Pittsburgh Grand Prix Countryside Tour

Montse with our flight

Last July we drove out to join the Countryside Tour put on in conjunction with the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix.  The Grand Prix is a huge event over several days but unfortunately we had other commitments and could only make it there for the Countryside Tour.

This year, the tour began at the Century Inn in Scenery Hill, PA and ended at the Coventry Inn in Indiana, PA.  That is quite a hike out into western PA from where we live so we left the morning before and planned on spending the night at the Century Inn to be where the action was the following morning.  As luck would have it, rain followed us all the way from home until we got there but fortunately it let up shortly before pulling into the Inn and it didn't rain again for the rest of the trip.

Our flight catches a faster flight at a light

The following morning there were quite a bit of cars for the tour and we selected to go with a slow flight composed of a Healey, a TR3 and a MGA.  The flights were generally made up of four cars and were divided into fast, moderate and slow categories.  The run out to Indiana took us through some very nice back roads and very scenic terrain.  We left around 09:00 and got there at about 13:00.  If we had gone on a straight line it would not have taken half that long but the purpose of the thing was to run out and have a good time on the back roads.

Ed's car

We met a bunch of really nice people at breakfast at the Inn.  We also met a couple of the guys from the MGTDr forum.  It was great fun and could not have asked for a nicer day for a run like this.  Unfortunately, we needed to be back in Philly by evening so we left right after lunch for the long ride back home on the turnpike.

Montse behaved admirably, even in the rain on the Turnpike on the way out.  We had no issues but it sure was a major beating driving all the way there and back.  I've bought a tow bar to use on trips like this from now on.  The long distances on the interstate are just not fun at all.  We are planning on going back next year and stay for at least a couple of days to join in on the festivities.

To see more pics from the run, please, checkout my Flickr Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix Album.

Tail gun Charlie

   

At the midway point

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Indian Nation: Indian Motorcycles and America

A special exhibition at the American Swedish Historical Museum, in Philadelphia, open now until 22 Aug., 2015.

The story of the Indian Motocycle Manufacturing Company closely mirrors the history and attitudes of 20th century America.  Indian was founded in 1901 by George Hendee, an American bicycle racer and builder, and Carl Oscar Hedstrom, a Swedish immigrant and machinist.  The exhibition at the museum features rare Indians from 1903 to 1953 including a 1903 single engine Indian, a 1911 experimental prototype that Hedstrom and friend, Ben "The Terrible Swede" Swenson, personally worked on, a 1946 power plus with sidecar, a 1947 Chief, plus engines, historic photos, racing memorabilia, and much more.

Charlene and I visited the exhibit yesterday and although small it was well put together and worth seeing.  A great collection of the best motorcycles ever made.  Although the did mention the rebadged Royal Enfield Indians, they did not have one on exhibit.

To see the rest of the pictures I took yesterday, please, visit my Flickr Album - Indian Nation.

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Blogger Fatigue

After the wash

I've been doing this for a little over a year and I think fatigue has set in.  I don't think I will continue posting every ride but instead will only post rides or events out of the ordinary.  The daily upkeep has become too much and, frankly, it is not as much fun as it once might have been.

Since I last posted, I took the MG to Gene's and it had to have the rear brakes replaced.  Some spring had broken off on the rear left drum and destroyed the pads.  No wonder the brakes were starting to feel mushy.  We took a handful of rides in the MG since I got it back last Wednesday and everything has been working great.  The repair cost for the brake job and oil change came to a little over $400.

On Friday afternoon I took a ride on the dragon with the Bullet.  Everything went well except that I took a curve to the left a little fast, fixated on the apex, and ran off the road.  Didn't dump or stall the bike but it sure gave me one hell of a scare.  The lesson, keep my eyes on the turn and avoid target fixation.  Simple but easy to forget when fear sets in.  After I got back, I washed off the dirt and everything ended up fine, no damage, and no worries.

Over the weekend we took some rides on the MG and went to the HCCP annual picnic.  We met a lot of nice folks and had a great time.

I refueled the Bullet yesterday, I put 2.36 gallons of Ultra in the tank at the Sunoco on the West Chester Pike and Strasburg.  The odo read 4470.2.  Next refuel should be at around 4620.

