Gateway BMW GS Challenge May, 2011

I have had a busy weekend getting my bike dirty and then giving it a swamp water shower.



It was great fun, even thought it rained more or less non-stop for the whole event. 

Sorry but I used up all the batterys on Saturday so I can't show you the really wicked trails we rode on Sunday.

Taking a break Sunday, before the tough stuff.

Big thanks to Gateway BMW and all the guys who worked so hard to put this event on, it was a blast.  Also I should thank the instructors from RawHyde Adventures, Del, Mark and Jeff, three laid back California guys who can make those big bikes dance.


See you on the road.
GAW

Gateway BMW Open House, May 7th, 2011.

Gateway BMW (The Best BMW Dealer...IMHO) had their spring Open House this past Saturday.  In addition to the great food, great deals (on bikes and gear) and tire kicking, they had Chris "Teach" McNeil.  They let him take the shops new $23,000 K1600GTL for a spin.  Really!  Chris had to wait for the Demo bike to get back from test rides to put on his show.  Below is the result.



I have some more footage and will post it to YouTube as I get it edited, so check out my Channel later this week.  If you would like to see some photos of the event check out Gateway BMW's Blog post.

See you on the road.
GAW

ABCD - A Bloggers Centerline Day.

Back on April 12, blogger Gary France posted what I will call a challenge.  He asked fellow bloggers to particapate in ABCD - A Bloggers Centerline Day (link to post).  It sounded like a great idea and I was looking forward to it.  But if there is one thing that I excell at it's procrastination,  I had planned to do as he asked and copy his post to my blog, but before I knew it, it was already May 1st. 

I spent the greater part of the day doing the father and family thing.  By the time I was free to go out and make a photo it had started to rain, so I opted to hold off for a while, and before I knew it my window of opportunity and disappeared.  At around 9:45P.M. my second window of opportunity arrived.  I told my wife I had a project to work on and would be out for a while.  She looked at me with suspicious eyes, I think she thought I was going to covertly go and eat a pizza, but when I started to put on my riding gear she became slightly worried.  Had I lost my marbles?  Going for a leisurely ride at 10:00P.M. on a rainy Sunday night?

To the heart of the matter, Gary here is my submission to ABCD 2011.

The photo was taken just a mile or two from home, as you can see I have the center-line (just below my left hand) and you can even see my grinning face, well some of it (right hand mirror).  The image was taken with my GoPro HD Hero, set to take one still image every 60 seconds, it was mounted on the Chesty strap.  You can see a few more photos I took at the link below.

ABCD - A Bloggers Centerline Day.

Thank You Gary for coming up with the idea.  I look forward to participating again next year.

See you on the road.
GAW

Waiting...

Waiting...  It seems that is all I do.  I wait in the garage, ready to go.  Pointed out the door.  Gas in my tank.  My chain lubed.  My tires filled.  But I wait.

Today though, I felt the key, then my heart came alive, I could feel the pressure in my veins.  I could barely contain myself, he pushed my button...  I Roared to life!

The promised adventure had arrived.  Off we went into the cool dark morning,  What a glorious feeling, freedom...  Cutting through the air, screaming at the top of my lung.

But only 45 minutes later I'm waiting again...  Have I done something wrong?  My tires aren't even warm yet,  I still have a full tank of gas...  Why must I wait?  Where is the promised adventure?

The Yellow bike.

Vintage Honda.

I finally started to scan the old photos I found at my fathers home, one shoe box down and way to many to go.  I still haven't found the photo of my father on a bike, but this photo was taken around September 1965.  It shows a cousin astride what I believe is a CB160.  I wish it was still in the family and in the same shape, but wishing don't make it so...

As I find them I will post them.

GAW

The Current project.

I haven't had a lot to share on the motorcycle front lately, but we (my 7 year old daughter and myself) started a project recently.  The photo above is after an hour or two of work, doesn't look like much at the moment, as it progress's I'll share some more photos.


GAW.

Vintage motorcycle ad's.

I recently came into a large collection of photos and a small collection of 1972 magazines.  The photos present a huge undertaking, so I have chosen to take the easy route first and scan the car and motorcycle ads.

Looking at the photo above, I can only assume the rider and passenger were moments away from a ambulance ride given the wet conditions, tire quality (of 1972), the pivot points about to touch down and the sudden onset of power a 3 cylinder two-stroke engine has.  I'm also curios if this could be a action photo of a infamous blogger known to have had a Kawasaki two-stroke street bike?  If that were the case I'm sure they rode off into the sunset on the bike and not an ambulance...

If you are feeling nostalgic and wish to see a few more motorcycle and automobile ad's from 1972 you can watch the slide show below or visit my Picasa Album.

1970's car and motorcycle ads

Thanks for stopping by.
GAW