Another beautiful day here today. Spotty came over first thing this morning to pick up some stuff, and we decided to go for a ride. We met up over at the storage place, and as his Triumph Rocket III wasn't going as well as it could, I offered him the Valkyrie. He was no stranger to it, as he owned it first, and we swapped bikes last year, and it's actually still registered in his name. I took my Sportster as I'd forgotten to grab my new log book for my K0 or K2, and if the cops caught me riding them without their logbooks, the offence would be "riding an unregistered motorcycle", which would involve a hefty fine and several demerit points that I can't afford to accrue.
We filled up at the gas station closest to the storage place, and rode out thru Wallan, Romsey, Lancefield, to Kilmore where I filled up the Sporty again, I'd done 85 Km's from the first gas station, and it took 4.03 Litres, so I was averaging 21 km/l or 60 miles per (imperial) gallon. (48.56 miles per US gallon) The Sporty only has a 12 litre tank, so just like I can't go past a toilet, it can't go past a gas station. In actual fact it has a possible range of 240 Km (150 miles) so I shouldn't be so anxious, but I am.
Sportster Saturday 31 December 2022 by
Terry Prendergast, on Flickr
We rode on to Broadford, where we stopped for lunch. No pies this time, special occasion, so we had Chinese. Spotty, being at least 7 feet tall has a much healthier appetite than me, so no food was wasted.
Sportster Saturday 31 December 2022 2 by
Terry Prendergast, on Flickr
The Valkyrie really is a huge bike, and makes my Sporty look tiny.
Sportster Saturday 31 December 2022 1 by
Terry Prendergast, on Flickr
And that was that, we rode back to the storage place and parted ways, with a great ride to finish off the year. Of course it's the 31st of December, and my hope of doing 44 rides didn't quite come to fruition, but with todays ride, 38 rides of at least 50 miles (and thanks to the ill fated BMW ride down from Hervey Bay, my average was well over 100 miles per ride. It's been a good year, and while I haven't done as much bike work this year, I've really enjoyed all those rides.
Tomorrow the new "23 rides in 2023" thread will be posted, and hopefully I'll get another ride in soon. Its supposed to be in the 90's for the next couple of days so I'm not sure if I'll venture out for a couple of days, we'll see. Congratulations to everyone that got their 22 rides in this year, and congratulations also to all those who didn't, but at least had a go. Frank started this thread in 2020 as a New Years resolution to basically stop making excuses and get out on his bike and ride, and that has been my incentive too.
As I look back over 2022, I think it's been a pretty good year motorcycle wise, and like you all, I look forward to more two wheeled adventures in 2023. Happy New Year everyone, and all the best to you and yours, for 2023!