Motorcycling with others

[Mark Ray]

Being as I'm 45 minutes from "The Dragon," amongst a slew of other great riding roads, of course I had to purchase a few shots from my many trips through. This was before I had a different, shorter pipe, K & N filter housing, and engine fuel controller (we always need more power, right?).

 

[veinbuster]

Tell me about it. We refinanced in Oct, 2020, and got an appraisal for our dumpy townhouse of $159k. I was pretty happy with that since when the housing collapsed in 2008 we went from $150 to 90$. Anyway, guy across the street listed his for $209 in June. I thought he was nuts. It was on the market for a couple of weeks and ended up selling for $229k. W.T.F.!!!!!!!!!!!!

You can’t buy an outhouse for that here, even with the market cooling down a bit with higher interest rates.

 

[dmatthews]

You can’t buy an outhouse for that here, even with the market cooling down a bit with higher interest rates.

Some of the floating homes on the river I rode past yesterday are over $800k.

 

[Alnus Rubra]

This photo is from about 30 years ago!

 

[gush]

Tell me about it. We refinanced in Oct, 2020, and got an appraisal for our dumpy townhouse of $159k. I was pretty happy with that since when the housing collapsed in 2008 we went from $150 to 90$. Anyway, guy across the street listed his for $209 in June. I thought he was nuts. It was on the market for a couple of weeks and ended up selling for $229k. W.T.F.!!!!!!!!!!!!

My wife is a real estate broker. It has been an insane market.

 

[JasonE]

Tell me about it. We refinanced in Oct, 2020, and got an appraisal for our dumpy townhouse of $159k. I was pretty happy with that since when the housing collapsed in 2008 we went from $150 to 90$. Anyway, guy across the street listed his for $209 in June. I thought he was nuts. It was on the market for a couple of weeks and ended up selling for $229k. W.T.F.!!!!!!!!!!!!

Houses in my neighborhood have been selling for more than asking price for years. I have never seen that happen until I moved to this neighborhood. I got lucky on my place. For some reason people were hesitant to buy it so it was on the market for 2 months, which is a really long time in this area. I think I know why people were avoiding it but it didn't bother me at all. Someone built a room in the garage that takes up about 1/3 of it. It has AC pumped into it but not enough to keep it the same temp as the house. I put a lock on that door and that is where I store my PA gear. I also put shelving units in there and it is a somewhat temp controlled storage room now. I know that if I decide to sell the place, I can tear that out and sell faster and probably higher. The agent I bought the house through told me two months after I bought it that I could flip it and put 30k in my bank account. Prices rose sharply right after I bought it. I could put a lot more in my account if I sold it right now.

 

[Greywolf]

I've been riding for 52 years and currently have a Ducati 950S Supersport, a Triumph Thruxton TFC, and a HD Street Glide.
I ride 99% solo and only stop when needed . I love riding the BRP and the massive amount of great twisties in the region , from the Dragon to the CHerhola and beyond.

 

[gush]

Three weeks ago my wife had some girl friends come from out of town and they did a girls weekend.

I decided to wander around Missouri by myself. My plan was to go deep south Missouri quickly and zig zag back home and take it all in.

I did not get home from work as early as planned so I didn't get on the road till 7pm. I left Washington Iowa and got to KC Missouri by 12:30am

Unfortunately Saturday morning weather radar showed storms from west and south moving my way.

I went to Harrisonville and headed east from there stopping for lunch in Clinton Missouri. Radar was showing severe storms south and west still coming my way. I went up through Osage Beach and on to Columbia where I stopped for ice cream.

By this time storms were very severe and getting really close so I set GPS for Hannibal and hit the road.

I could see the storm clouds building on both sides of me and 45 minutes from Hannibal Temps dropped about 30 degrees as it started to get dark.

I did make it without getting wet but it rained all night.

Sunday was bright and sunny by 9:30am so I went west for about an hour, picked a county road heading north and set cruise on 50mph and took my time getting home.

850 miles total and I enjoyed every bit of it!!!

 

[andy474x]

I’m more of a motorboating guy.

