The transformation has begun. The Vespa commuter is slowly changing into a Harley Road Warrior. Evidence of this transformation....this morning I didn't floss....I haven't shaved in three days....I may even spit in the street tomorrow....it may get ugly before this is over. Send your suggestions for tattoos in before I get to Sturgis.
Key learning: The most important piece of equipment other than the Hog itself is the "Airhawk" cushion. Without this critical piece of equipment you will personally experience what the Kielbasa experiences when it's been on the grill too long. Sitting on a Harley without one of these gifts from the gods is like sitting on a fast moving fully fired Hibachi. It's like a Whoopi cushion without the Whoopi.....the Harley pipes provide the cool sound (from a males perspective) of flatulence. Gotta smile when you hear that sound : )
On day 1, Mike Verzola, was listening to a ball game on his radio and stood for the National Anthem being the patriotic guy he is. Unfortunately he was moving at 75 miles an hour and his AirHawk quickly vacated the premises. Without a wimper Mike has continued to lead the group without his trusted AirHawk. We now call him Iron Butt or Rosy Cheeks.
We covered wide open spaces today in Western Kansas and the high mesa of Eastern Colorado. Beautiful country and warm wonderful people. The ratio of cows to people is about 10,000 to 1. Watch out if those cows ever rise up......good eating though.
My riding experience today fluctuated between Steppenwolf's "Born to be Wild" and Aerosmiths "Living on the Edge"....(cehck the lyrics) ....great to be alive at the end of the day and enjoy a couple of beers with my fellow Hogs.....bad to the bone baby!
Friday, July 29, 2011
Dodge City to Colorado Springs
Short day today and not so hot. Wrapped arm with ace bandage which helped a lot. This section of Kansas is flat and loaded with feedlots. Lots of trucks trying to blow us off the road as well
We set out to see America and every mile gives us that view. The loaded bikes are a magnet that draw people to come over to see where we are from and where we are going. Great folks in middle America.
Beat the rain to the hotel in Colorado Sprinpgs. Great hotel and loaded with other bikers having a convention here. Tomorrow we will tour the Academy and other highlights of the city. A downday from serious riding and a chance to do some laundry.
All the bikes running well a great trip so far. having a cold beer to unwind and plan tomorrow.
We set out to see America and every mile gives us that view. The loaded bikes are a magnet that draw people to come over to see where we are from and where we are going. Great folks in middle America.
Beat the rain to the hotel in Colorado Sprinpgs. Great hotel and loaded with other bikers having a convention here. Tomorrow we will tour the Academy and other highlights of the city. A downday from serious riding and a chance to do some laundry.
All the bikes running well a great trip so far. having a cold beer to unwind and plan tomorrow.
Dodge stinks. No - really Dodge City stinks - smells like cow manure. Guess that's why its called a Cow Town. Anyway - Today was a bit of a struggle. Replaced my battery this spring and must have overtightened the negative lead bolt on the battery or/and the bolts were the wrong size. It stripped out and caused an intermittent circuit issue with the CB, Cruse and fuel pump. It finally gave up at a road construction site where the road went to one lane. As we were waiting for oncoming traffic to yield to us I shut down the engine. When it was time for us to go the bike wouldn't turn over - like a dead battery. The guys were very supportive - helped me solve the issue. We were stopped in front of a house and the owner came out and asked if he could help. It appeared that a couple of washers as spacers would do the trick, and he provided those - we got the bolt to thread in and it worked! So we made it to Dodge City after all. Still need to fix it properly - do that tomorrow.
Bob
Bob
Thursday, July 28, 2011
We are now 1000 miles into the great adventure. We are still speaking to each other so you can conclude that things are going reasonable well. Mike said to say only nice things on the Harley blog so I'll have to send you a separate message on the real truth on how things are going. Really, all is going well. Stay tuned for more updates. ...... Jim
Day 2 In the Furnace
We left Washington, MO at 6:30, hoping to beat the heat. But it warmed up by 9am. So, the whole day was in heat, and I mean HEAT. 107 degrees around 1pm, and we were only about half way to our target destination: Dodge City, KS.
The heat must have been getting to me, because I made a few mistakes while leading the group on the ride. Only luck kept us from having something more serious happen. We talked about it at lunch, and we all learned a lot about group riding. By the afternoon, we were back to normal, refreshing ourselves on using hand signals, and a good backup plan should we come to an intersection where we're not sure what to do next.
At one of the stops, Kevin and I noticed that Curt had tears in his eyes. We know how he's fighting through the pain from his broken arm. Our first inclination was to give him a man-hug and tell him how proud we were how he was fighting his way through the pain. But, then he told us he had sunblock in his eye. So much for being supportive friends. I can't believe I hugged him. :)
Here are a few pics from today:
Jim, ready to ride after lunch:
Bob's bike had a problem with the battery, so we put the doctors to work.
Finally at the hotel in Dodge City... Walking across the street for dinner and a few beers.
The heat must have been getting to me, because I made a few mistakes while leading the group on the ride. Only luck kept us from having something more serious happen. We talked about it at lunch, and we all learned a lot about group riding. By the afternoon, we were back to normal, refreshing ourselves on using hand signals, and a good backup plan should we come to an intersection where we're not sure what to do next.
At one of the stops, Kevin and I noticed that Curt had tears in his eyes. We know how he's fighting through the pain from his broken arm. Our first inclination was to give him a man-hug and tell him how proud we were how he was fighting his way through the pain. But, then he told us he had sunblock in his eye. So much for being supportive friends. I can't believe I hugged him. :)
Here are a few pics from today:
Jim, ready to ride after lunch:
Bob's bike had a problem with the battery, so we put the doctors to work.
