The long,hot,dusty road to Sturgis…and anywhere else

As I sat at the computer twittering away, I read about every ones pending motorcycle rides and drooled. Especially Sturgis, which starts the day of my “50 something” birthday, August 3rd. I am stuck at home making arrangement to find the right school for my 17 year old grandson, figure out how to help my daughter and granddaughter after a Christmas time fire, keep my head above water in these tough economic times and build a fledgling motorcycle travel website. I was blue (even though I am very blessed). That, however, didn’t stop me from doing what mommys/grandmommys do, and that is worry about every ones well-being on these very hot days in the sunshine. I twittered this tip and twittered that tip. Then I began to ponder the many things that I learned from my years of fun in the sun during sports, enjoying the great outdoors and, yes, riding in the sun. Well, you know where that went! It was time to blog about it. So, here we go….
On my website I have “beat the heat suggestions” and what to do in the event of sunstroke ( http://ow.ly/hPMR )and was planning to put motorcycle specific advice in as well.  There are actually quite a few that don’t always pop into your mind until you’re out there and in trouble. The sun can be a nasty fellow if you’re not careful! Hope these tips help!

1) Always remember to rehydrate! Caffeine drinks are diuretics and you need at least two non- caffeinated drinks to make up for one caffeinated one. Salt helps you absorb and retain water so put a pinch in your water bottle or eat a salty snack. A camelback water backpack ( http://ow.ly/hPPb here at webBike World) is a great way to carry water and sip as you go. If you fill it half full of ice, it lasts a bit longer while being  more soothing when thirsty. If you feel thirsty, you are already dehydrating! A headache wont be far behind, so drink up. As gross as it sounds, be aware of the color of your urine! Pale yellow is perfect. Anything darker is a sure sign that you are headed for dehydration. Also, and this one is gunna hurt….lay off the alcohol! 
2) Consider clothing that allows you to sweat and your body to breathe.  My buddies at Motosport ( http://ow.ly/hPQC ) have a great selection of hot weather riding gear but you can even consider some of the better work-out clothing to achieve the same results. Long sleeves keep you from sunburn. I always take any opportunities to drench myself, my clothing and, even the inside of my helmet on very hot days.  Wetting your head is one quick way to cool off after your helmet has trapped the heat in. Also, consider one of the neck bandannas that have the absorbing crystals inside (here’s instructions to make your own called “Cool Ties”. http://ow.ly/hPUG ). “Cool Ties work on the principal of evaporative cooling.  Once the polymer is hydrated, the fabric surface of the Cool Tie draws the moisture from the polymer to the fabric surface, which evaporates resulting in an effective body cooler”.
3) Remember that your air and oil cooled bikes are going to get hot! You may want to ride forever but the bike is going to need breaks to cool off.  Its better on the open road but, pay attention to the bikes temperature just to be safe. Along with the heat comes soft asphalt!  When you park your bike, go for the shade of course but, when you can’t find any, remember to take something along to put under your kick stand. I have seen them get pretty buried in that soft black mess and be plenty tough to wiggle free. Left long enough in asphalt that is soft enough and the asphalt actually wraps around the kickstand like the “blob”! My friends at Whitehorse Gear have these trick little things called “kickstand feet” ( http://ow.ly/hPXe ). They are very reasonable so if you get stuck leaving it, you wont be TOO unhappy although, I have never had to.  If you get in a pinch, crush a soda can and use that. I used to laugh about it every time I would find one in a parking lot, buried in the asphalt.  Its what the motorcycle boot was designed for….drink the soda and crush it with the boot, viola’!
Always remember to carry your medical and emergency information with you. Bring something for a headache and wear a hat, sunscreen, and good sunglasses. Take your time and have fun! 
If there is anything I am forgetting, please let me know. I would love to hear suggestions so that I can include all your fabulous ideas when I update the website.  Experience is the key and passing the good ideas along to our motorcycling brethren is what we do at Motorcycle Travel America ( http://ow.ly/hPZu ). 
I am anxiously awaiting the time that I can travel down to Dallas, Texas and have the guys at Mystery Designs ( http://ow.ly/hQ06 ) build me a “Tiltster”.  Then I will be back on the road again and gone………

Lady Godiva on wheels wishing everyone good, safe and healthy summer riding!!  You know where to keep that shiny side, my friends. 
P.S. Will say a prayer so that everyone gets a little motorcycle angel ridin with them…….

I may have found my “leaning trike”!

