Motorcycle Alabama

A better title would be "my Life of Riding" but Ride of my life is more catchy so that's what I'm using.

This ride starts way back before many of you were born.  Some of you old timers like me may relate.  This starts back in the 60;s when I was growing up in Cleveland, Ohio.  I did a lot of riding back then.  Unfortunately my bike didn't have all that much power and looked something like this:

(https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/a198ddf2-c359-4749-ad53-7ffb1f5b0df2_1.6b8dbde976b46b8c80e609a681515a46.jpeg?odnHeight=450&odnWidth=450&odnBg=FFFFFF)

These things could be made to go pretty fast since my neighborhood had some pretty good hills.

So I enjoyed riding but I wanted something more.  Back then, just like today, the cool kids had something with an engine.  Something like this was popular back then.

(http://images1.americanlisted.com/nlarge/vintage-1970s-ruttman-mini-bike-minibike-tecumseh-4hp-americanlisted_29818451.jpg)

One kid was really cool and had my dream bike.  This was the ultimate in cool.

(https://i1.wp.com/www.bike-urious.com/wp-content/uploads/Honda-CT70-Left-Side.jpg)

So the cool kids had these bikes but my parents wouldn't let me get one so my riding was limited to bicycles :(

One of my friends had a dad who was a cop.  One day he responded to a motorcycle accident.  Some kid had crashed and it wasn't his first time.  The kid's dad was there and told my friend's dad that he could have the motorcycle.  He didn't want his kid riding any more.

So now I had a friend with a real motorcycle.  It was a Sears 106. 

(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_lGDyGHMirKc/SwnJZO9F_wI/AAAAAAAAAjc/p56gOmEe944/s400/searsprofileleft.JPG)

I think we were both around 13, too young to legally ride on the street.  That didn't stop my friend.  We also lived near some woods with a lot of trails and fields.  My friend explained how the throttle, clutch, shifter and brakes worked and let me loose in the woods.  I only got to ride it a couple of times.  One day my friend was riding around the neighborhood and was pulled over by a cop for not wearing a helmet.  That's when he discovered he also had no license.  So that was the end of that bike and I had to settle for pedaling for many years.

I do remember going on some long rides, coming to a hill and thinking "this would be waaay more fun" on a motorcycle".

Sometime in the late 70's I happened to notice some motorcycle magazines in a store and picked up a couple.  The I bought some more.  I tried not to drool too much on the pages :P

For those of you too young to remember, things where a little different back in 1980. There was no Internet, no cell phones, no digital cameras, and motorcycles where quite a bit different from today. back then you met the nicest people on a Honda. The Honda 750/4 was still pretty new and was a huge bike.

1980 was the year I decided it was time to finally buy a bike. There was no Craig's List so I looked in the classified section of the local newspaper. I had decided that something like a Honda CB350 or Kawasaki KZ400 would be the perfect bike for me. I found a 1976 KZ400 in the paper and went and looked at it. It wasn't exactly what I wanted. It was a boring black and was the cheap model with drum brakes and no Tach. I didn't even have a license so I had the owner take me for a ride on it so I could see that it ran OK. I should have looked at some more bikes but I was young and impatient so I bought it. Not only that but I paid the full asking price of $670.

The owner rode it to my house and I forked over the cash. I was now the actual owner of a real motorcycle. I quickly went and got my motorcycle learners permit and went down to the local department store and picked up a 3/4 helmet. I figured it would be more comfortable if it had a nice and loose fit.

Back then if you wanted to take a pic you had to buy this stuff called film, load it into your camera, take not only the pic you wanted but also finish the entire roll before taking the film to the store to get it developed. Then you waited a few days before picking it up. It's no wonder then that people didn't take as many pics back then as today. However, I sometimes did all that and I did get a pic of me on my first bike:

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-SXnJg7t/0/231ef187/XL/1-XL.jpg)

Atgatt was another word that didn't exist back then. My typical "riding gear" consisted of tennis shoes, jeans, t-shirt and helmet. If it was cold I added a jacket and maybe sweat shirt and maybe some work gloves.

Speaking of helmet, I bought this one at an old department store called Uncle Bills. Besides being way to big, it had this snap on bubble shield. If I turned my head to the side at speed the wind would catch it and twist it way around on my head.

It didn't take too long for me to wise up and buy a full face helmet that actually fit.

Despite all this, I had a blast on this bike. It felt incredibly powerful. I had to hang on when I twisted the throttle to prevent falling off the back.  Now 36 horsepower may not seem like much but when you are used to one person power, it was.
Well, it felt that way to me anyway.   Then there was riding around curves. I was in Northern Ohio which is not exactly known for curves but there where some. And there was always those freeway on and off ramps.  I was hooked on riding. I bought this bike to ride to the park on sunny weekends but was soon riding everywhere. My car just sat in the driveway gathering dust.........and rust.

Top speed? I don't remember but I'm sure I checked it out. I do remember that it would cruise at highway speeds but would turn into a jackhammer somewhere around 63MPH. The national speed limit back then was 55 so that was fast enough.


Then there was that great feeling I got anytime I was on the bike. Where I used to look at motorcycle riders in envy as they rode by, now I was that guy. I was BAAAAAAAAD. Or so I thought.  Actually I think I was a squid in training but I don't think that word as related to motorcycling had been invented yet either.

I wish I had taken more pics of this bike but one is all I have.  Compared to most of the bikes I have owned since, the KZ400 was crude and slow but it was my first bike.  It got me hooked.  Think of it as a gateway drug :D

Good stuff!!

My first bicycle was a Western Flyer from Western Auto. Sometime around 1972. Christmas Gift. It was blue and had a banana seat, like the one in your picture.

I loved that bike and would pay a lot to have it now, in pristine condition.

Somebody stole it out of my yard several years after I got it. That was a rare thing back then.

1981

I had owned my KZ400 for about a year and put around 6700 miles on it.  This may not seem like a lot but I never took it on any long rides and it was Ohio so we did have winter and the bike was parked for a few months.  Then the KZ400 started to run poorly and not have much power. One day it died on me. I was not a mechanic and had a job so I did the only logical thing, look for a new bike. My dream bike at the time was the newly released Kawasaki GPZ550

(http://www.motorcycleclassics.com/~/media/Images/MCC/Editorial/Articles/Magazine%20Articles/2012/11-01/Double-Nickel%20Rocket%201981%20Kawasaki%20GPz550/Kawasaki-GPz550.jpg)


This bike was a real breakthrough in performance for a middleweight motorcycle. It would be the perfect bike for a young squid like me.

So I went to the local Kawasaki dealer to check into getting one. The salesman there didn't even bother to talk to me when I came in. I had to flag one down and ask him about the bike.

Sorry, they are all sold out :'( :'(

What a bummer.

What about the KZ550?

They weren't interested in selling me one of those either. So i went to the local Suzuki dealer. They had a nice leftover 1980 GS550E and where willing to deal on it. 
So I ended up buying the GS550E. It was my first ever new vehicle of any kind. I added a luggage rack on the back and a set of lower handlebars to make it a little sportier. MSRP, if I remember correctly, was $2199.  I forget what I paid but it was under MSRP OTD.
The Saddlebags were added about a year later.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-fGJHK69/0/c2d5bc28/XL/Picture179-XL.jpg)

Note the Stylish helmet :D  It was actually a name brand like a Shoei or Arai.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-bQr4dSM/0/df9b0420/M/Picture180-M.jpg)


OK, so it wasn't a GPZ550 but according to the magazine tests it was a hair quicker through the quarter mile than a Porsche 911 turbo. It was faster than most of the high dollar exotic sports cars out there. Was this really important?

It was to me.   Compared to modern bikes it wasn't very fast but it had an exciting powerband. It pulled OK at lower RPM but had a definite kick at high RPMs, It seemed to pull real hard until around 80 or 90. I did try running it up to top speed but it developed a very uncomfortable weave at just over 100 on the speedo.

Just like my KZ400, I rode the 550 everywhere; school, work, and fun rides on the weekends. I practiced hanging off on the inside just like I saw the magazine guys do.  One day I took my favorite off ramp at my normal speed but without hanging off and quickly heard the dragging of metal parts on the pavement.  I discovered that the hanging off was not just to look cool.

I don't want to read this on a tiny phone screen.

I'm going home, so I can read this in all is glory.

Quote from: kylepeterson on November 25, 2017, 06:20:55 AM
I don't want to read this on a tiny phone screen.

I'm going home, so I can read this in all is glory.

No rush.  This is going to be a really looooong report.

1982

I graduated from college with a degree in mechanical engineering. The problem was that I really didn't feel I was qualified to actually be an engineer. I didn't have a clue what engineers even did(http://advrider.com/styles/advrider_smilies/ne_nau.gif)

I had a friend living in New Orleans who told me they where hiring a lot of engineers in the New Orleans area for the oil industry and that I should come down there.

I had never been in the South and was ready for a change so I decided it was time for a road trip. My car was a rust bucket and two wheels would be much more fun than a cage so......

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-7KhgDD2/0/b8931f4e/XL/Picture181-XL.jpg)

(http:///%3E%3Cbr%20/%3EBefore%20this%20I%20don't%20think%20I%20had%20ridden%20more%20than%20about%2050%20miles%20away%20from%20home.%20This%20would%20be%20quite%20an%20adventure.%3Cbr%20/%3E%3Cbr%20/%3EI%20still%20remember%20a%20little%20from%20this%20trip.%20It%20was%20very%20hot.%20Most%20of%20it%20was%20just%20boring%20highway%20riding.%20I%20do%20remember%20that%20at%20the%20end%20of%20the%20first%20day%20i%20found%20a%20room%20at%20a%20motel%206%20for%20$15.95.)

I still remember riding through Birmingham on I-65.  I-65 didn't even go through back then.  I had to get off and detour on some regular roads.  I also remember seeing red clay for the first time.

Back then Helmets were not vented so I dealt with the heat by taking of the face shield and just wearing glasses.  It was real noisy and a good way to eat bugs.  Probably not the smartest thing to do but that's what I did.

I rode into New Orleans on day two in the middle of an intense thunderstorm.

I ended up living in Metairie, just outside of New Orleans for about a year. I don't have to many memories of riding there, partly because the riding there sucked and partly because my bike was stolen a few months after I got there.  It was a really crappy feeling walking out one morning and my bike was no longer there :'( 

Without a doubt, New Orleans was the worst place I have lived but it was also the place where the direction my life was going took a dramatic turn. I doubt that I would have become anywhere near the motorcycle fanatic I have become if I hadn't gone to New Orleans. Actually, my entire life would have been dramatically different.

You know Win, I need to do something like this.

Lots of memories over the years.....

So I lived in Metairie, La just outside of New Orleans from August of 82 till summer of 83.   My friend's advice about the availability of jobs was a little off. maybe in 1981 there where plenty of jobs but a major recession hit in 82 and the oil industry was hit hard. I was able to find a job but not an engineering job.  My first job was selling Encyclopedias door to door.  Encyclopedias???  I'll bet some of you younger viewers have never even seen one of these.  Anyway, pay was pure commission and I wasn't a very good salesman.  Then I got a job as a computer operator for Amoco Oil company.  I worked tight next to the superdome. 

The problem was that this job didn't pay very good and I had dreams of getting another motorcycle.  I still remember that one of the bikes that came out at that time was the Honda MB5. 

(https://www.motorcycleclassics.com/-/media/Images/MCC/Editorial/Articles/Magazine-Articles/2017/03-01/One-Year-Wonder-1982-Honda-MB5/UTR-1-jpg.jpg)

So why the fascination with a tiny 50cc motorcycle?  I don't know but many of you know I have a thing for tiny bikes.  It was only 50cc but was supposed to be good for nearly 60 MPH.

There were other cool bikes out there as well and many were really good deals.  A friend in New Orleans bought a Yamaha 650 Seca for a really big discount.

So here I was, bikeless and poor.  I had to do something.   I decided to call the navy recruiter. maybe they needed engineers. I figured a few years experience and a good paying job till the recession ended was just what I needed.

So I called a Navy recruiter and told him what I was looking for. he asked me a few questions and then asked if I had considered becoming a pilot.

I told him no. He said that they didn't need engineers. So I thanked him for his time and said goodbye.  The movie "officer and a Gentleman had recently come out and I remember thinking I would hate to do some of the stuff in the movie and was glad I wouldn't have to.

Then I thought about it for a while and the idea of being a Navy fighter pilot started to seem like a cool idea. So I called him back.

Much too my surprise I was accepted for the Navy flight program. My report date was supposed to be around November of 1983.

In the summer of 1983 I quit my job in New Orleans and moved back home to Ohio so I could spend some time with my parents and get in shape for my upcoming training.

Of course, I now had some time on my hands and would soon have a well paying job so...........

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-fJ9kJnL/0/3f051550/M/Picture182-M.jpg)

I just had to get a bike. I wanted something small and inexpensive to play around on until I headed off for the Navy. I found this 1978 Kawasaki KE175 for $425. It had low miles and was in great shape.

Although it was a dual sport I mainly rode it on the pavement. I was a fun little bike, very light and flickable. Despite being a 2 stroke it got 70MPG. Because the national speed limit was still 55 MPH is did just fine on the highway as it could run at 70. I did take it off the pavement a few times but I really had no clue about riding in the dirt back then.  I do remember taking it out on a winter day and riding to the local ski area which was open.  That's a picture I wish I had taken.

Quote from: Brian A on November 25, 2017, 06:46:04 AM
You know Win, I need to do something like this.

Lots of memories over the years.....

Do It!  It will be a lot of work but I think it would be worth it.  The hardest part will probably be finding all those old pics, scanning them and then figuring out exactly when everything happened.  I have a bunch of old pics but that aren't well organized at all.

1983 - 1984

My report date to the Navy's Aviation Officer Candidate School (AOCS) was pushed back into 1984 so my time in Ohio was extended. So I got a job, actually three jobs. I think that on one day I managed to work at all three jobs. Along with those three jobs came more money. Although I liked my little KE175, I was itching for something a little bigger and FASTER.

So I started bike shopping. There where a lot of left over Japanese bikes available at killer prices. I narrowed it down to a Suzuki GS650, Yamaha Seca 650 or Yamaha Vision.

I went with a 1982 Vision.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-DZ7hNcz/0/c1ec343e/XL/Picture183-XL.jpg)

MSRP was $3099. I got it for $1620. Add in tax and a luggage rack and it was an even $1800 OTD

For those not familiar with this bike it was a 550c liquid cooled 8 valve V Twin with a shaft drive. It didn't sell well and was only produced for the U. S. for two years.

Personally, I thought the Vision was a great bike but was just before it's time. I consider it to the the forerunner to the Hawk GT, Ducati Monster and later the SV650. The styling was somewhat futuristic for it's time but it was basically a sporty standard bike. It was almost the same weight as my older GS500E and had the same displacement motor although it was a V-twin. The steering was much lighter and quicker than the GS550E making it feel much lighter and sportier. The motor had a really cool V-twin thump to it at low RPM.  I would sometimes cruise by people at really low RPM just to get that V-twin sound  Twist the throttle and it would accelerate much better than the Suzuki with great low and mid range torque as well as a pretty good top end. I think redline was around 10,000 RPM  It was basically just more fun to ride and was still pretty comfortable.  It even had a shaft drive!

A few more pics:

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-BFdpf3q/0/f0a36214/XL/Picture184-XL.jpg)

We lived only a couple of miles from a Cleveland Metro Park. It was a great, scenic place to ride and even had some nice curves.  It was one of my favorite places to ride.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-rBqc2ph/0/a3aaf579/XL/Picture185-XL.jpg)

I also enjoyed riding down to this park on Lake Erie to look at the boats.......and of course the girls in Bikinis on those boats (http://advrider.com/styles/advrider_smilies/naughty.gif)

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-PrD5k9h/0/6377df4a/XL/Picture186-XL.jpg)

Too bad those girls didn't realize what a cool dude I was on my awesome bike ::)

1984

I worked, ate, slept and went motorcycle riding. I even joined a motorcycle gang ???

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-SzrFLZz/0/17b6ec7d/XL/Picture187-XL.jpg)

.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-nBXxCtr/0/0d85a0fc/XL/Picture188-XL.jpg)

OK, it was just some guys I met at work. Actually I'm responsible for one of those guys getting into riding. That CB350 in the pic, I found it in the paper for $250 and it was in perfect condition.

The last two pics as well as the following were taken at a ride to Nelson Ledges racetrack to watch a 24 hour endurance race.
It was an interesting race to watch. There were a couple of the new Yamaha FJ1100s racing. The fastest bike seemed to be a Yamaha RZ500 two stroke.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-Vn6zn3d/0/7fe7b86a/XL/Picture189-XL.jpg)

Watching the race really was really inspirational.  The sound and the speed!  So I was pretty hyped up.  A little later we left the track and headed home.  We were stopped at a light and would be taking a left and then up a long hill.  There was some guy on a 750cc four cylinder bike ahead of us.  So when the light turned green the race was on (http://advrider.com/styles/advrider_smilies/ricky.gif) (http://advrider.com/styles/advrider_smilies/ricky.gif)  It was full throttle to the redline, shift and repeat.  I ended up beating that guy(http://advrider.com/styles/advrider_smilies/wings.gif)  I think he may have backed off when we got near triple digits.

Yeah I know, I was a squid ;D

When I got the Vision, I didn't sell the KE175.  I didn't realize it at the time but that was the beginning of a lifetime struggle with MBS (Multiple Bike Syndrome).   ;D

A few more pics from that time.

My mom was on my KE175, my dad standing and my brother on my old KZ400 which he had rebuilt the engine on:

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-Tf4shMc/0/46ed3c0d/M/Picture190-M.jpg)

Another pic from 1984. A friend on a Nighthawk 650 and then my brother with his girlfriend at the time.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-jjsX252/0/272b49e1/XL/Picture191-XL.jpg)

So I was having the time of my life just working, eating sleeping and riding.  But, all good things must come to an end.  I had a report date to AOCS of August 1984.

When I was back in New Orleans I had seen the movie "Officer and a Gentleman"  and was so glad I didn't have to do the stuf they did in the movie.  Well guess what?  I was now going to get to live that movie.  Little did I know how accurate that movie would be in predicting my time there.

Here's Richard Gere heading for AOCS:

(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/5-Qcz_WeP1s/0.jpg)

This was me:

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-Q4DSXdc/0/d0ce3bb1/L/Picture192-L.jpg)

OK, so I wasn't as cool as Richard Gere ;D

I had an interesting trip to get there.  I left Ohio and headed south on I-65.  I stopped in Huntsville to go to a friend's wedding.  Back then Huntsville was just a sleepy little town.  When I left Huntsville I was riding on a 2 lane road and suddenly saw some big rockets on display and a sign for NASA or something like that???  NASA here in Alabama??  I had no idea of the history of Huntsville. 

Then I headed to New Orleans to stop and visit my friends there.  The last night there we went to a Chinese restaurant.  My fortune cookie said "A vacation by the sea in store for you".(http://advrider.com/styles/advrider_smilies/ImaPoser.gif)

The next day I rode from New Orleans to Pensacola and reported to AOCS.

I hate to say it but AOCS was not a vacation by the sea.  If you saw the movie Officer And A Gentleman then you have some idea of what it was like except without the added Hollywood dramatics.  Also the drill instructor in the movie played by Louis Gosset Jr was a total wimp compared to real drill instructors.  I didn't do much riding while there but I did get out a few times on my Vision during my last few weeks there when we actually were allowed to get out on weekends.  Sorry, I didn't get any pics but I'm sure I looked a bit unusual riding around town in my whites.  Well something like this:

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-vn8mDCP/0/f435c18d/S/aocs4-S.jpg)

Of course I did wear a helmet.

In the movie Richard Gere fought his drill instructor.  I didn't do that.  He would have kicked my ass in about 3 seconds. 

Richard Gere and his drill instructor:

(http://cdn.moviestillsdb.com/sm/cdac69ea00c691c591e5f6a011429139/an-officer-and-a-gentleman.jpg)

And me:

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-WLJ8nqc/0/326d06f5/XL/Picture193-XL.jpg)

Of course the main plot line in the movie was the romance between Richard Gere and Deborah Winger....

(http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/images/reviews/190/1177982672_2.jpg)

I had that covered too. After over 30 years I'm still married to that hot babe I met while at AOCS.(http://advrider.com/styles/advrider_smilies/pepsweetie.gif)  Sorry, I didn't get any pics at that time.

I almost forgot. The commissioning date for my class was Dec 7th. Our class motto was "first Pearl harbor, Now Us, the Navy takes it on the chin again."  :D

After commissioning I took the Navy's version of the MSF course so I could legally ride on base. It was not a very good course.

1985.

I reported to NAS Whiting Field for initial flight training in the T-34c.

I also decided that I needed more than a motorcycle for transportation. So, it was time for my first new car. I got a bright red Dodge Omni GLH. Those of you who remember the old Omni/Horizon econo boxes from the day may remember they where.........well, boring. The GLH version had a hotter, 110HP motor, wide low profile tires on cast wheels and an upgraded suspension. It may not seem like much by todays standards but in 1985 it was a pretty hot car.

So now I had a Hot Car, Hot girlfriend, and Ho..........pretty good bike. Life was pretty good.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-bbdkBjr/0/87bbd306/XL/Picture194-XL.jpg)

and of course the obligatory car and bike pic:

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-J9JB29k/0/75ee247c/XL/Picture195-XL.jpg)

I took every advantage of the time I had to get out and ride around the area.  That included riding to Pensacola about a half hour away to go see Debbi.  Life was good.

Let's not forget my day job:

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-Pm2tcxq/0/1191e5ef/XL/Picture196-XL.jpg)

At some point during flight training I year I attended a Formal Navy Ball.   No we didn't get there on my bike ::)

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-M9wKbgQ/0/a57a5170/XL/Picture198-XL.jpg)

Towards the end of primary flight training I got to do a cross country flight to San Diego and back.  I spent a couple of days exploring San Diego in a rental car.  It was a really scenic city and of course the weather is pretty much perfect most of the year.  I remember thinking " this would be an awesome place to ride a motorcycle!"

After completion of primary flight training there was a wait because of the backlog of students in helicopter training. So I basically had a 6 week vacation. What to do?

How about pick up an extra bike?

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-vp2R5XF/0/f6f58f25/L/Picture199-L.jpg)


It was a 1979 Suzuki GS550 with a Vetter Quiksilver Fairing and Kerker exhaust. it had 35,000 miles on it and I think I paid 600 bucks for it. I bought it for a learner bike for my girlfriend but that turned out to be a dumb idea. It was to big and heavy. But I enjoyed riding it. The exhaust was a little loud but sounded cool. The fairing was surprisingly effective. It was a very comfortable bike. Although it was the same size motor and approximate weight as my vision, it made the Vision feel like a racy, lightweight sport bike. I liked the contrast between the bikes and the variety.  If there was any doubt that I was suffering from MBS, this erased that doubt.

Another thing I did during that time was to take the MSF course at Whiting field.  The one at Pensacola was not very good but I heard this one was better.  It was.  I took it on my old Suzuki.  There were some other students there with much cooler bikes.  There were a couple of foreign students who had no clue how to ride but had the latest and greatest sport bikes but their Daddys were probably oil sheiks so they could afford any bike they wanted..  I guess that kind of rubbed me the wrong way.  Here I was a reasonably competent rider and if truth be told I had a much higher opinion of my abilities than I actually had.  Anyway, it really planted the idea in my mind that I NEEDED a better bike.

Flash back to 1984.  It was a pretty exciting year if you were into sportbikes. I subscribed to several motorcycle magazines and remember it well, especially this:

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-vXkdr9V/0/df68048f/XL/Picture200-XL.jpg)

Wow, just wow. Then I saw one at a local dealer. The rear tire was so wide It almost looked like a car tire. Actually it was only a 150 but at that time it was wider than all the other motorcycle tires. So I spent some time dreaming about it but at $4999 it was going to have to be just a dream.

There were a number of new sportbikes out that year and motorcyclist did a comparison.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-n9L7XJw/0/9dd51028/XL/Picture201-XL.jpg)

They ranked the FJ1100 number one.

So now it was 1985, I had a job and some money.  So I started looking around. I found a slightly used 84 Yamaha FJ1100 on consignment at a local dealer. 3200 miles and 3400 bucks if I remember right. So I traded in the Suzuki and was now the proud owner of my dream bike(http://advrider.com/styles/advrider_smilies/happay.gif)

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-3trRW3N/0/8a8dcc81/XL/Picture202-XL.jpg)

I also bought my first leather jacket. I didn't want the black biker style jacket so I got a brown members only jacket which was in style at the time. I also graduated from tennis shoes to work boots. I had a new full face helmet, some kind of gloves and jeans and I was ready to ride. 

Another car and bike pic in front of the house I was renting with a couple of other flight students.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-xMR5WQ6/0/4df94117/XL/Picture203-XL.jpg)

1985-1986.

This was an exciting time for me. My day job was learning to fly helicopters, I had a HOT Babe for a girlfriend and I had my dream bike:

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-XJrXG6C/0/28d5fd7d/XL/Picture204-XL.jpg)

It was pretty cool. First, I thought this was the best looking bike on the planet. Looking back now I still think it was a great looking bike, better than most more modern and faster sport bikes.

Second, this thing was a rocket! It was way faster than anything I had ridden, or driven before. Twist the throttle, shift a few times and 120+ came up real fast. At that time I was invincible. I had never crashed and never gotten a ticket so I was not afraid to twist the throttle. I was living just off of route 87, north of Milton, FL, right by Whiting Field. Heading North on 87 it was a pretty deserted road. I would often head up that road just to run it up to 120+. A little ways north of there was Route 4. One day I was cruising along at around 80 when I came over a slight rise. The road ahead was straight and I could probably see a couple of miles. I decided what the heck, time to see what this baby would do. So I twisted the throttle and tucked in. I saw 147 on the Speedo then backed off. That was the fastest I have ever gone on a bike.
The other thing that I loved about the FJ was that when I was riding it I knew I was on pretty much the fastest thing on the road. There where a few other top of the line motorcycles that could match it but there was no production car in the world that could match it in acceleration. At the time that was important to me and it was a great feeling.

Yeah, I know what you're thinking. I was a squid and won't try to deny it :D

I didn't spend all my time riding around at 120+. The FJ was a very good bike at lower speeds as well and was pretty comfortable. Leg room was a little tight but I was young and I don't remember it bothering me. The seat was pretty comfortable, both for rider and passenger. It would put the stock seat on almost any modern supersport to shame.

The passenger seat was put to good use. Here's a pic of Debbi and I on a local poker run:

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-ZGq4zGX/0/b3c72e94/XL/Picture205-XL.jpg)

There was one ride I remember well. Debbi's parent's lived in Shalimar, FL about an hour away. I rode over there on Christmas Eve. It was a beautiful day, sunny and 70s. Cruising down I-10 I decided I didn't like the silly 55 MPH speed limit. Since I was invincible I cranked it up to 120 for about 20 miles. This was actually a comfortable cruising speed for the FJ. Then I decided it might be time to slow down. A minute later I saw a cop car(http://advrider.com/styles/advrider_smilies/blbl.gif)

I was still invincible(http://advrider.com/styles/advrider_smilies/wings.gif)

Well, not completely invincible. The next day as I headed for home the temperature was 28 and dropping!   Despite being bundled up like the Michelin tire man I froze my ass off!  Riding gear back then was not nearly as good as modern stuff.

