any other off-season riders out there?

[iceman]

John
1981/2 was the last bad winter over here but I was in a much much hotter climate at the time. Snow is rather like a policeman, you can never find one when you want one, but if you don't want one they are all over you like a rash!

WOW !!

[iceman]

The Seasons Of Your Life...

[tomtom]

..

[95SaxonTour]

John,

Im located in central PA. Often thought of moving up that way, but the
single digit winters and snow has kept those thoughts at bay. Man, your
Rt 100 and 106 are great riding roads in the summer. I always stop at
Eaton's Sugarhouse in Royalton for a five stack o' flapjacks.

My friend who has the MZ goes by the handle "Rider27" here and on the
ADV site. He's the one who turned me on to MZs.

Ever do any ice riding out on Lake Champlain?

Ryan

[iceman]

John,

Im located in central PA. Often thought of moving up that way, but the
single digit winters and snow has kept those thoughts at bay. Man, your
Rt 100 and 106 are great riding roads in the summer. I always stop at
Eaton's Sugarhouse in Royalton for a five stack o' flapjacks.

My friend who has the MZ goes by the handle "Rider27" here and on the
ADV site. He's the one who turned me on to MZs.

Ever do any ice riding out on Lake Champlain?

Ryan

Ryan,No ice riding on the lake yet !! A lot of years it doesn't freeze as it's 10 miles across You're right about the single digits and I love the roads up here...John
Here's a bunch of pictures I took today Tuesday 25/30 degrees..

[iceman]

Weather's getting better but it's supposed to snow the rest of the week so I got out today and it was nice.

[iceman]

[Spitfiregoggles]

Love the photos! The other hobby is model railroading both UK and NE US prototypes, your photos around (presumably) VT make me want to reach for the modelling tools! Is the Honda Hornet the 600 or the 900? I had a 600 about 7 years back; great fun in the twisties.
I've been an off-season rider up til last winter.....I broke my leg in a crash sept'08 and it still isn't quite right (but then it's the left leg so that may be the trouble ) I was laid up until december '08 and then had to roll around the garage floor fixing the kickstarter return spring on my ETZ so I could use the bike on my return to work. This winter '09/10 has been pretty bad by our (SE English) standards and was preceded by a pretty crappy autumn.....it seemed to rain for most of september/october/november!
Most people I know haven't ridden much since late august; I must admit that now I live 5 minutes walk from work there really isn't much incentive to ride there at 6am...........I guess I've maybe done only 3 or 400 miles this winter as opposed to the normal 2,000 or so, pretty pathetic really.
In mitigation I really haven't had much money , I wrecked my winter riding gear in the accident and couldn't afford replacement, the ETZs fork seals were blown and it needed a new front tyre......oh yeah and the train is free for me too and toasty warm!
However I DID go to a bike rally about 30 miles away on the 6th/7th feb........what a lovely weekend, daytime temp was around 6 or 7 celsius, I sat outside the tent, made a cup of tea on the saturday and watched the sunset.......only a small amount of ice inside the flysheet the next morning too!
The day after I came back it snowed again....BAH!
The money situation is a now LITTLE better; I've got the seals and tyre replaced , the snow is melted now so no more excuse, I must get out there........

[iceman]

Love the photos! The other hobby is model railroading both UK and NE US prototypes, your photos around (presumably) VT make me want to reach for the modelling tools! Is the Honda Hornet the 600 or the 900? I had a 600 about 7 years back; great fun in the twisties.
I've been an off-season rider up til last winter.....I broke my leg in a crash sept'08 and it still isn't quite right (but then it's the left leg so that may be the trouble ) I was laid up until december '08 and then had to roll around the garage floor fixing the kickstarter return spring on my ETZ so I could use the bike on my return to work. This winter '09/10 has been pretty bad by our (SE English) standards and was preceded by a pretty crappy autumn.....it seemed to rain for most of september/october/november!
Most people I know haven't ridden much since late august; I must admit that now I live 5 minutes walk from work there really isn't much incentive to ride there at 6am...........I guess I've maybe done only 3 or 400 miles this winter as opposed to the normal 2,000 or so, pretty pathetic really.
In mitigation I really haven't had much money , I wrecked my winter riding gear in the accident and couldn't afford replacement, the ETZs fork seals were blown and it needed a new front tyre......oh yeah and the train is free for me too and toasty warm!
However I DID go to a bike rally about 30 miles away on the 6th/7th feb........what a lovely weekend, daytime temp was around 6 or 7 celsius, I sat outside the tent, made a cup of tea on the saturday and watched the sunset.......only a small amount of ice inside the flysheet the next morning too!
The day after I came back it snowed again....BAH!
The money situation is a now LITTLE better; I've got the seals and tyre replaced , the snow is melted now so no more excuse, I must get out there........