I have had to adjust my thinking about riding a motorcycle. As I stated in the previous blog…” I realize that there is too much hinging on me to fall down and hurt my aging body. I dont bounce like I used to!”. Thanks to that blog, my friend “badhoss” on Twitter gave me the glimmer of hope I was looking for! On June second he sent me this message….”badhossRE: @mtajudy I knew I saw a fully tilting trike http://www.mysterydesigns.c… Hope this helps!” This guy is a rock star and a dear guy to know. He also seems to be an internet super star because I had searched for a leaning trike and came up empty handed. And, thanks solely to him, my journey begins.
After viewing the website, I made a phone call to the Mystery Design company and had a brief but, informative conversation with one of their people. As it would happen, they are making some adjustments on their design. Lucky for me!
According to what they told me, the multiple sensor design that controls the “lean” is being updated to a single sensor. This will limit the possibility of the need to recalibrate the sensors. Made perfect sense to me. They are launching the new design at Sturgis……and I wont be there….and will make the new design available there after. Enter another friend from Twitter!
My dear friend @mrken777 on Twitter and, a resident of the beautiful town of Sturgis, South Dakota, is going to do recon for me. He has a lovely and informative site that caters to the Sturgis experience at http://bit.ly/lsEaN…do take a look! He is a wonderful and helpful fellow and I feel blessed to be his friend. He is going to ask the questions, take pictures and video. I am thrilled and thankful and cant wait.
The company has promised to send me informtion about the kit, prices and who does the work on the bikes in my lovely hometown. My Road King is getting as ansy as I am! And, with all the work Im doing on the new website, http://motorcycletravelamerica.com/, she hasnt gotten much attention lately. We are both feeling a little cheated.
With this new information, I feel as though I may get a reprieve from the traditional trike and get involved in a whole new concept of motorcycles. This concept has actually been around for a long time and was developed by Lawayne Matthies. As their website tells us about the “Tiltster” developer, “Matthies re-joined the Trike industry after extensive experience in motorcycle modifications, such as the Captain American bikes sponsored by Peter Fonda, as well as models designed after the bikes in the 1969 movie Easy Rider. Lawayne developed the panhead rockerbox covers sold by Xzotic cycle products (his former company), which were featured in numerous 1998/99 European publications, and his work has been featured in multiple magazines including (but by no means limited to) Hot Bike Magazine, Easy Rider Magazine, American Iron magazine, and Freeway magazine. Matthies’ parts and equipment have experienced large distribution through Chrome Specialties and Biker’s Choice, and he has made made many appearances on the Speed Channel. He also designed the Tiltster tilting trike. (http://users.hunterlink.net.au/~ddped/tiltster.htm)”. I cant deny the fact that some real experience is involved in the development of this concept. That brought great comfort to me! (Also, read a review at http://www.aimag.com/pdfs/MysteryDesignsTiltsterReview.pdf). There is more information on the web when you bring up the Mystery Designs president and Tilter designers name, Lawayne Matthies. (Patent information is available at http://ow.ly/h9Jo)
So, I am hopeful that this is the kit that will give me the stability this old girl wants and the thrill this girl needs in one package. If not, and I refuse to go there, I will be putting the challenge out there again to see if I get the dream of having it all!
Much thanks to all my Twitter friends…they are such a blessing. If you havent tried Twitter, take a moment to check it out as a resource for all kinds of things. http://twitter.com/ If you are a motorcycler, look for my friends there! You can see who I follow and check them out. Its quite a community of bikers of all kinds….although, there are some Harley Davidson purists who will give you a hard time if you even utter the name of another bike. I have had occasion to slip and use curse words, such as “Honda”, and have been lovingly repremanded!

A hopeful Lady Godiva on wheels that might just lean.

Challenge for all…a trike that leans??

