Open Road Biker

I got my bike back on Friday afternoon after about three weeks without it. After all was said and done it looked like they replaced the intake gaskets, the rear cylinder and piston, the rear head, and the fuel pump. If you read a few stories back then you know about my cylinder being 14 thousands over sized. Well it looks like after all of that work that the tech did to diagnose my bikes problems he missed the fuel pump until the end. If he would have found that first then he may not have found the bad cylinder. I am not sure what method of diagnosing that he uses but usually you use the fuel, fire method. You check to see if something is getting fuel in the proper amounts and then you check everything surround the spark (such as timing, strength of the spark). I know this is a simplistic approach but when it comes right down to it, you are still dealing with an internal combustion engine. Warranty paid all but $60 of the $1700 bill that it cost to fix my bike and I am real thankful. So thanks go out to Appleton Harley in Clarksville and Smitty (the tech who worked on my bike). They even had it all nice and clean for me when I picked it up (probably the last time it will get washed for a little while).

Riding Again
I took off yesterday in the evening up U.S. Hwy 79 from here in Clarksville and headed towards Dover just strolling along. The ride was nice and easy up a long stretch of highway that alternated between two-lane and four-lane. Just past Dover in the little town of Paris I made a right and headed into the Land between The Lakes area and rolled halfway through the park past some great scenery until getting to U.S. Hwy 68 and heading out towards Cadiz KY and interstate 24. When I got there I just headed east until I got to my exit and headed home. All in all I think I did about a hundred miles yesterday and enjoyed every minute of it. I am just glad to be back on my bike.

Safety
While out on a short little ride today with my next door neighbor I got to thinking about a need for a small first aid kit. On Friday I picked up a little fork bag to put my registration and insurance junk in and that would be just perfect to put a few little things from a first aid kit in. You never know what can happen so it wouldn’t hurt to try and be prepared for an accident.

Well that is all for now, I will be posting about todays ride a little later on. Beer Friday is going to be postponed for about a month, I am going to be training for a little while but when I can I will pick it back up. Take it easy and be safe.

Have you heard of biker planet yet? Well it is a community type site similar to Myspace but for biker dating and just meeting other single bikers like you (that is if you are single). For some it may seem hard to find people with the same interests but at Biker Planet you have that part knocked out of the way. You already know that they love to ride, heck it is up to you after that to connect with someone that you are interested in. You also have plenty to choose from, they claim to be the biggest biker community on the net. Head on over there today and try it out, there is no telling, you may just find that special person you are looking for. Come on back and tell me how it turned out.

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Disclosure Policy

Motorcycle Crash; George Clooney was involved in a crash in Jersey while trying to pass a car on the right. He says that the car had it’s left turn signal on when it suddenly decided to turn right. Clooney and his passenger were wearing helmets. Read more here; AP

Ex HA leader of the Spokane chapter, Richard “Smilin’ Rick” Fabel was sentenced to 7 1/2 years for racketeering on Monday. You can read the details on that story here.

Now this next one isn’t really news but have you seen this OCC intel Chopper? I know they are just making money but I mean who wants to see a chopper with the intel logo? Maybe the the guys from Wild Hogs? Check out the video;

It has been quite some time since I posted you a link to another biker site but I just had to share this one with yall. It is a nice blog where the author talks about her rides, issues concerning motorcycles, and women riders. It was a very good read and I have went back a few times over the last few days reading more and more of her older articles. Me, well I am partial to hearing about rides and she talks about riding Bluff Road in Illinois. It has me kind of interested in doing a little research on this ride and running up there to try it out. Heck I am about 100 miles from southern Illinois so I may look into doing it sometime early November.

Loud Pipes
This is another topic that she talks about and she makes some good points. I know we worry about our freedoms but whose rights are we treading on when we blast down the road with our straight pipes? Now don’t get me wrong, I love my V&H Short Shots and have been obnoxiously loud with them at times. I guess we will see how it turns out over the next few years.

Helmet Laws
Remember last week when I posted a little article on helmet laws? Well she did too. This is getting to be a topic as hot as the loud pipes debate. I think we will be fighting this one forever. Myself I wear a helmet because I choose to, but I understand not wanting to be required to.

Head on over to Scooter Chicks site and check it out. I am sure you will find something interesting there.
She also runs a few more sites that you may want to check out, they aren’t biker sites but you may find some interesting stuff there,
Forever Purple
Domina Just a bit of warning for this site. It is a BDSM site but there are no pornographic pictures.

I found a video that explores just that and while I agree with the video on most of the stuff, well some I don’t. Essentially though it is a bike that has been slimmed down for just plain hard riding. Nothing extra to come between you and your ride. Well here is the video, tell me what you think;