Hiya folks! I havent been here in so long that I figured I may as well post in here as a newbie! I still have Surak, my VN750, and have added a Kawasaki 454 LDT to my stable as well. I got to ride through a terrifying thunderstorm the other day when I got caught up in Titusville, PA without any rain gear and the sky opened up. The bike and I handled the flooded roads very well, but I was pretty darn scared and unsure whether I should stop or just keep on pressing home (about an hours ride)! I kept on! There were cars going by throwing waves of water right up over me and in places, on a turn, there was a foot of water flowing over the road, with a lot of debris. It was my most exciting ride to date, I think! Any rules on what you're supposed to do when you're caught in weather like that? I felt like a major lightning target out there!
Anyway, I just wanted to touch base and see if any of my old buddies were around yet....Starr and Dianna? Fall Guy, Jaremy? Spencer? Anyone?! I havent been around. I was busy with college, but I graduated last month after four fun years! Woohooo! Oh yes, there's another member I havent forgotten. Is WooHoo still around? In case y'all have forgotten me, I'm Faith, aka Talie, from Western PA....single Mom of three teenage boys and proud owner and rider of a '94 Kawasaki Vulcan 750 to which I added a Memphis shades Hellcat windshield, Wingerline crash bars, highway pegs, Joe Rocket saddlebags and of course, the most exciting accessory....ME!

Welcome back and congrats on the 454, thats what I had before this 750, they are fun little bikes and not that much slower than our 750's.

Hey there Faith, Talie, Kawgirl ... whichever ya prefer.:smiley_th
It has been awhile since you've been here !

I'm in Western PA too. About 20 or so miles North of "Da 'Burgh".

Congrats on graduating !!

We have had some nasty storms lately. Glad ya made it through.
I've been caught in a few storms. Most of the time I try to find a place to pull over and wait it out. But there have been times when that wasn't an option. Then, I just take everything a bit slower. If the rain is coming down hard, I'll even ride with the flashers on (nice feature alot of bikes don't have !!)
I always have one of those cheap, disposable ponchos in the saddlebag just incase I didn't pack the rain gear and the weather gets bad.
One thing to be sure of, as with any vehicle, when the rain first starts, try to stay out of the middle of the lane. Oil buildup on the road can cause major problems till it's washed away.

Well, stay dry and maybe we'll see each other on the wild roads of Western PA sometime.

You must be around Butler or thereabouts, huh? I'm right on the border between Clarion County and Venango County. We just may pass on the roads one of these days. I'm always delighted to see other Vulcan riders out there! Do you happen to belong to the Steel City Vulcan Riders group?

That's where I be. Just about at the corners of Butler, Allegheny & Beaver Counties.
North is the direction a buddy & I usually head when we take a ride. Nice scenery up that way.

Have ya ever been to "Pithole City" ? (History time...)
It's the remnants of an old oil boom town. Started up in May of 1865, 15,000 people by Sept 1865, then down to 2000 by Dec 1866 and less than 300 by 1870. They say it rivaled any of the wildest towns the old west had to offer.
Not much of anything left there now (considered a ghost town) but an interesting place to visit, and one of the first steps in the oil industry of the States.

I don't belong to any clubs/groups. Prefer to be an Independent Rider.

Fireworks are startin', gotta go.

Later.

Great to have you back Faith. I've been wondering what you've been up to.

Funny thing is you own the same two bikes I've owned. I miss my little 454LTD. Great bike.

Pithole City, or just Pithole, as we call it, is an interesting place to visit, historically speaking, and for the fun roads up around here. My cousin runs the little museum up there. She opened it and gave my nieces a private tour and history lesson a couple weeks ago.
I ride independently, too, but for a brief time I was a member of the Steel City VROC and enjoyed my very first group ride with a handful of fellows from down that way who rode their Vulcans up here to Cook Forest, which is just down the road from me.
As for the 454, you guys are right, it's a fun little bike! She's versatile, fast, reliable and loads of fun. I open her up on my road and am always amazed at the pick-up that bike has. I haven't done a lot with her, because I usually ride the 750, but once in a while, just for grins and giggles, I'll get that bike out and bend it around a few turns. The little bugger is amazing. It started right up this spring after sitting all winter. I didn't even have to charge the battery! I also added a Yamaha 125 dirt bike to the garage but for some reason I really don't enjoy dirt bikes much. I thought I would. It just sits there, chained to the wall...maybe two tanks of gasoline run through it in it's entire life. Maybe I ought to sell it and put that money toward some accessories for the 750! It's a thought....
Thanks for the welcome back! It's good to have a little free time on my hands to actually do a few things I want to do for a change! I plan to put more miles on my bike this summer than I have to date.

My cousin runs the little museum up there. She opened it and gave my nieces a private tour and history lesson a couple weeks ago.

That's cool !
I've been there a few times, but never done the museum.
I had thought about taking a metal detector there, but then found out it's illegal to do that at any historical landmark.:doh:


for some reason I really don't enjoy dirt bikes much

Don't enjoy dirtbikes ??!! :wow:
Well, they are a different kind of ridin'.
I get my biggest dirtbike rush doing hillclimbs. Never got into the racing side of it. I prefer just buzzin' through the woods.
And anymore, so many riding places are getting shut down, a buddy & I were talking about maybe selling the dirtbikes and getting some 650 dualsports instead.