| Author | Message | ||
     Jerry_haughton |
DAY ELEVEN, cont.  i s'pose this would be as good as time as any to inform that JB2 and Mikey had left me to my own devices way back at the Dragon, as each had some chores to check off. bye boys! i had, thus, ridden the Dragon solo, and was making the journey this afternoon/evening back to Franklin on my own as well, thru pretty much uncharted waters. if you're like me - always on the prowl for a Kodak moment, stopping constantly, hanging innumerable u-turns, and generally making little forward progress - riding sans bros can be a good thing. i stopped a TON on the ride back to Franklin, trying to grab the lighting and ambiance while it was there for the grabbing. sometimes, like above, i got lucky. (Message edited by jerry_haughton on October 30, 2004) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
DAY ELEVEN, cont.  purty flowers. i figure there was about an acre of them, about waist high, and there was some thought about locking in the hubs on the Strom and wading out into the middle of them. would make a GREAT shot, my mind's eye was thinkin'. in the end, i knew i'd feel guilty for the carnage said excursion would have created, and opted for this shot instead. (Message edited by jerry_haughton on October 30, 2004) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
DAY ELEVEN, cont.  cool deal, this. i'd made a mental note on the way to the Dragon to stop here on the way back and click some pix, as the setting, lighting, etc., was pretty neat. well, i DID stop on the way back, and burned up some memory on the Nikon, and never did get the award-winning shot i'd hoped for. but... ...whilst i'm traipsing around, the owners of the Lodge, a couple, made contact, nice as you please (the fellow had a drink in hand so i liked him immediately), and asked as to the manner of my program. just on a trip, like the looks of your place, and trying to capture it on fil...er, pixels. the folks were cool, pleased as can be, and stated with pride that their business was brand new, many months and dollars in the making, and just weeks away from their Grand Opening. the Dude with Drink then asks, "Hey, what size t-shirt do you wear?" ??? big and tall, i said. well, big anyway. ok, ok, large. yeah, you're right, i think an XL would fit just fine. when it was all said and done i had a free Kickstand Lodge t-shirt outta the deal, in your basic biker black, and made a couple of new friends. if you do the Dragon, you'll ride right by this place. check 'em out - they're our kind of people. (Message edited by jerry_haughton on October 30, 2004) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
DAY ELEVEN, cont.  hey, somebody stitch these two pix together, wouldya? (Message edited by jerry_haughton on October 30, 2004) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
DAY ELEVEN, cont.  in fading light, looking down upon the Little Tennessee River. (Message edited by jerry_haughton on October 30, 2004) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
DAY ELEVEN, cont.  JB2 can tell you what the ivy-looking stuff is, and it's apparently a mondo nuisance in this part of the world. (Message edited by jerry_haughton on October 30, 2004) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
DAY ELEVEN, cont.  not native to this area, it sure digs the conditions, and makes for a cool photo if you don't know what you're looking at. (Message edited by jerry_haughton on October 30, 2004) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
DAY ELEVEN, cont.  why this picture? 'cause the place is for sale, and i fell in love with it. what a gorgeous old farm house, in one of the garden spots of the world, and i wanted to live here. Denise asked me if it had brochures in the deal out by the road. yep. how much $?, she asked. didn't look, i said. couldn't. was afraid there'd be no turning back. (Message edited by jerry_haughton on October 30, 2004) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
DAY ELEVEN, cont.  you'll forgive me for the tough lighting, i hope, but this is the view across the road from the farm house above. hmmmm, a person could do worse than having the Dragon right in your own back yard... (Message edited by jerry_haughton on October 30, 2004) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
DAY ELEVEN, cont.  absolutely fell in love with this litter of pups, all innocent and inquisitive. hey, wanna play??? (Message edited by jerry_haughton on October 30, 2004) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
DAY ELEVEN, cont.  one of my favorite pix from the first Oktoberfast last year was taken by Reindog Forger Tom of a flock of bikes parked here at the ThunderDome, and was entitled "Lots of Mirrors." you'd have to see the pic, and i just spent 15 minutes trying to find it and can't. Forger, if you're lurking, post it here wouldya? anyway, in honor of my fantastic forgerific friend, i have entitled the above pic, "Lots of Ears."  (Message edited by jerry_haughton on October 30, 2004) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
