19 posts tagged “harley-davidson”
so my motorcycle broke down about a month ago and i had it taken to a shop near Baltimore where the mechanic came highly recommended. well, i got my bike back from the shop yesterday. they delivered it to me. it was a bit dirty when i got it off of the trailer and i don't like to ride it dirty, but i did this time. i put on my coats and went for a ride around town for about 20 minutes. so far so good. the engine sounds good and runs fine. the transmission is not as tight as i'd like. it's a bit too easy to shift actually. my sportster shifts with a definite popping into gear. my heritage doesn't do that, it slips into gear with a lot less effort. it took me a couple minutes to get used to it yesterday. they did an overhaul on the trans and the engine.... so i'd better take it easy for the first few days on it to let the engine break in a little. it's got new valve job, rings, cam, oil pump, top end, etc.... they did give me a discount. somewhere between 15 and 20 percent. which i'm glad for! but it still cost me a lot of money! sigh... hopefully i will not have to do anything else to it for many years to come.... knock on wood...
if it's nice this week end, i'll give it a good bath. it is nice to have her home again.
it's Colorfest week end here in Thurmont. and the place is already hoppin'...
signs of Colorfest started earlier in the week, like Wednesday there were already trailers and tents up around town. now as of today the streets are abuzz with activity that will go non-stop until Sunday night when all the vendors, craft shops, and yard sales pack up and go home.
a lot of the locals dislike Colorfest and go away this week end. i like it. i don't really like yard sales or crafts, etc. but i like the activity and all the people that pour into town for a couple of days and then disappear.
i'll get some pictures tomorrow and Sunday and put some up here on Vox so you can enjoy Colorfest too. :-)
my week at work was fine. no overtime so i slept 8 hours every night this week... nice....
that's the good news, here's the bad news:
sigh...... one big time disappointment this week...
i had my motorcycle picked up by a shop in Glen Burnie. i decided to take it there to be repaired because the mechanic there has been working on this bike for many many years and came highly recommended by the former owner, Dave. so anyway, i called up the shop and had them come get the bike since i didn't think i should ride it with the noise it was making....
i talked to the mechanic a couple of days ago and he had the transmission apart and had replaced the ball bearings and seals and was going to put it back together and run another test or two and let me know if that fixed the problem. i was really hoping to get it back today because it's going to be a really nice week end and i wanted to ride it around town/Colorfest and on Monday i was thinking of taking a nice long ride somewhere since it's a holiday and i don't have to work....
but i spoke to the shop again today and after they put the transmission back together and took the motorcycle for a test ride they heard the noise i was complaining about. they hadn't heard it before but fixed the trans because it was leaking and i thought that was the problem.... well, once they found the noise, it was a rocker arm noise. not good. they'll have to take the engine out and the heads off to see what's happening with the rocker arms and the pistons, etc. they told me that the rocker arm is made out of brass [we saw rocker arms being made on a factory tour while i was in Milwaukee for Harley's 105th] and the only thing that would have made it fail like that is if i overheated the engine or let it get low on oil.
i don't remember riding it until it was that hot, and i don't think i was low on oil, but that could have happened....
i don't really know how it happened but i do know that my bike is not in good shape right now, and it's probably going to cost me a whole lot of money to get it back on the road..... sad, very sad.....
i guess i have to blame myself for not following up on the leak i had noticed. but i also kinda blame the last shop i took it to for not putting the trans back together right after just changing out the fluid. now the oil being low, i don't know what to think about that yet....
...bye bye over time money..... :-(
i went on a nice ride the other day with Wayne and Barbara. we met up with Ray and Krystal, and Donny and Luanne, and rode some really nice back roads up through PA to Gettysburg and had lunch at a diner there. it was a beautiful day for riding and the scenery was lush green hills and pastures. cool.
after lunch we headed back to MD, up to Pen Mar, and on to High Rock. where we watched a hang glider take off. i've been up there before and the view is spectacular, but i've never seen a hang glider take off from there..... we rode up the mountain and parked our bikes and as we walked up to the point i noticed a guy strapping on this wings. then he walked up the big rocks to the point and prepared himself for the leap out off the edge and into the sky. after a couple of minutes of checking his straps and gear he ran for the ledge and jumped into the air and off he went. up up and away.....
after High Rock we rode to the other side of the mountain to a place Donny wanted to show us called "the Devil's Racecourse." he's been into geocaching lately and found this place through that. it's a huge clearing filled with big rocks from one end to the other and beneath the rocks you can hear the running water of a stream. how did it get there?
yep,
'twas a good day for riding; and a good day long ride....
