Friday, June 26, 2009

Michelle greeted me with SIGNS!

The Last Day, The Worst Day

I woke up around 8am in the Pittsburgh hotel room, overwhelmed with anxiety. My body sore, head to toe. Everything ached. I was so close to home, yet the idea of packing up my gear, rigging the bike, and riding for hours on the highway seemed so incredibly laborious and unappealing. Had I known what kind of day I was about to have, I would of stayed in bed.

10am, I finally get out of bed. Pack my bag, rig the gear, start the bike. There was something wrong, the engine sounded weird, there was a hot smell of metal, not in a good way. I made it 2 blocks when the bike started to lose power, backfiring, then shutting off completely. Perfect.

I called my mechanic in Brooklyn, extremely frustrated. I had this problem before and as far as I knew it was fixed. He explained that because of the amount of riding I was doing that the points closed up, creating the misfiring. Fair enough. He talked me through a quick fix, taking off the engine cover I delicately sanded the build up from the points. That seemed to work, the engine started right up. 2 seconds later the bike shut down, dead. Calling Peter I explained what happened, "sounds like you blew a fuse, you can reset it"... great... I open the headlight to see a jumble of wires. I made sure that everything was connected, nothing looked suspicious, yet again I had no idea what I was looking for. A little tap here, a little tap there, and the bike started right up, back to life!! I fixed it!! I was so proud of myself. The ordeal lasted TWO HOURS, yet the sense of accomplishment I had made me forget that part.

Riding out of town, in heavy traffic, literally right outside the entrance to the freeway, the bike loses power, AGAIN. I lose it... GOD DA#$&@, MOTHER F$#*%!!!! I stopped traffic, pushed myself up the off ramp to a "safe" spot on the edge of the freeway. I accepted the idea of staying in Pittsburgh one more day and researched my options. The BMW shop's number was disconnected. I started calling anyone that was affiliated with "motorcycle repair". After 30 minutes without any leads I started to feel helpless, which is something I am not used to. I approached the bike prepared to push her back into town when I noticed the choke was engaged. I was using the choke to warm her up and never set it back. DUH!!!! The bike started right up, I was finally on my way!!!

The rest of the day went well, riding through the mountains of Pennsylvania I forgot about the mornings ordeal. I would be home in a few more hours. I don't think I will ever be as excited again to see signs for New Jersey!! Made it onto the turnpike around 9pm, about 2 miles from the toll I noticed the generator light flashing... WTF! I waved my hand over the handlebars into the headlight. I had no lights!! No signals!! That also means that if my engine cuts off I won't be able to start her up, assuming the electronics are fried. Sure enough, I get to the toll booth, take my hand off the throttle to get some money.... the engine shuts off.

I pushed the bike over 4 lanes into the Turnpike's employee parking lot. I texted Michelle and told her not to worry. Emailed her my location and tried to get in touch with my mechanic. When I engaged the ignition the bike would jerk in spasms, not good but at least it's something. I opened up the headlight thinking maybe I blew a fuse (again). All the wires were melted together. My heart sank at the sight of it, I felt like vomiting... Now what do I do?? This is something WAY beyond a quick fix. I could literally see the Manhattan skyline in the distance. I called Peter for a pick up and again got his voice mail. I called Michelle and told her "I THINK I can push start this, I'll call you back".

There was a ramp that led to another parking lot down below. Away I rolled, not knowing what to do I put the bike into first gear... It WORKED!! Then it died. Rolled her back up the hill, second time was a charm. Called Michelle, "I DID IT!!". Made it to the Holland Tunnel, no lights. Leaving the toll I was stopped by a Jersey trooper, "your headlights!!!" I explained that my lights were fried.. he said "You ought to get dat fixed".. thanks buddy, ya think????

MANHATTAN!!! Home! Now to make my way across town. Not stopping at lights, I made it to Grand Street which leads right to the Willy B Bridge. Stuck at the light the engine dies... yet again. I pushed her to Chrystie Street, the street slopes, perfect!! Running along side the bike I got her up to speed and jumped on. My foot got caught up on my bag and over the handlebars I went doing a perfect tumblesault onto the pavement. I DROPPED the bike!!!! I lifted her up, all 500lbs, got back on and pushed myself down the sloping street. Popped 1st gear, engine starts! Crossing the Williamsburg Bridge, I took the "back roads" home.

I made it, in one piece.... What a day.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

I love....

that I have a family with a sense of humor. your comments will get me through the rest of the day. Farrah and now MJ??? I heard about Ed last night, to be honest I was surprised he was still ALIVE!

ps. still not one Bear.

