Virginia Beach Bike Classic

This event was held Friday, Saturday, and Sunday April 29, 30, and May 1st. Due to work and other commitments the only day Debbie and I could go was Saturday the 30th. This turned out to be a very expensive motorcycle event.

Saturday was a beautiful day, a little on the chilly side, but sunny and dry. Debbie and I left the house at about 11:45 and headed to the North Landing campground. No real hurry as this is a local event and we were there. after a couple of stops, by 12:30. There was a good turn out of all sorts of people which always makes things interesting.







Travis Tritt was scheduled to perform at 5:00 pm
so we had 4 and 1/2 hours to kill. This is a small event as far as number of vendors is concerned so if you are not camping there killing time could be a problem. However, What makes this event unique as far as I'm concerned is the fact that even though ity is a small event they have a lot of interesting and fun biker things to do.

They have celebrity bike builders who bring samples of there work so there is plenty of cool bikes to check out. Plus as I said earlier they have usually have some pretty good entertainment such as Travis Tritt. So Debbie and I spent a lot of time just walking around and taking in the sights while we waited for the concert to begin.






One of the attractions that Debbie and I enjoyed was the World Famous Wall of Death motorcycle thrill show. The show was pretty awesome and it is free. They ask for donations and he will even ride up and take them from you if you want. If you have never seen this I highly recommend it if you get a chance.



It's hard for me to believe that someone does this day in and day out and the guy actually seems to enjoy his job. Just incredible.







finally 5:00 came and the show started. Debbie and I have seen Travis Tritt before and he always puts on a good show. This day was no exception. Even if you don't like country music I'm willing to be you will enjoy his show.






Ok, so why was this event so expensive? Well, one of the vendors was selling a product called softub's. After much deliberation we are waiting for our new hot tub to be delivered. This should come in handy after a long day on the bike.







This is the 15th year for this event and while I haven't been all of them I have been to many. It has gone through many changes over the years but for a local event benefiting a worthy cause it really can't be beat.

The next event is the Virginia State HOG Rally in Petersburg Virginia in June. Hopefully there will be at least one big ride to write about before then.

Outer Banks Bike Week 2

WOW!!! What a difference a couple of day's make. If you read my last post you know that I rode to OBBW by myself on Sunday the 17th. I was a little dissapointed in the turn out of both riders and vendors. Well, on Wednesday the 20th my wife and were both off and we took a ride back to the event.

We did the same thing I did on Sunday with a few exceptions. First off, we stopped at the Kitty Hawk Baptist church and had lunch. There were more vendors in the parking lot than there had been on Sunday. I had a burger, chips, home made cookies, and a soda and Debbie had a cheese burger, chips an apple and a soda. Delicious food and all for $5.00 each. Pretty good deal.

We left the church and we rode straight to the Tanger outlets. This was so we could turn around and head North to see what biker events were happening. Did I mention I had my wife with me? Somehow we ended up shopping for over an hour at the outlet stores. My only consolation is that I wasn't alone. They really need a bar at the outlet stores for all of the husbands (biker or not) who get stuck shopping with the better half.

Ok, finally we are on our way. We headed back to Nags Head HD. There were more bikes than on Sunday but they were steady in and out, no one was hanging around.

We headed north and we hit both 158 and route 12 vendors. Things were definitely picking up. There were more vendors and more local establishments were getting in the swing of things. For example there was a bikini bike wash for charity taking place at the Port O Call restaurant. And other events scheduled for later in the week.

After checking out the vendors at Nags Head and kitty Hawk we headed to the Outer Banks HD dealership for a quick look around. Once again this is where it is all happening. HD demo rides, group rides, music and coleslaw wrestling (not as appealing as it sounds).







Anyway, things are picking up, unfortunately family commitments will keep me away for the rest of the events, but no problem, the Virginia Beach Bike Classic is right around the corner.

Outer Banks Bike Week 1

What an awesome couple of days. OBBW runs from April 16th to April 24th 2011. This is the 9th annual bike week and I have been to every one of them. This event has all of the activities of the better known events like Daytona or Sturgis. Of course music and vendors play a huge part in this event and there was plenty of both.

I made two trips to Nags Head. My first run was Sunday April 17th. It was a beautiful day although a little chilly. I left home at 8:30 and I rode straight to the Outer Banks. I rode straight through town to the southern end of the resort strip to the Tanger outlet stores. This is a good place to turn around and head back North. This gave me a chance to check out the vendor sites and kinda get the lay of the land.

My first stop was Nags Head Harley Davidson. This is a clothing and accessories store and it is where this event began 9 years ago. They had a booth setup selling event T-Shirts, but not much else was going on and there were not a lot of bikes/bikers hanging around. That's because no one was "hanging around" anywhere. There was a steady flow of people in and out all week. After buying my event T-Shirt I continued heading north on 158 to the next group of vendors. Once again I learned that getting to an event when it is just getting started is not really a good idea. There were only two vendors set up and very few bikes. However, there were more vendors setting up.

I continued heading north and stopped at the Kitty Hawk Baptist church. This appears to be the best kept secret at OBBW.
They tell me they have been doing this for several years but I never stopped here before. They had free coffee and donuts on Sunday morning and a fried chicken with all of the fixins for lunch for only five dollars. There were vendors in the paring lot, and a steady flow of bikes in and out.

I continued north a short way and then headed south on route 12. There are more vendor locations on 12. While these are traditionally the better vendors, it just wasn't happening on Sunday. Once I got back to Nags Head HD I turned aound and headed North one more time out of town towards home.

