| Author | Message | ||
     Widowmaker2011 |
I flew down to Tampa for business and to take a ride on my Ulysses I bought down here a month ago. Was hoping to take it home to Buffalo this coming Memorial Day weekend. I put 290 miles on it today between runs to Lakeland etc. Came back to the inlaws in Tampa tonight and on a whim started packing . To heck with memorial day , I'm heading for Rochester bright and early tomorrow morning. Bike is packed , madstad installed , camera charged , GPS programmed. Weather forecast for the east coast for the next 3 days is clear and cool/cold. 1340 miles , here I come. I'll try and post some pics as I go , hope to have internet access along the way. Cheers! | ||
| Froggy |
If you haven't done it yet, print out a copy of the BRAN, better safe than sorry! | ||
| Widowmaker2011 |
bran? Are we talkin Buell directory? If so Ive preloaded it in my gps... if not what the heck is it... | ||
| Froggy |
http://www.badweatherbikers.com/cgibin/discus/boar d-auth.cgi?file=/42/42.html&lm=1237415344 | ||
| Mnrider |
Enjoy and ride safe or Ride Fast-Take Chances. | ||
| Florida_lime |
I see cool and some rain. Good luck ! Riding a Uly in the rain still beats working (usually  ) | ||
| Ulynut |
YAAHOOO!!!! Man, I'm jealous. Ride safe. | ||
| Widowmaker2011 |
Well , 10 hours in the seat and didn't hit rain until 2 miles before the hotel I had picked for the night in Charlotte NC. About 525 miles today , just a great great ride so far. Now...mother nature cometh.... We will see what she brings tomorrow. The hotel manager had me pull up under the entryway so the Uly doesn't get wet tonight.. I wanted to tell her they like to get wet , but I obliged and rolled up underneath... Not a hiccup or even a half-a-hiccup so far , but this was the easy part. Man I love this bike. A pic of 745 this morning in tampa and just now in NC   | ||
| Froggy |
What, am I the only one that will roll the bike into the room?  Mine is outside getting pissed on, its been raining all afternoon. You will be back up in NY before you know it  | ||
| Ulynut |
Yup...Permagrin.  | ||
| Widowmaker2011 |
I had to take a 2nd floor room ,there is not a "freight" elevator....  | ||
| Florida_lime |
I'm glad the rain in South Florida stayed south enough for you to start the trip. I had just a bit of it going home at 4 am, but it came down pretty good at 5 or so. Some of those stairs to the 2nd floor have pretty tight landings for the XT. | ||
| Nevrenuf |
the madstad looks pretty nice on there brad. after putting on a few miles with the taller windscreen, i can tell you how much better off you are without the stock windsceen. the uly is a great bike so enjoy. | ||
| Snakebreak |
Good luck with the weather. You will love the bike. Be safe, Snake | ||
| Widowmaker2011 |
Sorry no pics today, woke up to brilliant sunshine and 28 degrees , the highest it got was 38 mid day , when I pulled into selinsgrove pa tonite it was 31 degrees. I covered just 0ver 600 miles today. Let me tell you , I don't care what kind of gear you have , 9 hours at 70 to 75 mph in 30 degree temps wears on you. Not to mention its a wind right out of north and I'm riding head into it all day . Big time. 180 miles till home but was thinking it was foolish to go on in the dark after getting so beat up. Free breakfast here at the Hampton Inn anyways!!! I'll make the hop skip and jump home in the LATE morning. The Uly is performing like a champ , I tallied my gas mileage all day , averaging 49 mpg . Not bad for the headwinds and speed , especially with it only having 1300 miles on the clock. Savior of the day? My GATOR and my (new this morning Harley FXRG boots. Those boots kick ass. | ||
| Okc99 |
You've got to post your favorite auditory method to pass the miles. plugs? mp3? playlist? radio? Share the details my man! | ||
| Widowmaker2011 |
Day one , ipod using my noise suppresion earbuds. Ears were ringing like crazy last night so today I just rode. About 4 hours in today , I was so freakin cold I starting talking to myself , that appeared to make the miles go faster. I saw an accident at about the four hour mark which accounted for the talking to myself part. About 5 cars ahead of me on 81 in mid virginia I watched a 4 door quad cab Toyota Tundra run off the road and go end over end 3 times and then rolled a few times. It was like it was happening in slow motion....windows blowing out , rear tool box ripped from its mounting and thrown skyward, sod chunks flying, ultimately it landed squarely upside down on the front part of the cab and the cab didn't support the crush. A boy about 6? appeared ejected or was in the other car and ended up sitting on the side of the road. I rolled up and miracles of miracles the boy was sitting up and talking , appeared pretty much ok. A quick inspection of the truck however showed something those of us who have been EMT's or on a fire rescue squad try and forget. It's really almost undescribable to see the anguish on bystanders faces when they are trying to fix something that just isn't going to be fixable. Very Sad.. Afterwords, I tried , but the next 5 hours it was hard to shrug that off. I didn't mention this to my wife tonite as our other halves always worry about the what if , and it is better left to later. 30 seconds would have caught me square in the middle of that. Tomorrow I'm back to the ipod. My prayers are with that little boy. (Message edited by widowmaker2011 on March 20, 2009) (Message edited by widowmaker2011 on March 20, 2009) | ||
