Bike Trip 09'

Raider Bill · May 26, 2009, 11:36:58 AM

I maybe heading up to Tenn in the next couple days. Might miss you.

But I am right off interstate 75 up there. You got my cell number.

DanG · May 26, 2009, 11:54:16 AM

Jon, I know you're trying to avoid having a set schedule on the trip, but do you have a rough idea when you'll be passing through this area? I have to be out of town on the w/e of the 7th. I hope that doesn't conflict with your arrival in this area.

Weekend_Sawyer · May 26, 2009, 12:15:35 PM

Bill my rough layout of the trip puts me in Tampa on Friday the 5th.

and DanGit Dan that means around your area on that weekend :(

DanG · May 26, 2009, 01:04:55 PM

Well, SNOT!

We may not be completely dead in the water, as my schedule isn't etched in stone yet. Trouble is, I ain't the one in charge of scheduling my trip. I will have the Birmingham Grandkids for the week, and have to deliver them to Jacksonville that weekend so they can spend the summer with their Dad in Savannah. I'm stuck with whatever day he can meet me there. :

Raider Bill · May 26, 2009, 04:51:19 PM

Jon,

Looks like I'm pulling out of here [fl] either in the AM or Thursday morning for Tenn.:-[

Enjoy Kojacks!

Mooseherder · May 26, 2009, 06:25:20 PM

I hope the weather improves for your trip. Pack a good rain suit because we have had a daily afternoon deluge that screams the drought is over. :D
On a good note, they're saying nice weather on Sat. and Sunday.

Weekend_Sawyer · May 27, 2009, 06:35:50 AM

Good raingear and waterproof boots are a must! And you still get wet. Ah well, into each life...

So we have this huge pile of cloths and gear that has to go into the saddle bags and one back pack that fits on the back rest. I don't know how she does it but The Lovely Miss Celest is able to get it all in. Ya see I am in charge of the bike and she is in charge of the packing. Last year the pack weighed 39 pounds.

Jon

Roxie · May 27, 2009, 07:58:44 AM

Cowboy Bob and I sure wish you and The Lovely Miss Celeste a wonderful journey. If you get back in time, and want a fun day trip, the Antique Tractor Pull is Saturday, July 25th at the Cecil County Fair. I'll let ya kick my tires. :D

Raider Bill · May 27, 2009, 08:58:57 AM

Quote from: Weekend_Sawyer on May 27, 2009, 06:35:50 AM

Good raingear and waterproof boots are a must! And you still get wet. Ah well, into each life...

So we have this huge pile of cloths and gear that has to go into the saddle bags and one back pack that fits on the back rest. I don't know how she does it but The Lovely Miss Celest is able to get it all in. Ya see I am in charge of the bike and she is in charge of the packing. Last year the pack weighed 39 pounds.

Jon

Bed rolls, tent, rain gear, 1 change of clothes for each of you. Buy clean t-shirts along the way.................... wishful thinking huh?

Looks like I'm heading out tomorrow AM

Weekend_Sawyer · May 27, 2009, 09:03:50 AM

Have a good trip RB, I'll try and catch you next time around.

Roxy, I'm putting that on my calandar! I'll kick your tires as long as you don't wear steel wheels!!

Jon

Raider Bill · May 27, 2009, 09:09:13 AM

You ride safe Brother, Have a great time. I'll be around Englewood Tenn if you get that way.

Weekend_Sawyer · May 28, 2009, 09:50:22 AM

Bike trip 09 starts tomorrow morning! 8)

I have run through the 35,000 mile maintenance schedule on the bike, even though I only
have 34,100 miles on it, it's been cleaned stem to stern and has a
belly full of fresh oil, it must feel nice and snuggly. New cam tensioners
are nice and quiet.

Celest and I are heading out tomorrow morning, linking up with our friends Mike and
Cheryl on their 03 Road king near the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. Our first day plan is to ride down the Eastern Shore through and across the Bay Bridge-Tunnel at the mouth of the Chesapeake and wind up somewhere near or on Ocracoke Island.

