It's Ride to Work Day!

For those of you who have a job, you probably already ride to work whenever the weather cooperates. If you don't, today is a day to get out there and join together with riders everywhere who are using their motorcycles for daily transportation.

It takes a little planning and organization if you take items to work with you. Once you find a place to carry everything, (laptop, lunch, extra clothes to change into once you arrive, if needed)
you will find a routine that is quick, comfortable, and a great way to begin your workday.

From Wikipedia:
Ride To Work is a Minnesota-based charitable organization devoted to increasing awareness of motorcycling as a transportation alternative, mainly through the annual Ride to Work Day. The organization was incorporated in 2000 by Andy Goldfine, the owner of Aerostich.
Ride to Work Day started in 1992 as an informal event, before Ride To Work existed. In 2009, Ride to Work Day will be on June 15.
According to a 2006 statement to the National Transportation Safety Board by Goldfine, Ride to Work Day is the largest motorcycle event by number of participants. Ride to Work Day is also run in other countries including the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Israel, Turkey, Ecuador and the Philippines. In the United Kingdom, the Motorcycle Industry Association runs the event alongside National Motorcycle Week.

This year the day was moved up from July. It will from now on be the 3rd Monday in June. This was decided partly because the weather in most parts of the world is milder in June than July, and I guess Europeans are on summer holiday in July so aren't riding to work then.

I, for one, won't be working today. Still looking. I will be riding today, though aimlessly with no destination. That's the best kind of riding, right?

Easy Peasy Home Installation of the Vulcan Engine Guard

When I bought my new Kawasaki Vulcan 900 Classic, I ordered an engine guard from the dealer as an accessory, along with the Vulcan windshield. After waiting and calling for a month the windshield finally came in. They failed to call, so it was a couple weeks later that I called to find it had arrived. I installed the windshield and you can read about it here.

So, they assured me that when the engine guard came in I would again get a call. I finally called early this year and they had my part. They also had a bogus phone number for me. I drove the 40 miles or so and picked it up. When I got home and opened the box, there were two bolts in a plastic bag. One was stripped at the end.

They were a hex-flange bolt and a size you couldn't find just anywhere. We looked everywhere we could think of that sold bolts. Dave finally stopped at a place on his way home one day called ‘Tacoma Screw’. They had ‘almost’ the perfect bolt. The hex head was a little smaller, but it worked just fine.

I decided to install the guard last weekend, since it was way too cold to ride. I even closed the garage so it would be warmer inside while I worked. It was in the 30’s outside. As I worked with the icy-cold tubular chrome guard, my hands became very chilled. It was hard to feel the threads engage as I added each nut to its bolt and tried to finger-tighten it. I could hardly make my fingers do what I wanted them to do.

It’s a good thing that it was pretty easy and didn’t take a lot of work. Add a few bolts and clamps, tighten here and there, and then apply torque on 2 of them.

I think it looks good.



I came home at lunch today since I work only 15 minutes away. The sun was out and it was 39 degrees. It’s been nice and clear and sunny for days, but only in the low 30’s. I couldn’t bring myself to bundle up and get out there. Today I decided to go for it. The weather was as warm as it was going to get, and we have rain and snow in the forecast for the weekend.

I hadn’t tried out the bike since I added the engine guard. I’m always conscious of the added weight so was wondering if it would handle differently. I rode the Vulcan back to work and then home right before dark. I think it felt a little heavier on the turns, but otherwise I liked it and didn’t notice much difference in the way of handling.

Now that I’ve added enough accessories to the front of the bike, I will need to make some decisions about what I need on the rear to carry gear and stuff for a 3 or 4 day ride. I’m planning a ride down the coast this summer but have no way to carry anything on the bike. I find planning trips like this is very fun. I love poring over the maps and deciding what route we will take, having never been on any of the roads in question. That’s where the sense of adventure comes in.

Want To Meet Others With Your Interests?

I was directed to a new website by a ‘friend’ on Biker-or-not, another social website for bikers and people who like hanging out with bikers. He has a motorcycle shop that is less than a year old in Everett, WA and is organizing rides and events and having lots of success so far. I plan to write about his shop when I visit it this coming weekend.

The website he mentioned is Meetup.com. No matter what your interest is, there are people in groups around the country that are meeting up with similar interests. If you search for motorcycles, there are oodles of motorcycle groups and meet-ups for rides galore. It turns out there are a couple of riding groups near Seattle and various riding groups associated with the motorcycle shop in Everett. This group posts all of their events so you can plan ahead and see what you want to attend. The Meetup.com site is organized so that you can accept, or tentatively accept an invitation so the planners have an idea of how many will be coming. There are photos of past events and rides, and it makes you feel like joining a group because it looks like so much fun.

