Loud Pipes

Here I go. I really wanted to stay away from this subject, but I can't any longer. This is a polarizing issue and I would be remiss if I didn't at least offer my opinion.

Stock pipes suck. There's no question about it. Equally indisputable is the fact that there is nothing that sounds better than a v-twin with the right set of pipes. On my VTX 1300, I have Vance and Hines Big Shots. They offer stylish looks, and that indistinguishable v-twin lope we all dream about. They are plenty loud enough, but with an easy throttle hand, I can reign in the noise when I need to (i.e. when leaving for work at 4am or when passing through town on a crowded afternoon).

There are two styles of loud pipes that I can't stand; straight-piped, no-baffled, unmuffled v-twin cruisers, and high-revving- high-pitched cans on sport bikes. Both of these are completely and unnecessarily obnoxious. Riders who insist on riding with either of these styles of pipes are just quickening the legislation that will, one day, require all bikes to sport OEM exhausts.

Loud pipes save lives. That's the mantra from either of the two groups mentioned previous. No they don't. Not even a little bit. The little old lady that's going to pull in front of you will not hear your pipes (blatting behind you, nonetheless) until it's too late. The 16-year old girl is too busy gossiping with her friends and won't hear (or see you) before she pulls out in front of you. The 17-year old boy is more concerned with impressing his buddies and listening to his stereo entirely too loud and won't hear you. Shall I go on? LOUD PIPES DO NOT SAVE LIVES!!!!

Fall Riding Tips

Coming into the fall riding season, I feel compelled to offer a few tips after watching a number of my fellow riders struggling.

1. In cooler weather, those of us who prefer half-helmets or none at all, may wish to consider wearing a full-face lid. I wear my Bombardier II Modular snowmobile helmet, without the respirator. While the feel of fresh air flowing over my face and head may be a main reason I ride, the lack thereof during the cold-weather season, greatly helps to keep warm.

2. Watch out for leaves on the road. Leaves are just now starting to fall off of trees here in Central New York State. It's been an entire year since most of us have encountered this hazard on the road. Leaves can retain water under them, while the rest of the road is dry. Needless to say, this offers less-than-ideal traction. Hitting it with your front tire, while carving a curve, can have disastrous effects.

3. Chaps and full fingered, insulated gloves are considered, by many, to be essential safety products. They are. As well, they can keep your core body temperature within normal limits, thus prolonging your riding season. Combined with thermal underwear, chaps can extend your riding season almost until it's time to pull the snowmobile out of the shed.

4. You do not need to purchase a specific cold-weather riding jacket. I wear my normal leather jacket, with liner, and layer a thermal underwear-type long-sleeve shirt, a long-sleeve t-shirt, and a hooded sweatshirt under my jacket. The hooded sweatshirt helps to keep the back of your neck from being cold. Balaclavas also work well in keeping your neck warm.

5. Normal riding boots are not good at keeping feet warm. In cold-weather, I will wear motocross socks and my insulated work boots.

I hope these tips extend your riding season. There's nothing I hate to see more then the premature storing of a bike for the winter.

Biker Killed Saturday

Yesterday afternoon, a rider was killed here in Central NY. My instinct is to react with sympathy when I hear such news, and I did this time as well. At least, until I read the news story here.

Why do people think it's okay to do shit like this on public highways? I don't feel even the slightest bit sorry for this jackass. He got everything he deserved. There is no excuse for such a public disregard for, not only traffic laws, but general safety as well.

Now, sport bikes are not my cup of tea, and I hold no ill-will towards their riders, as a whole. The article does not say what type of bike this moron was on, but I'd be willing to bet a week's paycheck that it wasn't a cruiser.

I can only hope that his riding buddies now realize that their antics do have repercussions.

Later,
Chris

First weekend trip of the year

I've learned two very important lessons this weekend. First, 9 riders on 7 bikes is entirely too many for a weekend trip. Second, my girlfriend's ass starts hurting after 50 miles and if we don't stop by 100, I'm sleeping on the couch.

All spring we were planning on riding up North this weekend. The plan was to head up through Old Forge on Saturday, find a place to sleep, then finish the loop and head back home Sunday. Mother Nature had other plans, I guess. The weather wasn't going to cooperate up North, so we headed South.

I was riding lead on my VTX with my gf, Annie. Annie's brother, Ray, on his Sportster 1200, was 2nd in line. My step-dad, Pete (Shadow Spirit 1100) and my mother, (Shadow Spirit 750),
Bobbo (Kawi V2K) and Cindy (CBR600F4), Annie's dad, Otie and his gf, Joyce rode trail on his Electra Glide and trailer.

We headed South out of Groton on 38, then headed up over 79 to Whitney Point, then 11 South to the State line. We stopped in Great Bend, PA to stretch out a bit, and to get rid of the morning coffee!!! It was here that Ray discovered that he'd been riding since Groton without a cap on his oil tank. Without a Harley dealer in the vicinity, he hit up a hardware store in search of a bath tub stopper. He didn't find a stopper, but they did have a couple of corks. Hey, whatever works to keep the oil in the tank, I guess.

We continued down 11, then up over 106 to Lenox and had lunch at Bingham's, fueled up and kept going down 106 into Carbondale then hit US 6 East. There are a bunch of really small and narrow roads in NorthEast PA. and it's actually a really neat place to ride, so long as you don't desire to break any land speed records. In Milton, PA, we headed south on US 209 into the Deleware Water Gap National Recreation Area. 209 is closed to commercial vehicles, so we were under the impression that it would be steep and twisty. It wasn't. Don't get me wrong, it was a nice ride, but it wasn't what we expected. Of course, had we made the decision to head South, instead of North, before 6am on the day we were leaving, we'd have had more time to research our route. We did stop at Dingman's Falls visitor center and see some pretty impressive falls.