Tomorrow will be a milestone for Mike and Cheryl, it will be the longest
they have ever been on a Bike. They plan to make it to Key West with us,
spend a couple of days there and then back up to Tampa where they will split
off and catch the auto train home and we will continue on to New Orleans.

Waa Hoo!
Jon

moosehunter · May 28, 2009, 03:18:44 PM

Jon,
I want you to have a good time even though I can't go.

;D

May every road be slightly uphill ( so you can hear the music out of those two exhaust pipes better

).
May you miss the love bug season!

Have fun
mh

Weekend_Sawyer · June 06, 2009, 07:33:04 AM

We are currently 1 week into the trip. My buddy Mike and his wife Cheryl split off at tampa to take the auto train home. We made it without shoving a stick in each others spokes.

We took 17 down through the outer banks and rode the ferry's to and off of Ocracoke Island. Nice but a little slow. We kept on 17 down to Charlotte SC where we picked up 95 and poured on the coal heading south for Key West. In Key West we stayed in a very nice Bed and Breakfast, I had to repair a turn signal wire that had come loose, no biggy there.
We had Sloppy Joes at Sloppy Joes, stopped in Jimmy Buffets, watched the sunset off the pear and did touresty stuff like that. One day and 2 nights and I was really ready to get back on the road!

We have been rained on 3 times, all three times we were on bridges with the wind blowing like some bully shoving us around. I found it quite invigorating. Looks like rain again today, Ah well, "into each life..."

We are now in Chrystal River Florida about 200 miles south of DanG's and we plan to stop in and say hi.

Jon

DanG · June 06, 2009, 10:52:46 PM

At least they managed to wave as they went by. :D :D

Actually we had a great little visit. They arrived quite a bit later than planned, due to an attempt to reconcile my directions to those on the GPS. :

I had actually about given up, and scooted up to the store for the nightly refreshments, so wouldn't ya know that's when they would arrive. I was only gone 15 minutes, but Jon had already taken pics of my place and was going to post them here without me, but I fooled him and showed up. :D

Jon is indeed "the master of fun", the lovely Miss Celeste is indeed lovely, and Elvis is indeed a handsome brute! I'm sure glad it worked out where we could meet! 8) 8)

Raider Bill · June 07, 2009, 09:48:29 AM

What a BEAUTIFUL Bike!

Sorry I missed you, just got back to Florida.

Weekend_Sawyer · June 08, 2009, 10:07:42 AM

Dan, that was truley a fun visit. It was also WAY too short. We will get together again.

We made it to New Orleans last night. What a disappointment, nuff said. We did find a clean place to eat and had red beans and rice, boudin and andouille sausages, mmmmm good! The best part of the ride was coming across the 24 mile causeway across Lake Pontchatrain.

Today we plan on heading west and south down highway 90 and hook up through Lafayette. In search of more beans n rice, sausages and gumbo! Ride to eat, eat to ride.

2,800 miles so far and my tires are showing some wear, we will see if they can get us home.

Jon

beenthere · June 08, 2009, 10:28:26 AM

Sounds like a great trip.

I know nothing about bike tires. What would cause them to wear so fast?
Is that wear typical for bike tires?

Seems I can visualize fast wear on tires if out of alignment, but that shouldn't be a problem with bikes.

Is it leaning on curves?

Or is it something to do with design for a good ride, at the expense of longevity of the tire?

Just curious, but wouldn't want to have worn tires under me on a bike on the road.
Best to you and Miss Celeste on the ride.

Have to agree with you on the NO experience. Not a place I enjoy or want to go back to.

moosehunter · June 08, 2009, 08:10:08 PM

Bike tires have a very soft rubber compound so as to stick to the road better. 8-14k miles is what I used to get depending on the way I drove and far I let them wear before they scared me into new ones.

Raider Bill · June 09, 2009, 09:08:12 AM

What Moose Herder said.

