Mid April Saturday Ride

I went to ride out with my motorcycle club, the Yankee Beemers, on their first ride of the season, the Gould's Sugar House. The weather report said a good chance of rain and cool. I don't mind the cool, but the rain didn't thrill me. I started out from my house at 14,082 on my bike's odometer and made it almost to the Worcester Airport end of the runway (a place I like to stop for a break) before it started clouding over. I didn't want to get caught in the rain because I didn't have any rain gear and my tires have just a few too many miles on them for me to feel comfortable riding on wet roads, When the clouds got heavy, I decided that it would be in my best interest to start back home. I made it back before the rain started; there will be more weekends and more nice days. For now, I'll keep it closer to home.

Early season Sunday ride

Took a short ride today. Stayed local, but I put about 70 miles on the clock. Nothing special; I just want to burn up the old gas. It was chilly, but bearable. The wind was quite hardy, gusting to 35 mph. All things considered, it was nice to get out on the bike again.

First ride of the year

I finally got my bike out of the cellar. Had a nice day and I took advantage of it. I rode out to a few friends houses, then rode out to my dad's house but he wasn't home (probably at the airport), then I had a nice quite ride down roads with little or no traffic, over the back roads, to my house. Overall, I just did a short ride, about 80-90 miles. It was a great day and I had a great ride. It's a nice way to start off the riding season!
The F650GS ran well; it started right up. After starting the first time in five months, it died. I turned the key off, waited about 10 seconds, then started it again. It didn't need starting again until I was ready to leave my friend's house, and it fired right up and took off. I'm very happy with my acquisition of this motorcycle.

End of the Season

It was a sad weekend. The F650 finally made it to the basement storage area. That means the riding is done for the year. The roads have been getting icy and the salt has hit the streets. I don't like the resulting corrosion from riding in very hazardous conditions, so the bike stays in hibernation until the stuff goes away. To recap the year, I got the bike near the end of May and rode it into November. I put about 6k-7k on it commuting to work and weekend rides. I had the 12k service done and replaced the sprockets and chain. I had some great fun riding around Massachusetts as I only had a permit, not a license for most of the summer.
See you next year!

Sunday ride

Took a nice ride on, what might be, the last nice riding day of the year. But instead of disapearing, I decided to ride. I just went about 60 miles around the neighboring towns, through the back roads, as I usually ride. I like low or no traffic, minimal stop signs, some curves and some quick straights. The roads I discover, just meandering around the area, turn out to be interesting and fun. As the gasoline prices of late have curbed my tendencies to explore, the F650 makes this possible. I don't mind spending ten to twelve dollars, American, to ride for a little more than two hundred miles. And, those are execptionally fun miles! I hoping for another nice day!

Ride in Conn.

Went for a nice ride, perhaps the last of the year, with Mike and his Moto Guzzi, out through Rhode Island and into western Connecticut. We stopped at the Green Onion Pizza for lunch and continued north on RT. 169. We stopped at a nice little boat launch for a smoke break. We stopped at a resturant called the Vanilla Bean. There were many bikes there, but only four BMWs. There were two old R90s and an new 1150 and, of course, the F650, again the only of it's kind at a bike gathering. Most of the bikes were newer Harleys and there was a Can-Am three wheeler.

September 7, 2008

Last night, hurricane Hannah came through. My wife was up late and said that it rained hard. I slept through it. This morning, I went out for an early morning ride to check out the high waters. The first place I found was where the Blackstone River was bridged by Route 122. I stopped at a restaurant that went out of business, called The Riverside and observed high water flowing under the 122 bridge. I rode around finding many roads littered with debris from trees. Some roads were rather treacherous and extra caution was needed just to keep the wheel from slipping out from under me! One place was covered with wet old pine needles, that had puddled in the storm, which was extremely slippery. I had a little difficulty traversing it; perhaps if my tires were a little more aggressive, perhaps if I were traveling at a higher rate of speed, there might not have been an issue, but my tires are what they are and the road did not allow for a higher speed, so a quick stomp on the ground kept my bike from getting it's first scratches. I will chalk this up to inexperience and learn from my mistake. I should have had no problems, but I suppose that comes with the miles on the bike. Otherwise, the F650 performed great! I was a little hesitant, at first, when coming upon the sticks and small logs that were knocked down from the wind, but after unavoidably hitting some stuff, I found the bike to take the rough stuff well.