small beginnings

Well, I have just added my first customisation to my bike.

Nothing huge, just the tax-disc holder. The shop had put on a cheepo when I bought the bike and its appearance didn't do anything at all to disguise the fact that it cost almost nowt.
So, I bought a cylindrical one from Oberon and it looks looks so much better. From the build I'm sure it will be much more robust and water-tight than the round one I've replaced with it.
I don't have a pic of it on the bike but here's one half-inched from their site. (I'm sure they wont mind). They also do it in silver finish as well as an illuminated one.

The other small beginning is my idea for a bike club.
It really is a small beginning. In fact it's not only small but extremely slow too. So far there hasn't been much traffic to the site never mind anyone joining. Even the forum hasn't had any takers.
I will leave it up and meanwhile will consider how I make joining the club more attractive. There's no money so cannot consider anything like merchandise or even membership cards at this moment so the only avenue at the moment is to try to put together some rationale that makes a case for joining a club which only exists, at present on-line. I would like to be able to offer a membership package which could include a card and maybe a badge or patch. That will have to wait as I really don't want to be laying out cash up front if there are going to be no takers!

old soldiers never die....

.... they just become bikers!

I was out all day yesterday and am now feeling my age!

My shoulders are a bit stiff so maybe I need to consider my riding position and look at slightly higher and more pulled back bars.
It was a great day though.
I set out at 8.00 to meet up with some guys who served in the same army regiment as me and are also bikers. It was good to catch up and brush away the years (and believe me there are a lot of years). Then after an hour of talk over breakfast it was onto our bikes for a run through the highland scenery.
We set off fom Tyndrum and rode towards Oban, stopping at a pub in Connol for refreshments. Then it was eastwards to Ballachullish and Glencoe and a stop at the ski centre for a photo op before heading back towards Tyndrum over Rannoch moor.
Another hour shooting the breeze and then I headed back home.
350 miles in glorious sunny weather through some of the most spectacular scenery in Scotland. Makes me glad to be a biker!
And the bit of the ride I enjoyed the most? The bit first thing in the morning and then the run home.
I really do think I am a lone rider through and through!

virtual biking?

The weather has been typically Scottish summer!
Rain, rain and more rain!
So, I haven't been able to get much riding done apart from a short ride, now and again, between showers. Not that I'm adverse to riding my bike in the rain. if there's a good reason for it. And yes, riding is reason enough! It's the getting soaked that I find harder to justify as I get older.
What I have been doing is working on a new web-site for an idea I have for a virtual bike club.
You can find a link to Lone-Rider MCC over there in the right side-bar.
Go see what you think.

custom and (good) practice

I've spent months surfing the web, pouring over catalogues and looking at other Harleys any time I came across customised bikes.
I'm almost there with knowing the look I want. Though I've yet to plan how I'm going to get there. What's more important is just how I think I'm going to be able to pay for it.
Just adding up the cost of basic things, like blacked out controls, grips, levers and the like is a scary excercise which soon mounts up into the high hundreds. Then, when the price tag is examined, the larger items like forks will easily be in the thousands.
So, what I need to do, is to have an end result in my head then start to buy the bits which I can do in isolation and don't need other parts to complement them or even to make them work.
I want to keep the "train" black with any chrome, shiny bits kept to an absolute minimum. Some of that blacked-out stuff will be Harley. I like the look of their Diamond Black collection for grips and footpegs. None of the aftermarket manufacturers offer anything which quite matches my taste.
For a single seat and pillion pad, I'll go for maybe a Corbin but the sissy bar is also likely to be H-D as I would want to use the detachable one as I only want it on when necessary. This is one area where I've changed my mind dozens of times before making my final decision. Only to change it back again.

The biggest change, both in money and individuality, terms will be the front end.
I like the wider front end of the night train but would just like it to be that bit more beefy. Well, to be honest I want it MUCH beefier. The skinny front wheel just doesn't do it for me.
So what I plan (eventually) is to fit fat and wide front forks, probably running on a wider rimmed wheel. I'd like to get twin discs, both for the added stopping power but also for that balanced look that I think the single disc on the front lacks.
That will definately take a bit of saving up for, so what I intend to do, to start the process, is to replace the seven inch risers and drag bar with extra fat t-bars. Mucho-fatzo 1 1/2 inch bars look like just what I need.

So the bars, seat and sissy bars are going to be my first steps at owning a bike which is only mine and mine alone. This may take years but I WILL get there.

just a few of a kind

The rumours being passed around internet forums are saying that Harley-Davidson are dropping several models from their range for 2010. They are the FLHT, FLTR, FXSTB, FXCW, FXDL and XL883C
The FXSTB is the one of them that interests me. That's my night train, so it may be that my wish for individuality will be fulfilled to a greater degree than I had imagined. Even better, if as a result, I need to spend even less money on customising!
I would imagine that the reason for dropping a model would be that it's not selling as well as others in their stable.
So maybe there are less night trains around.
I still will go down the custom route though. I may have to, if I'm riding a soon to be discontinued bike. Changing parts will not be so simple as picking them off the shelf and to be honest, I'm glad about that. Aftermarket's and bits from other Harleys can make things that little bit more exciting.
Watch out for my ideas as I do believe they are becoming clearer in my mind and so may find their way on to these pages soon.

fatal freedoms

This weekend was a tragic one for motorcyclists in Scotland.

