Road Captain USA.com

Tags: Cool Video & Pics, News & Announcements // Add Comment »

After having spent the majority of my weekend helping park bikes for a large dealership event at Mike’s Famous Harley-Davidson I have come to the following conclusion: Hundreds of motorcyclists own amazing machines but they don’t know how to ride worth a damn! They should have their motorcycles taken away! I am amazed at the lack of riding skill demonstrated by the motorcycle riding public. The majority of bikers need to learn how to maneuver their motorcycles at slow speed. Any novice can ride a motorcycle in a straight line at highway speed. Unfortunately many so called seasoned riders haven’t developed the skill to do much more than that.

My HOG Chapter provided the volunteers who directed riders into a grass field where they were to park their motorcycles for Mike’s Famous Biker Weekend on July 16th -18th in New Castle, DE. There were a variety of bikes including some sport bikes. Most motorcycles were Harley-Davidsons. Riders of every denomination on every type of motorcycle demonstrated poor parking lot skills! I would say less than ten percent knew how to handle their bikes properly! Young ladies on powerful sport bikes seemed to be the least able to control the friction zone. The old guys were just plain scarey. I don’t know how they have been riding for so long. One old timer told me indignently that his Sportster wasn’t a dirt bike! If you can’t make a tight hairpin turn, swerve or stop your motorcycle in an emergency you should stay home and practice until you can. Your life depends on it! Furthermore you should be able to ride on a variety of terrain such as wet pavement, gravel and soft grass.

The fastest way for you to gain the skills I speak of is to order the Ride Like A Pro V training DVD and practice the skills demonstrated on this fantastic learning tool. You can order the Ride Like A Pro DVD’s and the new book at www.Shop.RoadCaptainUSA.com

I hope that someday we stop seeing riders wobble in and out of parking lots with their legs and feet all spread out like airplane landing gear. Please take some of that money you plan on using for chrome this year and put it aside for a MSF Rider course or other training tools such as the above mentioned DVD. The Ride Like A Pro DVD costs $29.95 plus $2.95 S&H. Click the below button to purchase using PayPal.

Tags: Product Reviews, Rider Skills, Road Captain Stuff // 9 Comments »

Too many great things to do down here in the Delmarva region. This weekend will be the inaugural Mike’s Famous Biker Weekend at Mike’s Famous Harley-Davidson in New Castle, DE.  July 16, 17 and 18. Too many things at this event to tell you about but this is going to put Delaware on the biker map. Click the above advertisement for more information. If you have never been to Delaware and want to do something new this weekend… come on down!

If you are looking for an excuse to head to the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia I have a good one for you. If I wasn’t going to the above event I would definitely be going to the Fox Creek Leather Customer Appreciation Party on the 17th. Click below banner ad for more information on Fox Creek Leather and their event.

Tags: News & Announcements // Add Comment »

Every once in awhile I receive a thank you e-mail from my customers who have purchased the 12 Volt Power Port. Mike Casto sent a nice endorsement I would like to share with you.

I just wanted to let you know I used your 12 volt power port on a 25 day trip across the country and it worked flawlessly.  I used it to charge my phone and charge/power my GPS.  I camped all but a couple of nights and electric was not always available.  In fact, I never even carried AC chargers so I thank you very much for furnishing me with a reliable product.

I used a Joe Rocket tank bag and the length of your cord was just right to twist tie the plug to the bag.  If it rained I could still use your cord by using the cover that came with that bag. I took a Suzuki Boulevard M50 not a hog… hope you don’t mind.

Mike’s Suzuki M50 is pictured above in the Badlands of South Dakota. You can use my 12 Volt Power Port Cigarette Lighter Adapter on your motorcycle to hook up GPS and power your cell phone. An 8 foot extension is recommended for GPS hook up. This device works in conjunction with a battery tender pigtail. If you don’t have one we sell that too. I offer two versions of a GPS Hook Up Kit. The standard kit includes the power port and extension in a zippered tool pouch. The Deluxe Kit includes a Deltran battery harness with a 7.5 amp fuse commonly called a pigtail. See our online store for more information www.Shop.RoadCaptainUSA.com

Tags: SAE-2 Electronic Accessories // Add Comment »

Holy road tar Batman I married Super Woman! It seems like just a few months ago I was teaching Diana how to ride a motorcycle in a school parking lot in Baltimore. Turns out that was 5 years ago. She has been a dedicated student of motorcycling ever since. She soaks up knowledge like a sponge… as long as it doesn’t come from her husband. Most say that she rides better than me. I say she rides better than most. On top of that she does an excellent job of navigating, mapping and creating great rides. When asked why we should ride through two hours of rain to get to a bike rally she responds with “because that’s what we do!”. So I guess it is only natural that she was patched tonight as an offical HOG Road Captain in First State Chapter. Congratulations Princess, I’ll follow you anywhere!

Tags: HOG, Mrs Road Captain, News & Announcements, Road Captain Stuff // 8 Comments »

Diana and I had ourselves a great adventure this past weekend. We went to Gettysburg Bike Week to cover the event for Fast Lane Biker Delmarva. I have met Larry Racey, the event chairman, previously at my place of employment so this assignment was a good first assignment for us with FLB. I contacted Larry and he told me to ask for him when we arrived.

