Taryn's Hope Ride

This past Sunday was the Taryn's Hope Ride.  This jaunt was organized to benefit those suffering from mitochondrial disease, such as young Taryn.

The ride left Skip Fordyce Harley-Davidson in Riverside, Ca at around 9 am.  There were more riders than expected, given the weather conditions.  The ride took the group on a short route to Boondocks Bar and Grill in Corona, Ca.

At the destination, there were some vendors that set up shop.  There were those that were hawking their goods, raffle booths, and the Roadhouse Biker Church.  Some young ladies looking for opportunities to earn some green while taking a picture with your motorcycle were also in attendance (I managed to steer clear after having quite a fight with the wife the last time I allowed a couple young ladies to pose on my ride).

My only regret of the day had to be driving the car.  I left my house in the mountains where one of my bikes is snowed in and headed down to the valley below where I found some light rain.  I figured the ride would be canceled but decided to drive out to the dealership anyway.  Once making my way into Riverside, I discovered that the rain had subsided.  It turned out to be a decent day with light sprinkling here and there.  I really should have ridden the bike stored at my brother's place a few thousand feet below my winter wonderland.

Here are a few pictures from the event.

This first one is the young Taryn that the ride is based.  She is seated between Pastor Denver and his wife Tracy.

Here's the group leaving the dealership.   It was quite the turnout.

The Boondocks lot.

A cool little 90cc Harley-Davidson.  The owner explained that he picked this one up as a basket case for a mere $200. He used his skills as a community college paint and body instructor to turn it into the cool creation that it is today.

I guess I would have one other regret.  That would be leaving my trusty camera at home and left with only my lousy Blackberry to take photos.

I hope you enjoyed the post.  Ride safe.

Sunday's Ride

Today was the day that I had set aside to clean the newly acquired Sportster.  It was in dire need of a bath, having sat a long time in a beach city where it had accumulated some rust and other surface anomalies.

I tried everything on this thing to give it a shine: Easy Off oven cleaner, some spray cleaner that I have no idea where it had come from, Cascade dish washing soap, etc.  Nothing really worked.  I'm kind of thinking some of the parts actually looked worse when I was finished.  Perhaps this is due to uncovering the streaks, rust, and other stains that would have otherwise been buried beneath the dust and grease.  It looks as though I will need to by a polishing tool to buff it out.

Finally, giving up trying to scrub this thing to a show quality shine, I headed out on the road.  I rode to my in-law's place, a couple of friends' houses, and here and there.  During this time I had managed to lose a glove - don't ask.  All said and done, I put on another 50 or so miles before the storm hits tomorrow.  I'm really enjoying riding this bike around.  It's a real kick in the pants when you twist that throttle back.

As promised earlier, here's a picture of the Sportster.  Check out those nasty fork legs.  I'll be putting some elbow grease on those things soon enough.

Ride safe.

Saturday's Events

Well, Skip Fordyce Harley-Davidson of Riverside had a big 70th anniversary party.  There were tons of bikes as well as a huge sale.  Given the current economy, this appeared to have worked out very well for the dealership.

I captured a couple images on digital to share:

This one had some interesting colors.  Overall, I think the low profile of this bike looked great.

Here's another cool looking Softail.  I sure do miss mine.

Following the gathering at Skip's, my wife, daughter, and I made our way down the treacherous 91 freeway to Sporty Specialties in Fullerton, Ca.  I was in search of some drag bars and found some on their site for a reasonable price.  I figured there might be a few other things there worth purchasing for the new project.

Unfortunately, after driving through traffic for quite some time, we arrived at the place to find it closed.  I spoke to several other shop owners nearby to find out that sometimes the guy closes to run an errand or go grab food, or who knows?  But, we didn't have much time to hang around for the guy as we had already made arrangements to attend the Roadhouse Biker Church in San Bernardino, Ca.  The wife had prepared a meal for the after church gathering and wouldn't want it to go to waste. So, we headed back.

Church that night was great as always.  There were a number of people present for the monthly "Spoken Word" ceremony that takes place.  I always enjoy the company of these fellow believers on motorcycles.

I suppose that'll be enough text for this post.  As always, ride safe.

Note:  As of this writing, the Sporty Specialty website was down.  It was up a couple of days ago, and I suspect they may be having a bit of trouble with the site.  I suggest giving them a call before you head down - a strategy I wish I would have used.

Sporty Ride

I know I haven't posted pictures of my new ride, yet, but I plan on getting some up here soon.

I have been enjoying riding the Sportster lately.  I got to ride it to work today.  I rode it to a friend's house afterward and let him take it for a quick spin.  After a couple of trips up and down the block, he brought out his bike for me to try out and we rode a little around town.

He has a Yamaha (I think) 650 cruiser that sits low and has a decent sound.  It seemed to have a decent amount of power for a small bike and was a blast to ride.  I think I left a little tire tread on the asphalt as I barreled down the road.

I am really appreciating this additional motorcycle.  It's fun to ride, quick, and gets decent mileage.  A Sportster is also the perfect canvas for something custom and I can't wait to get started with some drastic changes.

As always, ride safe and have fun.