Thanks and welcome to the site.I never leave for a ride without my camera and my music.Makes for a much better ride in my opinion !!
The Honda is a 919 over here in the US they had a car made by Chrysler called the hornet so they couldn't call it that.Trademark infringement and all even though that car hasn't been made since I was a kid many years ago.The Honda is my first inline four since 1973,Thought I would give one another shot and it can be a lot of fun.At first I wasn't crazy about it but a few mods later and I put on 5,000 miles in less than a year.
I had a laugh at your video explosion,my nephew was always looking at youtube and little did I know you can learn anything there.He would make smoke bombs learned from that site so now I controll his access to the www just so he doesn't end up in jail !!
So I would agree with you there's no time like the present to get the seals in and get back on the road.Just think about all the sunshine you will have this summer with all this global warming...OK bad example but in a decade or so you never know.

[comanche91]

Hey John,

I remember seeing that old mill somewhere. Is it out near Williston? Great pics!

[Spitfiregoggles]

Thanks and welcome to the site.I never leave for a ride without my camera and my music.Makes for a much better ride in my opinion !!
The Honda is a 919 over here in the US they had a car made by Chrysler called the hornet so they couldn't call it that.Trademark infringement and all even though that car hasn't been made since I was a kid many years ago.The Honda is my first inline four since 1973,Thought I would give one another shot and it can be a lot of fun.At first I wasn't crazy about it but a few mods later and I put on 5,000 miles in less than a year.
I had a laugh at your video explosion,my nephew was always looking at youtube and little did I know you can learn anything there.He would make smoke bombs learned from that site so now I controll his access to the www just so he doesn't end up in jail !!
So I would agree with you there's no time like the present to get the seals in and get back on the road.Just think about all the sunshine you will have this summer with all this global warming...OK bad example but in a decade or so you never know.

Thanks John,
I only found the site because Stogadog pointed me towards it, I'm fairly new to the internet thing so not too good at finding stuff yet
The site seems to be getting more activity which can only be a good thing.
The 600 Hornet has been very popular over here, the 900 (for some reason) less so.....don't see so many of them. I seem to recall they were expensive new, maybe that was it. I put around 5,000 miles on my blue 600 in the four months or so I had it then part-exed it for an 883R Sportster as I feared for my licence . I guess the problem was it was a little TOO much fun......and maybe I have poor throttle discipline (ahem).
Funny how the name thing doesn't seem such a problem here; Wolsely made a car called a Hornet as well, mind you that marque is long gone so I guess they couldn't sue anyway!
I sometimes take the camera, just a case of remembering to do so; I'm definitely going to try to get out there and take more photos in the coming months. It's been sunny here today but cold, I'm hoping the weather will be decent at the weekend as I am not working for a change. The last really belting summer we had was 2003, that's why the Honda got all those miles so quickly!
Not sure about music on the bike for me; the traffic levels and (lack of) driving standards in SE England need all my concentration....maybe for the longer trips though!
Ride safe,
Simon

[iceman]

Hey John,

I remember seeing that old mill somewhere. Is it out near Williston? Great pics!

Don,I think it was out in the Huntington area,but not quite sure as I get in a zone and just take any road I have never been on.That's a good road in my mind cause I never know what I will come across.

[comanche91]

Don,I think it was out in the Huntington area,but not quite sure as I get in a zone and just take any road I have never been on.That's a good road in my mind cause I never know what I will come across.

Okay - that makes sense. I used to ski at Camels Hump back in the day and that's probably how I remember it.

[iceman]

Don,
If it was in Williston it would now be a Wallmart,Best Buy,Chillies,Home Depot,Pet Smart, Bed Bath and Beyond etc,etc..

You wouldn't recognize the place.Everyone moves up here to get away from where they now live and then pass laws to make it look like where they came from !!

After close to 20 years it has become a melting pot.Vermont has a huge Bosnian community after the war with Serbia.

The last new members of Vermont came from the Congo/Sudan after their country was ripped apart from war,It's funny to see them drive,a little scary.

Don,you wouldn't believe how many languages are spoken in the high school.Which all come with special teachers,My taxes are close to $6.000 a year and going up.
OK,I'm going for a ride...Where's my music.

[comanche91]

Yikes! Sure sounds like big changes up there John. I've been fooling around with satellite maps looking for our old farm house on Dorset Street - it looks like it's history, although the nearby Chittenden farm is still there. My Dad also bought a new house at the end of Elsom Parkway off Williston Road, and it still looks the same on the satellite view. I learned how to fish at Shelburne Pond - it's still there too. Probably no more fish in it though.