Well, you see them advertised in our newsletter every month, and if we have your current email address, you also get a few notices every month and many of you even attend them on occasion! Of course, I’m speaking about the monthly Lunch Rides.

Of course, they’re really a biker’s dream—an excuse to ride. They’re a chance to get out on the road and whether alone to later meet up with other members at the lunch, or in a group riding together along the way, they’re a great way to spend a riding day with a nice mix of riding, food, friends and camaraderie. Yes, there’s also a “business end” to the lunch rides. That’s the part where we invite non-members to ride along, with the hope that they too might become members and join us in supporting our club, and become one of the family.

As I said, we do like to ride! In 5 lunch rides, we’ve had 119 riders (not including passengers) cover nearly 16,000 miles one-way to the lunch rides. That means the average ride to lunch is 136 miles or so. On the Trenton lunch ride the 17 riders averaged 188 miles to get there!

A few more details we’ve identified. The ratio of HSTA members to non-members runs pretty much at 50%. The good news there is that there's a lot of potential new members. The not so good news there is that means that only something on the order of about 20% of the membership has made it to one or more of these last 5 lunch rides. We sure would like to improve that number and welcome any input from the membership on how we might do so.

While we do draw all makes of bikes, clearly Hondas dominate the attendance . Considering HSTA member attendance only, Hondas accounted for 41 appearances , with BMW’s trailing at 7, then Yamahas at 4 , with Kawasaki, Aprilia, HD, Ducati, Suzuki and KTM all having 1 . The variety numbers do improve when adding in the non-HSTA members, though Honda still leading by a large margin at 72, but with HD taking 2nd spot at 12 and then BMW and Kawasaki sharing 3rd with 9 each. Yamahas accounted for 7, and then Suzuki at 3, Aprilia at 2 and KTM and Ducati each at 1.

As for models attending, I’m sure it comes as no surprise that the Honda ST1100 takes the majority by a wide margin with 25 appearances. Next closest is the Gold Wings at 16 and then the VFR at 8. The most attended non-Honda model was the BMW R1100RT with 8 appearances.

So, that is a little taste of the data we’ve been gathering through the ride sign-in sheets. We appreciate your attendance and filling out the sheets as it can only help us become a better club in the long run. If anyone has any input, questions, comments or would like to ask for some detail not covered here, please feel free to contact me, Bill Royal at wgr@sprynet.com or (813) 633-8155.

For Sale

1996 BMW R1100RT - BMW's top boxer touring bike, complete with factory bags, ABS, electric Parabellum windshield and a new BMW comfort seat. Just broken in at 38k miles. Beautiful dark blue. Priced well below market at $7250. Call Bill at 904-730-9719, warrior@aol.com

Sargent Cycle Seat for an ST1100 - Black Grip-Tex cover with silver piping. $150 or best offer - Phil Ridgdill at 904 287 9654 or rfoxrdr@earthlink.net

1994 Honda Nighthawk 250 - 13K miles, Dark Blue. This is an outstanding beginner rider's bike and/or for riders with a short leg reach. In good condition. Asking $1650 or Best Reasonable Offer.
Call Bill or Eve anytime between 8:00 AM and 9:30 PM - (813)633-8155 or email wgr@sprynet.com

HSTA Florida Member Author Henry Custer offers the following:

Henry's book, "Concept of Justice" is now available at the Hillsborough County Libraries. Ask for it by name. Other Library systems will most likely order it, if requested by patrons. (That is how we got it stocked here.)

I haven’t had much to say about the VFR lately but its coming around. I’ve finally got the front end working properly, mainly just little adjustments at a time and slowly I think I’ve got it right. I raised the forks a bit,( 2mm ) bad decision, back to stock position and it works better. I’ve fiddled with the rear shock, there really isn’t much you can do, various preload settings and settled on one setting that seems to work ok, not great but ok. To set it up right, rear, you would be much better off with an after market shock. I did have a recall alert from Honda, they replaced the Alternator. Seems like if you let the bike idle, the alternator did not put out enough juice to keep the battery charged. I think this is what happened to a Test Bike that was on loan to a well-known Motorcycle publication. The controls on the bike work great, they did when it was brand new and they seem to work better with miles. It’s a shame that we haven’t seen the saddlebags that Honda promised, they may be available today. It would have been nice if they came with the bike when it was released. The motor is coming on strong now that I’ve got almost 5000 miles on it, it pulls very good for a 784cc motor, its hard to beat. Ok, I agree that it would be nice to have 15-20 more HP and I’m quite sure Honda could easily of done that, why they didn’t, most likely too expensive. The VFR is an expensive Motorcycle as it is, so I think a few thousand more and it would have lost its market. I haven’t put the Power Commander on yet, I do know some who have. From what I hear it does become a smoother running bike, you would expect that, but it really doesn’t gain a lot more power, maybe a little but not a lot. It would be a lot nicer if the VTEC came on at a lower RPM, say about 5000rpm. The best thing I’ve changed on the bike, to improve the motorcycle, is change the tires. The Dunlop 204s that came on the bike, I’m sure they would be ok but after riding on Metzeler tires for years, they were not my favorite tires. I spooned on a set Metzeler M-1 Sport Tec tires, what a world of difference. The Bike handled good on the Dunlops, on the Metzelers this bike handles excellent. I can’t speak for a different motorcycle but if you have a VFR , put the M-1 Sport Tec tires on your bike, its night & day different. Styling & Finish wise, for me, its one hell of a good looking Motorcycle. When it comes to Style/Finish, I don’t think a Ducati 916/998, has anything on this bike. Ok, power wise the Ducati has it but the Honda has the Style/Finish. Reliability, No comparison between the two, Honda has it there. Put 15-20 HP in this motorcycle, you would have a super reliable, which you already have, rocket ship.

