This is a very interesting approach to test people’s awareness and to prove a point. I’ll let the video speak for itself but I was pretty amazed when I watched it. I was so focused on what was going on that I litererally did not see what was right in front of my face.
Good thing there wasn’t anything red, shiny and candy-like. I’d be all done then!
That’s right boys and girls. The eagerly anticipated (at least by me) Quentin Tarantino produced film, Hell Ride will be in theaters this summer on August 8th. As you know I’ve been keeping my eye out for this movie, my last post was back in January and the first time I wrote about the movie was back in December.
Now, i don’t know how good this movie is going to be, but I’m hoping for high camp factor. I figure with the likes of Dennis Hopper, Michael Madsen and David Carradine there’s definitely a good chance!
This past weekend my husband, Forrest, made a huge decision and traded in his tried and true 2001 Honda Shadow ACE 750 for a 2004 HD Road King. It was an interesting process to watch because as riders, we all have sentimental attachments to our motorcycles. While my husband loved his ACE, it just wasn’t enough bike for him anymore and yet he was torn because he had experienced so many great times with it. He had been across country on it, helped me practice my riding on it and we both experienced some great rides together with it. It sounds silly, but it was a part of tour family.
Instead of me trying to write about it from an outsider’s point of view, I asked him if he’d guest write a post to share with us what was going on in his head through the whole experience. Thankfully, he said yes! I hope you guys enjoy the read as much as I did.
-Liz
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It was an uncomfortable sleep, tossing from side to side on my raggedy sleeping bag. At 4AM I emerged from my tent back out into the fluorescent lights of the conference room and back to confines of my cubicle. Stephen King’s first major e-book Riding the Bullet was set to go live in a matter of hours. The internet was waiting and investors were watching.
During the height of the dot com bubble I daydreamed of being retired at 35 riding through the South West on a Harley with not a care in the world. I had tons of stock options and in no time the world would all be using our e-book product. A few months later I was handed a severance check and a pink slip as our dot com went dot bomb. My millions in stock options were worth about six cents but I still had my dream of riding, a few grand and a clear calender.
I walked into the local Honda dealership with a wad of cash in my pocket and rode out on a brand spanking new 2001 Honda Shadow ACE. After buzzing around town for a week I over packed and headed west looking like Clarke Griswald turned biker. With no real riding experience my riding goals and motorcycle time management were ridiculous and after a few days of 18 to 20 hours in the saddle I pitched my old cubicle tent outside in fresh air on a South Dakota hillside. I finally gave in to Sturgis calling me and along with hundreds of thousands of my close personal friends rode the Black Hills and tossed back a few beers.
My ACE was a champ. As-long-as I lubed the chain before going to bed and shined her pretty before heading out in the morning she never complained. She was my baby and if I treated her right she would take me to places and show me things I only dreamed of before. After my first week on the road with the ACE looking more like a pack mule than a free spirited steed it was time to lighten the load. Stopping at the Sturgis High School where UPS set up a make shift depot I packed up everything but a change of clothes, my maps and cameras. It was a valuable 60 pound lesson.
The next three weeks adventure created biker stories that would be told and retold on later adventures or just swapping tales with fellow riders along my journeys. I rode through the Rockie mountains, across stretches of Historic Route 66 got caught in a hurricane in Texas, saw the biggest ball of twine and all sorts of other things that only motorcyclists would care about.
Eventually I made my way back to New England with summer in my past. When I brought my bike in for service Steve the manager said it was one of the quickest 20,000 miles he had ever seen put on a 750.
Home now I worked during the week and spent my free time keeping my bike in tip top condition for my next adventure. I’d work and save then meet friends on the road. I worked some more and bought presents for my bike. A new sissy bar and luggage rack so the next trip could be two-up. Better springs and progressive shocks so I could take a trip to the Tail of the Dragon in style. All the chrome and all the extras went into that bike. And my ACE gave back. Other riders always complimented my bike and were impressed by the miles I put on. Never any mechanical problems even after being overloaded by 150 pounds and riding through the rain and snow.