I wish I had taken more pics of my "day job". This is the best I have:

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-WshBh7B/0/887bbca2/XL/Picture206-XL.jpg)

 Ha! The 80's! I remember reading about this "new" company called Aerostich in the motorcycle magazines. The writers loved the fact it was a 1 piece suit that you could "step into and out of" when you got to work.  :D Man, I wanted one so bad but with 2 kids and a wife...well you know.  ;)

Those were the days!!!  Growing up in Ohio during 60's-80's.  Check.  Schwinn with banana seat. Check.  Sears mini bike with 3.5 hp B&S.  Check.  Yamaha DT125 then 82 Maxim 750.  Check.  Wish I had pics from back then. Maybe my parents have them stashed somewhere.  Great thread Win!

I love reading these stories. Most of us on the high side of 45 grew up about the same. My Dad riding and letting me ride, gave me the riding bug and for that I'm thankful.

Everyone should tell their story, no matter how long or short it may be.

Quote from: springer on November 26, 2017, 06:14:24 AM
Ha! The 80's! I remember reading about this "new" company called Aerostich in the motorcycle magazines. The writers loved the fact it was a 1 piece suit that you could "step into and out of" when you got to work.  :D Man, I wanted one so bad but with 2 kids and a wife...well you know.  ;)

I remember when I first saw those Aerostich ads.  I had no interest in anything like that at the time.  My riding gear consisted of regular clothes except for my helmet and maybe gloves.   

Quote from: BuckeyeDoug on November 26, 2017, 07:49:43 AM
Those were the days!!!  Growing up in Ohio during 60's-80's.  Check.  Schwinn with banana seat. Check.  Sears mini bike with 3.5 hp B&S.  Check.  Yamaha DT125 then 82 Maxim 750.  Check.  Wish I had pics from back then. Maybe my parents have them stashed somewhere.  Great thread Win!

So you where one of those lucky kids who actually had the mini bike with a B & S engine.  I wanted one so bad but my parents wouldn't let me get one.  I think the depriving me in my younger days has made me overcompensate later in life.  I'm still overcompensating ;D

Quote from: jrobinson on November 26, 2017, 08:24:38 AM
I love reading these stories. Most of us on the high side of 45 grew up about the same. My Dad riding and letting me ride, gave me the riding bug and for that I'm thankful.

Everyone should tell their story, no matter how long or short it may be.

Johnny, I have read your early stories.  You and I grew up completely different.  We might as well have been in different worlds.  The interesting thing is that despite this we both ended up here in North Alabama riding motorcycles together.  How cool is that?

Quote from: klaviator on November 26, 2017, 09:21:10 AM
So you where one of those lucky kids who actually had the mini bike with a B & S engine.  I wanted one so bad but my parents wouldn't let me get one.  I think the depriving me in my younger days has made me overcompensate later in life.  I'm still overcompensating ;D

That was me...well almost. I did buy a leather "motorcycle" jacket after I had been riding awhile. You know the type, black, a bunch of zippers, and heavy as all get-out.  I do know I was 18, cause it was my birthday and I bought it myself in 1979. Had to actually. My birthday is Jan 5 and that is way to close to Christmas to get a GOOD birthday present. My leather gloves were work gloves and my first full face helmet was is in 1982(?), a Shoei.  The local Honda shop was on 3rd ave in Birmingham. They had bought a bunch of them and they just sat on the shelf so they marked them way down.

BTW, GREAT STORY! Looking forward to more!

Quote from: klaviator on November 26, 2017, 09:23:32 AM
Johnny, I have read your early stories.  You and I grew up completely different.  We might as well have been in different worlds.  The interesting thing is that despite this we both ended up here in North Alabama riding motorcycles together.  How cool is that?

Path may not have been the same, but the desire for motorcycles was. lol

I've added this report to the web page.  http://www.motorcyclealabama.com/?page_id=12

I had my dream bike but was living in Florida, a state not exactly know for great motorcycle roads. Fortunately I had never lived anywhere with great roads so I didn't know any better.

So I had some fun riding the FJ. One scenic ride I did a few times was the road from Pensacola Beach to Navarre. The road was on a long, narrow strip of sand that was so white it almost looked like snow.

Here Debbi poses on the FJ

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-2vsGgtX/0/1a57f1b7/XL/Picture207-XL.jpg)

So riding by the beach was scenic but I had this fast sportbike and had a NEED FOR SPEED!

So I did a few rides to LA. That would be Lower Alabama, not the lesser known LA on the West Coast.  I found a few other riders to do these rides with. We were looking for some better roads than those in Florida. They were a little better but nothing great.  We rode up through Brewton and as far north as Evergreen.  Back then we had no Go Pros and I never really thought of doing any riding pics so All I got were some group pics when stopped.

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The bikes, in case you don't recognize them where a Yamaha 650 Seca Turbo, Harley 1000 sportster, and Yamaha Vision.

One event I do remember form these rides was stopping somewhere in podunk Alabama and a gal came up to us and asked if one of these bikes was a Harley. So we told her yes and pointed to the Sportster.   She then proceeded to tell us that it was the best one despite the fact she didn't know a Harley when she saw one ::) 

The rides themselves where fun but something was missing.  At the time I really didn't know what that was.

You know, we live in the area of Pensacola.  Come visit and take us on a ride of the old stomping grounds.  You and Debbie have a place to stay any time you want to visit.  We would love to hear all the stories.

Chuck & Susan

Quote from: Chuck & Susan on November 26, 2017, 11:09:59 AM
You know, we live in the area of Pensacola.  Come visit and take us on a ride of the old stomping grounds.  You and Debbie have a place to stay any time you want to visit.  We would love to hear all the stories.

Chuck & Susan

Thanks for the offer.  Debbi has family in Fort Walton Beach and I have family in Gulfport so if we go down in that direction we will probably stay with them but I'll be sure to stop by if I have the chance.

Back to the story.  My life in Florida was pretty exciting but all good things eventually come to an end.  I finished flight training and got my navy Wings.  I can't find any pics of the winging ceremony but Debbi did bake me a cake.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-JM7827F/0/692d23bf/XL/Picture211-XL.jpg)

Posing in front of a display Huey with Debbi and my parents.

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One of the big things that happens at that time is that you get your first duty assignment.  You fill out a preference card with where you want to go.  You can put as many choices as you want but in the end the detailer will send you where the Navy needs you.  If you are lucky the Navy will need you to go where you want to go. 

There are two things to consider when filling out a preference card.  Type of aircraft to fly and location.  Location was a no brainer for me.  I fell in love with San Diego when I flew there the year before.  I also thought flying the H-46 helicopter would be fun and there was an H-46 squadron there.  Well I lucked out and got what I asked for. 

After getting my wings, I loaded up my GLH with most of my belongings and headed off for California. My furniture, which wasn't much and two bikes where loaded on a moving truck and also headed west. The drive was very memorable as I first headed for Boulder, CO to visit an old friend and then cut across some spectacular scenery on the way to the Grand Canyon and then finally to San Diego. This was my first time out west with the exception of the cross country flight I had made to San Diego in the T-34. However, this trip was made in a cage (although a very fun to drive cage and not a motorcycle so I won't go into details here since this is a motorcycle forum. Also, I would end up coming back through all those places on a bike more than once.

Getting to San Diego I reported to HC-3, which was the training squadron for the H-46 Sea Knight Helicopter. It was right next to HC-11 which was my eventual destination.

One of my roommates from Florida was also there and we found a townhouse to rent.  I got my stuff and my bikes delivered and my California adventure began.

Remember that this was way back before the internet.  I really had no idea what was out there but on weekends I would get on my bike and started to explore the area.  As soon as you leave San Diego and head east you are in the mountains.  I'm sure I looked at some maps but I think that at first I just pointed my bike towards the mountains and rode.  What an absolute blast. Endless curves, spectacular scenery and the fantastic adventure of riding into the unknown. My memories of those first rides is pretty hazy and I'm not sure exactly where I rode.  My early rides where by myself but I soon met some other guys in the squadron who rode.  One of them was a California native who knew the roads as well as many of the local riders. Soon I was heading out on group rides, first with other guys in the squadron, then some of the local riders.

My early rides where in the mountains just east of San Diego but it didn't take long to start riding farther North as well.

In addition to fantastic roads and other riders to ride with, Southern California had nearly perfect weather for riding.  Temperatures were very moderate and it never rains in California.  OK, maybe it rains once in a while but I got there in April and didn't see rain until November.

One of the cool rides I did was to head north, end up riding by a big lake and then climb a hairpins infested road up the side of a mountain. 

This was the view on the way up.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-kdp5TnM/0/01069533/S/Picture213-S.jpg)

At the top was this really cool restaurant.

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After that there was a long and twisty road to the west.  This was the Famous Ortega Highway.  Back then it wasn't heavily patrolled so it was a real blast to ride!

As I mentioned I did get out and ride with others.  Most of these guys were other pilots in the squadron.  Chris, the guy on the right was one of the guys I had ridden with in Florida.  He was a marine pilot stationed a little to the north.

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Having a blast on a typical curvy road in the mountains just east of San Diego.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-f2sK9kp/0/f84982e8/XL/Picture216-XL.jpg)

In August of 1986 I took a short break from riding and flying to go back to Florida and take care of some unfinished business.

I picked up a Spousal Unit, Mark 1, Mod 0, one each. ;)

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-J68QhP3/0/ccc0ea5a/XL/Picture217-XL.jpg)

On a more serious note, the best decision I have ever made.

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Normally I am the one with the weird sense of humor but in this case:

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-cLrS82J/0/ce17c9c9/XL/Picture219-XL.jpg)

With Debbi's Grandmother:

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-5xSGzqB/0/8d37a210/XL/Picture220-XL.jpg)

I look back at these last few pics and can't believe how young I was once upon a time....

Our Honeymoon consisted of one night in a nice hotel at the beach followed by a drive to San Diego in Debbi's old Corolla. We did get one pic of our "honeymoon" I think this was in Yuma where we stopped on our last night before getting into San Diego.

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Of course when we got back to San Diego we were able to get back to the important business of riding ;)

We often went out and rode with other guys in the squadron.  We headed out into the mountains to enjoy the endless curves and scenic views.

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Stopping in one of our favorite destinations, Julian, Ca.

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I had ridden with some of these riders in Florida and some I met here. I'll go ahead and introduce them. From the left.

Chuck. He only had about 8000 miles of riding experience but rode his Nighthawk S like he was an experienced expert. I think he was just exceptionally well coordinated.

Chris. Riding a Yamaha Vision. You may remember him from my Florida Pics. He was a Marine H-46 pilot stationed at MCAS Tustin. He would ride down to San Diego to ride with us. He was another very talented rider.

Ted. Another one of the "Florida Boys." He rode a 1000 sportster.

Debbi. Passenger extrordinaire. She was a real trooper sitting on the back of a sportbike for 250 miles or so in a day.

Ray and Sandra. Husband and wife in a Gold Wing.

Phil. He was a California native and knew all the local roads as well as local riders. He was riding a K100RS which was not in the pic. He was another very experienced rider.


Although you can't see it. All the bikes on this ride had Florida tags. Someone came up and asked us if we rode all the way from Florida. So of course we said that we had gotten on the road real early that morning(http://advrider.com/styles/advrider_smilies/yelrotflmao.gif)

Julian was a touristy but really cool little town nestled way up in the mountains. There were several good places to eat and they were famous for their apple pie. Debbi and I rode up there one time for lunch. Debbi wanted to split some apple pie for desert but I had never particularly cared for apple pie. But she twisted my arm and got an Apple pie ALA mode. It only took one bite and then we were fighting over it(http://advrider.com/styles/advrider_smilies/boxe.gif)   We nearly stabbed each other with our forks.     I was now an apple pie convert. that was the last time we split a pie there.

Also on this ride we did a little bike swapping. Phil and Ted swapped bikes. Phil, wearing full BMW blue and grey leathers did look out of place on the Sportster.

Towards the end of the ride I swapped with Ted. I took his sportster and he took my FJ and Debbi. We got on the highway and I thought I was riding a jackhammer.   I don't know how he ride with us all day because we had been riding pretty fast. But then we got off the highway and on to a street with traffic lights and a lower speed limit and suddenly the sportster was in it's element. The motor felt really cool accelerating from a light and then rumbling along at 45 or so. That was my first but not last ride on a Harley. Definitely an interesting experience.

One day I just happened to stop and talk to a guy on a bike in a local parking lot. We decided to get together and ride some time.

This was Scott and Lynn. They were on a shiny new Ninja 750.

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Debbi was tired and taking a short nap. We had a fun ride out to Julian for lunch. Debbi and I got our own Apple pies this time ;D

One of the spots that I thought was really cool when I visited San Diego back in 85 was Mt Soledad. I drove to it in a Renta Cage. I knew then that it would be better to ride there on a bike. So, one day I did.

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I didn't know it at the time but this would be the last pic I took of the Vision. It's days in my garage where numbered. I was mostly riding the FJ but for around town the Vision was actually a more fun ride. The way the V-twin accelerated from lower speeds was just more pleasant than the four cylinder FJ. Despite being far less powerful than the FJ it didn't feel slow at all at the speeds normally used around town.

This cross was on top of a hill with a great 360 degree view.  I don't think I took any pics of the view.

The cross on the hill later became the subject of lawsuits by protesters determined to remove religion from public land. I assumed that it had been removed but a check with wikipedia shows that it is still there. Maybe I'll get the chance to visit it again some day.

More info on Mt Soledad and the cross is here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Soledad

The FJ1100 was pretty comfortable for a sportbike, even two up. I think we did some rides up to 250 miles 2 up. However, it was no Gold Wing. The problem was that Gold Wings were for old foggies. Or at least that's how I felt at the time. I figured it would be at least 30 years before I'd consider something like that.

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On top of being an old folks bike it was way too expensive.

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I don't remember exactly what happened to change my mind but one day I was in the Yamaha dealer and noticed they had these leftover Yamaha Ventures. So I took one for a test ride.

What a revelation!  The V four engine felt like a small block V-8 and had a nice rumble to it. The steering on the Venture, despite being a 750 pound full dress touring bike, was lighter than that of the FJ.  I'm pretty sure it was mostly due to the wide handlebar. I also read some magazine reviews. They where very positive. I wanted one.

I just had to decide between the 83 venture or the 84 Venture Royal. The Royal had a stereo and built in air compressor. It was also more expensive. I went with the standard venture partly to save money and partly because i really didn't see the need for a radio. Riding was entertaining enough. I didn't need a radio to keep from getting bored. The price on this new Venture was $4300. I also traded in the Vision so I paid less than that.

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The Vision had been a fun bike and I only put 14,300 miles on it but at that point in my life my MBS wasn't nearly as severe as it is today and I couldn't justify having three bikes.

So now we had this new touring bike so we needed to do some touring on it.  The opportunity didn't take long to come along. . Ray and Sandra, introduced a few posts back, were headed to a camp in the mountains north of LA. I don't remember the details but one of them had a relative who ran a church camp and had invited them to come up, spend the night, and eat at a cookout the next day. They invited us to come along.

We decided to ride up to Big Bear Lake and then head over to the camp. the road up to Big Bear Lake was called "Rim of the World Drive".  It was called that for a reason as it had some spectacular scenery and views. We stopped along the way to take some pics.  Unfortunately my cheap camera and almost total lack of skills as a photographer didn't come close to showing what the views were like. 

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So here we were on this fantastic ride when the bike started feeling squirrely and I stopped to find up a nail in the rear tire :'( I tried using some fix-a-flat but the hole was in the sidewall and it didn't work.

Ray took me to Big Bear Lake where we found a Yamaha Dealer and tow truck. We had the bike towed to the dealer and then had a new tire installed. We were real lucky they had a tire in the correct size in stock.

We were now behind schedule so we didn't have the time to enjoy all the scenery and headed off to our destination which was to the west on the other side of I-15. I had a map (remember those paper things we used to use before GPS?) that showed a short cut from the back side of Lake Arrowhead. We tried to find it with no luck. I think it was probably a dirt road not suitable for our big heavy touring bikes.

So we had to back track down to San Bernadino and then north and west. I do remember it seemed like a big adventure riding into the fading light with strange mountains all around us. I had no idea where we were and still don't today.

We finally got there well after dark and spent the night in a cabin. We got some more pics the next day.

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I remember the first day of the trip pretty well. I barely remember the second day and I no recollection of the ride back home but we did do it. It must not have been very memorable.

This was the first place I lived in California. It was a 2 bedroom, one bath, and most importantly, TWO CAR GARAGE, townhouse in Chula Vista. I originally moved in there with Andy who had been my roommate during flight school in Florida.  He moved out when Debbi and I got married so this was where Debbi and I first lived and where we launched out California Adventures.

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Our next adventure was not far away.  In November of 1986 I finished my training in the H-46 Helicopter  checked out of the training squadron.  The best time to take leave in the Navy is often when between duty stations.  Since Debbi and I didn't have a real honeymoon we decided to take some leave and do it now.

I wanted to go out on our new touring bike and go ride!  Debbi wanted to go somewhere and be a tourist.  We compromised.  We would ride up the coast to San Francisco, be tourists for several days and then ride back.  Debbi had always wanted to go Sky Diving so we planned on getting back in time to do that before my leave was over.  So we were young and we had a plan.  What could go wrong?

We loaded up the Venture and headed North.  I don't remember much from the first days ride. We just got on the interstate and headed through LA. We probably got stuck in traffic in LA because I don't think I ever went through LA without getting stuck in traffic.  Somewhere past LA we picked up the Pacific Coast Highway. We stopped and spent the night in Carpenteria. We didn't plan this.  We just stopped when we felt like stopping and found a motel.  Back then you didn't pull out your smart phone and use an app to find a motel.  We rode into town and looked for a motel.  Most motels back then had Vacancy/no vacancy signs.  This is the one we found.  I think it was a Best Western.

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This town was right on the ocean.

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One thing I do remember is that we had shark for dinner. I believe that was my only time eating shark.

So what does shark taste like? If I remember right it tastes like chicken ;D

The next morning we got back on the road. We went north through Santa Barbara and then picked up 154 through the mountains.  Why did we ride 154?  Because I looked at a map and 154 was a squiggly line through the mountains.  It looked like it might be fun I don't know if we got any pics of this part of this ride so I'll just throw in this pic of Debbi and the bike. I actually have no idea exactly when and where this pic was taken but it this is a good of a place to post it as any.

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Then we headed north on 101. While riding I noticed a sign for a place called the Apple Farm in San Luis Obispo. A little later we stopped and talked about getting something for lunch. Debbi had also noticed the sign and thought the same thing that I had. It looked like a good place for lunch. We had to go a little past our planned exit to get there but it was worth it. I don't remember what I ate but I stuffed myself to the point that I didn't have room left for desert. That almost never happens. the food was so good that if you were to ask Debbi or I today what our favorite restaurant is we'll both say the Apple Farm. Although we have never lived anywhere close to San Luis Obispo, we would end up eating there a few more times.

So now we were stuffed and continued our ride. We picked up Hwy 1 and rode past Morro Bay and then stopped in in the town of Cambria. It was only early afternoon an we had no plans of stopping that early but Debbi and I both thought that Cambria was such a cool place that we decided to stop there. We found a motel that was right across the road from the ocean. It had a fireplace in the room and a Hot tub towards the back of the motel. They had a vacancy and I don't remember it being all that expensive so we got a room.

We unloaded our stuff from the bike and Debbi decided to take a nap. I think that the enormous lunch made us both tired and probably influenced us into stopping so early.

So I went and rode around a little. I found some really scenic houses up on the side of the mountain overlooking Cambria and the ocean. I also found a really unusual house that I knew I would have to show Debbi.

So I took Debbi up to this place.

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This house was known as Nitt Witt Ridge. It was built by an eccentric man known as Captain Nitt Witt over a 50 year period starting in 1928. Although much of it was made of stone, it had all kinds of unusual things in the walls such as car parts, appliances and even a TV.

Here's a quote from wikipedia:

"Nitt Witt Ridge, one of California's remarkable twentieth-century folk-art environments, is the creation of Arthur Harold Beal (Der Tinkerpaw, or Capt. Nitt Witt), a Cambria Pines pioneer who sculpted the land using hand tools and indigenous materials, inventiveness and self-taught skills. A blend of native materials and contemporary elements, impressive in its sheer mass and meticulous placement, it is a revealing memorial to Art's cosmic humor and zest for life.
California Registered Historical Landmark No. 939.
Plaque placed by the State Department of Parks and Recreation in cooperation for saving and preserving arts and cultural environments with the Art Beal Foundation, non-profit and educational corporation. June 26, 1986."

After that we headed into town for one of Debbi's favorite activities.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-BxHdmw2/0/967ada70/XL/Picture239-XL.jpg)

We had dinner in town and then headed back to the motel. The ocean was just across the street and we could hear the waves crashing on the shore from inside our room. We walked over to the shore to enjoy the view.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-f8Fxmgg/0/1a787e43/XL/Picture240-XL.jpg)

And since it was our honeymoon.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-7dgG6LN/0/853fc697/XL/Picture241-XL.jpg)

A selfie from back before selfie's were as popular as today.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-h553VhJ/0/7c69f184/XL/Picture242-XL.jpg)

So we were out on this rock taking these pics and enjoying the view and we didn't notice that the tide was coming in. We nearly had to swim to get back to shore but managed to jump for it and stay dry.

It ended up being a very memorable day for us.

The next day would be as well.....


Oh, I almost forgot. That evening Debbi, the conservative one who I had to talk into getting a Bikini to replace her one piece, wanted to go skinny dipping in the motel Hot Tub ???

The next morning we headed north on Hwy 1 and soon came to the town of San Simeon. This town seemed to exist mainly to cater to tourists visiting the Hearst Castle. Debbi wanted to take a tour so we did.  Although I would rather have just continue riding, I'm glad we stopped for the tour.   It was something I'll always remember. I didn't take any pics but I'll just steal a few off the web:

(http://www.landmarkscalifornia.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Hearst-Castle.jpg)

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(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/Hearst_Castle_pool.jpg)

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(http://everywhereonce.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/hearst-castle-gothic-suite.jpg)

This place was built by William Randolph Hearst who must of had an obscene amount of money. I'm not talking about winning the lottery kind of money. This was on a whole other level. Besides the pool pictured above there was also a giant indoor pool. We toured a "small" guesthouse of 4000 square feet.

Despite how huge and impressive this place was the two thing that really stood out to me where the impressive view from on top of the hill and the twisty "driveway" that lead up the hill. I was thinking it would have been a blast to ride(http://advrider.com/styles/advrider_smilies/ricky.gif)............as I was going up it in a tour bus(http://advrider.com/styles/advrider_smilies/sad.gif)

Then we got back on the bike to do what I came here for. To ride the famous section of highway 1 that was coming up.

I believe this was just before getting to the good part:

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-rrGxDvM/0/a50f2d25/XL/Picture243-XL.jpg)

Then we got to the good part. The road started to twist it's way up with a drop off to the Pacific on the left and mountains to the right. There is a reason that this road is one of the most famous rides/drives in the country. The curves make it a blast to ride but at the same time you want to enjoy the view. My solution; ride fast(http://advrider.com/styles/advrider_smilies/ricky.gif) and stop a lot to enjoy the view. I did get a few pics at those stops.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-pgBh5NL/0/320586fc/XL/Picture244-XL.jpg)

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(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-hkTQL7J/0/7d38437d/XL/Picture245-XL.jpg)

We decided to take a break at a really beautiful spot. There was a dirt driveway leading down to a dirt parking area. We rode down, parked and took a pic.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-cH9nBwG/0/7f8386ec/XL/Picture246-XL.jpg)


Then we climbed out on the ridge to the right side of the picture, took a break and enjoyed the view.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-H5zFFTQ/0/e178bd1a/XL/Picture247-XL.jpg)

I even worked on my tan ;D

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-nq7rXz8/0/56e58d26/XL/Picture248-XL.jpg)

So here I was.  I was at this incredibly scenic spot on a perfect day.  I was riding one of the best motorcycle roads in the country on my new motorcycle with my beautiful wife.  Life was pretty much perfect.  What could go wrong?

We went back to our bike, got on and took of.   As we started going there was a jolt as the bike grounded out on something. I stopped and looked back.

CRAP!!!

We were leaving a trail of oil!!

I quickly shut of the engine and we got off and inspected the bike.  Oil was pouring out of the bottom.  We had grounded out on a rock and it hit just the wrong spot where there was a metal lip just behind where the oil filter was attached. 

So here we were in the middle of nowhere with no cell signal.......

Well there weren't any cell phones back then so that didn't matter ::)

Still the fact was that our perfect day and possibly our vacation were ruined. 

We took these next two pics days later but I'm going to post them here.

The "crash site"

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-k7dZQtr/0/2d7710fb/XL/Picture249-XL.jpg)

The expression I probably had on my face at the time :D

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-j8FkS5f/0/8318c7dd/XL/Picture250-XL.jpg)
We walked up to the road and managed to hitch a ride to the nearest town.  When I say town I'm being generous.  The name of this town was Gorda.  Gorda consisted of three things; a gas station, a small store and the "Sorta Gorda" restaurant :D   There must have been a few houses out of view because someone told us that Gorda had a population of 20 something.

Gorda also had something probably unfamiliar to many of the people reading this.

(http://www.beatriceco.com/bti/porticus/bell/images/payphoneclosed.jpg)

That would be a pay phone.  You put in coins to make it work.  Since any call from Gorda was long distance, we had to put in a lot of coins.  There was also a phone book there.  We looked in the yellow pages and looked for towing companies.  We called a few but they either didn't tow motorcycles or weren't willing to come that far out.  We finally found someone willing to come get us.  It would take them a few hours.

So we hung around the exciting "town" of Gorda for what seemed an eternity. 

Gorda:

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-mxLcf7h/0/28b6a866/XL/Picture251-XL.jpg)


Eventually the tow truck showed up, took us back to the bike and we loaded it up and headed off to Salinas some 75 miles away.  That would be 75 miles of mostly very curvy road.  In a tow truck and not a bike :'(   It was so late by this time that much of the drive was in the dark.  The driver told us we were lucky since it was often very foggy here this time of year.

Yeah, we really felt lucky.

And rotary dial to boot!

Enjoying your story Win.

When we got to Salinas out lucky did start to improve.   Right next to the Towing garage was a small motel and we were able to get a room. There was a Yamaha dealer a block away. The next morning we got the bike and pushed it to the dealer.

The dealer looked at the bike and had some good news and bad news.

The bad news. The motor would have to be removed to replace the crank case which would have to be ordered. Then, they might have to order new bearing to fit the crankcase. It would be a lengthy and expensive process.

Luckily, since this was technically and accident, not a mechanical failure, my insurance would cover this minus my deductable.

Now for the dealer's good news. They had a wrecked 84 Venture with only 900 miles on it in the back. It had been totaled by the insurance company but there motor was good except for the water pump. They could replace my motor with this one, replace the water pump from my motor, and do it all in less time and lower cost than fixing my motor.

So that's what we decided to do. However, it would still take some time so we decided to rent a car and continue on. Luckily there was a car rental place nearby as well.