I stopped at Outer Banks HD on 158. This is the new hub for this event and it was were all of the action was on Sunday. Vendors, music, food, bike show etc. They had it all going on there. They also had several group rides leaving from the dealership.


Ok, one more stop. On the way down to OBBW I saw signs for Barrys Walnut Island bike show. As I rode into Grandy NC I followed the signs and found a mini event happening. There was a bike show, vendors and a restaurant/bar that was hosting the whole event. I strolled around and took in the sites before heading home.

All in all it was a very good day. There wasn't as much going on as I expected but there was enough to keep you busy and it was very early in the event and as I found out later (see Outer Banks Bike Week 2) as the week went on the event grew.

Head South to ride North

Me: Well babe, we did 173 mile today.

Wife: (Sarcastic tone) All that for a ham sandwich.

Well, Sunday finally arrived. This was the day that all of the weather forcasters were saying was supposed to be so nice. While it was a nice day, it was a little chilly on the motorcycle.

The wife and I had been trying to decide where to ride all week. We ended up going to Smithfield Virginia for a hot ham and cheese sandwich. Ok, so we have done this ride before and I already posted it on the site, but this time we went a little out of our way (just to make things interesting).

We left home and went out North Landing road to Centerville. Turn Left and head South to Battlefield Blvd. Another left and head south on Battlefield Blvd towards Moyock. Just before we get to Moyock we turn right onto Ballahack Road. We took Ballahack all the way to route 17. Another left on 17 and we headed South again into North Carolina and continued to route 158. We turned right on 158 and headed west. After about 40 miles we came to route 13. Turn right and head north to Smithfield. 13 eventually spilts, bear right on to route 10, just follow the signs to Smithfield.

Ok, get it? Head south to ride north.



Anyway, there is an ice-cream sandwich shop on the historic main street in Smithfield They make awesome hot ham and cheese sandwiches plus there's ice-cream for desert.




After we ate and walked around the historic district for awhile we headed out of town the same way we came in. We rode south on 10 until we came to route 32 (at Benns Church). we turned left and took 32 to the end where it intersects with route 17. Turned right and headed south on 17 into Portsmouth. Once in Portsmouth you can head home whatever way is best for you. We stopped at Bayside HD for a break (did I mention the restaurant has really good sweet tea too).

We left home at about 11:00 and got back home around 5:00. All in all it was a great first ride of the season. Even my wife admitted she had a good time and this time she said it without the attitude. We are both looking forward to the rest of the riding season.

Well, I got to ride to work today. It was about 75 degrees and a beautiful day. I rode to work (the long way) the I went for a ride at lunch time, then I rode home (also the long way). All local stuff and not very exciting, but it sure felt good to get on and go.

There are lots of events coming up starting on the 16th with Outerbanks bike week. I'm going at least one day and since I will be off for three days that week I'm hoping to go two days minimum. We will also have the Virginia Beach Bike Classic (VBBC) at the end of this month. I'll be posting pictures and I hope to tell you a little bit about what goes on so check back.

Probably heading to Smithfield on Sunday, stay tuned.

Has spring finally sprung

Well, it may not be spring yet, but we have had a few nice days. Take yesterday for example. Sunday March 13th. 70 degrees and sunny. The bike is inspected with two new tires and don't forget the engin modifications (bigger cam and some other goodies). Anyway, my wife and I headed out North Landing road to Centerville, turned left and headed down Centerville to Battlefield Blvd.

Left on Battlefield and we headed all the way down through Moyock to route 34. Took 34 over to Elizabeth City. Picked up route 17 south to the Circle II restaurant. I highly recommend the hot ham and cheese sub...Awesome!!!.

We left the restaurant and headed north on 17 all the way to Cedar Road. Turned right on Cedar back down to Battlefield turned right on Battlefield to Mount Pleasant, turned left and headed home.

All together we did a little less than 100 miles but for the first real ride of the season, it just couldn't get any better.

Bike Maintenance:

Winter is here and the riding is slim. Well, maybe not slim, but it isn’t like it is in the summer. Anyway, now may be a good time to perform some common sense maintenance. Probably the best way to do this is to detail your bike. So you take a Saturday (or maybe a Saturday and Sunday) and scrub, polish, wax every inch or your motorcycle. By doing this you can identify things like loose items (those slip-ons that are getting ready to slip-off), and maybe leaking or seeping that you may not find otherwise. This would also be a good time to do a T-CLOCS inspection. If you have never heard of T-CLOCS it is the acronym used by the Motorcycle Safety Foundation to guide you through a quick (pre-ride) inspection of your bike. There is a ton of information on this on the web. Just Google T-CLOCS to get more information. Basically it stands for:

T - Inspect your Tires and wheels. Check the tread depth, wear and tear, look for anything that may be a warning of an impending blow-out. Also, check your wheels, look for loose spokes cracks or any other damage.

C - Controls, inspect your pedals, cables, hoses, and any other controls you may find on your bike.

L - Lights, ok here is where I call the wife. Check your brake lights, turn signals and head light both high and low beam.

O - Oil and other fluids, check your levels and look for any leaks or seeping that might indicate a bad seal or gasket.

C - Chassis, Check for any weakness (cracks) in the frame. Check the suspension for firmness and fluid level in the forks. Check your belt, look for any debris trapped in the belt and check for wear and tear.

S - Stand, check for cracks or bends and check the spring tension.

So where does the common sense come in? If you find a problem fix it, if you don't feel comfortable doing it yourself take it to the dealer - common sense.

Now you not only have a clean machine, but you have a reliable motorcycle that you can enjoy with piece of mind. Oh, and don’t forget, all of that polish and wax will not only make your bike look like a million bucks but it will help protect the finish of your pride and joy from the elements.