ROADKILL

In just 5 days of travel from the Midwest to the Northeast, via US Interstate and County roads I witnessed an extraordinary amount of mammal murder. I documented, created a very specific, organized tally. The numbers don't lie people. Perhaps there's something more to this? What do you think?

Deer- 22
Possum- 6
Badger- 2
Porcupine- 1
Skunk- 4
Squirrel- 6
Porcupine-3
Armadillo- 2
Muskrat/Gopher/Groundhog- 8
Cat- 3
Dog- 1
Blown out truck tires that I mistook for an animal- 28
Animals that I mistook for blown out truck tires-8

BEARS- 0

That's right, not ONE, single bear. You know what that means? Bears are REALLY smart, think about it. If they are smart enough to avoid a pair of bright lights coming at them at tremendous speed, there's NO telling what they are capable of. Total world domination. I predict Bears will soon take over the world. Think about it, a Bear City reality!

Last Day...

In Pittsburgh, celebrating my last day with a bottle of wine purchased from the restaurant where I had dinner, the hotel does not have a bar.
Can you BELIEVE it??? NO BAR!

Took the back roads out of Indiana into Ohio. I don't know how it happened buy I ended up in West Virginia... I reset the GPS and made to Pittsburgh via "National Historic Route 40", which sounds a lot nicer than it actually was. There were dozens of markers detailing significant historical events, however if you ever needed to unload a dozen used tires, a refrigerator, and an abandoned trailor home... this would be the place (this marks where George Washington had his first fort... oh look there's a pile of burning phone books). Something like that.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Back Roads

Took the back roads through a bit of Illinois to Indianapolis. Once the sun started going down it cooled off dramatically. I jumped on the interstate after dark to make up time. Rolled into town a little after 10pm. I took a trip to the Steak and Shake (2 bacon cheeseburgers, chicken fingers, and a chocolate shake) and checked in at the Holiday Inn, where I ate myself into a junk food coma.
Off to Pennsylvania!!

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

INDIANA!!

via the backroads.

middle of nowhere

Indiana here I come!!

$42 later, I'm finally off. Throttle cable adjustment, timing
adjustment. I didn't mind, the dealership turned out to be a great
place to get stuck!!

Classic Motorcycle Museum, St. Louis

Classic French, German, Italian, and Scandinavian motorcycles. These
were my favorites.

Waiting....

Called for an appointment with the local BMW shop, of course they are slammed, waiting for the mechanic to call me back. I tried my mechanic in Brooklyn, waiting for him as well...
In the meantime, enjoy this pic of Jaxson at the Iowa Cubs game. We left after the 5th inning due to the unbearable heat and a breakout of swamp butt.

St. Louis, and a much needed shower.

Arrived at the hotel around 9:30pm, tired, smelly, and hungry. The ride from Iowa was so pretty, if it wasn't for the temp being in the 90's, I would have enjoyed it a whole lot more. The stop in Kansas City put me back 3 hours. After my BBQ lunch I had to sit through some pretty major traffic. For an air cooled bike this not good. I split the lane for a good 30 min, the whole time people honking at me, it was either that or overheat. The hotel is nice, it's only been open for 3 months and is located in "the loop" of a collegiate section of town. Everything was closed at 11pm, and even worse, nothing is open on Monday. I spent the night at the bar chatting with staff and talking motorcycle shop. After my 3rd Chimay (they have a great beer selection) and a few tequila shots I managed to buy 2 of the bartenders CD's (he said he was a "singer/songwriter", seems to have good taste in music) and gave my "foodie" waitress who is visiting NYC a list of every great place to eat, including my "club connected" friend Lou's # in case she wanted to go out (sorry Lou). I'm anxious to get back on the road to Cincinnati, which seems SO far away. The bike is idling really low and is shutting off when I downshift. I did everything I could to figure it out, no luck. Fortunately there is a great mechanic here in town. I would like to get the oil changed in the AM anyway, so we'll see, hopefully it's an easy fix.

Interior of Joe's, KC.

Kansas City BBQ!!!

Oklahoma Joe's is on Anthony Bourdain's 13 places to eat before you die and supposedly THE best Q in the world (it's located in a GAS station, pretty cool). I had only been there for 5 minutes when the entire kitchen staff picked up on my accent and started doing a re-enactment of the Soprano's... don't they know that's NEW JERSEY??

I ordered the pulled pork and brisket. The beef was amazing, I enjoyed the pork more. Luckily I remembered to get a photo right before I swallowed the plate.... the fork is not a prop.

