| Author | Message | ||
     Jerry_haughton |
 FMJ's S2...or is it TboltEric's S2? you need a program to keep up with the Fireman anymore.   Dana Fennie's Red X1  Snail and Greg/Evil SV edited by jerry_haughton on May 26, 2004 | ||
| Court |
Allan: Fire your address to me at court@canfield.net and I'll get the RSS manual to you. I think I have a box of service and owners manuals, I'll see. Ferris: Do not miss meeting Allan's wife Penny. She is part of Buell legend. The story is long and involved but, trust me on this one, she is one of the greatest Buell enthusiasts of all time! Ride safe, Court | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
Court, i hope i'm lucky enough to meet them both very soon -- thanks.  American Sport Bike Al checks out the assembled fleet...  ...and decides Snail's Gixxer Thou looks like an inviting place to sit. FMJ takes the concept several light years further and takes Snail up on his offer to aim the big Gix up Highway 101. this is the Fireman just before pulling the trigger, and i guess he's trying to get his thoughts focused?  about 20 minutes later he was back, eyes as big as saucers. the first three words out of his mouth all started with "F", and it wasn't "fire truck." "Did you see God?", i asked him. "Yeah! i PASSED Him!!!" unfortunately for me (but probably a good thing for Snail's new toy), i had already had several beers by the time i found out about the free demo ride program, and opted (wisely, i'm convinced) not to tempt fate and the Oregon Highway Patrol (who Snail says typically keeps pretty close tabs on his activities -- i guess they think he's a stud, too. ) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
 this is Vik/Eeeek of SacBORG fame taking yet another of Snail's toys, this time his Hayabusa, for a spin across the lower forty.  ok, ok, it's not a 'Busa...it IS Eeeek, tho.  the Lightons and the Reiners each admiring the view.  and what a view it is, altho i had to grab this shot in a rare moment between fog banks. that's the Pacific Ocean and legendary Highway 101 below, and tomorrow morning the group, now even larger with the addition of Snail and several of his homies, will roll out that direction. edited by jerry_haughton on May 26, 2004 | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
the next day, about an hour or two into the ride, and the stunning ribbon of solitary backroad that Snail and his friends had mapped out for us barely a week before was now opened up like a triple-bypass patient as a county road crew installed a giant drainage culvert from one ditch to the other, pretty damn effectively blocking any hope of continued forward progress. not to worry, says a local in a pickup truck, this 'ol dirt road over here will take you right around to the other side; it's only about three miles, and your bikes will make it just fine. well, watcha gonna do? so off we went, over the river and thru the woods, doing our best Ricky Carmichael. i was riding sweep on this leg, and i finally had to stop because the dust was so thick i couldn't see. i figured i'd wait a few, let things clear out a bit, and hope i could follow the trail. several minutes later i came upon Al Lighton, stopped dead in the road. "Wussup bud?" "Can't breathe," came the reply, "too much dust." we agreed to ride together the rest of the way, side-by-side so we wouldn't fog each other out, and we when got to the spot pictured below i HAD to stop and grab pix -- it was so lush and beautiful, and the bikes looked so totally out of place.   i'm glad we got these pix -- i think they're pretty awesome, and a great memory on the day. so anyway, we finally regain the group, after several uphill sections where you kinda had to paddle and roost to get thru, and the three-mile detour turned out to be closer to eight. if the gang below looks very happy, it's the joy of being back on pavement again (especially the two Hayabusas in attendance, i'm thinkin'). if you look close, you'll see the SacBORG salute in full glory (i think Big G even has BOTH his guns blazing), an image of defiance and conquest amidst the filthiest bevy of streetbikes you're ever likely to see.  my fave quote of this stop, from an un-named XB pilot as he shook off a layer of dust that encased him like a cocoon: "Hmmmmm, guess I shoulda closed my helmet vents back there a ways..." edited by jerry_haughton on May 26, 2004 | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
