Riding Motorcycles... A Family Affair.

 My dad got his first motorcycle circa 1953 when he was barely 12 years old, it was a BSA 250 (we are not quite sure if it was a B11 or a B33),he learned how to ride on cow trails in the family farm, the tradition of adventure, safety and long distance riding started. Over the years it would be very difficult to name and to count how many motorcycles my father has had, but the brands that come to mind spread all over the world from England to Italy, to Germany, to Japan and the US: BSA, Triumph, Norton, Matchless, Java, NSU, Zundapp, Vespa, Indian, Lambretta, BMW, Sears Puch, Kawasaki, Honda, Yamaha and Suzuki. (And I am sure as my dad reads this he will remember brands I forgot to mention).

My mom did some riding on her own, she learned how to on a Honda CB 400A which was a 1980's automatic, great bikes, but mom never really got the taste for riding herself, but she loved to ride pillion with my dad, and together they have covered many thousands of miles. Kicking it old school with the Kawasaki LTD 750 4 air cooled.

My grandfather was also a rider, it is not very clear how many bikes he had, but we do know for sure that at one time he had a Italian Bianchi motorcycle as well as this 1934 Harley picture below, this is actually the only picture of my grandfather on a motorcycle. Check out the tag on top of the bumper, Darcy, his name my name its a family thing!

As I mentioned above it would be hard to name and also to picture all the motorcycles my father has had over the years, but for a while he was very busy at restoring them, some needed major work (like the Sears Puch pictured below) some needed small adjustments, sometimes tires and carb work was all it needed. He restored quite a few.

Here is a 1953 Sears Puch (Before)

And after:

Here are a few other honorable mentions: (I guess I am a little bias since these were my favorites) both Yamaha RD 400's two cycle "widow makers"

These days at 74, my dad enjoys short rides around his house, which happens to be just south of the North GA Mountains which is home to some beautiful roads. He said to me the other day "I started my riding days in a 250cc, I will end them in a 250cc" early this year he purchased a Suzuki GW 250 which is light weight for him, but at the same time packs a nice engine with plenty of power and torque for his fun rides!!. This was its maiden voyage up to the mountains Summer of 2015

We were very fortunate to ride this past summer up to the North GA Mountains and take this picture which shows 3 generations of riders, Dad on the left next to his GW 250, his son Franklin (my brother!) by his Yamaha Tenere and his grandaughter Samantha on her CB500X, 3 generations, I was happy to be the one taking this picture.

My brother Franklin started riding motorcycles at an early age, bikes that my dad owned, for a while he had a summer job at a Honda dealership where he learned quite a bit about the bikes of the time CB 400s, CB 750s, CB 350s. When my dad was restoring bikes my brother sparked interest and ended up restoring a 1974 Suzuki GT 750 Water Buffalo, unfortunately I don't have pictures of that bike but the picture below is a reference and not the actual bike he owned.

My brother went on to have two wonderful daughters and while raising them he took a hiatus from riding, and late last year after visiting the Barber Motorsports Vintage weekend, I think he got the bug again and soon purchase his Yamaha Super Tenere, his wife is enjoying our adventures while riding pillion and his daughter is now riding with us on her CB500x.

This year we spend a week riding the awesome roads of the Smoky Mountains.

 

I started my riding days when I was around 14 years old with a Mobylette 50V, also know as a Moby (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobylette) which is basically a two cycle moped with 40 miles per hour top speed. We used to ride from town where we lived out in the country where my dad had a farm. So my humble beginnings were on the dirt. Although the dirt is not my favorite place to be today. I also remember riding my dads CB 125 Honda once or twice, but wait!! I don't know if he knew that !! Ooopsss. Sorry dad!

These are not the actual bikes, just reference pictures.

CB125

Moby 50

 I too had a pretty long hiatus from riding until around the time my dad started to restore bikes, and we would ride around on the bikes he was working on. I finally made a decision in late 2003 to purchase one of my dads bikes and this became my first personally owned motorcycle, a Yamaha 535 Virago.

By the end of 2004 I was hooked, and wanted to travel long distances and go places by motorcycle. So I decided it was time to upgrade, I found a home for my Virago and purchase my first BMW boxer twin the 2004 R 1200 RT Touring bike, and it was love at first sight. I have had lots of other bikes and brands since, but nothing gets me more excited than riding a boxer twin BMW, nothing!.It would take lots of room uploading pictures of all the bikes I have owned here, because like my dad there have been many, so here are some highlights.

2004 BMW R 1150 RT (My first BMW)

2007 BMW K 1200 LT 

2007 Ducati GT 1000 Classic

2008 BMW K 1200 S

When I met Jeannie I did not own a motorcycle, there was 2 years where I did not have one but decided it was time to get back into, so I purchased a Honda Goldwing, this was the best and most comfortable bike I have had to date, and also a great place to introduce my new wife to riding, Jeannie loved our first few rides on the back of the Goldwing and soon was experiencing some long distance rides with me, together we have covered close to 50000 miles in the last 4 years.

