Well we made the miles, sort of ;)

Found out that Pikes Peak H-D will do a "Service" at either 400 miles prior or 400 miles after the "mileage" so we did manage to get 9,640 miles on the Sporty and took it in for it's 10,000 mile check up last week so at $425.00 for the service we did good to get the miles in under our Pit Stop Service Pass/Program before our deadline in Feb. 2014!! :)

With winter coming in big time after Christmas Day, we will probably NOT get the 12,500 mile check up under the Pit Pass by Feb. 2015 so the next one and those after will be totally out of pocket, OUCH!!  We really like our Sporty and riding a H-D but WOW, the services are quite expensive next to the Oriental Cruisers we've owned in the past!!!  Oh well, we are still very glad we went with Harley-Davidson and will have to figure out how to budget the services in our meger earnings.

Right now it's snowing and blowing and in the teens, tonight, -8 degrees F and tommorow a balmly, 7 degrees F for a day time high!! So the Sporty is in the "heated" storeage area we use as a "garage", LOL, the folks there think were a bit nuts but they let us keep our bike in a no colder than 65 degrees F storage area so hopefully the battery can hang on till our next 40-45 degree, SUNNY day and we can get in at least a "battery charge" run! :)  Hope your getting out, Happy New Year from US to YOU and yours! :)

Rack'in up the MILES!!

Usually we don't "try" to get a certain amount of miles in a year, we are more, Flower Sniffer riders, than Iron Butt Riders, LOL! ;)  We purchased a Pitt Pass Program when we bought our 2014 H-D Sportster in Feb. 2014, it gives us all the "required" services within that year, no matter how many "miles" we put on the machine! Well we now have 9,020 miles and only 6 to 8 weeks left on our PPP and it's DECEMBER here in Southern CO. so we are trying to get to 10, 000 miles before the 15th. of Feb. 2015!!

We turned over 9,000 on Sat. took a 250 mile, eastern plains ride, out Hwy. 24 to Limon, CO., then CO. 71 S. to Rocky Ford, then Hwy. 50 W. into Pueblo and I-25 N. back to Colorado Springs, hoping to get some miles in during the week as Wed. and Thurs. look nice, high 50's (F) and sunshine. LOL, for us the getting of MILES, has to equal the amount of money we can dig up for GAS!! If we were labled by the hardcores, I guess we'd be either posers or RUBS, (Rich Urban Bikers), well we live on less than $35,000 a year so we'd have to be "PUBS", ie POOR Urban Bikers, LOL! ;)  So for the momnent it's more about "MILES", than journey, which is kinda a real bummer but the 10,000 mile service is EXPENSIVE so if we can get it in under the current PPP, we'd save $350.00 out of our tiny budget!!

Being poor and riding a motorcycle doesn't mix well but we do the best we can and try to ENJOY every mile. So wish us luck and GREAT weather for the rest of Dec. and Jan., yea, right! ;) We will let you know if we made the goal! :)

Just a bit of update

Well it's winter time now and we just try to get in as many "battery charge" rides as old man winter will allow us! Luckly So. CO. isn't buried in snow like the mountain areas so we can usually get in a 100 miler at least once a month, even in the dead of winter. We bought a "Service" package when we bought the Sporty back in Feb. 2014. We are trying had to get 10,000 miles on the bike before the Service Package is closed, were up to 8,500 miles and have till Feb. 15th. 2015 so were hoping for some dry decent weather over the next couple of  months!