DAY ELEVEN, cont.  not a great photo, but a fun way to end my photographic day. by the time i met JB2 and Mikey back in Franklin it was getting Pretty Dark, and i darned near was late for dinner. oops, sorry Mike...supper. it had been yet another awesome day on the road, different from everyone before, and just as memorable, and left me primed for what was next. Mike and Sue Breedlove treated us like family, 'cause it's just the way they are. supper with them tonight was a casual treat, and i now understand better the bond between JB2 and the man that handed him a lifeline that dark night in 2002. Deal's Gap and the surrounding slice of Heaven is just that. i've now been here twice, and both times had to hustle on to meet time constraints. next time i'm doing it right and spending my entire vacation HERE! good night Franklin, North Carolina. thanks for making a stranger feel welcome. TOTAL MILES FOR THE DAY: 211.0 (Message edited by jerry_haughton on October 30, 2004) | ||
| Racerboy |
Jerry...I had no idea!...I owe you an apology for not stopping much more and letting you exercise your shutter finger and eye...Your photography is magazine and gallery quality...You told me you wanted to stop at the state borders but WOW!...And now I kicking myself for what I deprived the rest of these guys and gals...Your photos...I've gone back, as I'm sure many others have and downloaded many to my hard drive so that I can enjoy them again and again... How is your relationship with the DL coming along?...Have you had a chance to do a little "adventure" touring on it yet?...Last I spoke with you, you were not too certain it was a keeper... JB2...John's always been attracted to the viffer's and was pretty torn when he finally chose the FJR (or the Bluewhisperjet, as he calls it)...But, like you, I think he's chosen the much better long haul scooter...He posted on our local board of a ride he took this week where he encountered some rain for the first time on the FJR...Just put up the "shields" and keep on truckin'...My R11RT was the first bike I have owned that had the kind of weather protection to let you ride in pretty much anything but ice...You're going to love an ST1300 as it is everything the RT is but with a GREAT engine to boot...The Mother Ship is seventeen months young and just turned over 49k... Thanks to both of you for sharing this trip with all of us... Bob | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
Racerboy Bob, thank you so very much for your kind words, it's really appreciated. yeah, we blew by some photo ops, that's for sure (now i know where you got your nickname  ), but on the other hand, you and i both had some serious ground to cover in a short amount of time, and we did what we had to do. no worries, i sure enjoyed having you as a riding partner as we ripped west, and i'd do it all over again TOMORROW if i thought i could get away with it. the V-Stomper, as Denise calls it, is growing on me (appropriate, i suppose, as it resembles a 'growth' from some angles...) a set of Two Brothers from my sweetie for my birthday woke the thing up, aurally at least, altho exacerbated a preexisting lean condition. hate to do it, but looks like a PCIII is on my Christmas wish list. still think the overall build quality and fit & finish falls well short of Honda. there is too much driveline lash, and you and i have talked already about how badly Suzuki missed the mark on the fairing design by not offering better lower leg protection, and storage ability, in return for such a, um, er, distinctive design. but still, it grows on me. LOVE the riding position, all upright and dirtbike-like. lots of leverage on the bars, and ergos that allow this tired old body to log a 900-mile day (day 23) and still want to ride the darned thing the next morning. the motor is fun and makes me smile, and MAYBE, if i keep the thing, somewhere down the line i'll spring for the factory hard luggage (Givi-made, by the way - i didn't know that until recently), and REALLY make this thing ugl...distinctive. for now it's my only squeeze, and it's become a personal mission to turn it into less of an ugly duckling. JB2 will get his hands on all the yellow stuff sometime this winter, as i've mentioned to you, and will be painting the yeller parts to match the very-dark-blue on the upper fairing and front fender - i think this will make a DRAMATIC change for the better. i've polished the wheels already but will NOT go nuts shining up other stuff like i did on the VFR - just trying to inject a little life into the thing. the polished Two Bros cans and inlet pipes go a long way in the bling department, and eliminated 40+ pounds of avoirdupois from the bike in the process. Bob, thanks again for your words, and for your's and Shirl's hospitality on my way thru - i appreciate it. for anyone following along, i ran out of time last night and didn't get a chance to hang any captions on the latest batch of photos. maybe tonight... ride to lean. | ||
| Jb2 |
Racerboy, by far the top four bikes on the road this trip was 'Wings, 'Lectra Hogs, FJRs and KLTs, in that order. Another note to those following. We ran into more bike trippers than I've ever seen on the road at one time. Non-seasonal tourism works; the kids are in school, 90% of the RV's have headed to Florida, vacation for most of America is over. If you're planing a bike trip and want the road to yourself September is the month. The added threat of hurricanes is just the tabasco sauce on a great adventure. | ||
| Edmanning |
Yea Jim, 1832cc twin spar aluminum framed single-sided swingarm baggers. Whoda thought. | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
yeah, but it sure is YELLOW!!! | ||
| Racerboy |
