Christmas Day Ride

We had a nice Christmas morning. Since the kids are older, we don't have to get up so early to witness St. Nick's arrival - I woke up around 7:30am, had a cup of coffee, and even went to town to pick up a few items for breakfast before the kids got up. Also, it's much easier shopping now - cash and gift cards, CD's and DVD's make up their wish lists.

There was no white Christmas in North Bend this year; the weather has been in the 30's for the highs and sunny. I waited until about noon and geared up for a ride. There was frost/black ice in patches in our driveway, so I took it real easy getting out onto the main road. The road itself was dry, but there were some shaded areas that looked like it could be a bit slippery so I took it slow going down our hill until the road leveled off, and it was dry from there and into downtown North Bend. In addition to being cold, it was very windy, so it felt even colder.

One Starbucks was open, and it was packed both in their lot and in the drive-through. My favorite espresso stand, Huxdotter's, was closed today. I took a photo of the Triumph next to their Christmas decorations, and a car came up through the drive-through only to find that no one was there. The ladies who work here are very nice, and deserve the day off.

Like Huxdotter's, most of the shops in town were closed today. The exceptions were one of the two Starbucks in town, two grocery stores, a Blockbuster move rental store, the gas stations and McDonalds. Most of the parking lots were empty.



A nice view of Rattlesnake Ledge from the empty parking lot:



I was thankful that I could ride today - it's been either too cold/icy or rainy, so this was a nice Christmas gift.

Merry Christmas, Chopper Style!

Santa's got a new ride, and some new elves (maybe the one is Mrs. Claus), but as always he will be visiting all the good little boys and girls tonight. I know you are all on his "good" list, and I want to wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Could this be the future commuter vehicle?

During the Seattle Motorcycle Show, a company by the name of Compagna ( http://www.compagnamotors.com/) was showing off it's latest vehicle, the T-Rex. Powered by a 1400cc engine, the T-Rex puts out 197 horsepower, and can reach 144mph. Price starts at $52,000, which would probably be the biggest hurdle to my owning one - the other one being trying to fit into the vehicle. In any event, a very cool vehicle, and at least Aaron and I got to get a picture with the T-Rex!

2009 Seattle Motorcycle Show

Saturday morning my son and I attended the 2009 Seattle Motorcycle Show. It was a great father-son outing - we hit the show for an hour or so, he took pictures of me trying out bikes and generally acting silly, and then we went to have a nice lunch at an Indian restaurant in Bellevue before returning home.

The weather in Seattle has been pretty cold, in the 20's for the highs, not much riding weather, so looking at bikes is a good surrogate for riding. Last year was my first year attending the show, and I enjoyed it, but I enjoyed the 2009 show even more since I am a bit more of an experienced rider.

The major manufacturers - HD, Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha and Kawasaki - were all represented. My son got a picture of me on a 2010 Honda Sabre 1100:

And me on a "show priced" HD Road King:

Of personal interest to me, Triumph and Ural, were missing from this show, which was unfortunate. But some new displays, such as these from the California Scooter Company and Confederate Motorcycles, were very interesting:





Above are two examples from the California Scooter Company. They pay homage to Mustang Motorcycles, a company that in the 50's-60's made a small-framed 300cc motorcycle. The California Scooter is a 150cc 5 speed, with a bobber/chopper look to it. For just under $5000 you get a cool little bike to ride around town on.

Confederate Motorcycles, out of Baton Rouge, create the essence of a motorcycle. This is their P120 Combat Fighter - an awesome collection of steel and motor:

The local vintage MC group always brings some fine bikes to admire - this one a Norton:

Here's a picture of me with Flo, who seemed to be glad I purchase my motorcycle insurance from Progressive:

She did seem to be a bit stiff, however.