Goldwing through the Dragon

 This past summer Jeannie surprised me with the greatest birthday gift. The only american cruiser I would ever consider owning it, I do now a Victory Cross Country. I love this bike. I love my wife!!

Early this year, Jeannie came to me and said she want to register for the MSF (Motorcycle Safety Foundation) course and learn how to ride herself, I thought it was a good decision because even if she had decided riding was not for her, she would understand what I do and become a better passenger, her instructor in the class called her a "Professional Passenger". Well Jeannie passed the course and decide she wanted to ride, I know that anything my wife puts her mind to it she can do it, in most cases better than me!! and so she put her mind to it and started to ride. We started slow in parking lots we spend most of the summer there until she was ready for her first foray into the busy streets. She has since ridden out of state into TN and NC and has ridden US 129 in GA and US 129 (The Dragon) in TN/NC her skills are improving with every ride. In 2016 we have a couple of long distance rides planned, and she will join us in the long distance motorcyclist club. I am proud of her.

Choosing a bike for her was hard, do you get something cheap that does not fit right is not safe and she will grow out of it in one season ?, do you get something that ends being too big?, too heavy and unnecessary?, or you meet in the middle. The F 700 GS will be a great bike for her for years to come. 

 

This is her first long ride, out of state and into downtown Chattanooga, she did great very proud of her. Jeannie takes the experience in, she is calm and makes little mistakes. 

So is riding a family affair, you bet it is!!, 

We as a family love it!! 

We have had a great record of safety and fun and I hope to continue the tradition for many more years to come.

Alaska to Tierra Del Fuego here we come!!

Till the Next Time!  This is what riding does to people........ SMILES!!

Post-Thanksgiving Weekend

The Post-Thanksgiving weekend in North Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee Mountains

Last week was thanksgiving week, my brother his wife and his youngest daughter traveled north to our house and arrived on Wednesday night. With plans for a large thanksgiving feast at my mom and dad's new house we went to bed early and woke up early, after a nice breakfast of Sausage Gravy and Biscuits we headed out to spend the rest of the day with our parents. 

My brother wanted to ride my new Victory Cross Country, and I wanted to ride my Yamaha Super Tenere so that I could do a throttle body synchronization with my dads knowledgeable eyes. And it required a small adjustment.

I could take the entire blog space to describe the feast but I will just say it was the usual spread my mom has always come up with and it is fit for Kings!!!

The weather this past weekend was surprisingly warm for this time of the year and sunny as well, so my brother asked if we could head up towards Cherokee NC, ride some of the great roads on the way there, and ride some of the great roads on the way back on Saturday. He also asked me to arrive early enough on Saturday so he could load his motorcycles up and head home to FL. Wow!! requests, requests... but we did it, and while doing it squeezed some great riding.

My brother rides a 2013 Yamaha Super Tenere adventure bike, his daughter a Honda CB500X adventure bike, Jeannie took the opportunity to do some more riding herself on her BMW F 700 GS adventure bike and I decided since the theme was "adventure" I too rode my 2013 Yamaha Super Tenere adventure bike. And it was an adventure for sure!!

The total was 382.5 miles in a total of 14 hours, now those 14 hours account for riding, stops for rest, stops for water, stops for site seen and off course food!!.

Here are some of the stops we made.

US 129 Dragon store, at the bottom of US 129 11 mile stretch with 328 curves knows as the Dragon. All of us had ridden the dragon, including Jeannie, as a passenger, she had never ridden it on her own bike, and express the wish to NOT ride it yet, she wanted more experience. Well she rode it!!! And she nailed it.

I have been up this way numerous times, but never out of season, I had never experienced this place closed, well the picture shows and empty dragon store parking lot.

Everyone getting ready to go, Jeannie by this time is nervous but ready, soon she realized that concentration on the road overcame the nervousness and each curve was better than the previous.

328 curves and 11 miles later, she made no mistakes, did not cross a single yellow line, or white ones for that matter. She found the right gear and allowed it to engine break the bike and ride away from the curve once in it!! She did well. Below is the obligatory photo while at the top of the mountain, the end of the 11 miles.

Than my niece said, hey I want to get in a picture up here too, and I have done it more than once! Ha! 

Once up top I reminded Jeannie that, "Now you have got to get back down!" and so she did it, we ended up all at the Tapoco Lodge for refreshments and little something to eat since we had been riding all day. 

Below are some photos of the 4 "Adventure" bikes, and the lodge is a very nice place. Its been re-done in the last couple of years and a great job too. They offer Lodge rooms and cabins for overnight stay.

