Back Road

Something I’ve discovered in the last year or two is that backroads are fun! There isn’t much traffic. They also tend to be old roads. When they were build they didn’t move as much earth, so the high points weren’t leveled, the low point weren’t filled and they weren’t configured into straight lines. 

Here is an example of one such ride. Begin at Eastern Park in Brewer (S. Main St). Go south and turn left (east) on Elm St, then turn right on Mill St and go out beyond Pine Hill Golf Club. Continue to Brewer Lake Road then take a right on Long Hill Road and go up the long hill. At the intersection with Center Road hang a left, then bear left again on East Bucksport Road. This will take you into the heart of Bucksport.

Alternatively you could have simply continued south on South Main Street (route 15) out of Brewer and wound up at the same place. Route 15 is also fun to ride, but it doesn’t hold a candle to the back roads. 

Take US 1 across the bridge to Verona Island and continue across Penobscot Narrows Bridge. As you get off the bridge, take a right on route 174 (aka Fort Knox Rd) over to Prospect, then turn right on US 1A and continue to Winterport. These are all fun roads. To make ride back to Bangor more interesting, turn left on route 139 in Winterport and continue 2/3 of a mile where you bear right on Coles Corner Rd. At Coles Corner, you’ll not notice, it becomes Back Winterport Rd. Continue into Hampden and turn right on Kennebec Road. After one eighth of a mile turn left on Mayo Road followed but a left at the intersection with Western Avenue (aka 202). Go approximately 1 mi and turn right on Emerson Mill Road. As you follow this road it will become Odlin Road then eventually Maine Avenue. When it hits route 222 (Union Street) turn left. Stop at Nicky’s Crusin Diner for refreshments. 

The alternative would have been to continue north on US 1A in Winterport all the way to Bangor, then turn left on 222 (Union Street) and go to Nicky’s. Straighter roads, more traffic, less fun. 

I rode this route yesterday and it’s just about 48 miles. The pavement was all good, some of it brand spanking new. The only hassle was minor gravel on the roads at a few of the intersections, so exercise caution. This is a great alternative route. Try it, you'll like it. 

Fried Clams

There comes a time when a stupid and futile gesture is require, and I'm just the man for the job. With my better half working on Mother's Day, and with it being the nicest day we've had since early last October, I thought it made sense to ride the bike to New Brunswick for some fried clams.

I mounted the beast and joined my buddy Duane for an excursion into Atlantic Canada. We headed east across "The Airline", state route 9. Except for a few stretches with some horrendous frost heaves and potholes, the road was good. It seemed that the 55 mph speeds limit signs were just there for looks as the rate of travel was a pretty good pace.

Few people were using the border crossing into Canada which made things easy. Thirty minutes later we were ordering our lunch.
The clams were just as good as the last time I was there, perhaps a decade ago. We zipped back to Bangor across the Airline rather than exploring other routes. All in all a very good day!

Bangor Motor Sports

.... hosted a group ride on Thursday after they got out of work at 6PM. The route was Bangor to Etna to Stetson to Levant and back to a light dinner at Nicky's Diner on Union Street. Aside from a few horrendous frost heaves on 222 near Stetson it was a pretty good ride.

Only ten bikes participated, two two-up. As the sun got lower in the sky a few participants buggered off as they were getting chilly. It was there loss. The owner of BMS picked up the tab for the dinner of all participants. Class act right there!

I look forward to another one in two weeks.

Snatchy Throttle

That's the term used by Triumph Bonneville's, Thruxtons, and Scamblers use to describe the uneven throttle response, particularly in low gears, unique to all of these models. It's said to be the result of an air injection system required but the EU. Supposedly it  makes a minuscule improvement engine emissions but is extremely annoying to the rider. In addition to the snatchy response, it causes extreme bluing of the exhaust pipes and back fires on down shifts.

I just got my Bonnie back from Bluin Performance Center where they removed the air injection system and remapped the electronic fuel injections. The results are amazing. No throttle snatch! No backfiring! The bike is definitely more responsive, I hope I don't get a ticket! To top it all off it produces a more pleasant exhaust note!

Fort Knox

Saturday Duane and I shot down to Bucksport for a snack at the Harbor View Restaurant. The waitress told me the Snickers Pie was low cal and I chose to believe her. Duane's Sprint GT is soon to be replaced by a Trophy. I guess he'll take Cap's place as my sidekick.