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| Dinner and beers in Dodge City |
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| Curt and Kevin making their blog entries. |
Day 2 -- The Heartland.
Some said this band of 5 Wild Hogs were lunatics to drive across the heartland during the mid summer with record breaking high temperatures no less, others said this group of manly men had qualities similar to those of the early settlers, courageous, adventuresome, ruggedly good looking....we'll let you readers decide who is right over the next three weeks.
Today we covered the western half of Missouri....winding country roads, rolling hills, lush forests and beautiful river landscapes and small towns. We then entered Kansas. While it isn't Hell....they do have the contract to produce the heat for hell. Holy crap is it hot....and windy. The only good thing is when you're attempting a high speed sweeping turn and you get hit with a super hot blast that lays you over, wetting yourself isn't a problem because you're dry within half a mile. The prairie is spectacular...wide open....rolling hills....few trees....goes on forever.
We got within 15 miles of our destination, Dodge City, and then just caught the edge of a thunderstorm.....got soaking wet but again...dried out within half a mile....gotta look for the silver lining.
Having a great time.....more to come.
Some said this band of 5 Wild Hogs were lunatics to drive across the heartland during the mid summer with record breaking high temperatures no less, others said this group of manly men had qualities similar to those of the early settlers, courageous, adventuresome, ruggedly good looking....we'll let you readers decide who is right over the next three weeks.
Today we covered the western half of Missouri....winding country roads, rolling hills, lush forests and beautiful river landscapes and small towns. We then entered Kansas. While it isn't Hell....they do have the contract to produce the heat for hell. Holy crap is it hot....and windy. The only good thing is when you're attempting a high speed sweeping turn and you get hit with a super hot blast that lays you over, wetting yourself isn't a problem because you're dry within half a mile. The prairie is spectacular...wide open....rolling hills....few trees....goes on forever.
We got within 15 miles of our destination, Dodge City, and then just caught the edge of a thunderstorm.....got soaking wet but again...dried out within half a mile....gotta look for the silver lining.
Having a great time.....more to come.
Day two
Washington Mo to Dodge City Ks. Really hot- 105 degrees on my phone weather chart. 585 miles which gave my messed up arm a real workout. Almost couldn't shift the bike the last couple hours. Tomorrow should be a better day (shorter).
Learned some valuable safety items today with some close calls. Will do better now.
Heading to the Dodge City Harley dealer tomorrow to get a shirt before heading to Colorado Springs.
Nothing like a perfectly cooked filet and cold beer to end a long hot ride.
New bike ran well getting good mileage. 1100 songs loaded in GPS. Haven't had any repeats yet in two days. Will probably have to throw shirt away with all the soaked in sun blocker and dirt.
On to Colorado.
Learned some valuable safety items today with some close calls. Will do better now.
Heading to the Dodge City Harley dealer tomorrow to get a shirt before heading to Colorado Springs.
Nothing like a perfectly cooked filet and cold beer to end a long hot ride.
New bike ran well getting good mileage. 1100 songs loaded in GPS. Haven't had any repeats yet in two days. Will probably have to throw shirt away with all the soaked in sun blocker and dirt.
On to Colorado.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Day 1 Into the Furnace
We got off to an early start, leaving Cincy at 6:30am, with mild temperatures. But, by 10:00, we started to enter the furnace: high 90's. Yuk... We started the morning with Kevin arriving just before "kick stands up" time, to find out that he had forgotten his wallet. Alison, bless her heart, brought it to him, so we said good bye to her, and hit the road.
It was an uneventful drive to Louisville, and we continued to find our way west through Indiana and then into Illinois. A bit of traffic in St. Louis, but some great wine and new BFFs at the winery in the Washington area.
I was going to upload some pics, but this hotel doesn't seem to have the capability to do that. Maybe tomorrow.
Long hot ride to Dodge City, Kansas tomorrow... 5:30am departure to avoid as much of the afternoon heat as we can.
It was an uneventful drive to Louisville, and we continued to find our way west through Indiana and then into Illinois. A bit of traffic in St. Louis, but some great wine and new BFFs at the winery in the Washington area.
I was going to upload some pics, but this hotel doesn't seem to have the capability to do that. Maybe tomorrow.
Long hot ride to Dodge City, Kansas tomorrow... 5:30am departure to avoid as much of the afternoon heat as we can.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Ready, Set, Go!
OK, now that I have gotten home from WORK relaxed a little, I was able to get the bike packed up. Went to Meijer and bought this cool organizer for the tour pak. I have a stock of energy bars, powder electrolytes for water, flairs, batteries, flashlights - spare oil filter and air filter, tools, tire plugs (remembered the last trip), air pump for tires and shocks, spark plugs and even a collapsible fishing rod - just in case I run out of money, the market crashes and I have to fish for food. Also got the bike waxed up so the bugs don't stick. Have the Zumo loaded and upgraded. Here are some before pics - hard to tell what the after pics will look like.
Check out this organization - It doesn't seem like me - all 5's 
Tea Bag is stuffed - and it Glows!Can I bring my dog - I'm going to miss her
Wow - Look at that chrome!
Packing
Well, it's getting close to crunch time. The easy part about packing a bike for 3 weeks is throwing everything you want onto a bed. The hard part is figuring out how to fit it all on the bike. As someone once said, "Saddlebags can never hold all you want; but they always hold everything you need."
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