Road Kill Diaries

One friend left for Daytona Bike Week Wednesday, hauing his V-Strom out on a trailer. Another left Friday astride an '07 Super Glide that he purchased in December and modified by adapting an FXRT fairing along with other changes. He's a machinist who can work miracles with metal. He also adapted the old RT front fender to work with the FXD.

He reports that the bike rode like a dream on the first leg of the trip down. The fairing provided good protection from the colder weather in Virginia and North Carolina and he arrived for the night in South Carolina with no fatique.

The Harley, he says, "is a keeper." Quite an endorsement from someone who had rode mostly British and European metrics for most of his life.

I'm envious of my two friends because I'm still stuck in the frozen tundra of Southwestern Virginia, unable to get my '09 Super Glide out of the garage and down a steep, 450-foot-long driveway that remains under 18 inches of packed snow and ice.

I had hoped to go to Daytona but the storm of the century ended that hope and I'm hoping it will be clear enough by March to get out and put some milds on the Glide.

Daytona Bike Week starts February 26 and for those of us who have been stuck in three major snowstorms since Dec. 18 here in the Blue Ridge Mountains, the lure of sun, surf and sex sounds very appealing.

I'm not much for large bike rallies. I don't drink, so hanging out in bars has little appeal. I'm happily married, so leering at bikini-glad beauties doesn't accomplish much and I'm too broke to afford a new rear tire so burnouts are out of the question.

Big motorcycle events like Bike Week and Sturgis have grown into overblown vendor shows and places for wannabes to act tough.

But getting away from the bitter winter that has gripped this area has a lot of appeal.

I've ridden about five times since Dec. 18 -- less time in the saddle than ever and it's driving me crazy.

I need to get on the open road and put some miles on the Super Glide.

So I'm thinking about Daytona -- if I can afford to go and if the weather clears and if I have the time.

Most people consider a trike safer than two-wheeled motorcycles.

Not always. From The Associated Press:

A woman died on a St. Petersburg highway after the three-wheeled motorcycle she was riding on lost a wheel and crashed.

The Florida Highway Patrol reports that 63-year-old William Riley was riding his 2009 Harley Davidson TriGlide with his wife, 63-year-old Janet Riley, on the back Thursday night. The bike crashed, and both riders were thrown. Janet Riley died at the scene, and William Riley was taken to a nearby hospital with serious injuries.

The crash was not alcohol-related, and both riders were wearing helmets.

The Super Glide sits in the garage -- unused, unriden and unavailable.

A foot of snow fell Friday night and Saturday -- the second major snowstorm of the season. Two ice storms also this year. Snow covers the roadways. The thermometer reads 14 degrees.

I ride in most kinds of weather -- even cold weaher -- but I draw the line when there's ice and snow on the road and there's been way too much of both since Dec. 18.

Bike week is three weeks away. I generally don't go to large rallies but the prospect of a week away from this madness is tempting.  I need to get out, to put miles on the Glide, to ride for a day and come home with a smile.

Ain't happening. Not with a foot of snow on the ground.

Damn I'm depressed.

From The Associated Press:

Harley-Davidson, the motorcycle maker, reported a fourth-quarter loss Friday, its first quarterly shortfall in 16 years, hurt by restructuring costs and the sluggish economy.

Harley-Davidson has come under pressure over the last year as the tight credit markets and the weak economy led consumers to shun purchases of its high-end, heavyweight motorcycles.

The company has been reorganizing its business through layoffs, factory closures and closing or selling unwanted brands. Harley said shipments of its bikes to dealers in 2009 fell 27 percent, to 223,023.

For 2010, Harley said it expects shipments to fall another 5 to 10 percent to 201,000 to 212,000 motorcycles.

Harley-Davidson said it lost $218.7 million, or 94 cents a share, during the fourth quarter. That marks its first three-month loss since the fourth quarter of 1993 and contrasts with a profit of $77.8 million, or 34 cents a share, a year ago. Revenue tumbled 40 percent, to $764.5 million from $1.28 billion a year ago.