The website is easy to find your way around, and is set up very well. You can search for groups that are in your local area. This seems like a good way to meet others with the same interests as you, and actually meet in person and not just online. Check out the motorcycle groups here.

The 2007 Seattle Cycle World International Motorcycle Show

What a wild weekend! The Motorcycle Show started Friday and I had planned to go on Saturday. We intended to leave by 10:30am to get downtown and back, since we were supposed to have our first snow flurries of the year in the afternoon.

My son came over and the 3 of us left. It seemed warm out…..high 40’s maybe. We had a nice ride into Seattle. The show was at Qwest Field Events Center which is part of structure where the Seahawks play football, and adjacent to Safeco Field where the Mariners play baseball. If you ride a motorcycle to the show there is free parking, so lots of people do, otherwise it’s $10.00. This particular day with the forecast of snow, there were still an amazing amount of motorcycles in the lot.

This year seemed a little disappointing to me. In years past, the show had included more local and independent bike builders, and just lots of stuff. The event mainly showcases the 19 major manufacturers of motorcycles, ATVs and watercraft from around the world. The large names in gear and accessories were all there. It is awesome to look across the room and see all the shiny motorcycles, some on pedestals. There were smiles on every face. This year the number of females who were obviously interested in a bike for themselves was just awesome. Everywhere you looked there were females who had caught the bug and were sizing up a bike of their own. Over half of the people sitting on bikes were women, with big grins on their faces. I could imagine they could see themselves whizzing down the road with the wind in their hair.

One of the fun things I did was walk through an RV, my very first! It was quite large, and had an actual fold-down ramp in the rear. The ramp led up to a garage that you could tie down 3 large motorcycles. It was so awesome that I could see myself at least traveling in an RV sometime. There is always a wonderful collection of antique motorcycles and this year was no exception. There also seemed to be a lot of sidecar models and manufacturers. It is fun to look, dream, watch the people and just spend hours absorbed in the world of motorcycles. I was almost overwhelmed by it all.

It was quite a large event, so after walking around for a couple of hours we decided to walk down the block to the Pyramid Brewery for a bite of lunch. As we neared the exit we looked out the window and stopped abruptly.

During the couple of hours we had been inside, it had begun to snow. It was snowing heavily. The flakes were huge, and it was already sticking on the ground. We continued to walk to the Brewery. We had a fine lunch, all the while looking out the window scanning the traffic, amount of snow on the parked cars, etc. By the time we left to walk back to our vehicle the city was a winter wonderland, and a parking lot. I was amazed at a few motorcyclists, still out riding around in the snow. It was kind of slippery.

We slowly made our way back to the freeway and headed north outside of the city towards home. By the time we reached my home, we had 2 inches of snow blanketing everything. It snowed all night and was beautiful. The next day we had torrential rains for 48 hours; actually very uncommon in the Seattle area. With the snowmelt and rains there were life-threatening floods and my particular business park was evacuated yesterday. There are creeks and rivers everywhere that have washed out roads and access for thousands of people. A stretch of I-5 is flooded and closed between Seattle and Portland for several days. No motorcycling for a while here….

My Vulcan wish list

Since I bought the stock ’07 Kawasaki Vulcan 900 Classic, I want to make it my own. I like the clean look of the bike without any accessories, but for practical reasons I need to get a few things. With the bike purchase I also ordered the Kawasaki windshield. It came in, and I picked it up last weekend. I am a little nervous that it will be too tall, since I am only 5’3”. I want it for wind resistance, but don’t want it to be so tall that if it rains I can’t see the road. I am putting it on tonight, so we’ll see. I also have an engine guard (crash bars) on order, but it is back-ordered from Kawasaki so could be a while before I see them.

I am toying with the idea of no saddlebags. I like them because it gives you something to carry things in, which otherwise have to go in a backpack for now. What I don’t like is the width they give to the bike, and the fact that you can’t really lock them. I definitely don’t like the look of hard locking side bags either. It’s all about the look…..

What I do like is the look of a tall sissy bar. Not the kind with a pad (standard Kawasaki) but a tall ‘easy rider’ kind of sissy bar. Maybe 18’’ tall or so would look OK. I haven’t found any online but will continue to look for a custom one that will fit my bike. Kawasaki also makes bungee hooks that go on the rear fender side chrome, but you can’t use them if you add a sissy bar. So they make you chose one or the other. It sounds like some creative thinking is in order.
My other option is the standard sissy bar (with pad) with the luggage rack behind. I just can’t imagine the rack being large enough to actually hold anything of size. I saw a picture of a bike with a round cylinder pack right behind the rider. It looked to be PVC and seemed you could fit a weekend’s worth of clothing in it. I looked online and came up with an even better idea on Cruiserbag.com. I love it. I think that is exactly what I need. It even has a built in backrest for the rider! This one is the large size. I'm thinking about the medium.




