I hesitate to do this, but someone sent me a link to this video today and I was so unnerved by the difficulty of solving what appears to be a simple two-wheeled problem.







Ferret, if I'm out of line, please delete the post, or the second bit at least.

It's taken me well over six days to get over these flu symptoms that for some reason would not let go of me. Today I woke up feeling better than what I've felt for what now seems an eternity. It turned out that on my last outing on the CB I had filled the tank, and she had sat in the garage with a full tank and nowhere to go. At exactly 9:AM with 4,083 miles on the odometer, I suited up (boots and all) and headed north on Hwy 441 from Boca Raton to Palm Beach. The plan was to follow 441 West and take it all the way to Pahokee on Lake Okeechobee. Once I got to Pahokee I stretched my legs and continued north on 441 (the prettiest scenery of the trip) past Taylor Creek up to the town of Okeechobee. This consumed some 110 miles since departing the house.

If any of you are familiar with the state of Florida, you will know from your travels here just how flat it all is. Well, flat terrain aside the beautiful countryside available along my chosen route made it all worthwhile. This is cattle country here in Southern Florida and there are many interesting creeks and larger rivers that almost beg one to park by the road and explore the scene. After almost 140 miles I passed Fort Drum, it was almost ten minutes after I passed a gas station that my fuel quantity began to flash. Not a problem I thought since there had been plenty of stations up to this part of my trip. Well, as the miles passed that miles to go counter just kept ticking down so I decided to cut my speed down from the posted 60 MPH to just below 50. There is a feeling that a pilot experiences when flying over water on a single engine at night that seems to affect the muscles that force your butt to sort of "pucker". I had not felt that sensation in years. Yet here I was in broad daylight on land on my CB and no station in sight. The tension would lessen slightly when some prehistoric insect would impact my helmet with a sudden plop and there would be one more victim joining those already stuck there. The Florida Turnpike passed under my stretch of rode and I began to ponder that maybe I could be better off switching to a far busier route. Just about then in the distance I could make out what I could swear were some sort of structures. I was not going to get too excited until I had better proof. And this is how I came to "Yeehaw Junction". I filled my tank with regular had a soda and took off down the road without any trace or need of that dreaded "pucker reflex".

After 30 miles I turned off on Hwy 192 heading East straight to Melbourne Fl. and on to AIA (the coastal scenic route) but finally turned back for something to eat and the convenience of I-95 heading south. I made it back to Boca Raton at exactly 5:35 PM. I had ridden 379 miles in a little over eight hours.

Other than almost running my CB out of gas and almost ruining a perfect day on the bike, I'm very pleased to still feel the joy one gets when all is right with the world. I would do it again in a New York second. Yes, there was a minor "pucker" interlude, but hey, it's part of feeling alive![/b]

Missoula Montana to Old Forge, New York.

Yeah...most people are saying, "Insanity." Maybe they're right. But I was given/forced the time...layoff. New York is my roots. My college degree is from SUNY. My mother's people were there from the age of the Mayflower.

I aim to go see the Adirondiacks in high summer, one more time before I die.

SO FAR: GPS. Bags that bolt, literally, to the luggage rack. National Cycle full windshield...so far, mixed.

Willingness to do the motel number, at first. Later will require financial survey.

Wish me luck - I'm making fertilizer out of dog dirt...

Has anybody painted their black engine silver?

Hi all
We rode The Dragon in fine style with the CB 1100 and didn't crash once! However, a rather large black snake sunning himself on the Tennessee side of RT 129 really got my wife's attention. I'm glad she was riding the CanAm during that encounter. At any rate, the road conditions were quite good, especially compared to the crumbling excuse for pavement we have in eastern Pennsylvania. Have fun in the twisties but watch for snakes when you're here at the end of the month. Be sure to ride Moonshiner 28. And thanks for all the great info on this fine forum.

Received these emails at home recently

Can tell me what the CB1100 forum is and the spring Z1000 meet. We had been planning to drive out that weekend and was curious of the events going on at that time

Nancy Julius


Can you send me some information on your CB1100 Forum Rally at the Dragon scheduled for May 28 – 31? Thanks, Brian.

