"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.

[widude]

Nice looking CB's Veech. I do like red.

[emptysea]

The ride north...

It would have been nice to have a rear-facing GoPro for our departure from the sidewalk in front of Buckingham Fountain. Oh, yeah, Forgot to mention: as we arrived at the fountain, I was prepared to have us park with our back wheels to the curb and snap a quick picture or two and get out since it's a no parking zone and there is through traffic in the curb lane where we'd be parked. Veech, the consummate Chicagoan and the rider to my immediate right, says "Wanna go on the sidewalk?" The curb is nothing more than a crack that separates the street from the walk, so sure, the sidewalk it is. We just acted like we had permission, parked, posed, and left. So, the GoPro. Our bikes were parked in our riding order, with Todd graciously volunteering for sweep duties (Chimney-sweeps are in all black, right?) at the opposite end of the line from me. With everyone signaling "ready", I pulled out and could see in my mirror that everyone else pulled out in order and fell perfectly into line. We were like the Shriners, sans fez. It was a little thing, but it was still a pretty cool moment.

There was a notorious section of Lake Shore Drive called "The S Curve". Up until 1937, there was a north section and a south section of Lake Shore Drive and they both ended at the Chicago River. However, the two ends did not meet up, but were offset east to west by about a quarter mile. In 1937, the Link Bridge was opened, continuing the north end of LSD south across the river. A connecting piece of road was built running west from the bridge to the south end of LSD. I'm not sure why they thought it would be a good idea to bend an eight lane road 90 degrees twice within the space of a couple of city blocks, but that's how The S Curve came to be. I have always thought that it should have been called "The Z Curve". It was a nasty little section of road to on which to drive, with cars routinely crossing what remnants of lane lines were there. I can only imagine what it would have been like on a motorcycle. In 1987, a reconfiguration project was completed and a softer S Curve was opened with exit ramps to Navy Pier and Wacker Drive. The Link Bridge was the widest, longest, and heaviest drawbridge ever constructed at the time and is still in operation today.

The new S Curve is much more motorcycle friendly, but there are still plenty of folks who cannot stay in their lane...
[url=http://s1318.photobucket.com/user/emptysea43/media/LSD%20Trip/4846a0e6ab09b91cadc6135c27bdc4de_zpsfkdbbz5c.jpg.html]

A car to my right blocked me from getting a good picture of the Ferris wheel at Navy Pier, but I was able to catch this view north as we came off Link Bridge...
[url=http://s1318.photobucket.com/user/emptysea43/media/LSD%20Trip/ce3e5370b4c16ac3033f3f71c2e7dee3_zpshe01wbxz.jpg.html]

Fun Fact: The first ever Ferris wheel was built for the oft-mentioned World's Columbian Exposition.

Trivia: Lake Shore Drive is part of U.S. 41 which was also immortalized in song. Name the song, artist and quote the relevant lyrics.

[specialist8]

MTC, if you ever want to quit your day job, you should charge people to chronicle their seat time adventures. This thread is darn near poetry haha awesome storytelling. Can't wait to hear more. Keep 'em comin'!

[veech_imp]

Nice looking CB's Veech. I do like red.

Thank you Sir! That is one of the beautiful things about these bikes-there are so many ways to go with them.

[the Ferret]

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.. US41 Song..." used to see him walking home on US41"

[Todd_K_imp]

...and don't forget the Allman Brothers - "ramblin man", "I was born in the backseat of a greyhound bus, rolling down hwy 41"

[emptysea]

Ferret....Nicely done, but that is not the song of which I was thinking. There appears to be more than one correct answer.

...and don't forget the Allman Brothers - "ramblin man", "I was born in the backseat of a greyhound bus, rolling down hwy 41"

THAT is the song I was thinking of!

Wonder if there are others.

[drodg33]

US 41 is in North by Northwest the movie with Cary Grant. Great photos and it looks like it was fun for all of you . I wish I could have made it. Oh well I will make the next one.....

[Setchman_imp]

US 41 is in North by Northwest the movie with Cary Grant. Great photos and it looks like it was fun for all of you . I wish I could have made it. Oh well I will make the next one.....

+1

Great pictures! Looks like the weather couldn't have been more perfect.