That night we arrived in Cherokee NC and did our obligatory casino run, my brother and his wife "tried" their luck at the poker machines.

This was yet again another unplanned weekend of great riding, great weather and family fun, very happy my brother, his wife and daughter where there to share it with us, very proud of Jeannie for riding some challenging roads and displaying her increasing skills as a rider.

Thank for keeping up with us, we will be back soon!!

Pre-Thanksgiving Weekend

The Pre-Thanksgiving weekend in Loraine IL

This past weekend Jeannie and I headed north to Loraine IL to visit with her parents. We decided to celebrate her Mom's birthday and thanksgiving on the same weekend. It was a very nice trip full of surprises. 

We left the house on Thursday 11/19 after work and headed as far northwest as we could, ended up in Clarksville TN for the night. Off course we used the inevitable I-75 to Chattanooga and I-24 all the way to Metropolis IL after crossing the Ohio river.

The next day saw us using mostly 2 lane roads all the way up to Loraine, through most of south central Illinois, east of St Louis MO. We saw towns like Pinckneyville, Couterville, Mascoutah, Lebanon, Staunton, Bunker Hill and finally Loraine. It was a very nice two lane ride in the car. We are also scoping out two lane roads for our motorcycle ride up there in the spring.

Most people find driving in the state of Illinois boring, me in the contrary I like the large grain silos, the small farming towns, with a cluster of home, barn and silo all together, I appreciate that very much.

We woke up in Loraine Saturday morning to snow!!!

Oh yeah this is Cochise, he is the chief in these parts!!

After a great day and dinner with family we woke up Sunday morning and headed for a day of shopping and visiting St Louis MO. This was a very nice day, cold!!, but a nice day indeed. 

The courthouse downtown.

The arch and gateway to the west. This is by the way the tallest stainless steel structure in the world. There is a considerable amount of construction around the arch area right now for a brand new park that once completed will be worth another visit.

Next we headed to the Anheuser-Busch museum and tour which by the way is a FREE!! tour with samples and ONE beer of your choice at the end, check out the picture. This tour takes you through the beer making areas of the complex, the Clydesdales are always an attraction, and finally the beer drinking itself !!

And NO Jeannie did not order a glass of wine in a Beergarden, she is trying the new Stela Artois Cidre beer, and they serve it in a wine glass!! She loved it said it was very good.

Food!! We had dinner at a great restaurant, highly recommended. Broadway Oyster Bar on 736 S Broadway, St. Louis, MO 63102. I liked their food and mostly how they choose to recycle this beer cage

Thanks for keeping up with us we will back soon. 

May 2015 BRP

May 22, 2015

Beautiful trip on a portion of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Darcy posted, "In Boone, NC at my favorite burrito place. Great ride on the blue ridge parkway. A good burrito, a good beer, and now whiter shade of pale on the speakers. Perfect ending of a day."


May 23, 2015
The Devils Garden Overlook on the BRP

A little stop at the Blue Ridge Music Center in Galax, VA.   Great day to explore.  I loved what one of the pieces inside the museum part said:

I'll grab my fiddle
and rosin my bow
I'll make myself welcome
Wherever I go

May 24, 2015

Today's ride includes the Back of the Dragon, part of the Claw of the Dragon and two lanes from there back South. We are having a great trip!

First Motorcycle Choice

After the course and many hours of discussion and shopping, I narrowed down what I wanted as my first motorcycle.

At first, the discussion was whether or not we would purchase a new bike or something used.  If we went used, we could save some money potentially by getting something previously owned by a woman or short rider that would be low to the ground and we would not mind as much if it took a couple of falls as I learned to ride.  We looked at a few options but ultimately the resale value would not be as good either and I knew I would want an upgrade soon.

If we purchased new, then if I decided I really did not want to ride on my own, then we would lose money.  Or worse, if I damaged the bike, we could stand to lose a lot more.  What we figured was that either way, it was going to cost money to get something and there were risks either way.  I wanted to pick something that was small and light enough for me, and that I could learn on, but also something that I would still want to ride a year from now.  So we decided we would purchase something new..

And on to the selection...

Having ridden touring and sport touring bikes with Darcy, there are certain aspects of that style of riding that was important.  I didn't have any intentions of riding off road, but did need something I could be comfortable on for hundreds of miles each day.

Since we are a BMW family and with a K1600 in the garage, a few models of BMW were on the list to consider.  I always liked the looks of the Kawasaki Concours and the Honda ST1300.  The seat on the Norge was unbelievably comfortable - nothing like a Guzzi seat!

Unfortunately some of those were just too tall or heavy for the novice rider.  The Norge was too bulky and heavy.  The bigger BMW's are too top heavy; the other dual sports were way too tall.

