"There's a road I'd like to tell you about...

[veech_imp]

A big shout out and tremendous THANK YOU to EmptySea!

The type of meticulous detail and charming wit you see in this thread was exhibited in spades on this ride by Matt. He was the consummate professional in keeping the ride organized as well as keeping everyone entertained with his charisma throughout the day.

It was also a great pleasure to meet the other boys on this ride:
Stratus (Richard)
Specialist8 (Dave)
Fritzwilliger (Bill) - thanks for helping the group stay hydrated!
Todd_K (Todd)

All are passionate about the CB, motorcycles, and life in general, and most importantly are truly a great group of guys, both young and old. I know there are some long term friendships getting forged from this gathering, and I for one am looking forward to the next one!

Fritzwilliger and I arrived early and decided to scout out where our next photo stop should be. Believe it or not, this spot was rejected as not being picturesque enough....


As you can see, there's more than one way to travel on two wheels in Chicago. Should we have given them "the wave"?


Fritzwilliger spent quite a bit of time at the early stops making note of the differences between the 2013 Standard and the 2014 DLX. Recalling The Ferret's extensive list, I was able to point out some of the less obvious ones, but even I didn't know that they added a kickstarter to the DLX version...


Bill and I returned to the meet up spot and most of the rest of the group was already assembled. Introductions were had and much attention was paid to the two bikes most different from the rest: Todd's black 2014 and Vic's Comet-nosed 2013. I would like to say here that while I made several disparaging comments about the black bike, those comments were in jest and the black Standard is a truly a beautiful machine. For anyone considering the Road Comet, it is a perfect fit on this bike. Pictures do not do it justice.

"Make no small plans" - Daniel Burnham
"Form ever follows function" - Louis Sullivan
"Less is more" - Ludwig Mies van der Rhoe

Since 1871, when high winds, dry conditions, and a spark combined to burn down virtually the entire city, Chicago has become known for its magnificent architecture, and especially for its skyscrapers. In this picture, the more picturesque spot found in our pre-game scouting, you not only see six of the most beautiful motorcycles ever made, but also at least 5 of the 100 tallest skyscrapers in the world. For fans of architecture, particularly large-scale architecture, this skyline is one of the most beautiful horizons ever created by man...

One very minor correction: Mine is actually a '13 CB1100A with ABS, not a '14 DLX, in case anyone was interested. You don't find many '13s with ABS, which makes it a bit confusing sometimes. It also has a 30L Givi topcase, which is the smallest they make, but it still fits my Bell Mag9 helmet. I only mention this because of another thread that was asking about Givi case sizes. Mine is the second from the front in this pic if you want to see how it looks on the bike (our fearless leader EmptySea's bike has the Route66 sticker on it ). Stratus has the '14 DLX (fourth one back in this picture) which was a very sweet ride.



Another comment: The Sena communications Stratus & I used worked really well and made for a very enjoyable day, although when we got up to around 65 mph the wind noise got to the point it became a bit unusable (probably because of my 3/4 helmet). I would say these are best for non-highway use unless you are rockin' a full face setup.

Finally, it was really fun putting faces to the posts we have been reading (oh, that was you?!?)

Anyway, thanks again Matt for the fun filled day. All in all, I logged a total of 187 miles.