Monday, June 22, 2009

Current Itinerary, Weather Permitting

Times are based on a combination of local and interstate routes. Host cities subject to change due to weather, fatigue or boredom. I've decided not go as far south as I had originally planned, I'm anxious to get home. Right now I don't really feel like being on the road alone for 5 or 6 days, we'll see if that changes once things get underway. Any suggestions on things to do, see, hear, or eat would be welcome and greatly appreciated.

MONDAY
Des Moines to St. Louis (6 hours 34 mins, via Kansas City, route I-35 South) LOCAL/ INTER

TUESDAY
St. Louis to Cincinnati (7 hours 49 mins) LOCAL/ INTER

WEDNESDAY
Cincinnati to Harrisburg, PA (11 hours 42 mins) LOCAL

THURSDAY
Harrisburg, PA to BROOKLYN, NYC (3 hours 4 mins) INTER

So far looks like the weather is going to be good, extremely HOT and HUMID... but at least no rain.
........ More about the LA job and the Iowa Cubs game (my day in Iowa withOUT Michelle) at a later date, big day of riding tomorrow.

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Dallas Airport

12:55am flight to Des Moines with a layover in Dallas. It's funny, you can't always tell a real "new yorker" from a Yankees cap, but I'll bet ANY amount of money that somebody wearing an "Iowa" t shirt is actually from Iowa.

Friday, June 12, 2009

The First Mass Produced Motorcycle

At lunch today Michelle's uncle (who I THINK rides a Victory) commented on Harley Davidson to be the first mass produced motorcycle (I believed this the same way I believe Al Gore invented the internet). This led me to do a bit of research (it's raining and I have nothing better to do, besides I wanted to know for myself). I actually found quite a bit of interesting info on the history of motorcycles, I thought I'd share.


In 1889, Heinrich and Wilhelm Hildebrand of Munich made a prototype motorcycle using a small steam engine. After their prototype steam motorcycle, the brothers joined with Alois Wolfmuller to manufacture a design patented by Wolfmuller and Hans Geisenhoff in 1894. It is considered to be the first production motorcycle, it was made in both Germany and France until 1896. The engine was a twin cylinder, water cooled, four stroke with 1488cc. The pistons traveled together (firing alternately) with their connecting rods pushing cranks on the rear wheel, like a locomotive engine. The rear wheel acted like a flywheel and it used rubber bands to pull the pistons back up the cylinders.

The first really successful production two-wheeler, it had a step-through frame, with its fuel tank mounted on the downtube. The engine was a parallel-twin, mounted low on the frame, with its cylinders going fore-and-aft. The connecting rods connected directly to a crank on the rear axle, and instead of using heavy flywheels for energy storage between cylinder-firing, it used a pair of stout elastic bands, one on each side outboard of the cylinders, to help out on the compression strokes. It was water-cooled, and had a water tank/radiator built into the top of the rear fender.

The first mass-production motor driven cycle to be manufactured in the United States was the 1900 Orient Motor Cycle designed by Charles H. Metz of the Waltham Manufacturing Company in Waltham, Massachusetts.

1902, First Indian motorcycles, featuring innovative belt-drives and streamlined styling, sold to public. Indian is America's oldest motorcycle brand and was once the largest manufacturer of motorcycles in the world. The most popular models were the Scout, made prior to WWII, and the Chief, which had its heyday from 1922-53.

In 1906, Harley and the Davidsons built their first factory, that year around 50 motorcycles were produced. In 1969, American Machinery and Foundry (AMF, the bowling lane people) bought the company, streamlined production, and slashed the workforce. This tactic resulted in a labor strike and a lower quality of bikes. The bikes were expensive and inferior in performance, handling, and quality to Japanese motorcycles. Sales declined, quality plummeted, and the company almost went bankrupt.[31] The "Harley-Davidson" name was mocked as "Hardly Ableson", "Hardly Driveable," and "Hogly Ferguson",[32][33] and the nickname "Hog" became pejorative.

The first motorcycle powered by an internal combustion (gas) engine was built by Gottlieb Daimler (1834-1900) and Wilhelm Maybach (1846-1929) in 1885, and called the "Einspur." Their company, the Daimler Motor Company of Stuttgart, Germany was formed after the two left their employment at Deutz Gasmotorenfabrik AG, where Daimler worked as their technical director. Daimler's engine was based on the "Otto-Cycle" engine, designed three years earlier by Eugen Langen and Dr. Nikolaus Otto, who was a co-owner of Deutz Gasmotorenfabrik. Otto's engine was based on the earlier work of Alphonse Beau de Rochas in the early 1860s.

source: the interweb

Spent Two Hours.....

in Dave and Jamie's driveway scraping bug guts and deep cleaning the
bike today. Cleaned the carbs, topped it off with some oil. Swapped
out the sissy bar for the seat rail. Not long after this pic was taken
it started to rain... I guess no riding today.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Iowa City!!


