Another flight plan change. Saturday morning I only had time for a quick ride since I had other obligations during the day so I got out early with a simple plan. Ride up Goshen to Providence Road, make a left and follow Providence to 252, make another left on 252 to Goshen and then back home. When I was approaching 252 the light was green and I made a change on the fly to make a left onto 252. Following 252 across the West Chester Pike I continued on to Route 1...
Ride to Work
Monday, June 30, 2014
Sunday, June 29, 2014
Wildlife Encounters
Friday's afternoon ride took me to West Chester via the Paoli Pike. The original flight plan was to head up Goshen/Strasburg to get to the West Goshen Shopping Center on the Paoli Pike via the West Chester downtown. That was the target because I need to go to the pet store there to buy treats for my new kitten, Lucifer. When I reached the 252 and Goshen interception I made an on...
Friday, June 27, 2014
Return from Pottstown
Randy Kiss called me yesterday to let me know that the Bullet was ready for pickup. Evidently it had a bad kickstand switch with they replaced at no cost to me since this was under warranty. My wife and I drove up to Pottstown this afternoon and within five minutes of getting to the shop, I was ready to get on the road. The Bullet roared to life without any problems and I headed up High Street to take my usual route back from Posttstown via 724 to 23, across Phoenixville...
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
A Long Way on a Royal Enfield
Getting started in Sydney
Found this bit on Jorge Pullin's blog. There is a young man in Australia that has set set of to make the journey from Sydney to London on a 1969 Royal Enfield Bullet 350. At least I think it's a 350. His name is Jonathan Gibson, a former bartender and urban designer from Sydney, and he is keeping a record of his travels in his blog, The Answer is Always...
Monday, June 23, 2014
It Did It Again
On the way
Well, this morning the Bullet started, sputtered, and died. Several tries later, all that happened was that the ignition would try to spark but there was no engine catch. Tomorrow the tow truck is supposed to come to take it back to Kiss Honda. Maybe they can figure out what's wrong.
At Kiss Honda
Addendum (24 June 2014): Tuesday morning, Bill from Peg's Towing...
Sunday, June 22, 2014
First Casualty of the Thump
Missing rear shroud round head bolt
I noticed yesterday that the rear round head bolt holding the muffler shroud had fallen out with the shake of the Bullet. Figured that it was around a 6mm bolt, I tried removing one of the others to checked the length but at the time they were both still firmly attached so I judged from the cavity that it would not be very long.
Today, on my diagnostic...
DK Diner in West Chester
At the DK Diner
This morning my wife and I headed out on the Bullet for a late breakfast at the DK Diner in West Chester. I had a little trouble getting the bike started because it seemed to be struggling to catch. Once the throttle was engaged and the engine started to rev things seemed to settle down.
We took our usual route up Goshen/Strasburg to the West Chester Pike and...
Friday, June 20, 2014
Valley Forge Ride
National Memorial Arch, Valley Forge
Headed out towards Church Road with no particular flight plan in mind. There was a work crew doing some repairs to the grounds by the old Ardrossan gate. I have had that gate in mind as a place for a photo but with the crew in the way and the grass being all torn up it didn't seem like a good idea at the time.
General Mad Anthony Wayne
Not having...
Thursday, June 19, 2014
Yesterday's Early Evening Ride
After a day of forecasted rain that never materialized, an early evening ride was definitely the way to go. Tried for a little variant on the Goshen run that included a loop around Providence Rd towards Sugartown Rd. Once at Sugartown I made the big block back to Goshen and then for a second run on Providence in the same direction as before. At the T intersection of Providence and Sugartown I took that road towards the Paoli Turnpike and then the Darby and Devon roads...
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
Oh, the Humanity!
Ouch!
First ding. Don't like that, first implies that there will be others to follow but that is the nature of things. Have no idea how this happened. Found it last night when I came back to work to pickup a couple of things I had left behind at the office and as I walked towards the bike I noticed the scrape. The first suspect was the Fox Tactical Fork Bag; it could have scraped...
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
You Know Muffins, John Snow! (Not Motorcycle Related)
That's the new bakery in Winterfell.
Not motorcycle related, but if you enjoy New Orleans jazz and Game of Thrones, you will enjoy this:
Just a small tribute by the New Orleans Swamp Donkeys (who are just amazing) in honor of last Sunday's season finale of Game of Thrones....
Lunchtime Ride to Bartram's Covered Bridge
Lunch today was taken over by a short ride to check on one of my old cameras. Left work via Ithan to Conestoga. Ithan Rd has been completely resurfaced south of 30. This is a very good thing because the stretch in from of the Agnes Irwin School had gotten pretty bad since the winter snows. There was some electrical line repair going on in front of the school but they had divided...
Monday, June 16, 2014
Bullet Engine Schematic
We did not ride out to Adamstown but I ended up there Sunday afternoon doing a little antiquing with my wife. It would have been a nice ride on the Bullet but not very practical if we had bought something like a framed poster. Not that I bought a framed poster but I came close. As I was wandering about one of the shops, Adamstown Antique Mall to be more precise, I noticed high on...
Today is Ride to Work Day!
Nice commute to work this morning.
Leaving the house
At the garage at work
666 miles! Oh, oh! XD...
