I’ve made the decision that come hell or high water I’m getting my ass to Daytona next year. I’ve never been and really want to go since I wasn’t able to attend Sturgis this past summer.

Since there is usually snow & ice on the ground here that time of year (and I don’t relish the idea of riding to Florida in 20 degree weather) getting down there may present a challenge. And shipping the bike could be costly. Needless to say, I have some big planning ahead of me!

Unfortunately, I’m not eligible for Harley-Davidson’s Get Down to Daytona contest. If you aren’t aware of the contest, if you’re a woman you can win a spot on a bike trip to Daytona with Karen Davidson.

From the site: To enter, submit a video, 90 seconds or less, describing how your riding mentor helped you improve your confidence and riding skills, and what riding means to you. Make sure to include your riding mentor in your video or a photo of her or him.

You have to own an HD and been riding for less than 2 years (I’m out on both counts) but if you’re a woman who fits those requirements…well stop reading and go submit a video, dammit!

Screengrab from http://www.sturgisrallydaily.com.
Look, there’s a lovely lady riding down Main St.

As I have mentioned before, I have never had the pleasure of attending the Sturgis bike rally. I’ve talked about it a whole bunch of times but the plans just never came to fruition. Well, I guess if I can’t go to Sturgis, I can bring Sturgis to me with the interactive Sturgis street, sidewalk and Main St. webcams, which appear to be on a 30 seconds refresh rate. It’s almost like being there, except that I can hear, feel or smell what’s happening there.

*sigh*

“Most motorcycle problems are caused by the nut that connects the handlebars to the saddle.”

This quote is particularly true in describing yours truly this summer. I have created my own problems by trying to enhance the performance and bad-assness (did I just make up my own word?) of my motorcycle. I’m a bit frustrated because the summer is half-over and I haven’t done any real riding since bike week in Laconia.

The good news is that the pilot jet I was waiting for is finally here! The bad news is that it’s suppose to rain for the next few days.

And today, of course, is the beginning of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. I have never had the pleasure of attending, but I hope to someday. The past few years money and occupational commitments have prevented me from packing up and heading out there. Not to mention the fact that I live on the east coast and it’s pretty damn far for me to ride!

But I will do it some day.

Whew! I’m late posting my video this week but I have a good reason for it: this week’s video (that I created myself) is a bunch of my photos from Laconia!

(music: “Push Push (Lady Lightning)” by Bang Camaro)

If you want to check out the actual photos in addition to the video, check out the Laconia photo set on my Flickr page!

I returned from Laconia yesterday safe & sound. We had a great time, although it seemed like the crowds and traffic were light this year. The weather was great Friday and Saturday (ok, it was a tad bit on the warm side).

I have a lot of photos to download from my camera and I’ll try to get those online sometime this evening.

Until then, here’s a little tease. This was taken last Thursday on my way up Mt. Washington!

Oh man, I have been so busy since I got here and only have a few minutes to write!

The ride up here was long, cold and wet! We took the “scenic route” up and while the ride was gorgeous it was difficult to enjoy in the rain…We’re staying at the Naswa Resort, which is really close to the middle of everything!

Yesterday we rode up Mt. Washington. It was a little bit scary to get up it. At certain places the road turns into DIRT road and tryng to keep control of the motorcycle while hammering on the throttle to get up some of the steep parts was dicey. The payoff was worth it, the view were amazing. We got lots of pictures up there. I felt bad for this one old guy though. He was telling the employees up there that he was in trouble because he didn’t think he could get off of the mountain. He was totally spooked. They had to arrange someone to take him down in a van while they rode his Harley down for him. The irony is that going back down was much easier!

After we left Mt. Washington we rode on the Kancamangas highway for a little bit. Oh and did I mention that the weather was gorgeous? It was great. We rode a little more than 200 miles yesterday. I was exhausted last night! We had a bite to eat at the Smokehouse and then I put my sorry butt to bed!