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Great Valley Baptist Church, Valley Forge, and Deer

At the Baptist Church in the Great Valley

Yesterday we took the MG out in one of our early evening spins.  Instead of heading out to the Goshen loop we took the Darby Paoli Rd route to go Valley Forge Park.  That route goes out to Church and then Waterloo following Waterloo until it merges with 252 and goes into the park.

I was very surprised to see that road conditions on Waterloo have not improved very much since the last ride we took there.  The road is still full of pot holes on torn up in several sections, especially on the return side.  I thought that by now this would have been repaired but it doesn't appear that they have done much work at all.

As we passed the Great Valley Baptist Church I made a quick decision to stop and take a couple of shot there.  I've been wanting to do that for the last 3 years and have never stopped.  Not the best or most dramatic shots ever but they will do.

From there we continued on to Valley Forge and did a couple of loops through the inner and outer defense lines.  The light was falling dramatically, especially under the canopy, and we had seen several small group of deer on the way in so I did not take the twists as hard as I would have liked for fear of having a close encounter of the deer kind.  However, it is still a nice fun drive on the MG with all the tight hair pin turns and hills to climb.

On the way back I wanted to avoid Waterloo because of the road issues so I went under 202, took the left and followed that to the West Valley Rd for another left under 202 in the opposite direction to get to Swedesford Rd.  Once there I followed it out to Walker and took that towards Old Gulph Rd.  On the way out we noticed more deer in small packs and somewhere on Walker we drove up to a doe and fawn sitting no more than 10 feet from the edge of the road.  They look at us as we slowed down and didn't even blink and eye.

Once on Old Gulph we took the left to South Wayne and took that across downtown Wayne and into the Louella neighborhood.  We followed some side roads, instead of cutting across to Conestoga, that wound us around back to 30 over by Chamonix.  From there we just took 30 to Radnor Chester Rd and Newtown Rd to home.

A great ride, specially in the park.  At this time of day there was hardly anyone else on the back roads at the park and even if I couldn't go as fast or as hard as I would have liked, it was a very enjoyable ride.  Other than the concern about keeping an eye out for deer we could not have asked for better conditions.

I made an appointment to take the MG in today for a complete check before we head out for Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix next week.

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Under a Threatening Sky

On departure

Yesterday morning I took the Bullet out for a spin after almost a week away.  I headed out Bishop Hollow with the intention of doing a loop out to my gun club to see the progress on the storm repairs and then maybe do a longer run from there since I had the day off.

I was surprised by the level of debris and gravel on the road.  We had some rain the day before and throughout the evening but nothing that would bring the level of debris on the road.  The really worrying bit was the amount of large gravel on the road way.  In some places cars had already cleared a path but the large chunks of rocks on the sides and center of the roadway were intimidating.
Keeping all of this in mind plus the messages that the club have been sending about damages to the area the plan had to be changed.  At 352 I took a right and headed all the way out to the West Chester Pike to refuel at the Wawa and to come up with a new plan.  As I headed out that way I noticed the sky getting darker and more ominous to the point that when I finally got to the gas station it looked like rain was coming at any minute.  Not wanting to be out in it I just headed home via Goshen to try to beat the rain.  About half an hour after I got home the sky began to clear with never a drop having come down.  I could have stayed out but that would have been a sure way of having a deluge.

At the gas station

On leaving the house at 09:00 the odo read 4311.6.  At the gas station it read 4329.1 and the tank took 1.814gallons of premium at $3.199 a gallon for a total of $5.80.  Since the last refuel I put in 104.5 miles on the Bullet for a mileage of 57.6 mpg.  On return at 10:00 the odo read 4338.9.

The last time I rode the Bullet was on Tuesday, 30 June, to commute to work.  On the way home from work I saw a black Ferrari convertible turning left from Conestoga onto Ithan and when I was on Sproul headed towards Godfrey some high speed low drag exotic blew by me on the opposite direction.  It was moving too fast and had very little time to figure out what it was, mostly it was a blur of metallic cooper with googly headlights going by.
This tow encounters bring the exotic tally to 19 Ferraris, 17 Teslas, 11 Maseratis, 5 Bentleys, 5 McLarens, 3 Cobras, 2 Austin-Healeys, 2 Lambos, 3 Unknowns, 1 Rolls Royce, and 1 DeLorean.