I then focused on the style of bike.  I didn't feel like I would be comfortable with my feet out in front of me and avoided the cruisers.  I really didn't want a sport bike with my feet behind me and my knees jammed up against my chest.  So I narrowed to those with an upright sitting position with a seat height that would allow me to touch the ground. 

Bikes on the shortlist:
1. Honda CB 500X
2. BMW F700 GS
3. Honda CTX 700

I tried out many models and styles - Triumph, Suzuki, KTM, Ducati, Honda etc.  The bike that felt the most comfortable to me was the F700 GS.  The sitting position was really nice.  The arm reach was comfortable.  I could touch the ground..

The local dealer had two in stock.  Next was the discussion if I wanted to lower the suspension.  I really would be more stable if I could flat foot.  But after reading reviews and the feeling that everyone said - that after a couple of months, I wouldn't be concerned about it, we didn't want to modify the bike (and because the center stand would not fit if the bike was lowered - making chain maintenance a pain) and so I kept the regular suspension.  The stock suspension offers some adjustment and that little bit of adjustment was just enough to get me started.

This is the one -

Now the options...

The comfort seat felt a lot more cushy so opted to order that, a V-stream Medium shield for wind protection and the BMW Vario cases for the side saddlebags and the BMW soft bag for the top. 

Once I can practice in the parking lot - I am going to be ready to hit the road (hopefully only figuratively) with my new machine!

Day 2 of BRC

The Last Day of the Basic Rider's Course

After sharing my experience of the first day with my friends, there were many Congrats and tips offered - and appreciated!

The day started again in the classroom and everything went fine up until the Figure 8's in a box.  With 11 of us in the class, there were only a couple of opportunities to try before we moved on and I definitely did not get the hang of it.  I rolled on the throttle by accident, swerved much to large, couldn't counterbalance.  Wow was that hard and I could not do it.  

I had tears in my eyes.  I knew it was going to be on the test and I wouldn't have enough time to practice or obtain the skill needed to be able to do it with ease.  Others picked it up so quickly and I really struggled with it.  I wanted to leave.  The thought though of giving up just wasn't worth it.  I was going to complete as much of the course as I could, or until the coaches said, "This isn't for you."

The coaches were really great.  They offered many tips throughout the day (keep your head up, don't turn when stopping, look where you want to go) and kept reminding the students each time.  They didn't give up on me, and thankfully I didn't give up on myself.  I did not get the points for the figure 8 in a box, but I did manage to get all the points from all the other exercises which allowed me to pass the test to obtain my license waiver.

Now I see a lot of parking lot practice in my future.  My husband is soooooo happy I did it.  I think he was more nervous than me.  He said though, "How many figure 8's do you see in the middle of the road?"  Someday I will master that.

Now I need to get a bike.

First Time Riding

First day of the motorcycle course...

I'm fairly new to the motorcycle world.  After meeting Darcy I started as a passenger.  I never thought I would ever ride on my own, or that I would want to. 

The experience as a 'professional passenger' was great.  We went on so many long trips, and many more day rides looping around the north GA mountains.  The things that you see, smell and are a part of are so different than being in a car.

I really started to enjoy the leaves changing colors and the views from the highest mountains.  We always take 2-lane roads instead of the highway when we can and had a lot of fun in the twisties.  

Packing for our trips was a challenge.  I joked that I would have to get my own bike if I ever wanted to take an extra pair of shoes.  I did get very good at packing everything for a week in a tiny saddlebag (well the saddlebag wasn't tiny, just small in comparison I had ever packed in the past)!  

I joked when I registered for the Basic Rider's Course, that I needed to learn how to ride so that I could have more packing space.  That wasn't the real reason.  I wanted to see if I could do it.  I wasn't sure if I would like it, or if I would pass the test and get my license, but figured at the very least I would try and at the end I would be a better passenger.

The course I attended was at the Honda facility in Alpharetta, GA.  A group of 11 soon-to-be-hopeful- riders gathered in a training room and we were introduced to our instructors.  I was one of 3 women taking the course which did put me a little as ease.  I really wasn't nervous about riding..  or falling actually.  I was more nervous about what my husband would think if I failed.

After learning the basics inside the building, we were paired with our bikes outside.  I was lucky enough (I'm being sarcastic here) to get a Honda Rebel 250.  What a piece of shit that bike is!  It is so small and low to the ground.  After getting some feel for the clutch (and what it was there for), I managed to breeze through the exercises with only a couple of stalls.

The weather was beautiful and I had experienced something new..  Jury is still out if I'll be able to get through tomorrow!

Introduction

Jeannie and Darcy's new Blog.

We will share our travel adventures, tips, great food and places to stay.

Stay Tuned!