 

We will be going to our first HOG Holiday Party on the 6th. of Dec., still not sure were gona stay members of the local chapter as we don't really care for group riding much. We like to stop when WE want and we like to "cruise" not haul bunn's when we ride. LOL, it seems when you get a bunch of Harley riders in a group, they gota go 80mph.!!!  We plan on getting more heavy duty rear shocks and a better seat, for next year, IF we get lucky and get our normal income tax refund this year. Well gota close for now.  Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from US to YOU! :)

 

 

High Country Toy Run

Jo and I have been riding in the area's BIG Toy Run for many years, it used to be a HOG run but HOG joined with the older "High Country Toy Run" and now it's just one big event put on by Pro Promotions and Jim Wear. They had around 1000 bikes show up and we did a parade ride thru the city of Colorado Springs to downtown and the Cowboy's Night Club. We dropped off our toys to the "Marines" Toys For Tots" van and went inside for a steak dinner for $7.00, all the monies went to buying "more" toys. Were not big on parade rides but for this cause it's worth it!

Photo's below are the "start" of the run at Pikes Peak H-D.:

Road Trip to Lubbock, TX.

We got back a week ago from taking a "road trip" on our 883 Sporty down to see my sister Bobbie in Lubbock, TX. We left Colorado Springs early and I'll admit, it was kinda COLD, LOL, even in August it can be chilly in the mornings! We headed down I-25 S to Raton, NM. over Raton Pass, then picked up NM. Hwy. 64 heading to Clayton, NM. and then Dumas, TX., Hwy. 385 S. into Amarillo, TX, then I-27 S into Lubbock.

We stayed the whole week and played "tourist", which is kinda fun since were from such a "tourist area" here in Colorado Springs. We tried to catch the last day of the "White Buffalo BikeFest" in Snyder, TX. on Sunday but alas we got there as all the vendors were closing up, RATS. For the rest of the week we visted the "Buddy Holly Center", (Lubbock TX. is the hometown of Buddy Holly and the Crickets band), The Silent Wings WWII Glider Museum, The Western TX. Ranching Heritage Museum and LOL, of course being HOG members we had to go buy some T-shirts and a "poker chip" from Wild West H-D in Lubbock!! :) We had a great vist with my sister and did a lot of buming around the Lubbock area, it's nice but it's HOT for us whimpy Colorado Types!! ;) We also visted the Lubbock Area War Memorial Park, it's a touching monument to those that "Gave All" from the Western TX. area! We put on 1400 miles in a week, who says you can't tour on a 883 Sportster! The bike ran like a Timex watch, even in the heat we had a great time.

Wild West Harley-Davidson

Lubbock TX War Memorial

Silent Wings WWII Glider Museum

Buddy Holly Center, Lubbock, TX.

Our YouTube Trip Video

Just "out and about"!! :)

We haven't been able to afford to do much longer distance riding due to moving and other expenses but we've been getting in a few 100 to 200 mile rides so were up to 4545 miles. Won't be long before we have to take the bike in for it's 5000 mile service and put on a new rear tire. Luckly we got the rear tire on sale, saved about $60 dollars, now just have to save to pay for the labor to get it put on the bike.

We finally had some great weather last weekend, it's been a LOT of rain and thunder storms all summer but we took out from the August HOG meeting and did a nice 100 mile ride out on the eastern plains on Saturday, then on Sunday we got a good ride in, almost 200 miles, up thru Deckers, Pine, Pine Junction, CO., lot's of pretty twisty 2 lane roads so we could finally us a little of the sidewall rubber, LOL.  The second part of the ride, Hwy, 285 E to C-470 S to Hwy. 105 S to Palmer Lake, were we stopped for some "excellent" homemade apple pie alamode!!  Then headed home via I-25 S. so we had a real mix of road types for this ride.  We are hoping to get in at least a "over-nighter" or a 2-day ride at the end of August as Jo has a weeks vacation scheduled. Sadly we can't afford to ride to the Utah HOG rally, that we saved the time for but say la vie, we will either head up to southern WY. and ride the Snowy Mnt. Scenic Byway or head south to NM. and vist the Mt. Capulin Volcano site and stay the night in Raton, NM. or maybe Taos! :)

Next year in August, I (BJ) will turn 60 and it's also the 75th. Anniversary of the Black Hill Rally (Sturigs) in SD. so that's what were planning for next years "Big Ride"!! Till then we will just keep putting on the miles and really enjoying our Sporty! :)

Tejon St. Bike Fest, 2014, Colorado Springs, CO.