We made it to Iowa!! Somehow we managed to evade the rain!! Stayed in Iowa City for the night, had dinner with Michelle's friend Summer. Not long after Michelle and I were back on the bike for a little night time tour of her old college stomping grounds, where she proceeded to show me every place she and her friends have ever lived, ate, drank, studied, went for coffee, partied, etc. etc...

Just a few more hours and we'll be at our final destination, Des Moines. I'm really anxious to give the bike a proper wash, so Dave have the hose and buckets ready!! I'll be flying to LA on Sunday from Des Moines for work, so the blog will be on hiatus for a week. Sadly Michelle will not be taking the ride back to NYC with me. I'm finding it hard to imagine doing the return trip without her. I'm going to miss the shoulder rubs and the weight of her body against my back. We are both having so much fun, I don't want this to end. It will be two weeks before we are together again, which I think is the longest we have been apart in 5 years!! Taking that sissy bar off is going to suck.

The BEST sandwich EVER....



is called the "3 Little Pigs". You can only get it at The Silver Palm, thick cut smoked ham, panko breaded pork cutlet, two strips of bacon, a fried egg, and melted gruyere on a brioche bun.

I miss you sandwich! Clogged in my arteries forever... I will never forget you.

Bloody Mary




The best Bloody Mary I have ever had (besides my own) was in Chicago. The Twisted Spoke has a decent one, not the best, but pretty, pretty, pretty good. The beer chaser (Genesee Cream Ale) scores it HUGE points. The interior and exterior is decorated with motorcycles and has the largest selection of whiskeys I have ever seen in one place.

Chicago, day two






Chicago may not have the best Pizza, but the best HOT DOG??!!
We slept in, it was nice not to have to pack up the bike that morning. We left the apartment around lunch time and headed to "Hot Doug's". As we pulled up I noticed a bit of a line... then we turned the corner, the line wrapped around the building. I hate lines, I have never waited on line to get into a club, why the hell would I wait for hot dogs?? After being online for about an hour we finally made it inside. Doug himself was behind the counter taking orders. The menu on the wall was incredible, the list of ingrediants and combinations made it extremely difficult to choose. I settled on the "Jim Barley" (Jack Daniels Infused Smoked Pork Sausage with Fennel, Piquillo Pepper Sauce, and Burning Nettles Cheese), the "Duck" (Foie Gras and Sauternes Duck Sausage with Truffle Aioli, Foie Gras Mousse and Sel Gris), and the "Classic" (Chicago-Style Hot Dog with all the trimmings). The dogs were cooked perfectly, they looked perfect, they tasted perfect. My favorite of the three was the duck with the foie gras.

Worth the wait.

Chicago, day one.

I've come to the realization that I love Chicago... I love NYC (MORE), but I can say I really love Chicago.
After Calumet Fisheries we made our way to Ann's apartment, as Michelle unpacked I took a much needed nap. A few hours later we decided to go out for deep dish "pizza". In my opinion there is no debating who has the best pizza, (New York reigns supreme in that area). I don't consider deep dish "pizza", therefore why compare it to the classic NY style. IT'S GOOD, don't get me wrong... but I believe if you can't fold it, it aint pizza! I have found Chicago-ins feel as passionate about their pizza as any New Yorker... when we stopped in at a local bar Michelle asked the barkeep to recommend "the best" deep dish in Chicago, sure enough we received a roar of different opinions from everyone within earshot. Burt's Place, Gino's East, Uno, and Due were all debated over. We ended up at Lou Malnati's, a Chicago institution (and a chain). The "pizza" was good, however I feel a lot more research needs to be done in this area. :)

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Chicago, Calumet Fisheries






Calumet Fisheries is located on Chicago's south side, right below the Skyway Bridge. It was featured on Anthony Bourdain's (my culinary hero) episode on Chicago. They specialize in smoked treats from the local waters and not so local (the salmon is from Canada).

