Looking back at my last entry I see I've fallen behind on my news to. After the last event I decided to use the big Kawasaki on another ride in my backyard. This one was to benefit children with cancer and started in Poughkeepsie. I've ridden this event twice before, once on the Kawasaki and once on the CF Moto scooter. Each time I enjoyed the ride, music and food served at the end of the ride. This year was no exception. There were about as many bikes as usual, somewhere around eighty, and the route was as nice as previous years taking us up to the northeast corner of Dutchess County for approximately sixty miles. At the end I encountered the second problem the Kawasaki has given me on an event. Another dying battery. The battery is about three years old and had done many starts in the garage so I guess it was bound to happen. I replaced it with a brand new Die Hard battery and I expect a good, long life out of it.
The next ride started up in Red Hook, not the one in Brooklyn, in Northern Dutchess County. I decided to take the Honda 250 Nighthawk on this ride and almost regretted it after the start. Instead of being a group ride on a predetermined route this was a "Get to the two checkpoints as fast as you can" ride. The Nighthawk was clearly at a disadvantage against 114 cubic inch bikes with its 15 cubic inches in the group I hooked up with. I had to use the engine hard to make up for their strength in acceleration but managed to stay with them. The first checkpoint was a Bar and Grill a few miles from my home. I stopped to chat with a few of the other riders, got a soda and left for home instead of continuing on. I had yardwork and other tasks to do.
There will be more rides and I have another tale to make you smile next time you hear from me. See you soon.