well, our adventures for this day were just beginning. we'd just barely gotten rolling when we're back on the side of the road again, the meat on the back of Snail's 'Busa as flat as the pancakes we'd had for breakfast that morning.  Snail got busy with his repair kit, but it didn't look good when THIS came out of the tire  especially as the screw had actually ripped the tire as it augered itself in. despite a valiant attempt the tire couldn't be plugged, and the saga of finally getting a flatbed up there (no cell coverage, and the nearest payphone was something like 25 miles away) is a tale of epic proportions.  not to mention it burned up a lot of time. hours later they rolled the 'Busa out of the shop at Molestation R Us Motorcycle in Eugene, after hammering on Snail's wallet in a big way ("Well, uh, it's a 190 and all..." ), and we were off, but well behind what passed as a schedule. no worries, tho, everyone was still having a blast, and stuff like this is just part of living life in the fast lane. edited by jerry_haughton on May 27, 2004 | ||
| Firemanjim |
Schedule??Did we have a schedule?? | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
nope, we didn't have much of one, that's for sure, but what we did got hashed, especially for those of us who wanted to camp out that night... so some of us spent the next several hours of waning day searching for a campground. in my best "I know what I'm doing" voice i aimed us toward one east of Eugene on Highway 58. found it ok, and it was a beautiful place, and altho it was a state park, there was no camping allowed. further east, running out of day, and the NEXT campground we came to (Fall Creek Reservoir) was on fire. literally. a raging forest fire that was blanketing the region with dense smoke, a fire which had begun several days earlier at the very place we were all currently yearning to hang our weary helmets. so, further east on 58, and we FINALLY found maybe the most perfect and gorgeous campground (Copper Canyon as memory serves) i've ever stayed in. we had the place virtually all to ourselves, there was free firewood to be gathered from the surrounding forest, Snail and Co. whipped out a pair of industrial-size camp stoves, and we dined on fresh salmon and listened to campfire lies and the river roll by, not necessarily in that order. Eeeeek made a beer run on his 954, and life was good. well, except for Greg/Evil SV, who put a punctuation mark on his day by snagging THIS...  ...a few minutes before we called it quits for the day. edited by jerry_haughton on May 27, 2004 | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
i don't remember how much over it was, but it was enough that the Evil one was not looking forward to checking in with the Boss.  i felt bad for the guy (Eeeek and i lucked out and had two different cars flash us a warning about the OHP hidden around the bend), enough so that i donated a crisp $20 to the "Get Greg outta the Doghouse" fund, and then to further show my support we drank beer until he and i and the flicker of the fire and the blackness of the night were the only things that existed. sorry about the pic quality -- these were shot with a hand-held 210-zoom pretty much after dark, and i think they say it all despite the blur. edited by jerry_haughton on May 27, 2004 | ||
| Bartimus |
Great pics Ferris, And I'm sure the memories are even greater. Isn't life grand when you can get together with a bunch of folks and just head out and race the wind, smell the roses, and scrape some pegs? HA! BUELL, different in every sense... What a wonderful phrase. I think I need to have that tattooed somewhere. Even though I wasn't present, cruising through your memories was great. Thanks for posting them. Whoretimus Tripods forever!!! | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
thanks Bart, that means a bunch. one of these days i'll get around to posting some memories from your visit here. an fyi to whomever may be trying to follow this thread; i've gotten quickly used to the 1.5 MB download speed of our new cable modem, and have forgotten what it's like to load a page like this on a dial-up. as these pages roll over and archive every 30th post, i will henceforth only hang one pic per post, to keep the time it takes to load a page a little more reasonable. not sure that makes any sense, to either you OR me, but maybe it'll help. i'll close out this day with TOMORROW'S headline:  "IS THIS ANY WAY TO TREAT A $600 WHEEL???" | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
day four of Four-Play was full of adventure, from the crazed dingo-dog that shot across the highway at us at speed, obviously intent of showing us who was the big dog in the neighborhood and SOMEHOW managed to thread his way thru a dozen bikes without getting hit...or taking someone down. or the Aufderheide, a road so gorgeous i've now ridden it three times and don't have a pic to show, as it's just too cool a ride to stop long enough for photo op. Detroit Lake is the bomb, and the highways leading to and from it, but MY excitement for the day was riding the bull clear to the eight-second bell after i whacked a brutal repair-gone-bad in the road (below), and did the damage pictured above.  the item in the pic is a 35-mm film canister, placed to provide scale. edited by jerry_haughton on May 28, 2004 | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
