Two weeks ago

Two weeks ago on a Sunday early and a very cold 50 degrees or colder?? I rode from Rocky Mount out thru Callaway to 221 north to 419 then went to keagle rd then got onto Sugar Loaf Mountain rd. back to 221 south to 12 oclock knob road and took it to Salem and them 419 to 220 back to Rocky Mount, I believe it was around 110 miles.
The roads up near Cave spring and Salem are listed on Motorcycle roads .com where I made a review

http://www.motorcycleroads.com/75/744/Virginia/Roanoke-Hills.html

When in Salem it would be real easy to get to rt 311 towards Catawba which is some good riding also great scenery, and some great hiking trails up there where it crosses the appalachian trail

from Rocky Mount take the backroads over to Salem maybe come down 40 & catch shooting creek to Floyd, & 221 over to Salem.



50 cold? naw...... I have rode when it was -7 degrees whan I left the house. actuallty 2 times record days in Martinsvilles history a few years apart.



have left to go on a trip when it was 17 degrees & sleeting.



I have rode to Myrtle Beach in January, without proper gear, just a light sweater, I wish I had took more with me for the ride home late at night a few days later however. lol.



have to break the ice out of beard to keep it from building up, & have to bend arms for safety reasons, so you can flex, too much builds up & you can hardly move your arms.



I will be out riding in all but the worst of snow or icy roads, this bike sux on snow & ice! I ride year round & always have as long as I had a bike to ride.



Later,

Randy

I have rode when it was colder also but I was also alot younger, not that I am that old but I kinda felt it, and like you I was not dressed for it, no gloves for one, that really would have made all the difference there. I will ride all I can this winter except when I am redoing the bike, it needs new tires, brakes that do not squeeeel if possible, general tuneup, valve adjustment, carb rejetting, detailing, a really good going over.
so maybe not too much riding this winter

I put my "new" used tire on today, a guy in Roanoke sold me 4 used front tires for $20. by the way I have a professional Coats 220 motorcycle tire changer the old lady bought me for my birthday.



However, I dont have the plastic protector strips, I need to pick some up. I consider my bike a "rat" so I dont care if I scratch the edge of the rim when I change it.



I will probably pick up a set of recapped tires to stick on it for when I do a cross country run, I can get a pair for roughly $150 delivered. I dont ride hard of fast, not really worried about them.



I just recently picked up some used winter riding gloves, not sure what to expect, as up to now I used non motorcycle gloves all my life for winter riding. as soon as it dips below 30 I will have an idea.



Randy

graybeard_biker wrote:

I put my "new" used tire on today, a guy in Roanoke sold me 4 used front tires for $20. by the way I have a professional Coats 220 motorcycle tire changer the old lady bought me for my birthday.



However, I dont have the plastic protector strips, I need to pick some up. I consider my bike a "rat" so I dont care if I scratch the edge of the rim when I change it.



I will probably pick up a set of recapped tires to stick on it for when I do a cross country run, I can get a pair for roughly $150 delivered. I dont ride hard of fast, not really worried about them.




I just recently picked up some used winter riding gloves, not sure what to expect, as up to now I used non motorcycle gloves all my life for winter riding. as soon as it dips below 30 I will have an idea.



Randy

sure beats the hell out of the spoons or the big screwdrivers!!! nice gift
how do you balance them or do you bother? some just spin and wherever it stops I guess is the heaviest

I dont, not sure what to expect from this bike? but on old Harleys, all old riders just mounted them without balancing them. never had problems on older kaws, & Hondas bikes I owned, nor Harleys.



there is a liquid chemical balancer that you can install in the tire, heard great reviews, but no experience, $12 a bottle seems kinda high though.



if I get aggravated, I can take tire to Danville & balance it free at a shop where I am friends with the owner for free.



I found it on the Roanoke craigslist for $150 so I snatched it up. guy didnt realise what he had, just cleaning up around his barn, & he once worked at a bike shop & did some trading & had got the shops old changer, & used it to change his as well as sons tires, & now no longer needed it.



when I got the tire changer, a week of so later someone closed a shop not fram from Raleigh NC & had a professional series spin banlancer for $400, I couldnt afford it that day & it sold before I could come up with the cash.



I never had spoons, I used the back side of adjustable wrenches, smoother & didnt worry about puncturing tubes, as most of my life most of my miles were done with tube type tires.



I hope to open a small motorcycle shop maybe in 2 years when finances get better. right now I do all my work outside, & cant afford a building big enough to work in. I dug myself into a hole about 10 years ago, & still got 2 years to be able to be able to do what I want, it has been a long hard road.



one of my friends, I was around when he started in a home made 16'x16' building, & it would hold 4 bikes, but only 1 at a time to work on, & he pulled customers bikes outside & threw a tarp over when it was raining, but it was a different time & people were not so vain. that was 1982, & by the middle to late 80's he built a 24'24 cinder block building, & in later 90's he moved & expanded to a larger building where he is still at.



I have looked at 16'X40" bare building, 1 door, 1 garage door, 3 windows, prefabbed, factory insulated floor, & ceiling, delivered roughly $8,500 I cant do the work myself as I cant get on ladders due to my heelspur. I can do any work on flat ground, but I will hurt for weeks just to be on a ladder for 30 minutes, cant do anything right now, plus to wire it, & finish the insides at least partially, just cant do it right now.



Later,

Randy