Motorcycle weather

It's not only the flowers that are out early, the bikers are too!  Around here, it's typical for bikers to store their motorcycles for the winter.  Put it up off of the wheels, take out the battery, put gasoline stabiliser in the tank, that sort of thing.  Then, in the spring, they charge and reinstall the battery, check the tires and wait for good weather before bringing the bike out of storage deep in the garage.I myself don't do any of that - I'm ready to ride at any time!  Normally, I'll get 5-7 days in November, another couple of days in December and February, then 7-10 days in March and then it depends on whether it's raining or not.  This year, I've ridden to work several days each month including January!

This particular rider is my oldest, going off on his Honda Shadow to enjoy the day.

F Number	5.6
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	34.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 68.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/30
Exposure Program	Aperture-priority AE
ISO	100
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Motorcycle weather!

The temperature was above freezing and the roads were dry, which means no icy surprises! And so I took the bike to work. That snow will be all gone before the week is out and then I can ride every day!

Milestones

It's the time of the year we tend to stop and reflect on what's happened during the year, to be thankful for what we have and to resolve to do better next year.

That's a strange introduction to this odd photo, which is a deliberate attempt by me to visually interpret the idea of milestones. I planned my ride home so that I could pull over and get a photo of the odometer on my motorcycle just before it rolled over to 21 thousand miles.

For those interested, it's a 2003 Kawasaki ZRX-1200R. It's running in this photo, idling at 1200 RPM. Yes, it will go as fast as the speedometer indicates. No, I have not taken it that fast, but I have inadvertently lifted the front wheel clean off the ground.

Something I resolve not to do again!

Defiant

No, not an angry tax protest. Defiant is the name of this motorcycle! Last week, Schenectady hosted an Art Bike Festival, showcasing dozens of beautiful, hand made motorcycles like this one. State Street was closed for several blocks to allow for the crowd and for the motorcycles - there were hundreds of bikes there and what seemed like thousands of people. It was great to see so many people walking around downtown.

The bike builders came from far and wide. This bike was built by North Jersey Customs in New Jersey, but we have a local custom house called Broadway Choppers right here in Schenectady (they brought some bikes too!)

Snowy Kawasaki

After seeing Babooshka's post today, I was reminded of the mess I made of my motorcycle. During the last big snow fall, the weather was cold, resulting in light and fluffy accumulation. Being frozen, the flake didn't stick to each other like they do when it's warmer.

Anyway, I opened the garage to get the snow blower out, proceeded to clear the driveway and discovered the machine had blown a lot of that fluffy snow onto my motorcycle! Arrrgh.

I cleared a lot of it out, but obviously not all of it. The bizarre thing is that I rode it two weeks ago when the temperature rose above freezing and the roads were dry and free of salt. I'm not sure when I'll be riding again.