[Keith]

I caught Don

 

[fastbike]

I'll probably ride up to BCM on Saturday. Will try to remember some pics. Also doing the BCM 2 Valves and Virgins track day on Wed. Will definitely have some pics to post.

 

[Keith]

I did get a couple hundred miles of riding in this weekend. No long trips, just headed out for several hours at a time.

The highlight was on Saturday. I was turning onto Route 78 South in New Hampshire to head back into Massachusetts. I turned right in front of a flock of about 8 sport bikes (I had the right of way).

I managed to keep a good pace on the 620. I had to pass a couple of cages and the bikes followed me. Was cutting some nice apexes, doing all that Keith Code ****. I thought the sport bikes would get squidly on me and try to pass me on the double yellow but they never did. Good riders. We rode for about 10 miles then split up. I can say that the Monster 620 can definitely ride like a sport bike when called upon. Lots of fun.

Sunday my wife rode her first miles on the street since 1997. She did really well until it came time to park it in a small area. She made a sharp left turn and the engine revs picked up (the fast idle cable was misrouted or not adjusted by the dealership - so the idle cable pulls on the throttle during a full left hand lock turn). She freaked out, target fixated, forgot to pull in the clutch and went straight off the parking lot, buried the front wheel in some soft sand and ditched it. She was fine but the bike had a smashed left mirror, cracked right mirror and a dimple sized dent in the gas tank.

I took the bike back to the dealer today (Valley Motorsports in Northampton) and got them to fix the fast idle cable. I told them about the mirrors but the owner was not too responsive about replacing them. He did take charge of the bike and got the cable fixed within a matter of minutes though. I found some mirrors locally so the bike looks none the worse for wear.

Anyone else ride?

 

[Sapper]

I met about 25 other Marines from Leatherneck Motorcycle Club International (LMCI) in Topsfield, MA. We rode north on Rte 1 and 1A to Hampton, NH, where we had lunch at O'Leary's. I was the only non-cruiser in the pack. One of the guys asked why I brought my "rice rocket," which is funny, since he rides a Honda VTX1800. I told him to f- off, dammit, it's a pasta rocket!
I saw a Dark Monster pass by O'Leary's while we were eating. He was moving with a group of sportbikes. Anyone here? Our pack of bikes was parked on the W side of the road at the restaurant.
Great weather. Tonight I took my fiance out for ice cream when I got home - who needs dinner, anyway?