Part 1

I started the day by driving the S2000 up to Portland (top up actually) to meet friends who were shopping for their first motorcycle. I was coming up to help out with the test ride and once over for overall condition. Twist my arm right?

{Mark 10:00am: Dropped the top after a quick stop for a bottle of water.}

Danno wanted a beginner bike that was somewhere between a standard and a cruiser. We went to look at a 92 Honda Nighthawk 750 and an 82 Yamaha Virago 750. To be honest, the Nighthawk looked pretty promising in the ad and I was secretly pulling for this one over the Virago -- mostly because it's newer, I know a guy who's put a ton of miles on one, and it's more familiar in terms of the riding position I'm used to.

Unfortunately as is the case with many Craigslist sourced leads, those re-sized (and generally crappier) photo's they host for you make it difficult to tell just how nice the bike really is. In short, the Nighthawk was generally not well cared for. Maintained just enough that all systems worked ok, but in general needed a thorough service front-to-back to be right. At $2000 it didn't feel right to me. One sentence review of riding experience: Even though it's power is pretty good for it's age, the bike didn't feel well balanced and in fact felt pretty heavy and a bit awkward during transitions.

So we decided to consider this bike as a 'maybe' and decided to break for a quick breakfast since it was still only mid-morning at this point. A quick stop by was needed at Fat City Cafe in Multnomah Village, where we were quickly served a great breakfast. Now we were ready to check out the next potential ride.

Next up was the Virago which was actually in Vancouver across the river. We met a nice retired man who had probably 6 Japanese bikes of this vintage in his garage, all in mostly good condition. Initial impressions were really good as the bike had obviously received some recent care with good tires, new starter, and very clean overall. Compared to the Nighthawk that had a brutally filthy chain, peeling paint, and a leaky caliper, this bike was ready for sale: clean, similar miles at under 15K, and was priced at only $1200. Granted it's ten years older and power was no comparison to the Nighthawk, it was really easy to ride. It can't weigh much and dipped into corners with ease. The riding position was somewhat new to me and I actually put my feet on the rear pegs the first time I sat on it. But after riding it for 15 minutes, I see the appeal. It's totally relaxing and I'll be damned if those vents on the front of your jacket don't work 100% better when air is actually hitting them head on instead of getting the leftovers just above the tank!

My advice was to sleep on it and offer $1000 the next day. Danno replied, "I've got a thousand on me right now..." and then walked back to the front door and made a deal. We're going back next week to get it. Congratulations guys, it's a great first bike!

Part 2

Then I continued top-down in the Honda to the racetrack for the Portland Historic Races around 1pm. This is a great event in our own backyard, and Bob and Joe from Sports Car Shop were racing as well. I was looking forward to putting the 70-200 F4 L into the field again and the weather was perfect.

Sports Car Shop got a great spot for their team and was in the parking lot just behind the clock tower. Plus their close friend decided to add to the general Feng Shui of their pad with his recently acquired Ferrari F430! Beautiful car!

I then puttered around the paddock and club parking areas while grabbing a quick bite to eat before Joe and Bob went out in back-to-back sessions between 3 and 4pm. Once they were out, I grabbed my favorite spot at the track even though the light was facing me. Nonetheless, it was worth the full frontal sun assault considering some of the resulting pictures:

Leaving PIR with the top up, I washed up in the bathroom before hitting the road and when I saw myself in the mirror, my cheeks were definitely a little pink, but not bad. But now that I've cooked dinner (on the BBQ outside, doh!) and sat down to edit photos and blog about the day, I've gone from pink to full on red -- all over. Like an idiot I failed to remember, like I do every year after the first good drive with the top down, that when the top is down = you're outside and getting burned. Maybe I'll remember next year...

dc

Partial Gallery of 2010 Portland Historic Races Sunday Afternoon

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Never in my entire life has the Ferris Bueller line been more applicable, "If you had access to a car like this, would you take it back right away?" Well I won't add any more drama; I did take it back right away. My Powerball ticket hadn't hit the previous Wednesday for $212mil, so I tip-toed downtown to the park and back... and loved every minute of it. But the drive back to the shop was a real challenge as there's an on-ramp to the Beltline just a block further...

Even in my short and pedestrian paced time in the car, it's very clear this car was built with a lot of care and thoughtful engineering. Not only is it capable of hanging with the best that Europe can offer, it's also totally easy to drive around in. As low as it is, the front clearance is actually quite good. The clutch that has to manage 550hp is easy to engage and is very light in fact. And the gearing is perfect for that big lump. I think first gear actually goes all the way to 60mph, but with all the torque available so early, you can just lump her along in second and still have plenty of power to make her jump with a squeeze of the accelerator.

