Open Road Biker

I told someone yesterday that if you don’t ride in the rain here in Belgium that you wouldn’t be riding much. I thought about that all the way home while getting wet and wondering why I haven’t purchased any good rain gear yet. I guess I am going to break down and get some but in the mean time I will continue to use this military stuff I have. It works okay but I kind of stick out like a sore thumb wearing it. Its not a fashion show out there but once someone sees me in that camo they automatically know I am military so blending in is out the window. Any ways military gear is made for walking not riding so I guess one of the online stores like J&P Cycles®
. Maybe in a few weeks I will riding dry. Until next time stay safe and keep the shiny side up!

I promised you part four, day three didn’t I? Well thanks for tuning back in. Day three was really a wrap up day for us and that is mainly what this post is going to be for. So without further distractions I will continue.

Wow, another day waking up to the rain. I got up and got out in it and stood there like a dummy for a little while. These past 2 weeks have been somewhat rain filled so you get to expect it and just decide to live with it. I started tearing down my stuff to pack for the ride back and while I did that I asked someone to pick up my bag breakfast for me. DZ was kind enough to do it and by the time the rest made it back I was through packing. The bike was loaded down and ready except for some stuff that I was carrying for others. Just in case you don’t already know or haven’t read it elsewhere my bike is an H-D Dyna Wide Glide. That type of bike is not one of the big cruisers that come with a windshield, saddlebags, and a big ol’ comfy seat. It is more of a stripped down bike without a windshield and my saddlebags are just some cheap ones that I picked up for trips like this. I usually strap my tent and sleeping bag to the front of my handlebars and that blocks a whole lot of wind and I put my cloths, tools, and other junk in the cheapo saddlebags. It works out just fine for me but that is the way I like it. I wouldn’t mind having a geezer glide mind you (touring bike) but I am happy with my Dyna.

Now where was I, that’s right I was through packing and they brought my food back. We all got ready took a few pictures and rolled out. It was a fairly uneventful ride back (that is always good). Luckily we didn’t get any rain and about halfway home we stopped and pulled the rain gear off. We all started splitting up just south of Brussels and for the final leg of the trip it was just three bikes. Me, DZ, and Chip rode on towards our homes and I unloaded DZ’s stuff from my bike and went home. It sure was nice to sleep in my bed that night.

Here are a few afterthoughts, complaints, and things I learned;
1. I am still waiting for the burnout pit, all rallies have them right?
2. Take plenty of money; you will go through it fast (beer is expensive).
3. My tent is awesome, it is made by Sierra Designs and I would recommend it to anyone. I did not get wet or have to deal with condensation on the inside.
4. My cheapo saddlebags from Willie and Max are very well made. You can not beat them with even real leather bags in my opinion.
5. Better bands, some were good but most I could have cared less for.
6. Final thought, I can’t wait for the next rally and to all of those who went with us it was great partying with you guys. See you at Black and White!

He we are again with part three, day two of the saga that was Super Rally 2007 Netherlands. When we last left the story our hero James had went to bed early because he felt much older than he should at 35 instead of staying up and partying with the big boys. That night I woke up many times to the sounds of rumbling Harleys and partying people but all in all my lame ass got some sleep and woke up to a light rain and wet ground somewhere around 9 in the morning. I went and had my three rolls and a coke and then strolled on over to the vendors to see what they were trying to sell. I ended up buying the cheapest belt I could find. You see I was having this little problem; I couldn’t keep my size 36 pant from falling down so rather than continue to scare people I decided it would be nice of me to get a belt. I imagine that was a wise expenditure of 10 euro.

Sometime after the belt buying adventure I went over to the festival area and started enjoying the atmosphere and shows. The day was packed with them and trying to catch all of the ones I wanted to see wasn’t easy. I think the first thing I caught while trying to see the Globe of Death was a juggling act. This dude was juggling around torches, and then he decided he would juggle a knife, rubber chicken, and an apple at the same time while taking a bite out of the apple. That was something to see but then he started juggling the chainsaws. I was wondering right away about the chain. Most of the time when a saw idles the chain will not move or move slowly. On his the blades were always moving. He started with two then went to three but not before some idiot drunk come up and started telling him to go home. Well that guy got escorted away. Needless to say I was fairly impressed by some idiot juggling chainsaws, heck there aint no way I would do it.