On return

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Riding in Minneapolis - Not

We went to Minneapolis to visit my son for the 4th of July and my son and I had made plans to riding during our visit.  Unfortunately, my son's bike was in the shop and with the ever present unexpected complications they did not have it ready to be picked up on Friday.  The last minute back up plan was to see if we could rent a bike from a local place on Friday.

I tried to contact Eagle Rider in Minneapolis but every time the rental guy was unavailable or some other nonsense.  Eventually we took a drive out to the place, my daughter-in-law and I in their truck and my son following on her motorcycle so if we could get something we could start riding from there.  We got to Eagle Rider around 16:00 and the rental guy was out to lunch!  The other people there were completely un-helpful.  They couldn't say if they had anything available or come up with an answer or solution other than "hang around and wait for the guy to turn up."  All I can say is that the customer service at this place was really very poor.  Not wanting to waste time we just left and went back home.  All I can say i

On the trip back, I rode my daughter-in-law's V-Star 250.  It wasn't much of a ride but it sure reminded me how much fun those little bikes are.  They handle well, are very peppy, and are just plain fun.  I wish I had never sold mine.

Random pic of my son and his family in Minneapolis on the Mississippi River

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Body Trim and Chrome Edging

Wednesday evening we put the top down and took a short drive up Goshen to the Wawa to get a frozen coffee and just to do a little bit of a ride.  From the Wawa we came back home via Sugartown/Paoli Pike/Darby/Devon and Church.  We also did a couple of loops on St Davids and Waterloo before returning home.

Weather was beautiful with nice temps and light cloud cover.  We had no incidents or problems and there was little traffic to contend with.

When we got home I found the package from Brandsport.  I thought I had ordered 10 feet because their internet copy said that it came in 5 foot lengths but they sell in 1 foot units so I ended up with 2 feet which is what I needed for the missing strip.  So I put it on the missing space and I won't replace the rest.  It's not identical but it's close enough that unless one is looking it is not really noticeable.

Also I put the edging on both rear fenders now the only thing left is to put it on the front port side fender.  I may look for different edging to see if I can get something to cover the rear fenders completely because now all I can do is cover the wheel wells due to the thinness of the edging.

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Running with the Top Up

After I got home from my Bishop Hollow Rd run we took the MG out to do a test on the chrome edging and to see how riding with the top up felt.  I am afraid that the chrome edging will not hold up to road shake but on our short run it stayed in place.

We just ran out Goshen to Garrett Mill and took that to the Pike and did a reverse run to get home.  It was close to 20:00 when we left so although the sun hadn't gone down yet it was beginning to get dark and in the wooded areas it was really dark.  Driving with the top up is a little different, it feels weird not to have a 360 degree view and there are some serious blind spots at 5 and 7 o'clock that the mirrors just don't cover.

Obstinate goose

When we passed the Red Barn the white goose that has chased me before was there sitting on the side of the road.  Of course, he was camera shy and refused to let Charlene take his picture but at least we got him despite his refusal.  We stopped at Garrett Mill Park where I checked the chrome and snapped a couple of shots of the MG.  That was our turn around point.

It was a great ride, the chrome stayed on, and having the top up did not kill me.  I will try to get the rest of the car's edge chromed because it does look much better and maybe I won't regret the effort and lost time.

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Bishop Hollow Run or Polyphemus' Revenge

This evening I took a run a completing the Bishop Hollow run that got shorted by the lost of the headlight a while back.

A very simple flight plan; out 252 to Winding Rd to cross the West Chester Pike onto Bishop Hollow and follow that out to Ridley Creek and Rose Tree to hit 352 for the loop back to 926, Garret Mill, and Goshen for the loop back.

The road has been completely fixed and there was very little storm debris left on the surface.  Knowing the condition of the road I pushed the Bullet a little more than usual and everything worked out perfectly.  The twists and turns are a lot of fun on this road and with good road conditions so much the better.  Once on 352, with traffic very light, I was able to open her up and let her roar.  At one point I got as far as 65 mph before shifting up to fifth gear.  Removing the kickstand safety switch has been a tremendous improvement on performance.  No more hiccups and no more stalling at random intervals.

