WOW... Starting a NEW Blog. A daunting task, to say the least. Especially for someone who doesn't "type", well, at least not the way you probably do. My typing skills are left over from my Pre-Computer Dinosaur days as a Cop having to type out the nightly Police Blotter when I worked as Security Controller (USAF SP name) /slash/ Dispatcher (common Police name) and there could be ABSOLUTELY NO MISTAKES, PERIOD! I "could" type like you, but when every single keystroke had to be the absolute right one, otherwise you would have to retype the entire page, then you found that typing with all 5 fingers on each hand meant that you could actually hit the WRONG key 10 times as fast as if you just engaged and tasked ONE finger on each hand. Think of it as a 10X Redundant Safety that kept my coffee fueled brain on the same lap as my fingers were on. It saved me a LOT of retyped blotters over my 6 years as a cop in the USAF. And it's a very hard habit to break too, so it's what remains today after nearly 60 years of exchanging oxygen for carbon monoxide on this planet. And I doubt if I will be changing anytime soon either...
This blog, is a place for me to relive, share and explain, some of my more happy memories, people, experiences, trips and motorcycles I've had, primarily here in Birmingham, Alabama over the years. Let's start with the name of this blog, RIDER BHM. Should be an easy one to 'splain and understand...
RIDER: It's what I am, what I do, how I think, how I live and how I love! The world, and everything in it, looks drastically different thru the eyes of a Rider. Potholes can be Death Sentences, and a patch of sand/dirt in the road can cause you to slide right thru that stop sign or shoot off the roadway like a Frisbee in a curve. EVERTHING you do on a motorcycle, literally, involves "Life and Death" decisions, constantly. Therefore, everything takes on a much more "serious" look, whether it's a Cheeseburger, or a Crow. "The Crow" is a long story, and I'm quite sure I'll relive and retell it here sometime in the near future. Exactly "What" do I ride? I will, and have, ridden just about every type/style/brand of motorcycle ever made over the years beginning in the mid 1960's. Stretched Panhead Choppers in the '70's, Café Racers, Crotch Rockets, Drag Bikes, TT racers, Trials Machines, Motocross, stock Street Bikes, Super Bikes, British Big Twins, More Hondas than I care to remember and even more Harleys. I've ridden motorcycles that people have never even heard of, like Bultaco, Ducotti, Ariel, Puch, Allstate, Cushman, Norton, Munch Mammoth, Hodaka, Buell, Rokon, Styer, Husqvarna, Alouette, Sachs, Borile, Ossa, Agusta, And SO many more that have long since slipped off the pages of my brain. I've been on a lot of motorcycles, probably have logged over a million miles on two wheels in my lifetime. Got Married in 1980, climbed off motorcycles completely and worked and raised a family with my wife of 36+ years. Oh I had a couple of motorcycles here and there over the years, but they were usually "project" bikes and never really did make it back to the streets (like the 1976 Honda 550-4 I have in the garage now...). Fast forward to 2016... My oldest Son is looking 40 in the eyes, has two kids 12 years old, my middle Son is almost 35, also has two kids under 5, and my Daughter is chasing 30 and is happy being single with no kids. Well... I've done my part, for the last 36 years, stayed safe (even gave up my career as a cop too), and I am now knocking on the door that says 60. And I have denied who I am, what I feel, and what I love to do for way too long. Life is short, and for me, it's a lot shorter than for a lot of you that are much younger than I. So, I made the decision that I want back on, NOW! I don't want to wait, I don't want to think about next year, I want back on... NOW!
