Went for a ride on Wednesday April 14 to Paris with Al. It was a nice day but a little on the cool side if you were anywhere near the water. Al led the way and we went through the reservation. His wife is a midwife so we stopped into the Iroquois Birthing Centre for a visit but she was out on a call. We came into Paris via hwy. 24 and the view of the town and the river is very scenic. There used to be textile mills in town but they have been converted into stores and restaurants. We ate at a place called the Brown Dog which was a cafe in the Williams mode of restaurants, were you order at the counter, take a seat and they bring out your food. Nice quality stuff, a little on the pricey side ($3 for a bottle of root beer) but I would return. They had a outdoor deck that hung over the river, but after being in the wind all the way there we elected for the inside seats. In the summer it would be an excellent lunch time trip.
We came home in a rather roundabout way, but ending up coming down passed Waterford Conservation area, a very nice looking (man-made?) quarry on both sides of the road, with campers at the one end.
I had the chance to change the rear end gear oil lately and I seem to notice a difference when riding, I'm not sure if that is even possible, but I think I waited too long to change it the first time, so maybe in a few weeks I'll do it again to make sure I've cleaned out any sediment.
Looks like a rainy weekend coming up ...

I've been for a few rides including one with Al along the Niagara Parkway. We went up Marineland Road and stopped at a nice place where you had a view looking down at the top of the Horseshoe Falls, under the Hilton. The weather has been unreal for April, even hit the low 20's C. Here are a couple of pics, one of me at the top of the falls (hard to see that) and one of Al at one of the many little roadside picnic areas on the Niagara Parkway. Took Al to the motorcycle gear store on Hwy 20 outside of Smithville.

I went for a run to London to check out a store advertised on Kijiji called Crazy Als. It was supposed to be a liquidation sale but I didn't find the prices all that great. The Smithville guy has better prices than this liquidation sale and since I need a new jacket I have been checking out what he has. I think a visit to purchase is in order, or at least on the horizon.

Back for another season. I dragged the bike out of the shed, with Scott's help, on March 12. That is early for the Great White North, and I had to back porch it for the first weekend, but I have been for a couple of shorts rides this week.

Very happy with the Odyssey battery, especially as compared to the Yamacrap. I had to put the old one on the trickle charger once a month for the winter months, but the Odyssey wasn't charged once, and when I went to do it on March 11 .... charger kept flashing over to FULL. I was amazed. Yet on Venturerider.org they talk about the Deka ETX20L, which is suppose to be even better, I think I may check that one out, if anything ever happens to the Odyssey.

I did a brief run along Twenty Mile Rd (RR 69) and then looped around to drop into the Motorcycle Gear Store on Hwy 20, just on the outskirts of Smithville. From his humble beginnings of about 20 jackets and a few odds and ends he has really built quite the store. I liked the look of a jacket there, but I am still a little undecided between leather and textile. The textiles are so much lighter, can separate them into cooler jackets and a ton of pockets. But, I like the "look" of leather on a cruiser, versus a touring jacket. But, I'm riding a touring cruiser. Aaahh, as you see .... undecided. Since my weight loss the old leather looks a little ridiculous. So I better do something soon. I should of went to the January Motorcycle show at the Airport Center, but somehow snoozed and must of missed it.

I have noticed a tiny bit of cracking on the rear Avon tire. Nothing like some others have reported on Venturerider.org but I will keep an eye on it and my rear pressure. With the mileage (kilometerage?) that I put on, this will probably be the end of the rear tire anyway. I have 13000 km on it already, but not something you want to have to worry about at $165 a tire plus the $100 install. Too bad because I really liked the way those tires rode, still do! Have to come to a decision by the beginning of next year, why put on a new tire to sit in the shed and freeze?