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So I figured it was a good time to give this blog writing a go. So let me start at the beginning.

I used to ride dirt bikes a lot. I still love them I just don't have as much time to ride them and my buddy that I would ride with is over 7 hours away now. So in 1999 I bought a new 2000 Honda Shadow VLX 600. Outside of riding the dirt bikes I had never ridden a street bike before. I lived in Ohio at the time and where I bought the bike was an hour from my home so I had to ride, for the first time mind you, on the 275 bypass around Cincinnati. Not the best place to learn how to ride and I was scared to death on the way home but I made it and thus started the fun of just riding. In 2002 I sold the bike because my wife became pregnant with our second child. I hated to do it but at the time it seemed like the best thing to do.

Well, this month was the month for me to get back into riding. I had been doing some research and pricing and was set on getting a Honda VTX 1300C. I went in to buy one and as I sat on it and started looking at price it was not looking so good. It just happened that the dealer had two 2007 Honda Shadow Spirits. One was a candy red with flames and the other was black. I really liked the black one but unfortunately it had a sold sign on it. I mentioned to the salesman that I really liked the black one but it was sold and he said I don't think it is. He talked to another salesman and it turns out a lady was in on Tuesday and said she would buy it but had not been back in to do so. This was Friday so they decided to sell it and I bought it. I am really glad I got the 750 instead of the 1300. I think the 1300 would have been to much bike for me at this point. The Shadow Spirit has great looks and is really comfortable but also very easy to control. And to be honest, how can you go wrong with black and chrome? So I took it home and am really enjoying riding again.

So that is my story to here. My plans now are to read Proficient Motorcycling and also take the MSF course. All this to make myself a better and safer motorcyclist.

Well, I am off tomorrow and if the weather is nice I am planning on taking the bike out and breaking it in some more. Here is the planned route.



This route starts and ends in Jackson, TN where I live. I am really looking forward to riding through Natchez Trace. I will do a write up of how the trip was when I get back.

Well I got out and did the route. I had a really good time. The ride through Natchez Trace was awesome, getting there was not so great. 412 is an awful road to drive and going through Lexington was a nightmare. Once I got out of Lexington though it was great. The twists and tuns were a lot of fun and gave me a lot of practice on proper turning. The only couple issues I had was I didn't dress well enough and the trip was a little long for me. The temp was around 68 degrees but the wind was cold. As for the length, it would have been nice if it was about 30 minutes to an hour shorter.

I did get to see some really neat things. I saw two deer in Natchez Trace. I was honking my horn were I saw them hoping that no more were around. I also came across two turkeys. I have only seen wild turkeys a couple times and it was pretty awesome.

It was a great trip, I can't wait to plan the next one!

Well, a lot has happened since my last post. In November of last year we moved from TN to Muncie Indiana. It is a bit of a climate change for sure. It took a little longer to get the bike out because it has been so cold. Things are starting to change now and it has been nice to get out and ride. I had a meeting yesterday about 45 minutes from my house so I took the Shadow. It was wonderful. I put around 75 miles on the bike yesterday. Now I am planning on doing some riding Friday when I am off.

I was off today so I got out and did some riding. I decided to ride to Noblesville Indiana. This is about an hour and a half from Muncie where I live. There is a Honda shop there so I thought I would go and check it out. It was a nice ride there. The Cruise Control I installed made such a huge difference while riding. I took 332 out of Muncie and then got on 128. I took it to 37 which headed right into Noblesville. While I was at Noblesville Honda I got to see the Fury. It really looks a lot better in person than it does in the commercials. THis place was also a Kawasaki dealer. They had and 09 Vulcan Nomad. WOW! I want that to be my next bike. It is really a nice ride.

After hanging out in Noblesville for a bit I headed north on 37 to Elwood. There I took 28 East to Alexandria. It was here that I hit 3000 miles on my bike.



From there I headed home. It was a wonderful day to ride.

Took off yesterday after work and headed to my in-laws for dinner. I was on the bike so the 52 mile round trip was going to be a nice ride. After I started off I noticed the front suspension felt a little mushy. I think mushy is the technical term for it. I noticed something that looked like oil on the right fork. Sure enough, I have busted a fork seal somehow. I called a Honda shop close to me and they quoted around $270 to replace both fork seals. I was going to use that money on a sissy bar for my wife but not now. Such is life I guess.

Well if you stop doing all those crazy wheelies it would definitely help!
Anyway if you have some technical knowledge then you can do it yourself including buying all of the necessary tools for much cheaper. About 20 bucks for the seals, another 20-30 for the oil (enough to fill both forks), 50 for the fork seal driver, and if you have absolutely nothing you'll need to buy a few sockets for the axle, and one or two allen wrenches for the pinch bolts.
So all told you can do it yourself for about 150 if you have to buy every tool, and conventional forks are easy to do.

Wrider wrote:Well if you stop doing all those crazy wheelies it would definitely help!
Anyway if you have some technical knowledge then you can do it yourself including buying all of the necessary tools for much cheaper. About 20 bucks for the seals, another 20-30 for the oil (enough to fill both forks), 50 for the fork seal driver, and if you have absolutely nothing you'll need to buy a few sockets for the axle, and one or two allen wrenches for the pinch bolts.
So all told you can do it yourself for about 150 if you have to buy every tool, and conventional forks are easy to do.

LOL! Wheelies, I was scared of wheelies when I had a dirt bike! LOL! As for doing it myself, I thought about seeing how much all that would cost, it does make me a little nervous though. We will see.

I don't know how I found it but it seems that Victory Motorcycle is doing demo days at the Victory dealer in Indianapolis. I am going to head down there today and check out the Victory's and ride a couple. Should be a fun day.

Wow what a day. I went to the demo ride and there were only a handful of people there. I got to ride a Victory Vision, Victory Kingpin 8-Ball and a Victory Vegas Low. Man, all these bikes were really nice. My favorite was the Kingpin 8-Ball. I am so glad I got to take advantage of it.

See you on the Adventure!