For anyone who doenst know me…I am a girl pushin 55! I am a business owner, mother and grandmother raising my now 17yr old grandson for the past 5 years. I love to ride! However, I realize that there is too much hinging on me to fall down and hurt my aging body. I dont bounce like I used to! With that in my head, I was actually “afraid” to ride. I have a beautiful Road King just sitting in the garage calling my name….daily! I have been told that once you are afraid, riding becomes difficult and I have to say that it is not a rumor but factual with me. So….I reluctantly decided to go to a trike.
I convinced myself that it was “no big deal”. In fact, it would give me a trunk with more space than I could use to cart around my stuff. I could go to the store and not have to stuff the milk into my shirt to carry it home….brrrrrrr. The reality is that riding a trike is different, stiff, weird! I have to be honest about it. Most of my riding bretheren would tell you that a trike is not a motorcycle. I wont go that far but, I will tell you that I am concerned that it will diminish the fun for me, just a tad……or more.
I have a couple that I know and they became the proud guardians of an infant grandson about five years ago. That presented a problem for the couple since they were the active presidents of the Rose City Motorcycle Club here in Portland, Oregon and advid riders. To allow her to ride whenever she wanted, she had to figure out how to bring the boy with her……enter, side car! But, leaning is her therapy and a rigid side car would eliminate that possiblilty. Hmmmmm. With a little research and some patience, he found a side car that leans. Yup, you heard me…leans. (read details at http://www.bmwmotorcycletech.info/flexit.htm ). So, off to Belgium to pick it up, bring it home and install it. Several years later, the little boy has traveled the country in that side car, she gets to lean and all is well with the world.
Now, my question is this…..why cant someone build a trike that leans? Or at least some “clip on wheels” that lean. COME ON…somebody??
According to my husband, he saw a person riding a three wheeled bicycle and thought, “why couldnt we buy one of those and use it as a test vehicle to try to find a design that works”? Very good point. It does duplicate the same design on a much simpler level.
With Harley Davidson realizing that the target rider is aging, they got on the trike bandwagon this last year. But, just because we are old doesnt mean we want to give up that glorious feeling of flying that we get when we take a curve. We may be aging but we still like the roar of the road and the curves ahead!

This is my challenge…..is there someone out there that needs a guine pig? I would be in….so in. I will even ride around town on the three wheel bike and test the design. I mean that.
If anyone has ideas, let me know. Get on the site and see what makes the leaning side car work. Call all your engineer friends. Give an old girl a break! Dont make me give up the “LEAN”!!!

Lady Godiva on three ridgid wheels? Whimper….

Saved by an Angel….a Hells Angel

I have a blogger buddy named Michael at http://harleythoughts.com/, and he did a very good piece on the Hells Angels called “The Hells Angels – The Most Intelligent and Influential Outlaw Biker Club in the World”. Definatelly worth the time to read it, by the way. After I read it, I remembered my own experience with a group of about twenty of them in Southern California in the late 70’s. The story goes like this….
I was in my early twenties, tan, thin, blonde, driving a chopped VW convertable around the town of Laguna Hills, California. I had my sweet little three year old daughter in the car and we were out for a drive, looking for a bit of water in the Trabucca Canyon area to play in. Noticing I was low on gas, I turned into a station to fill up. In California we fill our own tanks and have for ever. Standing there with the nozzle in hand and watching the pump, I didnt pay any attention to the pickup with the local Marines in it that pulled up to the island on the other side of me. I didnt notice them but they did notice me. At first I blew it off as just a little fun but they got a little too friendly. I got a bit uncomfortable when they were standing in all directions of me and didnt move to let me pass. I felt an urgent need to get the hell out of there and was just shy of a full blown panic when I heard a deep voice say, “Do you need some help here?” When I turned around, there was a guy standing by the last pump of the row, with another twenty or so walking towards us. The group making their approach started talking, the Marines started responding and the guy by the pump ushered me to my car door, shoved me in and said, “Start the car and drive, we’ll be right behind you”.
Let me paint a picture of this for you…….8-10 burley Marines with their street clothes on but noticably cropped military haircuts and macho attitudes meets 15-20 burley badass bikers with leather,tats,long hair and bad “lets kick their asses” attitudes and one 100lb blonde girl with a three year old. I couldnt start the car fast enough. The last thing the biker said to me was, “Dont be afraid, we’ll take care of this” or at least I think thats what he said! The thunder of the motorcycles starting made him hard to hear. The last thing I saw in my rear view mirror was the Marines and the pickup throwing dirt as they took off and went the opposite way.
By the time I got to the first stop light, I was surrounded by all the bikes. They escourted me all the way home and after I pulled into my driveway, they drove down to the end of the cul-de-sac and back by the house and away. All I could do was wave and scream “THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS YOU!”
There were neighbors standing outside looking at me like I had two heads! I just smiled…
The strangest part of this is that when I drove into the gas station, I didnt see one bike. I doubt I could have missed twenty. All I know is that they sure came through for me. That day they were my Angels and I have had a soft spot for them ever since! I looked for them for the remainder of the time I lived in that town and never saw them again. But I never forgot them…….
So, mine is a story of a girl who had heard all the stories of the Hells Angels and had formed a less than glowing opinion of them. I was wrong of this particular group and have come to realize that I need to hold the opinion until I see the truth for myself, and thats with any person, group, organization.

