Joining The Adventure

Well, it is official! My wife now has her first bike. It is a 1994 Honda VLX600C (Shadow) and as you can see she could not be happier.

I'll be happier as she develops her skill and confidence, but so far she is doing great.

Service Time

Well, after 4000 miles my bike was ready for an oil change and is a little overdue for its 32K service.

Basically the main part of that service is a valve check and I'll be taking it to Ride Time in Phoenix tomorrow for them to check it out.

Off with the fairing and out in the morning I'll go!

German Bike Night

SWR member mrogge offered to hold a Bike Night on Wednesday for members and is even offering a 25% discount on the total bill for coin holders. I would say I was being polite to stop by, but the truth is that the food is great and the beverages are very very tasty!!

While it was just mrogge, oddity and myself tonight I think this place should be a good stop for a lot of folks and look forward to the growth of this Bike Night.

With the TT Roadhouse on Tuesday, Zur Kate on Wednesday and the westside on Thursday, SWR is well on its way to a full week schedule.

54 Explained

During my trip to Ohio and ever since I put 54 on my ST1300 I have been answering the question about that number quite a bit. I thought I might take a minute to explain and I actually moved the plate that is the reason for that number over to the ST today.

Well, I sort of had the story in my head about how the plate came about and I decided maybe I should check with my father. It turns out I had the basic jist of story right, but not exactly correct.

The H 54 plate came about because a friend of my Grandfather's, named Ralph Villers. He was the man who provided radios to the town of Wellsville, OH for the police and fire departments. (My Grandfather was the Chief of Police for Wellsville.) Ralph also worked for the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles and had the ability to get signature plates issued for people. This was well before personalized plates were available and was one of those you had to know somebody kind of deals. Anyway, Ralph got my Grandfather a signature plate. H was obviously for his last name and 54 ended up being the number, for whatever reason.

My Grandfather got H 54 for his 1947 Pontiac in 1949 and the plate has been around ever since.

In 1965 my Father got H 54 in Pennsylvania when he was living in that state and also got H 54 when he moved to Alabama a few years ago.

I got H 54 in 1999 in Arizona and I have had it ever since. So, when the time came to put a number in the spots on my ST1300, 54 was the obvious choice.

Ohio Trip - Numbers Tell The Story

I'm working on a very detailed story about my trip to Ohio and back but I thought I would share some numbers.

4242.2 - Total Miles Traveled
700 - Average Miles per day (3) on trip back
646 - Average Miles per day (3.25) on trip to Ohio
$404.86 - Total Gas Bill
$257.79 - Hotel Bill
$222.13 - Food Cost
$116.05 - Parts (Unexpected)
$9 - Tolls
6 - Number of times I thought I forgot to put on my glasses
3 - Number of nights in Hotels headed to Ohio
2 - Number of nights in Hotels headed back from Ohio
2 - Number of Bike Nights attended (Salem, OH and Sharon, PA)
2 - National Landmarks Visited
2 - Old National Highways Traveled (66 and 30)
2 - Number of days I was rained on.
2 - Number of times I saw police behind me with lights on.
1 - Numbers of days I was hailed on.
0 - Number of times I actually forgot to put on my glasses.
0 - Number of times stopped by police.

Trip - COMPLETE!

And there it is, just some of the stats from my ride. I'll be compiling a few more and posting them up in the next couple days, but for now I think I'll jump in my hot tub and have a few nice home cooked meals.

All in all is was an awesome trip. I really get the idea that you can't ride from one side of New Mexico to the other side without getting wet and I noticed quite a few different things about how the price of gasoline has affected some and not others.

It is certainly great to back in Arizona and riding down the 87 home really stuck home the notion that we have most of the best roads in the United States!

Texas Sized Ride!

Well, the wind in Texas is just as was a few days ago, but the weather
has been better this time. I got my second bird strike today, but I
think it is OK.

Gateway to the West!

Well, here I go rolling back Home, from Home. I had a great time in
Ohio, but I am longing for the "dry" heat!

Not as many people or trucks on the road as I expected, tomorrow
should ne interesting.

Um......yea, anyway.

I lost count.

Seriously, there must be over 3000 bikes here and it is just a bike night at the famous Quaker Steak & Lube.

I'm going to go get some wings and then drool some more.

You Can Go Home

There it is the house I grew up in on the Lincoln Hiway. When I was a
kid I always said I would travel around and always remember where I
started and here I am.

Now, for some more riding!

Bike Night In Ohio

Wow, they do it big here. About 40 bikes just left and there are still
about 200 left. Mostly Harleys, but a RC51 and Repsol bike as well.
(No Lucky Strike.)

Back In The Buckeye State

Well, I actually made it yesterday, but I am now at my Mother's house
in Salem, OH. The bike has been cleaned up and is all ready for bike
night tonight and some riding around tomorrow.