Welcome to my corner of the World Wide Web where you will find my rants and ravings. I'm an average, every-day guy who has some very strong opinions about life, God and motorcycles. If you agree with me or not, I hope you enjoy my place and come back often.. and if you feel like it, please help support this site by purchasing something from my store HERE.

Rant Archive - July 2006

July 30, 2006 - OH DEER!

Just a friendly little warning for you today... I've been taking short little jaunts this week after work, in between rain showers, and by Friday I had already spotted 12 deer on or around the roads I traveled. I'm not sure why they seem to be so plentiful right now but they are... at least where I live. A deer strike is actually one of the things that I fear the most while riding. I think it has to do with a gentleman I met last year. I don't remember his name but he was in intense physical therapy due to a broken pelvis, leg and arm. What caused all this mess for the poor guy? You guessed it, a deer jumped out in front of him on his motorcycle. The moral of the story boys and girls is to make sure the edges of the road are part of your normal scan when riding. You never know when you might be saying... Oh Deer!

Oh yeah, I did managed to get a few pics this week... while scanning for deer. :-) Here's a couple for you to check out. In the second one, I had just stopped because I saw a lone deer just to the right of the frame. She stared at me for a minute but I wasn't quick enough with the camera to get her in the shot... so the awesome Tennessee scenery will have to do.

Feedback

July 26, 2006 - I SUDDENLY FELT THE URGE TO GO HOME, THROW AWAY ALL MY CLEANING SUPPLIES, QUIT MY JOB, HOP ON THE ELECTRA GLIDE  AND HEAD FOR THE COAST

I've always been a big fan of the stripped down, chrome-less, "RAT" style bikes and last week I saw one on the street that was awesome. Fortunately I had a camera with me (as I usually do) so I snapped these shots so I could remember it in detail. Now I know a lot of people will look at it and think it's a grade "A", Piece-O-Crap but to me this bike is way cooler than anything OCC or any other big-name builder ever dreamed up. The older, stock Harley is just dripping with the kind of character that stirs something deep inside of me and after drooling over it for 20 minutes, I suddenly felt the urge to go home, throw away all my cleaning supplies, quit my job, hop on the Electra Glide and head for the coast. This bike thumbs it's nose at all the bling-bling on motorcycles today and in the process makes you just want to ride. What an awesome bike!

Feedback

July 22, 2006 - 2007 HARLEY-DAVIDSON MODELS UNVEILED

One of our local H-D Dealers here in Nashville sent me an email last week stating that they would be unveiling their 2007 models today at noon and invited me to check out the festivities. Since I'm always looking for an excuse to snoop around a dealership and because I hadn't yet seen the '07's in real life I decided to go. Bumpus Harley-Davidson has been in business for years and currently has four stores across Tennessee... and let me tell you, they know how to throw an event. Kudos to the marketing team at Bumpus. There was plenty of free food to be had and at 12:00 sharp one of the salesmen began explaining in detail all the changes for '07 to the packed house... followed by the unveiling of several '07 models.

The big news, if you haven't heard, is that all 2007 touring bikes feature a 96 cubic inch engine and a six speed transmission. Also, no more carbs on any of the H-D lineup. Even the Sportster models are now Fuel Injected. Of course you can find out all the details at www.harley-davidson.com but if you CLICK HERE you can check out a few pics I took today as well.

CLICK HERE for a few pictures of the 2007 Harleys.

Feedback

July 19, 2006 - AND WHILE I'M ON THE SUBJECT OF STRANGE MOTORCYCLES...

The Ford powered trike I mentioned in my last post is pretty weird but check out these two odd-balls I discovered this week.

The first one (above) is owned by my brother-in-law and is an electric powered vehicle made by Corbin, called a Sparrow. Described by the company as a "personal transportation module" the vehicle will drive for about 60 minutes between charges and has a top speed of 75mph. A pretty good idea with gas prices as high as they are today but apparently the Sparrow didn't fly because Corbin stopped production in 2002.