We switched bikes in Hampden and I took the Sprint as far as the Penobscot Narrows Bridge. I really enjoyed the response of the 1050 triple and the chain drive on that bike. Sweet! The aggressive riding position doesn't fit me very well, but it wasn't as bad as I expected. I could manage with the standard seating on a 1050 Tiger or Speed Triple just fine!
On the down side was state route 46. It is usually a joy but the frost wasn't yet out of the ground and the frost heave were horrendous. I'll give 46 a few more weeks before I go back!

An ounce of prevention ......

I picked up a tire repair plug kit for tubeless motorcycle tires today. Do you think it will prevent all future punctures?

Arctic Brigade

To hell with this endless winter baloney. If you give into winter you're just a quitter. As temperatures blasted into the low 40s, I and two compadres decided we'd had enough and we ventured out into the "semi-arctic" conditions. Jim has recently sold his Bonneville, sacrilege, and is interested in a hooligan bike of epic proportions. This led to the brilliant idea of ride to Augusta by way of Oakland. We postponed our departure by an hour because the radar suggested snow and freezing rain would be encountered en route.

With the one hour delay we had no issues except wet roads, rare ice and sand and gravel. The Oakland dealership was well stocked with Honda and Suzuki motorcycles. Jim and George dutifully perused them and I urinated in the upstairs bathroom. Then on to Blouin Performance center in Augusta. After a cup of coffee and quite a bit of gawking, I took a Tiger 1050 (used) out for a ride. Quite a machine. Considerably lighter than my Bonneville and significantly more horsepower. Let's face it, it was a beast.

Jim rode a brand spankin' new Street Triple that weighs 400 pound fully loaded with gas and oil that peaks out at 105 horsepower. Yikes. I'm not sure it was enough as he wants a go on a Speed Triple. Double yikes. Alas it will have to be the next visit because with temperatures falling it was time to head home. We blasted up the interstate and arrive home as the wet roads were turning to black ice, just in time!

Endless Winter

Today is March 6 which by my calculations is only 14 days away from the first day of Spring. For the last week our high temperatures have been running about 15° below average and the low temperatures have been below zero, cold even by January standards. These frigid temperatures have caused extensive frost heaving of road surfaces and potholes are the worst I’ve ever seen. We have a considerable snow pack and because of all the snow the roads are covered with a not so thin layer of sand, gravel and salt. The National Weather Service is predicting significantly colder than average temperatures for March.

This begs the question, will there be a motorcycle riding season this year. If one uses logic, the answer of course is yes. However empirical evidence doesn’t support that conclusion. Cabin fever is at an all time high. 

The Streak Extended

We've had a particularly cold winter here on the frozen tundra of central Maine. In early December I was lucky and got in a short ride which meant that I'd ridden at least one time for 59 consecutive months. Some think I'm crazy. Though I had been obsessive about the streak in the past, I decided only to push on if a genuine opportunity arose.
The cold was brutal from mid December onwards. I mean old fashioned, I walked to school barefoot, up hill both ways in the snow cold. The one exception was the January thaw but the problem was abundant water, salt and sand on the roads. Not a genuine opportunity.
The real McCoy opportunity presented itself on the final day of January. Though cloudy with temperatures in the mid-30s, the roads were clear. So I uncovered "the Bonnie", unplugged the battery tender and fired her up. The ride was only about 4 miles around Veazie which pretty much covers the town. The tanks was cold on my thighs and without the windscreen it was cold on the chest and neck. But it was a legitimate ride and the streak was extended to 60 consecutive months.
The weather on February 1 was pretty much a carbon-copy of January 31, and so was the ride!
61 consecutive months!

January Thaw

After a brutally cold December, we just experienced the "January Thaw". To the best of my knowledge no temperature records were broken but we lost most of the snow and even the ice from the December ice storm.

With temperatures in the 40's it was very tempting to get out the motorbike and take a January ride. Water, sand and salt on the roads deterred me and my once-a-month riding streak going back to February '09 might be broken. Temperatures are taking a significant turn for the worse, unless you like snowmobiling or ice fishing in which case it would be a turn for the better. Back to the frozen Arctic tundra of central Maine with snow falling even as I write. No potential riding weather in the foreseeable future.

The melting snow and warm temperatures provided a window that enabled me to get my trailer out to the pavement. This had one very positive benefit. Douglas and I loaded his Bonneville onto the trailer and took it to Augusta and thus out of my garage. He's been looking for an opportunity have the folks at  Blouin Performance Center install some hardware.

The other plus was that we got to look at bikes. Douglas liked this one! What do you think?