WINGTALK 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I now own an Excapade elite trailer to pull behind my Goldwing. My wife and I decided that Eureka Springs, Arkansas would be the perfect destination to test it out. Out last visit there was about 28 years ago on '75 Goldwing. We received an email from CD Dave in Bartlesville that a group from the Oklahoma City area was sponsoring a trip. We signed on and reserved a room at the Holiday Inn Express for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights. The group had tickets for the Hoe-Down music show on Saturday night (trip highlight).
We started out on Thursday about noon with plans to take highway 60 across eastern Oklahoma to Grand Lake.
A detour at Nowata changed that and we headed south earlier than I had planned. We eventually got to Jay, but I missed the road over the dam at Disney and a nice streatch of highway 28. We were then on 20 which should take us into Arkansas, but we ended up in Missouri and had to back-track a bit (need better maps).
We got onto 72 and hoped to ride it till it hit 62 - but it never did (get a detailed map of Bentonville). Stopped for directions in Pea Ridge and we were soon on 62 toward Gateway. After Gateway the road gets much more interesting and it was a fine ride into Eureka Springs.
At the motel, we met some of the Red Riders on Thursday night. It's a Honda riding club, but I saw Kawasaki's and Suzuki's in the parking lot. We tied up the trailer and headed next door for grub. It was easy to spot the group in the restaurant - one big table full of overgrown kids. As we introduced ourselves, we already started to get rebuttals to the stories that we had not heard yet. Of course, the real characters wouldn't be in till Friday morning.
Friday at the complimentary breakfast room, the various riding teams were forming up and the first group headed out at 7:00 am for the famous highway 7 to Harrison. We headed out about 9:30 with a Kawasaki 1000 in tow down 23 for a short 2 hour loop. It was a great ride. We took 74 across to 21 and back up to Berryville where we hit 62 into town from the east.
We had dinner at the Bavarian Inn for a mix of German and Bohemian food (exelent) before the birthday party at the motel. The Red Riders were celebrating 5 birthdays for April and the entertainment was the "not-so-newlywed-game" which was very interesting when one couple was married for 8 years and another for 36.
The winning couple was the husband who was most politically correct with his answers. "Which of the following best describes your wife in the morning". After the cake was cut the party moved to the hot tub/pool area.
Friday and Saturday was sprinkled with riding, shopping, and catching the Trolley cars to sights around town.
("Take the blue line downtown, the red around the historic district, and the yellow back to the motel") Saturday night would prove to be the highlight of the trip. 25 bikes showed up at 7 pm for the Hoe-Down music show.
Three rows of red shirts provided entertainment for the crowd that filtered in behind us. The music was great but the comedy turned into a running joke line between the stage performers and the giggling bikers. ("Sure, we'll take Granny with us, but she has to shave the mustache!")
I wish to thank all my new Red Rider friends for a great weekend in Eureka Springs - Hughe, Lloyd, Snooky, Gerald, Wayne, Old Steve, and "Tinkerbell".
The ride home was almost perfect. It was 64 degrees when we left the motel at 7:15, but dropped to 50 by the time we reached the old mill at War Eagle. We took highway 12 all the way back into Oklahoma and connected to highway 20 the rest of the way. It was 91 degrees by the time we rolled into Ponca City at 3:00 pm.
Hope to see some of you in Stillwater in June.
Happy Trails,
PolarBear
|
|
|
|
| Posted by Daryl Dunham at | | | |
|
My son lives in east central Pennsylvania, which is beautiful country with lots of twisty scenic roads to ride. I was there for a visit recently, when he bought a Vulcan 750 on eBay. I decided to rent a Harley and ride up with him when he picked it up and we could then ride the two hours home together. The local dealer in Orwigsburg, Pa (Schaeffer's) set me up with a red Road Glide (see my photos page) after a few questions, some signatures, and a credit card (for the rental and deposit). I chose the Road Glide because it had a fixed fairing (mounted to frame instead of fork). It took a stretch of road with a few curves to get the feel for the floorboards, heel-toe shifter, and longer reach to the handle bars. I soon had my daughter-in-law on behind and we took off northeast.
