Sun

day KT and I enjoyed a nice escorted ride through the back roads of southwest-lower Michigan.  The ride was the first annual benefit ride for my college alma mater.  For $25 we received a shirt, free lunch and a nice escorted ride.  And it all the proceeds went to a good cause–architecture missions project fund.

As far as bikes go there was a fairly diverse selection of motorcycles there.  Everything from the Road King, Sportster, Shadow, and Rebel to sport bikes like the GSXR, Hibusa, R6, Katana and CBRs to name a few.  The Kawasaki Ninjas were probably the most popular motorcycle there.  I think of the 25 motorcycles that went there were probably four or five different Ninjas.

The Sheriffs department escorted the ride through the back roads of southwest Michigan.  The rout took us around small inland lakes, through wonderful ripe vineyards, past apple orchards being picked and into corn growing farm country.  We stopped at an ice cream shop called the Hayloft.  Fitting being it was in the middle of farm country.  Good ice cream and a nice place to eat it. 

Returning the sheriffs department lead us buy the Cancer Society’s ride to support cancer research.  That was a larger group of people, probably 100 bikes.  It was fun having the groups going opposing directions on the same road.  There was a lot of waving and honking.

I think you will see another blog post about this ride next year.  The feedback from alumni, students and other community people that went was very positive. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That was exactly my reaction while riding on some nice curvy roads in southwest Michigan.  Three small deer crossed my path causing me to slam on the breaks.  Naturally I thought, “Hmm…I’m glad I did not hit them that would hurt.”  Then I wondered how many people actually hit deer.  It turns out that the deer population is growing.  Every eight minutes someone in Michigan hits a deer.  Ouch.  While looking for some information on deer related accidents I found this clip:  www.metacafe.com/watch/2011/deer_vs_motorcycle.   I hope I never end up hitting a deer or any other animal. 

Today’s ride was wonderful despite my pondering the deer.  I suppose it is a good reminder to always wear the protective gear.

 

If you are ever in the southwest part of Michigan (St. Joseph area) looking for a good ride I recommend riding up the Blue Star Highway.  Last Friday KT, Ryan, Sherrie, Brani and I did this.

Our ride started in St. Joseph, Michigan where we headed north on M-63.  As soon as you cross the drawbridge to leave St. Joseph M-63 becomes a nicely paved 4-lane highway.  It follows the eastern edge of Lake Michigan through lots of small lake towns and villages.  Along the way we passed state parks, antique shops and lots of small places to eat.  There are also several golf courses if you care to strap your clubs to you bike. 

I recommend ending this ride before you get into Holland, MI.  The highway continues becoming very busy stop and go city traffic near Holland.  Or you can stop to enjoy yourself in Holland mostly known for its annual tulip festival.  We continued on trough Holland and turned east to Grand Rapids.  Our destination was Shawmut Hills, one of the largest motorcycle shops in the area, but the fun part of the ride ended in Holland.

Returning home we took the expressway.  This makes for a much faster but far less enjoyable trip.

 

KT and I just returned from a short, but nice, dinner ride.  Four bikes, six riders went to St. Joseph, Michigan.  Our destination was a Papa Vino’s Italian restaurant where we all enjoyed a nice dinner.  Less than thirty miles round trip. 

We had a nice diversity of motorcycles.  On the lead bike was my wife KT riding a Honda Nighthawk 250.  I followed on my Suzuki SV650. Brani and Sherrie followed me on a brand new bright green Kawasaki Ninja, a very nice looking bike.  Bringing up the tail was Ryan and Carrissa on a Yamaha SX1100.   

If all goes well this may become a summertime weekly tradition.

After a long hard day of working outside around the house in 90 degree weather there is nothing better than riding my motorcycle into the sunset.  When we left my visor was nice and clear.  After an hour riding at twilight I was looking through smeared bug guts.  Along the way we encountered the most peculiar light.  R.G., my riding buddy, and I were sitting in a left turn lane waiting for the arrow.  The stoplight was cycling faster than a normal light and every rotation around it skipped our turn land and the green for the lanes 90 degrees to the right of us.  Being a fairly deserted intersection people cautiously began running the red light and after about six cycles we did the same.   It is amazing what you see while riding.

Today was a beautiful sunny day, perfect weather for a Memorial Day ride.  My wife Katy, who rides a Honda Nighthalk 250, and I set off with no place in particular to go.  Traveling back roads and state highways we made a zigzagging path through small towns of Berrien County.  While riding along I found two things blog worthy.  First towns are what making riding in southwest Michigan interesting.  Almost every road is flat and nearly straight with farmland on both sides.  Each town is slightly different but they all have several things in common.  First every town has a bar.  Today there were motorcycles parked at every bar we passed.  Next each town has a church many look run down or deserted.  Every town also has a feel.  Some towns feel dirty and rundown while others feel clean and well maintained.  With a lot of industries closing down many of the small towns around here are becoming more and more rundown. 

The second blog worthy item from our ride is the number of motorcycles that were on the road.  It seemed that everyone who had a bike was riding.  We passed by Harleys, Yamahas, Suzukis, and one Kawasaki.  I noted a large bias toward cruiser style motorcycles–3 or 4 to one.  I find this interesting. It is fun to see the verity of motorcycles on the road.

Next time I hope to have some SV650 pictures suitable for desktop backgrounds.

 

I finally have more than 500 miles on my new SV650.  Monday, I took some time to ride down the back roads of southwest-lower Michigan.  While riding I crossed the 500 mile mark.  This was the first opportunity I’ve had to put any extended time in the saddle.  I rode about 120 miles through small towns at speeds from 25mph to 70mph on the freeway–ok a little faster.  Going from small town to small town hitting every stoplight red the SV preformed great.  Its power to weigh ratio provides a very enjoyable 0 to 60 experience even while keeping the RPMs under 5500 during the break in period.  For about 40 miles I took the freeway.  The SV handled well on the freeway but being very light had a tendency to blow around in the wind.

Returning home covered in bugs I was quite pleased with my new purchase.  

The weekend is finally here.  Now it is time to ride.  Unfortunately rain is being predicted for the weekend here in southwest-lower Michigan so I’m not sure how many miles I’ll be able to get in.  I need to put a few more on my bike before May 20 when it goes in for a six hundred mile service.  Hopefully the weather will break in time to get a nice ride in this weekend.  I’ll keep you posted.  In the mean time if you have any weekend riding adventures feel free to leave a comment.

 

Next week I’ll continue my series on naked with the Suzuki GS500.  Till then keep the paint up and the rubber down.

 

 

After going for a wonderful evening ride my visor iscovered with bugs.  What a wonderful way to control the mosquito population.  

 

 

 

Today was a wonderful morning.  The air was warm, the sun was out and I could ride my bike to work.  After doing a couple of quick errands I hit the main road––and got stuck behind a farm truck loaded down with crap (manure).  After a few blocks the truck turned and I was able to hit the road.  Enjoying my ride enough to take the long way to work.  No better way to start a day than with fresh bug on your helmet.