 somebody was kind enough to spray paint a warning in the road, for all the good it's gonna do -- this pic was taken a mere 50 feet before the impact zone, and as you can see the patch is old enough that it has faded to match nearly perfectly the surrounding blacktop, the mottled lighting is certainly tough, and to make matters worse the patch has been striped by the county, taking away my last visual clue of impending adrenalin. after i collected myself and checked out the bike (the tire was somehow still holding air; good thing the hit was next to one of the spokes), someone asked what i was gonna do. i thought for a second, and said, "Let's ride!" Snail's got a great shot of me hammering on the dent with a rubber mallet i was carrying for driving tent stakes. the wheel just laughed at me, not fazed in the least. edited by jerry_haughton on May 28, 2004 | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
ps: by the time the trip was done i put another 2500 miles on the damaged wheel. it has now been retired and sits patiently in the garage, while i decide whether to make a clock or a thermometer out of it... | ||
| Pdxs3t |
I think you should turn it into a chandelier! | ||
| Leftcoastal |
You might try sending it out to Dr. John's in Anaheim - looks like stuff he could fix. AL | ||
| Tripper |
This is the coolest thread I've ever read. Scanners-be-damned. | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
Pdx, great idea! LeftCoast, i called several places (not Dr. John's, altho i did have his number) and no one could GUARANTEE that the wheel would be structurally perfect after the straightening process. that the wheel could be straightened i have no doubt. but i couldn't/won't take the chance that it might still be flawed afterwards. i actually bent BOTH wheels in the incident above, but the rear is the most photogenic. my insurance company ponied up for new wheels AND tires (believe it or not, my first m/c insurance claim in 32 years of riding). the new wheels have been stripped and hand-polished to match the old, and i'm presently in the process of putting the hurt to a set of 208's. they're not gonna last for long (something ol' Bartimus could comment on with some authority...), but they're a little more exhilarating in the tight stuff than the 205's/220's i normally run. Tripper, i can't thank you enough for your words. FB | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
not much further up the road and Big G came up lame on his 'Busa. it sure takes a lot of CO2 cartridges to air up a 190, fortunately Gordon Buhle was well-stocked, and we were back on the road in no time.  edited by jerry_haughton on May 29, 2004 | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
i'll let Fireman Jim explain this one...  this leg of the trip lacked nothing in the way of adventure, scenery, curvaceous roads, and lasting memories. i avoided the mother of all high sides. Tom/Reindog earned his new nickname "Forger" (Tom, do YOU want to tell the story???). about an hour after his FIRST flat, Big G and Co. were on the side of the road fixing yet ANOTHER. but in spite of all this, most of the group commented that the chunk of road from Detroit to Estacada was their favorite of the trip. i don't have any awesome pix of the scenery to show, as thru the good stuff we rode like the wind, only stopping long enough to deal with bent rims, flat tires, tip-overs, and wayward sons. (carry on, Forger Man... ) as we neared Portland, Oregon, and the conclusion of Four-Play, we peeled off in smaller groups and went our respective ways, some to relatives, some to old friends, some playing the lodging situation by ear, but all looking forward to hooking back up in the morning for the launch of SPLASH. the pix don't do the ride justice, i can tell you that. Highway 1 north of San Francisco is sublime....and it just keeps getting better. the Redwoods of NorCal are indescribable (it was a treat watching Eeeeek imitate the Speeders from Star Wars as he warped his 954 thru these ancient giants). chasing the Road Panzer into Crescent City. rockin' the top of Starkweather Mountain. trail riding. the surreal, sublime beauty of the Oregon Cascades. and the friendship of the road. i'm lucky and honored to have been a part of it all. edited by jerry_haughton on May 29, 2004 | ||
| Reindog |