[photographer for this entry: Wayne Kolb]
i went up to Milwaukee this week end for the Harley Davidson anniversary. i flew up Thursday, Linda picked me up, and we drove directly to the Lloyd's house. they were kind enough to offer thier fold out couch in the tv room to us, and that was really nice. big thank you to the Lloyds!
we got the party started right away.... as soon as we dropped off our bags, we headed out to a near by town that was having a party. we ate some BBQ and Pizza and saw Blues Traveler in concert. good show, "fawkin awesome."
speaking of shows.... over the next couple of days, mostly Friday, we saw Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, War, Los Lonely Boys, Black Crowes, and the Boss - Bruce Springstein. we also kinda looked towards ZZ Top, but that show was a bust because they were put in a much smaller stage area than they needed. it was sooooo packed that we didn't get anywhere close. so as we moved past the stage trying to get in, but failing, we heard a couple of songs but didn't see anything. so we just headed over to Los Lonely Boys, who were very good! the Black Crowes are good too, more of a jam band than i thought they'd be. War was fantastic. and i enjoyed BRMC a lot too. Bruce played for more than 3 hours and that was a really good show too. we hung out with Shari's brothers and family at that show as they were all there, and had fun. i was definitely glad we went to see him.
the concerts and some other events are at a place called "Summerfest Grounds." a pretty cool area full of stages and food courts. and last week end, bikers!
Saturday was a big day for us too. we hit the road early and went by Milwaukee Harley to see what was going on there. it was quite different from the official events since the Harley dealer was next door to a strip club and they were sharing a parking lot. they had the world's biggest beer bong there, and a carnival atmosphere that the official events didn't have. at the Harley events everyone was calm, cool, and friendly... nothing that would make Linda uncomfortable, like at the dealer/strip club gathering. but we picked up some t-shirts at the dealer and then headed over to the venue that was having demo rides. the demo rides were about the best part of the week end. they allowed passengers so i rode with Linda and once with Shari. we got to ride the new Fat Bob, the Heritage, a Road King, and the new Trike. we were very happy with all the rides. good times... on Friday we were wondering where all the bikes were? it was more about hanging out, eating, and shows. but Saturday we found the bikes. and it was sweet.
we also went to two of the factory tours, but only had time to walk through one. we picked up some t-shirts there too. i ended up with about five t-shirts from this week end.
the weather was very nice for an August week end. and i got a lot of riding in. i rode over toward Annapolis see Sean and Eli on Saturday after i washed and waxed the bike. we had a nice quiet time just sitting around. Laura was not feeling too well - (she can get pretty darn sick when she's in this condition.... right, pregnant!... i really hope this time is not as bad as has been in the past). and Eva was out with her Popi and Gami. i did get to see Eva for a couple of minutes as i was leaving though. Sean and i talked about his move and new job. he's planning on moving this week end up to Lancaster Co. and renting a townhouse. 10 minutes from his new job, and 10 from his new church. pretty sweet. and i saw some video of the new place and the new town. i think they'll like it up there and it's not too much further for me to drive to visit them on the week ends....
then on Sunday i went riding with Wayne after church. so i rode to church in the morning and i rode over to his place from Frederick. i got there a bit late but we had plenty of time to ride some before Wayne's granddaughter, Selena's, first birthday party. we rode up through PA and stopped in at Battlefield Harley to look around and grab a hot dog. then we headed back down to Thurmont and went to the park where the b-day party was... pizza, ice cream, and cake outside in the lovely day....
the week end was pretty good.
i went up to the Purple Door Music and Arts Festival in PA this Saturday. the fest actually runs Friday night and all day Saturday, but i skipped Friday night. the band line up was not enough to drive an hour and a half there and an hour and a half home that night. and to be honest the band line up was nearly not enough for me to drive up for the Saturday fest either. but i've gone to the fest all 13 years of it's excistance and now i feel almost obligated to go. so i did. once there i expected to see several of my show buddies. youknow, people that you see at shows and fests and that's about it. well, they didn't show up this year. i did see Chris, aka Grandfather Rock, but he's like me - been there from the beginning and doesn't want to skip it. but Clarke has been there every year too, and he didn't come this year. and where was Adam? Betty? Rick? ... but the first thing Chris said to me was, "the line up this year is awful." i asked him why, and he blamed it on the new management. the past two years there's been a new director since Kurt Weaver left, and for the past two years the fest has been slipping downhill. and Chris is not the only person that said that to me that day. it was a topic of conversations throughout the day. and as people discussed music, i heard that the line up was weak, and i heard people saying, "i wish they were here." i don't want to sound like all the bands sucked. that's not the case, but each of the three stages suffered through some bands that were not big draws, or bands everyone has already seen... which adds up to a whole fest full of bands that are not big draws and that makes the fest attendance and bottom line suffer. but if the fest complains that they don't have the money to get a good line up, and a poor line up makes the bottom line less each year.... it's a downward spiral.... sad.... Purple Door used to be such a highpoint of the summer. a really great one and then two day fest!