The weather was really excellent, cloudy and cool but very comfortable and easy for the ride.

Shortly after getting on Bishop Hollow there was a gun metal gray Ferrari headed in the opposite direction.  I also saw several riders and a couple of packs enjoying the end of what has been a beautiful day for riding.  It is unfortunate that I had to work today and did not get a chance to enjoy more of it.  I did commute to and from work, including lunch, so at least all was not lost.

The ride this evening lasted a little under an hour and we covered a little over 26 miles on this loop.

The exotic tally now stands at 18 Ferraris, 17 Teslas, 11 Maseratis, 5 Bentleys, 5 McLarens, 3 Cobras, 2 Austin-Healeys, 2 Lambos, 2 Unknowns, 1 Rolls Royce, and 1 DeLorean.

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Chadds Ford Antiquing

The overcast began to break up shortly after my return from the morning ride so we took the MG and headed to Chadds Ford to enjoy the afternoon and do a little antiquing on the way.  We headed out using our regular route on Goshen to Garrett Mill and across the Pike to 926 and Creek Road.

Once we reached Route 1 on Creek we took a right stopping at Spring House Furnishings and Brandywine View Antiques before ending up a Brandywine River Antique Market (the White Barn), the place where we bought the photo of the 1920s hottie a couple of weeks back.

Brandywine View Antiques is changing locations and they did have very many good things left in stock but the most interesting thing about it was the place.  The business was located in an old, three story, farm house with a big porch all around.  The people that originally build this place must have had money because, while not a mansion by any means, they did build a very nice, large house for the era (probably early XX century).  I hope the house doesn't get torn down.

We didn't find any great treasures but I did buy an illustrated book on the history of cavalry at the White Barn.  After that we stopped at Mushrooms, next to the White Barn, for a late lunch.  We both had soup and sandwiches which where very good.  They have really good mushroom soup and we bought a quart of that to bring home.  As we ate I kept an eye on the sky because it was getting progressively darker as the afternoon moved on so after lunch we headed back on a reverse route for home.

On the way back we pulled over to Thornbury Farm to get some tomatoes and found a flock of Rhode Island Reds had taken over the road.  They had broken out of the farm across the street from the farm stand and where quite content to just mill around the road and parking lot completely unphased by anything.  After leaving the farm stand and turning back on 926 we fell in behind an orange McLaren and followed it all the way to 352 where it turned off towards the Pike.    

It never rained while we were out, actually it never rained all afternoon, but the threat seemed real enough to cut the ride short.  When we got home I put the top up, firs time I've done so since I got the car, and cleaned it.  I also attempted to install chrome edging to the leading seams and succeeded in getting the starboard front bumper done but I don't think it will hold.  The edge of the fiberglass is of varying thicknesses and I don't think the edging will stand up to the shake of the road.  That was an hours worth of work so I want to see what happens before I consider doing the rest of the car.

Top up.  You can see the chrome edging on the starboard fender

Nice ride, if not very long.  I think the brakes are feeling a little spongy but I'm not sure that is not just in my head.  Will have to keep an eye on that.

The exotic tally now stands at 17 Teslas, 17 Ferraris, 11 Maseratis, 5 Bentleys, 5 McLarens, 3 Cobras, 2 Austin-Healeys, 2 Lambos, 2 Unknowns,1 Rolls Royce, and 1 DeLorean.

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Sunday Morning at the Office

It has been quite a while since I've taken a decent ride on the Bullet.  Unfortunately, this weekend did not afford me much of an opportunity to remedy that situation.  Saturday it rained all day, sometimes hard, sometimes barely at all, but it rained all day.  This morning broke blue and clear with very nice temps and very little humidity.  The Bullet was almost dry and I needed to go to the office for a little while so I left the house shortly before 10;00 and headed to my favorite refueling spot at the Wawa on the end of the Goshen loop.

The ride there and back was smooth and enjoyable and, since I had to go to the office, I continued on Goshen all to way to its end on the Darby Paoli Rd.  There, just after crossing the bridge on Darby Creek, I took the right to Roberts Lane where I made a left to Sproul.  I took Sproul to a right at Cove and that to a left on Ithan all the way to County Line Rd and my office.  This is the first time I've done this run on this direction since I mostly use this route to come home from work but I've never used it to go to work.  There was still quite a bit of debris on the road from the last two storms we have had and the twists and turns on Ithan are a little more challenging in this direction since they are mostly uphill.  I am pretty sure this will not become my regular commute to work but it will be another nice loop to try on weekends.