On to another Motorcycle. Have you heard this term used when describing a motorcycle, “The Ugly Duck” ? That reference would of course be to the BMW R1100/1150GS. I never thought it was an ugly duck, not the greatest motorcycle I’ve seen but certainly not the worse. Before I comment about that bike let me say this, don’t ride one. If you think, this is an ugly bike, I’d never ride that, you have another thought coming my friend. If you ever ride one you will definitely change your mind. This is one fantastic motorcycle and it handles like a hot knife in butter, slick & no effort at all. Ok, Ok, I agree its not exactly what you’d call “good looking” remember this, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. You could ride this motorcycle all day & still be smiling. Carmel & I rode a BMW R1150R on our Edelweiss Tour, this is a sweet motorcycle and we both liked it but what surprised me was, Carmel liked the Style of the R1150GS. We have a little group that rides together every week, one of the guys has one, I like to ride this bike every chance I get. We’re just a bunch of old geezers who ride motorcycles but we know a good thing when we see it. I may have to have one these.

I have long thought that Gators are the greatest danger to motorcyclists riding the Interstate and the other day, surfing the web I found that perhaps I am right! I’m don’t mean alligators or the Florida Gators, I’m talking about ‘Road Gators’, those truck tire treads that litter the road.

The dead Gators are bad enough, those lying across the entire lane so you have to quickly change lanes to avoid hitting them. One rider on I-75 near Gainesville a few years ago didn’t avoid it and evidently lost control and crashed and died.

Even more dangerous are the ‘live’ Gators. A few years ago, while I was riding in my car, the truck ahead and in the other lane, blew a tire. The tread sailed across our lane barely missing the windshield. Had it hit the windshield, it most likely would have smashed it and we would have lost control.

I’ve since adopted a Gator avoidance strategy when riding on the interstate.

The Daytona Dinner is scheduled for Saturday 5:30pm, March 8th 2003. We will have a speaker this year. Mr. Jon Seidel from American Honda has agreed to speak to us about Honda and the good things they do for all of us. The Dinner will be at the same location as last year, Indigo Lakes Golf Club, 312 Indigo Drive, Daytona Beach, FL. The Manager is Marc Lillis. Great Location, 5 minutes from the Daytona Speedway and 5 minutes from the Daytona Memorial Stadium (dirt track). Indigo Drive is the first intersection East of I 95 on International Speedway Drive (US 92 ), turn left on Indigo Drive, pass in front of the Holiday Inn, continue on Indigo Drive through a residential area until you come to the Indigo Lakes Golf Club (approx 1 mile) If your coming from the Speedway, it’s the last traffic light before I 95, turn right on to Indigo drive.

We will have a private Banquet Room and will have a buffet dinner, menu as follows; Same as last year only better, as promised by the manager of Indigo Lakes Golf Club. Tossed Garden Salad with dressing, Pasta Salad, Fruit Salad, Cranberry gelatin Salad, Chicken Marsala, Broiled Fish du jour (grouper) Roast Beef Sliced, Savory Rice, Mixed Vegetable Medley, Fresh Baked Rolls & Butter, Hot bread pudding with Brandy hard Sauce & a Choice of Beverage, Coffee, Tea, & Ice Tea. There will be an Open Cash Bar in the Banquet Room. Price, Meal $ 18.95 per person, with tax & service charge total will be $23.70 per person.

Dinner will be by Prepaid Reservation. All cheques made out to the Indigo Lakes Golf Club, Mail Cheques to Phillip Ridgdill, 720 Opossum Lane, Switzerland FL 32259, last day to receive reservation will be Feb 26 2003, all checks will be deposited with the golf club. The Golf Club Staff will have the Reservation List at the Banquet Room.

Coordinator – Phil Ridgdill, (904 287 9654) e-mail rfoxrdr@earthlink.net

Motorcycling Tips
Submitted By:Phil Ridgdill

If you live in Florida your going to have bugs. You can't escape, try as hard as you like, it’s all in vain. When you’re out riding even on a nice clear day, your face shield will be covered.

HSTA Blue Book Update

Yes, it’s that time of year again. Time to verify, and where necessary, update or correct you profile information for the HSTA Blue Book.

Want a new/different bike listed? Changed addresses? New phone number or email address?

If so, please notify Phil & Sue Allgood—your Membership directors
at psnomads@ameritech.net or by phone at 317-890-8858.