 

[Daryl Jones]

I can completely relate to the ride alone feels. I don't like waiting, or changing plans for someone else's. If I want to ride hard, I don't want to be held back. If I want to take off on a side trip, I don't need someone getting antsy.
I just returned from a solo jaunt out to central BC (wife was supposed to come but she got sick). Rode solo the whole way there and back 2000 miles total but did have one day of group rides once at our meet and greet location in the Kootenays. One day of a couple of the twisty local roads with 5 other bikes but similar riding styles and no real crazy stuff. Some of them were two up and all riding big dressers (5 Wings, one Roadking) so it was understood before heading out what the game plan was. Plus we're all pretty much the same age and attitude.
I prefer being by myself (missus included when she wants to be my conscience) or with maybe one other bike but I don't really like having a "wingman" in most cases. For sure I won't ride with a group of strangers anymore, too many Rossi/Marquez wannabes for my liking, or guys thinking their cruiser is a crotch rocket. I much prefer being my own captain and tail gunner.

I'm pretty much a died in the wool Honda guy, even before I was a dealer/manager; although I have owned two HDs (Dyna Convertible and a Roadking Classic). But I've also owned many other brands over the years from back when I started riding at 14. I still spend as much time as possible on the racetrack, although it's purely recreational now. That may change next year if I want to do some club racing again, but the missus may not be too keen on that after my oops 5 years ago, but we'll see. The rest of the time I'm on my Goldwing (my 4th) but I like to drag hard parts and shower sparks in the corners. I have titanium pucks on the underside of the boards now since I used to wear out 2-3 sets of composite skid pads every season. You can take the boy off the track but you can't take the track out of the boy even on a full dress tourer I guess haha.

These are my last current (the Wing and the RC51) and most recent rides although the VF Honda is a stock photo as I no longer have any of my own pics of that little sweetie. I'd about kill to have that back as a second track bike...Only non-Honda in the photos is my old Kawasaki Vulcan that I custom built myself. Spent way too much money on that bike but it was a great machine for 10 years. That's what took the place of my Roadking after it got written off by a drunk driver in AZ. Took the Vulcan to Sturgis in 2001 and it never ceased to garner attention even though it had a radiator. The HD bags and zero badging with the custom paint job helped that out no doubt. The ST was an amazing bike, super (stupid?) fast and had very long range, like 350 miles on a single tank of fuel.

https://imgur.com/HPdUgPY

https://imgur.com/HtqVaaC

https://imgur.com/1MzSa20

https://imgur.com/J88WNmL

https://imgur.com/lzbv0v5

 

[gush]

I'd LOVE to ride an rc51!!!

I had an 86 vfr750 back in the day.

Great bike!!!

 

[archtop]

When I rode, I liked to ride solo. It's great to get out and be able to go anywhere, any time, any way I like. No arguments!!!

One of the funniest things I saw while riding was a couple trailer their Harley's to a parking lot across the street from a roadhouse, put on their leathers and helmets and ride their bikes across the street into the roadhouse parking lot. In the roadhouse parking lot they took off their helmets and grabbed a can of hairspray out of their saddlebags then proceeded to mess up and spray their hair to look windblown when they entered the bar.

 

[Daryl Jones]

I'd LOVE to ride an rc51!!!

I had an 86 vfr750 back in the day.

Great bike!!!

My 500 was an '85. Wasn't as fast or torqey as a GPz Kawi, but incredibly nimble and smooth as silk. It did have an amazing top speed though, just didn't sound like it was going fast like an inline 4 engine bike of the day.
I love my RC51, rock solid and practically bullet proof. 8 years on the track with nary an issue. The modern 1000s (actually most 600 class supersports too) run away from it on acceleration out of corners in a heartbeat but it's so stable and predictable I just couldn't see myself without it. The only real shortcoming it has is the rider.

 

[nac]

Just sold my 2004 HD Road King. Great bike that gave me some great memories. Planning on getting a new bike next spring, just don't know what yet.

Riding with a group can be really tricky for all the reasons stated above. My brother is my main riding partner and luckily for me we have very similar interests. We'll plan out a ride but rarely stick to the plan. We're always finding spots along the way that catch our interest and usually our trips end up taking a day or two longer than planned. I'm happy to have a someone else out there with me and look forward to may more rides.

