Legal Disclaimer – Any opinions, riding practices, feelings about other members, product or retail suggestions, religious beliefs, or beliefs in extra-terrestrial beings dressed in fairy costumes expressed in these blogs are those held solely by me, the blogger.  Especially the riding practices, don’t do what I do.  Sometimes I’m not safe at all and I know it.  Believe me, I reprimand myself quite often.  It’s just sooo damn much fun.

For those of you just joining us, you may want to jump down to the first blog titled ‘The Beginning’ and read them from the bottom up.  Again I apologize; I am playing catch up from my first day with my new V Max and I’m documenting the experiences and emotions I have related to riding this unbelievable machine.

Its Tuesday April 20th and Vanessa just left for work, kids are gone to school so… what to do?  Housework? No.  Work on the back yard landscaping? No, that’s way too much physical labor.  Hmmmm, I know!  I’ll ride Max!  But Where?  I’m bored with Casa Grande.  I think I’ve gone down every road in town at least 3 times, just to be riding.  And there are cops EVERYWHERE!  Every time I think about lighting up the back tire or just punching the throttle, a black and white appears.  Geez guys, let a guy have some fun.  It seems like I ride into Chandler every day even on the weekends so that’s getting a little old as well.  I want some mountain roads, twisties, and amazing views.  I would really like to find some beautiful backgrounds for some good pictures of Max.  Globe isn’t that far and I hear it’s a nice ride.  Shoot, I think I can even find my way without mapping it on Google first.  That’s it then.  Bundle up, grab the MP3 player, gas up (again), and hit the road.  Yeah I know, not supposed to use an MP3 player with earbuds while riding because you can’t hear anything around you.  I don’t listen to music though, I actually listen to audiobooks.  Kinda cool, especially listening to sci-fi thrillers or mysteries.

Grrr, there's that damn side panel with the patch of paint missing again.  It is really pissing me off.  Two calls to Seth at the dealership and all I get told is, “I’m still trying to get in touch with the painter.”  Bullshit!  He’s just waiting for the can of spray paint to get there.  I’m also starting to feel with my butt dyno that she just doesn’t quite have the pep that she did the first few days.  Man, I hope I didn’t screw up big time with the break in.  Maybe my butt dyno just needs calibrating.

Everything’s quiet and cool riding out through Coolidge and Florence.  A comment from somebody at a stoplight in Florence causes the grin to appear.  No horsing around or showing off.  Just nice, easy riding.  Everything about this bike just feels right.  Smooth, poised, balanced, ready to strike with a flick of the wrist.  I actually like the stealthy sound of the stock pipes.  To me, they have the perfect little rumble at lower RPMs and then they jump right up and snarl at you when you open the throttle up.  They are perfect to me, but I also realize that is probably because I haven’t heard any of the others in person yet.  Sure wish I had an X-Pipe, wink, wink.

On Highway 60 now and heading toward Superior and then Globe.  The highway is wide open so I kick the speed up a bit and cruise for a few minutes around 110mph.  I just can’t get over how easy it is to get there and how smooth it still is.  Oh, now the road is narrowing down from 4 lanes to 2 so time to let off and take it easy again.  Oh shit, perfect timing!  Just after the 2 lane reduction there’s a cop coming toward me.  Speedo says 70 and the speed limit is ??  Crap.  55 I think.  Oh well, he didn’t do anything and besides, the guys on the forum say the speedo is 10% off anyway.  Anyhow, a few little twisties and nice viewpoints later and I’m in Superior.  Damn that was quick.  Need gas.  Sure wish this thing had a bigger tank.  And I’m never ready for the little pullover viewpoints until I blaze past them.  Here’s a couple of shots I did manage to get though.

You can see the quarter sized patch of paint that came off my side cover.  It’s just embarrassing.  Stupid dealership.  Oh, and the side screws holding the intake scoops vibrated out yesterday so I had to get stainless replacements.  You can see one of those here also.  I’ll touch those up one of these days. 

And I just had to take of picture of a thistle.  I hadn’t seen one of these since I left Kansas 7 years ago.

Then it was on to Globe.  It was really a nice little ride with lots of beautiful scenery.  I would highly recommend it for a quick little day ride.  It was getting to be about 11:30 and I was hungry so time to find somewhere to eat.  I saw lots of little Mexican joints offering up the usual burritos and tacos but I wanted something a little more home style.  I idled past this place called Russel’s and saw another bike parked out front.  It was a white Harley bagger, I don’t friggin know what they hell they are all called.  The only way I know them is with fairing and bags, fairing and no bags, bags but no fairing, and no bags or fairing.  They guy was coming out just as I pulled up next to his bike.  He was an older guy probably about 40.  HA!  Just kidding.  He was probably in his 60s and we made the usual small talk.  He complimented Max and had the usual power and price questions.  Ok, ‘Ride Safe’, small talk done, time to eat.  Russel’s in Globe – Bacon swiss burger and fries followed by a piece of chocolate cream pie.  I don’t recommend it.  The food was very bland and service was cold and unfriendly.  The worst part???  The pie wasn’t good!  Oh well, live and learn.  Time to move on.  I cruised on a little further out of Globe heading toward Show Low but I didn’t go more than a couple of miles because the sign said it was quite a ways and I didn’t have much time left before I had to be home.  I decided I would turn around and head back, taking my time on the way home so I could get some good pics.  Here are some pics I took from the place I turned around at north of Globe.



Well back through Globe and heading back down toward Superior.  Taking my time and watching for sweet little spots to stop and take pictures.  Then it hit me.  You know guys, that feeling you get.  After you’ve slammed down a big burger, fries, and a slice of pie.  Let’s just say I felt the pressure building.  So time to clench up and open up the throttle a bit.  I’m not a germ-a-phobe but I really don’t like destroying a public restroom so I was sure hoping I could hold it till I got home.  There was this one beautiful pull out spot on the way that I just had to stop at and get a few pics.  They didn’t come out quite as well as I was hoping but they are still nice.  Probably because I was hurrying a bit.



Well, the rest of the ride home was sweet, fast, and uneventful.  Thank GOD!!

And what's the moral of the story kids?  Plan your bathroom breaks like you do your gas stops.

I still can’t get over how perfect this bike is.  And I’m getting more and more comfortable on it every day.  No butt aches, shoulder pains, and even the numb hands are starting to go away.  Damn I love my V Max!

There are a few more pics of my Globe ride on my profile here if you wish to see them.