I hope if there ever comes a time when you need an angel, your angel will appear. If they happen to be on bikes, remember…..they may be the same angels that helped out that girl in Southern California.

Lady Godiva with angels on wheels………………..

The power of the motor.

I bought myself a new toy the other day. Yup! I bought myself a power washer by Rigid powered by Subaru. This bad boy gives me 3000 pounds per square inch and 2.6 gallons of water per minute!! Phew. That can blow the paint right off something if your not careful.
My first love in the tool shed used to be my leaf blower. A beautiful blower by Stihl! I thought I could clean anything with it but, the new tool in the shed is definitaly my power washer. I tried to break it to the blower gently but, once I pulled the cord and the powerwasher fired up, there was no way to deny what had happened. I started slowly, being unsure of what to expect but, the wand gave me a new sense of authority over the dirt on my deck, the mess in the driveway, the dust on the house siding and anything else that came into view. I couldnt put it down!! The deck, the cement, the asphalt, the siding, the grandkids….opps, sorry kids! I was drunk with power and if I could have caught the dogs, they would be bald now.
In all honesty, I am a motor junky. I would rather go to Home Depot than the mall. I would rather go to the John Deere distributor than a jewelry store. I love to fire something up and dominate! I believe God made my hands to be dirty. I cant help myself.
Which brings us to why I love motorcycles…..they have motors, you fire them up and dominate, and I can get very dirty playing with them. Lets not forget the feeling of flying……its intoxicating. Who needs booze when you ride a bike? Ya know what I mean??
So, thats the story of my newest love….the powerwasher. I have to go, he’s waiting!!

Lady Godiva with a powerwasher…on wheels!!

Dont forget “Ride to Work Day”

Just wanted to remind everyone that June 15th is the 18th annual motorcycle and scooter “Ride to Work Day”. Its a day dedicated to advocating the everyday use of motorcycles as transportation and bringing awareness to the number of motorcycles on the road.
According to my friend at “Northwest Harley Blog”….In the U.S. the average driver travels 29 miles per day and a total of 55 minutes on the road. Motorcycle riders are a minority. Commuting and transportation riders are a minority within a minority. So, in the semi-famous words of Ben Stiller and the “Do It” guy of Starsky & Hutch… “No, seriously come on. Do it. Do it.”
So, if it means enough to mention multiple times….which he has….lets give it a try!

Lady Godiva on wheels, riding to work!!

My friend at Kneeslider.com

I have a passion for electic motorcycles. I have written about the Enertia from Brammo motorsports in Ashland, Oregon. I have written about the “Mission One” out of the San Francisco area. I like these bikes but….I love the way the “Blue Shift” motorcycle looks! And, its electric but looks like a crotch rocket. http://www.blueshiftmotorcycles.com/specs.html

I had trouble remembering the name of the bike. I thought it was called the “Throttle” out of Michigan. I looked everywhere for the darn thing. When I had exhausted all possibilities, I decided to bug my friend at Kneeslider. I gave him all the info I could remember and much of it was wrong to boot!! Now, if you have never visited this site, please do. I read it nearly everyday. It is the most complete compiling of information about motorcyces that I have encountered and I have been surfing the web for motorcycle information for YEARS! Not only did this guy find the bike for me but, he replied to my inquiry. Not everyone does that. I know its shocking but true!

This guy came through for me and I consider him a gentleman for taking the time to help a girl out. You can find him at http://thekneeslider.com/ and he has new information daily. If you want to know ANYTHING, thats the place to find it. If you cant find it, ask! He actually responds to your inquiries.

I want to send a special thank you out to anyone who is on top of things enough to answer and thats what this guy did! So, Paul, thank you from the bottom of my heart. You are good people and I promise to read your information till Im old and gray. At that, you have a good five years out of me!! LOL

Lady Godiva on wheels……………………..

My motorcycle blogging brethren..