Today there were noticably more and more bikes arriving. There is a steady stream of rumbling motorcycles day and night. Today we hit all of the vendors on the beach, ate yummy sausge & pepper subs and had a few beers. It was a hot day today and my dogs are barkin’ from all the walking we did!

OK-it’s getting late and I’m sure everyone around me is wondering why I’m in the lobby typing on a computer when I should be drinking and singing “Wheel in the Sky” at the top of my lungs…

I’m off to bike week. Check here for regular updates with plenty of photos.

And don’t forget to track my riding in real time by going to the “where am I” page.

This weekend Laconia Bike Week kicked-off. As has been the case for the past few weeks the weather sucked yesterday. But today, it is gorgeous outside. I had a list of projects to do before I head off to bike week on Wednesday and they have been postponed. Today I finally got do to some work.

My bike comes stock with a HUGE air cleaner, lovingly referred to as “the football” and a “pair valve” (California emissions control device). The plan was to rip off the pair valve, replace the football with a hidden K&N air filter, re-jet and debaffle the exhaust pipes (since I have not made a decision on what style of new pipes I want). I realize this was ambitious, but I started over a month ago and figured I’d be done by now. The problem is that I still don’t have all the parts that I ordered! The one big thing I’m missing is the jet kit. But I couldn’t wait, so I started anyway!

Getting half-naked.

When you remove the pair valve and the football on the Volusia, it allows you an unobstructed view of the V-twin cylinders (or “jugs”) so some smarty-pants refers to them as having “Naked Jugs“. I began to set my jugs free today by removing the pair valve. Things went fairly smooth except for the front air breather, that’s a bitch.

Once that was done I figured since I can’t re-jet yet that there was no reason to replace the football. My bike runs lean anyway so the last thing I want to do is give it more air.

The top row of pictures is the pair value before and after I removed the casing. The second row is me tackling the “football.”

Voila! Naked jugs!

So now the bike is half-nekkid. I’m going to have to wait until I get back from bike week to re-jet and go au naturale.

Baffled that I haven’t debaffled before now.

I decided to do a partial debaffle of the exhaust pipes. There are 3 separate baffles in the Volusia. My goal was to remove the first one.

We picked up 2 hole saws to cut through the plates in the massive pipes. You cut out a doughnut and the baffle becomes unrestricted. Then put a dowel in the baffle and wiggle it around until the metal fatigues and breaks off.

Pull the baffle out: lather, rinse and repeat on the other pipe.

What a difference! The sound coming out of those pipes now is unbelievable!

So, as I mentioned before I will be at bike week from Wednesday to Sunday and will try to post updates while I’m there. I’ve been working on a special feature that uses a GPS that I put on the bike and Google maps so you can see me riding in real time. Look for the “Where am I” link under pages in the right hand column. When it’s there, that means I’m on the road! Check back soon and check often…

Laconia is now only 2 weeks away. It officially begins on Saturday, June 9th, however I will not be arriving until Wednesday, June 13th and I’ll be there through the second weekend. While it’s not the largest or most popular motorcycle rally that goes on, it’s a biggie for us on the east coast because it’s easy to get to. It’s also one of the oldest rallies in the country, rivaling Daytona and Sturgis.

Here’s some other interesting facts:

• it’s usually held in June and typically ends Father’s Day weekend (except in 2008, when it’ll actually start on that weekend)
• motorcyclists began converging on Weirs Beach, NH in 1916
• it began as a weekend event for races, shows and hill climbs
• the popularity of the “biker” image caused a surge in attendance which extended it to “bike week”
• in the 60’s, Laconia saw troubled times when riots between bikers and the police broke out, causing a decline in attendance. The week-long eventually downgraded to only 3 days.
• in the 90’s local businesses, hoping to boost tourism, looked back to the bikers and reviving the week-long event, which is now run by the A.M.A
• 7 years ago, motorcycle week turned into a 9-day event and attracts 100,000 to 400,000 people
• I have been going for about the past 15 years