Three fatalities and one young man in a serious condition in hospital. Add those on to the others who have lost their lives biking this year, so far, and these become worrying statistics.

Yes, I know that these were people with lives and families and that they are much more than statistics. But, they were people whose individuality will be lost among the growing number of fatalities and the consequential growing criticism of motor-bikes.

We, as bikers, have often claimed that the most dangerous thing about riding a motor-cycle is car drivers. How long can we continue to take this line? Especially when you look at what actually happened over the weekend. In three out of the four accidents, the bike was the only vehicle involved.

The Institute of Advanced Motorists reckon that speed and a lack of experience are the two biggest dangers facing bikers in rural areas whereas in cities it is other traffic on the road.

I would hazard a guess that most serious bike accidents happen on rural roads. We've all seen the rice rockets burning up the country roads. Taking corners at speeds and road positions which, were something coming the other way, would certainly be the end. Speed is the thrill that many youngsters take up biking to experience. They're just not good enough to handle it.

Then there are the born again bikers. Some of us go down the route of buying a cruiser. The harleys and goldwings which are big machines but just don't go that fast. But I'm sure for every harley rider there must be dozens of thirty/forty-something year olds who are trying to recreate the thrills they knew in their teens and twenties. Thrills are one thing but how often do they end in spills?

Already the call has started, through the media, for more training. Would compulsory training be the answer? should all new riders be banned from riding alone for a time? Legislation is at the moment being tightened up to increase the age that someone can use the Direct Access Scheme. Should everyone be limited in the size of bike they can ride for a couple of years?

Freedom is the creed of motorcyclists and almost every call for tighter legislation or tougher and lengthier training can be (and is) seen as a restriction on that freedom. There are still some bikers who proclaim that "helmet laws suck". But, meanwhile, road deaths amongst bikers continue to fill the news headlines.

So what is the answer?

all sewn up

Here's a couple of pics of my waistcoat.
As you can see, I've succumbed to the "wannabe" habit of wearing a vest with patches and thus "proclaiming my rebelliousness".
Hopefully, as I start to customise my bike that will be the statement of my individuality as I dress like every other biker I know!

I've got a couple more patches to sew on but, as my fingers are worn ragged (it's hard work sewing onto leather!) they'll have to wait.
Will post more pics then.

p.s. I just got a packet of "pin lockers". They are like a little metal barrel with a tiny allen grub screw. They're designed to replace the butterfly clip on the back of pins. You know the ones that keep falling off and getting lost. These seem like they will be much more secure. If they are then they will be well worth the £5.96 inc P&P I paid for a dozen.
I'll let you know how they fare.

hot, hot, hot

It was as hot as the proverbial, this afternoon.
So, when I decided to go for a spin on the bike, I put on my leather jacket and immediately it stuck to my back. The sweat was pouring out of me and I wasn't even out the house. As I knew that the temperature outside was likely to be higher still, I decided to leave the jacket behind and go ride in my t-shirt and leather vest.
I also left my gloves off. I figured that if I was to come off, the amount of exposed skin was such that a little more wouldn't make a lot of difference.
Hopefully, my appearance approximated that of the guy at the beginning of the HD video at the foot of this page. It certainly felt good to be cool (temperature wise).
I even managed to relax a bit and stop worrying over the lack of protection. I think that when you feel that bit more exposed you adjust your awareness and end up riding more carefully. Not that I'm advocating doing it all the time. No doubt your mind would soon re-adjust itself and you'd soon forget your vulnerability once more. So, as soon as the weather goes back to its normal wet and cool summer condition, the leathers will be back on again.
But while we are experiencing this heat-wave I can always pretend I'm in west coast USA and enjoy summer riding as it should be.
It's just not like the west of Scotland at all.

preconceptions corrected

I just got in from a HOG meeting.
Before I started going along to the weekly meetings I had all sorts of silly ideas of how it would be organised. I had thoughts running through my mind of little men in big crash-helmets and black shiny leathers barking out orders. Or, sometimes I could picture plots and schemes being organised in hushed tones with coded messages being spoken with a wink or a secret sign.
It's nothing like that. In fact there seems to be no organisation at all. I guess there are office bearers who do all the putting together of programs of the ride-outs, barbecues and parties which just seem to appear on the web-site and folk turn up to.
We stand around chatting about our bikes and how much H-D spares are compared to after-market ones. Occasionally another topic will come up but usually it's still Harley related in some way. Or if not Harley-Davidson then it will be some other make of bike.

Someone was telling us about his last bike which was a Royal Enfield Bullet. An ex-British classic now built in India. Coincidentally, on my way home tonight what should pass me but a Royal Enfield? It's a lovely 500cc single cylinder, black and gold machine and is one of the range of the longest running motorcycle brands in the world.

So tonight's ride was a short one of only a few miles, though I did manage to add a on a couple of extra miles to put gas in the tank. Not that I needed to go so far just to buy petrol. There's a filling station a lot closer.
But, any excuse will do!

(I haven't forgotten! I will relate my other encounters with the Blues, soon.)