The options are endless, but I like the clean look of my bike as it is. I do not like carrying a backpack everywhere I go, and it won’t hold everything I would need on even a short trip. I really dislike a cluttered motorcycle and accessories are expensive. I plan to take it slow, see what is available and will meet my needs. By next season my ride should be ‘sweet’!

How to pick up a dropped motorcycle

As happens to most riders at one time or another in their riding career, a bike gets dropped. It can be from inexperience, unexpected circumstances, going too slow in a tight turn, forgetting to lower the kickstand, gravel, etc. Even seasoned riders sometimes drop their bikes.

When a woman drops their motorcycle it is a greater challenge to right the bike, mostly because of the weight involved. If you can find anyone around to help you, don’t hesitate to ask. Just because you follow the methods described below and are ‘able’ to right the bike, first ask if anyone can help. If that isn’t feasible, try it yourself.

This You-Tube video is also a great example of what to do if your bike falls:



I have found several places on the internet that describe with pictures the safest and easiest method for a woman to use to lift up her bike. I seem to always refer to V-Twin Mama when I need advice. These are some of her links: A lady from Georgia named 'skert' who has a great instructional page on lifting your bike. She makes it look so easy in her mini-skirt and boots. She's on another BMW site with more valuable instructions. The Minnesota Motorcycle Safety Center also has an excellent site with photos about lifting your bike safely.

I haven’t actually tried these methods myself so I can’t verify that they work. When I partially dropped my new Vulcan a couple of weeks ago, I remembered seeing these pictures and tried to do what they describe. I didn’t have the details I needed to be successful. Next time I will know what to do. It seems that all the advisers agree that a woman CAN lift a bike by herself if need be.

On the road again

Our Northwest weather has been cooperating lately, and the roads have been mostly dry and perfect for riding my new motorcycle.

Last week I rode my Suzuki S-40 down to Seattle where I purchased it. I left it off for its 4000 mile service and oil change. After all the trouble I had with it dying at a stop, even after being warm, the guys found nothing out of the ordinary. Spark plug looked good, as did everything else. So then I rode it back home Tuesday evening from Seattle to my home about 20 miles north. It was a chilly 40 degrees and the sun was going down as I rode. I had bundled up knowing that it was necessary lately to ride any distance. By the time I was about 2/3 home, I started getting chilled through. My mind was thinking about a fresh, warm fire in our woodstove at home. And a hot meal…..I hadn’t eaten dinner yet. That kept me going until I got the bike home. By then it was dark and I immediately went in and started a fire.

I rode the new Vulcan last weekend and put a couple hundred miles on it. I am becoming much more familiar and comfortable with the bike. My only hesitation is when I am entering or leaving a parking lot. I still have trouble rolling the bike back if there is any hump or slight imperfection in the surface I’m parked on. I started wearing my Harley boots ( I know, I don’t ride a Harley) because they have a higher raised heel and I have a little more leverage to push off with.

So far I have ridden the Vulcan to work as much as possible. Our mornings have been slightly above freezing, so I have come home at lunch time and ridden the bike back to work because it was sunny and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. This time of year some days are just too cold and you want to be warm for the ride to work, as well as stop for my double tall non-fat latte on the way. I can’t do that when I am riding.


I love my new bike, but here are a couple of things I’ve noticed that are weird:

• The speedometer reads about 5 to 6 mph faster than I am really going. When I am pegging the bike at 60, I am really only going about 54 mph. This sucks, because I have to calculate in my head while I am riding and I don’t like to do that. I sure don’t want to be going slower than the speed limit!
  
  
• Almost all the chrome parts on the bike are plastic. You wouldn’t know by just looking, because they are done very well. But they’re PLASTIC.
  


• When you fill the tank with gas, the gas gauge needle doesn’t go all the way to Full. That makes it kind of useless. It is only a ‘suggestion’ of how much fuel you have. And by the way, the Vulcan 900 Classic takes Premium gas. Pretty expensive these days…..

These are the things I love:

• The floorboards. My feet are sitting on them and my legs are in the most comfortable position I feel like I could cruise forever and not be tired.
  
  
• The heel-toe shifter. I was a little hesitant but I absolutely love it. Shifting up with your heel is a very satisfying feeling……I don’t know why.
  
  
• I love the color and the look of my Vulcan. The sound makes me very happy too. I love to hear the low rumble that gets louder as I accelerate. It’s cool.
  
