Motorbikes vs women

I ran across this list the other night and thought you might enjoy this chaps wisdom.

* Motorbikes don’t get pregnant

* You can ride a Motorbike at any time of the month

* Motorbikes don’t have parents

* Motorbikes don’t whine unless something is really wrong

* You can share a Motorbike with friends

* Motorbikes don’t care how many other Motorbikes you have ridden

* When riding, both you and your Motorbike arrive at the same time

* Motorbikes don’t care how many other Motorbikes you have

* Motorbikes don’t care if you buy Motorbike magazines

* Motorbikes don’t care if you look at other Motorbikes

* You’ll never hear “Surprise, you are going to have a new little
Motorbike”, unless you go out and buy one yourself

* If your Motorbike goes flat, you can fix it

* If your Motorbike is too loose, you can tighten it

* If your Motorbike is mis-aligned, you don’t have to discuss politics with it

* You can ride a friends Motorbike and still stay friends

* If you say bad things to your Motorbike, you don’t have to apologize to
it before you can ride again

* You can ride your Motorbike for as long as you like and it won’t get sore

* You can stop riding your Motorbike as soon as you like and it won’t get frustrated

* Your Mother won’t stay in touch with your old Motorbike after you dump it

* Motorbikes don’t get headaches

* Motorbikes don’t criticize you if you are a hopeless rider

* Your Motorbike never wants a night out with other Motorbikes

* Motorbikes don’t care if you are late

* You don’t have to take a shower before you ride your Motorbike

* If your Motorbike doesn’t look good, you can paint it or get new parts

* You can ride a Motorbike the first time you meet and you don’t have to
take it to dinner

* The only protection you need when riding a Motorbike is a decent crash helmet

* You can boast in mixed company what a great ride you had the last time
you were on your Motorbike

* A motorbikes curves will never sag

*When you get a new motorbike you don’t have to give money to the old one every month

*You can kick a motorbike to wake it up in the morning

Great places to eat while on the road...

For me, one of the most enjoyable things to do while touring on my motorcycle is to eat at small out of the way diners, and and mom and pop restaurants.  These are the places that only the locals know about and they usually have the best food at the best prices.  To find these wonderful eateries you could ride around town until you find a parking lot full of pick up trucks, or you could check out Roadfood.com before you go.  Give it a try it will save you lots of time.

Yeah baby!

What the fuck...?

Dear Abby...

Great Sayings...

"Only a motorcyclist understands why a dog sticks its head out the window of a moving car." Unknown.

A Guide to Precise and Efficient Machine Control

Norse Motorcycle Union–Full Control

All the way from Norway comes a wonderful downloadable book on motorcycle riding techniques or as they say, “A guide for precise and efficient machine control”. The book is produced by the Norse Motorcycle Union. Wonderful find, enjoy!!

This guy got one!

Successful road 'gator hunt...

Gabrielle Giffords is a biker...

Arizona representative Gabrielle Giffords — recovering in hospital after being shot in the head during an apparent assassination attempt. — isn’t just a Democratic congresswoman. She’s also a motorcyclist. Pictured above with the BMW she hoped to someday ride all the way down to Argentina, Giffords is been riding and racing motorcycles for over 20 years.

Gabrielle Giffords was born June 8, 1970 in Tucson, Arizona.

Giffords a third generation Tucsonian, graduated from Tucson's University High School holds a Master's Degree in Regional Planning from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York 1996. and a B.A. from Scripps College where she was awarded a William Fulbright Scholarship to study for a year in Chihuahua. She is a fellow at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Giffords married Captain Mark Kelly on November 10, 2007, a Navy Pilot and NASA astronaut.  He was the Space Shuttle pilot on STS-108 and STS-121.  She is the only U.S. Representative with an active duty military spouse.  Giffords is Arizona's first Jewish Congresswoman. She is a member of Congregation Chaverim in Tucson. We wish her a full and speedy recovery.