Almost more impressive than the engineering and ease of use, is the cars wonderful body. It's low and very wide. And inside, it's the business: you sit down deep in the car and the cockpit is all about driving quickly. Sitting in a slung back position, you turn to the right and see the glass back window is right behind you. And right behind that is the supercharger pulley spinning behind your head. Awesome!

Then there's the sound. Crank it up and make sure to have big speakers attached for the best sound!

My previous benchmark for best performance had been to the Lotus Elise. This was a truly wonderful car to drive and a perfectly balanced platform. But this Ford GT takes it to a whole new level in terms of refinement, driveability, and raw performance. I mean with 550hp under foot, you can turn any situation into a tire smoking felony in mere seconds.

So you're convinced you have to have one? Keep an eye on the auction to be a part of the action:

Thank you to Bob at Sports Car Shop for the opportunity to sample such a fantastic vehicle!

dc

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A quick side trip with Paul and his wife to Van Duzer Winery:

And the next day we hit Mary's Peak for a little hike in the snow with our St. Bernard:

As you can tell, we have fallen in love with this car! The e28 535 has been a great car to us, but it was time for my wife to get something nice considering how hard she works for it. Shana is so enamoured with the car that she's actually going to start her own blog based around our trips in that car. I'm really excited for her and eager to help her with her first blog!

dc

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Nearly two weeks ago now, Shana and I made a day of the Portland Auto Show. We used to go every year to fantasize about new cars, but have missed the event in recent years. It's fun to check out everything up close and personal without the hassle of a salesman crawling down you neck.

We started our day by hitting up the S2ki Forum Hillsboro Honda meetup for S2000 owners. I only got a couple of quick pictures but it was fun to finally meet some forum members I had met online numerous times but never connected with in person. Great job getting 30 cars to come out in the middle of winter Ira! Check out all the pictures on S2ki.

We were fairly rushed at the meet because we had an appointment after that to check out a used Infinity QX4 for the missus. Looked promising in the pictures, but was a little too rough for us. We're actually having a pretty tough time finding a suitable car for Shana because we're so used to enthusiast vehicle shopping, which usually results in clean and documented cars to shop for. We were thinking of going with a more dependable Japanese variant, but they're just not cared for like the European rides we're used to looking at. Now we're thinking of going back to European shopping in the form of a Land Rover Discovery. We're back in Portland this weekend, so we'll probably stop and look a few then.

Then it was on to check into our downtown Portland hotel, Hotel Lucia. What a beautiful place and fantastic service! Not to mention it was in the center of everything we had planned and easy Max trip to the Convention Center for the show. Can't wait to stay there again!

After freshening up, it was on to the Portland Auto Show. Tickets were reasonably priced at $10 and at the ticket window we were reminded that many major manufacturers were not there due to cutbacks and slow sales. This was a bummer as BMW, Saab, Mercedes, and many others were definitely cars we were looking forward to jumping into.

{warning: really crappy images ahead. I've been too busy to post-process these but wanted to put up what I had.}

Ron Tonkin brought out a few new cars and a couple older ones from his collection. These were all front and center outside the main conference areas:

MotoCorsa was also in attendance with the latest Lotus and Ducati offerings. The black Sport 1000 was exactly like the demo bike I rode a couple years back.

Then it was on to the Audi and Porsche areas. I have to admit, I wanted to check out the Panamera because it looks so bad in pictures. It didn't disappoint, it's ugly and HUGE! First the blasphemy that is the Cayenne and now this abomination. So sad that a more true to spirit business model couldn't have been used to get them into the 21st century.

The local SCCA chapter also had a nice area set up. There were several car corral areas that usually aren't present, likely due to so many manufacturers pulling out this year.

And here are few more random snaps. You'll notice how crowded Saturday afternoon was. I think every Dad in town got babysitting duty as there were lots of kids running around. Reminds me that we prefer going on Thursday mid-day when it's super quiet!

After the show we met up with our good friends Danno, his wife Angie, and our close friend Julie who also happened to be in Portland that day. We had a fantastic dinner at Mother's Bistro just a few blocks from the hotel. What a meal! Plan on leftovers no matter how big your appetite is!

And by chance, another friend of ours was in town for a whirlwind 48 hour tour, my close friend Ed. He lives in Atlanta now, but amazingly we've managed to meet up several times in the past few years. We met for a nightcap at Pazzo and then stumbled upstairs to crash after a very long day.

