Ride of the Patriots / Rolling Thunder 2009 (exe) Ride of the Patriots / Rolling Thunder 2009 (zip)

Custom Motorcycles 2008 (exe) Custom Motorcycles 2008 (zip) MountainFest 2008 (exe) MountainFest 2008 (zip)

Ride of the Patriots 2008 (exe) Ride of the Patriots 2008 (zip) MountainFest 2007 (exe) MountainFest 2007 (zip)

* West Virginia Red Ride, starts from just SW of Beckley WV and ends in nearby Sandy Springs (Date TBD)

* Maryland and Delaware Orange Ride, starts and ends in Frederick City, MD (Date TBD)

* The Crooked Road Ride, in southern Virginia (Date TBD)

* Visit to Orange County Choppers, in Newburgh, NY (Date TBD); this is a 2-day activity, as it's about 315 miles north of Springfield, VA.

Woody, Mike and Allen just had to get out and ride this morning. Woody needed to finish the break-in miles on his Sportster, Mike had his chores completed yesterday, and Allen wanted to celebrate fixing the chopper yesterday in his garage. The boys were riding their Harley's today however - no chopper on long rides like this one! We met at our official meeting place (Jireh Bakery Cafe) in Centreville at 0900. We got to talking about 'stuff and before you know it the time was almost 0945 before we finally got on the road. Woody had figured out the way to Front Royal while Allen had decided the way back should include Crest Hill Road. So Woody led us down Route 29 into Gainsville and off to Route 55, which parallels I-66. The ride was just great because as it heated up outside we maintained our cool in the shade of the back roads. We stopped for gas in Front Royal and then Allen led the ride down Route 522 to Flint Hill, where that beautiful road called Crest Hill Road ends (or starts from our perspective). Emmett showed us this road last year and it is just fantastic. Anyway, we headed back east along Crest Hill Road, stopping to take a picture along the way, before coming out near Route 17 / I-66. But we headed south on Free State Road since Allen didn't see the obvious signs for Route 17 or I-66. Free State Road ended at Wilson Road, so we kept going south and we ended up at the Black Wolf cafe in Warrenton! What a surprise it was to end up there. So the remainder of the ride was mostly along Route 29 (with it's traffic) but after we dropped Woody off near his house, Mike and Allen headed over to Pope's Head road and then Fairfax Station Road before we ended up at Route 123 and from there it was mostly south heading back to our homes. Another excellent ride for the WORMS (about 125 miles) and Woody has competed his break-in mileage requirement.

Woody and Allen were on the road again; it was a fine and dandy Saturday afternoon and the boys were headed over to Whitt's Harley-Davidson for their bikini bike wash and demo ride event. Hal was riding with Vicki down to Colonial beach on his Yamaha so the WORMS were out and about. Allen's ride over to Woody's house was very nice. The chopper was running well and it appeared the shorting wire harness problems were behind us now. Woody was ready to go when Allen arrived so the boys headed down Compton Road and then south on Route 28. You remember Route 28 don't you? That's the street where the chopper has broken down twice before. Well, it appears the 3rd time is the charm because it happened again. A few stumbles from the engine and then no electrical power. Allen pulled into a driveway and Woody turned around to see what happened. The boys took the coil assembly apart but couldn't find any problems with the repairs made 2 weeks ago. But then we determined the short was happening in the wire harness further into the cylinder area, somewhere between the two cylinders at the bottom. We worked the harness around a bit, sometimes getting power but then losing it again. Finally we got nothing. No electrical power at all. This ride down to Whitt's H-D, only about 6 miles away, was not going to be. Woody came to the rescue by riding back home and coming back with his VW van - the one with lots of room in the back. The boys were able to line the ramp up pretty well thanks to the slope of the driveway we stopped in, so the bike was hauled back to Allen's place for further assessment. It won't be back on the road for a few weeks!

Further south, down around Colonial Beach, Hal and Vicki were having a good time looking at hot rods in a car show. Hal was riding his Yamaha this time so it was a bit more comfortable for Vicki than riding on the back of the V-Rod. The weather wasn't too back either, a mixture of sun and clouds. At least some WORMS had a good time!

Woody and Allen both had their bikes back from the shop and the weather was nice....sooooo....the boys met at the Starbucks near Devil Dawg in Chantilly to partake in a little ride this fine Sunday afternoon. Woody had actually been there a few hours, as he was chatting with some folks before calling Allen regarding the ride. Allen was up early this morning cleaning the chopper's wheels (2-hour job). Woody had his bike back from a total top end replacement and cylinder honing (meaning new rings were installed) so he needed to take it easy (keep it under 50 MPH for the first 500 miles). Anyway, the boys headed down Route 50, headed west towards Middleburg.

About 50 miles later, after taking some nice back roads between Routes 50 and 29 (like Zulla and Route 55), the boys were heading back home on Compton Road, just past Bull Run Park, when the chopper quit running. Yep, the old problem was back - shorting wires in-between the two cylinders. Woody had a pen on him so Allen pushed the wires around a bit (remember it's hot in there) and the bike was running again. It helps to learn from past experience. There were two more episodes with the wires shorting again and causing the bike to lose power, so Allen took Woody up on his offer to stop at Woody's house so we could look at repairing this problem.

The boys enjoyed a cold one (Sam Adams actually) and talked with Judy on the porch while the chopper's engine cooled off in the garage. About 45 minutes later the boys started pulling the coil and ignition switch assembly down and found the problem right away - the new ignition switch, installed last week, was getting it's wires fried by the hot cylinder fins. One wire was ok so Allen just wrapped it with some Super Tape (good for 500 degrees F) but the other wire, as you can see from the pictures, was partially melted way and totally exposed. This would need a more serious repair. Woody had some wire crimps (and the crimp tool), so we cut the wire, trimmed the insulation back a bit, and installed the insulated wire crimp to hold the two ends together. Then Allen wrapped the wires up real nice with lots of Super Tape before reassembling the coil and ignition switch assembly. The job was done and Woody escorted Allen partway back home to Springfield just to make sure there were no more problems. That's a good example how the WORMS help each other out! Thanks Woody.