Diana planned us a route and researched hotels. Neither are easy tasks, especially last minute on a budget. She located a room for less than $100 at the Super 8 in Thurmont, Maryland about 16 minutes south of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

We wanted to be on the road Saturday morning at 7:00am but we woke up to rain. We kept checking the online radar for the next few hours hoping the rain would disappear. Unfortunately the rainstorm was a big green blob heading our way between us and our destination. We would have to go through it if we wanted to arrive in a timely manner. I suggested to Diana several times that we should take the car. That way when we broke through the storm to the good weather we would be dry, wearing summer attire and ready to cover the event. Diana felt we should ride through the rain. I asked “why?”. She said “Because we are motorcyclists. That’s what we do!”

So we put the raingear on and went riding in the rain for two hours. We were gassed up and on the road at 10:00am. Diana’s 3 hour ride route through the country from Delaware, through Maryland and into Gettysburg, PA was awesome. Too bad it was raining. My raingear didn’t cut the mustard this time around. My clothes got pretty wet. When we poked through the storm and arrived in sunny Gettysburg at about 1:00pm I changed into my Sunday jeans and t-shirt in a gas station rest room. Guess I would be wearing those for the next 48 hours.

We arrived at Gettysburg Bike Week and went to see Nora at the Volunteer and Press Tent as instructed. Nora wasn’t going to let us in because we didn’t have any press credentials but once I mentioned that I knew Larry all systems were go! Larry came and got us in his golf cart and gave us the nickel tour. He dropped us off at the game area where they were announcing the winners of the bike games. We watched the tattoo contests and burnout pit. This was a first rally for me and Diana so the burn out contest was pretty cool to watch for a first time even though there were only two contestants.

Next we got lunch at the food pavilion. I liked how organized and compartmentalized the layout of the event was. The foodcourt was great. We met a nice couple from Bel Air, MD while we ate lunch. Next we took some pictures where the custom bike show had been. There were only two bikes left in the facility where the contest was held. We got to talk’n with the man who runs the bike show as he owned a 9/11 NYFD tribute bike. Then we talked to the event photographer who I previously worked with at the International Motorcycle Show in NYC.

We walked over to the Rally For RAACE Big 6 Wheel where I got to talk to my friend Anthony DiGeorgio from Chesapeake HOG about the upcoming Rally for RAACE fund raiser in August that I usually particpate in. It’s such a good cause and a good event.

Next we checked out the vendor village. Again I liked the compartmentalized layout. Back to the foodcourt for dinner. It was about 6:30pm and there was some time to kill before the AC/DC tribute band would take the stage at 8:00pm. I went back to check on the bikes and unload the merchandise we bought. There was some cool stuff there so we couldn’t help ourselves. Then we headed back. The beer lines started getting long just before the band was going to start and we decided it best to stick with soda so we got some drinks. We set out to find a haybale to sit on but they were all taken. Next we tried the three sets of bleachers and were able to secure a place to watch the show. The people we sat with turned out to be very nice. We had a good time with them watching Back In Black from Springfield, Massachusetts. They rocked! At the end of the show there was a fireworks display! Then the band played one final song. This was a great day!

We took pictures of the bikes leaving the rally. Then we headed up to the Eisenhower Hotel and checked out the action in the lounge. It was crowded with fun loving bikers. We cleaned up a little in the restrooms and headed to the bikes. Did some minor repair work to a deflated tire. Hooked up my CB which was initially packed due to rain.

We headed South on Rt 15 to find our motel. I don’t like riding on the highway at night but the Super 8 was very conveniently located. Good job Superwoman! I liked being in contact with Diana by CB and it made finding the hotel easier since we could dialogue just like being in a car.

We checked into the motel and made some interesting friends out in the parking lot. There was a biker from Massachustts who had trailored his bike down. Very cool guy. Didn’t get his name. There was also a senior couple from Michigan who were vacationing by car and were visiting Fort Bragg on behalf of their son who was killed while on active duty in Afghanistan. He had a 12 pack of beer and leftover chicken and biscuits from Roy Rogers. He was our new best friend even though he wouldn’t give us bikers too much time to talk bikes before he would start in with a story about his son. It was very touching though to meet these people, bond over two or three beers. It was a very comfortable night out unlike recent nights where the humidity has been killer. The rain had cooled things off and we were in the mountains. I think we hung out in the parking lot til 1:30am before calling it a night.

We woke up Sunday to a scorching hot day. Humidity wasn’t bad. Met some bikers during breakfast and while prepping the bikes in the parking lot. I let Diana take her time getting ready since the previous day was such a full one. She was wiped. We hit the road at 11:00am to head back to Gettysburg for some sight seeing. First we went to Boyd’s Bear Country. Then we toured some of the battlefields. This would have been more fun if it wasn’t so hot!

Diana’s ride route home was awesome. She has been putting together some incredible rides lately and this one didn’t disappoint. The CB’s were working pretty good and we were able to chat and joke while riding home. I don’t think I will be able to go back to traveling without being able to communicate. I am looking forward to upgrading my radio for next year.

By time we got home I was wiped out. I parked the bikes on the sidewalk in front of the house, headed inside, stripped off shoes-socks-pants. Grabbed cold beer. Went to sleep on couch. Woke up several hours later to find Diana working on the three hundred or so pictures she took. I put my clothes back on and unpacked the bikes, the gear and put the bikes away.

Click here to see all the pictures we took.

I touched base with Walt from Fast Lane Biker about the article I will be writing. I touched base with our Head Road Captain about Diana’s tire that is losing air. Then I processed my mail orders and wrote this blog post. The weekend is over and I can’t believe it went by so fast. Well, that is life in the Fast Lane.

Tags: Fast Lane Biker, The way I roll: Stories // 3 Comments »