And here "she" is! 2005 Triumph America 900! I haven't "named" her yet, I'm kinda personal about that sort of stuff and the name hasn't spoken to me yet, but it will, they always whisper. Speedo is broke, so I don't have a clue exactly how many miles is on her, but I know the original owner pretty well, and these are the ORIGINAL 2005 Bridgestone tires she came over on the boat with, so I'm gonna guess well under 10K miles. Still has the original brake pads, chain, bulbs, seat, etc. Hell it's only had the oil changed 3 times! The original owner lived in an Apartment near me, and I had worked on the bike for him several times before I purchased it from him. He had nowhere "protected" to keep her, covers would frequently blow off, so he kept it parked mainly under the overhang of some big bushes that sat up high on a retaining wall. That kept the sun off the bike most of the day, but it was caked with leaf debris when I first got her to work on a few years ago. All in all, the paint is about perfect, seat cover is on it's last leg, some rusty parts here and there, some rust coming thru the chrome on the shocks and handlebars but I think with the right polish, it should not really be noticeable.
I've had her for over a year now, the previous owner made a boo boo on the title (checked the "Mileage is Incorrect" box and in AL, motorcycles are "Mileage Exempt" vehicles) that had us jumping thru hoops and trying to arrange his and my wife's work schedules so we could all meet at a Notary Public to get a bunch of papers stamped, sealed, and perforated in all the right places. We finally pulled it off a couple of weeks ago and after a VERY expensive trip to the title office ($175.00!), we walked away with a legal title and tag. In the year I've had her, I had put about 1000 miles on her before the old tag expired last year. And since getting the new tag this year, I've put 200 miles on her.
Here she is from this morning's trip, sitting in front of Birmingham's only Castle, Quinlin Castle. I've been staying close to home, avoiding any roads that have speeds over 40mph since I don't trust the tires. They are in excellent condition, 90% tread, very little sign of dry rot or cracking, but still, they ARE 11 years old and I just don't trust them. I won't be riding anyone OR going "fast" until I get some new meats on the ground.
BHM: The other part of this Blog's name is the airport code for Birmingham, Alabama. Back when I flew a lot, I was fascinated by all the City destination tags I would see all over everyone's luggage. Birmingham has always been abbreviated locally as B'ham, so for me, BHM was a natural. I've ridden Motorcycles all over the world, and of all the places I've ridden, BHM has got to be one of the hardest cities to ride in! The streets SUCK, the traffic light sensors will usually NOT activate for a motorcycle and we have a lot of hills and blind curvy roads - WITH HIDDEN DRIVEWAYS! You may not know this, but nearly all traffic lights are activated by essentially a large electro magnetic loop buried in the roadway right where you stop your car. If you look at the roadway closely, you usually can see the buried loop at the redlight area, It's just an electrified loop of metal, and that generates a constant magnetic field. When your car pulls up to the redlight, all that metal in your car passes over/thru that magnetic field and it causes the field to fluctuate and distort. The traffic controller, usually a large silver box mounted on one of the redlight poles there at the intersection, can sense/measure/see that field distortion and it says "Oh... I have a car that wants to pass thru the intersection...", and it causes the lights to change in your favor so you can proceed. Well, in BHM, 80% of the redlight sensors don't work for the cars, and they damn sure won't see what little metal a motorcycle has compared to what metal a car carries. Most of BHM's redlights are set up on a simple timer that just changes the redlights every 3 minutes or so. Well 3 minutes sitting on top of a 400 degree motorcycle engine, with 100 degree air all around you, and 150 degree asphalt under you and the sun glaring down on you cooking your skin to a crust... can indeed seem like a lifetime! Several Cities in Tennessee (may even be a Statewide law), know that motorcycles won't trip a properly functioning traffic sensor and the Rider will just have to sit there and bake, freeze, drip, etc. until the timer cycles the light, so they allow motorcycles to "run" the light after stopping and treating it like a stop sign, proceeding once it is safe to do so. I sure wish BHM would pull their heads out of their collective asses and allow us to do the same. But then I wish pigs DID fly too...
This blog, is a place for me to relive, share and explain, some of my more happy memories, people, experiences, trips and motorcycles I've had, primarily here in Birmingham, Alabama over the years. Let's start with the name of this blog, RIDER BHM. Should be an easy one to 'splain and understand...
