Road Captain USA.com

To be patched as a Road Captain is a great honor. The Road Captain can make an ordinary ride into a spectacular ride. The Road Captain leads his club and they follow knowing full well that their Captain will lead them as safely as he can. His focus is to lead the group safely and make the trip enjoyable. Just like a Captain at the helm of a ship, he is going to guide you through the adversity that is the open road.

For the prospective Road Captain eager to learn the ways of the road you can only hope to find a willing mentor. Some of you may be fortunate and join clubs with well established Road Captain programs. Others may not be so lucky. Maybe you are trying to start your own club from scratch. Maybe you live in some distant corner of the planet far away from Milwaukee where there are no other motorcycle clubs to model yourselves after. You may feel lost like Luke Skywalker seeking out instruction from Obi Wan and Yoda.

You can take the Riders Edge Experienced Rider Course. You can watch the Ride Like A Pro DVD series. You can watch the Motorcycle Safety Foundation’s group riding video. You can get yourself some good books on riding proficiently. But where I ask… “Where is a Road Captain manual?”

Does your club have it’s own manual?

Do you know of a manual that is available to the public?

Is there a reason that this manual may not exist?

If you have one, can you mail it to me or tell me where I can get one?

Tags: Road Captain Stuff // 18 Comments »

The recipie for cleaning melted plastic, melted rubber, and even girlfriend skin from your beautiful chrome pipes is Blue Job Chrome Polish + Elbow Grease. You can purchase Blue Job at J&P Cycles but you have to supply the Elbow Grease. J&P Cycles® - Motorcycle Parts and Accessories

Blue Job is different from abrassive chrome polishes as it is an oxidizer and will not scratch your beloved chrome. No swirlies or spider webs or any scratching at all!

Tags: Product Reviews, Technical Stuff // 4 Comments »

Previously I put the question to you, my readers, whether I should try to do my own 5,000 mile service or pay the professionals. Everyone seemed to think it is worth it to pay the guys who know what they are doing in order to keep my motorcycle safe and at its best.

Nothing against the dealership, but I can’t afford full fledged Harley Davidson service. Besides, I only trust two mechanics with my bike. One of the two is my friend Scott who is wrenching at Custom Cycle & Machine in New Castle, Delaware. I think of Scott as a performance guy. He is the guy to see if you want a bunch of mods done to your bike so it creates gobs of street pounding horsepower.  (more…)

Tags: Technical Stuff // 11 Comments »

Last Saturday Diana and I did a preride of the 1st leg for our upcoming trip to Mansfield, Pennsylvania. It was only Diana’s second day out on her motorcycle this season and her first on the streets. We hit a wide variety of roads from Amish country farm roads to Interstate Highways. Diana isn’t into the expressway scene but she handled it like a champ.

I couldn’t sleep that night. That wasn’t what I had in mind for our trip. Getting from point A to Point B via the most direct route is not what my club is into. We like scenery. The route hit too close to Lancaster and Harrisburg. I got up early Sunday morning and mapped out a new route that was all scenic byways and country roads. I left my house at 9:30am to preride the new route. Diana stayed home as 200 miles on Saturday was a good start to her season, no need to push it. Her chiropractor wouldn’t be happy with me if I dragged her along.

This new ride was the bomb! Sweeping back roads with more twists and turns than you could wish for. Beautiful Pennsylvania farm land for miles and miles. I was in the zone except for being just a bit chilly. I seem to be cold blooded these days. It was supposed to hit 70 degree’s so I dressed a little lighter than I wish I did. I could have used just one more layer. I was missing my thermal long underwear and thinking it was time for a new leather jacket. This one wasn’t keeping out the chill and the broken zippers on the pockets were letting the wind in. (more…)

Tags: The way I roll: Stories, Trips & Places To Go // 8 Comments »

Tags: Cool Video // 8 Comments »

Brother Dave at The Road Grits Cafe has posted a must see item for anyone who rides in a group! Please visit the Road Grits Cafe to view the video clip that the Motorcycle Safety Foundation has on their website about group riding. If you have seen it before, watch it anyway. Click Here

Tags: Websites & Blogs // 1 Comment »

My intention in developing RoadCaptainUSA.com was to bring you information and stories that will enhance your touring experience whether it be day trips or week long journeys. For those of you interested in riding further than your local watering hole, here is another product review that fits the bill.

There is a company called Moto-Maps in New Hampshire that makes little laminated flip chart booklets of scenic backroads perfect for motorcyclists. You do not have to go to New Hampshire to get these maps as I have them for sale at the RoadCaptainUSA.com bookstore which is powered by the very reliable Amazon.com

To help plan my upcoming Rhode Island trip I purchased the Connecticut & Rhode Island edition of Moto-Maps. To get a better shipping rate I ordered two additional maps: New York and Massachusetts. Each booklet includes maps and turn by turn directions for 6 or 7 loops. The books are small so that they can fit in pockets or small compartments. They are laminated for durability. They are bound by ring clips so you can remove just the trip you are using that day. Moto-Maps also sells some accessories to compliment the maps. They have a special map holder that straps onto your arm and a map clip that attaches to a shield.

The maps cost less than $10.00 so you can’t go wrong. Amazon delivered in a just a few days. No matter how you choose to use your Moto-Maps I’m sure you will enjoy the rides. I’ll post a follow up review after my Rhode Island trip in June.

If anyone is going to Laconia next month, you should take the below Moto-Map with you. Don’t waste too much of your time at Weirs Beach, ride those mountains. See the country! That’s what it’s all about!!!!

