.:harleyghost:. deal with it

motorcycle rental > austin trip

As some of your might remember, we celebrated our 32 wedding anniversary by going to Fredricksburg, TX. Fredricksburg is a tourist town south west of Austin, Texas. I really wanted to trailer my Valkyrie down, but I didn't get all my details together for getting a trailer ... so at the last minute I decided to just rent a bike in Austin and that would be that. I chose to rent a Harley from Central Texas Harley-Davidson. I had always wanted to drive an Electra Glide and so ... that's what I got.

My experience with Central Texas Harley-Davidson was a very, very positive one.  From renting the motorcycle online to returning it ... it was a great experience with them. Harley riders and dealerships in particular can be rather condescending when they find out that you actually DON'T own a Harley, but a metric motorcycle. I remember riding up to the Harley Dealer in Allen, Texas and a salesman asking me (before I ever got off of my Valkyrie) ... "you here to trade that thing in?" I can understand taking pride in what you sell or ride ... but I would never shun someone because they owned something else. I digress.

Everyone ... and I mean everyone at Central Texas Harley was kind, courteous, helpful and made the motorcycle rental process smooth and fast.

If you ever rent a motorcycle you might need to know that it is rather pricey. By the time you get out the door ... it will probably cost you between $150 and $200 per day. That would include insurance ... which I would always buy, even if I have motorcycle insurance ... you can never be too safe with renting someone's $20,000 motorcycle. You also have to put up a deposit, which covers the deductible from the insurance. So, if you lay your Harley rental down ... they just process your $1,000 deductible ... and that is that.

If you are safe and a very good defensive driver, like myself, you really should not have anything to worry about. If you are thinking about renting a motorcycle and you are near the Austin area ... I highly recommend Central Texas Harley.

In short, the process of renting the Harley was painless. The bike itself, an 07 Electra Glide, was not so pleasant. The thing that both of us just hated was the incredible heat coming off of this bike ... it was absolutely miserable. The sound system was nice, the ride was smooth, the maneuverability of the bike was cumbersome at low speeds, and the six speed tranny was constantly causing me grieve in the hill country with continual shifting ... frankly it drove me nuts. I am used to being able to let my valk slow down to about 2,000 rpm in 5th gear while making a turn and then just twisting back with no laboring with the tranny. Don't get me wrong ... we had a great time on our trip ... the bike just created much too much heat for summer riding. If it were the winter ... we probably could have worn tshirts and shorts in 30 degree weather. Yes, it's that hot.

Next time ... I will have a trailer. But ... I still like the folks at Central Texas Harley in Austin.

HG --

motorcycle insurance > you need it

Scan the web any day for news and you will find more news bits about motorcycle wrecks than you would want to know. It's not to create fear ... there are more car wrecks than bike wrecks ... but bike wrecks almost always ends with an injury. Motorcycle insurance is important ... no matter what your age. If you don't have it ... get it.

Motorcycle insurance includes coverage for motorcycles, four-wheelers, dirt bikes, scooters and more. Don't just go out and buy the cheapest thing you can find ... do your homework and find the best policy for you and your bike. There are several different kinds of policies that you can get ...

A Liability only motorcycle insurance policy is available. This would pay for damage that you would do to someone else's property or life.

The Liability/Comprehensive/Collision provides additional motorcycle insurance coverage. This type of coverage will provide you with coverage on yourself and your bike.

Replacement Insurance is available with some motorcycle insurance companies. If you can afford it ... this will replace your bike ... but beware of the dreaded depreciation factor.

If you are an accessory nut ... make sure that your motorcycle's value is such that it will cover your accessories as well. You certainly want to get your gold plated dip stick replaced in case of a bang up.

It would not be a bad idea to make sure you have towing and trip interruption insurance as well. If you get a tow ... make sure that they are motorcycle towers ... you don't want your Goldwing flying around on the back of a 3/4 ton pick up with two rubber tow straps.

