BORN TO RIDE

Welcome And Hello Friends !
I started riding motorcycles when my dad helped me buy my first motorcycle, a Honda trail 70. I moved up to the 100 then the 125 and so on... I rode all through high school , college, and when I was in the military it was a form of escape when I was home and not on assignment. When I left the military my whole life changed. I went to work for an airline. Very shortly after that I met Karen at work and we married 2 months later. WOW, that was fast but we have been together ever since. I stopped riding for about 10 years ; I just had so many things going and at the time none of my friends rode. When we moved back to Tx. that all changed. I met some new friends. One of those friends was Byron. At the time he had a Honda Shadow. When he bought a newer Shadow he gave me ( yes, he gave it to me ) his older one to take home and ride whenever I please. We had nick-named it Black Beauty. I shared Black Beauty with another friend of mine ( Mark ). We both would ride her and shortly afterward his wife ( Martha ) started to ride Black Beauty too. Well one day Mark and I were out hanging around and we decided to go to the Yamaha dealership to kill some time and look around. Well as I sat on one bike and Mark on the other, I heard the words " I'll Take It " come out of his mouth. I first looked over with surprise ( so did the salesman ), then I thought to myself "shit I'm in trouble"! I'd always told Mark that if he bought one I'd buy one and I knew Karen was going to kill me. So I did the only manly thing I could think of, I looked over at the salesman and said, "I'll take this one". Yes, I was in trouble when I got home but later Karen became very understanding to my love of bikes and riding. Since that day three and a half years ago I have owned five new bikes. Mark has owned four and his wife Martha has owned two in the same time span. And our latest bikes were just purchased last week at a Yamaha dealership. Once again I had no intentions of buying a new bike. I was just going for support with Mark to the dealership. Next thing I knew, we both were riding down the freeway on our new bikes. Yes Im still married ! I think every man should have a wife like Karen. She's the best!

Black Beauty.....................Yamaha Vstar 650...................Yamaha Warrior

This Pic was taken down in the Hill Country just west of Austin Tx. On Route335. If you have never been to Tx. and your passing through. Routs 337, 336, and 335 are some of the greatest roads Tx. has to offer. Come back next week and I'll have more Pics and stories.

ELIO

MY NEW RIDE !
Yes, it happened again. I was going for support with my friend Mark to look at this new bike he was thinking of getting. He wanted to ride his motorcycle there just in case he decided to trade his in for the new bike. So off we went. He was on his Venture and I was on my Warrior. As we arrived at the dealership they had his bike out front ready to take for a test ride ( he had called them ahead to let them know he was wanting to test drive it ). The bike looked really good out in the sun light. It was a pearl white color and in the sun the pearl paint really stands out. I even thought it was nice! And Mark and I have different taste in motorcycles. As we were pulling up and saw his bike outside, right next to his bike was another new bike. It was also pearl white with tons of chrome on it. The combination of chrome and White Pearl Paint shining in the sun was just too much for me. As soon as I got off my bike I went straight over to it by- passing Mark's bike that we had come to see. I was giving it a good look over. She was a brand new line and design for Yamaha. They designed her with a retro look to match some 30s, 40s, and 50s styles. I could not believe all the chrome she had on her. The more I looked the more I liked. All the sudden I heard Mark say, " What are you doing? We're here to look at my bike" ( referring to the one he was thinking of getting ). I said,"I know , I know" and I went to look over his bike. As we were looking over his bike the salesman came out to greet us. He said, " She's ready to go; here's the keys. " I interrupted the salesman and asked ," What is this bike? " He explained it was the new RoadLiner S and it was a new design for them. As Mark prepared to take his bike for a test drive the salesman asked me if I wanted to take the Road Liner for a test drive. I thought about it and just said, " NO. " As Mark was off on his test drive the salesman asked me if I wanted to sell my Warrior. I said, " not really." He said, " What if I can give you a good price on it?" I said, " you let me know what your willing to give for it." So he went in- side and later came out with an offer. I said I needed more than that. His second offer... well I couldn't pass up. By this time Mark was back from his test drive. So he and I went on a second test drive with him on his bike and I took the Road Liner. WOW, I shouldn't have done it. I fell in love with the bike. And the Road Liner is not the normal type of bike that I would be intrested in. But it just felt great. Had the the power I would like in a cruiser ( 1900 cc). Handling, it's no sport bike; but for a cruiser it did great. The only thing I wish the tank was a little bigger but don't we all. Yamaha says it will get close to 200 miles to the tank. It only holds 4.5 gallons . But I guess if I get 40 or more miles to the gallon on her I will be happy. The Warrior had a 4 gallon tank and at 120 miles I was almost out of gas. So this would be somewhat of an improvement. Her polished rims are beautiful. Her big headlight will take some getting used to but it has somewhat grown on me already. At night it lights the street like a car. The pipe is somewhat quiet until you get on the gas, then it comes to life with a little deep louder tone ( but not anything like the Warrior ). I have orderd a windshield, saddle bags and back rest for it. Unfortunately it wont be until Dec. or Jan. that they will be available. The funny part was when I called Karen to tell her I had bought a new bike she was very understanding ONCE AGAIN !. So there we were two friends just going to the motorcycle dealership to check out a bike and a couple of hours later we are both heading home with TWO new bikes. It's also funny that our bikes are the same color. So, okay you Harley friends of mine I know it's not a HOG and Hogs are all you guys think about, but hey, it's still a motorcycle. Who knows maybe one day I will come home with a new Hog. Anyway I can't wait to get out and start riding it. I'll close with a few more pics of the bike. Just to let you know, she looks good in the pics. But she lookes even better in person. And as soon as Mark gives me some pics of his new bike I will post them here too.
ELIO