Tags: Product Reviews, Trips & Places To Go // 1 Comment »

One of my riding buddies is from Rhode Island and I am from Massachusetts, so we are planning a little trip from Delaware to home for some clam chowder and other New England goodies. We were thinking of going up to Laconia for Bike Week, but instead we are just gonna hit Rhode Island. We are going to sleep over with relatives one night to save on hotel expenses; they don’t know it yet! If that fails I might have to rent some space from Joker.

To plan the ride routes for our 3 day trip we have used some maps from AAA, The Harley Owners Group Touring Handbook, Scenic Highways & Byways and a new item I ordered from the Road Captain USA Book Store. This new item is the Moto-Maps for Rhode Island & Connecticut.

Hint: AAA maps are free to AAA members. I got mine out of a self serve vending machine at AAA.

Diana and I met up with my buddy one night last week to plan the route. We laid all the maps out on a table and planned the trip. Diana researched the Internet to find us a motel for the second night of our trip

Here is the plan:

1. Haul ass up the New Jersey Turnpike early Saturday morning

2. In Fort Lee, NJ we will get off the Interstate just before the George Washington Bridge and hop onto the Palisades Parkway, Route 9W. We’ll take that up to the Tappen Zee Bridge where we will cross the Hudson River.

3. We will enter Connecticut on the Merritt Parkway, Route 15. Towards the end of the Merrit Parkway we will drop down to Route 1 which meanders along the Connecticut coastline right into Rhode Island.

4. My buddy will stay in Newport and I will head to Fall River, Massachusetts where I will stay with my cousins (I hope).

5. Sunday morning we will regroup in historic Newport, RI and check out the sights. Then we will ride the two riding loops laid out in Moto-Maps for Rhode Island.

6. Then we will head west across the northern border of Connecticut on routes that are marked “scenic” by AAA and the Harley Owners Group Touring Handbook. We will drop down to Poughkeepsie, New York where we will stay at nice little Motel.

7. Monday we will cross the Hudson and catch 9W which follows the Hudson River down to Fort Lee, New Jersey. Then it’s back onto the NJ Turnpike to Delaware.

I’m looking forward to this trip with just two or three bikes. It will be my first motorcycle trip without the pressure of being the HOG Activities Officer who planned the event. It will be different zipping along the throughway without worrying about the safety of a dozen or more bikes following behind. I won’t have to be concerned with someone getting a bad hotel room or not liking the food at the restaurant. Even though I don’t have kids, this is like a Fathers Day present to myself. I can’t wait!

Hopefully I will bump into some characters in New England like Joker, Crusty and Rippin Kitten.

Tags: Trips & Places To Go // 4 Comments »

It seems like I only took my motorcycle out of winter hibernation a few weeks ago and now it’s already May 1st. That means the club trip I have been planning since November is only two weeks away!

Last year I organized my first HOG event, a 3 day trip to the Little Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania. The 18 First State HOG members that trusted me and participated in the September trip had a fantastic time. While in the Mansfield Wellsboro region of Tioga County Pennsylvania we bonded with the members of the Endless Mountains HOG chapter who lead us on rides of the area and hosted us to a bar-b-que. To say the trip was memorable would be an understatement. It was beyond great! A true Harley Davidson experience!

In November I e-mailed the Director of Endless Mountains that we wanted to come back as soon as spring broke. Lance, the Director of Endless Mountains,  thought it was a great idea and the planning began for a joint club adventure! We set a date that both clubs agreed to. Lance suggested we visit a unique Harley Davidson dealership in DuBois, PA. Diana and I researched the hotels we would stay at. I contacted DuBois Harley Davidson to let them know we would be visiting their dealership. I also notified Cox’s Northern Tier Harley Davidson in Mansfield to let them know we were coming back. Lance put together a great ride route for day 2 of the trip. I met with our Head Road Captain to plan the route to Mansfield and the return trip home from DuBois. I put together a flyer with the details of the trip. We took sign ups for the trip at all of our monthly HOG meetings throughout winter.

The popularity of our first trip must have spread because we now have over 30 riders and over 40 members including passengers coming on this next trip. That’s just from our chapter! We will be meeting up with Endless Mountains on day two of the trip which should add another 10 bikes to our entourage. We booked every room at West’s Deluxe Motel and some of our members will be staying at a nearby biker friendly B&B called The Cross Roads Bed & Breakfast.

So now I’m putting together the final details like the itinerary and official trip maps to create “The Rider Packet”. I’m also contacting the two dealerships we are visiting to remind them that we are coming in full force and will buy lots of T-Shirts if they give us a special discount, hint hint. Next week I have to get on the horn and call everyone to confirm who is coming. This weekend I plan on taking a dry run of the first leg of the trip. Also gotta set up the house sitter to watch over the ranch while we are away.

Soon we will hit the road for another spectacular 3 day trip to the Pennsylvania mountains and the legendary scenery of Route 6. New memories and friendships will be made. Old friendships will be strengthened. We will experience the thrill that only motorcycle touring enthusiasts can appreciate. I can’t wait! Let the games begin!

Tags: Trips & Places To Go // 9 Comments »

I think this picture says it all. Check out my good friend Bob cruising through the backroads of southern Delaware on his tricked out Sportster 1200. He has done alot to this bike, notice the wide forks! Bob is one of two people I ride with that doesn’t wear a helmet; he looks like he is having such a good time I might have to ditch mine.

Tags: News & Announcements // 5 Comments »