  
• The smooth handling and shifting make the Kawasaki Vulcan 900 Classic a pleasure to ride.

Unexpected Addition to the Garage

Since the weather has been soggy lately I have been dreaming of riding next summer. In my daydreams I am on a large cruiser motorcycle going on overnight trips and riding up and down the Pacific Coast. The sound of the rumbling rhythm in my head is from a Harley.

Since Harleys are overpriced and have a certain 'status' associated with them, I started looking online to see what other motorcycles there might be, so that I might start dreaming of a closer reality. I really need a bigger bike. Yesterday, to pass the dreary day, I talked my husband into going to this huge motorcycle dealership that is pretty far away from our home, but has the largest variety of Japanese bikes in the area. My intention was to 'look' and narrow down what type of motorcycle I wanted and could afford in the near future.

We drove down there and happily started jumping on bikes in the showroom. This place had every make, model, and color of every 2007 Japanese motorcycle on the American market. I was immediately drawn to a Honda Sabre with a flame paint job. I love flames! It just didn’t feel good to me once I sat on it. I also tried all the larger Suzuki Boulevard series, Yamaha cruiser V-Stars, many Honda cruisers, and some Kawasaki cruisers. Finally I sat on the Kawasaki Vulcan 900 Classic. That was it!

After leaving to go eat lunch, think about it, and discuss it with my husband……..I went back and bought the bike. We decided the sale they were having was really a good deal, the bike fit well, and it had all the features that I needed in my next motorcycle. I had followed the chain of events when a fellow blogger, Rippin-Kitten had been fortunate enough to be loaned a Kawasaki Vulcan 900 Custom for a while. She rode it and reviewed it. It generally sounded like a fine motorcycle, looked good, and was reasonably priced. I also knew a girl in my riding group who had a new Aqua colored one. It’s a beautiful bike. The dealer had a Candy Cardinal Red one. I nabbed it.

I don’t pick the bike up until Tuesday, which is supposed to be the start of a couple of partly sunny, dry days. I got a large windshield, and engine guards added to the already cool motorcycle. It has floorboards, a real gas gauge, and a huge headlight. It also has a 5.3 gallon gas tank, fuel injection, low maintenance belt drive, and spoked wheels with disc brakes on front and back.

I am sure this motorcycle will serve me well for several years of riding pleasure. I will be looking for large leather saddlebags and eventually a small sissy bar with luggage rack behind it, for those overnight trips with lots of gear. It was an unexpected purchase, but one that I had been leading up to for a while. Now I just have to keep my husband off of it……

Confidence Takes Time

When I first decided that I would learn to ride a motorcycle solo, I had no preconceived ideas of what I would do with that skill. It was something I had always wanted to do, but had only gotten the courage after I had been through a bout with breast cancer. After that I knew there were many things I hadn’t done yet in life, and the desire to enjoy motorcycling was one of those that became the strongest urge at that time. I have never regretted the decision or looked back.

After completing and passing the Motorcycle Safety Foundation beginners class, I got my first motorcycle and started riding as much as possible. Of course as a new rider my confidence level was pretty low. I didn’t hesitate to go out on my own, but I was careful to plan my route ahead of time. There was a particular place where a slight incline came up to a stop sign which terrorized me at first. One area close to home has 3 traffic lights as you make your way up a steep hill. I feared that I would kill the engine taking off from a complete stop on the hill. I never did. Traffic was never a fear, as I learned to drive a car in the Silicon Valley so was used to fierce congestion and high speed freeway driving. Down hill twisty roads scared me, because I wasn’t able to slow enough to my liking. I remembered from the MSF class not to brake on a curve, watch out for gravel, etc.

As for the high speed freeway driving – it still is a challenge. Since I’ve been riding for more than two years, I have stayed mostly on the back roads. It is limiting. Now I am taking longer and faster rides. My motorcycle is light and small, but fully capable of going 100mph if I wanted to – I do NOT. My only drawback is that my tank only holds 2 gallons of gas, plus .2 gallon reserve. So I have to stop every 110 – 120 miles to fill up with gas. It isn’t a problem unless I am with others who have much larger gas tanks and don’t need to stop.

Now when I take some of those same routes I took early on, they are a piece of cake. I am so much more in control of the bike, more focused, and it’s more enjoyable and thrilling. When you’re learning you have to concentrate on basic operation of the motorcycle, maneuvering through traffic, and searching for turn-offs etc. It is almost overwhelming. Now I just enjoy the ride and the bike operation comes naturally. I only have to pay attention to other drivers on the road and where I am headed.

