K11 Owners Group

[Shoganai]

There is one more little untold story of the Dynamic Duo's interstate spree.

Well, there was this one particular l-o-n-g fairly empty stretch where the road had been paved and the cones still dotted the center line. We throttled down to a little over the posted limit of 55. Everything was mellow and the road was vacant except us.

Dave started slaloming the cones and I followed.

Well, you know how you can pick a line that’s just a little bit off and a series of tight turns and the effect is cumulative until blow a turn?

Let me say this about that.

The burn in my right thigh took several minute achieve peak pain level and I was truly surprised there wasn’t a cone shaped bruise lingering when I finally got the chance to look at my skin a few hours later.
_________________
1993 K1100RS aka The Shop Whore
1994 K1100RS aka Blue Streak

The long road is a rainbow and the pot of gold lies there.
So slip the chain and I'm off again,
You'll find me everywhere. I'm a Rover. - JT


Nana korobi ya oki

[jpberens1994K1100RS]

Ha ha!
Who'd a thunk dem sukers could hit so hard eh?

I once many moon ago for some strange reason was whiping along at 60+ and I just had to reach my left hand out & connect with one.

Oh my baby jesus that hurt even through the summer riding glove.

Glad your OK & didn't wind up clipping one too hard.

Great ride report & pics.

Thanks a many for sharing.
_________________
1993 K1100RS that I'd rather be riding FAST!
2014 Moto Guzzi Norge

[Shoganai]

I forgot to tell this part of the story:
When we arrived at John and Cathy’s home Dave had to borrow a bike kotex as his bike was leaking oil, something new for this trip. It looked to be leaking from where the oil filter mounted to the engine. Because getting to the oil filter meant working through the exhaust header, Dave opted to wait until the morning.



The next morning Dave found we had forgot to tighten the drain plug.




Ok, on with the telling....

At near the end of the ride Phil noticed cords the Dave's rear tire.

Now this was not all that surprising to be honest. The rear was questionable when we left Long Island. Dave said, “I think it’s got this trip left in it”.

Famous last words.

So we all pulled over to point and grunt at Dave’s tire and concluded there was nothing that could be done there and proceeded back to John and Cathy’s home.



While Phil was making he world famous ‘skeddy the rest were in the garage spooning off Dave’s tire.



As it happens John has a slightly used tire that’s just the right size.









Chip drove with Phil from Texas in part to shorten the drive time and to visit relatives on the area.















Then it was time to sit down the great meal.






_________________
1993 K1100RS aka The Shop Whore
1994 K1100RS aka Blue Streak

The long road is a rainbow and the pot of gold lies there.
So slip the chain and I'm off again,
You'll find me everywhere. I'm a Rover. - JT


Nana korobi ya oki

[Phil Marvin]

Hi, Gwen,
And IF I can make it to Hungry Mother IV (Chip, my brother-in-law, may also go on his Harley), you're likely to have a repeat on the spaghetti. That is, if anyone wants it again!
_________________
Ride Safe,
Phil Marvin in El Paso, TX
'94 K75A/3
'95 K75RTP

[Steverino]

Glad you had fun my little hooligan.

132, ya slowpoke...

[Shoganai]

The next morning it was time for us to slip away from this beautiful place and say farewell to our friends old and new. I know I could live in NH or VT the rest of my life because I feel I’m a kindred spirit with the life style the locals cherish here.

I’ll miss this place and these good folks.

I’ll miss the frost heave roads and tarmac wrinkles in the turns at 50 mph.

I’ll miss the artsy little stores and bicycle friendly roads.

I’ll miss the smell of the woods and small town-everybody-knows-everybody feel.

I’ll miss the covered bridges and architecture of the homes and stone buildings.

I’ll miss the self-sufficient spirit of the inhabitants and the feeling that people live close to the Earth here.

But most of all I’ll miss my friends.

My plans were to ride from NH to visit my friend Scott from ADV in Moretown VT then on to Waltham, MA to visit my long time and dear friend Jeff form ADV. Since it was in the general direction of Dave’s home and he stated he had wanted to meet Jeff and Scott he asked to join me for the ride.

Of course I agreed and off we went.

Dave would be the first person that’s ever ridden with on a route I planned and it would end up being the longest I’ve ever lead a ride. I would be dragging him through a few hundred miles of twisty tiny back roads, dirt/gravel roads, and main street small towns.

There were few pictures taken because we needed to make time to reach our destination before nightfall.