We drove to San Francisco and played tourist for several days. I really don't remember that much from those days. The things I do remember are:
- San Francisco has real steep hills.
- Lombard Street
- The golden gate bridge
- We saw the play "Greater Tuna."
- We went to the Muir Woods just across the Golden gate bridge.

We did get a pic of me at the Muir Woods by a redwood tree;

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-4qXWLFj/0/7bcbbb9c/XL/Picture252-XL.jpg)

Soon it was time to head back home. The Venture was not ready yet so the plan was to drive the renta car home and then when the bike was ready I would drive back to Salinas and pick it up. We decided to drive down Hwy 1 and see what we missed. We took a few pics.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-Mk4nx2g/0/3831bf92/XL/Picture253-XL.jpg)

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(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-GzVpL3G/0/8db80bcb/XL/Picture254-XL.jpg)

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(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-cKSFqCt/0/92f051ff/XL/Picture255-XL.jpg)

The renta car was better than the tow truck but not nearly as fun as the bike would have been. We stopped in Cambria and stayed in the same motel.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-PXRnkHP/0/60c0f50a/XL/Picture256-XL.jpg)

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(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-xMpLgQz/0/fb04eece/M/Picture257-M.jpg)


I did a google search for this place a couple of years ago. It was  still there although it looked like it had been rebuilt and the room prices had gone up just a "little".

The next day we stopped by the Apple Farm again for lunch. This time we decided we would eat a light lunch so we would have room left for desert. This place had an awesome desert menu. We both got a veggie plate. We figured this would make a light and healthy lunch to make up for the decadent deserts we planned on getting. The waitress brought out these big plates with a HUGE pile of cheese covered veggies on them.  So much for a light lunch. We should have split one plate, it would have been more than enough. We restrained ourselves and then decided to get an apple dumpling A La Mode and split it. So we ordered one and asked the waitress to bring two spoons. A little later she came out with these two plates covered with apple dumpling and ice cream:eek1 We only oreder one we said. This is one she replied. I had them split it and put it on two plates.

I don't normally take food pics but I wish I had taken a pic of this. To use a famous old saying: " I can't believe we ate the whole thing". But we did. they were that good.

Then it was an uneventful drive except for one thing. We stopped at a fast food place somewhere, ate and headed off. A little later Debbi realized she had left her purse there :o  So we drove back but it was gone :'(  Besides some cash she would have to cancel and replace her credit card and replace her drivers license among other things.

This was the second bad thing that happened on this trip. We had planned on going sky diving when we got back but with the way our luck was going, we figured the chutes probably wouldn't open.

Quote from: Brian A on November 29, 2017, 09:07:34 AM
And rotary dial to boot!

Enjoying your story Win.

I got that pic off the internet.  It might have actually been a rotary dial phone but I really don't remember.  It just seemed appropriate.

I just googled Gorda to see if it was still there and if so what it looked like today.

What a change!!

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-FWGS6TZ/0/8dfb6ba8/L/gorda-L.png)

I wonder if they still have a Pay Phone there?

So we didn't go sky diving.  The following weekend  Venture was ready, I drove back up to Salinas in the renta car and picked it up. I don't remember that much about the ride. I do remember that riding Hwy 1 was much more fun than driving it. I also remember that the new motor ran much stronger AND got more MPGs than the old one.  I did stop and get some pics.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-TC7dHzP/0/2bde19b8/XL/Picture258-XL.jpg)

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(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-h5gVcfJ/0/7362c71c/XL/Picture259-XL.jpg)

I wanted to ride some different roads on the way back so I followed 101 south a bit then took a left on 166 then south on 133 to Ojai. 133 was an awesome ride and is often mentioned in the some of the motorcycle magazines that are bases in SoCal.  The next two pics were taken somewhere on that part of the ride.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-VdDb9jW/0/34dc1287/XL/Picture260-XL.jpg)

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(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-Bm9d8Xk/0/3e103ea4/XL/Picture261-XL.jpg)

Then I don't remember the route home after Ojai.

This was my, and OUR, first long vacation on a motorcycle. Well, part of it was on a motorcycle. Despite the bad things that happened, it was a trip that I will never forget. Parts of it were getting pretty fuzzy but putting it down in a ride report  helped me sharpen up my memory and to some extent re-live the trip.

If I had not bought a full dress touring bike I don't know we would or could have done a trip like this two up.  I was really glad I bought the Venture even if full dress touring bikes were for old foggies ;D  This would not be our last big trip.

More to come........

Video cassette players in every room. Nothing like going all out. lol

great story

Top Gun was released in 1986, the year I moved to California.

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/46/Top_Gun_Movie.jpg/220px-Top_Gun_Movie.jpg)

There are some similarities between the character played by Tom Cruise in this movie and my life at this point. Like "maverick" I was a Naval Aviator who rode a fast sport bike.



OK, that's probably the only similarity.   Maverick flew a supersonic F-14 fighter jet. I was flying something just a "little bit" slower. I did however, probably have more landing on the USS Enterprise than Maverick did.......and I didn't have to use a tail hook as a crutch.... ;D

After returning from the vacation to San Francisco and back. I checked into my first Fleet Squadron, HC-11 and was flying the H-46 Sea Knight Helicopter.

(http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu171/wknudsen/OLD%20PICS%20AND%20SCANS/hc112_zps929c3e1b.jpg)

I checked in well after Top Gun was filmed but some many of the guys had been in there when the movie was filmed. I heard an interesting Top Gun story from some of them:

The primary mission of the Navy H-46 was to haul people and stuff from ship to ship and ship to shore. All passengers carried on the helicopter had to wear a inflatable life vest as well as a cranial. The purpose of the cranial was to provide hearing protection and head protection in case of a crash. I got someone you may recognize to model one for you ;D

(http://olive-drab.com/images/cots_ess_flightdeck_375.jpg)

During the filming of Top Gun HC-11 was used to carry members of the film crew as well as crew to and from the USS Enterprise which was off the California coast. Tom Cruise was going on one of those flights but refused to put on a cranial because it would mess up his hair.

The aircraft commander gave him the choice to put on the cranial or stay behind. He ended up putting it on.

I wonder if his hair stylist had to work overtime that day. ::)

In the movie, maverick spends all his time doing glamorous things like flying F-14s and romancing his love interest. The reality of the life of a naval aviator is that you spend most of your time doing your ground job. My first ground job was squadron legal officer. It was not nearly as interesting as flying.

In the movie maverick has to bail out of his fighter and his RIO in the mishap. That is one aspect of the movie (one of the few) that is fairly truthfull. Being a naval aviator is not the safest job in the world. During my first year in the squadron, one of our helos deployed on a ship in the western pacific auto-rotated into the water due to a mechanical malfunction. All four crewmembers managed to get out. It was the second H-46 crash for one of them.

Other than flying, most of my time spend at work at that time was pretty boring. The exciting stuff happened on the weekends. The next part of this report will be about the adrenaline pumping, high speed world of sport bike riding in Southern California and my introduction to and participation in that world.

To get into the mood for that, this soundtrack from the movie is just about perfect:

When I got to San Diego I had six years of experience riding motorcycles. I had been reading a lot of motorcycle magazines and owned on the the fastest motorcycles available. Soooo........I was a really skilled and fast rider.......right?

Well, that's what I believed. My first few rides in California did nothing to change my beliefs. I headed out into the mountains. I had no knowledge of what was out there. I just looked at a map and headed for the mountains. I quickly realized that I had come to sport bike heaven (http://advrider.com/styles/advrider_smilies/happay.gif) endless curves, spectacular scenery and very little traffic. This was completely different from any riding I had done in the past. One of the things that amazed me was the contrast from the heavily crowded cities to the transition of being out in what felt like the wilderness.

My first few rides I just rode by myself. I would come up behind slow moving cars, motorhomes and the occasional Gold Wing or cruiser and blast past them using all the 125 horsepower available in a twist of the wrist. I was faaaaast(http://advrider.com/styles/advrider_smilies/wings.gif)

Then I started riding with some other guys I met in the squadron. Some of them were faster than me in the curves but overall I don't remember having trouble keeping up.

Then my friend Phil invited me to ride along with a group of local riders he knew. So I went. We met at a restaurant, had breakfast and then headed off. Many of these riders were "old" guys riding old BMW twins. There where also a few riders on more modern bikes but without a doubt I had one of the fastest bikes. We started on some city streets, then some highway. I had not problem keeping up because I was FAAAST, remember?

Then we got off and into some twisty back roads. Before knew what happened these guys just left me in the dust. How could this happen? Even though I was twisting the throttle to the stop and doing triple digits on the straights, I couldn't keep up. The only reason I didn't end up lost was because the front runners occasionally stopped and let the rest of the group catch up.

It was a HUMBLING experience.

Despite this experience I continued to occasionally ride with these guys. I also scared myself a number of times by riding over my head in the attempt to keep up. My ego had a problem with having a much faster bike than these guys but not being able to keep up. Somehow however, I managed to keep the bike upright and on the road.

One notable difference between me and these guys was that I was still dressed like your basic squid while they mostly had proper riding gear.

Here's a pic of me still wearing the same stuff I wore in Florida. Arai helmet, Members only jacket, jeans, work boots, and some kind of gloves.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-mzpLbcw/0/073f2ba4/XL/Picture263-XL.jpg)

One day I was following Phil and a group of the guys from the squadron and Phil took us up Palomar Mountain. I had not ridden it before. For those of you not familiar, here's a map:

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-hJTd7qt/0/6815f1fd/X2/palomar%20mountain-X2.png)

We went up the S7, the east grade. It's pretty much constant medium speed sweepers. We took a break and rode down S6, the south grade which is constant downhill hairpins. Those curves pretty much wiped me out. I couldn't keep up and lost my confidence and ended up going really slow. It was not fun. I was a nervous wreck.

After I got home I decided i needed to do something. I couldn't go on riding the way I was. The fun factor was gone and I would likely end up crashing. So I went out by myself. I had a plan. I found a nice road with constant medium speed curves nearby and decided to ride through it at a nice, comfortable constant speed. I think I picked 35 MPH as the speed. I concentrated on properly riding the curves, not blasting down the straights. A few times through and I added 5 MPH. The another 5. Then I went off and rode some other roads but by myself. Again, I concentrated on the curves, not the speed on the straights.

It didn't take long to get my confidence back and started riding with others again. The fun factor was back! and my riding really improved. I soon got to where I could easily keep up with most of the other riders although I still had no chance of keeping up with the fast guys who rode out front.

I also decided that I needed to get some real riding gear. First I picked up two matching riding jackets at a motorcycle show in Anaheim. One for Debbi and one for me. I think I got them for 100 bucks each. Then I later found some pants and gloves that sort of matched the jacket at a local motorcycle shop.  A pair of actual motorcycle boots from Miramar Cycles completed my new riding gear.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-BghCswD/0/cde5a2e7/M/Picture264-M.jpg)

Highway to the Danger Zone

You may want to replay that soundtrack I posted earlier. It fits with what I'm about to post.

The world of sport bike riding is a foreign world to most people. Thee idea of going out and riding as fast as you feel like riding or as fast as you feel safe with only casual regard for posted speed limits is just not what most people do. Most people couldn't imagine going 120+ MPH on public roads. While most of my riding was not done at that speed, I rarely went for a ride on my FJ without hitting triple digits at least once.  I seldom went over 140 but then my FJ was about topped out at that speed.  With a faster bike I'm sure I would have gone faster.  It really didn't seem that big of a deal doing this way out in the mountain with no one around. Most of the time however, speeds where in the 40-80 MPH range depending on the roads we were on and sometimes less on really twisty roads. And this was not just me, the people I rode with did the same. Most of us were smart enough not to ride this fast in traffic or near civilization. As a result tickets and accidents were rare.

Many of my early group rides in CA were with guys I knew in the Navy. Here are two of my riding friends:

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-m4mp93V/0/571e638f/XL/Picture265-XL.jpg)

Both were introduced in a previous post. I am on the left followed by Phil, Chuck and Chris. Chris was a Marine H-46 pilot. He would ride down from the southern LA area to ride with us. The marines required all their motorcycle riders to wear reflective vests at all times. Before going riding he would brief us that if he were to crash, we should pull out his vest and throw it over his body to make it appear he had been wearing it. He didn't want to get into trouble for not wearing it.

I had some great rides with this group. We rode all over the mountains outside of San Diego as well as down into the desert. 250+ mile days where the norm. We would often ride up to Julian for breakfast or lunch and then have dinner somewhere else before the ride was over.

So how dangerous where these rides? I don't remember any crashes even though we were pushing pretty hard.

One day Chris was out riding, not with us. He was going around 100 and realized that a corner was coming up too late and ended up crashing at pretty high speed. I don't remember the details except that he walked away, bruised and sore but with no serious injuries.

So, he totaled his bike in a high speed crash. What do you think he did next?  Buy a slower, safer bike?

Hell No!!  He got a Honda VFR700. He had been fast on the Vision but now he was really fast.

One day we rode through Borrego Springs and then up S-22, the4 Montezuma grade. We stopped at and scenic turnout and then took turns taking each others pictures.

Here's me and my mighty FJ:

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-9BwzBhN/0/2a24a488/XL/Picture266-XL.jpg)

Chris and Phil:

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-rHDhGn5/0/6366c491/XL/Picture267-XL.jpg)

Phil came up with this idea:

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-4KtZcjW/0/44a9fae1/XL/Picture268-XL.jpg)

We were pushing so hard that one of us crashed :D

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-GcNMDDz/0/16db3b13/XL/Picture269-XL.jpg)

I wish I had taken more pictures. Both of the riding as well as my friends. At that time I just didn't think ahead to the time when I wouldn't see these guys again.



Unfortunately that day came sooner than I ever expected.



Not too long after this ride we got the word that Chris had been killed :'( :'( :'(

No, it wasn't the fast bike that got him. He died in a Helicopter crash. It may have been peace time but flying military helicopters really is a Ride into the danger zone.

One more pic of with Chris in it:

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-k4qqs9D/0/65b3aac5/XL/Picture270-XL.jpg)

I often forget to take pics of the friends I ride with.  I hope this will remind me to do that. 

Chris had so much of his life ahead of him but he made the most of the time he had.  I'm glad I had the chance to know him and that I have some pics to help me remember him.

Not long after Chris's death we got more shocking news. Andy, had been my roommate and was a good friend had also been killed in an H-46 helicopter crash in the Phillipines :'( :'(

I'm not trying to through a wet blanket over the mood of this ride report but Chris and Andy were an important part of my life and I will never forget them. All this happened nearly 30 years ago so I am over the pain I felt at the time. However, I will never forget them nor do I want to.

Andy was at my wedding:

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-2cJ3j3m/0/3ab803ed/L/Picture232-L.jpg)

The last picture I have of him, with his girlfriend outside our townhouse in Chula Vista.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-NFrMNzm/0/ac6c0611/XL/Picture271-XL.jpg)

What happened to Chris and Andy reminds me that life is short and can end at any time. Don't waste it.

From what I knew of Chris and Andy, they took full advantage of the time they had and were both living the life of their dreams.


Going back to the riding part of this report, I really was living the dream when I was in California. I'm not sure I fully appreciated that at the time but as I write this report and look back at all that I did and all that I had at that time, I can fully appreciate it now.

So while it sucked losing two good friends it didn't stop me from enjoying the fantastic riding in Southern California.


Unfortunately, sometimes the Navy did.  The Navy brought me to California and gave me the money to be able to afford some cool bikes and ride them.  In return, sometimes I had to work.

Towards the end of 1987 I was assigned to a detachment which would be cruising on the USS Wabash (AOR-5). The Wabash was what we jokingly referred to as a "Fast Attack combat Oiler" :D :D   In reality it was a supply ship that cruised with the battle group and provided supplies and fuel to the rest of the ships. In November I did a one one cruise to the Northern Pacific in the area of the Alaskan Aleutian islands. Then we returned for one month before going out on a six month Western pacific cruise. I won't go into great details since this is a ride report, not cruise report. We stopped in Hawaii for one day and the Philippines for 5 before heading out for the North Arabian Sea. It was technically peacetime but tensions were high and we did have a one day shooting war with the Iranian Navy and Air force. It was a pretty one sided affair as ships and aircraft from our battle group took a out a number of Iranian ships and airplanes.

A few pics from the cruise:

USS Wabash:

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-JLMWS2v/0/e1469152/L/Picture292-L.jpg)

Aerial views at sea.  The Wabash next to the USS Enterprise.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-cMKF6B7/0/fc878c37/XL/Picture293-XL.jpg)

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(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-CqzrRmT/0/a07926b6/XL/Picture294-XL.jpg)

On deck with one of our 2 helicopters.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-3hDwBfd/0/cb05e1da/XL/Picture295-XL.jpg)

Underway. Not sure but I think this may have been near Singapore.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-n9VvLwK/0/3c240c66/L/Picture296-L.jpg)

The flying was interesting and fun.  This video shows what we did.

Other ports we visited where the Maldives, The Philippines again, Hong Kong and Korea. Debbi was able to fly out and see me the 5 days we were in Hong Kong. We had been separated for 5 months so I will leave what we did there to your imagination(http://advrider.com/styles/advrider_smilies/naughty.gif)

As I mentioned before, this was technically peacetime. The day before pulling into port at Hon Kong, an S3 Viking Rolled over and crashed into the water immediately after a Catapult Launch of of the Enterprise. None of the 4 crew members survived. I was told that losing an airplane or 2 on a six month cruise was normal. ???

One more pic.

Interesting road sign in the Philippines:

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-G7rXK2K/0/753f2696/XL/Picture297-XL.jpg)

The cruise was interesting but the best part was getting back home to Debbi and of course being able to ride again(http://advrider.com/styles/advrider_smilies/ricky.gif) (http://advrider.com/styles/advrider_smilies/ricky.gif)

Shortly after getting back we took another trip. 

Preview Pic:

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-twFr267/0/dfdd1e78/XL/Picture272-XL.jpg)

One of the things I really liked, and miss, about the Navy was the 30 days leave we got every year. That gave me the opportunity to take a number of vacations. Some of those vacations were not motorcycle related so I won't write about them here.

We decided to do a vacation during the summer of 1988 after I returned from cruise.  Debbi wanted to go to Las Vegas. She wasn't so much interested in the gambling as all the shows. I was as much interested in go to Las Vegas as I was in getting a root canal.

Of course I wanted to go on a riding vacation. So we compromised. We would go to Lake Tahoe. It has some of the same stuff as LV but on a smaller scale. It would was also a very scenic place and would allow for some great riding both in the area as well as the trip up and back.

So we made motel reservations and even packed a suitcase full of clothes and sent it to Lake Tahoe on a Greyhound bus. I remember it was not very expensive. When we were done in Tahoe we would send it back via Greyhound.

Remember that bad luck that we had on our last trip? Well, it hit us again. Just before we were scheduled to leave, Debbi got a really bad cold. :(

So we had to come up with a plan B. We decided that I would ride up to Tahoe by myself. Debbi would take a couple of days to try to get over her cold then fly up.

I do remember the ride up but I don't think I took any pics. At least I can't find any. I rode up I-15 to 395 and then north on 395. It was very hot, over 100 degrees, riding through the Mojave desert on 395. It was a good thing Debbi was not along. She would have struggled with the heat even if she wasn't sick. I finally called it quits when I got to bishop. Due to the higher elevations it was pretty comfortable in bishop.

The next day was a great ride as the road started getting up into the Sierras as I got on 89 to Tahoe. The scenery was spectacular. Everything was just so huge and majestic. I wish I had taken some pics but I know they wouldn't have begun to capture what it was really like.

I got to Tahoe and picked up Debbi from the airport and our suitcase form the Greyhound station. Debbi was better but still sick. She spend some time in bed while I did a ride around Lake Tahoe. Another very scenic ride but no pics.

So what did we do in Tahoe? We took a cruise on the lake.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-JJWVBxD/0/03a0d583/XL/Picture273-XL.jpg)

We did a ride around the lake together.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-xPBS2qM/0/c7479fc6/XL/Picture274-XL.jpg)

We saw at least one show which I have no recollection of......it was that memorable:D

And of course we were big time gamblers.

We decided on a limit of what we were willing to lose, I think it was 50 bucks apiece. So we headed to a casino and started doing some high stakes gambling. Yeah, that's right, we were playing the dime slot machines ;D

I was in one Isle and Debbi the next. I was winning big and was at least a buck or two ahead when I heard the ding, ding, ding of a big winner in the next isle accompanied by a lot of excited screaming. So I went over to see what was going on. Debbi had struck the jackpot. $53 worth of dimes(http://advrider.com/styles/advrider_smilies/happay.gif)
OK, that wouldn't allow us to retire early but it was a lot of dimes ;D

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-TctqVLw/0/4c88f2ce/XL/Picture275-XL.jpg)

After a few days in Tahoe it was time for the best part of this trip, at least for me. The plan for the ride back was to cross the Sierras three times going over three different mountain passes.

First up was route 4, the Ebbets Pass. The Ebbets pass was an awesome ride. It was a narrow road with a lot of hairpins curves as it climbed up the rugged mountains. It was a real wilderness road with no signs of civilization.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-6rxpvrF/0/00b800f2/XL/Picture276-XL.jpg)

Somewhere after getting to the top we came by these beautiful lakes and had to stop and enjoy the view.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-z5r5pbZ/0/47e74325/XL/Picture277-XL.jpg)

There was also this biker gang there. These guys really looked like serious bikers, black leathers, tattoes, long hair, beards, and most of them were pretty big. I'm sure that people would hide the women and children when these guys rolled into town. But we talked to them. They seemed like really nice folks. Look can be deceiving.

We followed 4 to 49, went south on 49 and then picked up 108 to go over the Sonora pass. Somewhere High in the mountains we came across this little resort in the middle of nowhere. It was such a beautiful spot that we decided to spend the night there. They had a room available in a small log cabin motel. I think that dinner that night was served outside behind the small restaurant.  We ate at a picnic table.  The name of this place was the Dardanelle resort.  A google search showed that it's still there. I wonder if you could go there today and just get a room in the middle of the summer without a reservation.

This place ran off of generator power and as I remember after a certain time of night they shut off the generator.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-bgMgFX7/0/f9c4fbcd/XL/Picture278-XL.jpg)

I like how that guy brings it in at 7:32ish.

After a good night in Dardanelle, we got back on the road and continued over the Sonora pass. My recollection of the road is very dim but I do remember it was a great ride with plenty of curves as well as more spectacular scenery.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-8qVRcpj/0/960dd7c9/XL/Picture279-XL.jpg)

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(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-Sk6J8kM/0/20d597a4/XL/Picture280-XL.jpg)

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(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-npRfWHf/0/3f4f5c2d/XL/Picture281-XL.jpg)

At the end of 108 we took a right and headed for 120, the Tioga Pass. I was really anticipating this because it would take us into Yosemite national Park which I had heard so much about. So we rode up the pass. I did take some pics. I'm not sure about these next two pics but they were taken somewhere in the area, Maybe 108, maybe 120, maybe in between??

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-p6tXtbK/0/a013d91c/XL/Picture282-XL.jpg)

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(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-L7SRxqz/0/9c69e1ad/XL/Picture283-XL.jpg)

We stopped to check out this rock:

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-wZWxp7N/0/d5311c29/XL/Picture284-XL.jpg)

Our venture is at the bottom left of the next picture.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-7cLP83k/0/672a2c84/XL/Picture285-XL.jpg)

We continued on. This was all very scenic but I was a little disappointed. Was this all there was to this really famous park?  It really wasn't much more scenic than the last two passes.

So we rode along.

Then we came around a curve a and there was this huge drop off on our right and this spectacular Valley Down below(http://advrider.com/styles/advrider_smilies/eek2.gif) Yes, I think my jaw dropped and hit the tank. Now I know why Yosemite was so famous. Sorry, I didn't get any pics :(.   Even if I had, no way would they do the actual view any justice.

We rode down into the valley. I'm not sure of the order of events after this but I think we went and found a room just outside the west entrance of the park and then came back to explore. I understand that now you have to ride a bus into the valley but back then there were no buses and we rode. We saw this really tall waterfalls and stopped to check it out. We were told that there was a really cool pond at the base of the falls and it was worth going up and seeing it. There was a trail to get there but we didn't know about it and took the more interesting route straight up over a bunch of rocks. It was a blast climbing over all those rocks and we had to work as a team to get up some of them but we finally made it.

It was well worth the climb. There was a great view of the falls, a really pretty pond with a big rock in the middle. There were some people out on the rock and I thought it would be fun to swim to that rock. As soon as those people left the rock I stepped into the pond to head out to it:eek1 That water had to be just a few degrees above FREEZING. Debbi of course started laughing at me. Then she worked on shaming me into getting into the water and swimming to that rock.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-FFgPmVd/0/a1d99daf/XL/Picture286-XL.jpg)

Then of course I worked on shaming Debbi into swimming out to that rock. It took a while but it worked.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-T47xNBW/0/9d78aa79/XL/Picture287-XL.jpg)

I must say she looked much better on that rock than I did!

This ended up being the most memorable part of this trip for me.

After we finished up we took the easy trail back to the parking lot. It was much faster but not nearly the adventure of the climb up.

We started out the next day by riding some really awesome twisty roads through Yosemite to Glacier Point.

Half Dome is in the background to the left.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-VQG4kFZ/0/5a753dad/XL/Picture288-XL.jpg)

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(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-xvDd9Mr/0/278b5360/XL/Picture289-XL.jpg)

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(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-q3Z3K8Z/0/71704b25/XL/Picture290-XL.jpg)

The next picture has a story behind it. Glacier point is an overlook 3214 feet above the Yosemite Valley floor. There was a wall at the edge of the overlook that was around 2 feet high.  The view is really spectacular and I really wanted to try to capture that on film.  I wanted to get a pic looking straight down and decided that I would get a much better picture from 3216 feet rather than 3214 feet. So I stepped on top of the wall to take this next pic. Debbi freaked out and started yelling at me to get down from there. I told her to not treat me like a child. Her answer was that she would stop treating me like a child when I stopped acting like one :D

So here's that pic. As you can see, that extra two feet made a huge difference ;)

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-V8sgBdt/0/c5abe414/XL/Picture291-XL.jpg)

After Yosemite we rode to Sequoia National Park and Kings Canyon. It was a spectacular ride which we both enjoyed even more than riding through Yosemite. Yosemite had some great roads but also a lot of traffic. There was much less traffic in Kings Canyon. It is on my bucket list as a place I want to ride again someday.

There were some big trees:

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-pk9BJsf/0/4ec6d045/XL/Picture299-XL.jpg)

Did I mention the great roads?

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-LSHXZJp/0/cb9bb243/XL/Picture300-XL.jpg)

This lloked like fun but we didn't stop to swim.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-HJdtLp6/0/07424835/XL/Picture301-XL.jpg)

Somewhere in the park.

(http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu171/wknudsen/OLD%20PICS%20AND%20SCANS/kc3_zpsc8tjcibc.jpg)

After we left the park we ended up riding through the town of Visalia at night. We suddenly found ourselves stuck in a traffic jam. The cars around us were literally jumping up and down and there were crowds of people watching from the sidewalks ???

Not sure what the deal was. I think that the local car people just came out one night a week and drove around in circles to show off their cars which all hydraulics to let them jump up and down and we happened to pick that night to drive through.  It was definitely weird.