When I left the office blue had turned to cloudy so I just took the Spring Mill/Sproul/Godfrey route to get back home.

When I left the house I had 4214 miles on the odo, with just enough gas to get the Wawa.  At the gas station the odo read 4224.6 and the tank took 2.419 gallons of premium at $3.159 a gallon for a total of $7.64.  Since the last refuel I put in 149 miles on the Bullet, running almost to my safety line, for a mileage of 61.59 mpg.

At refuel

Sunday morning at the office I can park wherever I like

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Friday Night Dinner Ride

Friday evening we took the MG out and went to the Fellini Café in Newtown Square to get dinner.  We eat at this Fellini fairly regularly and we always enjoy their food.  From there we took a little ride up Goshen to fuel up at the Wawa on the West Chester Pike and 352.

After we refuel we continued on the Pike towards West Chester looking for a coffee shop.  We found a Starbucks on the corner of the Pike and Five Points Rd.  Much to my surprise, the Starbucks was closed so we just continued up Five Points Rd to the Paoli Pike and took that to Ellis Rd.  At Ellis we made a ride and returned to Strasburg to follow that back home.

In the field across from the Oreo Cow Farm, on the Pike side of the road, we saw a young buck feeding.  We have seen a doe feeding there several times before in the early evening but this is the first time we have seen a buck.  On one of the rides I took with our great-niece we saw several turkey buzzards feeding on a dead deer in this same spot and it always worries me that one will jump out on the road in front of us.

It wasn't a long ride and it was basically an excuse to refuel but we were both glad because the evening was very nice and the weather perfect for riding.

At the gas station the tank took 4.297 gallons of premium at $3.159 for a total of $13.57.  Mileage since last refuel was 26.99 mpg on 116 miles traveled.

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Losing Parts

Yesterday I noticed that the MG was missing part of the running board trim.  This is going to be a nightmare to replace.

I began by checking with the MG Magic website and I found a replacement set there that doesn't even look like mine and that costs almost $100.  After the hubcap debacle (see here, here, here, and here) the wise decision is not to even consider MG Magic unless they have absolutely, exactly, the same thing one is looking for.

I checked with the guys on the MG TDr forum and they came up with some good suggestions, auto part stores, boat stores, the internet, but nothing that has panned out.  The local NAPA, as expected, was no help at all and Pep Boys was even worse.  I did find something similar on the internet and ordered 10 feet of it as a possible back up.  At a little under $10 with shipping I couldn't see how it could go wrong even if it doesn't fit at all.

My next plan is to keep an eye out for boat stores and see if maybe that pans out.  I believe there are a couple of boat places on 30 out towards Lancaster County and I will stop there next time I head out that way.

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Royal Enfield Café Racer for Sale in Wayne

From Craigslist in Wayne, PA, just down the street.  I might have to go take a look at this thing this weekend.  Asking price is $7,500.  I've emailed the guy to set up a look see.

A grammar Nazi aside: one of my pet peeves when someone uses "pretty unique" or "very unique."  A thing is either unique, one of a kind, or it is not.  If it's "pretty unique" then there are others like it and it's not one of a kind or unique at all.

The wording from the ad on Craigslist:


"This is an almost new Enfield Bullet with only 575 miles on the clock. My buddy saw the episode on Café Racer TV and had to have one built, but then lost interest. This is a really nice bike. It has the Hitchcock's of England Alloy Body Kit which in itself was an over $2500 option. Enfield is now making a factory version which is cheaper, but this bike is pretty unique. Electric Start and Fuel Injection are nice touches, as are the clip-on bars and the rearsets."

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Antique Plates (Part II)

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in its infinite wisdom, has seen it fitting and proper to issue Montse with an antique plate.  The plate and title came in a week ago under separate cover.  The title came directly to me in the mail but the plate was delivered to First Class Auto Tag Service for pick up.  The lady at First Class called me a week ago Friday but we were in New York then and did not get back to PA until late on Saturday night.  First Class is closed on Mondays so I was not able to pick up the plate until Tuesday but it's finally on the car.  I also bought a new frame at Pep Boys yesterday to replace the original since it was cracked on the top.  Surprisingly enough, Pep Boys had the same identical frame for about $7.00.