Dave was a wonderful riding partner and I will gladly share the road with him again anytime and anywhere.

We stopped for two bridges; the first was abandoned

This is a picture of Dave taking a picture of me on the old bridge.










And second was a railroad trestle. After crossing the main bridge, we swung around to look at the parellel trestle.






_________________
1993 K1100RS aka The Shop Whore
1994 K1100RS aka Blue Streak

The long road is a rainbow and the pot of gold lies there.
So slip the chain and I'm off again,
You'll find me everywhere. I'm a Rover. - JT


Nana korobi ya oki

[Shoganai]

We stopped at this sweet little place that was a combination craft store, coffee shop and restaurant for a snack and a pee break.



What else does anyone need?



Dave frequently checked in with his wife because she worries about him while he's riding.



Next we arrived at Scotts home.





The view off his deck.









The lovely lady of the home who made us some fresh coffee






Dave snuggling, he's a natural with dogs.



The pup wondering if there were any snacks around.



Dave and I liked the bathroom sink.



After an hour of good conversation and coffee it was time we got back on the road.







The pictures below are just begging for a caption contest.





3 years ago Scott and his family adopted my Great Pyrenees Blossom. When I moved from the farm I lived on in SC to in-town living in VA Blossom lost her free roaming farm life. I ask on ADV if anyone could give her the home I could no longer provide and Scott took her in.

I was looking forward to seeing her again but it seems she continued her free roaming nature a one day she just never came home. My guess is she just shacked up with another family.



This is my son saying good by to Blossom as Scotts daughter gets to know her.



When she lived at Scott’s they were keeping Alpacas, but since the kids grew up they were sold to other Alpaca lovers.

This is a teddy bear made from Alpaca fur.



Some parting hugs and pictures and we were on our way towards Boston.






_________________
1993 K1100RS aka The Shop Whore
1994 K1100RS aka Blue Streak

The long road is a rainbow and the pot of gold lies there.
So slip the chain and I'm off again,
You'll find me everywhere. I'm a Rover. - JT


Nana korobi ya oki

[Shoganai]

Dave took these shots at one bridge.





Now when I was building the routes I didn’t research places or things. I just selected roads that were small and wiggly on Map Source.
I believe this leaves room for true discovery and surprise.

So it was we rode across this really long covered bridge.
We pulled over to talk about and take a picture.

I told Dave, “That was the longest covered bridge I’ve ever seen”, hopped off my bike to take the picture.



When I got back to the bike Dave said it was the longest covered bridge, and pointed out this marker.



Well that was really COOL!

The roads were sweet. At one of our road-side drink/snack stops Dave said something about ‘I can’t believe how fast you enter these turns how can you tell what’s on the other side?’

I told him I used the GPS to ‘see through the turn’ before I rode it. By that I mean I set the resolution at 2 to 8 miles depending on the road and then I can see if it’s tight` or a decreasing radius or if there’s back-to-back left and rights. Then I plan my lines on that data.

At one point I missed a turn on a gravel road and signaled to Dave to turn around. He did and stopped to wait for me. The K1100RS has a wider turning radius than many other bikes and I had to paddle foot it in turn. I can barely touch the ground and the course gravel scared me into thinking I was going to drop it.

I shut it down and got off as I always do to push it. Dave, bless his heart, trotted back saying, ‘you don’t have to do that by yourself when you help, just ask for help.’

I said, ‘I always do this by myself. Girls have a lot of pressure to hold their own in this sport and I want to hold my own’. He just smiled, shook his head and threw a leg over the bike. I wasn’t offended because I know him and helper has gotta help and he was not going to think less of me.







Well any stop in the woods is a good time for a pee break.

[imghttp://shoganai.smugmug.com/Travel/Hungry-Lobsta-2010/DSC01863/1012219953_DemrE-L.jpg][/img]

Did I mention I have a passion for old gas stations?






_________________
1993 K1100RS aka The Shop Whore
1994 K1100RS aka Blue Streak

The long road is a rainbow and the pot of gold lies there.
So slip the chain and I'm off again,
You'll find me everywhere. I'm a Rover. - JT


Nana korobi ya oki

[drikko]

So I'm sitting here admiring the photos then start to wondering whats with all the covered bridges, google was my friend and it's to stop the snow building up on the bridge and collapsing them due to excessive weight. DOH! Should have thought of that although living in a place where it has never snowed it wasn't obvious.......
_________________
K1100RS '97
Laverda RGS 1000 '84
Jim Young Trailer Sailer 5.7M WB

DISCLAIMER:- Anything I say may have been when I was drunk so please don't take it personally.

