2006 British & European Classic Motorcycle Day, May 21, 2006 ,Butler’s Orchard, Germantown, MD – featured Marquee – Vincent!
Triumph Come Home Rallye
June 9-10-11, 2006 – Spring Grove, PA
Virginia British Motorcycle Club Rallye October 1st, 2006 – Leesburg, Virginia
2005 BRITISH & EUROPEAN MOTORCYCLE SHOWS in the Wash, DC area
Virginia British Motorcycle Club 2005 Rallye
Sun October 2, 2005 – Leesburg, VA.
Westminster Regional Antique Motor Cycle Show/Parts Extravaganza
Sat/Sun Oct 15-16, 2005 Westminster, MD
We went to Richmond to visit Emma’s family over the weekend. Saturday was a slow day, so Emma and I took a trip into downtown Richmond. I wanted to look up a bike shop I’d passed a few times on the way to MCC Richmond, but had never had the time to visit. It turns out that not only do they deal with Ducati and Royal Enfield, and have a great line of helmets and accessories, but they also deal with all kinds of classic bikes. When I went inside, I found out that
Velocity Vintage is like a museum of amazing and collectable bikes.
The bikes are pretty closely packed on the showroom floor – but the following few pictures should give you an idea, though they don’t do justice to the range of interesting machines there!
I’ve been spending more time with my Dad lately. We’d been distant for many years, but we’ve been on better terms in the last few years.
He surprised Emma and I in August when he told us he’d like to come to Emma’s Ordination down in Richmond (August 28). He enjoyed the weekend and met Emma’s folks – he got along real well with her dad. After the Ordination, Emma stayed with her mom an extra few days, and Dad and I drove back together. On the way home he said he’d like to go see The Flying Circus some time, so we made tentative plans for October.
The 2004 VBMC Rally and show at Ida Lee Park (Leesburg, VA) – Sunday Oct 3rd
It didn’t seem to be quite as many bikes as last year, but what a great day for a show – mid-70s a bit of a breeze and sunny!
As usual, click to enlarge the pictures
More of my pictures follow …
Mark your Calendar: October 3rd, 2004 – Leesburg, Virginia!
VirginiaBritishMotorcycleClub.org at a new location!
I had some time to work on the bike today, And the plan was to try and cure a hard-to-start problem. Although I had gotten the motorcycle to run last fall, starting it wasn’t easy.
We went to the Classic Motorcycle Days show up in Maryland – tho we took the car (I’m not ready to ride the bike any real distance until I get time to check it out further). It was a VERY hot day – in the 90s!
There were a 20 or so vendors selling all those esoteric bits of Britanium needed for classic bike repair … tho I got off cheap … What was even more impressive was the 200 or so classic bikes there. Not everything was British – there was a European catagory which included Beemers, Benellis and Guzzis (Oh my!) ….
Lots of neat bikes, but because it was so hot we didn’t stay more than 1 1/2 hours … and I didn’t do much more than take some closeups of a few 500s to help with sorting my bike out …
But I do have a few more pix I’ll try to post later …
One of the folks at work just bought a new Harley V-Rod, another has a new Harley on order … and the weather has been very nice lately.
I’d ignored the bike as I still need to get it through inspection and winter caught up to me before I finished that task last year. But … Its time!
So after a lot of yard work this weekend, I rolled the bike out of storage, tickled the Amal with my thumb, and gave a few solid kicks – nada. Didn’t sound like it even fired, so I hopped off and flipped the headlight on, watching the ammeter for any signs of life. (Glad I made a point when I wired the bike to install an ammeter, even if its not "authentic" for that year, its a handy tool!)Nothing. Battery must have run down during the winter. Rolled it up to the house, and checked it with a voltmeter – 7.5volts … I flipped up the seat, connected a trickle charger, and left it alone for two days.
Yesterday after work I disconnected the charger and checked the voltage again … 13.5 – great! Rolled it outside, tickled it, and gave it a kick. Fired up and died.
Did that little ritual a few times and as it warmed up, it ran longer and longer. I had to feather the throttle to keep it going, but finally it was running on its own, tho a bit uneven. Put my hands at the end of the pipes and could feel the right cylinder was missing occasionally. Guess I ought to install a new set of points – or at least file the surface a bit – maybe that will help.
But I couldn’t resist any longer. Went inside and swapped my shorts for a pair of jeans. Grabbed my helmet and papers, and my cellphone, and headed back outside.
Started it up again – first kick, now that it was warmed up, so I flipped the kickstand back and rode it through the gate and up the driveway … Yeehah!
Yes, I know it was just a short ride around the neighborhood, and I know I have work to do yet … but it was such a rush of energy just riding it around, knowing I’d rescued it from a rusty fate …