Hey Ed...Funniest, happiest and my best moment of this whole thing was the first day out of STL with Jerry as we rode down into southern MO and northern AR to stay the first night in Eureka Springs at Iron Horse Stables where we were to meet up with Dave Tripp from KC... First, a little background into what was in my mind...Jerry and I had never met in person except here on BadWeb and you know how that is?...You can't really tell about someone over the computer...A person we all know well had related a story of something that happened on last year's BRAG Cali tour...It seems they and an eastern dealer who was on the tour were walking around the motel lot one evening and the dealer (who used to hold an AMA national number) calls attention to the rear tires of a certain Cali group of riders who were pretty, shall we say, exuberant, on the web regarding their riding exploits (not anyone in Jerry's group)...He notes the rather wide chicken strips on most of their tires and they share a chuckle...Okay, that's the background... About mid way through the afternoon were approaching Mountain Home AR and just south of there is AR 341, aka Push Mountain Rd or the AR Gap...For a long time this was the "best" sport bike road in AR (until they paved the northern part of 123)...So it's a damn fine road but I had not thought we'd have time that day to ride it...On the fly I decided, what the hell, we're too close not to, so I head us south to the northern part of 341...Once on 341 I pick up the pace...After a bit I glance in my mirrors and, no Jerry, so I slow up to wait...And I wait quite a bit...And I'm thinking, "Okay, we've got another of these big talking hot shots who is all talk just like a certain person had told me about...About that time Jerry BLOWS by me on the Strom...I goose the Mother Ship and we're off to the races...And we have an absolutely great run south on Push Mountain Road...One that would have made John and you and Jim smile big...We get to the end of the road and pull over...Jerry looks back at me as he walks toward me and I'm taking off my helmet and have this HUGE grin spread across my face...He just laughed along with me...I couldn't have been happier and it kind of sealed the deal for me as far as riding with Jerry anywhere, anytime is concerned... Of course, in hind sight, what had happened is that the very northern end of 341 is much more populated and trafficked as is crosses the White River due to the tourist draw of the river...And the road surface shows it as there are several places with loose gravel and such...I know where they are, Jerry didn't and was being careful...But once he figured it out and the road began to get much better as we traveled south, he let it all out...And following him the rest of the way was like riding with John or anyone else you have total confidence in... I wish I could say that it was the culmination of a great day but later I ran Jerry out of gas, not remembering that it was after Labor Day and all the country tourist gas stations were closed…The run up to Yellville and back made us very late into Iron Horse Stables where pour Dave Tripp had been waiting for us…I’m a terrible judge of distance and time…I’m famous for answering to the question “How long will it take us?…”Oh, about an hour”…Consider yourself forewarned…Well, the trip down Push mountain and back up 14 and over to Eureka Springs was a hell of a lot longer than an hour… Jim, you won’t be disappointed in the ST1300…The RT used to have a range of about 250 s’miles but the ST easily goes over 300 unless you are really pushing it, as in across the Mojave at tripple digits…I ran the 140 s’miles from Needles to Barstow in ninety minutes which averages to just a tad over 110 mph…But plan on getting either a Russell of Mayer seat for the LD stuff…The stock seat sucks, which I couldn’t say about the RT…The RT had the upgrade beemer “comfort” seat and that should have been the stock seat…What’s with these EOM’s and seats, anyway?… Trip, I really appreciated your effort to come down from KC and ride with us…Sorry we couldn’t have ridden with you any longer but we had to head west in order to get to San Diego by Thursday afternoon… Bob | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
SPECIAL EDITION  Racerboy, i'm breaking several self-imposed rules here, but your post has got me so turned on i had to hang the pic i took of you at the end of Push Mountain Road! i'll tell MY side of the story on day 18... thanks man. (Message edited by jerry_haughton on October 30, 2004) | ||
| Usroute66 |
Jerry...great photos. You are so lucky to have the liberty to do that kind of ride without a job schedule hanging over your head. Or have the benefits section of your company telling you you only have 2 weeks vacation every year for the first five years. Of course, I know you work and we all have to (unless we win the lottery). But I am still jeolous! Scott | ||
| Tripper |
Bob, I'd wait 8 hours for you and Ferris to arrive any day of the week.  | ||
| Dino |
"Originally imported from Japan, kudzu now covers over seven million acres of the Southeastern United States" | ||
| Jb2 |
Amen, kudzu is the scourge of the south. Racerboy, did Jerry explain the JB2 rule of gas stops? It works 100% of the time - if you follow it. With his close call coming to Colorado and our close call in the middle of nowhere Utah I figgered he'd have forced you to stop for gas. He knows if you're in strange country never go more than 100 miles with out filling up. I also carry a 5' coil of 1/4" hose. Sometimes, in the mirage of desperation, anything with four wheels can suddenly become a gas station. (Message edited by jb2 on October 31, 2004) | ||