Jo and I headed out south for short, "battery charging" run and then hauled back north to Colorado Springs, via I-25 to go to the yearly "Tejon Street Bike Fest", held in downtown Colorado Springs.  They block off a good portion of downtown and hundred's of bikers show up on all types and styles of scoots!! The have a stage for music, lot's of vendors and food carts so you can just "hang out" and soak in the atmosphere!

We went to Jo's sister, Sue's 40th. wedding anniversary the night before so after dancing for 4 hours we were a bit sore, LOL.  So we walked and gawked at all the cool stuff for sale, had a very excellent hot dog from a local vendor and even bought a "gremlin bell" for midnight (our 2014 H-D 883 Sportster Super Low) to ward off the evil road sprits! :)  It's been really rainy lately and the clouds were coming in low and dark so after 3 hours we headed back to the barn, yes, we did get rained on so we spent some time cleaning a polishing midnight, locked up the storage area and went to Wendy's for a chocolate frosty!  It was a short day but we had a lot of fun. The Fest seems to get larger every year and it's got every kinda of motorcycle eye candy you could possibly find!  Here's a few photo's:



My wife Jo, standing by the stage!

Father's Day Weekend Riding!!

Man, we had a great ride on Saturday, we rode south towards Canon City, CO. and then west thru Big Horn Sheep Canyon to the hamlet of Texas Creek and then northward on CO. Hwy. 69 to Westcilffe and down thru Gardner and into north area of Walsenburg, CO. Hwy. 69 is a mellow twisty two lane with fantastic view of the Wet Mountains of Southern Colorado.  We got to see a real treat as we were flying down the highway we spotted a HUGE bird in the middle of road, it was a Golden Eagle, we slowed and saw a second eagle come swoping down on a praire dog snatch him up and they both took off! Man that was just too cool.

The Hwy. is about 100 miles distance from Westcliffe to Walsenburg and with little traffic and fantastic views we were really enjoying the ride!  We came to stop to watch some real cowboys heading their cattle across the road to get to larger grazing grounds, it felt like we'd gone back 150 years! The sun was high and the air was warm, we were in the zone and enjoying it! We stopped to get a ice cold root beer in Walsenburg, then headed north via I-25 to Pueblo, CO. and a FREE lunch at Outpost Harley-Davidson, hosting there "Super Saturday" and bought out first piece of  Harley BLING! ;)  Jo picked us up a "Ride to Live, Live to Ride" gas cap cover for our 883 Sportster Super Low and gave it to me a "Father's Day" gift!! The dealership had really good Band rock'in in the parking lot and we munched meatballs and sauages while doing a bit of jig! ;)  After awhile we headed back home, stopped a Sonic and got a ice cream slush, what a day!

On Sunday, (Father's Day), we just headed out to Monument, CO. via Hwy. CO. 83 N. to have a good burger and a cherry/chocolate shake at Rosie's Diner. It was a very warm and WINDY ride but we still enjoyed the grub! We headed out to ride and double back on CO. Hwy. 105 from Palmer Park, CO. to Sedaila, CO. and the wind got to be a bit heavy! We headed back and then got gas and a snack then back to the Springs. What a great weekend, even with the wind, a total of 350 miles and lot of smiles, the best Father's Day weekend I've had in a Loooooooong time! :)

Sorry no pictures, the only bad thing about CO. Hwy. 69 is that there is not much in the way of "pull off's", hope you can get a chance to ride it one day! :)

Bishop's Castle

Jo and I finally got a "non-rain" day to do a decent ride so we headed out to see Bishop's Castle on CO. Hwy. 165. Jim Bishop has been building a fantasy castle for many, many years on his mountain property and it's quite the deal. Yes, there's a lot he still needs to finish but what's there is totally worth the trip and the views from atop the castle are stunning. It's a 150 mile RT for us from Colorado Springs but with some very sweet mountain twisty roads going up CO. 96 from Wetmore, CO. and then a rollercoster of a road up to the castle. Here's a few photo's, if your riding in So. CO. don't miss checking it out! :)

A view of the Castle from the parking area on CO. Hwy. 165

Jo on the first level of the castle, with stain glass window panes.

