Best ride of 2013

For some of us the riding season is coming to an end. So I was wondering if anyone out there want to share their best/memorable ride for 2013.
Thanks folks.

 

All my rides are memorable but Death Valley ride cannot be forget cause it put a permanent mark on me
Enjoy
http://vfrworld.com/forums/showthre...g-Explore-Death-Valley?highlight=Death+Valley

 

Well, this one certainly is not the longest or most epic ride. Others like Scuba and Derstuka certainly have a handle on those, but this is one of the most memorable rides for me this year. Any ride on the bike with my son Liam is a good one, but this one sticks out for both of us. It was my sons first real ride in the rain. For an experience I was certain he was not going to enjoy, when I took off his helmet, he had THEE biggest poop eating grin I have EVER seen on his face. Was great fun.

http://vfrworld.com/forums/showthread.php/42770-The-Son(ny)-Okanagan-Ride

 

Thanks for the invite boss out:

 

Chomper, Kingsley, Jasonsmith and I went down to Washington, Oregon and back for three days in September. It was a great trip. But then, all the rides I have been on with these guys have been great. But none compare with my retirement tour in 2012. If you are interested: http://vfrworld.com/forums/showthre...-of-a-Canuck?highlight=adventures+of+a+canuck But it does not count for 2013.

 

What about ride to northern nv for steak and beers????

 

Again, what about ride to norther nv for steak and beers?

 

unfortunately no good rides this year,broke the elbow in July,but really enjoyed scoob, toe,derstuka and reg and bruce stopping by for dinner,beers and shit talking. epic ridesnext season I hope.

 

Crawling up the ass end of a CBR900 on the twisties coming over the mountain on route 211 north of Shendendoah, VA this summer. 211 is short but a FANTASTIC ride. Scraping the pegs on all the tight turns.

Eating the squid's lunch in the corners was icing on the cake~

 

Oh yeah.......:congratulatory: our ride to Reno was aaaaaaawesome :thumbsup:

 

It was Brian not Bruce Fix it for you boss
ound:

 

It was freaking COLD that morning ride 28° :hss:

 

Sorry to hear. Hope fro many rides next season Mr. Fresncoma !

 

My most memorable ride this riding season wasn't actually on my VFR800 Nookiaz,but it was on Saturday August the 10th because that's the day my 2013 riding season started this year.
My VFR800 "Jokermobile" project is on indefinite hold and I'm currently in the middle of a ground-up restoration on "The Pizza Wagon" my Ducati 900SS. That leaves only my RC51 to ride.

Last summer on a particularly smarmy hot and humid 95+ degree day my buddy Pez and I were out filling "the need for speed" bombing through the twisties out in the wide open undulating lush green farmlands of south central Wisconsin when we pulled into a gas station in the town of Mineral Point to gas up and slug back a cold bottle of Gatoraid.
After gassing up my bike I walked it up to the station and parked it on the asphalt apron in front of the building and then went in to pay for the gas. When I came out I grabbed the road map out of the storage space under the tail cover on my bike and walked over to the gas pumps where my buddy Pez was hard at work cleaning bugs off the dark smoke windscreen of "Angry Monkey" his all Gloss Black '05 Ducati 999S pride and joy.
I handed him a bottle of Gatoraid,spread the map out on the ground,and began to plan out our next route of attack when I heard a loud crash behind me. Turned around to see my RC51 laying on it's left side spilling gasoline all over the parking apron.
Kick stand sunk into the hot asphalt and the bike fell over. :doh:

To be honest it was my fault,shoulda known better than to park the bike on hot asphalt without using the kickstand pad that I always carry with me. The left side mirror and Pazzo clutch lever were toast but the frame protectors did their job for the most part,only a small scratch on the tail section and a good scuff on the headlight fairing.
I wasn't bummed at all about the bike falling over,in fact I kinda looked at it as the kick in the ass that I needed to get to work.
I never did care all that much for the original Silver and Red AMA paint scheme that Honda used on the RC51. From the first time I saw it I really liked the 25th Anniversary RWB paint scheme that the Repsol Honda MOTOGP bikes used in 2006 in Valencia Spain and I knew that someday I was going to use it on one of my bikes.

What we did on my RC51 was not an exact copy of that paint scheme though. We used a bit more Red and a little less Blue in our design. The bright Cardinal Red just looks super nice against the pure White background and although you can't see it in my pics there is a fair bit of flake in the paint on the Blue stripe that steals just enough of the thunder away from the Red to balance out the overall paint scheme.
I saw a coupla cheap Chinese RC51 fairing kits on Ebay that mimicked the MOTOGP paint scheme but they moved the Red and Blue racing stripes to the center of the bike which gives the paint scheme a more traditional Can-Am sort of look to it that I liked. On the MOTOGP bikes those stripes are offset to the right side of the bike,which to my eye looks kinda wonky. We also did away with all the small sponsorship decals for a cleaner less cluttered look.

We work slooooow around here so it took all winter and almost all summer this year to paint and get the details just right. While I was at it I ditched the heavy stock RC51 rims and picked up a set of light-weight forged Aluminum Carrozzeria Tri-R rims.
Bright and early on Saturday morning August the 10th I rolled "The Diesel" (might hafta rename her "Captain America" now) out of the garage and into the daylight for the first time this summer and took these pics that you see here. Then I quickly donned my riding gear and proceeded to head out post-haste to the forested rolling hills in the scenic Wisconsin countryside to make up for lost time. Whoo Hoo!!! :whoo:

My friend I cannot tell you what a joy it was to be out riding and twisting the throttle in anger on that beast again!
I stayed out all day and all night until the wee hours of Sunday morning. Came home hot,sweaty,and more than a bit tired but had the biggest sh#t-eating grin on my face that you couldn't wipe off with a hammer and chisel.

Sadly though my 2013 riding season temporarily came to an abrupt end on Wednesday August the 14th. Apparently the RC51 uses the exact same spastic Regulator/Rectifier that's used on the 6th gen. VFR800's.

Anybody out there in VFR-land wanna take a wild guess as to what happened to the charging system on my RC51? :lol:

That was my most memorable ride this riding season Nookiaz. Shame I didn't get to share it with my buddy Pez though,but that's another story......












Just for reference Nookiaz here's a pic of the original Repsol Honda 25th Anniversary 2006 MOTOGP paint scheme.

 

Had a nice chill ride along Lake St. Clair/River with my friend from work not too long ago.

http://vfrworld.com/forums/showthread.php/43618-Lake-St-Clair-Ride?highlight=st+clair

But probably the most epic ride for me this year was my very first on the VFR when I picked it up from Grand Rapids and rode it back across the state 3 hours in the rain...a nice baptism if you will :biggrin1:

 

Thank you all for sharing your stories ! Mine I guess is just like Mr. Mlap5150, the day I picked mine up from the dealer this year ('bout an hour ride from home) & rode it back on the highway with steady crosswind & 50km/hr gusts. I had to lean the bike into the wind to keep from being blown off into the left lane ! And it was my 1st time back on a motorcycle since 2005 ! Quite a ride back home I must say. My friend who was following me in his car said I has serious lean angles, for going straight !

And Mr. Stoshmonster that RC51 is such a sweet ride! I always wanted to own a HRC bike! RC30's and RC45's are rare & pricey. RC51's are more easier to find & more accessible than I thought , as I have seen recently on Quebec & Ontario kijijis. And what is that lever (marked with "oh-shiiit") on the left hand grip for? Brakes ?

 

Yep.

That's a thumb brake,it allows me to actuate the rear brake with my left thumb.
It's kinda handy! :spit: