Motorcycling
 
 

The Ride
It's great to live in the Midwest.  Along with the usual advantages of having four real seasons, lots of hardwood trees, and great terrain for all types of motorcycling, there's a decided advantage of having this central location make most of the rest of the country an approachable thumper ride away.  That made it easy for me to view this ride to Ohio as very feasible from my home base in St. Louis.

I settled on riding to central Ohio via US 36 through Illinois and Indiana, then making my way north on Ohio secondary roads to my endpoint in Galion.  I'd posted some queries on where to stay on the thumper-related mailing lists, and got a lot of good ideas on what to see or do.  A couple of folks recommended Galion, having in its favor being very close to the event site in Lexington (about a 15 minutes ride away) and a good number of motels, b&b's, and restaurants.

With the event being held on Friday-Saturday-Sunday, my plan called for daylong rides on Thursday and Monday going to and from.  I got a nice early start on Thursday, 7/9, with a clean bill of health from the Weather Channel and promises of temperatures no greater than the low nineties.  After loading the last few items in my pockets and bungee-securing my travel bag to the SR, I was on the road.

Not much traffic heading east into Illinois at 6:30, so it was a cinch to get across the Mississippi and make my way to the first turn at US 51 near Vandalia.  Oh yes, a beautiful summer day, a smooth-running SR, and several days of motorcycling heaven to look forward to.  Life is good.  I hit my first gas stop a little early (at 92 miles) but took 2+ gallons…hmmm, only 45 mpg?  Going to be a long day.  I had a quick "biker's breakfast" (Gatorade and a Nutrigrain bar) then was off again to hook up with US 36 at Decatur, then east.  I love 2-lane travel, and am always impressed by town squares, invariably they're worth a look around to check out the courthouse architecture, materials used in different parts of the country, and what the good burghers of that area felt was important to spend or create for their town center.

East on US 36 towards Indiana was smooth and easy.  This mid-week day meant lightly inhabited roads which flowed straight as a string.  Literally, I think I turned twice in the entire run east to the border.  Crossing the state line to Indiana, the rich expanses of Illinois farmland gave way to more hills and trees.  Mileage had settled down and was returning to my more customary 50-55 mpg and 120-mile tankfuls.  I'd promised myself to not eat lunch until Indianapolis, and I did in fact make it to the outskirts before switching to reserve.  After gas, and hoping to improve on Burger King for some nourishment, I found a Steak 'n' Shake just down the street.  Lunch tasted great, and the a/c felt good also.  I explained to the patron seated next to me that, no, I wasn't a refrigeration repairman or Christmas come early, the red riding suit was for motorcycle riding, is rainproof, and helps ward off road-rash in case of a spill.  Oh.

I followed the I-465 loop around Indy, and picked up US36 on the other side for the run into Ohio.  It was mainly lock the throttle on 4100 rpm (about 70 mph), gearing down for the 5-block long 35-mph towns, and thump on.  I had my first real navigation in a while at Maryville, OH; I was so proud of making this milepost and finding the correct road that I neglected to stop for gas, 106 miles into the tank and with Marion 27 miles away.  I didn't need to break out the reserve quart after all, made it just fine only 7 miles into the reserve tank.  Gassing in Marion, I visited with a gentleman who's into restoring R69 BMW's, he even has a '57 with a VW engine.  From Marion, the Hometown Inn in Galion was only another half-hour, and I drove straight to it.  A nice location, it shared a small shopping center with some fast food joints, 2 grocery stores, a Chinese buffet, and an auto parts outlet.  Perfect, and full of parked scooters, a good sign of some new folks to meet, and the perfect end to a long day: about 12 riding hours, and 565 miles.

At Mid-Ohio
It's a pretty country ride out to the Mid-Ohio complex from Galion, and I arrived early to get acquainted a bit and sign up for demo rides.  What a beautiful facility…very well kept, I think their best features are the "viewing mounds", soft, grassy hillsides that provide amphitheater-style viewing of all the racing.  That, and the ease of access to everything.  Just ride till you're close enough to what you want to see, find a spot and park your bike.  Easy.

I wandered the pits a bit to check out the vintage racing folks and equipment, which ranged from very pro-looking outfits to low-budget hobbyists, and everything in between.  I'd heard of Team Obsolete, but most of this action was very new to me.  Great sound track, of course, and a who's who of old singles: BSA's, Ducati's, SR's of course, along with 2-stroke twins, BMW's…a guy even had an Indian road-racer.  After some demo rides and wandering about, I treated myself to a "Beer City Griller" (a bratwurst) for lunch, stopped in the AMA tent to hear Fred Rau of Motorcycle Consumer News fame extol the perils of motorcycle oils.  They had a trials riding demo by the world champ…talk about stunts, how about a leap off the top of a 20' tower, stoppies with a 180 twist, you name it.  Amazing.

As late afternoon approached, I saddled up for the hour ride to Ashland County Fairgrounds for the Vintage Flat Track races.  A ½ mile venue, I was prepared to see some old guys on old crock motorcycles churn the dirt a bit.  Well.  They flagged off the first event, a "historic demonstration" featuring Dick Mann and Neil Keen on BSA's against Ronnie Rall and George Roeder on Harley-Davidson's, and these guys were a blast to watch.  Tell me the new stuff is faster, no doubt, but these folks were crankin' this old iron around.  I'd hope to do the same at age 60+.  All the events that night were highly entertaining, very competitive and fast…old iron 750 HD's, 650 Yamaha Twins, Goldies, even 250 Bultaco's, Can-Am's, and Ossa's.  Much fun.

On Saturday, I rode into Columbus (Westerville, actually) and visited the AMA's Motorcycle Heritage Museum.  A cool place, they alternate the main exhibit every couple of years or so and were featuring "50 Years of Honda".  They covered it well.  From early 50's to the 1960's CB160, CL125, step-thru 90's to the 1970's CB750, MT Elsinore's, sport bikes, Wings, you name it.  Very nice display.

Saturday afternoon saw the start of real racing at the Mid-Ohio track, which I watched and people-watched.  Fascinating.  A local technical college was sponsoring a BBQ cook-off in Ontario OH nearby, of course an opportunity I couldn't pass up.  I wasn't disappointed with my $6 sandwich plate, very tasty from a touring BBQ team from Texas. 

With all the bike folks in town, bench racing opportunities abounded both at the track and back at the hotel.  I spent a great Saturday night visiting with a couple of groups of riders: some guys on KZ1000 Kawi's from Michigan, and another set mostly Suzuki VX800 mounted (ever seen one of these, a v-twin shaftie sport bike?  Was new to me, kinda Buell-like in a lot of ways) from the Cincinnati area.  I always learn a lot from guys who've ridden for a while.

More demo rides on Sunday, then a full afternoon of watching racing, socializing, and visiting the "featured marque" tent, full of Vincents.  Ever seen a late-fifties Vincent "waverunner"?  I hadn't, who knew, but they had one in the tent.  Also, the dual-Vincent Bonneville racer was there, a very threatening device if ever there was one, and that was before they fired the mother up.  Hide the kids.

I left the track for the last time very satisfied at the event and my choice of it for 1998's long ride.  It was full of this glow riding back to the motel for my last overnite stay that I noticed my charging system was failing, since the battery was going flat (turn signals not flashing, an ominous sign).  I'd had this happen closer to home, but attributed it to too much sitting around.  Not the case this time.  I bought a 1-amp charger from the nearby auto parts store, plugged in, charged, and kept my fingers crossed for Monday's long ride.

The Ride Home
Starting early for St. Louis, I was concerned enough about charging system woes to bag the scenic route across US 50 and opt instead for old, boring I-70.  But of course, the miles go by very fast compared to the 2-lanes, and I made great time going home.  I was able to throttle-lock on 4500 or so, netting about 75 indicated, probably about 70 actual and raising no eyebrows or attention with the 65-mph limit.  Stopped for breakfast just east of Indy about 10:00 a.m. or so, amazing to cover so much ground so fast (at least on my SR).  It was basically a day of run out the tank, refill, restart, remount, run out the tank.  Heck, I even used "pay at the pump" a couple of times, meaning my "off season" research into some helpful products was paying off (more later).

The SR ran so strong for 530 miles of mostly 70+ riding - even touched an indicated 85 a time or two on locked-throttle downhills - that I was so astounded when I came up two miles short of my house.  After 8 hours of smooth thumping (is there such a thing?) I took my exit at MO 141, pulled in the clutch for the first light north to come down to idle, and it died.  I looked down to see "zero" on the rev counter, put it in 3rd while coasting to try to jump start, nothing.  In neutral at the light, I tried a few kicks, only to get that "wubbahda, wubbahda, wubbahda" sound of a single that won't fire.  How weird.  Tried a number of things, had fuel, had battery, a clean plug, no dice.  Oh, to be towed home after such a wonderful trip.  Sigh. Very lucky to be here rather than stranded in Burnt Prairie, IL.  (Later diagnosis: my 21-year-old stator finally had bit the dust...a pricey item from Yamaha to replace, for sure.  Maybe the next one will last 21 years also!)