24 Years Later...

Fast forward 24 years- I got married, opened and ran a business with my wife, my son Sawyer was born, we bought our Xavier house, finally remodeled it, sold the house, got divorced and moved to Lake Tahoe from Ventura.  After trading in my motorcycle habit for a ski boat and lots of camping with the Fun Club for 10 years, I was ready to get another scoot.

The problem was I had lots of reservations about being a parent, and having what is obviously a dangerous hobby.  Was it really responsible to take such a risk, while having to provide for the long term well-being of a child?

I had been looking online at lots of bikes, and this time I felt that a touring cruiser type of ride was what I was in the mood for.  Looked at lots of Harleys, debated the value in an HD, along with the mechanical issues versus a rice-burner, and could not come to a decision.  Everyone makes a V-Twin cruiser these days, and some you can't tell from an HD, except for the lack of oil on the ground underneath it.

And I had this Toyota Avalon to sell- one I brought up from SoCal, that just didn't cut it in the deep snow and ice of Incline Village.  Couldn't give that thing away after the whole Toyota recall debacle, and it was pissing me off.  That was my scoot money just sitting there!  Anyway, logged on to Craigslist Sacto one day, was looking through the bikes for sale and up pops one that I instantly knew was the style and coloring I wanted.  A 2007 Yamaha VStar Silverado 1100 cc with only 1250 miles on it-  and a $1000 below blue book.  Holy crap...  AND the best part was the ad said they would consider the trade of a 4 door car!  Next thing you know I'm riding this baby home from Sacto!  Traded the car and a little cash for this sweet ride!  I have to say that things happen for a reason, and the fact that I stumbled onto this ride, and the exact deal I needed to make it work, was a sign to me from the Gods that its OK to be riding again, even with Sawyer in the picture.  Convenient karma, I know, but its working for me!

I have committed to both Sawyer and his Mom that I will always wear my full face helmet and leathers, I'll go slow, and ride like I'm invisible.

I have to say that being back on a bike after all these years is very fun- and the rides originating out of the Lake Tahoe area are awesome.  Be it a 4 hour, 3 day or 10 day trip, there are so many great places to ride to and see.  The one bitch is the cold weather, and ice up here.  I don't mind the cold- you can gear up for that.  But getting off the mountain in the winter can be a challenge.  One patch of black ice can ruin your whole season!

The roads of Cali's Central Coast...

Fast forward a few years to 1982, and I've arrived in beautiful Santa Barbara, California!  I had visited my Uncle Joe and Aunt Judy a few times during high school and college, and always knew I would live in California one day.  

I had finished 3 years of college at Suffolk County Community, and had been working that whole time in school.  I had been either tending bar, or clamming and it was time to hit the road and live somewhere else.  Plus my brother Tim and I had spent the prior winter living in Florida, taking care of my step grandfather, Tom Austin.  I discovered that I loved living in a beach town that had warm weather year round!  What a concept!  

"TA" as he was known to us all had developed a brain tumor, and Nana needed help getting him back and forth to the treatments.  Anyway, much more about Florida and Ft. Lauderdale later- there's lots of great stories to tell about that 12 month stretch!

Anyway,  after some time in photography school at Brook's Institute, working at Rocky Galenti's as a bartender, and then winning a liquor license (another story for another entry) in the lottery and opening up the Bombay Bar & Grill, somewhere along the line I got my second bike- a REALLY fast Kawasaki crotch rocket.  I think I paid about $4000 for it- which was a lot of money for a bike in those days.  The KZ750 was the precursor to the Ninja, the bike that set the motorcycling world on its ear with the cafe' racer style becoming the new rage.  That time almost became the end of the V-twin and Harley Davidson!

Low, sleek lines, a racing fairing and windshield as standard equipment, and the "giddie up" to make you have to hang-on for dear life.  I can remember many a night after getting out of work at Rocky's or later the Bombay Bar & Grill, and hitting the 101 Freeway for a 120 mph speed run to burn off the adrenaline of the nights work.  Ironic that scaring the shit out of myself would calm me down and allow me to go to sleep before the sun came up.  I remember many a time when I'm crouched over the tank, redlining the RPM's and thinking that if I hit a bump in the road I'm a dead man.  The good part of that was I wouldn't have felt a thing as I bounced down the road at 100+ miles per hour.