'Bigamy is having one wife/husband too many. Monogamy is the same.'
Oscar Wilde

[Shoganai]

We arrived at Jeff’s in the evening where he had dinner and laughs waiting on us.

I did mess up though…I forgot to call ahead and tell Jeff that Dave was tagging along.

I apologized a couple of times for this.

Also waiting for us was another internet friend I had yet to meet.

He is the same age as my son and is a truly gifted photographer. He became crippled by an adverse reaction to Cipro and that’s why he had to sell his Vstrom and why he wears the braces. He is in PT and his strength is improving. He also is also a web developer.

Jon has a kind heart and gentle spirit.







Dinner was AWESOME!! They went ALL out!!

Steaks, shrimp and corn off the grill and scallop salad with homemade walnut pralines.





Unbelievable!

There was time to set around and talk.











Jon was brave enough to try this.



Jeff pulled up my wedding video.



If you watch the link, keep in mind this was not rehearsed, only verbally skeched out eariler that day amoung moast but not that ended up there.

We just met the preacher less than an hour before and 1/2 the people in the audince are not our guests, and the players on the stage didn’t have anything to do with it after putting us on stage.

All I asked the preacher over the phone a month before was come as a hillbilly and use traditional vows.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FB9-DoaxdY

Dave had to work the next morning and had to be at home this night, so after parting hugs, Dave saddled up for a three-hour ride home.





So ended a beautiful day of sweet riding and well met friends.
_________________
1993 K1100RS aka The Shop Whore
1994 K1100RS aka Blue Streak

The long road is a rainbow and the pot of gold lies there.
So slip the chain and I'm off again,
You'll find me everywhere. I'm a Rover. - JT


Nana korobi ya oki

[Shoganai]

[drikko]

So with that weight limit, did you guys have to go through separately?


Ducking for cover!!! Hat, coat, outta here...
_________________
K1100RS '97
Laverda RGS 1000 '84
Jim Young Trailer Sailer 5.7M WB

DISCLAIMER:- Anything I say may have been when I was drunk so please don't take it personally.

'Bigamy is having one wife/husband too many. Monogamy is the same.'
Oscar Wilde

[bmwtf]

Origionally those bridges had wooden decks. Some still do. The cover was to protect the wooden deck from weather. It was less expensive and disruptive to replace the roof than the deck.

[Shoganai]

The next morning I rode with Augie to Otis, MA to meet viverrid whom had graciously agreed to join us for a snack at the place Vince picked out.













I asked him about his ADV name and he said something like this.

VIVERRID: any of a family (Viverridae) of carnivorous mammals that include the civets, genets, linsangs, and in some classifications the mongooses and that are rarely larger than a domestic cat but are long, slender, and like a weasel in build with short more or less retractile claws and rounded feet — viverrid adjective
　


I love any place that has honey in a jar on the table.



We ate and talked about the small town and how Vince knew every one they’re by name, occupation and relationships. And we talked about his illness, hopes, regrets, plans and dreams for the family he’ll be leaving far too soon.

He ate a brownie and seemed to have a passion for sweet foods and muffins.

Then it was time for us to say good-by, and I knew this was going to be the last time I would see him alive.
　









　
　
　
I could not bear to watch him ride away, so I went inside like nothing was any different than the parting of ways on any other day.
　
Vince, thank you again for making the time and effort to ride out to meet us. I wish you peace on your journey and we will follow you when our time comes to walk the path, and I pray we will have a portion of the calm courage you possess.

(Vince has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer)
　
_________________
1993 K1100RS aka The Shop Whore
1994 K1100RS aka Blue Streak

The long road is a rainbow and the pot of gold lies there.
So slip the chain and I'm off again,
You'll find me everywhere. I'm a Rover. - JT


Nana korobi ya oki

[Shoganai]

After leaving Otis, I headed to New Jersey to meet DantesDame aka Colleen.

I have long admired her and I was looking forward to finally meeting her in person. www.dantesdame.com

I was trying to make time so I didn’t take any pictures until I got to her home.
I was keeping an eye on a large, heavy cloud to my right and hoping I could reach my destination before it caught me.