The Demo Rides
A great aspect of a rally like VMD is the manufacturer's demo rides.  In a short span of time, and with a little patience during the sign-up process, you're able to ride some of the best and newest bikes.  A blast.

From a test rider whose senses have been calibrated by 6 years of SR500 riding, here are my observations…

Yamaha V Star: Yamaha released this bike this year as a sort of entry-level cruiser; it's a pretty unique combination of a full-sized cruiser frame (only a few inches shorter wheelbase than the much-heavier Royal Star), nice cruiser-style ergos, shaft drive, and a 650cc V-twin engine.  I thought it might make a good backroads sunny-afternoon touring mount for two-up riding.  And it was indeed a very nice ride.  Nicely finished overall, with good styling more derivative of Indians rather than Harleys, and I fit it pretty well too (I'm 6 feet even, 34 inch inseam).  Mine had the optional windshield, which I found less effective than the Street Shield on my SR.  We rode about 35 minutes, backroad 2-lanes, it was an education to actually get the bike countersteered into the first corner compared to the SR, but I caught on quickly.  And this bike had a dandy powerband…wound out in lower gears it had good acceleration and a cool V-twin sound, not loud.  On the way back I even tortured it a bit by pulling 3rd gear uphill at 10 mph…no problem, no snatching, just smooth burble.  Very well done, surprising for only a "40 incher".

Yamaha Royal Star: This bike has been out a couple of years, you may know it's Yamaha's top-of-the-line cruiser.  And they are pretty, many colors and options for customizing.  They're working very hard to make a serious stake in the cruiser market…they even offer a 5-year "everything's covered" warranty, very unusual.  Unlike other manufacturer's, they've priced these V-4 powered bikes pretty close to those Milwaukee ones.  To ride one, the first thing you notice is the size…they are long and heavy for sure.  Mine was equipped with solo saddle and windshield, the guy in front of me had aftermarket pipes mounted which sounded for all the world like a small-block Chevy.  They're beautifully finished and very well made…but…I was pretty disappointed in its performance.  The Yamaha guy, in his pre-ride instructions, had cautioned us that both 4th and 5th gears were overdrives, don't use them on the ride, stay in 3rd usually, etc.; but that still didn't prepare me for how underpowered or at least "weird-powered" these bikes were.  The warm-up speech was right…at 60-65 the Royal Star had very little spunk in 4th, let alone 5th, as advertised.  But even in the lower gears, the low-end was nothing to write home about, and just as it felt like the powerband was coming on, the rev-limiter would cut in.  I don't get a big, comfy, laid back cruiser that has to be whizzed around in 3rd gear.  What were they thinking?

Triumph T595 Daytona: So, what's a vintage SR enthusiast doing on this carbon-fibered, clipped-on baby?  Just having a ball…holy cow, what a rocket!  Understanding that while I've been SR-mounted for the past 6 years, I had spent some time on a FJ1100, and owned a Kawa H1 back in the good old days…still, nothing prepared me for the dose of sport-bike power available with a modern scoot like this Triumph.  I signed up late, so drew this crotch-rocket instead of a saner mount like a Thunderbird or Trophy.  And sure enough, what was for me the pretty extreme riding position offered by this bike was mega-uncomfortable in moments while navigating out of the VMD compound.  Then we pulled onto some prime Ohio tarmac, the ride leaders pulled away smartly leaving me with a hundred yards of open space, and I banged off a couple of 8-grand shifts in 2nd and 3rd.  Talk about your compression of time and space…geez, what happens with this thing when it stays in its powerband (presumably, the sweet spot above 8 grand till the redline at 11-five)?  And the brakes…I learned respect in a hurry, with very wide-section tires and front dual discs serious stoppage was just a light pull away.  Amazing.  Flickable cornering, and the riding position was better with a little airflow at speed to take pressure off my wrists.  Not a bike I'd own, but what a blast to borrow.  Watching someone who knew what they were doing cover distance on this thing would be a treat.

BMW F650ST: The word was the BMW rides were THE hot ticket…they would take you about 25 miles, then R&R, maybe swap bikes, then return, about an hour in all.  I waited patiently for the first two days, only to be shut out near the sign-up desk with "Sorry, all slots have been taken" on both days, bummer.  I skipped breakfast day 3, and was the 10th guy in line…no shut-out today.  I had my pick of any BMW and still picked the F650, amazing the nice BMW lady doing the sign-ups.  I wanted to make sure I got chance to spend most of the ride on a bike I'd seriously consider buying.  We have FSSNOC members with BMW's single, but I hadn't had the opportunity to do more than look at this bike till now.  And they're very nicely put together, I'd say comparable to BMW's other line-up but they do miss a few of the niceties like adjustable levers.  My white F650 started easily since already warmed, and was a nice fit for me.  Tooling out of the lot, it felt more "right" for me, being reasonably lightweight and comparable to my SR, longer and taller though.  As we put distance away from the rally site, I found its powerplant to have a nice thumper sound, very muted of course (being a BMW) and with some zip to it…much more than adequate, not necessarily a screamer.  I loved the handling, a light touch to bend it into a turn, very stable, and also a very plush ride.  The small windscreen did a nice job, surprisingly so…I could see this easily being a pretty good distance mount.  Altogether a thoroughly modern thumper, low vibes, light, fast enough, high-quality.