One last pic.  Debbi modeling the t shirt I got her on cruise when we stopped in the Maldives.  Not sure where this pic was taken.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-4PR9XfR/0/ac289b61/XL/Picture298-XL.jpg)

Debbi enjoyed being a passenger behind me but sometime in 1988 she decided to try riding from the front seat.  She took the MSF class and got her California motorcycle endorsement.  She wanted a small and easy to ride bike to start on so we looked around we found this Honda CM200T Twinstar at a local dealer.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-GjdsdhS/0/103d75d2/XL/Picture303-XL.jpg)

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(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-NTSBgvF/0/b4c1dded/XL/Picture304-XL.jpg)

This bike proved to be a great learner bike as Debbi became comfortable riding it pretty quickly and really enjoyed riding it. She did have one complaint and that was the lack of wind protection. She just didn't understand that wind in the face and bugs in the teeth was part of the fun ;D

So I put this fairing on it:

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-NkjJRrt/0/8e1c1ad3/XL/Picture305-XL.jpg)

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(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-R5qLMGQ/0/1b5e8971/XL/Picture306-XL.jpg)

One of our favorite short rides was to go out Otay Lakes road and then ride the dead end road that ran along Lower Otay Lake. Looking at Google maps it appears that road, as well as the whole area has changed considerably. Back then the whole area was undeveloped and the road along the lake was a nice curvy and lightly traveled road perfect for practicing some corner carving. That's were I went when I was struggling with the FJ and that's were I went with Debbi so she could practice.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-fNMXMZ9/0/71fa054f/XL/Picture307-XL.jpg)

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(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-gRTNGWx/0/896c732a/XL/Picture308-XL.jpg)

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(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-MDPFZ9S/0/59e7bafc/XL/Picture309-XL.jpg)

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(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-JRsFz65/0/7293adb3/XL/Picture310-XL.jpg)


I rode the bike a few times. I was a little big for it, it didn't have much power, only a four speed transmission, drum brakes and a cheap suspension. It was still a lot of fun to ride. It could even keep up with traffic on San Diego freeways. It really made me want a small lightwieght bike like maybe the just introduced Ninja 250.

Remember this bike?

(http://www.totalmotorcycle.com/submittedphotos/1987KawasakiZX250RNinja-MartinO.jpg)

I really wanted one of these but I already had two bikes and getting a third was out of the question. I mean really, three bikes for one person?? That would be ridiculous  ::)

Yes, I was young and still had much to learn :D

All the toys in the Garage.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-PtqfXHw/0/e0fb54c7/XL/Picture311-XL.jpg)

it's so cool to follow along you and the wife's journeys.

thanks for continuing this, suuuper cool thread :-)

Quote from: kylepeterson on December 05, 2017, 06:28:47 PM
it's so cool to follow along you and the wife's journeys.

thanks for continuing this, suuuper cool thread :-)

Thanks Kyle.  I'll be continuing for quite a while.  The thread is at 1988.  That means nearly 30 years to go.

One of my favorite and most common rides was out to Julian. The route was a little city traffic to Otay lakes road. Otay Lakes road was a two lane country road back then. The left on 94 and right on Honey Springs Rd, right on Lyons Valley rd, then Japatul rd to 79 out to Julian. Those of you familiar with the area know what a great ride that is....or at least was. Possibly it has become congested with lots of traffic by now.

Debbi and I did that ride one day. I was on the FJ and she was riding the Twinstar. It was a great ride and we even swapped for a couple of miles and she rode the FJ. I took off and a little later she blasted past on the FJ!

Of course we got Aplle pie ala mode in Julian :)  No fighting over it since we both got our own piece.

Debbi really enjoyed the ride and commented how much different and better the scenery was when most of it wasn't blocked by the back of my helmet. The Twinstar worked great on the twisty sections of road but really struggled on the uphill sections. The beginning of Honey Springs road was a long uphill. The Twinstar wouldn't pull fourth gear and the motor was screaming in third gear at about 35 MPH.

So I talked Debbi into looking for a bigger bike. She really liked the Twinstar. If only it had a few more horsepower and 5 speed transmission.

So we went around and Debbi test rode a number of bikes. One of those bikes was a leftover model Yamaha Seca 550. It was a great deal and brand new. I managed to talk her into it.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-NV7nxdM/0/a9e5e031/L/Picture312-L.jpg)

I was a great looking bike and a lot faster than the Twinstar. Debbi and I went on a number of rides.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-dfB6qTf/0/44d80089/XL/Picture313-XL.jpg)

The problem was that Debbi never really got confident riding that bike. She was probably faster on the Twinstar most of the time. I really liked the bike and rode it some but I didn't fit on it all that well. It needed some lower bars and more rearset pegs to work for me.

Bottom line, it was Debbi's bike and she really didn't enjoy riding it. The Seca's days were numbered.....

Time for another vacation. I of course wanted to ride somewhere. Debbi wanted to go on a cruise or to Hawaii. I had already been on a cruise!!!:D
So we decided on Hawaii. I did a little research and it appeared that there were some motorcycle rentals available in Hawaii:evil Keep in mind that there was no internet back then. I think I saw some tiny ads in the back of some motorcycle magazines. We took our helmets with us.

We booked a package deal for our vacation, airfare, hotel, and a FREE welcome breakfast the first morning we were there. Our hotel was advertised as being 2 blocks from the beach. I had this picture in my mind of a hotel on a sandy beach but set back a ways with a few other hotels blocking part of our view.......


We got there and we might as well have been in downtown New York City. It was a tall building surrounded by other tall buildings in a very congested area. From our room we did see a small sliver of blue, so we could see the ocean.

Then we went to the FREE breakfast the next morning. It was pretty lame and was mostly a sales pitch for a bunch of tours.

We did book a guided tour that would take us out on an overview of the Island. It ended up being a pretty good tour. It was done with a small group in a van.

Then it was time to plan out the rest of our time there. Debbi wanted to plan out every day and make reservations. I wanted to wing it and do some exploring on our own. We ended up compromising but in the end, the stuff we did on our own was the most fun and most memorable.......at least for me.

I checked the phone book to find some place to rent a motorcycle. I couldn't find much. The places that had advertised in the magazines were no longer there :(  There were a bunch of places that rented little 50cc scooters but I wasn't really interested in riding around at 30MPH. I finally found a place that had a Honda NX125 and a Yamaha Riva 125 for rent. After checking them out I decided that the Riva would be much more practical, especially 2 up. So I rented it for a day.

Debbi wanted to go to Hanauma Bay and go snorkeling. So we jumped on the scooter and headed off. At some point I took a wrong turn and ended up on the on ramp for the Interstate highway ???  This scooter was not legal on the interstate but I pinned the throttle and went for it. The speedo showed around 65 MPH and we kept up with traffic until the next off ramp.   We didn't get caught so it was pretty cool. Despite it's tiny 10" wheels the Riva did just fine at those speeds.

We finally found Hanauma bay and went snorkeling. I think this was the high point of the vacation for Debbi. I was laying on the beach when she came up all excited about this fantastic colorful fish she had seen. She said we'd probably never find it again but wanted me to come out with her and look for it. We did find it. I wish we had an underwater camera.

For me of course the scooter riding was the best part of the vacation.

Here we are along the scenic coast:

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-qNmzm3J/0/0cf13ea7/XL/Picture315-XL.jpg)

Inside Diamond Head.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-bWG4BcL/0/0e5e5162/L/Picture316-L.jpg)

Some more tourist stuff before I get to the BEST part of this vacation.

This is one tree:

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-jKRhpjT/0/0a5ad975/XL/Picture317-XL.jpg)

Lots of nice scenery in Hawaii.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-XkdtDJx/0/d537c58f/XL/Picture318-XL.jpg)

We went on a dinner cruise:

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-vTtHXJX/0/ae155f05/XL/Picture319-XL.jpg)

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We went to a big tourist trap type luau.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-zjK7k4S/0/2e72a77f/XL/Picture322-XL.jpg)

Debbi volunteered me to go on stage.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-RD3RBnK/0/fc113346/XL/Picture323-XL.jpg)

And make a fool of myself in front of hundreds of strangers :D

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-vvPPTr2/0/63434070/XL/Picture324-XL.jpg)

Hawaii is probably best know for it's beaches. As much as I like the beach (and the scenery found there(http://advrider.com/styles/advrider_smilies/naughty.gif) ), I have always been more drawn to the mountains.

Hawaii has those too.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-TSbmMzz/0/f2fbf64b/XL/Picture325-XL.jpg)

I ended up Renting that Riva for a day and then again a couple of days later. It really was a blast to ride(http://advrider.com/styles/advrider_smilies/ricky.gif) Light weight, 10 inch wheels and a short wheelbase meant that you just had to think about turning and it would do it. It was also reasonably comfortable two up and handled a passenger with ease. It was perfect for running around in city traffic. But, city traffic wasn't really where I wanted to spend all my time riding. I had a map of the area and found something that looked really cool. This is not the exact map I had but shows what I was looking at:

(http://www.zaneclark.net/punchbowl-24.jpg)

Tantalus Drive. Now that looked like fun!

So I went out looking for it. I found this fantastic, super curvy road that went up the mountain and into a rain forest. If you have ever ridden Deal's Gap, it doesn't compare to this road for tight curves and scenery. I would be riding along, scraping the floorboards on some super tight curves in the middle of a rain forest when suddenly there would be a break in the trees and a spectacular view of Downtown Honolulu.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-h9sSxvg/0/b1e6cf9c/XL/Picture326-XL.jpg)

Then some more curves followed by a spectacular view of Diamond Head.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-tBwChXJ/0/0c3b4f6e/L/Picture327-L.jpg)

Without a doubt this was one of the most fun and memorable rides of my life. The Riva was a great bike for this ride. Anything much bigger would have been overkill. I think I rode it several times.

I did come back and ride it again with Debbi on the back.  Even with a passenger on the back it was still a great ride.  We went exploring and found this really good Italian restaurant in a residential area well off the beaten path. That ended up being one of the best, and least expensive dinners we had in Hawaii.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-832Ckwj/0/bc50b81a/XL/Picture328-XL.jpg)

That was my first scooter experience and it was a great one. It planted the scooter bug in me although it would be a long time before I acted on it. I really thought it would be fun to have a small scooter but I just didn't see that it would be practical or that I would use it very much.

One final note. When I got back to San Diego and took one of my motorcycles out, it felt like a huge, heavy, and clumsy beast compared to that little scooter.

California is a great state for riders for a number of reasons. There are a lot of interesting places to ride. One of those places is Death Valley. I decided to ride there over the MLK Holiday weekend in 1989. I packed up the Venture and headed north on I-15. I don't remember the exact route but I ended up in Death Valley that afternoon. I did a little sight seeing and started looking for a place to stay. Being a holiday weekend, everything in Death Valley was booked. BTW, back then Death Valley was a National Monument, not a National Park. Despite the fact that everything was booked, Death Valley still seemed pretty deserted. I ended up going to Beatty, NV to find a room. I found a cheap Mom and Pop Motel. When I looked for something to eat I found very few restaurants. I think there was a McDs of something like that but if I wanted real food the only place to eat was in the Casino.

I woke up early because I wanted to catch the sunrise. It was Cooooooold. My bike's seat was covered with frost and the bike didn't want to crank. I rolled down a hill and bump started it. I did get this pic in town that morning.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-GBQzjzw/0/9a650bc7/XL/Picture329-XL.jpg)

Then I headed back towards Death Valley. Back then I had pretty cheap riding gear. Even though I was bundled up like the Michelin Tire man, I started to freeze pretty quickly. I think I had to stop every 10-15 minutes to thaw out my fingers. It didn't help that I had to cross some mountains to get back into the Valley. Then, to make things worse, I wanted to ride up to Dantes View which is about a mile high in elevation. The road to Dantes View was a nice twisty road but I was too cold to really enjoy it.

The view was spectacular. Looking almost straight down was the valley floor at 282 feet below sea level. Across the valley was the snow covered Panamint Mountain range at over 11,000 feet high and off in the distance I could see Mt Whitney, the tallest peak in the continental USA.

This pic does not do it justice:

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-bmC2crT/0/101ff7cb/XL/Picture330-XL.jpg)

Then I rode down into the valley for some more riding and sight seeing.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-V5B37c8/0/444398a7/XL/Picture331-XL.jpg)

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(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-cjjSPch/0/8dce25ec/XL/Picture333-XL.jpg)

On the valley floor 282 feet below sea level. Up on the hillside is a small white sign showing where sea level is.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-bz7bZLm/0/e238ddc2/XL/Picture334-XL.jpg)

There was this really cool looking dirt road going into a narrow canyon that I wanted to explore but it was one way and I didn't want to chance it one the Venture, especially after what had happened earlier with the busted crankcase.

I decided to take a road that looked real interesting on my map. It went up through the Panamint MTNS. It was a nice twisty and scenic road but not in very good shape. Eventually I got to a point where the pavement ended and the road crossed a frozen creek ??? ???

It would be a long way to go back and around...

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Keep in mind that I was on a 750+ pound full dress touring bike.

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I decided to go for it. It ended up being pretty non eventful but it did make me think that maybe someday I should get a big dual sport bike. Come to think of it, I could have ridden that interesting looking dirt road earlier as well.

It was something to think about.

I had planned on making this a three day weekend but ended up pushing it all the way home that night. It was a pretty cold ride.

Fantastic! Really makes me wish I had more pictures of growing up on two wheels!

Quote from: Fencejumper09 on December 07, 2017, 10:35:56 AM
Fantastic! Really makes me wish I had more pictures of growing up on two wheels!

You can't change the past but you can document your riding from this point on.  Someday you will be glad you did.  You will be able to show your kids and their kids what riding was like in the "good old days"  ;D

Only a couple of years earlier I thought of Full dress touring bikes as boring old men's bikes. I was now doing a lot of riding on mine. It was just so much more practical and comfortable for long trips than the FJ. Having hard luggage especially spoiled me.

I did a Solo trip to the Grand Canyon. I headed west on I-8 to Yuma AZ. Then it was mostly back roads through Prescott, Sedonna, and Oak Creek Canyon to Flagstaff. I spent the night in Flagstaff then rode to the Grand Canyon. The rest of the trip is pretty fuzzy in my memory. I do remember that it was real cold in the morning in Flagstaff. Just like in Death valley my bike was covered in frost and I had to roll down a hill and bump start it. Again, I had to stop and thaw out every few miles. I could have used electric heat and some decent riding gear back then. Once the sun came out it warmed up nicely.

For the ride back home I took a different route and rode through the mountains North East of Phoenix and then headed home. I'm sure I took a lot of pics but could only find a few. 

I think these where near Sedonna/Oak Creek Canyon.

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This next one was that cold morning north of Flagstaff.

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I went on a number of trips while I was in California. They were great and I will never forget them, however the best and most memorable rides were those weekend rides in the San Diego area. It is possible that I will get the chance to go back and visit all the great places again some day but there is no way I will ever be able to re-live the the exciting days of sport riding of that time. The roads were fantastic to ride on(http://advrider.com/styles/advrider_smilies/ricky.gif)
The weather was great almost all the time(http://advrider.com/styles/advrider_smilies/rayof.gif)
And I had a couple of really fun bikes!
But, a big part of the fun was the riders I had the chance to ride with and become friends with. I often wonder were all those people are today and how they are doing. I have only managed to keep in touch with one of them.

So, it's time to talk about sport riding again. Much of my sport riding was done on the FJ but the Venture also made a surprisingly good sport bike. After I got the Venture, I don't think Debbi ever rode on the back of the FJ again. The Venture spoiled her. So any sport rides that Debbi came along on were on the Venture.

The Venture had an Awesome V-4 engine that pulled really hard and sounded and felt great while doing it. The Venture was heavy at around 750 pounds but the steering was really light due to the wide handlebar and the steering geometry. The steering was actually lighter than that of the FJ. Cornering clearance was also very good for a touring bike. On top of that I would hang off on the inside to increase clearance even more.

Back to the people I rode with. There was a restaurant in San Diego that was a meeting place for riders on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Go there on any weekend or holiday and there would be one or more groups there eating and then heading out for a ride. I have no recollection of the name of that place but by using Google Maps to research it I'm pretty sure it was Giovanni's on Clairemont Mesa Blvd. I wonder if it is still a popular rider's meeting place?  I guess I'll have to go back sometime and check it out.

Riding with these guys was an experience in itself. most of them were really experienced riders with a lot of great stories to tell. As a relative noob I was in awe of these guys. I would meet these guys for breakfast, we would ride all day and then sometimes stop some place for dinner where I had the chance to hear all kinds of great stories.

One of my biggest regrets is not taking more pics of these rides and the people I ride with.

At least I took a few. Here's a great one this was taken one of those days Debbi came along on the Venture:

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There is a story behind this pic but first I'm going to talk about the people in this pic.

Starting on the left:

Kim rode an EX500 and rode it very well. She was a nurse and the GF of the guy with his thumb in the air.

Tony, sitting down, rode a GSXR 750 with a personalized tag that read IKIKA55 :D Somehow he got that past the license plate censors.

Jonesy was one of the fastest riders around. When I met him he rode a BMW K100RS. Although the BMW was not exactly a super sport he ride it ridiculously fast. In 2 and a half years he put 80,000 miles on it. He then traded it in. If I remember right he paid $3500 and the trade for a new BMW K75S. He got a great deal but keep in mind that the 80,000 K100RS was still under warranty!
The K75S was no super sport either but Jonesy was even faster on that bike.  I remember riding with him one day. I was on the FJ and my riding had improved greatly. We were coming up on one of my favorite sections of road. Nice medium speed sweepers that I knew really well. I would finally be able to keep up with him(http://advrider.com/styles/advrider_smilies/happay.gif)
So I ran through those curves as fast as I dared and hung way off to the inside like the racers did. On the straights I used all 125 horsepower......

It wasn't enough. He still left me in the dust >:(

To add insult to injury he had Dunlop K491 tour Elites on his bike. He rode so much he couldn't afford to use sport tires ???


Just to the right of and behind Jonesy was Big Bill. He got his nick name because he was.........BIG. He rode a Hurricane 1000.

Next was John. He was a real motorcycling celebrity and legend. I'll talk more about him in a separate post. After that was Debbi and me.

The story behind this pic is coming up...........

The story behind the pic in the last post.

Most rides that we did ended up on Palomar Mountain. The roads on Palomar were fantastic(http://advrider.com/styles/advrider_smilies/ricky.gif) and then there was a restaurant and store at the top of the mountain that was a great place to hang out and get something to eat. The restaurant was called Mother's Kitchen. It was a vegetarian restaurant but the veggie burgers were pretty good and so were their pies. The best part of the place was the parking lot which was normally pretty full of bikes on weekends and was a great place to kick tires.  It was a lot like Deal's Gap was years ago before it got realy popular ans everyone started calling it the "dragon".

Palomar mountain was the big attraction for the local sport riders. Not only were the roads great but law enforcement normally stayed off the mountain. One of the guys who was a regular on the mountain was a middle aged squid who rode a Hurricane 1000. He normally had a few younger "squidlings" following him around. Why was he a squid? I'm not really sure. He did wear proper riding gear. He just had that reputation. He had done something that really pissed Jonesy off. I'm not sure what. Maybe a stupid pass?

Anyway, we were hanging out in front off Mother's Kitchen when we heard that this guy had crashed. So we headed down the East grade to check it out. We found the guys mangled bike off of the side of the road and then posed for that picture.

I'm not sure of the extent of the guys injuries except that they were nothing serious. I saw the guy at Mother's kitchen some time later. He was now riding a large cruiser. He was pretty bored with it but said that his wife wouldn't let him get another sport bike :D

Time to wrap up the story around that last pic I posted. Probably the most fascinating person in that pic was John. He's the white haired older gentleman standing towards the back next to Debbi. In his normal life he was an upstanding member of society. He lived in upscale Coronado Island. He sang with the San Diego Opera for 18 years, played the piano, was a trustee at his church and had numerous other accomplishments. He was a very mild mannered, soft spoken gentleman.

He was not the type of person you would expect to be out tearing up the twisty mountain roads on a motorcycle...........but he was.

John was the president of a local BMW club and owned a couple of air cooled BMW twins. Many of the times I rode with him he was on his Yamaha 650 Seca. None of these bikes were exactly state of the art sport bikes. When John was riding he normally looked like he was just out for a Sunday cruise. He didn't hang off or anything. He just looked relaxed on his bike. But, he was deceptively FAST. I couldn't keep up with him when he decided to ride fast. I heard many stories of him blowing by guys on modern sport bikes like Ninjas on GSXRs going up Palomar Mountain. Then he'd be waiting for those guys at the top of the mountain and they would realize they had just been blown away by this old white haired guy(http://advrider.com/styles/advrider_smilies/gerg.gif) on a slow bike ???

John was also known as the "King of the Alps" He had done so much riding in the alps and other parts of Europe that he wrote and published several books about riding that area.

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Those of you familiar with Southern California don't need to be told about how great the weather is there. I found it to be totally different from anything I had previously experienced so I'll talk about it here. I had expected that as far south as San Diego was it would be very hot in the summers. So I was shocked to find out that most people did not have air conditioning if they lived near the coast. The water off the coast comes down from Alaska and doesn't get very warm. Since the wind is almost always from the coast, it is normally a nice and cool breeze. On rare occasions the wind would switch and it would get hot for a few days. In the winter it never got really cold. I don't remember it ever getting down to freezing.

Of course this was near the coast. Go inland and things would change. A typical June ride would be like this: It would be cool and totally overcast when leaving in the morning. It would look like rain, but there was no need for a rain suit. Head inland about 15 miles and there would be no sign of clouds and it would warm up. Then we would climb up into the mountains where it would be nice and comfortable even mid day. continue east, down the mountain and into the desert and it would be 110 degrees.

During the winter the higher elevations would get snow. Some of the "local" roads I rode all the time got over 5000 and even 6000 feet in elevation.

The highest point in the county was Mount Laguna which was one of our favorite ride destinations. It had a great twisty and scenic road that went over the mountain.

Here's some pics taken there:

During the summer it would get pretty cool up there. We went up once to catch the sunset. Didn't quite make it in time.

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And we also rode there in the winter.

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1988

We had a pretty nice collection of bikes. 

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The problem was that Debbi never got to where she was comfortable on the Seca. So it was time to go bike shopping again. We decided that she needed something with a bit more power and performance than the Twinstar but smaller and lighter than the Seca. So we looked around and Debbi did a number of test rides. She finally decided on a bike that was bigger and heavier than the Seca.

But it had a lower seat and low center of gravity.

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She got a used 1986 Yamaha Virago 700.

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For whatever reason she was much more comfortable riding this bike than she was the Seca. The Virago was a pretty good performing bike. The motor made plenty of power. Dual discs up front. Shaft drive, Tachometer and centerstand.  All things you normally won't find on a modern cruiser. It also had pretty good cornering clearance, much better than most modern cruisers.

It wasn't long before we headed out for a weekend trip.  I think it was over Thanksgiving weekend but don't remember for sure.  I do remember it was cold as we headed east over the mountains.

We stopped to warm up and enjoy the view.  No smile here. I think she's giving me the "I can't believe you got me out riding in this cold weather" look :D

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Our first night was spent in El Centro which is in the desert east of San Diego and much warmer than up in the mountains.

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The next day we rode up to Palms Springs where we spent another enjoyable night.  Then we headed up over the mountains stopping in the scenic town of Idyllwild.  There was snow on the ground which would probably have made for a pretty cool picture if only I had taken it :(

Although Debbi had her own bike, for longer trips we still rode two up on the Venture. We decided to go see the Grand Canyon. Would our normal Vacation luck continue?

Well, just before we left I came down with a bad cold :(

But I wasn't going to let that stop us. So off we went. We spent the first night in Yuma. The news weather reports were calling for snow at the Grand Canyon. So we changed our plan. We would just go as far as Oak Creek Canyon and spend more time there. I had been to Oak Creek Canyon a couple of time but Debbi hadn't. In some ways I liked it better than the Grand Canyon. You can ride your bike through Oak Creek Canyon :)

The ride there was pretty good also. There are some nice mountain curves and views on either side of Prescott and the neat little town of Jerome.

When we got to Sedona which is at the mouth of Oak Creek canyon we found this really cool Bed and Breakfast. But it was full up that night. So we booked a room for the following night and stayed at some generic motel the first night. By not going on the the G. C. we were able to spend an entire day exploring and checking out Sedona and Oak Creek Canyon.

Debbi has accused me of taking more pics of my bikes than of her ::)
You wouldn't know it from this trip where I can't find a single pic of my bike but plenty with her in them.

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As I mentioned, you can ride your bike through this canyon. Here is the road as it twists it's way out of the north end of the canyon:

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The B & B we stayed at the second night was pretty interesting. The owner was a collector of music boxes. When I thought of music boxes I thought of those little boxes that sit on a dresser or shelf and when you open them they play a tune. These where much bigger. These are what preceeded the record player and radio. They had huge metal discs in them that turned to generate the music. You can see part of the collection in the next two pics.

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More miscellaneous memories from riding around San Diego.

I met a couple some time in 87 who rode Kawasaki Ninja 750s. They were husband and wife. Phil and Tomi. Not long after I met them Phil's Ninja was stolen and he replaced it with a VFR750. We ended up riding with them a lot. On most Saturday mornings they would meet a few friends on the corner of 94 and Honey Springs road and then ride to Julian for breakfast. I/we often went with them. After breakfast some people would head home to do Honey Do's and some of us would ride some more.

Sometimes Debbi and I got together with them to ride or just do other things. Some pics from a day ride we did with them.

Debbi, Phil and our bikes:

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Debbi and Tomi carrying on a conversation with one of the locals ;D

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My mom and dad came out to visit us for a week. One day I took my mom for a ride into the mountains. Luckily mom fit into Debbi's riding gear.

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We went out Otay Lakes road and then right on 94 which we followed for a half hour or so before taking a break then heading back. On the way back we got stuck behind a long string of slow moving cages. There was one long, straight uphill stretch of road. It was clear so I pulled out, downshifted and twisted the throttle. Despite being 2 up and going uphill the venture just rocketed past that line of cars!

Eventually we got stuck behind more slow moving cages. After the ride was done mom commented that it was to bad we got stuck behind those slow cars.

Some more local rides.

One of the more interesting destinations in the area was Dudley's Bakery in Santa Ysabel. At that time there was very little in Santa Ysabel. There was Dudley's Bakery, a gas station and a feed and grain shop. That was about it. All Dudley's bakery sold was bread. Their bread was so good it was not unusual for there to be a long line and hour long wait to buy bread on Saturday. Then around 2 or 3 in the afternoon they would sell out. Their bread was that good. Since I often rode to Julian and then to Palomar, it was right on the way. However, on a few occasions I rode out to Dudley's just to get bread. It was a mere 140 or so mile round trip but the bread and the ride made it worth it.

Highway 79 just north of Santa Ysabel was a common speed trap. How do I know this? I found out the hard way. I was stuck behind two cars. When i got to a passing zone I pulled out to pass but so did the second of the cars. So I had to wait for this slow cage to pass the even slower cage before I could really twist the throttle.

As soon as that cage pulled into the right lane I twisted the throttle. At around 125 I eased off and slowed down. About 30 seconds later I saw flashing lights in my mirror ??? Oh Oh!! Both myself and the car behind me were pulled over. He got me for 75 in a 55.

