Giggle. Yes, there is a product called Astroglide. It's a - ahem - "personal product." You probably shouldn't be using it on a moving motorcycle -- unless you're quite the wild child! :-) Harley makes several versions of the Electra Glide. What about rain? You get wet. Very wet. Even with rain gear. Remember how wet you got riding your bicycle home in the rain as a kid? Well, a motorcycle is going much faster, so there's more splashing of the water from the pavement. Depending on the design of the bike, the person on the back of the bike many get drenched even more. What do you do with your stuff? You leave it at home. You learn to travel very light. Will riding cause you to hurt? Maybe. Just as a sports car has more "road feel" than a limo, even a touring bike will have exponentially more road feel. Put it this way, my BIL is a serious Harley biker dude. He goes on day trips, but for longer trips like to Sturgis, SD (9-10 hours from here), he trailers the bike behind his truck and does short rides at his destination.

By the way, the last few km and the final velodrome sprint are here, complete with a surchauffe commentary by the Belgian announcers. Many bike races are not broadcast in the US, so cycling fans huddle over keyboards, watching grainy videofeeds like this one from a European broadcaster. Since you may not speak French, or at least not surexcited, half-screamed Belgian French, I will narrate. Starting at 2:40 - Cancellara and Vanmarche enter the velodrome together for the final 1 1/2 laps. They pedal slowly, calculating. Vanmarche, the young rider with no contract for next year, has delivered the ride of his life and is seconds from an incredible, career-making victory. A win at P-R will assure his employment for years. And he knows he is the better sprinter. Cancellara, the veteran and nine years' senior, has overcome almost the entire peleton today but desperately wanted to shake the young rider and arrive in the velodrome alone. He's lost P-R in sprint finishes before. They slow to a walk, climb high on the banking, each trying to maneuver the other into the lead. Vanmarche takes it. Confidence, or inexperience? They proceed around the velodrome, Vanmarche checking over his shoulder, listening for Cancellara to jump, Cancellara waiting for Vanmarche to jump and poised to follow. They move high on the banking, then Vanmarche dives down the steep slope, sprinting as hard as 250 km of racing in his legs will allow. Just 100 meters, oh Dieu, just 80 meters more! I don't know what language Cancellara prays in - being Swiss, he is polyglot - but something gives him wings. Cancellara matches the younger man's acceleration, gets tight in Vanmarche's slipstream, builds momentum, and swings out. Vanmarche is the faster sprinter, but he went too early, gave Cancellara too much time, now his legs are cramping, muscles unable to obey his screams, through his tears he sees Cancellara rise up in victory. Cancellara steers his bike to the infield and falls off, chest heaving, immobile but weightless. All the pressure is gone. With every team attacking him for six hours, bruised from two crashes in the prior week, his own teammates long gone, he hurt himself like never before and won his third P-R. (Don't feel too badly for Sep Vanmarche. I'm quite sure he will have a tidy contract with a solid team for 2014.) Here is a link that might be useful: Finish of Paris Roubaix 2013 This post was edited by johnliu on Mon, Apr 15, 13 at 20:41

Hi Penny, I'm so sorry to hear about your son. It is a wonderful idea to do a memory album. Maybe you could ask family members to write a special memory of him and include them in the book. If I see any BMX stuff I'll let you know. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful.

Karin, I think having the technology makes one attempt rides they otherwise would not. springroz, yeah, you can spend a ton on performance bikes. I'm talking a family ride to the town beach. I can't remember what we did spend on the bikes we have, but it was far less. The model we like with our preferred battery is probably 3k... Times five of us. chispa, I've heard various arguments on throttle vs pedal assist ... but we liked what we tested. Looks and feels and can be used entirely like an old fashioned bike. Not classified as a scooter or motorcycle either. We will have to t st ride a few more. kippy, it weighs 49 lbs.. Bike rack is a good point! Though our SUV is pretty big... Could prob throw in the back. jelly, yes, we don't want a scooter... Heck we'd buy a Vespa if we did. We want it primarily as an ordinary bike.