The second vehicle is one I spotted at a Honda dealership last week. It's called a T-Rex and is powered by a Kawasaki 1200cc 4 cylinder engine. According to the salesman the T-Rex will do 0 to 60 in 3.9 seconds, max out at 150mph and is street legal in 50 states.

Feedback

July 13, 2006 - THOROUGHBRED MOTORSPORTS INTRODUCES THE STALLION: A FORD POWERED TRIKE

Factory photos courtesy of thoroughbred-motorsports.com.

I dropped by the Harley-Davidson dealer on my lunch break the other day and as I pulled into the parking lot I noticed an interesting looking trike parked out front. I thought it must belong to a customer since it obviously was not a H-D product but upon further investigation I discovered that it was indeed property of the dealership and for sale. It seems that the local H-D boys have picked up the dealership on a unique trike made by a company called Thoroughbred Motorsports that is powered by a Ford 2.3 Liter 4-Cylinder engine and 5-Speed automatic transmission.

And unique it is. The first thing you notice when you look at it in person is that it is steered by a conventional steering wheel instead of handlebars and that the dash looks just like the dash on a Ford Ranger pickup. It's quite interesting and seems to successfully reach a medium between bike and cage. The company website claims the following:

• Power to Weight Ratio of a Corvette

• Better Fuel Economy Than a Hybrid

• Air Conditioning and Heat for Passenger and Driver

• 11 Gallon Fuel Cell

• 7 Cubic Foot Trunk

It will be interesting to see how well the 1600 pound vehicle sells. Base price is listed at $29,995. For more information you can check out www.thoroughbred-motorsports.com.

Feedback

July 12, 2006 - THE ELECTRA GLIDE STANDARD FAIRING POUCH

Harley-Davidson makes this cool little fairing pouch that mounts where the radio slot is on the Electra Glide Standard. Not only does it cover the unsightly hole, but it gives you a nice little storage area suitable for holding glasses, cell phones, cameras, etc. I picked one up and installed it this evening. The before (L) and after (R) are above. It's a must have for Standard owners.

Feedback

July 11, 2006 - TRIGGER GUMM: HE JUST MAY BE THE REAL DEAL

Trigger Gumm is not exactly your everyday household name. In fact, unless you are into Extreme Motorsports you've likely never heard it at all and frankly I don't know anybody my age that is that fanatical about Extreme Motorsports. Yeah, it's cool to see guys do back flips and hang off their motocross bikes on every jump but honestly, once you've seen one of them, you've kind of seen them all. You know, same trick, different guy… that is until you discover a rider by the name of Trigger Gumm. In a post Evel Knievel world that is lacking a true motorcycle daredevil, Trigger just may be the real deal and when I say the real deal, realize that I grew up in a generation that considers Knievel to be the greatest daredevil biker of all time, no easy legend to live up to. (See my entry for December 9, 2005)

Like Knievel, Gumm seems to have that "I can do anything" attitude and is driven to accomplish bigger and better things regardless of the risk involved. So much are the two daredevils alike that last May Mr. Gumm reportedly got a phone call from Evel Knievel. It seems that Trigger had grabbed the attention of the legendary one, who felt it necessary to call and offer congratulations. Congratulations for what, you ask? No less than a world record jump. On May 14, 2005 Trigger Gumm set the motorcycle long-distance jump world record by launching his Honda CR500 277.5 feet at Ipswich's Queensland Raceway in Australia in front of officials from the Guinness Book of World Records and 25,000 screaming fans. Evel had discovered like I am now that this was not your average Extreme Motosports rider.

So who is this guy named Trigger Gumm? Some of his friends refer to him as Evel Knievel on Steroids and I was surprised to find out that he is not the typical 20ish guy in Extreme Motorsports today. He was born in San Clemente, California in 1968 which makes him 38 years old. He grew up as a west coast skateboard kid and at the age of 21 a mishap on the board ended his career, but instead of rolling over and playing dead, he discovered another outlet for his extreme sports passion… motorcycles. Making up for a late start quickly, Trigger was soon taking the same attitude he approached skateboarding with to the world of Extreme Motorsports. Now the Etnies sponsored daredevil who sites Evel Knievel as inspiration holds the impressive record for the longest motorcycle jump in history. It's something you have to see to realize just how far 277.5 feet is, in the air, on a motorcycle!