I felt like I had just committed murder and got arrested for shoplifting :D


I have mentioned Otay lakes road a few times. There was a small skydiving airstrip just past the lake. Sometimes we stopped and watched.

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Sometimes I did longer day rides, up to 500 miles or so. One of my favorite rides was up to Big Bear lake or to the Angeles Crest Highway.

I still remember my first ride to Big bear Lake. I went up to the lake on 38 which is a spectacular ride which got up to over 8000 feet elevation if my memory is correct. Then there is the lake itself. At 6700 feet elevation it is surrounded by high mountains and even had a couple of ski areas. The lake was very scenic. Then to top it off was the return ride on 18 which was known as the Rim of the World drive. The views from that road where also spectacular. You could see all the way to the Pacific ocean. Well, you could if not for the smog and poor visibility. Instead you could see down towards San Bernadino and see some hills or tall buildings sticking up out of the smog.

I wish I took more pictures. I did get this one at the west end of Big Bear Lake:

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I'm not sure if this next one was taken from 18 or the Angeles Crest Highway but you can see the high rises sticking up out of the smog.

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One day I went for a ride out to Julian with Tomi. Phil was going to meet us in Julian for Lunch. I was cruising on a back road near Julian enjoying the absolutely perfect day and great scenery. I was doing around 70 and off the gas to slow down for an upcoming curve when there was a jolt in the front end and the bars of my FJ went into a violent tank slapper. I couldn't hang on to the bars and was now just a passenger:eek1:eek1 There was a slight bend in the road and I went off into the embankment and the FJ and I ended tumbling first in the dirt and then back into the road.

After coming to a stop I jumped up. I really didn't know what had just happened. This was my first crash. Tomi was a bit behind me and didn't see the crash. We went back to see what had happened and found a rock the size and shape of a brick on the side of the road. It looked scuffed up. I probably hit it with the edge of my front tire which caused the tankslapper. Anyway, the FJ was not rideable so it ended up getting towed away. Phil showed up and instead of me riding back as a passenger Tomi rode behind Phil and i got to ride her Ninja back home.

As for injuries, I had none. Not even a bruise. I'm glad I was wearing full riding gear. My leathers got a little scuffed up but not too bad. I did have to replace the helmet.

The insurance company totalled the FJ. Time to go bike shopping :)

Well, that would have to wait. I had a two week ride planned so bike shopping would be waiting for me when I got back.

On final pic of the FJ. It was a great bike and I still miss it sometimes. I think a sunset pic is appropriate.

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Debbi and I had conflicting schedules for the summer of 89. She was teaching summer school the first half of the summer and I couldn't get away the second half due to work. So this was my chance to do a really epic 2 week motorcycle trip. I decided to go for a 2 week ride in June through the west, particularly Colorado and then maybe Yellowstone.

I had no definite plan except that on the last few days I would visit Debbi's brother in Sacramento and some old friends in Monterrey. I thought I'd head east and ride Arizona including a stop at the grand Canyon and then head towards Co where I would just wing it.

Then, a few days before leaving I saw an article in the travel section of the newspaper about Bryce Canyon and Zion NP. There where some awesome  pics and Bryce Canyon in particular interested me.

But I really wanted to ride through Arizona and revisit the Grand Canyon. 

I have always been a procrastinator.  The night before I left on my trip I still hadn't made up my mind which way to go.

The morning of day one of my trip I sat at the breakfast table with maps in front of me as well as the article on Bryce Canyon and Zion. My dilemma was one I had faced before and would face many times again. The decision between doing something that I had done before and knew was great or try something new and take a chance.

This time I decided to do something new. So I got on the bike and rode north on I-15.

And I rode.

And rode some more.

Interstate riding is not exactly my favorite. Eventually I crossed into Nevada. When I got to Las Vegas I decided to stop for a quick look. I had never been there before. I found the Casino District, parked the bike and took a look into one of the big casinos

It took me about 10 seconds to realize there was nothing of interest for me there so I got back on the bike. I stopped at some fast food place, got lunch then got back on to the interstate. It was mostly boring but there where two things that surprised me. One was the fact I had not noticed I would be going through a small piece of Arizona, making this a 4 state day. Second was the Virgin River Gorge. Quite a scenic change. Unfortunately I didn't get any pics. I continued on to St George where I had no problem finding a nice inexpensive motel for the night. There was also a good restaurant right by the motel. It was my first time in Utah and it was off to a good start.

The next morning I hit the road and headed for Zion NP.  I was really much more interested in Bryce canyon but this was on the way so no reason not to check it out......

As I rode from St. George to Zion I had almost no idea what I was about to experience. Back then there was no internet. I couldn't just google Zion NP and find thousands of pics and videos of the place like I could today. I suppose I could have gone to a library and maybe found a book. But I didn't. I just had that newspaper article which had one or two pics.

So when I rode into Zion I was glad I had a tank bag on my bike to cushion my jaw as it dropped down from the scenery. Like I said earlier, I had no idea. I rode into the park and took a left down the road that ends at the Narrows. I hiked into the narrows as far as I could without getting my feet wet and then turned around. It looked like it would be interesting to hike further but I wasn't dressed for it. I have since found out that it is a spectacular hike but you do need to come prepared for a hike in the river.

Then I backtracked and headed out of the park to the East. I did take some pics but keep in mind that these were taken with a cheap 35mm camera by someone who knew nothing about photography. These pics don't do the place justice. Also I took these pics so long ago that they are probably out of order.

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The Narrows:

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This was one of the most awesome roads I had ever ridden.  Great curves and spectacular scenery.

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I rode through a tunnel and came out the other side to scenery unlike anything I had seen before.  It almost felt like I was on another planet.  I only took one pic :(

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After Zion I headed over towards Bryce Canyon.  This was on the way.

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Bryce Canyon was very different from Zion.  Instead of being surrounded by the scenery you just looked down on it.  Still very scenic but not nearly as impressive to me as Zion. 

This was the view:

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I wasn't the only one enjoying the view:

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After Bryce I headed West on 12. I planned on stopping and getting a room since it was getting somewhat late but I didn't see any motels that looked very inviting so I kept on riding. Again, I had no idea what was ahead. Those of you who have ridden 12 know what I was in for. It was simply one of the most scenic roads on the planet. I didn't many pics.  The best way to describe it is that it was like riding on another planet. At one point 12 runs along a ridgeline with rock landscape in every direction as far as you can see. This next pic was taken somewhere along 12.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-j95bMp5/0/3bc910cc/XL/Picture374-XL.jpg)

Then the road suddenly dropped into a canyon and back out.  I later found out this was Escalante Canyon.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-FbvcQ3L/0/37930a15/XL/Picture376-XL.jpg)


Eventually the road climbed up to a much higher elevation and totally different landscape.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-J37ZqzD/0/7c022c47/XL/Picture375-XL.jpg)

I stopped at a scenic lookout and enjoyed the view for 100+ miles into the distance. There were a couple of young guys on motorcycles there as well. I talked to them a bit and then we headed North to find a place to spend the night.

When we headed off it was getting dark and the road was overrun with deer and cattle ???  So we had to ride real slow. At the end of 12 we took a left I found a cheap motel room in a small town, I don't remember which one. They went looking for a campground. Then I headed out for dinner and ran into these guys again at the Restaurant. So we had dinner together. They were on a real interesting adventure. Both were poor college students. One was on a Nighthawk 650, the other on a beat up old Yamaha 650 twin. They had left California and were headed to Pennsylvania to visit someone. They had little money so they planned on eating only 2 meals per day and camping. The guy on the Yamaha had all his stuff in plastic trash bags held on with bungees. They had credit cards and said they would end up deep in dept but didn't want to waste the opportunity to do an epic ride like this while they had the time. I really enjoyed the chance to meet and talk to these guys. They were true adventure riders.

The next morning I headed out toward Colorado. Before I left town I saw the two guys I had met the previous day at a gas station. So I pulled in. We were all going the same way and decided to ride together.

While this day was not nearly as spectacular as the previous day it was still a great ride with some nice curvy roads and plenty of scenery.

I think this was Capital Reef.

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Somewhere in Utah.

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We ended up riding to Cortez, Co. where I found a totally forgettable motel room and the other guys went their way.

The next morning I rode to Durango and then up 550, the Million Dollar highway. It is another one of the top scenic roads in the country. I took some pics but they may not be in order.

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Silverton, Co.

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Ouray, Co.

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I followed 550 to Montrose where I took a right on 50 and rode by the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. It was not a National park back then.   Then I took a left and went north on 92 which I remember as being a great ride.

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My pics don't come close to capturing how scenic this road was.  The trees where all a brilliant bright green and the road was just a fantastic curvy road!

I took a right on 133 in Hotchkiss. I didn't get too far when the weather was starting to look bad ahead and it was getting late. I came across a place with cabins for rent so I stopped and checked it out. I got a nice little cabin for around 20 bucks!

So I spent the night at this peaceful place alongside a river in the middle of nowhere.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-qFgBssT/0/da15efd6/XL/Picture397-XL.jpg)

I had now experienced 3 days of simply stunning scenery. Not only that, this was all new territory for me. All of this scenery was part of a great adventure, that of riding into the unknown. At least it was unknown to me. It would be hard to duplicate today. Sure, I expect to ride to places I have not been to before but most likely I will have seen pictures and read about it on ADV or some other source on the internet. As much as I love to read ride reports, they do take some of the adventure out of riding.  Of course, reading ride reports does encourage me to go to places I would otherwise not go.

Back to 1989, there were no forums and I was heading out on a fourth consecutive day of what was probably the most adventurous and scenic ride of my life up to this point. Would this day measure up to the previous three?

I headed towards Aspen. There was more great scenic riding but nothing stands out in my mind. I stopped and had lunch in Aspen then continued towards the Independence pass. This part of the ride I remember well. 82 east of Aspen is simply stunning. There is a section with a sheer drop off to the right which I did not get any pics of. Then there is eventually a point where I could see these Ginormous mountains ahead. The scale of these mountains was simply larger than anything I had seen before. The realization that the road would take me way up into these mountains was somewhat mind boggling. Making everything even more scenic and more of an adventure was the fact that these mountains where all white. There was still a tremendous amount of snow at higher elevations. Unfortunately I did not do a good job of capturing what I just described on film. Here are some pics I did take.

I thought these old cabins were cool.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-x3qDqnC/0/c02038e8/XL/Picture398-XL.jpg)

Looking ahead.

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I followed 82 to the end and then went left on 24 and through Leadville. I am not sure of my route after that but ended up on I-70 for a while before getting off to go over the Loveless pass. I had driven this pass years earlier in my car while headed from Florida to California but of course it was much better doing it on a bike.

I'm pretty sure I took this from a scenic viewpoint off of I-70.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-NdcZLgG/0/394ebb58/XL/Picture402-XL.jpg)

The Loveland pass is a fun ride but also has a lot of 18 wheelers on it because those with hazardous cargo can't go through the tunnel on I-70.

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Keep in mind as you look at these pics that this was in June!

I got back on I-70 and got off on 40 which I took North.

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I stopped and spent the night in Granby. Rocky Mountain National Park would be the start of my next day's ride.

Happy New Year to everyone following along!

Time to continue this report.  The time frame for this trip was over 29 years ago.  Hard to believe so much time has passed.....and how much older I am today :(


The next morning I headed up over Trail Ridge Road through Rocky Mountain National park. It is the highest paved through road in the U. S. Between it being morning and the high elevation it was a cold ride. I can only find a couple of pics from this part of the ride.

I think this is heading out of Granby but that's just a guess.

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Somewhere on Trail Ridge Road?

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I bought a post card of Trail Ridge Road road. I know it's cheating but:

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Then I headed into Estes Park. I figured this place would be a very expensive tourist trap town being right outside this National Park but I found a nice motel room for only 40 bucks. :)  So far I had found less expensive rooms but I also had stayed at small mom & pop places. This was a nice motel with an indoor pool and jacuzzi's in the rooms. The price would normally have been much higher but the lady at the desk said the tourist season was off to a slow start so they were still using off season rates. This would end up being the nicest place I stayed during this trip.

Since it was still early I rode back to the park. I did find this very scenic spot:

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-FgVfmws/0/14ad7da3/XL/Picture408-XL.jpg)

I also rode back up trail Ridge Road a ways to get this pic and just because it was a twisty road with awesome views.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-V38fWkq/0/3b94e2ff/XL/Picture409-XL.jpg)


It was on this ride that I encountered a rain shower and put on my rain suit for the first and only time of the entire trip.

Then I headed back to Estes Park. That night I was undecided about where to ride the next day. My original plan was to head up through Yellowstone. However, the last few days in Colorado had been fantastic. I even sent Debbi a post card (remember, no texting or Emails back then) saying that if the scenery got any better I might never come back.

Looking at a Colorado map I saw all kinds of interesting roads and passes. I was really tempted to try to ride as many of them as I could. On the other hand, I had never been to Wyoming of Yellowstone. Yellowstone was the most visited of the national Parks and there must be a reason for that. The saying "So many roads, so little time" applied here.

What to do(http://advrider.com/styles/advrider_smilies/hmmm.gif)

So I did what I often do and procrastinated. I would decide the next morning.

The next day I got up and still couldn't make up my mind so I punted the decision to later in the day. I would ride east to Ft Collins then take a left into Wyoming where I would eat lunch and then decide whether to head for Yellowstone or turn around. I had never been to Wyoming and this would at least allow me to add it to my list of states visited and ridden.

The ride to Ft Collins was a pretty nice ride as it ran along an river and had some nice curves. Then I took 287 to Laramie. I don't remember it being a very exciting ride but it was one of those picture perfect days and I just enjoyed being on the bike and riding.

After lunch I decided to continue on to Yellowstone. I got on I-80 and then rode 287 to the town of Dubois. Not real spectacular so no pics. The only thing I remember about the ride was a long stretch of road construction and having to ride on dirt on 287.

In Dubois I found a motel room. Instead of a guard dog they had :D

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The next morning I headed west out of Dubois. It was a nice scenic but chilly ride.

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I rode into Grand Teton National Park.

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And then I crossed into Yellowstone National Park. I rode the loop around the park in a clockwise direction. Of course I took some pics. Most likely these aren't in order.

Being on a bike I didn't want to get too close to this guy:

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-vdLww6F/0/b7830fe3/XL/Picture415-XL.jpg)

Yellowstone Lake.

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As you can see, Yellowstone is very scenic and there is a reason so many people visit it. However, I was not that impressed. After Utah and Colorado I was spoiled and Yellowstone seemed a little anti-climatic. On top of that there was a lot of traffic in the park so I didn't enjoy riding there as much as Utah and Colorado. If I had visited Yellowstone before Utah and Colorado I probably would have been much more impressed.

I guess that the big difference was that Utah and Colorado felt like a real adventure while in Yellowstone I felt like a tourist who happened to be on a motorcycle. Still, I am glad I went there. I would have kicked myself if I hadn't. 

When I left Yellowstone it was to the west. I was surprised when I saw a Welcome to Montana sign ???  I didn't notice that I would be going into Montana on my map studies. No problem, check off one more state from my list :)

Actually I was only in Montana for a short distance and then crossed into Idaho. I did get one pic in West Yellowstone, Montana. Note the price of gas.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-Pk7R65Q/0/7ebfb3b1/XL/Picture424-XL.jpg)

Then I barely remember any of Idaho. Much of it was interstate. I spent the night in Southern Idaho or Northern Utah.

The next day I rode I-15 through the Salt Lake City area. I took a short excursion into the mountains east of I-15. Nothing very memorable from that ride. I did get a pic of the Great Salt lake.

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I headed west on I-80 and soon saw a large area covered by snow ???

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Actually it was the Bonneville Salt Flats. Sorry, I didn't take the Venture out on the salt for a top speed run.

I continued on until reaching Elko Nevada. I figured I would be able to find a cheap motel room there. I figured wrong. The less expensive places like the Motel 6 where all full. What, this place was out in the middle of Nowhere. What's up? The only attraction I could see were the casinos but I guess that was enough. I ended up staying in a dive that was also the most expensive room of my trip. I was glad to get back on the road the next morning.

When I got into the Sierras near Lake Tahoe I considered getting off and riding around in the mountains a bit but I was getting burned out and tired so I just continued on to Sacramento where I visited Debbi's Brother and his wife.

The next day I rode to Monterey where I visited an old friend.

Bob and Sue:

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The next day I rode home. I know I rode Highway One to start but I have no other recollection of that last day.

That was the end of my trip.  The end was a bit anti climatic.  The best part of my trip by far was in Utah and Colorado which came during the first half of my trip.  Overall this was one of my most memorable trips ever.  It was my first really long vacation where I all I did was ride, take pics, eat and sleep.  I averaged over 300 miles a day. 

I had no doubt I would be doing more trips like this.

In the meantime I had some business to attend to in San Diego.  I needed to find a replacement for my FJ1100.

I am really enjoying your story Win.

It is interesting and serves to remind us all just how much there is to see and do "out there" on a motorcycle.

Also, I enjoy seeing some places I too have visited. And seeing and reading about many of the bikes from the 80s that I still remember so well.

Good stuff. All of it.

Good stuff.

Can't wait to see where the next journey takes us!!!  :)

Thanks Klav!!

Awww man..... I was really hoping you would buy that newly released ninja250.... 
This is amazing!    I need to do a better job of taking and saving my photos from past motorcycles and rides....

Brian, Chuck and Spiccianni, thanks for taking the time to reply to this thread.  Let me comment on your replies which turn out to be very timely.

First, Chuck, where will this report take me next?  Right now I was back in San Diego looking for a new bike but my tour at HC-11 was scheduled to end in 6 months.  That meant I would likely be leaving San Diego.  The normal procedure was to start talking to the detailer about my next assignment about 6 months ahead of time so I was probably doing that about now.  I'll leave you in suspense about that for now and get back to California.

Brian,  It never seems like I have enough time to do even a fraction of the rides I would like to do but as I look back and write this story it reminds me of all the really cool stuff I was able to do on motorcycles.  As for 80s motorcycles, it was still in the 80s and I was looking at some of those bikes.  More on that later.

Spiccianni.  When I first started working on this project I wasn't sure I had enough pics to be able to do good job writing my story.  As I dug through a ton of very disorganized pictures, sorting them out and scanning them I realized I had taken more pictures than I thought.  There is a lesson here for the younger readers here.  Take lots of pics, someday you will look back and be glad you did.

My FJ1100 had been my dream bike. However, the last year or so that I had owned it I had started thinking that a smaller lighter bike might be better. Riding Tomi's Ninja 750 and Phil's VFR 750 made me realize how much easier those bike were to ride. Of the two I preferred the Ninja. It was super smooth, had light and neutral steering, was nearly as quick as my FJ and had a slightly higher top speed.  The VFR didn't feel as good to me but with an aftermarket pipe it had one of the best sounding motors ever!  Despite the check from the insurance company a new bike was probably not in my budget. So I started looking in the classified ads. I also started looking around at dealers.

As much as I wanted a 750, the small bike bug was also making it's appearance. One of the bike I found at a dealer was a leftover Yamaha SRX6 which was marked down considerably. I took it for a test ride. It really was a fun bike but I didn't think it would be fast enough to keep up with my friends on sport rides and also I wanted a bike I could go touring on and I didn't think the SRX6 would work. However it was a really cool bike and I still really like it. 

(https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR44eqNp63RlgYTx58BpX6mZISN1Bo83Pg7BScWol7rOFVFs_UU)

I also considered the Ninja 250 but like the SRX6, I thought it would be a fun ride but too slow.

One day I stopped by a Yamaha dealer in Escondido. They had a nearly new 89 Kawasaki EX500 sitting on the showroom floor. Some guy had bought it without telling his wife and she made him get rid of it. It had 800 miles on it, looked brand new and was still under warranty.  It was considerably less than a new one.

I had ridden one of these a year or two earlier when we where looking for a bike for Debbi but wasn't impressed.  For some reason this one just felt much better.  I was hooked. This bike was a blast to ride.  So I bought it.

I figured that this bike would scratch that small bike itch I had and then in a couple of years I would go out and buy that 750 I really wanted.

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I was a little concerned that I would miss the power of the FJ1100. So I started riding the EX on my favorite roads with my riding friends.

Lack of power?

It didn't have the kick of the FJ but I did see 130 on the speedo. I'm sure that was a little high but still not bad for a 500cc twin. More importantly, this thing was much easier to ride in the curves.

It was also much faster.

I no longer had to work to keep up with other riders. One day I was following a guy on an FZR1000 up the East Grade of Palomar. This guy was a fast rider and had NO chicken strips on his rear tire. After following him for a while I decided he wasn't going fast enough so when we came to a curve with a good view ahead I pulled into the other lane, passed him and then left him behind!

I now was leaving behind those riders I used to have trouble keeping up with. And I was doing it with little effort. No I did not miss the power of the FJ.  Why was this bike so much faster?

My theory was that it recalibrated my internal tilt meter.  What's that?  Everyone has one.  When you go into a curve it tells you when you have reached your limit in lean angle.  On the FJ this happened much sooner than on the EX.  The EX had very light steering and was very neutral which really boosted my confidence.  It also had less power which meant that I could really use all that it had without scaring myself.  All this made it way more fun to ride than the FJ.  It handled so good that I wore out the OEM front tire before wearing out the rear.

Another pic.  My 80s bike and my very stylish 80 riding gear ;D

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The EX500 was not just a good sportbike, it made a surprisingly good sport touring bike. I made a couple of overnight/weekend trips to one of my favorite roads in SoCal; the Angeles Crest Highway.

The Angeles Crest Highway, for those not familiar, is a 66 mile long road that starts in the LA suburb of La Canada and ends in the small town of Wrightwood. It is pretty much non stop curves with spectacular views and elevations up to 7900 feet. At that time there were no buildings on that road except for Newcomb's ranch and a ski area. It was, and I'm sure still is, a very popular road for motorcycle riders. The connecting roads like the Angeles Forest Highway and Upper Big Tujunga Rd were also awesome roads.

The first ride there on the EX was with Debbi and our friends Tomi and Phil. We spent Friday night in San Bernadino, rode the Crest and surrounding roads on Saturday and spent Saturday night in Palmdale.

This next pic has some of my favorite bikes form the 80s; Ninja 750, VFR750 and my EX500.

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Most people probably don't realize there are ski areas just outside LA.

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Newcomb's Ranch.  This place was a real popular hangout for motorcyclists.  On a Weekend you might see a hundred bikes here, some of them real exotic. 

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My second trip to the Angeles Crest highway was an overnighter with a friend.

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Will was riding an old Moto Guzzi 1000 LeMans.  I mean it was old even back in 89.

Once a month the there was a big Italian Bike ride on the Crest that started at Pro Italia which was near the base of the Highway. We were there the day of one of those rides. We hung out at a pullout on the side of the ride. It wasn't long before we could here the boom of Twin Cylinder Italian bikes with loud exhausts coming up the mountain. It was pretty cool. I got a couple of pics.

A Ducati Paso.  It was pretty exotic back then and still fairly new.

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A Moto Guzzi followed by another old Ducati. Of course back then these were not old bikes.

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Another pic of us:

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A couple of action pics. You can see what a great road this was! The EX500 was a blast on this road. It handled the curves with no effort. It would have been nice to have a little more power but despite all the locals out on their exotic and mostly bigger bikes I don't remember anyone passing me.  I did pass a number of them ;D  I was really happy with the EX!  It was just so effortless to ride fast on roads like this.

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Newcomb's Ranch was packed:

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Both of these trips were a blast. I just wished that I lived closer so I could ride this area more often.

Those of you old enough will probably remember three things got their start in the 80s:  ABS for motorcycles, cell phones and Miami Vice.
My next story, which happened at the end of the 80s involves all three of those things.

One day I went for a ride by myself and of course ended up at Mother's Kitchen at the top of Palomar Mountain. There were not very many people there, I'm not sure why. A guy rode up on a BMW K100RS with ABS. I think that at that time only BMW offered ABS. I might have met or even ridden with him before  but didn't know him very well. So we talked for a bit and he told me how much he liked the ABS on the BMW. Then along came two guys on modern sportbikes. One was on a Honda CBR1000. I'm going to call him DJ because he had the Don Johnson look down pretty well. For those of you who remember Miami Vice, you know what I'm talking about. He also had a cell phone mounted on the side of the tank of his bike. At that time cell phones were still pretty rare and expensive. They were also pretty big, about like a modern cordless house phones. So he had this huge phone mounted out where everyone could see it. We asked him about the reception out here in the mountains and he admitted it was just there for looks, it didn't actually work. ::)

So we talked a bit more and the conversation (surprise, surprise) eventually got on the topic of motorcycles. So DJ talked about why he picked the CBR1000. He said he looked at BMWs but they were just too slow.

BMW guy and me looked at each other but we refrained from laughing and just carried on. Then DJ and his friend who was on another large Japanese sportbike took off.  Of course you can guess what happened next. When those guys took off down the mountain, we waited a bit and took off after them. Then we caught them and blew by them (http://advrider.com/styles/advrider_smilies/wings.gif)

It was a good thing DJ hadn't bought one of them "slow" BMWs :D

And thus endeth the California part of this story...............for now.  I had orders to Pensacola, FL and would be leaving California in December of 1989. 

Debbi and I ended the 80's on a road trip from San Diego to Pensacola.  We drove up to Anacortes, Wa, just north of Seattle, to visit some old friends of Debbi's.  Then we drove across the country to Cleveland, Oh to spend Christmas with my family.  Then it was south to Pensacola where we would start off the 1990s.  We bought our first house for a fraction of what it would have cost in California.

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So why Pensacola?  I would have loved to stay in California but Debbi and I wanted to start a family and Pensacola just made more sense.  Besides the much lower cost of living we would only be about an hour from her parents in Shalimar, FL. 

My new duty station was Helicopter Combat Support Squadron 16 (HC-16) where I would be flying the UH-1N "Huey" helicopter as a flight instructor and search and rescue pilot.  This was a twin engine version of the Huey that the Army flew in Vietnam and you have probably seen in dozens of movies.

So Debbi and i became parents in June of 1990, we where living the typical suburban life and we were getting old, like over 30 ::)
I had a good job that I enjoyed and I got to ride 47 miles 5 days a week commuting to work. 

So life was good......or it should have been.  I was pretty miserable.  Except for the commute to work riding in Florida sucked.  I tried riding with a local motorcycle club but they were a bunch of "old" guys on Gold Wings and Japanese cruisers whose idea of a great day of riding was to eat breakfast at Hardees, ride 2-3 hours on boring roads to another restaurant for lunch and then everyone headed home.

To be fair, it was hard to find roads around Pensacola that weren't boring.

Also, the weather in Florida sucked compared to CA. Early spring was pretty good but after that it got really hot and humid. Keep in mind that back then the choice in riding gear was pretty limited. Mesh gear had not been invented yet and except for maybe Aerostich, I don't even remember and textile riding gear being available for several more years. It was real hard to dress comfortably in the heat and humidity.

I did not meet any real motorcycle enthusiasts in the area, at least not any sport riders.

This song does a pretty good job of showing what I was thinking:



I missed California and was pretty depressed.

Finally, after 10 months of severe sport riding withdrawal, it was time to go for a real ride.