As time went on we got comfortable together and began to take each other for granted. I didn’t spend the time I used to cleaning and polishing every nook and cranny. In turn she didn’t give me the power, throttle response and confidence she once did. I still loved her and treated her well but it wasn’t the same. One night I was riding home from work and went down. Luckily I had put crash bars on the ACE and she sustained only minor damage. I on the other hand was laid up for over 6 months.
When you have a motorcycle accident, doctors and nurses are quick to let you know they refer to bikers as “organ doners.” Physical theripasts tell you not to ride again or you might hurt this or that. For me one of my main focuses was getting my ACE back in shape and going for a ride, at least one last ride.
When I was well enough to go outside I would try to detail my bike, neglected no more she was to be the shinyest bike in all the land (or at least on my block). As I recovered I thought about that feeling the first time I took my bike on the highway. All those moments of adrenaline rush and all the wonderful places I’d been on the ACE.
One May morning I hopped on my sparkling clean Honda ACE and with friends by my side hit the road again. I was nervous for about 3 minutes then a rush of emotion came over me and I was happy. I was back.
My perspective had changed, as is often the case, major traumatic events are a catalyst to other life changing decisions. My former girlfriend whom I was pursuing was by my side not to leave, ever. She also decided to take the MSF course and get her own bike even after me being busted up and other friends having accidents.
Over the next few years with my best friend and now girlfriend again riding next to me more adventures were had. The ACE once again got the nurturing it deserved even if it wasn’t the only steed in the stable anymore. She continued to give me all she had and I treated her right, knowing full well that her all was not good enough.
As a rider each experience you have on the bike should make you a better rider. Every time some jackhole takes a left in front of you, it is a learning experience. Different road conditions, weather conditions, sights, sounds, and smells are merely put there for us to learn from and grow. I found that I had out grown my reliable ACE. I want to carry more weight than she can safely handle. I want to have more emergency power on the throttle when that 18 wheeler comes flying up my butt at 90mph in the mountains of West Virginia.
We were at a crossroads. It was time to say goodbye.
This weekend I rode my faithful 2001 Honda Shadow ACE with about 55,000 miles on it into the Harley dealership and made my peace with our separation. I realized my dream of owning a Harley Davidson Road King. My FLHCI is a 2004 with less miles on it than I put on the ACE our first month together. I always said my next bike would be black, but to my surprise it’s silver pearl just like my ACE was, with all the extras I put on my ACE and all the extras I wanted for my ACE but never got around to getting.
As excited as I am to join the collective, part of me is a little sad to see the ACE go. She served me well and doesn’t owe me a thing. If inanimate objects could emote, I hope she would say she enjoyed our adventures together. Hopefully someone as festidious as me finds her some day and is inspired to treat her well. I know she will repay the favor.
Cute video of a hen-pecked husband’s torrid love and passion for his Harley-Davidson. There’s a lot of soap and inappropriate touching, not to mention the quintessential, sexy soundtrack of “Let’s Get it On” by Mr. Marvin Gaye. But they’re clearly having a moment together. And that’s special.
Linda over at Raven’s Rides is giving away a copy of Triumph Around the World
“The story is amazing: I could not help but admire his courage, sheer bloody-mindedness and his soul-searching. His insights were deep and this was the aspect of the book that I enjoyed the most…Read her full review here.
I normally don’t post news stories like this but since it practically happened in my backyard I’ll make an exception today. This is the kind of news story that would make a resident want to crawl down into a hole for a while:
From boston.com:
April 21, 2008
GLOUCESTER, Mass.—Sandra Bullock and her husband were unhurt after a head-on crash with a drunken driver, police said Saturday.
The actress and her husband, Jesse James of TV’s “Monster Garage,” were being driven in a sport-utility vehicle Friday night when a station wagon crossed the center line and hit them, said Gloucester police Lt. Jerry Cook.
Both vehicles were totaled, but no one was hurt. The vehicles were traveling 15 to 20 mph, Cook said.
The other car was driven by Lucille Gatchell, who registered a blood-alcohol level of 0.20 percent, more than twice the legal limit of 0.08 percent, Cook said.