I have a desire to keep pushing myself farther and harder so as not to set limits that will keep me from fully enjoying motorcycling. I love riding, will do it until I am physically not able to any more, and count it as one of the things providing quality to my life. Now I just need to get a bigger motorcycle………

Motorcycling and Creativity

It seems to me that there is a common thread among motorcyclists, and especially the women. We are creative and innovative when it comes to solving problems or dreaming up new ideas for things that we need for the motorcycle.

I have also noticed that many of the biker women are knitters, do stamping, are artists, photographers, and other creative passions. The stereotype of the ‘rough around the edges’ biker chick may be a little true. But we also like girl things, and we like to create things that can be enjoyed by others.

As for me, I knit, crochet, am an artist, and am learning to take photos. I have so many interests and hobbies that change with the seasons. My mind is always challenged with something new that triggers an idea and gets the ball rolling.

During the winter when the riding days are few, I spend a lot of time doing needlework indoors. I like to knit sweaters to wear when I ride my motorcycle, warm socks for my riding boots, and this year I will make some wrist warmers to fit just into my gloves. I also have many knitted scarves to keep my neck warm and that are fun to have flowing behind you as you ride down the road.

Music is another commonality among motorcyclists. Whether it is singing, playing a musical instrument or being in a rock band, people who ride have many talents.

Those of us who ride motorcycles have the common view of loving life, living it to the fullest, and watching the weather so we can ride as much as possible. By being creative we can make useful items that we can be proud of and that bring joy to others as well as ourselves.

Ride to Edmonds, Washington

My brother came to visit me from California for my son’s wedding. He has ridden motorcycles for years so I was anxious to go for a ride with him.

One day we had a small window of time with no commitments so we thought we would go for a ride. I found that one of my older helmets fit him well and my husband had some gloves that he could use. He would ride my husband’s motorcycle and I would ride my own and lead.

We got the bikes out of the garage and warmed them up. My brother has an ‘80’s Ninja 600cc, and the ’69 Honda 450cc that I posted about previously. My husband rides a Honda Shadow ACE-750cc. It is a cruiser style which has a very different feel than the upright bikes he was used to.

The weather was cool and brisk, and cloudy when we left my home. Edmonds is situated on the Puget Sound so there are almost always sunny skies above the town because of the marine layer of warm air over the water. As we got closer we could see the sky open up above the water and sure enough, it was sunny when we got there. We stood and admired the Washington State Ferries, and the islands that you could see far off in the distance. The water was bright blue and a little choppy, but the only miniature crashing waves on the beach were caused from a fast boat passing by. Across the water was another peninsula with tiny houses dotting the shoreline.

We took some pictures and talked about how the cruiser’s foot pegs and controls were moved far forward from what he was used to, but he was starting to get familiar as we went along. When we’d enjoyed the view and taken ample photos we decided to leave.

We had a good ride home on a different route with a few twisties through the woods. I enjoyed riding with my brother which I hadn’t had the chance to do before.



Maybe one of these days he’ll let me try out his Ninja……

Meeting other women motorcyclists

I’ve been riding my motorcycle for more than two years now. Mostly I ride alongside my husband or I ride alone. At first, as a new rider, I had to build up my confidence to ride farther and farther out of my neighborhood. We go for short day trips on weekends that may last three or four hours. My gas tank is two gallons, so I need to stop every hundred miles or so to fill up.

Some of the other women motorcyclist blogs have inspired me to go farther and faster and take more chances on my bike. I’ve been riding safe and conservatively, which is fine. But I’ve limited myself by trying to avoid the freeway speeds when possible, and not going a great distance from home.

My solution to this was to join a local Cycle Barn Women’s Motorcycle Club. If I can meet some other female riders, I might have the opportunity to go farther and faster on the organized rides. We live in Western Washington so there is no lack of beautiful day or weekend destinations to ride.

Tonight I went to a dinner meeting of the CBWMC and met the members. There were two other new members and a total of six of us altogether. They have a few others who usually come, but the group was small. The three newest members were the only ones who rode our motorcycles. The older members all drove cars. I found that curious. Those of us who were new felt a kinship right away with the other women. They were all nice, all ages, and all confidence levels. I felt right at home as they talked about being nervous on gravel, not riding in the winter (I do), and tipping over their bikes. These were just women who like to ride their motorcycles, and like to do long weekend and even 4 day rides. It was encouraging to us new members to think of being able to do such long rides.

We parted with a plan to meet next month, aside from a weekend ride over the Cascade Mountains to Winthrop next week. Next month they have two rides which I will plan to go on and that will be all the organized rides for this year. They meet once a month through the winter and discuss and plan next years ride schedule. I can hardly wait to start riding with other women in a group. We found out we all live within 15 miles of each other, so some of us will probably meet and ride on nice weekends anyway. I can see a lot of good times down the road……..