After that there were three events I wanted to catch and they were all happening at roughly the same time. One was the CCR cover band CCR Revival. They were good, I mean so good I think they put on a better show than some stuff I have heard from Credence Clearwater Revisited (the band formed by the former CCR members without Fogerty). The singer sounded very similar and the music was top notch. In between song I went and looked at the bikes in the bike show. They had a fair amount of awesome bikes but not as many as you would expect at an event of this size. I don’t know which bike won but I did see a bobber that I wouldn’t mind riding home. Somewhere around the same time I caught the Birds of Prey show but it seems all they had was one Bald Eagle. The bird was magnificent but I just hated seeing it in captivity like that. Not that the bird looked like it was being abused, just that it didn’t belong. After that I caught the rest of the show and the beginning of the worst Red Hot Chili Peppers cover band I have ever heard so I headed off for a bite and to go check out some of the different bikes parked around the camp sites.

I spent probably two hours checking out bikes and after having my fill I caught up with some of the others and we headed to the local HD shop. It was me, DZ, Slow Mo, and Chip and the shop was called Harley World. When we got there we talked to one of the sales guys for a minute and he complained how Harley was keeping all of the bikes in the U.S. and wouldn’t send him ant to sell. After looking at the small selection of bikes they had we found their nice bar area with leather sofas. It seemed like a real nice place to take a load off so we did. Resting for some reason made us hungry so we cruised over to a nice restaurant for a bit where I had the finest plate of pork tenderloin I have ever put in my mouth. They were also serving a great pils (beer) on tap called Bavaria. I almost think I have a new favorite. So we washed that meal down, relaxed for a while to let the beer fade from our system and let our food settle and we headed back to the rally.

I had three more things I wanted to do that night;
1. Catch the exotic show
2. See the Aerosmith cover band Big Ones
3. Get tore out of the frame
Well I accomplished two of them. The exotic show was different. They had a girl and guy doing their artistic rendition of the scene from Queen of the Damned where she turns the guy into her king. There was a little candle wax involved that got poured on her naughty bits and some clips that got attached to his. Then they both started doing the human torch bit where they spewed flames from their mouth (now notice I said artistic rendition right?). All in all it was okay but rated R by most exotic show standards. The cover band was next but we didn’t watch it very long. Talk about horrible, they should have been booed off the stage but I imagine most were too drunk to notice how bad they were which brings me to the third and final object of the night at which I failed. I was planning on getting toasted but the beer was just unbearable. I guess I have become somewhat of a beer snob or maybe that beer was just that bad. We ended the night somewhere around 12:30 with our own loud pipes call. Chip cranked his bike for a full throttle wake up in the camp ground and then we all crawled in our tents for some sleep.

The last and final article for day 3 will be given to you tomorrow. Stay tuned for the rest mean while be sure to check out the forums.

The summer is here and vacation times are upon us. You say it is not summer weather where you are at? Why not go some where it is, such as Greece. You can book cheap flights to Zante through Holiday Hypermarket today and be on your way to sunny beaches and warm climates in no time. Head on over to the website and discover all of the other deals they have to offer also. You never know, you may be able to go somewhere, rent a motorcycle, and enjoy a little riding in a place where you never thought you would be able to ride. What are you waiting for, the skies aren’t looking any clearer here.

This is a paid advertisement.
Disclosure Policy

Yesterday around 2 P.M. a 17 year old boy shot and killed a motorcycle salesman and wounded one other. He later wrecks his car and is thrown from it while it is rolling into a ravine killing him. One of the first questions that comes to mind of course is why? What was going on in the head of that kid that made him want to take someone elses life like that? He had allready purchased a motorcycle from the salesman and reportedly was there to pick it up, I am sure that would be an awesome feeling going to pick up your new motorcycle, at least it was for me. There are few details as of now on his motivation but I am sure more will come out later. If you want to read the whole story you can go to this news site. What are your responses? Talk about it in the forums.