We're heading back up to Portland for a wedding at Edgefield this weekend. That makes about 4 trips up there in 5 weeks. Maybe we should get a condo!

dc

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I put together some thoughts over at RareSportBikesForSale.com as well. Good night all,

dc

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Congrats on the new bike Alex! Can't wait to see it in action!

dc

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Will be available via Sports Car Shop in Eugene, Oregon.

I'll update with a new post after pictures and video are compiled.

Life is good!

dc

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1984 Alfa Romeo GTV6-Silver - $3500 (SW Portland)

quote from the Craigslist ad:

For sale is a very good condition GTV6 with 78k miles. I have owned it for about 10 years. Runs and drives great but has the usual fragile 2nd gear synchro. Tires are nearly new on period correct 15 inch OZ wheels. Windows work great, all gauges work as they should, as does all lights and signals. AC system is intact but missing the belt. Leather interior in good shape. Paint is shiny with minor defects here and there, no major dents or dings. Surface rust in spare tire well only. No leaks of any kind. I just had the timing belt, tensioner, water pump and all seals at the front of the engine replaced so I can drive it around for the summer. Always passes DEQ with ease. Sale includes original Campy wheels with tires.

Being a 1984 and 25 years old, this car qualifies for all kinds of 'classic' category events. It's been on my mind recently when thinking about shows, vintage racing, etc... For $3500, this looks like it'd be a great entry into that arena.

dc

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The Monte Shelton Northwest Classic Rally is an event I've wanted to become more knowledgeable about for a long time. My wife and I were on the coast probably 6 or 7 years ago and saw a line of classic cars heading down 101 with the Monte Shelton number plates on the sides, and I knew that some day I'd like to participate.

This year we planned to be in Portland for the start of the event to take see what it was all about. I was pleased to find that while some of the cars were in fact very valuable and rare collector cars, there were also many other vintage cars of varying rarity and value. It truly looks like an event for well prepared cars and individuals with a passion for driving in the Pacific Northwest. The event also serves as benefit for the March of Dimes which I thought was a nice touch as well.

I've never done a TSD rally before, but it looked like there were plenty of first-timers at the event and the morning meeting promised no surprises. And for those not interested in competing, there was even an opportunity to simply follow the route for fun and join everyone at the checkpoints.

I look forward to getting an eligible classic sometime soon so I can participate too. In the meantime, here are the pics outside start/finish line in Downtown Portland:

My full gallery is here (348 pics!):

And I stumbled onto this YouTube picture gallery as well:

dc

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But the leg up on Saturday was the real meat of the trip. We rode back roads from Corvallis to Edgefield in Troutdale for a late breakfast. We both had the bacon scramble with fresh baby red tomatoes and smothered in freshly grated Parmesan. Delicious!

From there we hit I-84 for a quick blast to Hood River, where we took the bridge across the Columbia to Washington, and headed North for Mt. St. Helens. Turns out this area is a meca for sportbike riders as we must have seen nearly 100 riders in this area. Most of the roads are fantastic and the vistas are even more amazing.

We continued on past Randle through the Mt. Rainier area, past Mt. Adams, through Enumclaw, and then on to Issaquah. All in all, I think we were on the freeway less than an hour and half all day. Here is our route:

Unfortunately when you're behind on your day long back roads trip, you don't stop for pictures. But luckily lots of other Flickr users have. Here is what you can expect from the area:

After riding some of the best, and some of the worst, that SW Washington had to offer, we were beat. Ten and a half hours later, we were hurting to say the least! Paul being the saint he is, and having water-tight hard bags on the VFR, went and got us some refreshments to unwind with after our journey:

The next day we cleaned up the bikes and headed for the BBQ. After supporting the Ducati website for nearly 2 years, I was able to connect names and faces. I already knew the club was full of great people and it was a really nice gathering of like minded enthusiasts. Here are some pics of the rides that showed up:

The worst part of the trip was definitely the last leg, from Issaquah to home via I-5. A record heat wave started that afternoon and we rode home in some seriously hot air on the blacktop for over 5 hours. It was like being blasted from all angles with heat guns no matter how fast or slow we managed. So we ended up stopping about every hour to rehydrate and recharge. Not much choice as we both had to be at work on time the next day.

All that said, I'm really glad we did this trip. Not only did I finally get to meet some great Ducatisti, I proved to myself I'm still capable of a big trip. I can't wait to go again!

dc

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