out the Inn at Dresden is up there, do not know much about the place, but incredible scenery. Note to self, look into the Inn at Dresden. After snapping some shots, we headed back down. It was first gear and pretty hard on the brakes, but we did it. Headed back out to the road toward Zanesville, getting hungry, and 12 miles to 3000.

Just outside of Zanesville the Harley turned 3000 miles, we pulled off into an industrial park access road for a few shots. Hard to believe that since July 17th I have put 2950 miles on this bike, take away 10 miles that were put on by service techs at Century Harley-Davidson. This means I have put 2940 miles on it at that point. On to Zanesville and eat.

In Z-town (Zanesville) we surveyed the lay of the land in the northern part of the city. Originally I had in mind Panera’s, but the son and I agreed that it was time for some Italian. Turned out to be a darn good idea, there is an Italian restaurant called Adornetto’s. Great food and filling if you are there and in the mood for some good Italian grub, check it out. I had the Ravioli and the Son had the Spaghetti and Meatballs.

After lunch was done we headed back. On the way down my Son noticed a tractor show just north of Dresden. So we stopped to check it out, this was a very good (albeit small) local show. They had a lot of cool farm and construction (industrial) equipment working and on display. We enjoyed it thoroughly.

Heading back out, I thought it would be a nice idea to try a different route back. SR60 heads north, and is an amazing ride, I would say better than SR83. You do not want to go too fast because of the scenery and the twisties. This road is hairier than 83.

Just south of a small Ohio town called Warsaw, a large group of motorcyclists appeared in the rear view mirror. In Warsaw they pulled into a parking lot to stop for a break, this sounded like a good idea, besides I like to chat. Imagine my surprise to find out that a couple of the members were the same folks I chatted with at the gas station that morning. I did not think this was that small of a state!

Two motorcycle accidents to report. Sadly a Harley and a cager seemed to collide on 60 then after we turned onto US62 toward Millersburg a crotch rocket was laying on its side on the other side of a guard rail. I hope both incidents ended up without injury, but they both looked kind of bad. One day I think I will need to write a post about my take on motorcycle safety and my take on motorcycles and safety.

The trip wound up as we continued on US62 to SR83 just south of Millersburg and north to the house. U2 created the song It’s a beautiful day for a day like this, just spectacular.