RIDER: It's what I am, what I do, how I think, how I live and how I love! The world, and everything in it, looks drastically different thru the eyes of a Rider. Potholes can be Death Sentences, and a patch of sand/dirt in the road can cause you to slide right thru that stop sign or shoot off the roadway like a Frisbee in a curve. EVERTHING you do on a motorcycle, literally, involves "Life and Death" decisions, constantly. Therefore, everything takes on a much more "serious" look, whether it's a Cheeseburger, or a Crow. "The Crow" is a long story, and I'm quite sure I'll relive and retell it here sometime in the near future. Exactly "What" do I ride? I will, and have, ridden just about every type/style/brand of motorcycle ever made over the years beginning in the mid 1960's. Stretched Panhead Choppers in the '70's, Café Racers, Crotch Rockets, Drag Bikes, TT racers, Trials Machines, Motocross, stock Street Bikes, Super Bikes, British Big Twins, More Hondas than I care to remember and even more Harleys. I've ridden motorcycles that people have never even heard of, like Bultaco, Ducotti, Ariel, Puch, Allstate, Cushman, Norton, Munch Mammoth, Hodaka, Buell, Rokon, Styer, Husqvarna, Alouette, Sachs, Borile, Ossa, Agusta, And SO many more that have long since slipped off the pages of my brain. I've been on a lot of motorcycles, probably have logged over a million miles on two wheels in my lifetime. Got Married in 1980, climbed off motorcycles completely and worked and raised a family with my wife of 36+ years. Oh I had a couple of motorcycles here and there over the years, but they were usually "project" bikes and never really did make it back to the streets (like the 1976 Honda 550-4 I have in the garage now...). Fast forward to 2016... My oldest Son is looking 40 in the eyes, has two kids 12 years old, my middle Son is almost 35, also has two kids under 5, and my Daughter is chasing 30 and is happy being single with no kids. Well... I've done my part, for the last 36 years, stayed safe (even gave up my career as a cop too), and I am now knocking on the door that says 60. And I have denied who I am, what I feel, and what I love to do for way too long. Life is short, and for me, it's a lot shorter than for a lot of you that are much younger than I. So, I made the decision that I want back on, NOW! I don't want to wait, I don't want to think about next year, I want back on... NOW!
I've had her for over a year now, the previous owner made a boo boo on the title (checked the "Mileage is Incorrect" box and in AL, motorcycles are "Mileage Exempt" vehicles) that had us jumping thru hoops and trying to arrange his and my wife's work schedules so we could all meet at a Notary Public to get a bunch of papers stamped, sealed, and perforated in all the right places. We finally pulled it off a couple of weeks ago and after a VERY expensive trip to the title office ($175.00!), we walked away with a legal title and tag. In the year I've had her, I had put about 1000 miles on her before the old tag expired last year. And since getting the new tag this year, I've put 200 miles on her.
BHM: The other part of this Blog's name is the airport code for Birmingham, Alabama. Back when I flew a lot, I was fascinated by all the City destination tags I would see all over everyone's luggage. Birmingham has always been abbreviated locally as B'ham, so for me, BHM was a natural. I've ridden Motorcycles all over the world, and of all the places I've ridden, BHM has got to be one of the hardest cities to ride in! The streets SUCK, the traffic light sensors will usually NOT activate for a motorcycle and we have a lot of hills and blind curvy roads - WITH HIDDEN DRIVEWAYS! You may not know this, but nearly all traffic lights are activated by essentially a large electro magnetic loop buried in the roadway right where you stop your car. If you look at the roadway closely, you usually can see the buried loop at the redlight area, It's just an electrified loop of metal, and that generates a constant magnetic field. When your car pulls up to the redlight, all that metal in your car passes over/thru that magnetic field and it causes the field to fluctuate and distort. The traffic controller, usually a large silver box mounted on one of the redlight poles there at the intersection, can sense/measure/see that field distortion and it says "Oh... I have a car that wants to pass thru the intersection...", and it causes the lights to change in your favor so you can proceed. Well, in BHM, 80% of the redlight sensors don't work for the cars, and they damn sure won't see what little metal a motorcycle has compared to what metal a car carries. Most of BHM's redlights are set up on a simple timer that just changes the redlights every 3 minutes or so. Well 3 minutes sitting on top of a 400 degree motorcycle engine, with 100 degree air all around you, and 150 degree asphalt under you and the sun glaring down on you cooking your skin to a crust... can indeed seem like a lifetime! Several Cities in Tennessee (may even be a Statewide law), know that motorcycles won't trip a properly functioning traffic sensor and the Rider will just have to sit there and bake, freeze, drip, etc. until the timer cycles the light, so they allow motorcycles to "run" the light after stopping and treating it like a stop sign, proceeding once it is safe to do so. I sure wish BHM would pull their heads out of their collective asses and allow us to do the same. But then I wish pigs DID fly too...