| Court |
Sweet memories of 1999. . . We were in Bryce Canyon doing a secret press intro, for the yet-to-be announced Buells, for the European Press. At the end of the 8 day stint someone discovered that we had one too many bikes (we had 19, the Buell transporter carries 18) that needed to make the 2,400 mile gun run and be in Philly for the dealer show towo days hence. As discussions continued abouyt how to get the bike crated and shipped, I tossed my gear in Gary Cravillionm's truck, got on the bike and high tailed it toward the Atlantic Ocean. Well, the first one to run out of gas was your's truly on the X-1. In addition, I made the stupid mistake of trying to coax the bike a bit further and threw the DDFI system into the suicide mode (yes, this is precisely the same thing I did in Gary, IN while doing the 973 mile East Troy-NYC jaunts). I sat in the blazing sun for a couple hours and along came Gary. X-1 in the van, S3T out and off I go again. A couple hours later I am in Eastern, CO when I see a Sportster stranded on the other side of the road with a couple standing near it. I kept going, but within a co0uple miles guilt won out, I did a U-turn and headed back to find a couple from Japan on a rented Sportster. The spoke no English and the tank was bone dry. Knowing that the Buell transporter, with it's 300 gallon fuel tank for demo bikes, was 20 minutes behind, I gave a closed thumb and forefinger "it's gonna be fine" sign and a claming palms down "be cool, don't worry". Confusion, here in this desolate miles from anywhere venue, yielded to frustration as they say me waving to the oncoming blue and chrome tansporter on the other side of the road. Gary effected a U-Turn in the median, saw the situation as he approached and went immediately into a NASCAR pit-stop mode as the truck came to a stop. He refueled the Sporty, checked the oil and tires and I grabbed two ice cold waters from the ice chest and gave them to our guests who now looked as if Martians had landed. With no hesitation, as Gary rolled up the fuel hose, I handed them a Buell brochure, welcomed them, on behalf of Buell Motorcycles, to America, told them to enjoy their trip and just as quickly as we'd arrived, the S3T and the transporter dissappeared into the rising sun. I live for this stuff....... Great tales! Court | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
Scott, thanks for the compliment. being self-employed does have its advantages, and being able to do this trip - and tack on an extra three days at the end to get the V-Strom's mileage California-legal - is one of them. it also helps to have a very understanding partner running the show back home. Tripper, ditto what Racerboy said. and 'twas cool that you were as eager as i to get The Shot during our limited time together, and i appreciated the exuberant Buellicious wheelies every time we'd take off. kudzu, THAT'S what JB2 called it. like i said, if you didn't know what it was, you'd ooh and aah as this stuff blankets everything in sight. we even saw it climbing up the guy wires for telephone poles and hanging from lines across the road. as for the gas thing, ever since i learned of the 'JB2 Rule of Gas Stops' i've embraced it almost without fail, including numerous times on this trip. but man oh man, when you get up deep in the Arkansas hills there ain't many gas stations to begin with, and the ones we DID encounter were already closed for the day by the time we rolled through. the Strom holds a tick under six gallons, but we'd been hammerin' pretty hard (you may refer to me as 'Racerboy-in-training' ) and the emmpeegeez took a big hit in the process. props to Racerboy for riding all the way back from Yellville with a plastic gallon water jug full of petrol in his lap and spilling nary a drop. and props to the Strom for immediately firing back up, 'cause man was it ever EMPTY! | ||
| Jb2 |
It just ain't a good bike adventure without a fuel story or two, or three. | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
I live for this stuff....... indeed. | ||
| Reindog |
Jerry, (or should I say Strom Storm?)  Keep up the good work with your yarn spinning. Your adventure goes really well with a cup of freshly brewed Kona coffee which Laurie and I just UPS'ed in from the Big Island. BTW. The Taxi Cab Yellow color looks great on the V-Strom. Instead of repainting it, save some scratch and simply wear a pair of Blu-Blocker sunglasses when you ride. It'll go from Yellow to Tripadelic. | ||
| Reindog |
Here you go... all stitched and Strommed. I have a larger photo but it exceeds the maximum pixel dimensions. Administrator privileges might be able to override this restriction. I've emailed you the bigger bad boy.  (Message edited by reindog on October 31, 2004) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
...which Laurie and I just UPS'ed in from the Big Island. er, Catalina??? thank you ReindogForgerTom! got your e-mail of the stitched pic, too, much appreciated. hard to tell if you weren't there, but the dark, tall trees that frame each side of the stitched photo line the road i was riding. in other words, the view above is 180-degrees and the trees in question are directly off my left shoulder and right shoulder. get it? hmmmm, maybe you needed to be there. say, could i borrow those Tripadelic glasses for a moment?  |