Once the plate is issued there is no need to ever renew it and the inspection requirement for the car goes away.  I will continue to have a safety inspection performed once a year by a qualified VW mechanic to make sure that all systems are go but that is something that I will have to do on my own.

Odometer reading on  27 June 2015

The new title used the same mileage as I reported on Sept. 26 of last year, 2214 miles, but I am not opening the can of worms to get it revised.  The odometer reading yesterday (26 June 2015) evening was 4325 miles and I am using this blog and the photo of the odometer (with EFIX dating) as a memorialized evidentiary support of that fact.

The trick question is whether once I move from Pennsylvania would I be able to keep the car registered as a PA antique vehicle.  I think so but only time will tell.

Random accidental shot of the last inspection sticker Montse should ever have

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The Lost Week

Ahlanna at the wheel

For the last week and a half we had our great-niece staying with us as she does every summer and, other than for a couple of errands, I didn't get to ride the Bullet very much because we were busy doing other things.  However, Ahlanna and I did enjoy several rides on the MG.

We took several short rides around the Goshen loop and then last Monday we took a real long ride on the Dragon.  We first stopped at Thornbury Farms to get some cookies.  Being a Monday there was no one else there and when paying I noticed a picture of a Chitty Chitty Bang Bang reproduction that I had seen at the Chester County Antique Car Show in May.  I pointed it out to Ahlanna and the girl behind the counter told me that it was their car, her father, the owner of Thornbury Farms, had made it for her and her siblings and that they took it to several shows.  I showed her the picture I had taken of it at Kimberton and we chatted about it for a while.  She said it was built on a 1929 Model T and that it was very popular whenever they showed it.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at Kimberton

From there we rode down to the Birmingham-Lafayette Cemetery and took some shots of Ahlanna in the car in front of the octagonal school house.  Then we continued on down the way to get on the Dragon.  We had taken the precaution of fueling up the night before at the Wawa on the West Chester Pike and 352 so we didn't need to stop at the Sunoco on Route 1 to fuel up.

(When we fueled up on Sunday night, the tank took 3.520 gallons of Premium for a total of $11.79.  I had to take a picture of the pump because it didn't give me a receipt.  Since the refuel the week before we had put on 86.3 miles on the odo which, at refueling, read 4229 miles.  (This will become important on a later post.)  The mileage on this tank was 24.51 mpg.)

4229 miles on 21 June 2015

We stopped at the Taqueria Guadalajara for some carne asada tacos and horchata that we both enjoyed tremendously.  Instead of staying on the Dragon we veered off to stop at Baldwin's Book Barn.  We took a little break there and then doubled back to Birmingham Rd to catch 926.  On the way back we took Route 3 back to the edge of West Chester to run some errands but came back home via Strasburg/Goshen.  All in all we put almost 100 miles on the car on this ride.  It was the last opportunity that Ahlanna and I had to ride together (although we got two or three shorter rides before that) and she really enjoyed the car and the attention.  There were several instances were I noticed young boys her age who could not figure out where to look, at the car or the girl.  It was great fun for both of us.

On this Monday ride we saw two black Ferraris, a dark colored Tesla, a hot rod, and a late 40s early 50s pickup.  That brings the exotic tally to 17 Teslas, 17 Ferraris, 11 Maseratis, 5 Bentleys, 4 McLarens, 3 Cobras, 2 Austin-Healeys, 2 Lambos, 2 Unknowns,1 Rolls Royce, and 1 DeLorean.  The classic car tally is now three Nash Metropolitans, three 1950s Jags, three 1960's 'Vettes, one MGA, two Hot Rods, one 1950s Chrysler, one 1950s Oldsmobile, one 1950's Plymouth, one Karmann Ghia, one 1950s grocery-getter, one 40s/50s pickup, one Triumph TR4, and one Ford Model A.

On the way for a ride on Wednesday night

Wednesday night

At Thornbury Farms

Birmingham, Lafayette

Birmingham, Lafayette

Snuff Mill

A natural at the wheel

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