A Wedding to remember

Sunday was one of the most happy and memorable days of my life so far. My son was married to his lovely fiancé in what was supposed to have been an outdoor wedding. As it turns out, it poured rain heavily all day leading up to and including during the wedding, picture taking, and reception.

Living in the Northwest you can expect to have your plans spoiled by rain, especially during the fall months. Luckily the bride is very organized and had a back up plan in case this happened. She dealt with the last minute changes very well.

As for the groom, good weather was critical. He had built and customized his dad's 1971 HD Sportster 1000 - "The Mule". It was in boxes of parts when he started and was just fired up for it's second life two weeks ago. The plan had been for my son and his groomsmen to ride up on their motorcycles wearing their tuxes. Rain can spoil well made intentions. They all rode to the site early in their regular clothes and were drenched completely through from head to toe when they arrived. Some didn’t have raingear. Then they cleaned up and looked dry and spiffy in their tuxes all day. Later, when the sun came out for a second, we got some pictures out by the motorcycles.

The wedding and reception were in a large barn with a concrete floor that turned out to be a great dance floor. It was located on a beautiful, grass covered acreage with a farmhouse and other red outbuildings. The setting was perfect and very scenic. It was a touching ceremony and then a fun and comfortable reception. There were lots of out of town guests and relatives who came from long distances for the wedding. The bride and groom are very loved by all.

For the wedding and reception a great trio played, called the Primo Basso Band. They play romantic Italian music with an accordion, base, and guitar. The music was very enjoyable to all age groups and put everyone in a romantic mood, as well as being quite danceable. I only saw them take one quick break all day, so they were great.


It was a perfect day in spite of the rain, and one that I will cherish always. The bikes were cool too!

Wedding weekend with motorcycles

My only child is getting married this Sunday, Sept. 16. He has rebuilt his dad's 1971 HD Sportster 1000 and customized it a little. The plan is for he and his groomsmen to arrive on their motorcycles to the wedding site, in their tuxes. They will set up motorcycle parking for others who ride there. I, as the mother of the groom, will be wearing a dress, so won't be riding up on mine.

My 82 year old mother and my brother are flying in from the Bay Area today, so I will have my hands full for a few days. I won't be posting until after the weekend, unless I get some free time away from all the festivities. I plan to take alot of pictures so my next post should have some cool motorcycles in it.

So for now, here is a video I found interesting about women bikers in India:

The Hazards of Daily Riding

I’ve been riding the motorcycle to work a lot lately because the weather has been perfect for it. My commute is not very long, only 5 miles each way. I don’t take the freeway, but usually ride various routes on back roads.

Everyone else takes the back roads also, to avoid sitting still on the freeway. We have a terrible gridlock problem around here during commute times. I usually have a pretty fluid ride going to work in the morning. Coming home in the afternoon is a different story.

Western Washington is in a state of growth and there are a lot of jobs here. This means there is a lot of road construction going on in every direction, and lots of housing subdivisions are being built. A lot of the beautiful trees here in the Northwest are being bulldozed away for houses…..it’s sad to me.

So riding a motorcycle in this area can be hazardous because of all the ‘steel plates in the road’ and ‘motorcycles use extreme caution’ signs. Flaggers stop traffic and funnel it down to one lane everywhere you go. Sometimes the road is corrugated, which is tough if you’re going faster than 10 mph.

I usually try to mentally plan my route to work when I’m on the cycle. Which hazards do I want to challenge today? Depending on which direction I think will be backed up with cars, I choose to go the route I’m in the mood for.

My favorite route goes on windy back roads for a while, then up a straight steep hill past a gun range and a mountain of landfill. Then it’s down the other side of the steep hill into a major commercial area with a giant intersection. Once I am past there it is a straight, slow road (I wish people would get out of my way!) until I turn on a side road which is a fun rollercoaster of gentle ups and downs. This road is my favorite because it is rural and cool in the morning, and there are a flock of Canadian geese (hundreds) that settle in one particular field. It is a sight to see. As I come to the end of this road it opens up into a business park with lots of companies. I go down a little ways and pull into my company.

The ride to work this way is pleasant, and only frustrating if I get stuck behind a school bus on the country roads now that school has begun again. They stop at every driveway. I will avoid those routes unless I leave early enough to miss them.

Coming home the traffic is always backed up leaving the business park, and pretty much all the way home it is gridlocked. Since my bike is air cooled, I need to keep moving. It gets pretty hot sometimes sitting in traffic that isn’t moving. No lane-splitting here.

