Sunday, March 29, 2009

Fun with Steve

We were graced this weeked by a visit from Steve Lavigne, who drove down from Maine to hang out and goof around. We were originally planning to wait until Saturday to go for a motorcycle ride, but Friday afternoon's sunny skies and pleasant temperatures convinced us to head out earlier. There is a motorcycle shop up near Keene, NH called "Eddie's Vintage Motorcycles" that Jim and I have been wanting to check out, so we decided that would make a good destination (and close enough so that we would have plenty of time to get back home for Wii bowling, pool and pizza with Mike and Eric and Dan).

Eddie's was a pretty cool place, where the friendly dude in charge (I think his name was Joseph) showed us around. We saw back rooms filled with lots of old motorcycles and pieces of old motorcycles, including one rare Japan-only V4 250cc Honda street bike. In a small barn about fifty feet away from the main shop, there were other vintage bikes, mostly complete and in good condition. Here's Jim standing in front of one of his lust bikes, a Norton 750 Commando.



Just down the line from the Commando was this nifty old Yamaha two-stroke scrambler -- I think it's from the late 1960's or early 1970's.



Eddie's also sells new motorcycles, including Piaggio scooters and Aprilias. In the shop when we visited was this gorgeous green Benelli Tornado, here seen with Jim sitting on it.



After gorging on the sight of all these lovely motorcycles, we headed back to my house. While blasting down Route 91, I snapped these two "action shots" of Jim on his new Moto Guzzi "Griso"...



... and Steve on his favorite bike of mine, the Honda Rune.



We timed getting back just right to meet Eric, who was first to arrive. You may not be aware of this, but Eric is poised to join our brotherhood of road-riding motorcyclists! He's ridden bikes before, but only off-road, so this is a big step for him. He's doing it the sensible way -- starting out small (I'm lending him one of my Honda 250 "Big Ruckus" scooters) to get the feel of road riding before he steps up to a bigger bike. Once he gets his motorcycle learner's permit (probably next week), he'll get started. Here's Eric checking out the bike he'll be riding, while Jim and Steve look on (and offer words of encouragement).



Here are a few photos from our pool game. Mike watches Dan shoot...



... Jim lines up a shot...



... and Mike contemplates a new look.



Saturday, Jim and Steve and I took off on another motorcycle ride -- it was an even nicer day (reaching 72 degrees at one point, by the thermometer on my Victory Vision). Jim had switched bikes for this ride, taking his Yamha FJR1300 instead of the Griso. We headed up to Adams, MA (my Mom's home town) via Route 116, a great riding road (albeit suffering significantly from potholes after the long winter). We stopped along the way for a break near this beautiful, still-icy lake.



Jim wanted to go to this diner in Adams which he had been to years ago, where he had gotten some really good soup. I can't recall the name of the diner right now, but we had some good grub there -- Steve and I each got a "Thanksgiving in a wrap" sandwich (turkey, stuffing, and -- in Steve's sandwich, at least -- cranberry mayo). After a brief stop at another motorcycle shop in Adams (Ronnie's Cycles), we blasted over to Williamstown for a coffee, and enjoyed sitting out in the bright sun in the 70˚ temperatures.

Then it was back on the road, heading home. We took off down Route 7, out to Pittsfield, a quick stop at Barnes and Noble, then off down Route 143 and back home. All in all, two great riding days.

Not so today, unfortunately -- this Sunday is a wet one. It's been raining pretty steadily since I got up. I'm not going to complain, though. It was great having Steve come down to visit, and to go riding with him and Jim, and to hang out with them plus Dan, Mike and Eric. It made the house seem a little less empty (my wife is in England this week with my daughter and her roommate -- not riding motorcycles, but I'm sure they're having a wonderful time!). -- PL

11 comments:

Nick Nitro said...

72 degrees? I'm jealous, good sir! maybe 67 is the highest it's been all week here in ohio.

And a thanksgiving in a wrap sounds very interesting. Wish i could find a place in ohio that served something like that! lol

Daniel Schwarz said...

Wow, that sounds like a lot of fun. Who won the Wii bowling?

Lord Nightwalker said...

Man. Sounds like you guys had a very good weekend indeed.

Unknown said...

When I was learning to ride our instructor, a retired cop, explained that he had skydived, bungee jumped, and did all these other extreme sports. He said that riding a motorbike was the best thrill out of all of them.

I use that as my excuse to never try skydiving.

~ tOkKa said...

-->> .. damm Jim'[s bike is nice.

How do you take those pix of the guys and and keep balance while riding the bike at the same time and without dropping the camera ??

Anonymous said...

wow that sure seems like a lot of fun. it was a serious wet one here in New York, so we just watched Ninja turtles 2 and my gf's family came over to see it for the first time. told me i should thank you myself. they really enjoyed it hhaha. :-)

Stephan @ The Turtle Van said...

~ tOkKa said...

How do you take those pix of the guys and and keep balance while riding the bike at the same time and without dropping the camera ??

I was wondering that too! Lol.
And for the record, I love the posts in which you talk about things that happen with you and the guys outside of work. It reminds us that the heroes are still human :-)

PL said...

"~ tOkKa said...

-->> .. damm Jim'[s bike is nice.

How do you take those pix of the guys and and keep balance while riding the bike at the same time and without dropping the camera ??"

Carefully! Seriously, it's not that difficult, at least on a wide, mostly straight road like Route 91. Traveling at roughly 65 miles per hour, the bike balances itself quite well. I have my camera in a conveient, easy-access pocket in my jacket. The camera itself is easy to turn on with one hand. I keep one hand on the throttle, and with the other I point the camera and press the shutter button, taking a split second to check the screen to see that I have what I need in frame.

The biggest concern is making sure that you don't run into the back of a vehicle in front of you while you have taken your attention off the road ahead even for a few seconds. Fortunately, long open roads afford you a pretty good view of what's ahead for a mile or so. -- PL

PL said...

"Daniel Schwarz said...

Wow, that sounds like a lot of fun. Who won the Wii bowling?"

I can't remember. But I do know who DIDN'T win -- me! -- PL

~ tOkKa said...

-->> Well holy crow .. !! ~~**





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O M F G






Mike has a new hat & ..





PETE HAS DANCING "JAR JAR BINKS toy"








o m y gaaaaaaawd !! !! !! !! !!






















*_* ~~ !!





♥ ♥

discordiatookie said...

How cool are they dinosaurs? I could say that I wish my place looked as fun as that, however my flat (the whole two rooms I have) is madly full of crazy junk. A large portion of it TMNT...

Looks like a fun day/coupla days. And that bike Steve is on is huge!

I don't post here often, however I do read every day (on me moble phone) - but I must say that this kinda posts are great! Love em! Not that I don't appreciate the other posts, cos I do...

Just wish these pics were bigger, would love to see them framed pics up on thon walls, look pretty cool to me!

-Michael Tough, of bonnie Scotland