Once out of the Rec Area, we continued down 209 into Lehighton, then into Jim Thorpe. I really wish we had more time to see Jim Thorpe, looked like a really cool little town. I think maybe soon just Annie and I will head down that way.

We hit rain about 5 minutes before we hit the Ramada Inn in Hazelton, PA. The bartender was a royal bitch, but the sheets were dry, and the shower was clean.

Sunday morning we headed up into Wilkes-Barre then West on 6 to US220 back into NY then home. Sunday was COLD. This is Annie and Mom, all bundled up.



Overall, it was an awesome ride. I just think that 9 riders on 7 bikes is too much for a ride like this.

Brrrrrr!!

Boy, was it cold this morning. 38 when I went by the bank at 415am. I've got to remember to throw on an extra layer if I'm going to ride to work. Ride home was beautiful, complete with a trip through SUNY Cortland campus to admire the "scenery". Scenery was ok, I'm sure it'll get better in a couple weeks.

So far, I've got 2 bike trips planned. 16-17 May I'm taking my girlfriend, Annie, her dad, Otie, and his gf, Joyce, my mom, Sally and step-dad, Pete, Bobbo and Cindy (Bob works with Pete), and Annie's brother Ray and we're all taking a trip up through Old Forge, into Blue Mountain Lake, then back through Speculator and staying in Utica for the night. We'll be having dinner with a friend of mine from college, Tracy and her husband. Sunday we'll head south through Cooperstown, Oneonta, Delhi, Walton, Deposit and Binghamton then head home.

My 2nd trip, Annie and I are heading to the AMA Pro Motocross National at High Point Raceway in Mount Morris, PA. This is the first of 6 Nationals I'm hitting this summer. I don't know how many Annie is going to make it to, due to her work schedule. For High Point, we're meeting her friend from college, Lex (Alexia), and taking her to her first National. OMG, what am I thinking? Taking two girls to a National who've never been. I must be insane. I'm also hitting Red Bud, Unadilla, Budds Creek, Southwick, and Steel City.

A Quick History

The first time I remember being on a motorcycle wasn't all that much fun. I'd been fascinated with my father's motorcycle for quite a while, but was never allowed to go near it, for fear of burning myself on the hot motor and pipes. It was 1983, and it was my 3rd birthday. I remember Dad setting me on his bike, and I vroom vroom'ed for a few minutes, pretending I was actually riding. I inadvertantly hit the start button and the engine came to life. That's pretty much all I remember. I've been told that I burst out in tears and, despite my crying, I didn't want to be removed from the bike.

Fast forward 3 years to 1988. Being too inexperienced for a motorcycle, Dad bought me a Suzuki 50cc four-wheeler. We had a track laid out around the property that dad rode his dirt bikes with his buddies. It wasn't very technical, but it got the job done. Every weekend, when I'd visit Dad's, I was consumed with riding my quad, which is ironic, because now I can't stand quads. I wouldn't ride when he was out there, but as soon as he'd pull off, I was out on the track doing laps.

It wasn't long before I was ready for a motorcycle. I had outgrown the quad, so Dad bought me a 1986 Honda XR80. It wasn't a motocross bike, but it got the job done. I rode the wheels off that thing, almost literally. I learned so much on that bike; how to shift, throttle control, cornering. Skills I still lean on to this very day.

Through high school, I drifted away from motorcycles for a bit. Dad had gotten rid of his street bike years ago; traded it to his buddy Bill for a 1984 CR250 that still sits in the cellar waiting for me to restore it and race it, I had long since outgrown the XR. Dad's current dirt bike, a 92 RM 250 sits along side the old CR in the cellar. I was more concerned with running Cross Country in high school, Dad was racing stock cars at the local ovals, motorcycles just took a back seat.

In 1998, I enlisted in the Army National Guard. After graduating High School in 1999, I volunteered for every mission that came down the pipe. Especially after 9/11. It was relatively easy duty and I still hadn't decided on a career. I eventually bought a 1998 Suzuki Intruder 800 from a guy I served with who was getting a divorce and needed to get rid of it. I sold it back to him over the winter, but I was hooked. I knew I had to have a street bike. I scraped and saved every dime I could, just hoping to have a bike the next spring.

In 2003, Dad bought Honda's new power cruise, the VTX 1800. Man was that a big bike!!! I liked the bike but it was just too big for my liking, but I was still saving, just in case a good deal came down the line.

The good deal happened in Spring of 2006. I wandered into the local Honda dealership, just to look. I saw a brand new 2003 leftover VTX 1300S sitting on the floor, and I was hooked. It was candy orange and had that retro look. I bought it that day. 2 weeks later, Dad and I were off on our first trip. We headed to Southwick, Mass for the Pro Motocross National. Bill's son, Thomas had turned pro the year before and was trying to qualify, and I was to be his mechanic.

Dad and I have rode to many races since then, and I'll chronicle some of them here in a few days.

I got the bike out of storage a few weeks ago and have been doing my pre-season maintenance. I finally rode to work this morning. It was a bit brisk, but it was really nice on the way home. Looks to be about the same tomorrow. I have a feeling the truck is going to be getting lonely soon.

Thanks for letting me intorduce myself. I look forward to sharing some more of my experiences with you soon.