One day I followed this van home for a few miles. The driver was an old guy talking on a cell phone, and smoking a cigarette. I watched him in his rear view mirror for a while. I thought he saw me also. All of a sudden he tosses his lit cigarette out the window right into my face. I wasn’t real close, but just enough that the air caught the butt and it shot right at me. Luckily I had a full face shield on, but I was cursing him into my enclosed orb. He was oblivious.

You always have to watch out for people on cell phones and driving badly these days. If someone pulls out in front of your motorcycle, 9 times out of 10 they are on the phone. Or if they go slow, and take their time turning a corner, it’s because of a cell phone. We have a law going into effect in January restricting cell phones while driving. We’ll see if it makes it any less hazardous for us motorcyclists who are NOT on cell phones and paying attention to our driving.

It’s always fun to get out of town, and see what challenges present themselves in other places we ride. Keep your eyes open and ride safe.

Destination - ride for food

Almost every time my husband and I decide to go for a motorcycle ride, food becomes the final destination. It is usually on a weekend when we’ve gotten up a little late and decide to ride for a nice breakfast at one of our favorite cafés. Then we might take a longer ride after we are fat and happy.

We plan our routes in advance, making sure that the end of our ride will bring a necessary break and a meal. Even if we are on a long ride, we make sure there is a town to stop in around meal times. Our favorite is to get lunch and we’re willing to ride quite a distance for some of our best remembered meals.

Another thing that makes us happy is to come across a farmer’s market or fresh produce stand. We love to take leftovers from our meal or fruits and vegetables home in our saddlebags.

If you’ve been following the second season of Feasting on Asphalt with Alton Brown on the Food Network, you will see we are not the only people who ride for food. This season seems to have better food stops and more interesting people along the way. What a dream job to ride around the country eating your way through it. They have a good sized group of guys riding together while they are filming on the road. It always looks like the crew can’t wait to eat but have to until they are through filming the segment.

I have many friends who ride motorcycles, and they agree that they also ride for food and a brew. It is a common thread among people who ride to plan where they will land for a meal or a beverage. If you play it by ear, still the best rides eventually involve food.

Good food is one of the joys of life. I enjoy cooking at home, but even better than that is riding your motorcycle to a food destination. Two things I love, food and motorcycle riding. It doesn’t get much better!

Washing your motorcycle

I am one of those people who like to keep my bike shiny and dust free. I am proud of my motorcycle and treat it well. If I am caught out in the rain on a ride, when I return home I take the opportunity to wipe the whole bike down.

When you actually want to wash your motorcycle, here are a few tips to remember:

• Before beginning use small pieces of duct tape to cover your keyhole, any areas you want to protect, and any switches on the handlebars that may be open to water ingress. It doesn’t hurt these to get wet, but over time you can have problems with wire corrosion, etc.

• Lightly rinse the bike with a gentle stream of water. Be sure not to aim the jet into your carburetor, fuel tank cap, spark plugs, or brake master cylinder.

• Use a mild solution of regular car washing soap. It is easy on the paint job and chrome. Always use a large, soft sponge to wash the bike with and keep it soaked in the soap solution so as to avoid scratching from grit. I always use a second sponge for the lower areas and a tire brush for the wheels. This is where most of the road grime is and you don’t want to scratch the paint by using the same sponge for all. Begin from the top and work your way down to the ground.

• After you have carefully washed everything rinse well with another gentle stream of water. Make sure you rinse all soap residues off. Now remove the duct tape pieces you added in the beginning.

• When you are finished washing and rinsing the motorcycle well, go ahead and dry it off using clean, soft towels. Begin at the top and work your way down using a dry towel as each one gets damp. I use several and then wash them for the next time.

• I don’t recommend waxing the motorcycle. A good wipe down in between washings should leave you with a sparkling bike that you can be proud of.

Then take your bike for a spin to dry off any hidden water drops. Now you are ready to ride for a while and show off your clean, shiny motorcycle.

Check this idea out - pretty cool!

Motorcycle Day Trip up State Highway 9

Since today is the start of the Labor Day weekend, we decided to go for a nice motorcycle ride. The weather was sunny and the sky was a clear blue, something we haven’t had enough of this summer for our weekend enjoyment.

We got a late start this morning so decided to take a nice 40 mile ride north to Arlington, WA where there was a Cycle Barn we could check out. By then we would be ready to catch a bite to eat – our destinations always seem to involve eating in one way or another.

We got the bikes out, and this time I brought the camera so I can start taking pictures of things along the way. I am not a photographer by any means, and nothing seems to look as beautiful in a picture as it does in real life. I put my saddlebags back on the bike, since they had been off while I ‘tried’ to work on the cycle and had to take the seat off.