Sunday, June 15, 2014
Father's Day Brunch in West Chester
For father's day my wife and I headed out on the Bullet to West Chester for brunch in a downtown restaurant. We didn't have anyplace special picked out we just wanted to go and find something there. The quickest way would have been to head up West Chester Pike but the more fun and twisty ride is up the Goshen/Strasburg to West Chester Pike route. We both love that route because of the scenery, the hills, and the twists and turns of the road. No geese on the road...
Tomorrow is Ride to Work Day!
Make plans to support Ride to Work Day and ride your motorcycle or scooter to work tomorrow.
Ride to Work History from the Ride to Work Day website:
"Ride to Work Day was inspired by "Work to Ride - Ride to Work'" marketing materials created between 1989 and 1991 by the Aero Design and Manufacturing Company, a Minnesota based manufacturer of motorcycle riders clothing. In 1992 these...
Saturday, June 14, 2014
Clocks 4 Bikes
Step 1 - In the package
As an early father's day present my wife gave me a Clocks 4 Bikes stem nut clock for the the Bullet this morning. Fist of all, what a great company to do business with! My wife called to ask about measurements and got a call back immediately from Linda Harjes, one of the co-owners. They worked out the particulars and the clock was here from Flora, Mississippi...
Saturday's Ride
The intention this morning was to head out Goshen/Strasburg to 352 heading towards Brookhaven but turning around at Granite Run Mall and following the reverse route back home. Soon after crossing 252 on Goshen there was a flock of Canada geese gently strolling across the road. They did not seem to mind the oncoming traffic and were not deterred or hurried by the Bullet's horn. I slowed down to pass amidships of the flock and got a lot of honking and flapping of wings...
Fox Tactical Fork Bag
Yesterday, while waiting for the Bullet to be serviced I wandered in to the Army Navy Store in downtown Pottstown. Not looking for anything in particular, just looking to kill time. There I found a Fox Tactical Modular Deployment Bag that would do the perfect job for a fork bag tool kit. The bag cost $25.95, plus tax, and measures 11.5"x6"x5.5". The outside is Cordura nylon...
Friday, June 13, 2014
Mystery Solved
This morning there was a message from the towing service (Flatt's Roadside Assistance, if that's not an unfortunate name for a roadside assistance service I don't know what is) that they would be here by 10:05 to pick up the Bullet. That was an hour after I requested but a little flexibility goes a long way. Having been left on the side of the road by AAA once for over three hours, I called...
Thursday, June 12, 2014
Dead in the Water
So I got home from work and started getting the Bullet ready to take to Kiss Honda in the morning. You might remember from last Sunday's (08 June) post that last week I thought the battery had drained from my grandson leaving the kill switch open so I had the battery recharging on the bench since then. I hooked up the battery, not an easy feat until you figure out that if you hold the nut in place with a screwdriver while rotating the screw it will eventually fall in place...
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
The Musket 998 V-Twin
Talk about needful things. The Musket V-Twin is the creation of Aniket Vardhan, an industrial designed from New Delhi who is now living, working, and teaching at an art design college in Columbus, Ohio. The Musket 998 was created by fabricating a V-Twin from two Bullet 500 top ends. The test machine is based on a 2002 Bullet that has only been stretched 2.3 inches to accept the...
Sunday, June 8, 2014
Chin on the Tank
I went down to Richmond to pick up my grandson and we have him with us until Tuesday, that doesn't leave much time for motorcycle riding this weekend. As a matter of fact, haven't ridden since Wednesday's commute. No matter, I'm having a great time with him. I did let him get on the bike and play around and did not notice that he had turned on the ignition switch so yesterday morning...
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
Royal Enfield Video
Found this great video at my favorite Royal Enfiled blog, My Royal Enfields.
The video walks through Royal Enfield's four distinct product lines, the Bullet,
the Classic, the Thunderbird, and the Continental GT. It is definitely geared towards the Indian market because they talk about the 350 model of the Classic and the Thunderbird which are not imported into the US. However, it is a fun watch and very well done.
Enjoy!...
500 Miles
The Bullet hit 500 miles on Sproul below Conestoga this morning on the way to work. Considering the first ride on the bike was on the 8th of last month, and that there was about a week there (between the 22nd and the 27th) when I was too sick to ride, 500 miles in 27 days is not too bad of an average. Time to call Kiss Honda and schedule the first maintenance iteration.
The first 500...
Monday, June 2, 2014
The King of Spain Abdicates
Totally not motorcycle related:
The Juan Carlos I, King of Spain, abdicates in favor of his son Prince Felipe who will become Felipe VI.
From El Mundo. In English.
Picture credit: The Sun Da...
Sunday, June 1, 2014
Two Ride Sunday
Did not get out until later in the day but was able to squeeze two rides in anyway. The first ride was out Goshen/Strasburg to 352 and there all the way across to my gun club in Brookhaven. The 352 part of that ride was really nice. A little busier than Goshen/Strasburg but still plenty of twists and turns. Once 352 crosses Rt. 1 it opens up to four lanes and it's pretty flat and straight. I looped around Dutton Mill Rd, Chester Creek Rd, and Knowlton Road...
Stuck Behind Grandpa Florida
Yesterday morning's ride was an extended version of the usual Goshen/Strasburg run. The ride began with a traffic block at Goshen and 252 to let a foot race cross Goshen that should have been an indicator of things to come. Once past the road block, the outbound portion on Goshen/Strasburg was a great ride, not much traffic and the opportunity to open her up a little. On the way back I took Ellis Lane to the Paoli Pike to see if the traffic pattern in the Pike was different...
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