Fredericksburg Tx. Ride
It started out with the largest group of riders we've had on our annual fall weekend ride. The date was set for the 7 -9th of October. The whole week they had been saying the weather was going to be sunny, clear skies, and temps in the 70s ( who could ask for more ). Well, come Friday morning Checo ( my cousin ) showed up at my house at 6am. We were going to be meeting up with friends at 7am, have some breakfast and then all of us ( half the group ) were going to be riding down to Fredericksburg about 6 hours away ( we took the long way ). When we opened the garage doors it was still dark outside but no rain ( WOO HOO I thought ). But as I was getting the bikes ready ( Checo was going to be riding my Warrior ) Checo said," hey, you do know its raining in south Dallas." I thought and hoped he was kidding. He wasn't! You all know how it goes: you spend the whole day before getting your bike to look good before the trip and Murphy's Law hits ! Yes, we had rain all the way down and it was a cold rain. By the time we made it to Lano, Tx. for some GOOD BBQ at Coopers ( the best in Tx. ) we were so cold and wet. After eating we hung out by ther fire pits for about a good half hour just trying to warm up and dry out some. Most of us had rain gear but a couple of riders didn't ( crazy ). Lucky for us all we were only an hour or so away from Fredericksburg.

Here in this pic we had pulled over to warm up a bit and to ask how far it was to the next gas station ! From left to right : Valerie, Mike, Russell, Rusty, Billy And Checo. Valerie and Mike are married and I must say," Mike, you did good ! " Through the rain, the cold and ... Valerie hung in there and never complained. And as you can see Billy, Russell, and Checo had no rain gear. And by the way the rain gear Rusty has on is mine. My bike had a lot more protection from the rain then his did so I let him use my gear. Rusty you still owe me ! ( LOL ). I bet by the next trip they will have some rain gear. So after Coopers we headed out to Fredericksburg. It was just over one hour away and we were all looking forward to a hot shower. Fredericksburg is a great town with some of Texas' twistiest roads. But it also has one of the highest populations of deer. Most of all the motorcycle deer strikes in Texas are in the Hill Country. Routes 337, 336, and 335 are a motorcyclist's play ground.
Lucky for us the next day (Saturday) was just great. You couldn't ask for better weather and we had 13 bikes and 15 riders going down the road. We did lose one of the Gold Wing riders but we pulled over and I went back. I found him about 10 miles back. He was the last one to get gas at the station and... well we just left him ( MY BAD ). But we got back to the group and on we went. It was a great ride. Sean and I were up front with Russell behind us most of the time. And the rest of the group behind him. We stopped at Mama Chole's, a mexican food restaurant. The food was good and the service was friendly and fast. They are a very biker friendly place and I recommend them if you're ever in Leaky, Tx. After we pigged out we all headed up Route 336 ( route 337 takes you into Leaky ). It wasn't more then 30 min. into route 336 that I hit a deer on my Honda St1300. And I still don't know how Sean missed the one that crossed in front of him. But I got his friend as both deer came running ( more like hauling ass ) across the road right in front of Sean and me. Luckily I was able to keep control of my bike. The deer hit me just in front of my left leg and the left side of the faring and then he just shattered my left hard shell saddle bag. I had the street covered with stuff: plastics, sweater, camera ( yes, my camera was in there too ), a half -moon helmet, and ... Russell said he had a hard time missing all the stuff in the road as he was coming up behind us. All said and done there was $2,100 worth of damage to the bike, but the bike was still rideable so we just pressed on.

The rest of the ride went without a hitch except for Russel's licence plate getting sucked up between his rear tire and the fender. But we got that fixed in no time. We all made it back to town with no more problems. Later we all enjoyed an evening out in the town. The next morning we all packed up and headed out to Enchanted Rock. We all kind of took different ways there. Checo and I took the long way. The girls , well they took another way and Henry and Sean and the rest took another way. But we all made it there just the same. As you can see from some of the pics. it was a very nice place to ride. And as you can also see by some of the pics. "Bambi "can be around every corner. When we got to Enchanted Rock , some of use climbed it. Afterword we all headed up to Lano again for some more BBQ. To my surprise almost everyone rode back most of the way. It was a great time like always. And everyone came back safe. It was a great group of riders and we all had a memorable time.

I hope you guys enjoy the pics and the short story. If you would like to add to it just let me know and I will update it.

ELIO