She was held by Gloucester police overnight and released Saturday on personal recognizance. She is to be arraigned Tuesday in Gloucester District Court.
Gatchell did not immediately return a call seeking comment Saturday. Calls to representatives for Bullock were not immediately returned.
Bullock, 43, was “gracious” and concerned about whether Gatchell was OK, Cook said.
The actress, who starred in such films as “Speed” and “Miss Congeniality,” is in Massachusetts filming the romantic comedy “The Proposal.”
OK, we’ve all seen them at least once. You know, you’re driving behind a big truck or a motorcycle and there they are, dangling from the rear fender. A giant set of…danglies, berries, stones, knackers, bollocks, teabags, family jewels, gnads, nuts, testicles -you know…balls! I don’t know what it is but this particular subject has reduced me into a 12 year old boy (much like when I watch Jackass).
“You know, Dr. Evil, I have always thought you were crazy, but now I can see you’re nuts.”
-Austin Powers, Goldmember
I noticed the impact of this trend fully for the first time last summer when I went to bike week in Laconia, NH. Many of the vendors present had large displays of them in all colors of the rainblow, I mean, rainbow. Most common are chrome, gold, brass, pink and most notably, blue. Are they funny? Sure. And they’re also a whole lotta trashy!
If you haven’t seen these before or are curious to peruse the vast variety of nuts out there, allthenutz.com is the online place for you to start. They’re very serious about their nuts. And I love their videos!
But what makes someone put a set of balls on their motorcycle? What statement are they making with a big set dangling off the back? Is it just be a wise-guy? Is it to show off the power and prowess of their fine, steel machine?
“I’m upper, upper class high society
God’s gift to ballroom notoriety
And I always fill my ballroom
The event is never small
All the social papers say I’ve got the biggest balls of allCHORUS
I’ve got big balls
I’ve got big balls
And they’re such big balls
Dirty big balls
And he’s got big balls,
And she’s got big balls,
But we’ve got the biggest balls of them all…”“Big Balls”-AC/DC
Apparently a lot of women buy these for their vehicles as well. The pink ones are especially hot, although I’ve never seen any of these on a ladies motorcycle (or car for that matter). Whether you like them or not, these things sell like hotcakes and someone somewhere is making serious jingle off of them. I’m glad I don’t have any kids yet that I have to explain these suckers to!
So what do you think? Trashy fun or distasteful humor?
This is awesome, vintage footage of motorcycle hill climbs filmed somewhere in California in the 1930’s. I love watching this and seeing how bumpy the rides are up the hill. These guys were nuts.
(sorry for the ads, blame revver.com)
Last night the Teutels showed up on one of my favorite shows: My Name is Earl. Now, if you’ve never seen this show I have to tell you it’s one of the funniest shows on tv (and I’m super-critial of comedies. Or maybe I just have a strange sense of humor…but I digress).
The premise of the show is that Earl has done a lot of bad things in his life and after winning the lottery & then getting hit by a car, he has an epiphany and decides he has to cleanse his karma by righting the wrongs he’s done.
Last night’s show, Stole a Motorcycle, details a night that Earl and his brother, Randy, stole a motorcycle from the OCC guys shop (not a chopper, it was a crappy beater bike that looked like a Sportster) that someone left the keys in. Paul Sr. and Jr. did their typical arguing schtick and Mikey was the jokester who left the keys in the bike. Screen time was short and sweet.
(the videos are from nbc.com, so sorry if there’s ads in them)
The interesting thing is that OCC was also approached to create a My Name is Earl theme bike to be auctioned off for the Make a Wish foundation. If you watch the show, then you can understand how humorous the paint job and plaid shirt seat cover is.
The actors talk about the Teutels’ acting abilities and Paul Sr. talks about creating the charity bike:
If you can try watch the episode either in a re-run or somewhere online. I highly recommend it!
Yes, ’tis true. A music video by Criss Angel, the magician.
It’s kind of formulaic for a “metal” music video.
‘Nuff said. Throw up the horns and rock on with your bad selves!