I was wondering how Ferris/Jerry was going to bust me on this one. Before spinning the birth of the Forger name, a wee bit of background is in order. I have been riding motorcycles since 1977 and was a law abiding citizen until I got my S3T in 2000. Since that time, I have been riding with the likes of some very serious hooligans. Up until that fateful day, I ALWAYS have eaten everybodys dust from behind. No exceptions. On many a ride, all I could see were tiny specks of bikers plowing over the horizon in front of me. It was not unusual to be seemingly riding by myself happily picking the bugs out of my smile. On that glorious day carving up the Oregon mountains, unbeknownst to me, I somehow took the lead of the pack. It seems that FMJ who has gained an excellent reputation for controlled riding at a hundred MPH, managed to gain an even greater reputation for dropping his bike at 2MPH. The late Mr. Ferris Bueller was busy working on his upcoming chandelier project. The entire group stopped to appreciate the excellent work executed by Ferris and Fireman. Apparently I missed those events as I was peering ahead to frantically catch up with the group that MUST be ahead of me. As Mr. Haughton has already described, the run from Detroit to Estacada is a four star grinner. I went faster and faster trying to catch up to my comrades. I forged through those mountains leaning and carving those turns. But where was everyone???? Seeing no one, I wicked it up some more. Eventually I got to Estacada and pulled over by the side of the road and waited... and waited... and waited. A half hour passed and not a single motorcycle came by. I figured those bastards musta dumped me and took an unplanned trip up to Mt. Hood. Eventually, I pulled the rip cord and boogied into the Mother Ship awaiting us in Portland. When the Slackers finally got into Estacada, I had Forged ahead. We established cell phone communications and eventually linked up. I took some severe punishment and was forced to buy $30 worth of Terminator Stout for the upcoming night of debauchery and food at our friends house. That is how the Forger was born. OK, Ferris. I'm a humble man and will buck up to it. I beseech everyones forgiveness. But if you guys ever ditch me like this again, there will be hell to pay.  edited by reindog on May 29, 2004 | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
Forger, you're lucky we let you off at a measly $30 (man, does that Terminator ever go down good...), but yes, you are forgiven. and screw the humble stuff, you are now a LEGEND! it was a pleasure Four-Play'ing with you, from beginning, to end, and especially the in-between. Ferris (i ain't never been late) Bueller | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
next time:  SPLASH 2003 | ||
| Seeeu911 |
What great fun ! and great friends ! on a fun ride of legendary proportions..btw all you guys suck | ||
| Al_lighton |
So, while FMJ was fixing his turn signal from his 2MPH tipover (apparently he's never seen moss before), I dashed ahead of the group in search of the later-to-be-known-as-Forger. He's right about that section of raod, it was SWEET, the kind of road that makes even an average rider like me feel like Nicky-freakin-Hayden. So I'm HAULING butt, KNOWING Tom is in front of us but he is LONG gone (drinking while we're waiting for him up on the hill, I might add). He was figuring the bastards left him behind, I was figuring the basterd dashed ahead to the beer (or had launched off the road trying...) It's a good thing he had a bunch of Terminator stout when we got there...... It was an epic day...week....trip. Al | ||
| Reindog |
I hope I was able to communicate that the incident was true to my lifestyle philosophy.... GIVE, GIVE, GIVE, NEVER TAKE. I was just trying to help. Darn, people are annoyed at me when I am too slow. Now they're mad at me when I'm too fast. Go figure. How dare riders leaving me ahead like that.  | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
I hope I was able to communicate that the incident was true to my lifestyle philosophy.... RIDE, RIDE, RIDE, NEVER STOP. | ||
| Dino |
This is the view from the bridge coming in to Estacada, where poor ol' Forger had to wait around for his wayward buddies. Damn tough assignment, Forger. I'm thinkin' maybe you did it on purpose!  | ||
| Pdxs3t |
Jerry, Just wanted to say thanks for this great thread and a very big thanks for your help with the bolt! Jim | ||
| Firemanjim |
Never seen moss,of course I've never seen it you maroons,I don't live in a stinking rain forest--and for the record it was less than 2 mph,probably less that 1/2 mph fer pity's sake!!! Here in sunny Cal we have normal stuff on the side of the damn road--ya know--DIRT!!! |