Now I just have to figure out what I want from a new bike

 

[gush]

My 500 was an '85. Wasn't as fast or torqey as a GPz Kawi, but incredibly nimble and smooth as silk. It did have an amazing top speed though, just didn't sound like it was going fast like an inline 4 engine bike of the day.
I love my RC51, rock solid and practically bullet proof. 8 years on the track with nary an issue. The modern 1000s (actually most 600 class supersports too) run away from it on acceleration out of corners in a heartbeat but it's so stable and predictable I just couldn't see myself without it. The only real shortcoming it has is the rider.

Modern sport bikes are incredible machines for sure.

I have ridden a BMW 1000rr and even though it was still in break in mode, it was still an impressive machine.

I'm thinking that when I retire I will have a busa or a 1000rr in my garage.

People think I'm weird but I kind of like the Frankenstein trike conversions. They have one for the busa and I think it would be cool to do that only turbo charge it!!!

That would be a handful!!!

 

[Daryl Jones]

I have a track pal that has an H2 Kawi. I can't even imagine trying to hold onto that thing on a track. He offered to let me ride it this year but I said no thanks. It's one thing to trust somebody with your bike but he's a whole level above me. I'll stay quite comfortably in intermediate class; there's good reason why I don't ride "Expert": I ain't one LOL. I've ridden R1s, ZX10s, CBR1000s and an S1000rr in my own class and they are over my head. I could get used to them sure, but I'm comfortable on my Flying Pig.
Kinda like me with someone's PS beauty and being on stage with Carlos Santana. You don't put an elevator in an outhouse.

 

[gush]

I have a track pal that has an H2 Kawi. I can't even imagine trying to hold onto that thing on a track. He offered to let me ride it this year but I said no thanks. It's one thing to trust somebody with your bike but he's a whole level above me. I'll stay quite comfortably in intermediate class; there's good reason why I don't ride "Expert": I ain't one LOL. I've ridden R1s, ZX10s, CBR1000s and an S1000rr in my own class and they are over my head. I could get used to them sure, but I'm comfortable on my Flying Pig.
Kinda like me with someone's PS beauty and being on stage with Carlos Santana. You don't put an elevator in an outhouse.

I got behind a couple of guys during a track day one time. I was on a slightly better machine but they were both better riders. I hung close for a couple laps but I just couldn't do it mentally. I could not focus at that level any longer and had to dial it down a bit.

I've thought about buying a 600 and doing track days again once I retire.

My son has a job that requires working Saturdays so we haven't been dirtbiking at all this year. I won't go by myself for fear of getting hurt and laying there waiting for help. At least at track days there are others around in case of injury.

 

[gush]

I have a track pal that has an H2 Kawi. I can't even imagine trying to hold onto that thing on a track. He offered to let me ride it this year but I said no thanks. It's one thing to trust somebody with your bike but he's a whole level above me. I'll stay quite comfortably in intermediate class; there's good reason why I don't ride "Expert": I ain't one LOL. I've ridden R1s, ZX10s, CBR1000s and an S1000rr in my own class and they are over my head. I could get used to them sure, but I'm comfortable on my Flying Pig.
Kinda like me with someone's PS beauty and being on stage with Carlos Santana. You don't put an elevator in an outhouse.

Now if I remember correctly isn't the H2 supercharged? If so, is there aftermarket support for that in terms of bigger power?

 

[Daryl Jones]

Now if I remember correctly isn't the H2 supercharged? If so, is there aftermarket support for that in terms of bigger power?

There are two versions, one normally aspirated and one with the supercharger. Track days are fine, but there is no classification for the blown version for racing. My guess is all the race associations will invent one before long. They have consistently augmented the cc classes to allow for larger displacement models: 350-380 in sport, 650-675 supersport, 1000-1150 superbike etc. Kinda like letting Ducati run 8 bikes to everyone else's 4 in MotoGP....oops, outside voice.

 

[JasonE]

I will be doing a good bit of riding with a bunch of friends next week for Biketober Fest. We do this a few times a year and it is always a good bit of fun.