| Nevrenuf |
not a good way to finish up the trip. never had to witness anything like that and i hope i never do. i'll say a prayer for the boy and his family tonight and i hope the rest of your trip is uneventful tomorrow and you get home safe. | ||
| Ulynut |
Everything happens for a reason. Everything. Keep your eyes open and enjoy the ride home to your family. | ||
| 4_pete_sake |
Ulynut is right... reason... or I hope... when your time is up, thats it... don't tell me when, just live as full as you can until then .... be grateful.... of everything... most of us here are... I think enjoying life to its fullest is part of motorcycling.. but I hope we all know how dangerous daily life is ... I am in the medical field and daily I see car wreck and motorcycle wreck survivors .... if you are in your car wear your seat belt, on the bike ... all the gear all the time... the kid being ejected and surviving unharmed is rare... 9 out of 10 of the accidents I see seem to be ejects unrestrained drivers... the bad ones anyway... there is a reason cars with automatic seat belts have cheaper insurance.... Ride Safe Everyone... Cheers-pete | ||
| Widowmaker2011 |
Yes I agree everything happens for a reason. I remember looking at all my gear as I was pulling away thinking I'm glad I wear all this stuff . He was forced off the road by a Saturn that had passed me minutes earlier. The traffic was heavy in both lanes and running along about 67-70 mph and the saturn was slowly picking off spots. Not completely reckless but certainly not content with going with the flow. Looks like that was the cause according to the news. Absolutely no mention of the little boy in the news report so thats great news. The more I think about it he must have been in the other vehicle and just was sitting on the side of the road? Either way he is around to live his life. Its 550 am and I'm up and rarin to go for my last leg of the trip. It's 27 degrees and it feels like it 55 to me! | ||
| Court |
Great read! . . . . man I'm getting the bug! Cold riding really does wear on you . . . . you literally get to doing a "mile by mile" ride . . . . I can't imagine a better bike for this duty. Thanks for sharing and I'm hoping that all in the accident came through ok. Court | ||
| Widowmaker2011 |
Arrived in Rochester before 1pm. Remember my comment about it feeling almost 55 degres? NOT. When I went through Bath NY at noon it just had hit 31 degrees. Rode through the mountains in PA over some slick ice covered bridges and some funny shiny spots. WAHOO!!! A quick look over when I got home reveals the only thing wrong a loose right front turn signal! Bad Quality Control HAHAHA. Anyways I guess I qualify as a badweatherbiker now! Yep thats snow on the ground in the "I'm home" picture!   | ||
| Ourdee |
Nice report, sweet ride, Snowman flag? I took the inflatable snowmen down this week and put up the US flag. Snowman flag is bad mojo. I like the blue on the pipes. | ||
| Etennuly |
Congrats on the bike and riding it home! Sorry to hear about the accident, really glad you weren't in it. Thanks for the report, I hope to see you out there some day! | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
Now what are you going to do on Memorial Day weekend? Good read..... gotta love the spur of the moment rides! | ||
| Etennuly |
gotta love the spur of the moment rides! Those are the best kind! | ||
| Widowmaker2011 |
Well thats the wifes Birthday, and I promised her we would ride the "other" machines somewhere fun on that weekend. Maybe mine will need some backordered part and I'll have to take the Buell....  | ||
| Crusty |
Now what are you going to do on Memorial Day weekend? Never mind Memorial Day weekend; why don't you join us for a burger in Pennsylvania on April 26? It would be nice to see another XT there. | ||
| Nevrenuf |
glad to see you got home and if i'm still down here the next time your in town let me know. the wife and i test rode the spyder last month and it was a hoot. she would like to have one and as far as i'm concerned, i rather see her on the spyder than another trike conversion like we had before. | ||
| Widowmaker2011 |
Crusty , whats the deal? We'd be glad to! | ||
| Dano_12s |
Crusty,you should at least see one more XT! Brad,Denny's Beer Barrel Pub,Clearfield PA. | ||
| Crusty |
Brad; Here's a link to the thread on ADV rider: http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=43 1073 There are going to be a few of us there on Buells, but Red XTs exude so much class that the more there are, the better the event becomes. | ||
| Widowmaker2011 |
Well of course they do, in fact my van now parks in the driveway to allow the queen xt to reside inside  We have marked it on the calendar , its a quick jaunt for us! |