Bike tires are round on the bottom unlike a car tire that has more road surface plus when we do turns we are running on the sides. They are softer to grip the road better.

I tend to get 5-7k miles out of a rear tire s bit more from the front.

Weekend Sawyer, How did Mike and Cheryl like the ride to Key west? Did you do it in one shot? How many hours, miles was it? If so that would give them Iron Butt status ;D

Weekend_Sawyer · June 10, 2009, 11:33:40 AM

3,300 miles so far, my tires are wearing but still have enough tread to get me home safely.

After being thorughly disgusted with Burbon Street and taking multiple showers and getting de-loused, the next morning we went over to the French Market. Much better, still a not so nice smell in the air but all around a better experience. We had coffee and beignets (like a doghnut with out the hole) at Cafe Du Monde and wandered around a bit.

We left the french quarter and traveled around in circles trying to get out of the city. The GPS did not help a bit here, we found our way out and went south and west on highway 90, traveling throu bayou country was amazing. We made our way through small towns and found friendly people everywhere. We ran back east on I 10 which is more bridge than road and spent the night just north of Baton Rouge at a B&B with huge live oaks and spanish moss, nice but lots of skeeters.

Yesterday we rode highway 61 through Mississippi south to north. Farm after Farm. Passing huge combines on the road. Saw one out burning in the field, I had heard that would happen to them. We stopped at "The Crossroads", the interscetion of Highways 61 and 49. Took a pix and hot-footed out of town. We made it to Memphis and had enough light left to take a picture of Elvis the Road King infront of the Graceland gates. As we were coming into town on a 4 lane, a car crossed infront of us and stopped in our lane and sat there. The car that was beside me slammed on his brakes and gave me enough room to to cut around. As I passed I could hear everyone in the car, and it was a car load, screaming. Don't know why the did it but it I sprouted a couple more grey hairs. This was one of 2 near misses on this trip. I hope it was the last.

We started out this morning heading for Kentucky on Highway 51 north out of Memphis and ran into a huge rainstorm. We put on raingear but were absolutley soaked, so we just checked into a hotel and luckly they have a washer, dryer and internet! We will be heading for Kentucky a little later today.

Jon

Weekend_Sawyer · June 15, 2009, 02:16:44 PM

After Memphis we zigzaged our way across Kentucky, beautiful state. The land got more and more hillier until we were in the mountains. I love these old mountains! Raining on and off we finally stopped for the night somewhere in Western Virginia. Friday we headed straight up through West Virginia, dodging rain all the way. We stopped at Tamarac art center near Beckley. If you are ever near stop in, there is something there for everyone and the cafateria lunch was great! From there we motored up 19 and over the New River Gorge bridge, it's the tallest or longest or something but the view off of it was spectacular. That night we settled in at Bridgeport, WV. We wanted to take route 50 east from there as it is a curvy bikers dream of a road but the weather would not cooperate so we stayed on 79 to 68 to 70 and home.

Well we got home Saturday afternoon and the place looked like it had been abandoned for a couple of years. Grass was a foot high, branches in the yard. My brother said we had rain almost every day and some good winds. Celest and I spent yesterday cleaning up, mowing and tilling the garden. Vacation is truley over... was it a dream?

Jon

DanG · June 15, 2009, 02:23:49 PM

Well thanks for sharing your vacation with us, Jon! I enjoyed it right along with you, especially the part when you stopped by here. ;D 8) 8)

It's a shame that vacations have to end, but if they didn't you'd have to call them "retirement." ;D

Raider Bill · June 15, 2009, 02:48:16 PM

Jon,

Glad to hear you are home safe and had a great trip!

Sorry I missed you for ribs at Kojacks.

Raider Bill · June 29, 2009, 05:25:22 PM

Jon,
Did you say you were looking to buy a street gliide?
Rode one this weekend Hardest saddle I've ever sat on!
2 hours my butt was sore!
Just saying....................