Friday (Oct 6) was a long day. It started by me wishing my bro happy birthday. While his age is still well below his triglyceride count (sorry bro - I couldn't resist), the top of his birthday cake is starting to look like a raging wild fire! Looking at the upside of things, he is still an incredible doctor/husband/father with a low golf handicap. After the birthday call, I pointed the JusRide truck in the direction of Death Row Motorcycles (Sugarloaf, PA). On the way to the custom bike shop, I made a quick stop at a truck wash. As a high-end motorcycle carrier, we not only strive for excellent service, but also to have the best looking fleet on the road. The truck I was driving had been to hell and back - it was filthy!!! It just came back from a trip to the west coast. Over 6,000 miles of pavement and some of the worst enviornmental conditions possible - rain, dust, and smog. While we typically rely on Blue Beacon to clean our vehicles, on this day I had to make do with a family run business. For $45, I was promised a thorough wash and first class wax job. I settled for a bug or two hand picked off of the windshield and a plethora of dry spots. Lesson learned - you don't always get what you pay for!!! Next stop - Frank Stancato and Death Row Motorcycles. At DRM, I picked up two bikes - Ace of Spades, and Black Death 3.
Equipped with fat tanks and beefy engines, the bobbers created by Frank simply represented raw power! It was obvious to me that the bikes we made chew up and spit out any kind of pavement in their path. And that better be the case, because the custom bobbers would eventually end up in South Africa. By day's end, the bikes would be dropped off at the Newark International Airport (Newark, NJ). There they would be crated and put on a wide-bodied jet bound for Johannesburg. Once the bobbers were safely secured in the JusRide truck, I headed for Nescopeck, PA to pickup a vintage '72 Triumph Bonneville. In case your are interested, Nescopeck is Algonquian (select Native American Indian tribes) for black river. From Nescopeck I made my way to Wayne, NJ to drop off a Harley just coming back from a tour that started/finished in Phoenix, AZ, and included indelible sites like: Navajo and Sedona Indian Ruins, Bryce Canyon, Glen Canyon, and the Grand Canyon. The Harley customer was part of a group that chartered a JusRide truck for a 10 day motorcycle run. Starting in 2007, JusRide will be running several motorcycle tours to some of the best riding areas of the U.S. Running low on gas, I headed for Lebanon, NJ to drop off the vintage Triumph. The needle hit "E" faster than expected. I nearly ran out of gas as I searched for fuel just off of I-78. Luckily, I was saved the embarrassment of running out of fuel by the down hill stretch to the service station (coast mode), coupled with the rubbing of the St. Jude medallion that dangled from my neck. With the fuel tank topped off, I followed the Raritan River to the '72 Bonneville's new home. What I thought was going to be an easy last delivery turned out to be a nightmarish journey. In pitch black, it was no easy task navigating the twists and turns of the road adjacent to the historic Jersey river. As a full moon emerged from behind the cloud ridden sky, so did a very nimble and hairy creature. Because of its movement and appearance, I am convinced it was an ethereal being - or maybe the Jersey Devil! Then again, it was dark and I was tired, so what crossed my path could have been just about anything. With Halloween closing in on us and because I have small children, I will stick to the Jersey Devil tale for now. Soon after my Jersey Devil sighting, I delived the Triumph. The day was over. All bikes had been handled with extreme care and safely delivered. Time to start the Columbus Day weekend.
October 10, 2006
October 04, 2006
Delmarva/Chopper Xpo
The 2006 bike season is coming to a close and we just finished our two biggest shows of the year - Delmarva Bike Week and the Chopper Xpo. The two events attract some of the best bike builders in the world - Frank Stancato Death Row Motorcycles; Jeff Nicklus Desperado Motorcycles; and Rick Hill/Dan Kessinger Metropolitan Choppers. 
While I enjoyed the beer and crab soup at Delmarva, the event was nearly a complete wash out! It rained cats and dogs - I mean elephants and hippos - 75% of the time. Taking refuge in the back of the JusRide truck, I felt just like Noah - less the directive from God and all of the animals. Looking at the upside of things, I didn't have to move a muscle to see the works of art created by our custom bike customers. The intensity of the rain resulted in severe flooding, which caused many custom 
choppers to float right by the JusRide truck - two-by-two of course!!! The sun finally revealed itself on the last day of the rally. Our new JusRide exhibit looked much better in the sunlight versus the Armegedon type environment that ruled one day prior. The warmth of the sun also brought the best out of the girls (on a fund raising mission) adjacent to our exhibit space. 
For two days staight I saw nothing but pamphlets and fur parkas. But as the sun revealed itself, so did the young lasses across the way. While their bods were top notch, their dance skills were far from perfect! I mean they were so bad that the only dollar they received from me was one attached to a string - enabling me to yank it back out of their shorts as they skipped out of beat to the next poor sole heading their way. Once the Delmarva show ended, we went direclty to Metropolitan Choppers to pickup bikes (Fear Factor, Spit Fire, and Messerschmitt) for the upcoming Chopper Xpo in AC. With the two fighter plane
theme bikes made for G. Gordon Liddy (Liddy Show) on the truck, we headed for home. Trundling down the PA turnpike we came across a massive Chopper Xpo advertisement (i.e., billboard) containing pictures of the Met Chopper Liddy bikes. The very bikes that were currently on the JusRide rig. A sign that would portend clear skies and Fred Astaire type dance skills lie ahead!
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