The ATGATT Rat: December 2007

Riding Out The Old Year

My wife and I were gonna clean out the garage on 12/31. The kids were at gramma's house.

It was 40 degrees and the sun was shining.

We kept eying the bikes in the corner of the garage.

At noon I said, let's get something to eat.

My wife said, if we can get my bike started, let's ride.

I had put sta-bil in both tanks earlier in the month, and had tried to start 'em both. Hers hadn't started. That was a cold day.

Today her bike fired right up on the second try.

Rode to Arby's cause we had a coupon.

As we're eating she says, "I'm thinking let's take the long way home."

"Really?" I asked. "Won't you freeze?" She's more "cold blooded" than me; I figured if I was cold she'd be freezing.

"I'll be okay," she said, "I really wanna do this."

"You'll never catch me saying no..."

She had already plotted a brief tour of some of the more interesting roads near our house. A couple of S-turns along tree-lined roads, some ups and downs. Not much, but better than 96th street's 5 lanes of mega slab.

Piles of sand and road salt in every curve and in the center of the road. Residue from snow removal efforts of prior week.

The numbness of my hands started affecting my clutching ability. This isn't right -- I usually ride down into the mid-30's without much trouble. I guess a few weeks in a cage with the heater on have thinned my blood and made me susceptible to the cold again.

In the summer this ride wouldn't have merited mention. But to get any riding in during the dead of winter -- that's worth noting.

New Year's Day brought snow and cold, the bikes are back on their battery tenders. But at least we rode on New Year's Eve.

Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Owner's Group

VJMOG has a good website.

The Return

Fellow maggot Carl Parker made a movie about his journey through western china.

Visit his website where you can buy his DVD.

Riding Death Valley

Fellow maggot Ratfab organized a ride to Death Valley.

Check out his trip report ( + lots more photos) on advrider.com.

I've Been Everywhere

This video inspires me.

Not that I'm really a Johnny Cash fan, but that song just fits the feel of the ride. I love the pictures and the story they tell. Makes me want to get on my bike and ride over the mountains. (Of course, I'd first have to ride quite a ways to even reach the nearest mountain...)

Biker Dancing Silly

It's that time of year again. I miss my motorcycle so much I put on my biker gear and dance around the living room.

The Uninspiring Honda ST

I'm always up for an eloquent critique of motorcycles, like Dennis's quote in the recent Cycle World about the (coyote ugly...) Victory Vision. (...can't put my hands on his quote right now ... )

This month's Motorcyclist Magazine has an interesting quote about the Honda ST. -

"The big V-4 sport-tourer has been as reliable as continental drift, though superficial types say it's only slightly more engaging to ride."

And then there's Brian's classic "I wouldn't be caught dead on a Honda..."

I'm reminded of the BMW K1200RT ad that I saw a year or two ago that said "finally a touring bike that doesn't handle like an oil barge..."

Which was a quote that I loved but didn't fully understand until I bought a Gold Wing. Shortly after purchasing the bike I nicknamed it "The Exxon Valdeez" -- inspired by the insightful BMW ad.