Japan Meets Britain
Yes those recent videos are with the 5-speed (though the last video cuts out before I reach 5th). I've had that transmission for a few years now, and it's been extremely reliable and really transforms the ride.
A very foggy and damp morning today -- only managed about 80 miles total.  Foggy Honda by Vince.Lupo, on Flickr
7am?! Who's idea was it to meet at 7am this chilly Sunday?
Oh yeah, I guess it was mine.....oops. As you can see from my handlebar Ingersoll, it's just before 7:00 at Scott's house. Honey-do's had been taken care of the day before, so I was able to hit the road for a few hours with my fellow riders.  Early Morning Meetup by Vince.Lupo, on Flickr I charted out a route that led us to a very important destination -- breakfast! We chose a place in Frederick called 'Family Meal', which is a Bryan Voltaggio restaurant (he was a runner-up on Top Chef a few years back). Scott, Jeff, Andrew, Lee and I embarked on this rather chilly journey through the backroads of Maryland, enjoyed a delicious breakfast and good conversatioin, and made it back to Scott's by 11:00am. Total distance was only 125 miles, but any time on the bike is appreciated. The SuperHawk definitely showed its strengths on the backroads this morning -- pipes roaring with reckless abandon! Putting fear into the hearts of our adversaries! Attacking the curves with cold-hearted intent! Squirrels dare not cross our path! Ah the poetry! Can you picture it my friends? I'm sure you can. Lee, Jeff and Scott digging in to breakfast (Andrew is off camera to my right). Pastrami hash in the foreground!  Early Morning Meetup3 by Vince.Lupo, on Flickr Getting ready for the ride back. Fortunately it was much warmer than the way out!  Early Morning Meetup2 by Vince.Lupo, on Flickr Think it's time for new footpeg rubbers! Shows how much the bike is ridden, I guess.  Worn Footpeg Rubber by Vince.Lupo, on Flickr
Finally managed to save my pennies and just ordered the Cappellini 6mm oil pump:
 Photo by Cappellini It will likely be a winter installation project, along with a few other bits and bobs (no camshaft though!). Actually the other 'major' project that I'd like to have done this winter is to have the rims re-striped -- Lee did red coachlines on them a few years ago, but the one line on the chainguard-side of the rear wheel is rubbed off in several spots (likely due to the Simple Green that I used to remove the gooey chain lube on the rim). So while John has the bike for the oil pump installation, he's going to remove the wheels and I'll give them to Lee. But, instead of the simple red coachline, I've decided to have them done Vincent Black Shadow-style, which is black around the center of the rims with red coachlines on the outside. Yeah baby!
A beautiful fall Sunday and a great opportunity for a ride. I was only going to go out for a couple of hours, but it turned into a 160 mile tour!
My wife and I had done this drive a couple of weeks ago out to a place called Whites Ferry (on the Maryland side of the Potomac River) and then over to parts of northern Virginia west of DC. There were a lot of 'tootling' roads, as my wife calls them, so I thought I'd give them a try with the bike. Generally nice roads, though I'll have to figure out a more 'elegant' route back from Leesburg, VA. On the ferry crossing the Potomac (it was all dressed up for Halloween, as you can see!):  Whites Ferry by Vince.Lupo, on Flickr Just tabulated the mileage I've ridden on this bike during my 10 years of ownership, and it works out to just over 26,000 miles.
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