Translate

Tuesday 8 April 2014

Spring is finally here!!!, Forgotten blog post, Vegas and upcoming runs.




Well I've been a little tardy with keeping up with the blog, now I understand why so many blogs don't 
make it past 2 or 3 blogs, it takes so much time!  Also having gone through things I realize I actually forgot to post January's blog, opsss. So I've pasted some of the still relevant stuff onto this blog, sorry.

Card finally arrives


 So the Wade's card finally arrived a couple of days after Christmas (thanks Canada slow poke/post), and after I went down and visited them. So here's a pic of the only card I'll be saving from this Christmas.





I also added the wonderful beer mug given out at NSP this year with their Oktoberfest theme. Nice surprise, and to those who chickened out because of the weather that's what you missed. Though I chickened out wearing those Oktoberfest Mickey Mouse ears at NSP that are in the background. 

I am a little bummed out as I had to miss Ian and Michelle's new years eve party due to work. But having get called in and to be honest it's a day in Vegas spending money so sometimes you have to balance things and not everything can go your own way.

On to Spring


After lots of work the K1200lt is almost finished from all that winter maintenance and also because the bike is new to me, to get a baseline on the maintenance as well. Here's all the stuff that's gotten done:

Oil and filter                  Air Filter                                          Shelf for GPS, usb and 12V plug, EZ-pass
Tranny oil change          HID Headlight install                        Shifter linkage upgrades
Final drive oil change     LED instrument bulb upgrade        Move top box back
Coolant change             Corbin seat upgrade                         Service rear shock preload
Clutch Fluid Flush          Fuel filter and in tank fuel lines          and things I've forgotten about



                                                  Lot of work to get it down to this stage.


Dealer still has to do stuff: Brake fluid flush and valve check, not to bad. I've also got work on the scooters as well :-(


Busy winter, but happy that I've gotten through it. Finally got to take the K1200lt out for a nice 350 km ride this weekend. The bike is running nice, the only problem was the GPS wasn't charging. which I found out when I got the low battery warning on the gps but not a deal breaker. After getting back to the locker it ended up that I pluged the ground to the wrong clip. Easily fixed.

A nice loop around the Lakes, Stoney Creek, Ridge road and over to St Catherines, down past Welland to Port Colborne, then along Lake Eire over to Port Dover. Though with all the ice still in Lake Eire and with the temps dropping down into the lower 30's I headed back up to Hwy 3 and the Timmies/Coffee in Dunnville. There were lots of bikes out with the nice weather and once I got to Port Dover there were hundreds of bikes. Only disappointment is not meeting up with Rich, but since the ride to Dover was rather unplanned, what can you do. Really surprised on how busy Pt Dover was. It really has turned into a bike destination. So if you need somewhere to ride to head on down. 


Vegas 2014


I need a getaway in February, as we did have a real winter this year, so it's back to Vegas. Honestly I prefer Cocoa Beach for a rally but Vegas does come in a close second.  Flying out of Buffalo, NY as usual, but this time it's to save on Duties and taxes as I've got $1000 worth of stuff to pick up at my mailbox on the way back. Went over Queenston/Lewiston way this time to be greeted by only 1 booth open and no one in line. That's what you get at 5am, sweet. The weather in Buffalo lived up to it's name as the snow started just as I was getting to the airport, but who cares, I'm off to Vegas. Some of the things I love about flying out of Buffalo are, short lines at check-in, and at the TSA feel-up (suprisely I got picked for the trusted traveler line. No belts off, no shoes off, nice), Free wi-fi and not overly hard to find electrical plugs. This is what I get to see looking out my window, somewhere there's a wing and engine under all that snow.





After one aborted takeoff and return to gate we finally get off the ground 1 hour later. Escape row and no one sitting beside me makes for a happy flight on Southwest. Since Southwest is the only airline out of Buffalo with a direct flight to Vegas it's usually the one I take. 4 or 5 hours later I'm in Vegas. Even though I worked the night before and then flew to Vegas, I don't feel tired when I land. 70 degrees and sunshine will do that to you. Picked up luggage (always fast in vegas) and over to the rental car mall. Todays car is a full sized Kia. Nothing to special except the bluetooth. This is the first car which when synced to my phone allowed me to play my mp3's on the car stereo. Kia you rock. Anyway I don't want to make this a novel so here are some pics from vegas.


                                           Memories of my childhood, now it takes my money!


                                   Well worth the trip, and finally open. Tour takes around 1 hour.


                  Not that many scooters this year, that will change as the British come back next year.



Nice to see one in person, it's bigger than it looks. Don't know why they didn't use a MP3 500 instead of a 250 MP3.


Highlights of Vegas: 

 In-N-Out Burger, really good, really cheap.


Deep fried twinkies:
This ones for Tam,  as last year I blew the white sugar powder all over her (hey it was funny) when we got them last year. This year I made the mistake of wearing a black polo, bad idea as I had white sugar powder all over that thing. It made me look like I was snorting lines of coke badly (funny thing is Vegas nobody notices). Well that's Karma for you. Hey Tam, can you shoot over those pics of me and the showgirls (please).