Had that bike until 1986, when I was selling real estate for a living and needed real transpo and a nice car with four doors.  One of these days I going to get another racer to go along with my current Cruiser ride...

My first bike, and my first wreck...

So my first bike came in the spring of 1978, I was a Senior in high school, with money from digging clams burning a hole in my pocket.  I already had a truck, and Rob and Tommy Garapola (partners in crime during high school years) both had bikes.  I was ready for the freedom of the open road, the wind in my hair.  

Unfortunately my Mother was a nurse, having spent many years in the E.R. and ICU.  Motorcycles were death traps, and nothing good would come out of me riding one.  I begged and pleaded, and somehow convinced her that I would be ok...  famous last words.

The first scoot was a 1978 Yamaha 360cc.  Looked pretty cool, and rode well for a small bike.  Had the thing about a month when I had my first wreck...

Rob, Tommy and myself had cut school on a beautiful and sunny spring day, had ridden all over Suffolk County, putting on a few hundred miles.  I had to bug out so I could get to my job as a clam buyer for Great Atlantic Shellfish by 3 pm.  I was heading to work, riding on Main St., right at the intersection where the Sayville Library was located- where this road goes from both directions to only one way, when a lady driving a BIG Cadillac turned right in front of me.  If you ride, you know this feeling- she looked right through me without seeing me coming, and I knew she was going to turn.  I hit the brakes hard, and prepared myself for ejection, while trying to miss this 22 foot long cruise ship of a car!  I was lucky enough to miss the cabin and impacted the side of the Caddy at the back truck, flew over the handlebars and bounced in the street a few times before banging my head into the curb.  Luckily, I had enough sense to be wearing a full face helmet (which looked like it had been through a blender) and a leather jacket- from day one.  That didn't help the broken leg though...

The lady who caused the accident came walking over and asked why I ran into the side of her car?  Then I threw my helmet at her and cursed her out until she walked away in a huff.  


The ambulance arrives and I asked them to take me to Bayshore to Southside Hospital, because my Mom was at work at Brookhaven Hospital.  The EMT's though that was funny and took me right to Brookhaven.  My friends Mom, Mrs. Fox was working in the ER and she wasted no time in tracking down my Mother for me- gee thanks!  I must say, Mom handled it well, and was happy I was alive.  We talked about how I had been riding safely, was controlling my speed (the secret to riding and staying alive) and anticipated what was going to happen- how I was able to maneuver to avoid a more serious accident.  

By the time my leg had healed, my new bike had arrived (the first was totaled) and all was good in the world.  Thanks Mom, for trusting me and allowing me to have some fun...

"Hunting Road 'Gators" blog...

So I've been considering starting a blog for a while now- more of an online journal where I can write about things that interest me~  most specifically motorcycling.  So this is a blog of memories, thoughts, photos, and unrepentant opinions about motorcycles and motorcycling after three decades of twisting the throttle.

Oh, by the way, no one reads this, and you probably shouldn't either.  And I bet you're asking yourself what the hell is a "road 'gator?"

Well, I have recently bought another motorcycle, the third over the last 32 years.  A beautiful 2007 Yamaha VStar 1100cc Silverado.  

I have really taken to the sport again, and see myself  spending lots of time in the saddle in the next 20 years, touring this great country of ours, meeting lots of interesting people and seeing all the cool sites the USA has to offer.  I also hope to get my son Sawyer on the back soon, although he has second thoughts about getting on with me.  I'm confident that once he has a couple of rides under his belt, he'll be hooked like I am.  What a great way for a father and son to spend time, bonding and traveling.

So- "hunting road 'gators" is a term for being on the road, putting in the miles, and passing lots of blown out semi tires along the way.  These monsters are killers for a biker, especially if you happen to be along side of the truck when it lets one go!  I'll do my best to avoid those interactions...

I expect to be posting lots of trip notes, pictures and stories from these road trips, and maybe you'll even read them.

Thanks for checking this blog out, and I hope you find it worthy of a return visit from time to time.