BMW R1100R: At the midpoint of the BMW ride, we stopped for questions, comments, and the chance to trade bikes if we cared to.  I liked the F650 just fine, but wondered what a R-bike boxer twin would feel like…and I found a fellow SR rider mounted on one who wondered what the F650 would be like.  Dandy.  So I mounted up on this fine-looking teal-green R1100R for the return run.  Bringing up the sidestand and firing up, I was a little cautious about the width of the cylinders and the weight, but found it to be very stable.  Just like the magazine tests said, the bike sorta "torques" to the right with blips of the throttle, weird feeling at first.  But oh, the ride…smooth, powerful, comfortable…I do go on.  I loved this motor, so tractable, linear power, vibrates a bit at low speed but only to let you know it is, in fact, mechanical.  Much fun, and with plenty of go to be very interesting.  It handled great, very easy to roll into corners and very responsive.  No dive on braking due to the Telelever front suspension, it actually rises first then settles an inch or so once you're stopped.  I also tried the "3rd gear at 10 mph" torture tractability test on it, to which it replied, "lug from 800 rpm?  Ja wohl."  Should I decide to buy a bike with a spare cylinder, I'll look closely at this one.

The Products
Like most highly anticipated things, planning for this trip was a lot of what made it an enjoyable pastime.  I'm not typically a "plan it to death" vacationer, but there's something about riding a 20+ year-old scooter cross-country that makes me use a little precaution in carrying along a few items to help me out in a jam, or to make the ride more comfortable for my middle-aged "personal equipment".  Here are some items I used for the first time and that seemed helpful.

Nolan N100 helmet.  After six years with my Bieffe B9M, I'd read that foam in older helmets can be affected over time, and that it's good to replace them every 5 years or so.  Sounded reasonable to me.  So in shopping for a new one, I was paying close attention to reviews of new helmets and rider comments on the mailing lists.  I heard enough positive comments about the new Nolan N100 that I chose to give it a whirl.  This is a new full-face model that has the chin bar hinged to flip up along with the shield (or you can just raise the shield by itself like other helmets).  This is a great feature, it's very quick and easy to flip up the whole face to get a nice cooling blast in those small town zones, or to communicate with toll or gate agents.  The transformation of noise and buffeting levels from my old helmet is amazing, too.  Freeway travel used to give my head a real "paint-mixer" effect, no longer.  Smooth as can be, and quiet.

Allyn Air Cushion seat.  I'd seen these advertised, and always figured them to be a joke of a rip-off.  Not any more.  Picking up on a comment our own director, ol' #000 himself had said about his departing Yamaha and how he'd found this product to be helpful on long rides, I ordered one for myself (from JC Whitney) and gave it a try.  Simple but effective, it looks geriatric on the bike but really does help.  I can't imagine 12 hours on my 20-year-old stock seat, but it was tolerable with this product added.  A great improvement, and cheap.

Joe Rocket Ballistic riding suit.  I read a few reviews of riding suits over the past year, and settled on this product as a good combination of accident protection, rain resistance, and cost.  I picked red for conspicuity and was pretty pleased with the fit and quality of the garment.  I rode on days with temps in the low 90's, and was reasonably comfortable at speed.  Some additional back venting would be nice, along with a "tall" option on the pants…they're long enough to still cover my boots when I'm folded into riding position, but just barely.

Throttle lock.  Another ride-transforming device is a throttle lock, allowing you to free up your right hand every so often to shake some feeling back into it or just get a little rest.  This is the best fifteen bucks you'll ever spend if you're riding more than a couple of hours, even if you have to find a way to make it fit/work (little brackets supplied actually fit nearly nothing, my local dealer said he quit stocking them since all he did was repackage the returns).  That ride through IL east of Decatur was almost all "locked-on", as was the interstate home.  Geez, I started wishing for a "resume" button it worked so well.  With a non-buffeting helmet, air-cushioned tush, and "cruise control", can SR touring become comfy and routine?  Pretty close.