One of the first things I noticed last year when I got on the Triumph and rode for a little over 2 months, was that muscles I once used while riding, had long since give up the ghost and headed to Bermuda to relax on the beach! I mean after the first week of riding, my arms, especially my left, clutch, hand and arm, were literally screaming at me with pain! So, I've been using my "downtime" over the last year to better "condition" myself for when I could once again climb back in the saddle and point my head into the wind to chase the setting sun. To help with my clutch arm/hand (clutch), I started using my exorcise grips, and I have done them for a 1000 reps each day since (500 per hand). And after 3 days of riding daily, my arms feel great! I also have been conditioning my legs to help me hold the bike up at the redlights, etc. and to help me have the strength to "catch" it, like when my foot slips in the gravel or something. I nearly dropped it last year when my foot did slip in the gravel as I was pulling into my garage, and let me tell ya, trying to "catch" 500 pounds once it has started towards the ground is not an easy task, for anybody! Especially ME! Well, I DID catch it, and kept her from hitting the ground, got her back upright and parked in the garage. I couldn't walk to the house however, and had to have my wife bring the car around and pick me up and take me around to the front of the house. I couldn't get out of my chair or actually walk resembling anything close to humanlike for 3 days. Sometimes when I would be sitting at the redlight waiting for it to change, my legs would start "hopping", and there again, when you're counting on your legs to maintain your balance and they turn into little hoppy toads, it can make for some interesting moments. The kids in the cars around me all thought it was hilarious however! So, I have been conditioning my legs too, stretch bands, stretch tubes and using my big exercise ball to do squats has helped a lot. I can feel the difference in my legs and back this time around.
There's still a lot of work to be done! Both to the motorcycle, AND to the old guy riding it! But, when you love it, it's not really work. My wife asked me "Do you just want to DIE?" And I answered her, "No, I want to LIVE"! There's an old saying that struck a chord with me as soon as I saw it, it goes: "Every Man DIES. Not Every Man Truly LIVES". And I can honestly say, that I am at my happiest when I am riding. Everything about life is enhanced on a motorcycle. All of your senses come alive and hone themselves to a razor's edge when you ride a motorcycle. Do I think about Death. Constantly. Especially when I ride. How can you not think of Death as it whips by under your feet just a short, 8 inches, below you. But it's in recognizing that Death is only inches away, constantly, that you realize that you have made to the very edge of Life. You are pitting your skills, your senses, your reactions, your perceptions... against Death, with every ride, every mile, and every inch of your journey. I bet my life, every time I ride, that my skills, senses, reactions and perceptions are better, better than gravity, traction, inertia, speed, stupidity and immovable objects. And it's only on that raw edge, between Life and Death, where you find out whether you measure up, or if you were just lying to yourself.
So, if you like motorcycles, and/or know me, then follow along with an Old Coot and his Scoot as he grabs life by the balls and relearns what living is all about. I can tell a pretty mean tale, and I call 'em like I see 'em, and I'm sure this journey will be filled with both funny and sad moments along the way. One of the biggest things an my mind is trying to see if the girls still yank their tops up for a Rider as we go by??? If, so, I might need to invest in a neck brace!
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