Texas Honor Ride - November 2008

Monday, August 31, 2009


It was very early on a crisp Saturday morning in November 2008 when 600+ riders of all ages and motorcycles met on the west side of Houston to ride to San Antonio.

The Texas Honor Ride organized the ride and all proceeds from various rides and fund raisers throughout the year are donated to support our wounded warriors recuperating at Brooks Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio.



We rode in groups of 200, each group with police escort and an ambulance, just in case someone took a tumble, meeting outside of San Antonio. We then rolled on to BAMC in smaller groups.

Waiting for us was a wonderful barbecue lunch, complete with stolling musicians and civilian respresentatives from BAMC welcoming us to the base. After lunch, the Texas Honor Ride presented a check to BAMC for $85,000. Money that is used to supprt the troops and their families during their stay in San Antonio.



Everyone went their separate ways after that, some to San Antonio to enjoy the city, others' back home to Houston, all with smiles on their faces.



If you can join the Texas Honor Ride this year, please do so. Our veterans need all the help we can provide, especially during there tough economic times.

This years' ride is November 7 and you can find all the details at http://www.texashonorride.org/. We hope to see you there.


Until next time - Safe riding

Power Sport Models - We are Riders of the Road

Sunday, August 30, 2009


Power Sport Models is a family run business owned and operated by Motorcycle Riders!

We provide our customers with Highly Detailed Die Cast Motorcycle Model Replicas of their favorite rides; most notably Harley-Davidson motorcycles. While we do offer other products, our specialty is the HIGH QUALITY motorcycle replicas prized by collectors and riders.

But enough about the business, let's talk bikes. I inherited my first bike, a Suzuki 80 from my older brother for the unheard of price of $1.00 in 1968. He was serving in Vietnam and I was 13 and living in Texas. I was so excited, I immediately wrote him back and included that dollar. What my brother still doesn't know was that I had to borrow the dollar from Dad, hey, I was a kid, I didn't have any money!

A few years later Dad helped out again by co-signing a loan so I could buy another used bike, a Suzuki 50cc. We kept that bike for years until I finally ran it into the ground, literally! The forks were bent and the bike was dead. I still think about the time my girlfriend (now my wife of almost 34 years) tried to ride it and landed in a cactus, Ouch! She'll only ride on the back to this day.

After marrying and moving to Chicago, we bought our first brand new bike, a Honda 400cc, talk about excited. We used that bike for everything from cummuting to work to riding as much as we could, even in the Chicago winters. We sold that bike after moving back to Texas in order to help pay for the down payment on our first house. I kept my license though and 20+ years later helped my oldest son buy his first bike, a Suzuki Katana 600cc. Now I know why my mom worried about me on that little 50cc.

Ten or so years later, I finally bought another bike for me, a Suzuki Intruder 800cc, nice bike but not comfortable enough for the long rides I wanted to take...so, I went to the shop to buy a battery and came home with a beautiful 2002 Suzuki Intruder 1500LC. The 800cc got shipped to California to our son's home in Lake Tahoe. He sold it to his roommate and it's now back in Austin. Seems fitting that it would return home to Texas.

Three years ago we opened Power Sport Models (http://www.powersportmodels.com/) specializing in providing highly detailed scale replicas to help old guys like me relive their youth.

Please visit us some time. Send a picture of you and your bike and we'll post it on our blog and on the Power Sport Models site. We love seeing the bikes that make you happy!

Until next time - Safe Riding

The Dog Days of Summer

Monday, August 31, 2009

It is getting very late in August and the dog days of summer are upon us here in South East Texas, but not to worry because our riding season is almost here.

September (well most of September) until June is the prime riding season in Texas. It's just so hot that only the extremely devoted riders venture out after 11am. I myself haven't had my bike out in seven days, however last weekend I went 481 miles. To Dallas and back, stopping every 100 miles, not for gas, but for a cold bottle of water. Buying gas every 120 miles just gave me an excuse to get another bottle. Returning back to the Houston area early Sunday morning, I only stopped once. Being very early (6:15am) the air was still cool and actually kind of chilly, but even after 10am, the heat was being turned up. Luckily I was back in my air conditioned house by 11:30.

I went to Dallas on business, but stayed long enough to visit with an old friend from high school. Merlin and I had a great time exchanging memories and promising to get together slightly more than every 20 years or so.

Soon we will be riding every weekend and the highways and backroads will be full again. I can't wait.

Until next time - Safe riding