Brian Dahlheimer

I emailed them both back. Seems Brian is with an Audi group that is coming down that weekend and not sure what Nancy is into but pretty sure she's not a motorcycle enthusiast lol

This past Saturday two of my regular riding buddies and I decided on a day trip to the south of the country (a region called the Algarve) to enjoy the nice weather, the fresh grilled fish and a stretch of road that has some of the best twisties in Portugal.

The road itself, called the N2 (the Portuguese equivalent of Route 66), crosses the country from north to south, starting in Chaves and ending in Faro. This particular stretch, in case you want to look it up on google maps, runs from Almodovar to São Brás de Alportel, and is some 60 kms long, boasting more than 350 turns. It transverses the Caldeirão mountain range in the Algarve, which, in turn, is partly responsible for the warmer and drier climate in that region of Portugal.

We left Libon around 8:00 am, and after some 80 km of highway, exited to ride the secondary roads for the rest of the trip. We reached Faro around 1 pm, had lunch (all you can eat fresh grilled fish caught locally, plus some regional delicacies, for about €10 per person, not a bad deal at all), talked about the ride by the marina and, by around 3 pm, headed back.

All in all it was a 640 km round trip, and we got home by around 8 pm.

Just as a caveat, our wives regularly ride pillion with us, but none of them could make this particular trip, which may explain the more, ahem, "spirited" ride. That, and the "official" video.



http://youtu.be/0mTq0piy7Q4

Last Thursday, May 14, here in Germany is a holiday, which we also call Father's Day. Many of us then take one day off (Friday) to have a long weekend.

We, a group of 4 friends, took our motorcycles and headed out for a 4 days tour at Thursday morning.

Here are the routes, we did on the 4 days:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=z...sp=sharing

Th: 395 km
Fr: 366 km
Sa: 343 km
Su: 491 km

overall: 1,595 km (mostly back country roads thru the landscape)

Well, sorry, no pictures. But I swear, it was like this:

With the big rally soon approaching, i wanted to wish all of you who will be attending the event plenty of safe and happy riding. I'm sure that the rest the events surrounding the rally will yield lots of great and humorous stories and i look forward to reading about them all. Considering just how much we can discuss simply motorcycling here on this forum, I can only imagine that there will be plenty of great conversations running well into the evening. (Hopefully everyone gets at least enough sleep to stay sharp out on the road, lol.)

At any rate, I know that you guys are going to have a blast. Just wanted to let those of you who are are fortunate enough to make the rally know that I'm wishing you all the best. Can't wait to read what a great time you all are sure to end up having. Enjoy!!!

Bill

Disclaimer up front: I have limited experience doing this; and this is not my best workmanship as the etching bleed through in a few areas, but for all of my imperfections this is what I have to offer to make right of what has happened to one of ours. This is just something I need to do.

The Tree of Shame. When people talk about Deals Gap area, a few iconic places come to mind and one of them is, The Tree of Shame. Visiting Deals Gap resort last year, I stood and read a lot of the memorials placed on the tree. I stood there reflecting about all the good and bad times that are represented by each piece affixed to the tree. I stood there so long; a few of my friends snapped a rare photo of me (not many exist).

Eric AKA - OLDF7GUY

His passing hit me a bit hard, typically I do not deal well with the passing of friends and family. I never had the pleasure of meeting him. I never had the pleasure to ride alongside him. I never had the pleasure to experience his enthusiasm in person.

As epic as the Rally and ride are going to be, one of ours will be missing. I know Eric had never been, but was looking forward to the ride and adventure. Nothing I do now can change what has happened, as life is not fair in so many ways. But I must do something, as Eric was too much of a fixture here in the CB1100 forum community.

Eric, OLDF7GUY; this is my tribute to you.

[url=http://s1187.photobucket.com/user/akiaboy1/media/Mirror_zpswodtilp9.jpg.html]



This will be on my bike as I ride to Deals Gap, and the surrounding areas. Let’s go on a ride Eric and let’s ride the roads together. Friday 5/29/2015 when the CB1100 forum members meet at the Deals Gap Resort, at The Tree of Shame, I will remove this from my bike and those that wish can be a part of leaving this there, affixed to the tree. Not as a monument of shame, but as a reminder of a great friend of our community that wanted to be a part of the rally, part of the comradery, and experience the epic rides together.