CLICK HERE to see video of the historic jump at mensjournal.com.

But it doesn't end there. In true Evel Knievel fashion, Gumm wants to push it even further so on July 23, 2006 he will attempt a 315-foot jump at the Buffalo Run Casino in Miami, Oklahoma. The football field length leap will be attempted on a 450cc Honda equipped with a custom-built 4-stroke engine and beefed up suspension. A representative from Guinness Book of World Records, London will again be on hand to certify the jump and if I lived anywhere close to Miami, Oklahoma, I would be there too. This is gonna be something to see!

Feedback

July 10, 2006 - 20% OFF OF ALL IN-STOCK PARTS

I got an email from Bumpus Harley-Davidson down in Murfreesboro, Tennessee last week that announced a 20% off sale over the weekend. The sale included anything they had in stock and since I was looking for a few pieces I decided to make the trek down to Murfreesboro and see if they had any of the items I wanted. I was in luck! I ended up getting a lay-down license bracket, a push-button gas door release and a set of instrument bezels... all at a pretty hefty discount. Bumpus has a pretty cool store. It's very spacious and has several vintage Harley's sitting around for you to drool over... and a large Motor Clothes department to boot. Check them out if you are ever in the 'Boro. The guy that waited on me was very helpful and though I didn't catch his name, I will definitely look for him next time I visit Bumpus. Here's some pics of the bracket and bezels before (L) and after (R). I think both are big cosmetic improvements over stock.

The stock license plate bracket had to go. Looked out of place sticking straight up like that.

This picture doesn't do the new look justice. The chrome rings look great in real life.

Feedback

July 06, 2006 - WING DING INVADES NASHVILLE

The Gold Wing Road Riders Association (GWRRA) held it's 28th annual Wing Ding this week right here in Nashville at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center. Billed as the worlds largest Gold Wing tradeshow and "family reunion", Wing Ding drew approximately 16,000 Gold Wing owners and enthusiasts which reportedly generated $10-15 million dollars in direct economic impact to the Nashville area. Today I got the chance to check it out and as you can imagine, there were wall-to-wall Gold Wings at Opryland. It was cool to say the least to see all those motorcycles and motorcycle enthusiasts in one location. I took a few pictures but they don't even begin to show the vast amount of bikes that were there... WOW!

CLICK HERE to check out pictures of the 2006 Wing Ding in Nashville.

You can also check out more info about Wing Ding at www.wing-ding.org.

Feedback

July 05, 2006 - I AM NOW OFFICIALLY A HOG... MEMBER THAT IS

Some people have called me a HOG for years but I am now officially a H.O.G... member that is. It seems that everybody that buys a new H-D product is automatically granted a one year membership in the Harley Owners Group... a.k.a. H.O.G. and today I got a nifty letter from Mike Keefe at the MoCo welcoming me to the "family". Mr. Keefe is Vice President of Harley-Davidson Motor Company and Director of the Harley Owners Group and in his letter he spelled out the benefits I now have as a H.O.G. member. I get:

• Standard Roadside Assistance Program - 24/7 support with free towing.

• Hog Tales - Harley's official bi-monthly magazine

• Access to the Members Only Web site

• Eligibility for the H.O.G. Fly & Ride Program

• Access to National H.O.G Rallies

• Access to the H.O.G. Travel Center

• The opportunity to join a local chapter.

In addition, Mr. Keefe sent a few nice gifts. With his letter I received:

• 2006 Harley Owners Group Touring Handbook - A nice little atlas that covers North and South America. It also lists all the H-D Dealers in the Americas.

• 2006 Harley Owners Group Membership Manual

• Official H.O.G. Membership Card

• Embroidered H.O.G. Patch

• Bronze H.O.G. Pin

• H.O.G. Sticker

If you like Harley-Davidson or not, you have to admit that they certainly go the extra to build brand loyalty and the Harley Owners Group is one way they do it.

Feedback