There are literally so many talented people out there blogging. Then there are my people, motorcycle bloggers. We just write about what we love, what we do, what we see, what we think and things of the future. I have around three dozen of these afore mentioned folks that I read daily. Some are my twitter buddies and some are not. Here is my story…

It is a cornucopia of information and you really never know what you will find when you open the page. I may catch my friend Beth in a particularly deep mood and writting about something with such passion that it makes me tear up! And my friend Carla on an adventure that makes my heart race, fearing that it may be dangerous. Or my friends from Fred Motor Co(whos name is not Fred) and Mac that bring facts about bikes, repair, technologies and manufacturer business, all for my benifit. Then my friend Michael that never fails to make me giggle or grin with delight at the things he writes about. And, last but certainly not least, my friend Ken who is quick to lend good advice or a helping hand. There are more that I love to experience but, its the same basic story with them as well, lots of talent providing information and entertainment.
My friend Sheila thinks we should all get together and meet face to face. I swear, its like a little community of people who are following our endevors, listening to our ideas, and in the case of my friend Marilyn, praying for her mother to have comfort. Its odd that we have never spoken on the phone or seen each other except in photos. But some of us really like each other. What if we meet and cant stand each other? Too bad the world is so complicated.

Now, my conundrum is that I am so busy reading all their wonderful stuff that I run out of time to write my own! I know, boo hoo, stop your whinnin. If only I had more time during the day………….yea, right!

I want to thank all my motorcycle blogging friends. You are a source of inspiration and comfort. You make me think and make me laugh but, you always make me love the blog and the act of blogging. Kudos!

Lady Godiva on wheels….with friends who blog about them.

What my Daddy said about motorcycles and diaretics…

My father is the first guy that ever gave me a ride on a motorcycle. At age three, he zipped me up in his leather jacket and off we went. Sigh, fond memories.
My father has been in the hospital for a few days. Nothing life threatening but, hes gettin older, as are we all, and he hadnt noticed a few things until they were makin him sick. Thats when my dad goes to a hospital, when he is sick enough to be subdued and loaded into an ambulance! The end result is he came home with what he refures to as “water pills”, we call them diaretics. We began talking about the fact that so many people after a certain age are perscibed these diaretics and thats not too much of a problem but a bit unmanagable if you are on a motorcycle and doing any more than down to the store and back!
My father comes up with an idea……his next invention….something that will make him rich, and allow him to ride even with the diaretics!
Now, I cant be quite as colorful as my father was when I explain, but, the idea goes like this……a soft comfortable cradle to put your “junk” in with a tube running down your leg and past your boot. Then you can have the comfort of urinating while you ride and only stop when the rest of the group stops. After I quit laughing my butt off at his discriptions, we got a bigger laugh at the possible disasters. Let me just say that the three winners were….1)Never urinate when the wind is blowin good and another rider, who is visibally the size of a small mountain, riding in the line of fire! 2)Never sneeze real hard..eww! 3) And, never sit at a table next to some really scarey guys with your “hose” foot up on your leg pointing at them….and then sneeze real hard!! You get the picture.
Obviously, my father is fine! Still has his sense of humor and thinks he is as funny as all get out. And, who knows….there may be something to this idea!!

Lady Godiva on wheels….and all this talk makes me need to go!

Police motorcycles, who’ld a thunk it?

I got pulled over by a motorcycle unit today…..darn it! Had a flickering tail light bulb which constituted a verble warning and no more. Might I add that the bike was tucked away in a little parking lot with a bank of trees to shield us from seeing him until after we were past him and busted! The good news was that I was actually going only 3-5mph over the speed limit. But, it made me ponder….who ever came up with the idea of motorcycle police unit?
I had heard that the first motorcycle police vehicle in the country was right here in Portland, Oregon by an officer with the Portland Police Bureau in 1909. It was actually his own personal motorcycle and was not purchased as a city vehicle. I was impressed by my home town. As I thought about blogging this, I decided it would be better to have the facts and, as luck would have it, we missed it by one year. This is how the history of the police motorcycle goes…..

Police motorcycles have been used since as early as 1908, largely because of their smaller size and maneuverability in situations where access is limited because of traffic or other obstructions. They have also been used as escort vehicles to allow multiple motorcycles to assist without taking up much room.
Although the first motorcycles litterally purchased for police use was one from Harley-Davidson by Detroit, Michigan in 1908 and a belt-driven motorcycle with no disclosed brand name by the Evanston, Illinois Police Department, also in 1908, they were not part of an official motorcycle police units.
It was a police chief named August Bollmer of the Berkeley, California Police Department that first organized an official police patrol in the United States. That was achieved in 1911…and the rest is history.

As I was growing up, all motorcycle police units were Harley-Davidsons. In my early twenties, they went to Kawasakis. Now a days I see them on BMWs. I dont know what the criteria is for a motorcycle unit for a police department. All these bikes differ greatly. Maybe one of my readers can give me the heads up on how these guys decide.

I love ALL motorcycles but, I hate seeing one in my side mirror with flashin lights.
Lady Godiva on wheels……with no ticket!! Hehehehehe