When you buy motorcycle insurance be sure and inquire about discounts. Like "mature driver" discount. Certainly your rates are going to be lower than Ricky Crotch Rocket. Flash that AARP card around.

You might also get a discount if you have passed a motorcycle safety course. Don't bring it up if you didn't. Pass that is.

Nobody likes to think about getting hurt while riding ... but it's a good idea to have your motorcycle insurance in place ... just in case.

Your in good hands,

HG --

motorcycle news: victory vision

I knew that it would only be a matter of time before the guru's at victory tapped into the luxury motorcycle scene. And wow!! When they did ... they came in like a bang. Here's a portion of an article by Bryan Harley and a link to the rest of the story. >>

" The Victory Vision is definitely a vision to behold. People wouldn't have reacted to it the way they did if it wasn't aesthetically stimulating. Victory's Industrial Designer Michael Song and his team of engineers have worked hard to make the flow of the bike appeasing to the eye while being aerodynamically efficient at the same time. Song has seen the project grow from the initial sketches of the Visteon Vision in 2000 to the motorcycle that is in the full-production stages at Victory's Spirit Lake facility. When I questioned Song on the radical styling of the 2008 Vision Tour and Street models, he commented, "It's the Victory way. Being the flagship model we wanted it to really stand out." [full story with pics]

Can't wait to meet this thing on the road.

Thanks Bryan ...

HG --

no hilton in paris texas

As a great blogger ... it's my responsibility to report interesting news events in out of the way places. I just wanted everyone to know that there is no Hilton in Paris Texas ... but there is a replica of the Eiffel Tower. [more info]

HG --

fighter girls

Holidays are great! For one you get to surf around tv channels and looks at stuff that you wouldn't normally. I have always been intrigued with the whole extreme fighting deal. At first it was hard for me to look at ... but after a while I thought ... these guys want to do this. Well, if you thought the guys wailed on each other ... you should check out the women extreme fighting. I found this link today. I would not want to mess with any of these young ladies.

Hope you had a happy and safe 4th.

HG --

velcome to my vorld

Man, things have been super busy. Too busy to blog on Harley Ghost ... sorry. We are in another major change in our life ... and it consumes a lot of our energy ... day in and day out. Here is the latest pic of the house ... even though they have added the TYVEK now and are ready to brick. Of course our freaky weather is playing HAY-VOK ... as Hazel (an old work associate) used to say. Randy, don't squirt Mountain Dew out your nose, dude. Our house in Pilot Point is on the market ... and we just signed a lease in Lewisville for our new business location. For those of you who never got to see my house ... here is a link to a sales site ... house pics.

It's about 6:40 am and I have been running signs for about 30 minutes ... and have a ton to do. But I felt guilty about not writing on HG. So ... here ... enjoy it. HG

framing up

We received an email yesterday from our builder ... he said our foundation was poured and that our framing had started. When we got there yesterday afternoon ... this was already up. Also, pray ... we had a family come and look at our house this week. They were very nice and very interested. It seemed like a fit. They will let us know this coming weekend if they want to put a contract on the house. I hope so. HG --

32 years

Hey all ... it's wayne and lori celebrating their 32nd anniversary in Fredericksburg, TX. Having a blast ... we rented a bike (a Harley Ultra glide) ... and have been tooling around the hill country today. It is very hot ... but we found a great place to cool off ... at the Pendernales falls. Beautiful. Say hello to the kids. WG

onward

Excuse the neglect of harleyghost ... I re-did the redroofventures site this past week and I still have a lot of pages to transfer. In all of the busy-ness ... we are building a house, moving a business, selling a house, and running a business. It's more fun than rats on crack. This weekend is our anniversary ... we will be taking the Valk to Fredricksburg and riding the hill country. Everyone keep safe. HG --

meow

What's cuter than two kittens ... try 8. We had two cats that had kittens within about a week of each other. It was weird because they nursed each others kittens. These kittens are as good as they come ... mainly because Julia and Caleb have pulled them all over the property. I'm a softy for kittens and motorcycles. HG