It was a real nice cruise heading east from our town. We picked up Washington State Highway 9 just near the southern border of Snohomish County. Then we headed north. It is a very straight, two-lane road with a 55 mph speed limit most of the way. It is lined on both sides with dense trees and the occasional rural house or clearing. The section of road we were on has recently been paved and so was smooth and great for cruising.




These pictures were taken after I missed a road, and ended up on a detour road. I had to snap some of the beauty before we headed back towards the motorcycle shop we were looking for.

We found the Cycle Barn and I found some riding jeans with a skull on the back pocket that I had to have. After looking at all the shiny motorcycles, I bought the pants and we left. By then we decided it was time to eat. My better half had noticed a Der Weinersnitzel on one of the previous roads. Oh! That is from my childhood and I didn’t know they still had them. This one was new and was a combo Tastee Freeze/Der Weinersnitzel. They have many kinds of hot dogs and ice cream treats! It was yummy.

Finally we were full, happy, and ready to head
home. We had a perfect ride back passing through Lake Stevens, which is a beautiful sapphire blue lake that has parks and many residences around it. It is large enough for waterskiing and other speed boats. The areas we covered are mostly rural with more and more subdivisions popping up everywhere. We only saw one dead possum, remnants of a dead rat, and one dead raccoon on the road.

My Suzuki S40 ran pretty good all the way, but started acting squirrelly like it was going to die a couple of times on the way back while sitting at red lights. All in all it was an 81 mile round trip ride and a lot of fun. I hope to ride somewhere new tomorrow. It was fun....

Ride for a cause

A while back I stopped at my local Brier coffee stand one morning, Jason’s Java. He is one of a handful of businesses in my small town and knows everyone. I noticed on the take-out window there was a poster about a benefit ride. I read it carefully as I waited for my double tall espresso drink to be made. Not knowing Jason very well, I said ‘thank you’ and went on to work.

The notice about the ride stayed with me all day, and when my husband got home I mentioned it to him. We had only been riding a couple of years, and hadn’t ridden in a group before. We decided to just do it.

Saturday morning came and we woke up and anxiously got ready for our ride. We started up the motorcycles and rode the half mile up to Jason’s Java. There waited Jason, with a chromed out Harley Road King in the parking lot. He was surprised to see us, but happy to have more riders for the cause. One by one the riders came and we greeted each one and introduced ourselves. Everyone was appreciating each others bikes. There were 10 of us altogether, with 2 women riders including myself.

We paid $20 each and still didn’t know who the ride was going to benefit. All the bikers were willing to pay and ride just for the opportunity to help someone in need. Jason began telling us about a local 18 year old boy who had just been stricken with multiple sclerosis and was already confined to a wheelchair. He had gone to school one Monday and was fine. By Friday he couldn’t walk. It was a sad story; and Jason went on to say that the family needed help, of course, with the medical bills. Then a man spoke up from the group and said he was the dad. We were all motivated by that point to ride…..

We took off and rode the back roads from Brier, which is located north of Seattle, WA. We headed east towards the foothills of the Cascade Mountains. We rode lots of twisty, cornfield bordered roads. The feeling of riding in a group was wonderful. It was a little hard to resist going faster than the group. I felt that I was holding back, but got used to it after a while. What wonderful farmland and fields we saw. We stopped in the town of Duvall, where there is a little ‘biker bar’ that any biker in this part of the state has probably been to. We had some refreshments, took some pictures of all the bikes lined up outside, and started back. In all it was a 3 ½ hour ride.

When we returned to Jason’s Java the dad asked if we wouldn’t mind going up a few blocks to his home. His son loves motorcycles and knew we were riding for him that day. We all started up again and rode up to the house which was located in a culdesac. We rode round and round in a circle and revved our engines as loud as we dared. One guy did the ‘tire burnout’ in the center of the circle. The front door of the house opened and out walked the mother, pushing her son in a wheelchair. His eyes were lit up, but sadly he couldn’t even speak or do anything but make a few noises. We each introduced ourselves and hung around for a little while. Then we rode off, revving our engines as we left.

I think we made his day……he sure made all of ours.

Cat on a motorcycle

Here is the picture that gave me the idea for this weeks poll over on the right sidebar. I found it amusing and endearing, mostly because I love cats and own three. None of mine would go for this, but the biker cat seems to be up for anything.

Some people have a dog that would go anywhere the human goes. Why not a motorcycle ride?

It's probably not safe for an animal to be on a motorcycle, but if your companion wants to ride then they should be able to enjoy it with you.