When I arrived on her street I was close to her house per the GPS. I was sitting on my stopped bike in street looking at the houses trying to figure out which one was hers when a tall pretty lady sticks her head out a door and waves at me.

She helps me to the garage where I see a few of their toys. They painted these themselves complete with the reflective star.





This is her project car, a 1971 VW.




Is that sweet or what?!

Just as I’m getting out of my gear her husband Dan rolls in on his KLR.
After the meet and greet I’m invited in for a cool beer and meet some cool cats.






It was then the storm reached us and I was glad to be inside as the lighting and rain passed over. When it let up they took me out to eat at a Portuguese BBQ. I was excited, as I’ve never eaten Portuguese food.

I didn’t have a clue what to order and left that up to my hosts.

First, was a strong curry shrimp that we shared followed by a beef, pork and chicken combo with sides of black beans and rice. It was REALLY good. And when it was time to go I asked for the left overs to go.









When we got back to the house the conversations swirled around motorcycles, gear, cats, and our S.O.’s. As it turns out we both met our husbands through motorcycles and I think that’s a great foundation to build a relationship.

Now, back on gear.
The rain got us talking about rain gear and that lead to showing said rain gear. When a pain of neoprene socks were brought out I stated that neoprene was not water proof. Well…that led to testing the theory of water proofness of said socks.



This cross-stitch was made by Blue Poof www.bluepoof.com , another female rider for Colleen.




This was a gift and IIRC it was from Hawaii. A grass skirt and full-face helmet.



They introduced me to Skype and gave me a live demonstration, which was real cool.

Then it was time for bed.

The next morning as I was getting packed to go one of the cats insisted I pet him, so how could I resist.



They had to go to work and after farewells and a quick hug I wave them off and I finish getting the bike ready to leave.



Miles down the road I once again enjoyed some Portuguese BBQ washed down with some coffee that added Stok to. Remember I’m still without a working CPAP and I get so sleepy when riding or doing anything when I don’t have it.



I was this and thought it was unusual.





Some random photos.











The back way left me looking twice for work-arounds like this.



I stopped at the first gas station as I entered Virginia for fuel and a pee. This was written on the bathroom stall door.



OUCH.

A pretty field.





A colored slate roof.



A gate into a horse farm.







An amazing dry stacked stone.









A beautiful autumn field.





Fall flowers.







A dead flower.



Glamour shot



Near this.



One more stop before home.






I stopped here for some take home dinner just 20 miles from home.



It was 8 days, 2000+ miles, no rain, no tickets, good friends old and new and good food.

Isn’t that what life’s about.

Go ride before it too late; before you become too old, or sick, or broken inside and out.

As Vince said, "Don't wait because if you do it may be too late."
_________________
1993 K1100RS aka The Shop Whore
1994 K1100RS aka Blue Streak

The long road is a rainbow and the pot of gold lies there.
So slip the chain and I'm off again,
You'll find me everywhere. I'm a Rover. - JT


Nana korobi ya oki

[roadscum]

Nice..... especially the Portuguese BBQ!
_________________
"I don't believe in the after life, although I am bringing a change of underwear." - Woody Allen
'94 K11RS
'08 F800S
'08 MG 1200 Sport
'09 Triumph Scrambler

[Klinker]

[WaywardSon]

Gwen,

Thanks for the heads up on this thread...and forum:-) Your reports on ADV are what got me interested in getting back into riding after several years without a bike. I thank you for that.

Glad to see you out riding, taking pics and the time to bring us along. Any chance you are going to Barber this weekend for the Vintage Festival?

Ride safe.............John

Posted a reply a few hours ago, but it didn't seem to "take", so am trying again. Sorry if I double posted.

[Karlos11]

What's that Portuguese BBQ all about? A family restaurant, with typical food? Who ordered for you? Important: did you enjoy it?

As for the story and advice of your friend Vince, well, it's a lesson for all.

Best regards,
CJ
_________________
Carlos
'95 K1100 RS

[Bob T]

Excellent thread...
Threads like this help me deal with having to wait for my K to be delivered...

But I do have a technical question for you, Shoganai...

Your camera...How do you take pictures while you are on the bike?
My camera has a little inset power button and I have to take my glove off to power it up...
Does your camera have an easy to use power button?
And, my other fear is dropping the thing...do you have yours tethered?

Anyway...great stories and pictures...keep it up.
_________________
Bob T.
'96 K1100RS
'95 K1100RS - Totaled
'01 Triumph TT600
'83 Suzuki GS1100E