Last week I ran across a link about a group of old school adventure bikers from the 50′s that put anything I’ve ever done on a motorcycle to shame. And they were doing it on old Harley hardtails.
Check out some of the absolutely wild pictures and stories over at http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29723
So… StackExchange supports “flair” profile tags. This is what one of those tags for BikeBuffs looks like.
I just launched a motorcycle Q&A site called BikeBuffs. It’s build on the StackExchange framework, and is meant to be community driven. Anybody can ask a question, or even help answer one. I’m imagining it being open to any make/model of bike, but as it starts off I have a feeling it will be somewhat geared towards owners of the Suzuki C50, as it’s a bike I know a lot about.
This weekend I met up with a bunch of folks from VolusiaRiders.com for a rally weekend up in the Poconos. I’ll start by saying that it was a great group and we covered a lot of pavement and had some damn fun times while we were at it.
I headed out of work a few minutes early on Friday in order to get there before the night was too late. When I got home, I mounted a new windshield on my bike. My old one was causing me some bad buffeting (wind induced headache) issues at speeds over 65 mph. I stuffed my saddlebags chock full of clothes and such for the weekend. At the last minute I figured “Well, I don’t have a passenger. Might as well strap the hookah to the back seat.”
Good to go? Yup. I’m off. It was a pleasant ride up 33 to 209, but highway is a bit boring. From 209, I got onto 402, which was a lot more fun. It’s about 40 miles of backwoods state highway. Lots of hills and flowy turns. Halfway up 402, I noticed a bike behind me. I made a pass, he followed suit. Seems I just made a friend. We ended up riding together, passing cars and enjoying the road for about 20 miles. Eventually I arrived at the motel that the rally was meeting up at, and the random Harley and I parted ways.
When I arrived at the Sandy Beach Motel, I didn’t know what to expect, but the scene looked exactly like I expected (funny, I know). I pulled in, climbed off my bike, and was immediately greeted by some friendly faces. It was an overload of faces and names. I was brought around to all of the subgroups of people and introduced around. Did they really expect me to remember all their names? This was sensory overload. I was the new guy in a group of old friends. Only option was to jump right in and make them my friends too.
After a welcome beer, an inaugural cigar, and about 20 introductions later, I excuse myself to unload my bike. I check in at the front office for my key, and head to my gear. I detach the saddle bags and unstrap the hookah case. Somebody sees it. “Brought your trumpet to practice?” they rib. “Yup. I usually start around 4am.” After a quick unpacking, I find out where the nearest beer distributor is. After a quick half mile ride, I’m there, grabbing myself some Blue for the weekend, and I’m back at the motel.
Everyone is hanging out, shooting the shit and showing off their newest bikes and the mods they’ve done to them. My bike is old hat to all of them. Most of them had something similar years ago before they upgraded to bigger bikes. I’m told by a few people that seeing my bike there is “nostalgic”. Ya, that’s a confidence booster. On the other hand, I’m still new to riding, and am the youngest person there by more than a decade. I’ve got plenty of time to get that bigger bike when the time is right and the money is there. For now, having something that’s a little underpowered may be a good thing to save me from myself (and the wildly stupid things I tend to do.)
At one point in the night, a random biker and his fiance drive into the motel parking lot in a truck, with an Indian motorcycle strapped in the back. He was driving by, saw the bikes and decided to stop and say ‘hi’. Biker culture never ceases to amaze me. Of course, all of the VR folks wander on over and are talking with him for a while and checking out his bike. As he leaves, they invite him to go on the ride tomorrow morning with them. Really? I realized that there’s a sense of camaraderie associated with biking, but how extensive it is something I’m still getting used to. Heh. Guess I should have invited the Harley I was riding with earlier into the party…
As the night gets later, the party thins out, and I bring out the hookah.