As we parked the bike I noticed all these faces staring at us through the window. I was thinking "what the F are all these people looking at ??". Needless to say we were both a bit road weary and cranky from riding in the rain that morning.... when riding rain drops feel like little needles on your face, not fun. ANYWAY, as we walked in the man behind the counter said to me "do me a favor... say TARTER SAUCE"... I grinned knowing EXACTLY what he was getting at (NY license plate). So in my best New YAWK accent (with a hint of Long Island) I said "TARDA SAWCE". Everyone laughed. My mood changed instantly.

We met Carlos, the beautifully obese man behind the counter. He greeted us with a sample of their smoked shrimp and asked if we were friends of Anthony Bourdain. Regardless he treated us like we were VIP's. Imediatley we asked for recomendations. "Anthony had the smoked trout, but I recommend the salmon"... we took Carlos' recomendation. Afterall he has been working there for 13 years and by the look of him probably knows a few things about the joy of food.

I can't emphasize enough, the smoked fish is AMAZING!!! We had the fried smelts and the recommended smoked salmon with garlic and peppercorn. We sat curbside (you won't find tables and chairs) and ate like the ravenous little travelers we were, tearing apart huge chucks of smoked fish with our hands. We dipped the fried smelts in hot sauce, eating them bones and all. They were perfect, not greasy at all. Afterwards Carlos gave us a tour of the smoker and we discussed the process. He was extremely knowledgable and proud of the product they produce, he seemed to really love what he does. I found him to be very inspiring.

Sidenotes: I asked Carlos if could buy a baseball hat so I could "represent" (they sell t-shirts and hats). He gave it to me "on the house". I love this place!!!

The drawbridge in the background was featured in the film "The Blues Brothers". There is a scene in the movie were they jumped the bridge to get away from the cops. There are original pictures from the 70's documenting the stunt coordination, along with the cast. The walls of the shop illustrate all of their acknowledgments and history through the years.

Afterwards, we followed the GPS to Ann's apartment (more like a palace, this place is HUGE!!) in the Wicker Park section, north west of where we were. The GPS had us driving through some of the more "scenic" neighborhoods of Chicago's notorious "South Side". I had no idea you could push all of your living room furniture onto the sidewalk when you host a BBQ?! At everylight we were met with confused stares.. I even think I heard someone say "WHAT THE F' ARE YOU DOING IN THIS NEIGHBORHOOD". One driver next to us offered Michelle a 40oz... Another commented about our "face masks" asking if we were WHITE... Oh sweet South Side, I will always remember you as the "murder capital of the US".

Monday, June 8, 2009

suiting up for rain




the stone

...or part of it at least!


view from the back




lucky weather


roadsters


Applebees, Sandusky Ohio

What a great day. We had some incredible weather right after we left
Wellsboro. Rolling hills, a warm breeze, and beautiful scenery. About
2 hours into the ride the rain drops started to fall. We pulled over,
suited up in our rain gear, got back on the bike for literally 2
minutes... then the sun came out. We took all local roads today,
traffic was non existent. I shut off the GPS and just drove west. I
have no idea how we ended up in Sandusky. We had roughly 12 hours of
riding today, zig zagging north and south. Funny enough there's some
motorcycle fest here in Sandusky (Ohio bike week). The place is
overrun with Harleys. The more Harleys I see the more I feel they all
look the same. Doesn't mean I would pass up an opportunity to test
ride one. I'm just saying where is the individuality? And why so f'ing
loud? I get the concept of loud pipes "saving lives" and all, but is
it necessary that I feel like my bowels are going to explode everytime
one rumbles by?? seriously.
Tomorrows forecast does not look good. I'm really hoping the rain
passes, if not I guess we'll be right back here at Applebees blogging
and throwing back shots of tequila. We'll always have that, Sandusky.
And yes, Applebees is the best this place has to offer.... god how we
tried!

Here is a list of things we have experienced over the last few days,
not in any particular order; michelle accurately compared us to the
Griswalds.

While riding Michelle was stung by a bee (twice). I had a bee in my
beard
. The bees are crazy here. Michelle's lip started to look weird,
allergic reaction? There are dead bug guts over EVERYTHING!! The
carnage is unbelievable.

Some crazy old drunk guy kissed michelle's hand, and then proceeded to
apologize to me. Chilvary is alive and well in Sandusky. He was
talking to himself the entire night.

We befreinded a lovely older couple from Scranton, PA. They are
motorcyle enthusiasts. They think Obama is a Muslim and a Terrorist.

I finally came face to face with my kidney stone. In a diner restroom
urinal, it literally shot out with a "ping" against the porcelain
wall. I fished it out for evaluation with my bare hands (pictures to
follow).