I know what you're thinking, especially if you live in New York City or the surrounding area. Today is a day to ride. Yowza baby. My thoughts egg-zactly. Too bad my bike is in a garage in Hillsborough, New Jersey. Gotta' get that bad boy outta' there. I'm working on it. The next good riding day better come on a weekend. It just better. Or else.

Waiting for warm

Withdrawal is usually associated with addiction. That applies to riding too. Here we are in December in New York City, and I haven't felt the road under me in two months. This sucks. Global warming is all we can hope for to make January a month to ride.

So here we are in the middle of a global recession, and making it even worse is the fact that my Suzuki Boulevard is locked up in my friend's garage somewhere in Western New Jersey. With my savings nearly half of what it was a few months ago, my dreams of acquiring my idyllic Yamaha Stratoliner have went up in smoke with many other pipedreams.

But I remain hopefull. And I look forward to having my dream bike sometime in 2010 for my 50th birthday ;-) Not a bad dream. I'm hoping that I might have some cash leftover for a few accessories.

I rode more than 130 miles this past Saturday - from Southbury Connecticut through the West side of Manhattan and then over to New Jersey right onto Interstate 78 to Bedminster. It's fascinating what you see while riding on a motorcycle; things you've never seen before while driving in a car. It's almost as if the entire planet is rolling under you; and maybe that's what's really happening? I'll never know for sure, but the whole thing really brings home to life what my instructor (one of the guys that taught me to ride) said during my first lesson, "You never see anyone on a bike that isn't smiling."

If your sick of me talking about the Yamaha Stratoliner, then you might want to stop reading at this point because I'm going to start talking about it again ;-) Now if this isn't a cruiser rider's dream, then I'm just insane. Look at this bike - what don't you love about it? For those of you who share my sentiment, this exact bike is up for sale on eBay right now (as of this writing) for less than $12,000. And by the way, if anyone is reading this (fat chance!) and loves Harleys (and I do to, I just think you're paying way too much for American made as well as the brand premium) I'd love to know what you think of Japanese cruisers? Anyone? I'd love some company here...

My apologies for not having posted in more than a month ;-) However, I recently saw the latest BMW heavy cruiser (model number escapes me), and there's much to talk about. I'll be back later today or tomorrow with more on this.

The Harley V-Rod

You may have figured out by now that I'm partial to Japanese cycles - but again, I'm new to this whole thing, but learning fast. But I have to pay homage to a special high-end, sport-bike, the HD V-Rod. The V-Rod signaled a new wave Harley with a sculpted, polished and anodized aluminum bodywork set developed in collaboration with Porsche. The injection system hails from France, the ignition from Italy, but a lot of the internal hard parts are German, such as the Mahle pistons.

The "Revolution" motor claims 115hp, and most cycle magazines have dyno-tested the V-Rod at 109 at the rear wheel, with 74 ft. lbs. torque at 7,000rpm. Check out the Harley Davidson VSRCA V-Rod Specifications:

• 1130cc Liquid-cooled 60-degree V-twin, DOHC, approx. 109 rwhp
• EPA ratings: 37-city/47-hwy
• Front suspension: 49mm conventional fork, no adjustments
• Rear suspension: Six-position preload adjustment
• Front tire: 120/70x19 Dunlop D207 Sport
• Rear tire: 180/55x18 Dunlop D207 Sport
• Overall length: 93.6"
• Wheelbase: 67.5"
• Wet weight: 615 lbs.
• Lean angle (cornering): 32 degrees

More on this as I learn more ;-)

Getting bigger and more fluffy - the Roadliner and the Stratoliner

When I first began riding, and by God that was only 8 months ago, I was scared to death of not only the road and the bike - but having the giant iron thing fall on me! Well, I had the bike fall twice so far - once in front of my apartment and once while taking a slow turn in Bedminster, New Jersey (and I thank God it was a slow turn). Anyway, in Jersey I hit a small patch of gravel and it was if the bike just slid out from underneath me and I just sort of hopped out of the way, and it came to rest on the pavement ;-) None the less, I sort of knew before hitting the gravel it just might be bad. But aside from hitting gravel, remember I was talking about being on the Interstate and getting pushed around like a bitch by the wind - well, with bigger bikes, not as much of an issue. So my latest research on movin' on up in the cruiser world is revolving around the Yamaha Roadliner and Stratoliner bikes. http://www.starmotorcycles.com/star/products/modelhome/482/0/home.aspx
Now with something like this (whoa momma) in comparison to my Boulevard, it's the next step up. From what I understand - what you get with a larger cruiser is more stability; whereas because you're riding a bike weighing 700 pounds versus 525 pounds, it sits on the ride a lot tighter, firmer. Also, with something a like Stratoliner - which has a wider wheel base, you're not feeling every bumb in the road. I believe the suspension might be a bit superior to a smaller, starter cruiser like the Boulevard. And with 1872cc's versus 805cc's, there's more power with less effort. I'm no speed freak, but you do need that power when your on the highway to move out of someone's blindspot, change the lane or whatever - and that power comes in handy, especially since here in the Northeast, so many people behind the wheels of cars have absolutely no respect for people on bikes. Here's a bit of video to give you the idea:



Makes me wanna leave my desk and get out on the road ;-)

It's really a shame - since if more folks rode bikes, we'd lower our dependence on foreign oil - so think of cruisers as beautiful green machines.