Years earlier, while still living in Ohio, I had seen an ad in a motorcycle magazine for a motorcycle resort in north Georgia called Two Wheels Only (TWO). While in California my friend Phil told me he had visited TWO while in flight school in Pensacola. He said there were some good roads there and that the Owner of the place rode a Gold Wing like it was a sport bike.

So now it was time to go check this place out. I picked mid to late October because I figured that by then the heat and humidity would be bearable for a long ride like this.

I took a week of leave and loaded up the EX500 and headed north. My route was some Fl/Al back roads until I hit I-65 which I followed to I-85 to Atlanta. In Atlanta I picked up 400 North. At that time 400 was not the traffic disaster it is today. After 20 miles or so it became a scenic, rural road with little traffic and not much on it. Not too long after putting Atlanta in my rear view mirror I saw mountains ahead(http://advrider.com/styles/advrider_smilies/happay.gif)

Yes I was excited. Before to long I was in those mountains. I rode around a bit but it was getting late and I decided I needed to find a motel. I ended up going back down 400 towards Cumming to find a motel.

The next morning I got up early and headed back to the mountains. My plan was to head to Suches, Ga and see if I could find TWO. I got as far as Dahlonega when I got to roadblock. The main road through town was blocked off due to Octoberfest. I managed to find my way around town and ended up on 60 going north. 60 soon became a fantastic twisty road climbing up into the mountains!
This was fantastic. It was also surprisingly cold but I was having so much fun actually leaning my bike around all the curves that I didn't care.

I got to the top of the mountain and started heading down hill. As I did that I saw a sport bike coming the other way:rayof Not only that, the rider was wearing leathers:wings If you are wondering why I was so excited, i hadn't seen that since leaving California. So there were other sport bike riders east of the Rockies.  But as he got closer, something didn't look right.  He was all out of proportion. As he passed I saw that he was riding a Yamaha YSR50. OK then, a little strange but at least it was a sportbike. Then I was two more sportbikes heading towards me. Another YSR50 and a Honda MB5.

What was going on here?

I ride a couple of minutes and saw a red building on the left side of the road with a bunch of people and bikes around it. It was TWO.

I pulled into the parking lot. It was the weekend of the annual True Grits 50cc rally and the place was crawling with 50cc bikes. I wish I had taken some pics.

I remember this part of the ride very well. After that, the rest of the week of riding is somewhat vague but I'll do the best I can.

I eventually headed north. I was really impressed with the great roads and scenery. It was completely different from the west but beautiful in it's own way. Everything was very green and there were a lot of rivers and lakes. The weather was off and on sunshine with occasional showers. My camera on this trip was a cheap $15 dollar camera. That $15 included film and batteries. It still took pretty good pictures. The biggest issue here was not the cheap camera, it was the cheap photographer.

A lake in North Ga.

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Eventually I ended up in North Carolina. I really had no plan. The only thing I had heard of in NC was the Blue Ridge Parkway (BRP). What I did was look for the squiggliest lines on my map and head that way.

I was following on of those "squiggly line" roads in NC when I came to an intersection. My plan was to take a right there because the road to the left looked straight on my map and the road to the right looked real curvy.

At the intersection there was a gas station, store and small motel. Hanging out there were a bunch of sport bike riders. So I stopped to take a break and talk to them. They were all locals. I told them that I was in the area for the fist time looking for curvy roads. One of them pointed down the road to the left, the one I hadn't planned on taking because it looked straight on the maps, and said that it was a really great twisty road. So I pointed down the other way and asked how that road was. He said he didn't know, he never rode that way ???

I decided to follow the group when they headed off. It ended up being a real exciting ride as I chased these guys down one of the twistiest roads I had ever ridden. (http://advrider.com/styles/advrider_smilies/ricky.gif)(http://advrider.com/styles/advrider_smilies/ricky.gif)

Eventually they pulled over at a scenic overlook. I took a pic:

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-NT5KTPb/0/d696f07b/XL/Picture444-XL.jpg)

Anyone want to guess what road I had just ridden?


How about if I show you the view from that point?

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-5jncW5v/0/8e3c702d/XL/Picture445-XL.jpg)

Unless I miss my guess..... The Tail Of The Dragon.... US Hwy 129 at the scenic overlook.... Wonderful view.....

Quote from: Chuck & Susan on January 08, 2018, 03:08:24 PM
Unless I miss my guess..... The Tail Of The Dragon.... US Hwy 129 at the scenic overlook.... Wonderful view.....

You are partially correct.  It was US129 but back then there was no tail of the Dragon.  The fad of giving roads "cool" names to sell more T shirts was still years away.  Back then it was normally just called Deal's Gap.  I never heard anything about it until a year or two later and it would be many more years before it became famous.

We used to ride down from Virginia to watch the Flat track race that used to be held in Marysville, TN back in the early 80s.  We'd ride down the BRP and then through Bryson City and up 28 to "that great twisty road" and then north to Marysville.

Actually, we really didn't differentiate between 28 and 129 to the Foothills Parkway, it was just one of our favorite parts of the ride.

After the overlook I chased the local riders the rest of the way down and then took a right and rode over the Foothills Parkway. Not nearly as twisty as Deals Gap but still a fun ride with some nice scenic views.

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I ended up spending the night in Pigeon Forge or Sevierville. Back then it had not yet turned into the tourist monstrosity it is today. The Main drag through town was under construction at the time being transformed from a two lane to a four lane road.

After that the rest of the ride is pretty hazy in my memory. I think I rode through Smoky Mountain Park, along the BRP for a ways and then circled around eventually ending up back at TWO. It was October and the leaves where changing colors. I remember riding down some roads that looked like a tunnel of bright colors. I don't know if it was my cheap camera or just lack effort on my part but I really didn't do a good job of capturing the scenery or those colors.

But I did take some pics:

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This was the only pic I got that came close to capturing the colors. I even remember the spot. This was on 106 just outside of Dillard, Ga.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-NgrThtK/0/b58b877d/XL/Picture451-XL.jpg)

Since I grew up in Cleveland, OH, I had to get this pic:

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-LFJZxzB/0/3937b26e/XL/Picture452-XL.jpg)

And of course no tour of N. GA. is complete without getting a little taste of Bavaria.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-4fqKvJS/0/3e8bf016/XL/Picture453-XL.jpg)

Probably the only clue I would have that this next pic is over 27 years old is the cars on the road.

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The impact of this trip was huge to me. It wasn't just the great riding and scenery. It showed me that there is great riding and other sport riders outside of California. It showed me that I could experience the motorcycle dream outside of California or the western states.

This trip also introduced me to what would become my favorite destination; Two Wheels Only. At the tail end of the trip I stayed at TWO for a night or 2 and got to meet and talk to the founder and owner of TWO. Frank Cheek was without a doubt one of the most interesting characters I have ever known. Those of you who knew him know that the word "character" is the best way to describe him.

I asked Frank about the story behind TWO and this is basically the story he told me. He was on a motorcycle trip with his wife and was turned away from a campground because he was on a motorcycle. This inspired him to start a campground and "resort" that was only for motorcyclists. As far as I know TWO was the first of it's kind. Over the years many more motorcycle campgrounds were open but Frank was the pioneer that started it all.

One of my biggest regrets is that I have not done a good job of taking pictures of all of the interesting people I have met over the years. I did not get any on this trip but I will post this pic someone else took of Frank in 1985 with his wing:

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-rszsz6w/0/7739807a/S/Picture457-S.jpg)

By the time I met Frank he had switched from riding a Wing to a Kawasaki Voyager 1200.

There will be more (much more) on Frank, TWO and riding in that area coming up.

When I got back to Pensacola from this trip I was no longer depressed. I now had some great riding to look forward to. I was already planning to go back the following year.(http://advrider.com/styles/advrider_smilies/rayof.gif)

1991 proved to be a very eventful year for me and greatly affected the course of my life. It was eventful both from a riding perspective as well as non-riding. However, since I really do "live to ride", the non riding part of my life ultimately affects my riding.

When I left California I wasn't sure whether I would make the Navy a career. I had to do one more tour to fulfill my commitment from flight school. While I enjoyed flying, the ground jobs I had in San Diego sucked. Things changed in Pensacola. I enjoyed my ground jobs at HC-16 as well as the flying. In late 1990 a new opportunity opened up for me. I was pre-screened for the Navy's Training and Administration of Reserves (TAR) program. I decided to take advantage of it and became a TAR. Over one year in advance I got my next set of orders which would send me to Michigan early in 1992.

So I had one year left in Pensacola and I had just discovered some great riding not too far away. I decided to make the most of that year. From my driveway in Pensacola to TWO was 410 miles. I would end up doing that ride 7 times in 1991. Some of those trips I remember and took some pics, others I didn't and don't remember.

I rode up 2 to three times in the spring on my EX500. One of those trips was to attend California Superbike School at Road Atlanta. I had never ridden on a racetrack and it was something I really wanted to do. On top of that I figured I might learn something. I signed up for the half day school. For 250 bucks it included a few hours in the classroom and 20 laps around Road Atlanta. They provided the bike, leathers, and helmet if you didn't want to use your own.

Although TWO was not the closest or most convenient place to stay from the track, I decided it would be more fun that staying at some motel. So I rode those 410 miles to TWO and stayed in one of the rooms in the lodge. Then I rode down to the track the morning of the school. the class was interesting. Then it was time to suit up for the track. They had brought a tractor trailer full of Kawasaki ZX6's and a rack for of leathers, helmets and gloves which I took advantage of. Unfortunately it started to rain which threatened our riding session.
Luckily the rain didn't last long and after the track dried it was time to ride.

I was excited but also really nervous. The first few laps around the track I rode like an old lady. Then one of the instructors rode by and gave me the follow me signal......so I did. That was just what I needed. I started riding more faster and loosened up. It was a blast after that and my lap times dropped dramatically.

Far to soon out session came to an end. I got a printout of my lap times and a guy who worked in the timing booth told me I had the fastest times of my class.  I felt pretty good until I compared my times to the track records.

Then I rode my EX back up to TWO on some great twisty roads.

It was interesting comparing my EX which was a budget or " beginners" sport bike to the state of the art ZX-6 which had been prepped for the track with some suspension mods. Without a doubt the ZX-6 handled the speeds of the track much better than my EX would have but on the street, my EX felt great and seemed much more responsive than the ZX-6.

I wish I had taken some pics of this trip or at least gotten someone to take some pics of me on the track but I didn't. I didn't even keep my lap times printout. All I got to remember this trip by was this T-shirt:

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As I mentioned before, I rode to TWO seven times in 1991. In each case I spent some, or all of my nights at TWO. At that time I was not into camping. The idea of piling a ton of camping gear on my little EX500 did not appeal to me. TWO did offer indoor lodging. The main lodge was originally built as a family home upstairs and a restaurant downstairs. The upstairs had 3 bedrooms, a large bathroom, a kitchen and a large living/dining room. The primary attraction of TWO was all the great riding all around it. But, it was also a really cool place to stay.

When you rented a room upstairs you had your own room but shared the bath/kitchen/dining/living areas with anyone else staying upstairs. This could sometimes be an inconvenience but it also often resulted in getting to know some other riders. There was a TV in the living room but it only got one or two channels from the antenna and poor reception at that. Some people might look at that as a negative, how can you live without an electronic time killer:eek1

I liked it because it meant people would actually sit around and talk instead of all starring at the TV like zombies. The owners who bought the place from Frank years later put in cable TV and that is exactly what happened.

There where also a bunch of motorcycle magazines laying around. If I was there by myself I often read those magazines.

Although the downstairs was a restaurant, Frank didn't really operate the place as a restaurant. It was more like a B & B. He would show up around 7:30 in the morning and have breakfast and coffee ready by 8. The breakfast menu consisted of 2 choices: Yes or No. And he didn't do any substitutions or modifications. There was a sign there that said something like:

This is not Burger King. You can't have it your way. You have it my way or you don't get the damn thing at all. :D


I usually ate breakfast there. It was not exactly endorsed by the heart association but was only around 3 bucks.  Lunch and dinner was only served for special occasions, normally groups who arranged it in advance.

Lunch was really no issue. People who where staying there were normally out riding somewhere during lunch time. Frank didn't cater to those who where local and just stopped by anyway. He called those people his PALS. Pissers And Lookers. They rode up, pissed in the restrooms and looked around but didn't buy anything. Of course, if he served lunch they might actually buy something.

Dinner would have been nice. The nearest town was Dahlonega. It was around 15 miles away and had plenty of place to eat. Oh, and those 15 miles where 15 miles of really great twisty road(http://advrider.com/styles/advrider_smilies/ricky.gif)

I did not consider it a problem to ride to Dahlonega and back to get dinner.

Besides serving breakfast, Frank also loved to play tour guide. He'd ask where you planned on riding and then make suggestions. He even had some home made maps which he used when suggesting rides.  These came in pretty handy. 

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Frank often pulled out a pen and added custom directions and facts to those maps.  Notice that on the second map, the Cherohala Skyway had not yet been built. TN 165 was a dead end road. It was still fun to ride and unlike today had little traffic on it.

More on TWO and Frank later.

I didn't get many pics from my spring rides but I did have a blast exploring the TWO local riding area which included north GA, a bit of SC, NC, and TN.  Here are two pics I took on my May trip.  The first was on Wayah Rd. and the second just off of it.

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In June Debbi and I headed up to the mountains on the Venture.  This was our first vacation together after having out son a year earlier.  We left Scott with Debbi's parents. 

Of course we headed for TWO. It got pretty hot on the way up but once we got to the mountains it cooled off nicely. We spent a couple of nights in one of the rooms in the lodge. This time I took some pics.  This is the only pic I ever took of Frank. In front of TWO with Debbi:

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This was one of the reasons TWO was so unique:

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Behind that fence in the last pic was this:

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The Lodge:

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After TWO we headed off to Clayton, GA to do something Debbi really wanted to do. We went whitewater rafting in the Chattooga River. This river was where the film Deliverance was filmed. It was an all day trip and we did end up flipping our raft going over some pretty extreme rapids. Debbi loved it. I was ready to get back to something safer like riding a motorcycle on some twisty mountain roads. We spent the night before and after in Clayton. After that we headed North. We stopped in Cherokee, NC for lunch. When we walked into a restaurant Debbi ran into someone she knew from church. It was a lady and her husband who were also on a motorcycle trip to the mountains. We ate lunch with them and then decided to ride with them for a while. We headed up to the Blue Ridge Parkway (BRP).

This couple was pretty interesting and not the typical husband and wife riding couple. The both rode their own bikes but unlike the typical couple, she was by far the most experienced rider. Here's a pic:

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The Harley was hers. He was riding a Suzuki GN400. I doubt he could have handled the Harley.

Scenic view of the BRP from Waterrock Knob.

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Then we took the BRP to Mt Pisgah. They were camping there so we decided to stay at the Pisgah Inn. Luckily they had a vacancy. It was a really cool motel built right next to the BRP with a fantastic view. Of course I didn't take any pics so I'll just steal one of the web:

(http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/04/95/32/66/pisgah-inn.jpg)

The next day we headed north on the BRP and got off in Asheville to see the Biltmore Estate. At the ticket office we ran into a couple who had been in the raft with us a few days earlier. It's a small world.

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Then we toured the Biltmore Mansion. It was a self guided tour and was not nearly as interesting as the Hearst Castle had been a few years earlier.

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And of course Debbi wanted to see the floral gardens.

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Then we headed back south on the BRP. Our destination was Gatlinburg. We took a detour down 276 to check out the Blue Ridge Cycle Camp.

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I'm pretty sure that they have moved things around since I took this pic.

When we got to Gatlinburg we were able to find a nice cabin right in town for a reasonable rate. I doubt that would happen today. I doubt those cabins are still there. We did some tourist stuff and the next day headed back to TWO. My memory is pretty sketchy on this trip but I think we spent a couple of days at TWO.

I did go out for a ride with Frank while Debbi just relaxed at TWO. We swapped bikes for a bit. We both agreed that his Voyager handled better than my Venture and had much better brakes. The linked Brakes on my Venture had always sucked. The handling had started to deteriorate as the miles piled up.

I think I went out by myself and got this pic on one of my favorite roads in the area. Anyone familiar with the area should recognize this hairpin:

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Not sure when I took these next two pics but Debbi and I were riding along, I think near Helen, when we saw this and Debbi insisted I take some pics.

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That's all from this trip. It wouldn't be long before my next big ride.

Really enjoying this, keep up the great report

That was a pretty cool set, seeing some places I have visited. Helen hasn't changed much and TWO(s) may have changed in name and owner but seems to have the same ambiance!

Quote from: Gdenn on January 14, 2018, 05:28:08 PM
Really enjoying this, keep up the great report

Thanks!  Much more to come.

Quote from: Fencejumper09 on January 15, 2018, 07:44:45 AM
That was a pretty cool set, seeing some places I have visited. Helen hasn't changed much and TWO(s) may have changed in name and owner but seems to have the same ambiance!

Helen has grown but "down town"  hasn't changed that much.

TWO was a very different place back then.  TWO 1.0 under Frank was very different from TWO 2.0 under Britt and GT and TWoS is very different again.  The location is the same so it's still surrounded by great paved roads as well as the unpaved stuff in the Cattahoochee NF.
The main building still looks similar on the outside but the inside has changed a lot and the overall character of the place has changed.  Under Frank it was mainly a place to stay and most of the riders there where from out of town.  Typically half of then bikes there had Florida plates.  There was no lunch crowd there because there normally wasn't any lunch.  It was a much quieter place and a much better place to meet other riders.  Today many people come there in groups or are regulars and know each other.  Back then people came from all over and often didn't know each other.  Since you had to cook your own dinner or ride into town to get it people often got together and rode into Dahlonega for dinner.  It was really cool riding back up 60 in the dark behind a bunch of bikes and watching the taillights as the group went through the curves. 

I'll cover TWO 2.0 later but it really changed a lot from 1.0.  I have enjoyed all three variations of the place.  In some ways it has improved and in some ways it didn't but it's always been a great place to go if you ride a motorcycle.

July was another eventful month. Debbi's side of the family was having a gathering in Grove City, Pa. I don't remember the reason but her Mom was from that area and she had an aunt and some cousins living there. Around the same time Kawasaki was having one of their Good Times Rallies at TWO.  Luckily the timing was such that I could go to both. So I rode the Venture from Pensacola to my parents house, spent some time there then rode over to Grove City. I don't recall how Debbi got there but it wasn't on the back of the bike. While staying in Grove City I had the opportunity to do some riding in the Allegheny Mountains where I spent a lot of time when I was young. The parents of my best friend in elementary school had a small hunting cabin near Tidioute, Pa and we went there a lot to camp, run around in the woods, shoot things and all kinds of other fun stuff. It was interesting seeing everything years later.

Unfortunately, the Venture developed a carb problem and was basically running on three cylinders. So I had to modify my plan to ride down to TWO from Pa. I rode all the way to Pensacola to swap bikes. Then venture was sluggish and got horrible gas mileage but I made it. I also rode 800 miles in one day, around 650 on the Venture and 150 on the EX as I rode from Pensacola to Montgomery.

I rode from Montgomery to Suches and checked into my lodging for the event. The Lodge at TWO was booked by the people from Kawasaki but Frank's wife Jeannie had some relatives who lived about a mile down the road who rented me their RV.  I couldn't drive it, just stay in it.

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This event attracted a huge crowd since Kawasaki had advertised it well in advance in the major motorcycle magazines.  the estimated attendance was around 6000 people.

This was the main lodge:

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But most of the crowd was over at the airport where the Demo rides started and ended:

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Kawasaki brought a fleet of Demo bikes.  The ride went from the Airport on 180 to 60 then down to Stone pile gap and back.  The pace was a little slow for me but the ride was 12 miles of non stop curves!

The fastest production bike of that day was the Kawasaki ZX-11 and I got to ride one (http://advrider.com/styles/advrider_smilies/wings.gif)

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I also rode a ZX-7 which was interesting but the radical riding position was too uncomfortable for me to even consider.

I spent some time hanging out and riding the local roads then headed back to Pensacola.

Time to wrap up my time in Pensacola. I did get one interesting non motorcycling related pic. Pensacola had a big airshow every year featuring the Blue Angels which were based there. One year they had a really cool demonstration from this little jet which appeared in the movie "Octopussy"

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I also made another 2 or 3 trips up to TWO in the Fall.  I don't remember any details form those rides except that I rode curves, curves and more curves(http://advrider.com/styles/advrider_smilies/ricky.gif)(http://advrider.com/styles/advrider_smilies/ricky.gif)

A few more pics.  This was the Ocoee river which would become the site of the Olympic whitewater events in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. It look considerably different today due to construction done for the Olympics.

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I did manage to capture some pics of the fall colors.  I think this is on the Richard Russel Scenic HWY.

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And of course being from Pensacola I had to take this pic in  North Carolina:

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As I mentioned earlier I had orders to head for Michigan in early 1992. Well, those orders were modified. On my way to Michigan I would spend a month in San Diego to learn to fly the C-12 aircraft.  (http://advrider.com/styles/advrider_smilies/happay.gif)

So I was going to San Diego for a month.  There was no way I was going to spend a month there and not ride.  That would absolutely kill me.  So I had to figure out a way to be able to ride while I was out there. At that time I had no truck or trailer so hauling a bike out was not practical and riding was not practical either. I ended up buying a bike from someone I know with a set buy back price when I left assuming I didn't crash it. He had an old Seca 650 he was planning to give his dad. So basically I sort of rented it.

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So I ended up in San Diego for a little over a month. Riding on weekends and occasional days off I ended up riding just over 3000 miles. I don't really remember a lot of details, just that it was fantastic riding my old favorite roads and seeing my old riding buddies. I really enjoyed the Seca as well. Not super fast or exotic but it was a super comfortable bike and I enjoyed riding it. I did take a few pics.

One of my old favorite rides was going to Julian for breakfast. This is on the way to Julian. My old friends Tomi and Phil. Tomi was driving a cage this morning.

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Looking out on the desert from the Montezuma Grade:

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It was Winter and although it never Snows in San Diego, it does in the mountains nearby. This was on Palomar Mountain:

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I went with a group on a ride up to Joshua Tree National Monument.

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I remember hitting some triple digit speeds on this ride and still falling behind the group.

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After a month and 3000 miles I was sad to leave but I had to get back the the "real world" and get on with my life. I was off to Michigan, a state not exactly know for great riding, at least not where I would be living just Northeast of Detroit :(  Would I survive? Stay tuned.

After a great month+ in San Diego it was off to Michigan. Unfortunately I didn't take all that many pictures of Michigan or if I did I can't find them. When we got there we decided to move into Base housing to save money. There was a waiting list so we moved into and apartment for a few months. During this time most of out stuff as well as our motorcycles were in storage. Then we moved into base housing which was actually a few miles from the base. A couple of pics.

Our home in base housing.

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Debbi and Scott:

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The riding in the area was not all that exciting with flat and mostly straight roads. My favorite ride was to head North and ride the road along the St Clair river. Not real exciting but being right by the water it was at lest a little scenic.

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Unfortunately the nearest curvy roads where in Hell ???
That's right, Hell...............................as in Hell Michigan. I didn't get any pics but just to prove there is a Hell Michigan I'll steal a pic off the internet.

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There were actually a few somewhat curvy roads near hell.

In Florida I never did find any other riders who liked to ride the way I did. In Michigan I had a plan. Remember this was 1992, way before the internet or motorcycle forums. I found some adds in some motorcycle magazines for the American Sport Touring Riders Association (ASTRA) and the Honda Sport Touring Association (HSTA). I joined them both. I wasn't so sure about the HSTA since I didn't have a Honda but the add did say all makes welcome. I had much higher hopes for ASTRA. Good thing I decided to join the HSTA since ASTRA turned out to be pretty worthless and the HSTA would have a dramatic impact on my riding for many years to come.

No pics in this post since I don't think I took any on what was a really fun trip. Although I wasn't impressed with Michigan riding, I knew where there was some great riding.   All I had to do was head south to my new favorite riding area. It just worked out that the HSTA was having a rally in Townsend, TN at the time I was planning my trip. So in September, 1992 I headed down the interstate, about 650 miles to Townsend where I checked into the Big Valley Motel where the rally would be based. I got there a day or so early and there was only one other HSTA member who got there around the same time. It was a guy named Rod who was riding a ST1100. He was around 75 years young and had ridden in from Washington State!  Rod had some great stories to tell but I won't attempt to repeat them here.

Then the rest of the riders showed up. We pretty much filled up the motel. I think we had around 60 or so riders. On Saturday headed out in smaller groups and rode over the Foothills parkway and then Deal's Gap. Back then Deal's Gap was still not the circus that it is today on the weekends. Then more back roads.

There was a pretty large number of riders from Michigan. It was nice meeting them and they seemed to be a pretty enthusiastic and experienced bunch of riders. One of them was a guy named Al who rode a VFR. It turned out that he had a few extra days before he had to head home so he rode down to TWO with me. This was the start of a long friendship and many more rides together. I wish I had taken some pics but he is in some later pics. After he headed home I rode a few more days before heading back to Michigan. Then it was a long and gloomy winter before my next long ride.

My next big ride was on June, 1993. The HSTA had one big national rally every year but the location moved every year. For 93 it was in Helen, GA. This was right in my new favorite riding area so I found a way to fit it in my schedule. I took two weeks vacation to make this work. I rode down to N. Ga. with a co worker while Debbi drove down to her sister's house in Fayetteville, NC. She dropped off Scott with her sister then drove to Helen. At the end of the Rally we headed up to the Fontana Campground where we met her sister and family and her parents. Then we spent a few days camping before heading home. That's the outline. Here are the details.

Tony was a young guy with a 700 intercepter. He had never done a ride like this and was as excited as I was(http://advrider.com/styles/advrider_smilies/happay.gif) On the first day we cruised down the interstate down to just north of Knoxville where we found a cheap motel. Next day we rode through Knoxville and Maryville before getting on the awesome roads found in the mountains of the southeast.

This was on the Foothills Parkway:

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Then it was through Deal's Gap and then south to TWO. I don't remember how long I stayed at TWO but I moved over to a motel in Helen for the rally. Tony was camping and stayed at TWO the whole time.

HSTA members pretty much took over 3 motels in the middle of town as we had somewhere around around 400 members there if I remember right. Unlike many rallies which are just for a weekend, this one started Sunday and ran through Wednesday. We had rides every day. Honda brought truckload of demo bikes and then we finished off with a banquet on Wednesday night. The details of all this have become a little vague over the years but I did take some pics and I'll do the best I can.

One of the days we did a lunch ride over to TWO where we had a BBQ lunch. Debbi and I rode over on my EX500. We were young then and fairly comfortable two up on it. I got a few pics at TWO.

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After lunch we headed south on 60, one of my favorite roads.  We stopped at a dirt parking area in the middle of a curve and took some pics.

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No Go pros back then.  We did get some action pics.

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Those last few pictures remind me of how much fun that old EX500 was on a twisty road(http://advrider.com/styles/advrider_smilies/ricky.gif)(http://advrider.com/styles/advrider_smilies/ricky.gif)

We spent a lot of time on twisty roads during that rally.  One of the steepest and twistiest roads in Georgia is Spur 180 going up Brasstown Bald.  We rode to the parking area of Brasstown Bald one evening to catch the sunset. Brasstown bald is the highest point in GA but you have to walk up another 500 feet from the Parking lot to get to the top.  It was still light on the ride up.