A view of the store and the Bishop's home on the grounds from the 2nd. level of the castle

LOL, the wide spot in the road in front of the castle were you can park!

Memorial Day 2014

Jo and I rode over to the Memorial Day Service in Memorial Park, here in Colorado Springs. They have several monuments to different services and service groups and lay a wreath at each during the event. Here's a few photo's:

After the service we headed out for a short but sweet 100 miles, enjoying the "FREEDOM" that many paid for with their LIVES, we thank them for their service and sacrifice! Memorial Day isn't about Picnic's and SALES as portraied on the Television! It's a time to REMEMBER the fallen and thank them. Pls. put down the BBQ rib long enough to say a little prayer of thanks, hope you had a Good Memorial Day! PS: yes, we did get rained on before we got home so it took awhile to get the Sporty clean and shiny! :)

2nd. HOG Meeting

Well Jo finally got to go to a HOG meeting after being sick for last months meeting we headed out and got to the meeting "just in time", LOL, need to leave a bit more early! ;)

Us, somehow we got shuffled to the front row and they snaped a photo of us!

We decided not to go on the group ride as they were going longer than we had time for so we headed out on our own, took a ride down to Outpost Harley-Davidson in Pueblo, CO. as there's a certian H-D Eagle, "tin sign" we wanted to get for our "home" H-D shrine, (lol, just kidding) .  Pikes Peak H-D told us they were discontinued.  Luckly Outpost had one and we picked it up and go a free lunch as they had the grill fired up and we scrafed down a couple of very good cheese burgers and chips!! We headed back the long way, headed west out of Pueblo, CO. on CO Hwy. 50 West, then a small side trip on CO. 20, a sweet old, two lane road thru Portland, CO. and heading towards Florence but we picked up 115 N. and stopped at Penrose, CO. for a ice cold rootbeer!!  :)

Our machine, Midnight at Pensrose Store, May 3, 2014

Hopped back on Midnight and headed back to Colorado Springs, finally pulling into the barn (storeage area), did a bit of clean up on the bike as it's finally Spring here in So. CO. and we killed many a bug, LOL! Had a great day, hope you got out on the ROAD! :)

Pikes Peak Chapter of HOG, first meeting

Last Saturday, I went to our first meeting at the local area chapter of HOG, the Harley Owners Group, here in Colorado Springs, CO. Pikes Peak HOG chapter is #405 and has about 300 members. It was a good experiance, very friendly folks and they make you feel welcome asap! They put out a spread of dounuts and muffin's, drinks, etc, which was nice.  Jo couldn't make it she got a bad case of sinusitits and the starting of broncitits so I rode the sporty by myself.  I've been very impressed on the way the Harley folks treat a newbie, even if our machine is the "cheapest" H-D you can buy, they never treat you any different that anyone else!

The weather was iffy so I just put on a short 60 mile ride after the meeting on local backroads so I could get the mileage up to 1000 by Weds., got the sporty scheduled in for it's "1st. service". Most of the Japaneese cruisers I've owned did the 1st. service by 500 or 600 miles so it's different being at 1000. The only concern is that the bike seem to be running a bit ruff when you apply the throttle so hopefully a small adjustment will bring back the "very smooth" I had up to about 600 miles. One nice thing is that they have a (pay for, of course) pick up service which I won't need but it's great to know it's there since we don't have a pick up truck or car with a trailer!

I think it's going to be great FUN to be a member of HOG, so if you'd been on the fence about joining up, come on down! :)

B.J. 