We were in the Schuyllkill river valley and headed cross-country for I-81 as rain was threatening and we wanted to get there post-haste. We made good time on 81 and crossed over to I-84 near Scranton. Even though we were on super-slab, the scenery was pretty awesome with wide vistas and huge valleys. The rain caught us as we were crossing into New York, so I pulled out the Frog Togs as we gassed up. NOTE: Frog Togs are not designed to be worn on V-twins (they melt on contact with exhaust pipes). We found the owner and marvelled at the work going on in his small garage (including hopping up a Vmax), then did a qucik check-out ride before starting back. The rain appeared to setting in for the rest of the day and would vary from light mist to steady rain. It was going to be a slow ride home.
As soon as we crossed back into Pennsylvania, we exited I-84 onto Highway 209, which would take us all the way back home. The first section of this road follows the Delaware through the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. This is a beautiful drive, even in the rain in early spring before greening. The Delaware soon heads southeast and we continue southwest . After a stop to get a bite to eat and change into dry socks we head on and descend into Jim Thorpe, an interesting town on the bend of the Lehigh river. I make a mental note to return here next summer to ride the excursion train I spot along the siding between the road and the river.
Moving on down the 209 we come into a valley between two mountain ridges and enter the watershed of the Schuyllkill river. The Harley has been performing well under the wet conditions, curves, and climbing/descending maneuvers. We pass through many small towns and intersections, and I am growing found of the chug-chug accelleration. In order to keep it in a reasonable power band, I have to shift more frquently than my Goldwing, but the kick-front/kick-back pattern becomes part of the adventure. I do not like the individual turn signal switches next to each hand grip. I was surprised at how easily the big machine took curves, even the diving hairpins on some of the switchbacks. The rain cleared as we came through Tamaquah - a tidy town of interesting buildings. We weren't far from home now and as we parked the machines on the hilly street (backed against the curb), I was thinking about the next day and hopefully a dry ride.
Saturday morning came in foggy, but we started out with bright sun cutting the fog away. We cross the low mountain ridge twice as we went west to find a winery and return home with a bottle of Chambourcin, a local favorite. After the three hour rain ride on Friday, my son was confident enough to take his wife on back for the day of riding. It was truly a great day. We turned the Harley back in before dark and headed home for a family meal. My wife had gone with us in the car on Friday but stayed home to dog-sit on Saturday. I'm not sure she was ready to trust riding with me on a Harley, yet. Maybe next trip. |
|
|
|
| Posted by Daryl Dunham at | | | |
|
In August I bought my Gold Wing. I didn't start out to buy one, but I'm not too surprised that it ended up that way. I'm now 53 years old. My two sons are out of college, married, have jobs, and have moved away (all this happened in a two-year period). I had this inkling to get back on two wheels, so when I saw this add for a 1980 Kawasaki KZ1000 Shaft Drive with 13,000 miles for $1600 - I couldn't help myself. I started calculating the $/horsepower and being an engineer, it was just too good to pass up. Man, it felt so good to be back on a big bike. The last bike that I owned was a 1975 Gold Wing (Yup, the original first edition). Sold that in 1979 just before my first son was born.
So, then about three months later I was looking to get on something more modern. Started looking at V-twins and comparing Vulcans to Road Kings and stopping by showrooms to try a few on for size. The I stopped by a Honda shop to look at their V-twins and my wife was with me (we dated on the first Gold Wing, but she had lost interest in "that crazy stuff"). They had a couple of Wings on center stand in the middle of the showroom. "That seat looks a lot better than the old ones". I encouraged here to climb on and try it out. "Wow! This is pretty neat. IF YOU GET ONE OF THESE, I WILL RIDE WITH YOU"
Two weeks later we picked the bike up and started the accessorizing process. The Gold Wing comes with so many standard features, that I thought accessories would be a minor undertaking. After all, my '75 came bare and I had to adapt and adopt most of the creature features just to get where the '05 starts off. This businees is now at a whole different level. I now have over $3,000 in accessories plus a new cargo trailer.
Anyway, I am now re-integrating myself into the touring scene and group-riding society. It is the most incredible feeling to hit the road alone or with another couple on this monster machine with no deadlines, commitments, or expectations. Just a great ride looking for an interesting way to go a long way from home and eventually, back again.
Happy Trails,
PolarBear |
|
|
|
| Posted by Daryl Dunham at | | | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Copyright . http://WINGTALK.KAYWINGS.COM. All rights reserved. |
|