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One of the days I led a pretty long ride. It was a sporty ride to say the least. The route took us over to Clayton, then Warwoman Rd, 28 all the way to Deal's Gap, a high speed run through the gap, then 129 to 180 and finally the Ricky Russell highway. Running so hard for so long I think I actually suffered brain fade after running through Deal's Gap and took it easy riding back to Helen.

A couple of pics from this ride. Bridalveil Falls:

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At the overlook on 129.  Most of the riders were from Michigan and Illinois.

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BTW, Debbi was not on this ride. She and a few others headed off to raft the Chattooga River.  That would just be too dangerous for me ???

A few more pics from the rally:

This was on the Richard Russel Highway. 

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The next few were taken at the Banquet on the final day.

Debbi and the other daredevils that risked their lives rafting the Chattooga while I was out on a nice and safe ride ::)

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Tony, Debbi, me, Hal and Donna. All from Michigan.

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Me, Keith, Eric and Mike.

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This last pic was taken from the Fontana Dam looking down at the campground where we went to after the rally. It would be a bad place to be if the dam broke ???

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A few thoughts about the HSTA Rally in Helen. I was without a doubt one of the best motorcycling experiences I had up to that point in my life. Everything about it was fantastic.v First was the location. Helen GA is a real tourist trap but it's still a great place to stay. The motel was very nice. All kinds of restaurants were within walking distance. Best of all, Helen is surrounded by beautiful scenery and fun to ride twisty roads. Second was the people. I had met many of the members the previous fall at the Townsend rally and got to meet many more here. These folks where all really serious motorcycle enthusiasts and most of them very good riders.

Then there was the riding itself. Those of you familiar with N. GA, Western NC, and Eastern TN know what I'M talking about. Endless curves :)  and since most of the rally was during the week the traffic was light. My EX500 was a fantastic bike for these roads. Although the majority of the other riders and bigger and "faster" bikes, the EX was much easier to ride fast on these roads. I ended up leading most of the rides I went on. I had bought the EX in California with the thought that it would be cool to try a small lightweight bike but that I would move back up to a bigger bike in a couple of years. As you can see, that didn't happen and I had no plans to replace the EX any time soon.

The Honda Demo rides were cool. Since my Venture was getting old and worn out I rode a couple of potential replacements, the Goldwing 1500 and ST1100. I rode them both with Debbi on back. It was fun riding both bikes but I crossed them off my list. While both competent bikes they just seemed boring to me. They reminded me of practical but soulless appliances. On top of that I couldn't see getting a 900 pound motorcycle even though the GW did feel a lot lighter than that once moving. I did not fit well on the ST1100. My search for my next touring bike would continue. I hope I didn't offend and GW1500 or ST1100 fans but they weren't for me. There were actually a lot of ST1100 riders in the HSTA. It was always one of the most popular bikes at the rally.

The HSTA itself was probably the closest thing to a modern forum except that there was no internet back then. There was a Monthly newsletter which was almost a small magazine. The newsletter had a schedule of upcoming rides as well as "ride reports" of recent rides. There was discussion of motorcycle topics and a section for letters from members. Pretty impressive for a group with no paid staff and an annual membership fee of around 20 or 25 dollars.

In September of 1993 I took another ride South. I really don't remember any details as I would end up making many rides to that area and I no longer remember each one. I do know that I went to the HSTA Rally in Townsend. I'm pretty sure I met up with Al and we did some riding either before or after the Rally. There is a good chance that the following pics where taken during this ride but I can't be sure.

The base for the rally was the Big Valley Motel.  It was a great location and we took over the entire motel.

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This little waterfall is off of Wayah Rd. That's Al and his VFR.  Over the years the trees have grown and mostly hidden this waterfall.

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Woody Gap just south of TWO.

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The Deal's Gap Overlook.

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Back then there was no Deal's Gap resort. It was the Crossroads of Time. It looked a lot different than it does today.  Most of what is the parking lot today was just grass back then.  There was no restaurant, just a little deli inside the store.

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Occasionally between rides I did have to work for a living. Part of my job was flying a Navy C-12. This is a pic of C-12 with some of the pilots, maintenance folks and others involved in the C-12 program.

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Michigan also had a season known as Winter. It wasn't the best time to be riding but there where other activities available. We did go to Ohio and going skiing with my parents.

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I also did do some riding in Michigan. My friend Al who I had now done a lot of riding with in the mountains to the south lived in Petosky, Mi. I took a ride up and visited him one weekend in the fall of 93. He took me out on some of the local roads. We went up 119 which runs along Lake Michigan. Back then there were no houses on it. I understand that is no longer the case.
It was a curvy road with nice scenery.

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We made it to the Mackinaw Bridge but didn't ride across.

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After spending the night in Petoski I headed off by myself. Rather than heading straight home I headed towards Traverse City. There was some nice riding along the water.

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I rode through Traverse City and to the Sleeping Bear Dunes.

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It was a very scenic area. I'm really glad I rode up there because my time in Michigan was limited. I had orders to go Fly the C-130 at Naval Air Facility Washington, DC. I would be leaving in April of 94.

I remember hitting some triple digit speeds on this ride and still falling behind the group.

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[/quote]

Trashcan Rock, I believe, my first climb at Joshua Tree, the climb is out of the pic...off on right end.

Quote from: Gam on February 07, 2018, 05:00:51 PM

Trashcan Rock, I believe, my first climb at Joshua Tree, the climb is out of the pic...off on right end.

So did you live in California at one time or just visit?

Just visiting, I've been there twice on climbing trips..don't do that anymore.

The last time I moved I managed to get in some fantastic riding. I planned to do the same on this move. It would turn out to be the longest trip I have ever done on a motorcycle. Here's the story. Sit back and grab a beer or 4, it's a long one.

The movers came and packed up all our stuff and hauled it away. We then headed south out of Michigan. I was on my EX500 and Debbi and Scott in our minivan. My orders were to go the the Hercules Flight Training Center in Marietta, Ga for three weeks of systems and simulator training for the Navy C-130T aircraft. Training started on a Monday so we left early enough to spend a few days at my favorite destination on the way. That would be Two Wheels Only which was only about one hundred miles from Marietta :)

We booked a room at the Lodge at TWO. The lodge had three bedrooms upstairs which shared one large bathroom and a living area. One of the things I always have loved about TWO is that it has always been a great place to meet interesting people. This trip would be no exception.

There was one big change in TWO around this time. Frank had sold the business to Britt and GT. I forget the exact relation but Britt was somehow related to Frank and GT was her husband. The had moved from California to take over TWO. They had a background in the restaurant business. While Frank had run the place more as a hobby, they would be doing this for a living so it is not surprising that they made some changes. Britt did a lot of sprucing up and adding fancy touches here and there. Frank would look at what she was doing and say: "what are you doing that for, they're only motorcyclists!" More on that later.

When we got there Frank had a cast on his leg and one arm in a sling ???  After 50 years of riding he had his first accident on the street. Here's what happened. Frank and some friends had gone riding to Blairsville to get some breakfast or lunch. On the way, while on a back road a dog ran in front of Frank, Frank hit it and went down. His friends pulled the bike, a VX800, off of him and asked if he was OK. He said "yeah I'm fine. Let's go eat." So they went to Blairsville and ate. After the meal Frank announced he would skip the rest of the ride and head home. His friend offered to ride back with him but he said he was fine and they should go ride.

So Frank rode home. When he got there he hit a buzzer or something which was a signal for Jeannie, his wife, to open the garage door. She was a little irritated at this since she had just had knee surgery and wasn't that mobile. But she did it and then saw he had been in a crash. She asked what happened and he said "it's nothing, I'm fine". She didn't believe him and insisted on taking him to the hospital. At the hospital they found that Frank had broken ribs, a punctured and collapsed lung, a broken bone in this leg and a dislocated shoulder or some kind of shoulder injury ???  And Frank rode with all that. He was a tough dude.

By the time we got there Frank was out of the hospital and hanging around at TWO. He said he'd be out riding but Jeannie wouldn't let him.
Oh yeah, there's more to this story. While he was in the hospital Britt and GT got him some plastic flowers. They explained they would have brought real flowers but Frank was "only a motorcyclist"  :D :D

We met these to young ladies during out stay at TWO.

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OK, they weren't that young. Here is their story. They had decided to hike the Appalachian Trial which started on Springer Mountain not to far from there. From Springer Mountain to Woody gap which was a few miles from TWO was 25 miles. That's 25 miles of steep up and down. It took them 3 days to hike it. When they got to Woody Gap they decided they had enough and decided to camp at TWO where they were waiting for one of there sons to bring a car. Then they planned to drive and hike selected parts of the AT. Anyway, they were really nice ladies and my hats off to them for doing something like this at their age(http://advrider.com/styles/advrider_smilies/super.gif)

Another young lady was also camping at TWO at this time. She was on a truly epic journey. Keep in mind this was back when this kind of thing was not common or well known.   This lady would have been able to write a truly epic ride report.

Meet Nicki:

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Nicki was from England where she was a migrant farm worker. She was also a motorcycle rider. She saved her money for a few years and bought a round trip ticket to Florida. The return ticket had no set date. Her plan was to see as much of America as she could before she ran out of money. When she got to Florida she bought a used Suzuki GS650L. The guy who sold it to her told her about TWO so she rode up to GA and was Camped at TWO while we where there. She even gave the old ladies in the previous pic a ride on her bike! When she went to pay her bill at at TWO she discovered the guy in Florida had phoned ahead and said he would pay her bill!

She also said that everywhere she went people where paying for her meals and other stuff. She said at this rate it would be a long time before she ran out of money.

Months later I got a letter from Nicki. She made it all the way to San Francisco and back riding over 16,000 miles. She included copies of a some pics from her trip. Someday when I find them I'll add them in here.

Besides meeting fascinating people what did we do at TWO? I don't remember that much. I know that one day Debbi and I went for a ride. Frank and Jeannie knew a local gal who lived just a couple of miles away who babysat in her home. We left Scott there and when we came to pick him up he was playing on the trampoline. You would think that Trampoline was the greatest thing ever because we had a hell of a time getting him to leave with us.

Although I don't remember it we must have driven to Helen because we took this pic:

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As I mentioned we were staying in one of the rooms upstairs in the lodge. Occupying one of the other rooms where three sportbike riders. We had a chance to talk with them some. They were down from Indiana and were also HSTA members. Their names where Peter, Jim and John. Peter and Jim where both riding new CBR900RRs. They were new but all busted up and held together with Duc Tape.

They told us why. They were stopped at an intersection to look at a map or something. When they took off john went first. The second rider started to go (it was a right turn) but changed his mind due to oncoming traffic. The third rider was looking to his left and saw he needed to gas it to get ahead of the oncoming traffic..............and ran right into the second rider. When John noticed they weren't coming he went back and found two busted up 900RRs on the ground and Peter and Jim laying on the ground laughing :D   Luckily the bikes where still rideable with the use of a little (or maybe a lot) of duc tape. I mentioned these guys partly because I remember the story so well and also because you will see them again later in this story.

One more fascinating character in this story:

This is Frank.

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Frank was a true adventure rider back at a time when when adventure riding was not very well known. He had done a lot of riding in South America. At the time I wondered why anyone would go down to South America when there was so much great riding in the U.S.A? Now that I have seen some SA ride reports I understand. Frank was a short guy and his GS was a tall bike. He had to slide partially off the seat to get a foot on the ground. I saw him a few times at TWO as he often came up from his home in Florida. I do remember one ride I took with him. It wasn't on this particular weekend but I'll talk about it here. We decided to do Frank's (Frank Cheek, TWO owner) 10 cent tour:

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There were three of us although I don't remember the third rider. The route took us to Tellico Plains then up TN 165. Back then there was no Cherohala Skyway, 165 went up to a little past the TN/NC border and ended. You could get through on a gravel road but I was not a dual sport rider back then. Since it was dead end there wasn't much traffic or law enforcement so we ran it at a "fun" pace. The route back took us on some great roads that I still ride regularly today.

So I was on a sportbike and so was the third rider. Frank was on this big overgrown dirt bike. That combination shouldn't work.  But it did. It wasn't the first time I rode with someone on a GS who could ride it like a sportbike.

So after a few great days at TWO we loaded up and headed down to Marietta, GA.  I got a room at the Officer Quarters at Naval Air Station Atlanta.  My training would be three weeks long at a civilian facility in Marietta.  Debbi and Scott got on an airplane and headed to Ireland where they would visit some friends.

Since training was Monday - Friday that meant I had weekends off. I took advantage of that and reserved a room at TWO for the next couple of weekends. I wasn't going to waste the opportunity to ride some of my favorite roads.

One of the problems with writing this thread is that many of my memories are muddled or I just can't remember some stuff at all. This period of time as well as the next few years are some of the worst as far as my memories go. What I have been doing is trying to fit in the pics I have found with what I remember. For example. Those weekends at TWO while I was in training are mostly blank. I do remember really enjoying my time during those weekends. I spent some time at my favorite place and rode some of my favorite roads.

There are a couple of things I do remember. Remember how Frank had recently had a crash and was in a cast and Sling? Well on one of those weekends Frank was already back out riding!   He Had ridden to TWO on his Honda scooter. His rational was that it was a scooter so he wasn't really riding :D

Another part of this whole time was that I was officially homeless! People would ask me where I was from and I'd say: "I'm from right here." It was a little weird.

Towards the end of my training Debbi and Scott came back from Ireland and headed off to spend some time with relatives. I think they went to Florida to here parents. When I finished my training I started on a really long ride. I started off by heading up to Richmond Kentucky to attend a Rider rally. This rally was put on by Rider magazine. I'm pretty sure this was the second one I went to. The main attraction for me was that all the major manufacturers had demo rides there. I took advantage of that by spending a whole day riding bikes by Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Yamaha, BMW and Harley.  One demo ride I really remember was on a Yamaha XT600. The demo rides were all escorted group rides except for Harley. Yamaha grouped their bikes by type. So Cruisers and touring bikes together and sport bikes together. The XT was grouped with the sportbikes. I was amazed how well it handled on the curvy roads we rode. I felt like I could have passed all those sportbikes. I didn't end up buying an XT600 but it planted a seed.

At one of those rider rallies I met Larry Grodsky, the guy who wrote the safety column for rider. I had an interesting conversation with him. It would not be the last time I met him.

At this rally I met up with another HSTA member from Michigan. His name was Pedro, he was 6-8 and rode a Kawasaki ZX-7 ??? He rode down from Michagan and after the rally we rode down to TWO.

My next destination was another HSTA rally in Seneca South Carolina. The name of this rally was SCRAP; South Carolina Rally and Party.
I rode over to Seneca and checked into the Days Inn (I think) where the rally was based. There where a number of riders there but I don't think I new many of them. That evening another member from Michigan that I did know showed up. He had an interesting trip there. Tom was an experienced rider who owned more than one bike. He had a Harley dresser, a ZX-11 and BMW K-1. For those of you who don't remember, the K-1 was a big, heavy and unusual looking sportbike. Tom brought his son in law with him on this trip. His son in law had ridden something small like a Honda 350 a few times so he had plenty of experience for riding the twisty roads of the SouthEast right? So Tom let the SIL ride his K-1 while Tom rode his ZX-11. All was fine until they got on 129 past Maryville and the road got twisty. Tom suddenly realized that SIL was no longer behind him so he turned around and found him and the K-1 in a ditch:( Luckily no major damage to either the SIL or K-1. So Tom gave him the lecturte about just taking it easy and ride his own pace.........

And off they went. However, I think SIL had psyched himself out because he crashed a couple more times.   Again, the only damage was cosmetic to the bike and to SIL's ego and Tom's nerves. When they showed up at the Motel tom didn't want to tell anyone about the multiple crashes so he explained that the damage to both sides of the bike was caused by the bike bouncing around in the ditch.

We had a group dinner that night. I think this was the group in front of the restaurant.

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The next day SIL decided to hang out at the motel and relax. Wise choice. Tom and I had a great ride hitting some of the great roads on the SC/NC border as well as some of my favorites like 215 and 276. I took these next pics on at a stop off of 215 just south of the BRP.

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After the Rally Tom and SIL headed back to Michigan. I heard later that they made it back home with no more crashes.

I on the other hand headed West for my next destination, Eureka Springs Arkansas.

Before continuing on with the story of my ride to Arkansas, I've got this pic and story that I can't remember when it happened but I think it was on this trip sometime before I went to SCRAP. So I'll just post it here.

I was riding at Deal's Gap and saw someone riding a BMW Funduro. It caught my attention because the Funduro had been covered in the motorcycle mags having just been released in Europe. It would not be sold in the U.S. for a few more years. I saw the bike again in Townsend and we ended up staying at the same motel.

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The rider was from Germany and had shipped his bike over here. He even let me take it for a spin. It was nothing that memorable except that I had probably just ridden the first Funduro in America. I asked him why he decided to come ride here when there were all those great roads in the Alps. His answer was interesting. He said that Europe had some great roads but during the summer everyone was on vacation and the good roads all had heavy traffic. He loved the fact that around here there was so little traffic and it was so peaceful. The fact is that here in the southeast the popular roads do have a lot of traffic but get off the beaten path and traffic is very light.

So that put a little damper on one of my dream rides which was and still is to ride the Alps. However, having talked to many people who have ridden the Alps, there is some great riding there and like here, there is less traffic if you get off the more popular roads.

On to Arkansas. Why Arkansas? I had read a lot of positive stuff about Arkansas. There had been a recent article in one of the major motorcycle mags about the great riding in Arkansas. The HSTA monthly newsletter/mag had some ride reviews from there. There had been many HSTA rallys there. There was one every year based in Mena, Ark at the end of the Talimena Drive. And most important I had a reason to go there at this time. ASTRA, which I had joined at the same time as the HSTA was having a rally there.

After SCRAP I rode 28 from Seneca all the way to Deal's Gap(http://advrider.com/styles/advrider_smilies/ricky.gif) For those of you not familiar, this is a great road, probably one of the best in the country for sport riders with curve after curve and some great scenery as well. The curves start in South Carolina, go through Georgia and then all the way to Deal's Gap in North Carolina. Then I rode through Deal's Gap and enjoyed those 318 or so curves(http://advrider.com/styles/advrider_smilies/ricky.gif) After that I'm not sure. I think I ended up just taking the Interstate through Tn and into Ark. I do remember that when I got into Ark the pavement was crappy concrete with one expansion joint after another for miles and miles and miles......Badump, badump badump....... My first impression of Arkansas was not that great.

Eventually I got off I-40 and got on a road I had read about, Rt 7. It was great to get off the interstate on on to a winding back road. However, after the great writeups I was a little disappointed. It wasn't really all that curvy. Maybe I had been spoiled by the great roads in the Smokies. This road might have been fun on a ZX-11 but at reasonable speeds you really didn't have to lean much to get around the curves. The scenery was OK and I did stop at this one interesting place.

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To be fair, there were some nice sections of this road but it seems like there was always traffic when I was in those sections and I saw more law enforcement than I had expected on this road. I did explore some other roads which were much curvier but they mostly seemed to have slippery looking black and red material in patches on the road. Also the road surface was mostly pretty rough. So, I was still pretty disappointed. Add in the fact that it was very hot and I was wearing leather and was was questioning my choice of coming here. I finally got to my motel in Eureka Springs. I was early for the rally so I would have a day to explore before the rally.

I used that day to do riding around before the rally. I think it was one day but maybe it was more. I headed up in to Missouri and near Branson. I do remember there was a lot of water, one or more lakes. I looked for twisty back roads in Arkansas.

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There were some nice roads but having just come from the Smokies nothing seemed all that great to me. I think this was in Arkansas but might have been Missouri:

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The town of Eureka Springs itself was pretty cool. It was a combination of historic and just cool due to being built in a very hilly area.

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Then the people showed up for the rally. ASTRA didn't actually put on the rally. They just piggy backed on someone else's rally. I don't know who actually put on the rally but it was basically a "Biker" rally with a band, BBQ, and party. There was an entry fee for this so I passed. At least the ASTRA members, all 10 or so of them were on sportier bikes.

I was looking forward to getting together with some of the ASTRA members for a ride the next day but it turned out their idea of a ride was to ride up to Branson to check out the Bass Pro Shop(http://advrider.com/styles/advrider_smilies/fpalm.gif)

At that point I decided that this Rally and ASTRA was basically a waste of my time. I decided to check out and head south in search of some good riding. I had heard a lot about the famous Talimena Drive so that's where I was headed. There was one other rider interested in actually riding and he decided to join me. This guy had a sport touring bike, I think maybe a Honda Sabre, but it was in the shop. The shop gave him a loaner bike so he wouldn't miss this ride. The loaner was a Kawasaki Vulcan 750. Although this was a cruiser it was actually a very competent motorcycle for riding back roads.

So we headed south. I remember that we rode up Magazine Mtn, the highest point in Arkansas at 2753 feet. The roads on the Mtn where pretty good. I think the next two pics were taken on Magazine Mtn.

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At some point we split up since we would be heading in different directions. I rode to Mena and saw the Talimena Drive snaking up the mountainside. I was Psyched, finally some really good riding(http://advrider.com/styles/advrider_smilies/wings.gif)

So I started up the Talimena drive........and got stuck behind slow moving traffic :(  By the time I managed to pass I was nearly at the top of the mountain. Once at the top the road turned into a pretty much straight road with not much of a view.   Where was this great road I had read about?(http://advrider.com/styles/advrider_smilies/DirtDOG.gif) Although the road was at the top of a long mountain like the BRP, it had trees on both side of the road blocking the view. After a while there were some curves as the road went down and back up at a gap where there was a crossroads. Then at the end in Oklahoma some curves as it went down at the end. It wasn't a bad road. It just didn't live up to the hype and I was disappointed. There I found a pretty rundown looking town. There were one or two fleabag looking motels so I continued on. On my map I saw a road going south that would take me towards Texarkana. So on I rode. This was a pretty nice road with sweeping curves through forest and a good road surface.

Suddenly I came to an intersection in the middle of nowhere. The roads in all directions except behind me were dirt. There were no road signs so I had no idea where these roads led. It was getting late and I had no desire to wander around getting lost on dirt roads in the dark on a street bike so I turned around. I made it back to the run down looking town and looked again at those motels. I decided to ride to Mena where I knew there were some nice motels and restaurants. Rather than going back over the Talimena drive I took the road just to the North of it which I figured would be faster.

As I rode it was getting dark and it started raining bugs. I would have to stop every 10 minutes and wipe the bugs from my face shield so I could see. I had a wet rag in a baggie which I used to clean my shield and a dry cotton rag to wipe off the water. After a while that wet rag was getting covered in dead bugs and bug guts. I was having trouble getting my shield clean as I my rag was just smearing around bug guts.  By the time I got to Mena it was dark and I was about as ready to get off my bike as I ever had been. I could barely see where I was going due to my filthy shield.

I was so relieved to find a nice motel with a vacancy and a nearby restaurant. So I ate, cleaned off the bug guts and got a good nights sleep. The next morning I decided I had enough of Arkansas and it was time to leave. So I headed south to Texarkana where I took a right turn and rode into Texas.

What was in Texas? Nothing exciting, I just wanted to cross another state off my list of states I had ridden in. I didn't ride far before turning around and heading East. I was headed for Ft Walton Beach Florida. I don't remember details from this ride. It was hot, humid and boring. The crossing of the Mississippi river was pretty impressive. There was a rest area/scenic viewpoint the so I stopped, took a break, enjoyed the view and took this next pic.

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I made it to Florida and spent some time with Debbi, Scott and her parents. Then it was time to head for Maryland. I rode up to TWO then continued on north. I might have take the BRP but don't remember anymore. I finally made it to Naval Air facility Washington where I checked into my next squadron, Fleet logistics Support Squadron 53 (VR-53).

Time for new adventures for the next three years while living in Maryland.

Before moving on, a few thoughts about Arkansas. If it seems like I had little good to say about that state, that's how I felt at that time and for a long time afterwards. However, my opinion would not stay that way forever. But that's way further ahead in this story......

After getting to Maryland it took a while to get settled in so we were "homeless" for a couple more months. It took a while to find a rental house we liked and could afford and when we found one it wasn't immediately available. But we did eventually get settled in. We rented a house in Bowie, MD. Since it was outside the DC beltway and so was work I could get to work without getting on any interstates or the dreaded beltway which was often a traffic nightmare. I also found that unlike Michigan there were some pretty nice roads nearby. I could go riding for an hour or 2 and hit some decent back roads. My commute to work even had a few nice roads so I often took the bike instead of the cage.

On the subject of commuting, I lived so close to work in Michigan it wasn't worth getting on the bike so I almost always drove. In Florida I almost always rode to work. My main commuting bike was my Venture while I used my EX500 for touring. However, the Venture was getting old and had developed some issues including a transmission that kept jumping out of gear. It also needed a new battery but i didn't want to buy a new battery for a bike that I wasn't planning on keeping. Fixing it would cost way more than it was worth. It was time to look for a replacement. I had already been looking for a while by test riding a number of bikes and thinking about what to replace it with. I wanted a bike that could comfortably tour two up but that I could also ride with my sportbike riding friends. What I really wanted was for someone to build something similar to my Venture but maybe 100 pounds lighter and without the crappy linked brakes the Venture came with. Unfortunately Yamaha had gone the opposite direction with the Venture by making it heavier and decreasing the cornering clearance. I think they may have discontinued it by then anyway.

So I had ridden and eliminated the Goldwing and ST1100. I had ridden a Concours and it was a possibility. I also considered getting a comfortable sportbike like a 750 Katana and putting hard luggage on it and a corbin seat and backrest. I went out and test rode a Honda Pacific Coast but decided it was a little underpowered and not enough storage for two up touring. I also considered a BMW R100GS. I had ridden one and ridden with other riders on one so I knew it could be ridden like a sportbike and the ability to ride dirt roads was really appealing. I just wasn't sure how well it would do two up touring.

I headed over to the nearest BMW dealer which was Bob's BMW in Jessup, MD. They had a fleet of demo bikes and encouraged taking them out on long test rides. So I tried a K100LT or K1100LT, I'm not sure which. In many ways it met my needs. It was a full dress touring bike but about 100 pounds lighter than the Venture and it was comfortable and handled well. Then I tried a new R1100GS which had just been introduced. I took it on a long solo ride and also long ride with Debbi on the back. She was happy with the comfort as long as I got a back rest for her. I was amazed at how well it handled!

So.....

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And another pic with our house in the background.

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The last picture of my Yamaha Venture. It was a good bike. I put around 72,000 miles on it in the 8 years I owned it and have a lot of great memories from the rides I did on it. I sold it to a local Yamaha dealer for a few hundred bucks. He was going to re sell it to a salvage yard.

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It was the Fall of 1994 when I got settled into a rental house in Bowie Md and bought my R1100GS. Winters in MD are more severe than here in Alabama but not so bad that you can't ride year round with some short breaks for winter weather. So I was able to put some miles on the GS. One of the things Debbi insisted on was a back rest so I added a Corbin seat with an adjustable back rest on the passenger seat. I also got some new riding gear as a bought an Aerostich Roadcrafter riding suit and a top of the line Shoei Helmet. The bike also had electric handgrips and I had an electric vest.

