So the chopper was in the shop this past week (06 Aug made it 5 weeks total) but a call to the shop Friday night confirmed the bike was ready. The mechanic (Rich) found the ignition switch was bad so he replaced it. He test rode the bike and was confident it was running right. Sandra & Allen stopped by the shop around 1130 Saturday morning (after Sandra donated blood - thanks honey!) and just as Allen was about to ride away, he noticed the headlight wasn't on. Oh oh, it's always supposed to be on. So they rolled the bike back into the shop and Sandra & Allen drove home again. Three hours later the bike was ready - new light bulb installed and they tightened the housing so the bulb assembly wouldn't move around in the shell. Ok, Allen and Sandra drove back to get the bike at 1530 Saturday afternoon. The bike seemed ok so Allen rode it home with Sandra following him. Once Allen pulled into the garage he found he couldn't turn the ignition off - the key just rotated around. Allen used the kill switch and looked at the ignition switch - the outside nut was loose so the whole switch assembly was just rotating. A bit of Locktight and some tools got it tight and that was enough to consider this bike fixed again.

But as all WORMS know, the proof of a bike's road worthiness is taking it on a WORMS ride. So Allen called up Mike and the boys met over at the Fairfax Hooters for some beer and chicken wings. Naturally this made for a photogenic opportunity since both Mike's Road King and Allen's chopper were parked outside, and so we were fortunate to have four Hooter Girls pose with the bikes before we left to head over to Patriot (just before closing) to see a few new 2011 Harleys. Mike was hoping to see a trike but they didn't have any in the showroom. We did see an 2011 Ultra Classic touring bike but it was sold so we weren't going to sit on it. There is a picture of the bike below however. After our quick visit we headed down the road and back home to more chores. It was a nice Saturday after all.

Allen was excited this Saturday. He saw his chopper, which has been in the shop for exactly one month now, riding down the road yesterday (30 July), probably on a test run. The shop was trying to fix an ignition problem, and they were going to replace the ignition module. So Allen stopped by Custom Cycle Accessories to see how they were doing before he rode the Harley Fatboy over to Patriot for their Open House event today.

Everything seemed to be going well. The bike was just about done - they had the points cover still removed and they still needed to check the erratic speedometer performance but after 30 minutes the bike was ready. Allen rode back home to get Sandra to give him a ride back to the shop so he could ride the chopper home. Of course, the chopper broke down on the way home. It started bucking a bit and then just quit altogether. Allen coasted to a stop on the Springfield Parkway. Sandra was already home but things weren't hopeless. A lady pulled over and offered to give Allen a ride back to the shop, but Allen called the shop and they said they could have the trailer over to pick the bike up in about 30 minutes. Allen tried the ignition switch a few times, while waiting - no electrical at all. Then all of a sudden it worked again - the circuit breaker must have tripped. The bike started up so Allen wondered what to do - wait for the trailer ride or ride back to the shop? Before he could make a decision, the boys from the shop showed up (only about 20 minutes) so we put the bike on the trailer and Rich (the mechanic) gave Allen a ride home. Let's hope it's something simple - like a wire shorting to the engine or similar problem. This chopper has had it's share of electrical problems!

Once Allen was back home, he wasn't going to just sit and mope around. No sir. He got back on the Harley and rode over to Patriot for the Open House event. It was late (around 3PM) but surely a few bikes would still be there. And so it was to be. The band was packing up but several old bikes were still on display and the dealership was still open. A few pictures and then it was off to Hooters for some beer and chicken wings. There's nothing like some tasty wings after a long day dealing with the chopper or riding the Harley!

The WORMS made the best use of the July 23rd-25th extended weekend (extended by vacation time that is) and did 3 days of riding, music, food and good fun in the Mountain State of West Virginia. As you know, Mountainfest is one of our favorite events. Rose, Jim, Mike, Sandra, Allen, John, Stuart, Mary, Kevin, Anna, Katlin and maybe a few more celebrated MountainFest 2010! We started the ride by meeting at 0900 on the 23rd at our official WORMS meeting location, the Jireh Bakery Cafe in Centreville, VA. We left there around 0930 and headed down Route 50 towards West Virginia (they say you can't miss it). Five WORMS made previous arrangements with the owners of a famous B&B in West Union for a Friday night lay over (we promised not to trash the place and the price was right) and then we stayed at the Clarion Hotel in Morgantown on Saturday night.

Our weather for this trip was most excellent - we didn't see a drop of rain. It was pretty hot however and a few of us got a little sun burned, but nothing to write home about. We did have to take a detour off Route 50 on the way out there due to a major accident that totally blocked the road. We were lucky to be told about the accident while we rested at Saddle Back Mountain, so we ended up riding 60 miles out of our way (9 hour trip on the way there) but it was nice scenery. The ride back was about 5.5 hours since we took I-68 to Route 522 and down to I-66.

The events were pretty well organized. We arrived at Rose and Jim's B&B in time to see the parade they hold each year. We watched it from behind glass in air conditioned comfort as we ate our dinner at a restaurant in West Union. That night we played cards and drank beer. Saturday morning we headed up to Morgantown and arrived first at Triple-S Harley-Davidson to check the scene and then we were in time for the parade downtown. It was fun riding through Morgantown and lots of people lined the sidewalks to see the bikes. After that we met John at the Hotel as we checked in and then it was time for the FishBowl restaurant for some beer and chicken wings. The medium wings taste exactly like Hooter's Naked Wings just in case you were wondering. Anyway, we then headed for the main Mountainfest event and saw some custom bikes, a wedding take place, and then more bikes as Mary, Stuart and a few other WV WORMS arrived to join us. We didn't stay there all night however, as we wanted to "freshen up" back at the hotel before we walked into town for some more...you guessed it....beer. Several WORMS played pool and Mike was the overall winner. Overall it was a great time for the WORMS!