Lighting the hookah
Everyone gathers around to relax and chat. It was a whole lot of fun, and was a nice experience to get to talk to some of the guys in a more close-knit setting. After pushing it late into the night, everyone is starting to think about the rapidly approaching morning, and bedtime suddenly seems like a fantastic idea. Until tomorrow morning boys.
I wake up the following morning to find a pile of chairs stacked against my door.
Chairs on my door
Unfortunately, when I opened the door, they failed to fall. Not wanting to deprive the guys of their spectacle, a quick boot later and chairs were scattered everywhere in front of my room. A quick ride down to the gas station for a top-off and a Powerbar breakfast, and I’m good to go.
The group splits off into the “slow group” and the “aggressive group.” Obviously, given my riding experience, I lined up with the slow group. HAHAHA!!! Yeah right. Aggressive group it is! Let’s ride!!! Off we go, stopping a few miles down at the Zane Grey Landing to hopefully meet up with the slow group. 45 minutes pass, and they still haven’t arrived. Wow. They sure are slow.
As we head out, one of the guys, Greg, offers up “Hey, wanna give my bike a test ride?” It’s a Yamaha Stratoliner, with an engine about twice the size of my C50. Well… hell yeah I want to ride it. Thanks man!
Gregstur's Yamaha Stratoliner
We ride to the next stop, and I get a chance to play on the Liner. The geometry was a little funny for me, but that’s just because I like to lean back when I ride. Of course it was a lot heavier than my ride, but once it got going, at actually handled pretty well. The biggest difference was the pure power. It was smooth and quiet, but had about as much power as you wanted. It will definitely be a bike to consider when I start looking down the upgrade path. The other thing I noticed from following behind it is that MY BIKE IS LOUD!!! Borderline obnoxiously loud for a group ride (sorry guys!)
The next stop is a beautiful outlook over a river.
Ledge over the lookout. I didn't jump!
We stop to take some pictures, and even spot a bald eagle. Next stop are some waterfalls at a state park. Absolutely beautiful. Everyone loiters and wanders around around the park for a while. Eventually we head back to the parking lot. Shit. I’m a moron. I left my lights on and…. yup… my battery is dead. Great. Guess I gotta pop start it. I start rolling it down a hill and drop the clutch. Stall, no go. Some of the guys offer to help, pushing my down it. Still not enough. Eventually, 5 minutes and a whole lot of sweat later, my bike is up and chugging along. Thanks everyone!
Group photo
After a few more stops, we arrive at our destination, an outdoor BBQ rib joint. In all honesty, those ribs were top 10 I’ve ever had. Calling them the best would be a stretch, but they really hit the spot after a long day riding. 5 hours of riding to be exact… to arrive at a place 15 miles from the motel. It’s a beautiful thing, just riding for the sake of riding.
Finally, back at the motel, foolishness abides. Before the festivities get under way, however, Sixpack offers to let me take a spin on his bike. It was probably pretty obvious that I’d been staring at it all weekend. It’s a tricked out Victory Vegas that is beautiful beyond words. And looks aside, that baby can haul!!! I only felt limited by how fast I was comfortable going, and never the bike holding me back. The raked out front was an interesting experience to handle, but it just took a little getting used to.
Sixpack's Victory Vegas
From there on out, the night degraded into barbecue, birthday cake, Cornhole, and general debauchery. All in good fun, of course. The following morning consisted of packing my stuff, strapping it all to the bike, and dropping off my room key. I then headed over to the next-door diner where I grabbed breakfast with some of the gang.
Well fed, and ready for the road, I said goodbyes and took to the road. At some point along the ride I decided I really didn’t have a whole lot of incentive to get home quickly, so I just started taking random exits and turn-offs. I just kept heading south, based upon the sun, content knowing that I’d just hit 78 at some point or another. It probably added a bit over an hour to the return ride, but it was just a pleasant, relaxing experience.
Back safe and sound, my bike needs one hell of a wash. Hopefully I’ll get on that some time this week, but for now, I’m just relaxing and recovering from a great weekend.