Street bikes on dirt roads. YES YOU CAN

It was a beautiful Monday. What better way to spend the afternoon and take a ride with your son? We were thinking of doing a little more dual sport riding this year. so, we decided to ride up to the PATRA trail head and have a look. We will be back with the right bike and a registration.

     The DRZ400 wasn't quite up to being street legal yet; so we improvised taking the street bikes. Who says you can't do gravel roads (not the trails) on a Kawasaki ZRX1200 and a Yamaha FZ6? The big 180-17 rear tires dance around a bit on the gravel, but if you keep the speeds "reasonable" you will be just fine.

                                                                   

   We ventured around on some back roads and found The Mount Pisgah Altar and stopped to take a few pics of the beautiful view.           

                                                                         
The Altar is quite the sight and surrounded by great roads. The initials or symbol in the setting stone is, however, a mystery to us.

                                                                             

                                          We even had a visitor at one of our roadside stops.

                                There is ALWAYS time for ice cream at Howells Ice Cream King                                                                  

The FZ6 even hit another milestone for us on the way home. Cody is really enjoying his new (to him) motorcycle.

Overall a great evening of putting dust on the bikes and burning some fuel. About 130 miles of easy riding and smiles. Why don't we do this every chance we get?                                                                   

Why won't my bike start?

   Spring is coming, and hopefully you have been riding on and off throughout the winter months. If you haven't been, we hope you remembered to prep the bike for winter storage before you put it away. If you didn't add K100 to your fuel and connect your battery to a charger; we can still try to help.
                                                                           

     Always start at the beginning. You WILL need a good, fully charged battery to get things going. If you aren't sure of yours; bring it in and we can test it and charge it for you. If it is past it's prime we will have one in stock for your bike. We stock batteries in for ALL BIKES, even Harley Davidson.
                                                                           

The second thing you will need is fresh fuel. An easy way to keep your fuel fresh is with some K100 fuel stabilizer. We now stock quarts, too.

When you stop by to pick up the K100; we can share a few tips and tricks we know for getting the fresh fuel into where it needs to be on the bike.

Most of the time a fresh well-charged battery and some K100 will do the trick. If your bike still doesn't want to get going you may need new spark plugs.Luckily, we have you covered there as well.

If you have a carbureted  machine you may need to clean that too. Usually, if fuel stabilizer was added in the fall, this step this will not be necessary. But, if it is, we are very experienced with carbs and know how to diagnose and clean them.  We can take your carb, clean it, and give it back to you ready to go onto your bike for a reasonable price. We are not consulting yahoos on youtube for the carb cleaning process. We have the proper tools and experience.  We have done hundreds, if not thousands of carbs. So, we know how to get it RIGHT.

When you are ready to get it running; come by and see us. We can help. Remember, as soon as the warm weather hits. We WILL get backed up very quickly.

Snow days can be fun too.

    After getting a few bikes fixed at the shop, we promptly closed the doors at 2:00 (a rare thing indeed) and headed home for some much needed play time.

     The snow was falling, fluffy and light. PERFECT traction for knobbie tires.
                             

It was hard to keep a clear, fog free faceshield to see where we were going. Luckily, we have the correct gear intended just for that purpose (we can even sell it to you as well).

Remember, you don't have to spend a fortune to get out and have fun in the snow. A 20 year old mount will still get the job done with decent tires on the rim.

The bikes were going well and we were riding all over "our" mountain. Time to see if the scooters could move in the snow too. We knew it wasn't going to be their forte, but just wanted to see if we could get where we wanted to go.

                                           

We won't lie. This is not a ride for beginners and, if you look, that rear tire is sliding around pretty well. However, the Lance Cabo did manage to make the drive up the entire road in the snow. Not too shabby.

We had a blast. After getting wet, sweaty and tired; we declared it a great snow day and went in to cozy up around the fire with some hot cocoa.

                                                                     

Battleships, Cruisers, and subs...and Cheese steaks part TWO

    It was last minute, but frequently those are often the best adventures.  Early Sunday morning, Tim and I set out on a bomber style trip to Philly to view some maritime treasures that we missed getting to see earlier this summer.
                                                                           

Of course, headed to Philly, there had to be cheese steaks. So we stopped at The Pepper Mill for lunch on the way in.

It was great to have Tim as a local guide knowing the way in and out. It made the day much less stressful and infinitely more enjoyable.

Upon arriving at out destination we paid an exorbitant sum to park, and then paid more to board and tour the ships (at least that was worth it).

The Submarine Becuna was our first stop. It has been preserved quite well and is set up in a way that allows you to imagine what life was like on board.

After touring the deck, we climbed down the ladder into the forward torpedo room, the business end of the ship.

The ship is designed for an 'average' height sailor, but don't worry if you are tall you can still fit. Some of us just have to work harder at it than others.

All four big diesels are still there. The placard explained how the forward two diesels were snorkeled to allow them to run submerged.

The engine technology was impressive for the time.

Conditions on board were cramped, but an ingenious person can always find ways to improve things.

After spending a bit of time on a small sub, walking next door to the Cruiser Olympia was quite a contrast in the name of space for things. It has to be seen to admire the differences.

                                                     The dining placement changes a bit.

If you are interested in vintage naval guns; many of those on display are in pristine shape.

How often can you stand in the exact spot a famous phrase was uttered? Commodore George Dewey, " You may fire when you are ready, Gridley" uttered those very words where these footprints are bound to the deck. You are able to stand on them. While you may not be at battle in the bay; it is still pretty awesome to us history nerds.

Peering out through one of the 5" main gun ports, it is quite interesting what she is sighted in on.

( I think the Big J would win that one)

          On the ride home we took the opportunity to stop and visit some spooky sights from Weird U.S. a website that compiles interesting destinations to explore.

Our adventures kept us out until after dark and dusk brought plummeting temperatures typical of an autumn evening. We made the ride home swiftly and both riders appreciated having good riding gear which can make all the difference.

As always a day on two wheels, shared with friends is enjoyable.  Throw in good weather and some interesting sights and there is nothing I would rather be doing.

Thanks to Tim for some extra pictures.

AMA Flat track at Williams Grove Speedway.

    We decided to meet as a group at the shop and ride out to the AMA National Flat track race. Upon arrival we were happy to see packed stands and a full crowd  at Williams Grove Speedway. The bike show in the parking lot is always good as well. There were quite a few vintage Indians in the lot that were ridden there, and that is always a welcome sight.

     The pits were open before and after the race. So you could get up-close and personal with the bikes and riders if you felt the desire to do so.

               
   This Yamaha is simply beautiful! I think we were all in agreement that with the addition of some lights it would be a fantastic street bike.    

                                   
                                      The Indian, just in case you wanted to see it in racing trim.

The racetrack "blue grooved" pretty quick, but the riders were still putting on a show.

                                                                     
                                                                             
                    Yes, we even found time to find some cool scooters in the pits for our scooter fans.

When was the last time you saw a  Genuine Black Cat in person?

A big thank you to Tim for the additional Photos.