I went to a bike night last night and about fourty bikes were there.  I got into a discussion with a friend about which bikes we thought looked nice.  It became quickly apparent that we have our differences.  He was more enamored with the bikes that had lots of chrome and I like ones with more graphics on them. 

The one he like the best was a Harley Trike with twin chain drive (one for either rear tire.)  It was a very nice bike with the rear tires being inches apart.  The guy who owned it told us that it cost him right at $60,000 to get it to the look he wanted.  For what it is worth, my first house wasn't much more than that. 

The one I like was also  a Harley but it had more graphics on it.  It was decked out to look like a race bike.  It had just the right amount of chrome and graphics to make it "pop".  The graphics were done with checkered flag look about them.  This was mixed with a little bit of flame look.  The guy only had about $40,000 in his bike.

The one we both agreed on as being a "tough" bike was a '55 Harley that had been custom reworked to be '06 mechanically.  This one just looked right and even had a very "feel" to it.  It had a lot of little niceties like chromed parts while still mixing in some nice graphics to give it that last little over the top effect. 

One nice thing about a motorcycle.  There is plenty that can be done to make it 'your' bike.  Some folks really get a lot of pleasure out of fixing them up.  I count myself as one those folks.  The biggest advantage I have is I get to see other people ideas on custom decals and such.  Since I sell them, I even get to help these folks find the 'look' they are really after. 

Probably my most favorite effect we did for a guy was a dragon for guys Valkerie.  The colors blended well with his bike colors yet stood out enough to make it catch your eye on the road. 

God I love this job!

Biker Ragz

bikerragz@hotmail.com

Do you have my kind of luck?  When I want to buy something, there are none available.  Once I buy it, they seem to be everywhere.

When I bought my bike, you couldn't find a decent used bike anywhere for a decent price.  What was my answer.  I went and bought a new bike.  I love the bike.  Now it seems some of my friends are getting the itch for a new bike and selling there bikes.  I know they are well maintained and low mileage.  Some of them are offering great prices just to get rid of them.  Too bad they were too madly in love with their bikes a year ago and didn't want to let them go. 

I have got to work on my timing!  Seems to be the way it always goes when it is time for me to buy something.  I won't mention my house that I bought a year ago.  Talk about bad timing...

Brian

Went out on a ride the other day with some friends the other day.  We were coming back from a rally and were taking back roads the whole way.  If you are not familiar with riding Bike's, one of the "Fun" things to do is to be out on an empty road with lots of curves. 

We had been riding for about two hours when we got a not so pleasant surprise.  We were in the middle of no where and the road we were riding was turning into DIRT.  Little problem here.  The map didn't show this as being a dirt road and where we were was not close to anything.  What made this worse was the last place (I wouldn't call it a town), had what appeared to be a four way stop.  It can only be assumed that it was a four way stop because there were no stop signs and someone had put it speed bumps at the crossing point.  Now this would not have been so bad but the cross street was just after you crested a hill and you never had time to look for the speed bumps. 

I knew I had come to the speed bump when my rear end launched off of the seat.  It is amazing how much clearer you think when separate from your bike.  At that particular moment I even made a few promises to God if I could attach myself back on the bike seat.  My friends told me later that they made similar promises when they launched. 

As mentioned earlier we kept on this road for quite a ways until it mysteriously became dirt.  After a little reflection, we decided to go explore some other roads to see where they might lead.  The first one had the same result as the prior road with it ending in a dirt road. 

Did I mention that I was leading?  Probably the last time they will let me lead also.  Did I mention that it wasn't my idea to lead? 

The next road we came to showed a little more promise.  It looked to be better maintained it started off with some nice rolling curves.  Since I had never been on this road before I was taking it at a safe pace.  Apparently one of my companions had been on this road before.  He passed me on a straight away on took our speed up a few clicks.  This was great!  A nice curvy road with someone leading that new where the devil we were going.  Nirvana!  We had gone several mile when the curves started getting more challenging.  My friend was still going strong and I was getting that occasional chill in my chest I get when my heart thinks I am getting the most out of the curves.  After about twenty miles of this we come to a little town we all recognize and stop for rest. 

The guy that took the lead apologized for passing me and taking the lead.  Hey, no problem.  I would rather someone who has driven a road before lead.  He repsonded, "I have never been on that road before.  I just didn't want to miss out on the curves." 

He then admited to getting a big chill on one of the curves.  Great and this guy was wanting to haul butt.  Now I feel better.  This was also the guy that had complained the day before about me leading on the interstate and getting up to about 80.

The last guy admited that he was enjoying the ride and looking off into the woods at the scenery when he noticed  a road off to the left.  Only problem, it was the road we were on! Oh my.  It woke him up and he handled it but he had that lovely chill also. 

After that, all the roads seemed a little tame.  Maybe it was because I took the lead back and drove at my comfort level.  No one complained.  Sure was a lot of fun.

I am a biker loves my bike and my friends that I meet out on the road.  This store will be geared to the bikers who want a quality product at a fair price.  The online store will start off with doo rags and huggers.  For small quantity orders of the doo rags, I will embroider at no extra charge.  The idea is to be able to work with the individual on their needs along with groups of any size to do various projects. 

I am already to doing work on a regional level for stores and groups.  This includes doing parking pucks, cups, custom pins and patches, custom decals and many more things.  Heck we have even been doing brochure and mailing work for some groups!   The way I like to put it, "If you don't see it here, ask.  We will get it!"

I want this to be a place where folks can come and be part of a community.  That is what will drive the dot com when it is opened.  Folks will be able to post ride notes, pictures and rally info along with other general information. 

Let me know your thoughts on this. 

Thanks

Biker Ragz

bikerragz@hotmail.com