like i said though, there were some good bands and performances. Bradley Hathaway is a stand out every year i see him. he's charismatic and entertaining. singer, ingenue, harpist Timbre was almost worth the trip all by herself. Oh Sleeper keeps getting better and better. Haste the Day was good, and so was August Burns Red. the Showdown was good. the Glorious Unseen was better the second set of the day as they led the fest in worship from Main Stage with some help from Timbre. We Shot the Moon was the buzz band of the day and they delivered on the buzz. that was a good thing. but most of the Main Stage was as elementary as the "turn or burn" message from the speaker that night, Kurt Weaver. yes Kurt returned this year as the main speaker and although i really do like Kurt, he gave an unchallenging message, that any of the few teenagers who did sit for the sermon has heard untold times and could have given. [not to mention that i don't believe in an angry scary god that throws most of his children in an eternal torture pit forever] i know bands like Sherwood and Emery have fans, but, even after staying for every note of their sets, i'm not among them. Disciple played between those two and had the biggest crowd and one of the best concerts of the day. ..... i got some pretty good pictures, i'll put some up this week.
the week end was totally redeemed on Sunday. church was great. like Judi, i like the church more and more every time we go. Barbara spoke from Genisis about Joseph, one of my very favorite people. there is much to learn from Joseph's life stories.... she spoke about the family, he and his brothers had problems, to say the least... but Joseph was able to forgive and see that "God meant it for good." i even got more into the music this week. the hymns, and the special song were nice. i was sitting where i could watch the piano player for the special number and that was cool. after church at the coffee hour two of my favorite ladies, Jean Fish and Barbara (not Pastor Daniel), had a huge spread laid out. ususally there's just some cookies and crackers and coffee and juice down there and people stand around and talk for about 15 or 20 minutes before we go to lunch. this time the ladies had out salmon spread, crackers, lunch meat, cheeses, fruit, shortbread, jelly, juices, and coffee and plenty of everything. so we sat down with a plate and hung out talking to folks for about an hour before we left. :-)
after i got home i called Irene, Beth's mom, and they came over to look at my Sportster. they really sounded interested in buying it, and Wayne really helped me out yesterday by going out to the bike and wiping it down and getting it started before they came out. but alas, once they did come out and looked at it, they didn't seem very excited to me about it anymore.... oh well..... so the only riding i did this week end was out to Detour and back on my Heritage... Wayne put the Sportster up on Craig's List for me... thanks Wayne!
Your ad, titled "Harley Davidson XLS Roadster," has been posted as follows:
 | 4:00 PM | Big Head Todd and The Monsters |
| Los Lonely Boys | |
| Foghat | |
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| 7:00 PM | ZZ Top |
| Dr. John | |
| Black Rebel Motorcycle Club | |
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| 9:00 PM | Black Crowes |
| Gary Allan | |
| War | |
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| SATURDAY AUGUST 30 | ||
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| 4:00 PM | Peter Frampton |
| Joan Jett and the Blackhearts | |
| Blind Melon | |
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| 7:00 PM | Dierks Bentley |
| Puddle of Mudd | |
| Buddy Guy | |
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| 9:00 PM | Daughtry |
| Blue Oyster Cult | |
| Cameo | |
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| and a special Bruce Springsteen show on Saturday night.... | ||
i still have to work out how i'm getting there and if i'm taking my bike up. i'm thinking of riding up, they're calling it "the ride home." but that would be about a week up and a week back..... or i may just fly up and enjoy everyone else's bikes..... or i may try to work out trailering up..... we'll see...
here are pix of the special tickets. it came in the big gold box and inside is our big ticket/laminate, a commemorative wallet, a key chain with 105th on it, a brass bracelet with 105th on it, an American flag and a Harley 105th flag for your bike, plus a program of events for the week end up there....
105 years of great motorcycles. cool.