2014 Super Show and Swap

The unoffical start of the Riding Season, here in Southern Colorado seems to begin with the local Super Show and Swap Meet, usually held in March. It's a gathering of clubs, a time to show off your ride and tat's and just be seen with all the clan that makes up area motorcycling from 1% er Clubs to Christian Motorcycle Association! Jo wasn't feeling well so I went to the show myself and just hung out, listened to music, bought a good hot dog and chips and soaked in the enviorment! LOL, I'm only good for a couple of hours, then I just want to RIDE! Here's a few photo's of the event, sorry I'm using the camera in my phone and it doesn't have a flash so I could only take photo's of machines that were backlighted, ENJOY!

Break in miles done, now the FUN begins! ;)

March in Southern CO. is a crap-shoot at best as far as getting in rides on the scoot! The only BAD thing about a new bike is the "break in miles", 500 miles of not going over certain RPM's and having to vairy speeds, ie: not being able to drone on for lot's of miles at a single speed! The first 50 miles your not suppose to go over 3000 rpm in any gear, then the next 450 miles you can't go over 3500 rpms. In 5th. gear that equals out to 62.1 mph. so no "Interstate" riding!  Well we finally got in the 500 miles so now the FUN really starts, we can now go any speed and the only rpm limit is 6000 rpm which is "insanity" or as Dark Helmet says, Ludicrous Speed! LOL! ;)

So far the Sportster has been a great ride, the only PIA, item is the rear shocks, they come with WHIMPY springs and with Jo and I double up they are over loaded. :(  So we will have to come up with $300 for a set of Progressive Suspension 412 series Heavy Duty shocks and $60 bucks to have them installed at Pike Peak Harley-Davidson, OUCH!  Still the scoot has such a nice feel out on the road, it's worth the funds to upgrade! :)  Luckly Colorado Springs is surrounded by lot's of low volume country roads so getting the 500 miles wasn't a terrible thing, the rides I really enjoyed!  We don't get real Spring weather till the end of May so there's a lot of short rides left till we can really let the Sporty streach it's legs out on the open road.  Heading to the New Owners Party a PPHD, Thursday night, H-D really makes you feel welcome! Well hope where ever you are you are getting to RIDE! :)

Please welcome Midnight to the family!

Well we've finally upgraded from the 2009 Suzuki S40 Blvd. to a 2014 Harley-Davidson XL883L Sportster SuperLow! Picked it up on Sat. Feb. 15th. :) The photo below is without the "extra stuff" so Jo can ride on the backseat, LOL, it's "on order" but hopefully within a week or so it will be set up for "two up" riding!



Our 2014 H-D 883 Sportster Super Low, called: Midnight! :)

Winter Time Riding

Not a lot going on, it's winter time here in So. Colorado so most of our rides are what we call, "battery charging" runs, LOL.  Still we don't put our bike up for the winter, were lucky enough to get a few days during the winter that are good for at least short rides to stave off the "cabin fever"! Ah some day, we will win the Power Ball and have a nice little 1 bedroom condo in Tucson, AZ. to do our "winter riding"!!! ;)

We got enough miles on Pearl, our Suzuki Blvd. S40 to need a new rear tire, we replaced the OEM with a Dunlop D404 but it's got a slightly higher aspect ratio ie: 90 instead of 80 and after our last short ride we discovered it's rubbing on something underneath the fender so we will take it back to the shop and have them see what's happening! Kinda a bummer as the D404 is what Dunlop recommends for the S40! :(  Oh well stuff happens, we are hoping to get into a differnt machine come Spring 2014, will have the S40,  50% paid off by then and with hopefully a bit of cash from our usual income tax refund! Currently looking at a Star Motorcycles, 650 V-Star Custom or what we'd really like, a Harley-Davidson 883 Sportster!!

As most motorcyclist's we are awaiting the warmer days of spring and summer for those longer rides we dream about! For now were just happy to get in a any ride on the bike! :)