Seeing a few old friends, and the warm temps. All to soon I'm back to the cold. Vegas, I'll see you in the fall.

Niagara 2014




Well I just did the math and it seems that it's the 30th edition of this neverending run. Nothing fancy, just some great camping with friends. Here's the Facebook link for more info:


Come by for the weekend or just for the day, if your not into camping, lot's of cheap hotel deals in Niagara Falls, Ont. It's only around a month away!

Niagara ride down, if your looking to ride down, join us:




Curdfest 2014, Cleveland's Mods & Rockers



Well the date for Curdfest 2014 has been set a week later than usual: Friday Aug 15th - 17th 2014, with Ottawa and Halifax having sorted things out. Same bug infested site as usual, so bring lots of spray and loonies for the shower ;-), wifi works good though. Here's the link for all the info:

Facebook, Curdfest 2014


There's a raffle scoot this year and here's a pic:



This is of course a before pic before getting some Corey love, though I do love the Expo 67 sticker, maybe someone can shead some more light on, if this was a actual Expo 67 Scoot. I do remember during my younger days when I went to Montreal you'd still see some of the old Expo 67 "Man and his world" signs around the city. Good times and great friends,and  as I've always said "If I could work in Toronto, and live in Montreal, life would be complete". With Dave and Tam off to England I've got a good shot at this. See you all there.

Also with the new date, Cleveland's "Mods and Rockers" can now be attended. God now I got to figure out how I'm going to get all this time off of work (cough, sick) and how I'm going to pay for it all. Looks like some couch surfing in Cleveland, or pitch the tent at Phils shop. Going to be a good summer. Here's the link for Cleveland's Mods and Rockers.

Facebook, Cleveland's Mods & Rockers 2014


MODtreal Weekender, Labour day weekend, Aug29th - Sept 1st 2014




Here's the link with all the info:



Love Montreal in the summer and can't wait to go back. I'll be riding so your welcome to Join me!


Why did I get a bike?

 I'll give you a little back story on why I got the bike in the first place. Having been a die hard scooterist for over 30 years, I've spent the last 2 years planning a Route 66/PCH trip which I first intended on doing on my now not so new MP3 500. Having put over 30k on the MP3 over the last 3 years I was wondering if the scooter would be up to the task ( it probably would) but I did have to question the wisdom of taking it on such a long trip on the scooter. The MP3 is ok, but on the slab but a little lacking. Having always said to myself that if I did go the motorcycle route I would buy a BMW. My first big decision with BMW is either a old school twin or a K (the flying brick) . At first I've always wanted a twin but as I looked into it more the K1200lt end up what caught my eye. The new I did my research on the forums  As I say at work to my biker buddies "Not everyone can be "Sons of Anarchy" . I kept an eye out on craigslist and Kijiji etc. and ended up finding a possible bike while I was on holiday in Florida. Figures though, I had to wait until I got back to go and see it.  Got back and bought it. Now that all of the maintenance is done, time to put some miles on that bike. I do love touring and am one of those guys who loves the adventure of the ride more fun than the destination (well most of the time anyway) 

Fav Blogs


A couple have got my eye and here they are, the first is "Rants of a Sassy Stew". For those of us in public service can relate.


Nothings better about reading about passengers smoking crack on a plane etc, hey where's my mayor?' Though some great tips on flying and getting along with those overworked sassy stews. 

or how about that travel tip:




Wonder why none of us ever thought about that, anyway it makes the blog this week.


Next is Parka avenue, by Patrick in Montreal.



Makes me wonder if I kept doing the Mod thing, this is how I would have ended up all those years later. Anyway a great read and keeps you up to date on how things are going in Montreal. Plus with the Montreal doing their scooter run Labour day weekend it's a great way to keep updated. 

Cheers till next time,
Tross

Upcoming Trips
Updated April 8th, 2014

Niagara May 24th weekend,
 https://www.facebook.com/events/708712465817907/?ref_dashboard_filter=upcoming

 Niagara Rally ride down: 
 https://www.facebook.com/events/305818819568952/?ref_dashboard_filter=upcoming
Friday the 13th, Port Burwell, June 2014

PVSC Band Camp  June 19th - 22nd  (just checked the date with the club)

East Coast Bike trip on the way to Lammyjammy, got the week off, so why not? 

 Lammyjammy July 10th - 13th in Boston, MA
Here's one link:  https://www.facebook.com/events/502678693154904/?ref_dashboard_filter=calendar

Port Burwell  Run and Race,  July 18th - 20th (hopefully)

Cleveland, Ohio,  Mods and Rockers "Revenge of the Mods"
Curdfest (Ottawa) Aug 15th - 17th  Here's the links:  
Route 66 and PCH bucket list trip, Sept 12th - Oct 13th. Gonna be one long trip.



Gettesburg , PA Oct 10th - 13th ? Still on the west coast, so up in the air for this one?


Weekenders:
Scooters O Garage sale.
Hyw 6 Pennsylvania
Ride the Lake Eire Coast






Posted by at No comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)