Here's a pic of me with my new riding gear. My mom is on the back.

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There is an interesting story about the ride I took her on. I took her down some back roads then came to a red light. When the light turned green I thought I'd impress her a bit with the acceleration of the GS. One of the problems with the GS, especially with a Corbin Seat, is that the passenger sits really far back, over or maybe a bit behind the rear axle. You can probably guess what happened next. Yep, I wheelied across the intersection with my mom on the back ???

In the spring of 1995 I decided to take some leave and head for my favorite riding area. I would end up doing several trips to the Smokies during my time in MD and my memory of most of those trips is pretty vague. I think that this first trip was the one were I met up with a small group from Indiana. These guys where all sportbike riders and I knew most of them through the HSTA. Luckily I did take a couple of pics and remember this particular trip pretty well.

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There ended up being six of us in this group. The guy standing behind the naked CBR900RR was Peter. He was one of the guys I had met at TWO years earlier who had collided with his buddy also on a CBR900RR. Rather than replace the fairing on his bike he created this custom 900RR. He fabricated a new top triple clamp so he could mount regular handlebars. He also fabricated a new housing for the instrument panel. He made his living fabricating Indy Car parts. He also added a Corbin seat. The end result was a really comfortable wheelie monster. His buddy who he had collided with ended up getting the Ducati 916 in the pic. It had been modified for riding on the track. The other bikes in the group included a brand new GSXR750, and VFR800 and a CBR600F3. At that time the GS1100 was still new and exotic. Add in the other bikes in the group particularly the DUC and Custom 900RR and we had a pretty exotic group that attracted attention whenever we were stopped. Even the GSXR was pretty exotic being the first of the new redesigned lightweight GSXRs.

So we ended up riding for around 4 days and we rode hard. The interesting thing was that the four of us on the exotic bikes were very evenly matched. I never felt like I was at a disadvantage being on a "giant dirt bike" compared to the state of the art sportbikes. The CBR600 and especially VFR normally got left behind on the twisty roads.

One ride I remember was a blast on HWY 68 South of Tellico Plains. I remember that speeds were getting up around triple digits and it was the one time I started to lag behind a bit. We had a few other sportbike riders with us and one of them told me later that he decided to back up a bit because he got nervous following a "dirtbike" leaving a trail of sparks at 100MPH. So at one time I came up behind a car and decided to not waste any time passing while we were on a straight section of road. The interesting thing was in the middle of my pass was an elevated railroad track crossing. It make for an exciting time as I caught a bit of air at pretty high speed ???

The guy following me said he really thought I would crash.

Anyway it was a very exciting and adrenaline filled week of riding. It also showed me that I made a good choice buying the GS. It was a comfortable touring bike, it could handle some dirt roads and it was an outstanding sportbike. IMO it was probably the best handling street bike BMW made at that time.

Another pic that includes the sportbikes mentioned above.

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I did swap bikes with a couple of the other riders during this trip. First I swapped with Peter and rode his naked CBR900RR. I really liked that bike. With the higher handlebar and Corbin seat it was very comfortable. It had very light and quick steering and of course a ton of power. I restrained my right wrist however and didn't do any wheelies ;D  This bike was really before it's time as the naked sportbikes hadn't become popular yet. I think this bike might have also planted the seed in me for the future. I also think that maybe my GS planted a seed in Peter.

I also rode John's CBR600F3. The first thing I noticed was his very LOUD aftermarket exhaust. Even though I wore earplugs I couldn't see riding this thing for very long. The bars where a bit low for my taste. What might surprise many riders is that even though this bike was probably at least 125 pounds lighter than my GS, it had heavier steering. It was just more work to ride on a twisty road.

I was glad I got the GS.

This really was an exciting time in my life. The R1100GS was a really cool bike. It was also the first really expensive bike I had bought. I really was really concerned about spending so much money on a bike. I think that including accessories (Bags, tank bag, heated grips, corbin seat) it was around $13,500. Remember that was back in 94. When I go to a BMW dealer today and look at 20K price tags I think "WOW, that's expensive". Adjusted for inflation it's probably similar to what I paid.

The bike may have been expensive but that didn't keep my from riding the hell out of it. On the trip I just posted I rode as hard and aggressively as I ever had. I rode 15,000 miles on it in the first year I owned it. I was glad it came with a 3 year unlimited mileage warranty. I did have some issues with it. The battery needed to be replaced after a few months because the dealer used the Battery charger that came with the bike to initially charge the battery. It turns out this did not fully charge it. While it would start the bike just fine it didn't have enough voltage fro the ABS to test on startup. Another problem was that the stickers on the plastic tank would develop bubbles. After replacing the stickers twice I finally had them just remove them.

Enough about the bike, time for my first really long trip on this bike. The HSTA was having it's national rally in Avon Co. in late June. Since that ride through the west in 89 I had really wanted to go back. This was my chance(http://advrider.com/styles/advrider_smilies/happay.gif)

I took over two weeks leave to do this trip right. If I was going to ride all the way to Colorado I wanted to be able to spend more than a few days there. So my plan was to ride out a week early, do some riding, then attend the rally and then ride home. Debbi would fly out to Denver, rent a car, and join me in Avon for the rally. I don't remember what we did with Scott. Maybe Debbi left him with her sister who was living in NC at the time?

So I headed out early one morning. I rode the beltway around DC and picked up I-66 west. At the end of 66 I picked up some back roads to get trough part of WV before picking up I-79 and I-64 West. I do remember that it was raining all morning and the back roads of WV were not exactly fun in the rain. The rain did end in WV and I made good time. The R1100 was very comfortable and I was able to make it out to Indiana or Illinois. I stopped because it was getting dark and I didn't want to have trouble getting a motel room. I wasn't that tired. Mileage for the day was 800. The next day I headed west on I-64 and then I-70. I spent the next night in Kansas about 150 miles from the CO line. Mileage for the day was 675.

One of the interesting things about this trip was that except for Avon, I do not remember a single motel from this trip or even where I stayed. In contrast I remember most of the places I stayed on my two week trip in 89.  I'm not sure why.

Day three of the trip I got up and headed west. I was getting tired of the interstate so I picked up a back road that ran west south of I-70. I'm pretty sure it was 40 and then 24. Although it was a straight road it was still interesting seeing the miles of farmland and the small towns. I made it to Colorado Springs in time for lunch. This is where the real adventure would begin. Sorry for the lack of pictures but I just didn't take any up to this point.

Quote from: klaviator on March 13, 2018, 04:04:14 PM
...
Here's a pic of me with my new riding gear. My mom is on the back.
...
There is an interesting story about the ride I took her on. I took her down some back roads then came to a red light. When the light turned green I thought I'd impress her a bit with the acceleration of the GS. One of the problems with the GS, especially with a Corbin Seat, is that the passenger sits really far back, over or maybe a bit behind the rear axle. You can probably guess what happened next. Yep, I wheelied across the intersection with my mom on the back ???

That's funny, right there.   :D

Great stuff.

Awesome read!  Is there any more!!

I grew up in Georgia, not far from TWO, been by there many a time, but never on two wheels.  Mostly in a Jeep w/ a fly rod.  I started late in my motorcycling career, on my 2nd bike, but I need to get back up there.

My first bike was a toy for around the suburbs of Atlanta, a '73 CL360 Honda I bought from a neighbor.

My second bike is a '92 BMW K100RS16v abs bike I bought off eBay.  112k miles, set up for touring, originally from Reno.  It runs like a champ and eats up miles, and twisties.

Reading this makes me want to ride out west.  And back up into N. Ga, E. Tn, and W NC/SC.  I have a dream to take my wife two-up on the BRP, had that dream since '90.  We need to make it come true.

Hoping to read some more, soon!  Maybe I'll get to meet you at a meetup!

Chip in Auburn, AL

Quote from: island_boy on October 18, 2018, 02:25:35 PM
Awesome read!  Is there any more!!

I grew up in Georgia, not far from TWO, been by there many a time, but never on two wheels.  Mostly in a Jeep w/ a fly rod.  I started late in my motorcycling career, on my 2nd bike, but I need to get back up there.

My first bike was a toy for around the suburbs of Atlanta, a '73 CL360 Honda I bought from a neighbor.

My second bike is a '92 BMW K100RS16v abs bike I bought off eBay.  112k miles, set up for touring, originally from Reno.  It runs like a champ and eats up miles, and twisties.

Reading this makes me want to ride out west.  And back up into N. Ga, E. Tn, and W NC/SC.  I have a dream to take my wife two-up on the BRP, had that dream since '90.  We need to make it come true.

Hoping to read some more, soon!  Maybe I'll get to meet you at a meetup!

Chip in Auburn, AL

There's a lot more to this story but I need to get around to posting it.  Maybe in a few months when it's cold and I'm not doing much riding.

As for your riding dreams. go for it.  The BRP is not that far away.  Even going out west is not that hard.  We have had several group trips to faraway places in the past few years. 

Island_boy inspired me to work on this report a bit.  That and the recent trips out west many members of this forum have done this summer.  Next up is the first trip I ever took riding way out west from the East. 

This really was an exciting time in my life. The R1100GS was a really cool bike. It was also the first really expensive bike I had bought. I really was really concerned about spending so much money on a bike. I think that including accessories (Bags, tank bag, heated grips, corbin seat) it was around $13,500. Remember that was back in 94. When I go to a BMW dealer today and look at 20K price tags I think "WOW, that's expensive". Adjusted for inflation it's probably similar to what I paid.

The bike may have been expensive but that didn't keep my from riding the hell out of it. On the trip I just posted I rode as hard and aggressively as I ever had. I rode 15,000 miles on it in the first year I owned it. I was glad it came with a 3 year unlimited mileage warranty. I did have some issues with it. The battery needed to be replaced after a few months because the dealer used the Battery charger that came with the bike to initially charge the battery. It turns out this did not fully charge it. While it would start the bike just fine it didn't have enough voltage fro the ABS to test on startup. Another problem was that the stickers on the plastic tank would develop bubbles. After replacing the stickers twice I finally had them just remove them.

Enough about the bike, time for my first really long trip on this bike. The HSTA was having it's national rally in Avon Co. in late June. Since that ride through the west in 89 I had really wanted to go back. This was my chance(https://advrider.com/f/styles/advrider_smilies/happay.gif)

I took over two weeks leave to do this trip right. If I was going to ride all the way to Colorado I wanted to be able to spend more than a few days there. So my plan was to ride out a week early, do some riding, then attend the rally and then ride home. Debbi would fly out to Denver, rent a car, and join me in Avon for the rally. I don't remember what we did with Scott. Maybe Debbi left him with her sister who was living in NC at the time?

So I headed out early one morning. I rode the beltway around DC and picked up I-66 west. At the end of 66 I picked up some back roads to get trough part of WV before picking up I-79 and I-64 West. I do remember that it was raining all morning and the back roads of WV were not exactly fun in the rain. The rain did end in WV and I made good time. The R1100 was very comfortable and I was able to make it out to Indiana or Illinois. I stopped because it was getting dark and I didn't want to have trouble getting a motel room. I wasn't that tired. Mileage for the day was 800. The next day I headed west on I-64 and then I-70. I spent the next night in Kansas about 150 miles from the CO line. Mileage for the day was 675.

One of the interesting things about this trip was that except for Avon, I do not remember a single motel from this trip or even where I stayed. In contrast I remember most of the place I stayed on my two week trip in 89.  I'm not sure why.

Day three of the trip I got up and headed west. I was getting tired of the interstate so I picked up a back road that ran west south of I-70. I'm pretty sure it was 40 and then 24. Although it was a straight road it was still interesting seeing the miles of farmland and the small towns. I made it to Colorado Springs in time for lunch. This is where the real adventure would begin. Sorry for the lack of pictures but I just didn't take any up to this point.

Bear with me for the lack of pics. I did take some later in the trip.

The thing I remember the most about Colorado Springs was that it was pretty hot, mid 80s if I remember right and I was sweating in my Aerostich in the city traffic. However I wasted no time after lunch heading west out of town. My destination was the Pikes Peak. At that time the road was still unpaved to the top. The GS was a great bike for this road. I on the other hand had very little experience off the pavement but I still enjoyed the ride on all those unpaved curves heading up to over 14,000 feet elevation. It might have been 80+ degrees in Colorado springs but it didn't take long to get up into the snow. People were still skiing. There was no lift but people just had someone drive them up. At the parking area at the top it was probably mid 40s with snow all around. There were a number of people who had driven up or maybe taken the tram who didn't think about the elevation and temperature change and were wearing shorts and T shirts:eek7 I enjoyed the view and maybe I took some pics but I can't find them. The GS ran perfectly at that altitude but I felt light headed when I go off the bike and walked around.

Then I rode back down and headed west. My recollection of where I stayed, the ride, and the route for the next few days are very hazy. I'm thinking that I took 24 west, 285 south, 50 west to Gunnison, then 149 and 160 to Durango. One thing I do remember was that at one point as I was riding down the road I came up behind a giant cattle drive that covered the entire road. It was only going a few miles per hour and I was wondering how I would ever get by it. Eventually a pickup came up behind me and then passed me. The Cowboys herding the cattle them opened up a path for the truck and I followed close behind. It was a bit nerve racking being surrounded so closely by all those cattle ???

After Durango I headed North on the Million Dollar Highway. I remember seeing a dirt road that headed off the main road. I decided that since I now had an adventure bike I should ride down it. I didn't get very far when I saw some bad weather moving in and decided to turn around. Good thing I did because it was a nasty storm and it chased me Montrose where I got a motel room just before the storm hit.


Here's a pic from the trip that I have no idea where I took it so it might have been during this part of the trip.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-f64nWZX/0/f7cace52/L/Picture558-L.jpg)

The next day I headed to Grand Junction where there was a BMW dealer. I went there because I needed an oil change.

After getting my oil changed I headed east on I-70. I was headed to Avon but didn't want to just head there on the interstate. Besides, I had plenty of time and there were so many interesting looking roads on the map.

I considered heading North and looping through Steamboat Springs but ended up getting off of the interstate and heading South on 65. I'm glad I did because it ended up being a really memorable ride. 65 went into a canyon and ran alongside a river. Miles of high speed sweepers running alongside a river in a scenic canyon.   It was an awesome ride! Eventually that ended and I was in a giant valley with mountains all around. Looking ahead I could see that at some point the road would have to climb those mountains although I couldn't see were. Eventually the road started snaking up the side of a mountain. Endless curves with spectacular views!!

Life doesn't get much better than that.....except in this case it did. Those curves finally ended as I found myself on a large mesa that was a winter wonderland. It had been in the high 80s down in the valley and now it was probably low 40s and snow was everywhere. The road however was dry and a fun ride. I wish I had taken some pics :(

After a while the mesa ended and it was another bunch of curves going down the mountain until I was back in the desert and heat. It was a great ride and one I will never forget. After that.....well I forget. I somehow ended up in Avon where I checked into the Christie Lodge which would be the site of the rally.

The Christie Lodge was a pretty luxurious resort that probably catered to skiers more than anyone else. My room was a suite with a kitchenette, separate bedroom and balcony. If I went out the door it opened into a giant atrium with all kinds of cool stuff like swimming pools, restaurants, places to hang out and stuff like that. It was a really expensive place but we were worth it! Oh yeah, the manager of the place was one of our members so we got the rooms for 49 bucks a night.

I got there a day or two before the rally officially started so I had a day or two to go exploring. There is one incident I particularly remember. I decided that since I had an adventure ride I needed to ride some dirt. So I found a dirt road and headed down it to see where it went. I went a few miles and came to a gate.  So much for finding something exciting. So I stopped, parked the bike and took a break. Then I got on the bike, fired it up and started doing a U turn to get turned around. I didn't quite make it all the way around before I realized I wouldn't make it and would end up in a ditch. So I stopped and tried backing up. Unfortunately the road was sloped and I couldn't back up. So I got off the bike and tried backing it up. And I tried some more. Keep in mind this bike with luggage was around 600 pounds. I tried pivoting it on the sidestand but that did it didn't work.

So here I was at the end of a gated dirt road that might not see any traffic for days and I was stuck. I realized that riding a 600 pound motorcycle down a deserted dirt road by myself might not have been the smartest thing I ever did.

I did have one option. I could get on the bike, ride it through the ditch and up on to the hillside and then back through the ditch.

If I failed and crashed and the bike fell on me and injured or pinned my they probably wouldn't find my body for weeks.

OK, to be honest the ditch wasn't all that deep and the hillside wasn't all that steep but I had no real dirt riding experience beyond some easy dirt roads. An experienced dirt rider wouldn't have given it a second thought. Well I gave it a second thought. I could walk a few miles to the main road. My pride wouldn't let me do that. So I got on the bike, fired it up, rode through the ditch, up the hillside and back through the ditch without crashing ;D

It certainly got the adrenaline flowing. I decided I would stick to the pavement after that.

I don't want to do another post without pics so here is one that I have no idea when or where I took it. Well it was somewhere in Colorado.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-qksLfqx/0/793f6f21/L/Picture559-L.jpg)

My reason for going to Colorado was the HSTA rally. The HSTA had a number of regional rallies every year and one national rally. The national rally was in a different location every year......until this year. It was the first time the used the same location again. The first time they held it in Avon 400 out of 1000 members attended. The participation percentage wasn't that high this year but the number of people did increase to around 450 if I remember correctly, possibly even 500+. For me this was an awesome event. The Christie Lodge rocked, Colorado had fantastic roads, and now I knew a lot of the other riders from previous rallies. The Rally itself ran from Sunday through Wednesday. A number of other people showed up early like I did. We also had great weather during the rally so I was able to get in a great day of riding every day.

I don't remember all the details of the rides but I do remember bits and pieces and I have some pics so here goes.

The first day Debbi was there we rode up to Independence pass which has an elevation of 12,095 feet. We parked the bike and walked to an overlook about 50 yards away. By the time we got there Debbi was out of breath.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-fncKfTP/0/a1055070/L/Picture560-L.jpg)

No I don't know the story behind the guy in the shorts and T shirt who photo bombed this pic:D

A few days later we rode over independence pass again. This time Debbi had no problem walking to the overlook. A few days at higher altitude really made a difference.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-RQtth8g/0/9fcf29ef/L/Picture561-L.jpg)

I think these next two pics were also taken on or near Independence Pass. Although there was snow everywhere it was June and was pretty warm at lower elevations.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-qNgtGCW/0/ca840beb/L/Picture562-L.jpg)

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(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-5bfqvzg/0/9867a79b/L/Picture563-L.jpg)

Some more stories and pics from the rally.

The ride from Avon to Independence Pass and then to Aspen was one I did two, maybe three times. It was an awesome ride with great scenery and a lot of curves. On one of those rides I was riding with a group that included some of the guys from Indiana that I had ridden with a couple of months earlier. My GS ran great at the high elevations and I had no trouble keeping up with the much faster sportbikes. At one point a little after Independence pass we started going a little slow. What's up with that? I wanted to go fast and have some fun.

Then we pulled over. Jim's Ducati 916 wasn't running right and didn't have much power.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-7Q9Jkd6/0/ec1825a0/L/Picture564-L.jpg)

So they pulled the panels off his bike and found the problem. One of the spark plugs had fallen out.  Luckily one of the guys on a Honda had a tool kit that included a spark plug wrench. Meanwhile, I had brought a video camera and was filming this. I asked "how many people does it take to install a sparkplug?" So the Honda guy held up his wrench and said "we just fixed this Ducati with Genuine Honda parts." I guess you had to be there. We thought it was pretty funny.

I still have that video somewhere but it was 8mm and I have no way of playing it.

We continued to Aspen where we ate at one of the outdoor cafes and enjoyed the beautiful weather and scenery.

One of the rides took us west on I-70 through Glenwood Canyon. I'm not normally big on riding on the interstate but this was a spectacular ride. This was a lunch ride so everyone at the rally rode to the town of Hotchkiss for lunch. After lunch I led a group of sport bikes over Grand Mesa in the opposite direction from what I had done a few days before. Debbi took a pic of the group on the twisty road heading up Grand Mesa.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-HWKfqLR/0/13893587/L/Picture565-L.jpg)

And here's a pic up on top.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-T3JQLk5/0/431c9a05/L/Picture566-L.jpg)

Debbi did video tape some of this ride from the back seat.  No GoPro's back then.  I think we had an 8mm video camera.  Debbi held it in her hand and shot around my helmet.  I think I still have that tape somewhere.  Maybe someday I'll convert it to digital.

I have to mention that Debbi was great passenger. I was running at a sportbike pace two up on a giant "Dirtbike". She never complained about the speed.

One more thing I remember for this ride was that as we were coming around a curve in the canyon North of Grand Mesa we saw a State Trooper parked in front of a giant boulder the size of a small cabin that was blocking half of the road. It must have fallen pretty recently. We were glad we weren't riding by when it fell. Something like that could ruin your entire day!

OK, time to wrap up this Colorado trip.

A few random pics that I don't know where or when:

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-jn2dkwD/0/57f135c7/L/Picture567-L.jpg)

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(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-cCRmr3X/0/9ae46715/L/Picture568-L.jpg)

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(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-LdbXq8d/0/8f47c0aa/L/Picture569-L.jpg)


Unfortunately all good things must come to and end. The rally finished up with a dinner on Wednesday evening. It was time to say goodbye to old and new friends. On Thursday Debbi headed for the Denver Airport in her rental car and I got on the GS and headed east. It took me two and a half days to get to Colorado and I now had four days to get home. I decided to explore a little more of Colorado before tackling the boring interstates and flatlands of the eastern states. I'm pretty sure I got off the interstate and went over Loveland Pass. This pic might have been taken there?

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-895RTCL/0/e7f923c8/L/Picture570-L.jpg)

One thing I do remember was was going up Mt Evans. The road up Mt Evans is the highest paved road in the USA. It was an exciting ride with spectacular views, a lot of tight curves. and some shear droppoffs. I even saw some mountain goats. This next pic is Summit Lake which is 12,840 feet high and 5 miles from the top.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-gbQ5vdV/0/0ba3882e/L/Picture571-L.jpg)

Unfortunately the road to the top was closed just past the lake :(   I decided to put it on my bucket list and come back some day.

Once out of the Rockies it was a long and boring ride home. It took me 3 1/2 days total to get home. I wasn't as motivated to get home as I had been to get to Colorado. Overall it had been a great trip and I knew I would have to get back out to Colorado to do some more riding.

 Well, at lest 1 cylinder on the Duc will run right for awhile.  :)


Awesome right up on the trip. You REALLY kill it on your ride reports klaviator! 

This has been a fantastic Read. Thank you for sharing as I know this takes quite some time to put together.

I lived in Maryland for 3 years and did a lot of riding. I averaged about 18,000 miles a year while I was there. The problem is that except for the Colorado trip my memories of all that riding is really jumbled up. I did take some pics but for the most part can't match the pics with a particular ride. So let me talk a bit about living in Maryland. We enjoyed our time there. As you can see from previous pics we found a really big house to rent. Well it was really big for us. It was much bigger than our previous houses.

The weather in Maryland allowed for year round riding with some occasional Winter weather as well as some oppressive heat and humidity in the summer. One winter we got 18 inches of snow in one storm. It shut everything down. I had a few days off and met most of my neighbors as we all shoveled snow. I enjoyed the shoveling and made a couple of piles of snow.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-GzLPs6Z/0/67d60e68/L/Picture572-L.jpg)

We built a sled run off my neighbors back deck and our kids had a blast on it.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-jsNJZZm/0/7609795d/L/Picture573-L.jpg)

Luckily the winter weather normally didn't last that long so I didn't develop any really bad cases of PMS.  There were some pretty good roads nearby so I could go out for an hour or two and have an enjoyable ride. I really did a lot of exploring. I often went down roads just to see where they went. I once went riding with a couple of locals who had lived there their entire lives and took them down some roads they had never been on.

I also did day rides into the mountains of VA and WV. This involved riding the beltway around DC then east on I66. After about 80 miles I could get off the Interstate and ride all kinds of great roads. My typical rides where anywhere for 250 to over 600 miles. Once I headed out on my EX500 on a long weekend with the intention of making it an overnight ride. I rode well into WV and VA. Around 2 or 3 in the afternoon I started looking for a motel room. That was not the smartest thing I ever did as I couldn't find one. Eventually I just decided to head back home. I rolled into my driveway around 11PM having ridden 700 miles. The weather that day had been about perfect, not hot and not cold. I really wasn't that tired.

I was in Maryland for three years from 94 to 97 and did a lot of trips. I don't remember a lot details and haven't been able to find many pics.

One of the things that happened, I think in Spring of 96 was that I took the GS in for service and when they took one of the valve covers off the cylinder head broke around where on of the valve cover bolts went into it. It ended up taking something like two months to get a replacement.  This was right during prime riding season and I had plans. Luckily I had another bike to ride. So I took a great trip on my EX500. I rode WV for a weekend rally then my friend Al from Michigan and I headed south to our favorite riding areas around Deal's Gap and North GA. It was a great ride but no pics.

I also took another ride on my EX. I rode over to Northwest WV where I met my friend Tom from Michigan. He was riding his new BMW R100RS. We picked up route 16 and followed it all the way down to Marion VA. We had some really beautiful weather and I really enjoyed the ride. Tom mentioned to me how all the poverty in WV was depressing. I just noticed the great weather, scenery and roads. The section of 16 from Tazewell to Marion was particularly memorable. It was a super twisty section of road that went over a few mountains. Today they call that the "back of the Dragon" or something like that. We ended up in my favorite riding area and I think there was an HSTA rally. Maybe it was the annual rally they had in Townsend every September. I did get some pics from this ride.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-xjfhKb8/0/8187f7b7/L/Picture574-L.jpg)

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(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-jwQ3wbr/0/37d44e9c/L/Picture575-L.jpg)

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(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-xx85Cnk/0/2e04aed4/L/Picture576-L.jpg)

I also took some more trips on my GS. There was one ride that really sticks out in my memory. I was in Robbinsville, NC. I was exploring the roads behind Robbinsville when I saw a sign saying "to Andrews". My normal between those towns was US129 which wasn't that exciting. So I headed down the road indicated by the sign. It didn't take long for the pavement to end and turn into a two track, single lane road. Normally I would have turned around but I was on an adventure bike. So I ride along......deep into the wilderness. Or so it seemed to my. This road snaked it's way up the mountain with no signs of civilization to be seen. I wasn't real comfortable riding on gravel so I rode slowly. Then I came to an intersection with no signs. Which way should I go? This was quite an adventure for me. I still remembered my incident in Colorado where I almost got stuck. I decided to go straight through the intersection. After what seemed like an eternity I saw signs of civilization through the trees and way down the mountain. I eventually came out in Andrews.

Those of you familiar with the area have probably guessed that I just went over Tatum Gap, sometimes referred to as the "Gravel Dragon". My memory of the beginning of this road on the Robbinsville side is very different from what it's like today. Either my memory is off or they changed the road.

Of course I did a lot of riding on the twisty roads of the area there my GS handled like a sportbike and I would wear my front tires out at the edges before the middle. A few random pics from that time.

I think this was HWY 28 south of Highlands.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-6rrtT7q/0/50447b91/L/Picture577-L.jpg)

Bridalveil Falls.

(https://photos.smugmug.com/TROML/i-DxN2wrz/0/aafe18f2/L/Picture578-L.jpg)