Motorcycling
 
 

Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin was our home for a few days, and what a great place!  Even the Wisconsin FSSNOC members rated this area among the best for riding, and with good reason.  Mile after mile of groomed asphalt two-lanes through the woods, with little traffic to spoil one's reverie (or knee-dragging, for the MZ Skorpion equipped).

This rally was my personal initiation into longer-distance riding (but at only 400 miles one way was no big deal compared to some of the members: Imperial, CA?  Oregon?  Egads!).  I've just started year 6 with FSSNOC, and I've been watching the rally move around the country, always a bit out of reach for me when I lived in Texas.  But for 1997, with my move to St. Louis, and the rally in Wisconsin, I was able to pull it into my sights and figure I could handle a day's ride each way.  I figured to encounter a number of "firsts" during this ride, having only been a "day-tripper" up to this point, and I was right.

Leaving St. Louis, I mapped out travel across the Mississippi on US 67 through Illinois and into Iowa, switching to US 61 to finish the run to Prairie.  Yes, I did wave to the office as I went by, there's a certain very pleasant feeling to thump by an office of working stiffs still cranking away while I'm on vacation.  Lots of Illinois farmland passed by, and I met up with a BMW K-biker on his way back to Detroit.  Didn't keep him in sight very long, though, and without CB or music on the bike, cruised along mostly by myself.

The Weather Channel had predicted rain, and they weren't kidding.  The reality of their prediction arrived just north of Macomb, IL so I nailed my first "first": riding in a downpour.  I had been watching the line of weather grow closer, and actually judged fairly well when to pull the bike over to don my new raingear. (Hmmm…do the suspenders cross over in the back, or just one over each shoulder?  Over-boots and rainproof mittens…gee, my nose itches.)  And, actually found rain-riding to be kinda refreshing.  Much cooler, and with the small screen I had fitted, enough wind still hits the helmet to do a good job of keeping it windswept of rain drops.  No big deal.

Don't know why, but around Monmouth, IL I did one of my usual every-fifty-miles-or-so visual sweeps of the bike to make sure it was all still there (probably a habit unique to Thumper riders).  That's when I discovered that my Supertrapp and exhaust pipe were hanging on by the headflange only. Probably not doing it any good, I figured, and the liklihood of finding a replacement in these parts were slim, or receiving one pronto via FedEx.  As luck would have it, I had just passed the CMS Farm Tire and Auto Repair, so chances looked good to find some hardware to re-attach.  Entering the store, sure was quiet…very quiet, since electrical service had been disrupted due to the storm.  (It was raining pretty hard, at that.)  I finally heard some pounding in the back, and found a couple of very nice guys going after a u-joint with a ball-peen under Coleman light.  And yes, they did have a 3/8th's bolt, nut, and washers I could have gratis.  A little flat on the back in the rain wrench work later, and the SR was good as before.

You cross the Mississippi three times on the route I took, and it is indeed one wide river.  These bikes really feel small when you're on one of these long spans, and intermixed with semi-truck traffic.  The views are outstanding, though, and I especially enjoyed the view east crossing over from Dubuque…that would be Wisconsin dead ahead, meaning I am almost there. 

Following my Automapped trip sheets, I wound my way around US 61 and the Wisconsin highways to the rally site…crested the hill, saw the junction of County Road C, and WOW, look at all those thumpers!  This looks great…FSSNOC banners, lots of folks waving at me as I made my way to check in to the motel and clean up a bit.  Passed several thumpers, waved, and checked in at the Brisbois Inn for the duration. (Side note here:  what a nice, reasonably-priced place.  Very friendly staff, rooms all on one level, AND they allow scooter parking on the sidewalk under the awning, out of the dew, right outside your window.  Nice folks.)  I made my way back to the rally site after a little freshening of myself and the SR's petrol supply.  Even though it was only Tuesday, many folks had already arrived and the bench racing had begun.  Met a number of very friendly thumper-inclined people.  You know if you ride one of these you're lucky to see one or two others in the course of a riding year…here there are close to 100 all in one spot.  Unreal.
 

Jack did a great job of organizing the events of the rally.  Everyone was on their own to discover the roads on Wednesday, and we had a nice show 'n shine on Wednesday evening.  A quick hour at the local carwash had put the SR back in condition after the Illinois rain, but some of these guys have seriously clean scooters.  A well-catered BBQ followed, and it was great to relax and swap tuning/maintenance/travel stories with everyone.  Did I mention everyone was very friendly?  I haven't hung with other biker crowds, but I liked this one…no egos, no attitudes, just great folks who enjoy this unique ride.

Thursday's events were over the top.  We had the morning ride to Viroqua, WI for breakfast; very cool (low 50's) but so sunny, mist o'er the meadows, the whole shebang.  Arriving about 10:00 a.m. at Nate's, they were expecting us and had a great spread of 911-alerting breakfast foods that hit the spot.  I had nailed another first along the way: my first steel grating bridge.  Now I understand why they're mentioned so much in motorcycle-travel articles…very spooky, reminds me of riding trail bikes in mud, only with truck wheels to smash you instead of tree branches should you spill.  Not fun. 

Jack had arranged a tour of the S&S Performance parts plant next in Viola, WI and 100+ of us made the tour, pretty fascinating for a group of mostly gearheads.  Some spare time then to cruise these great roads (hey, who put that gravel stretch in there? ) and make our way to Soldier's Grove for dinner.  A neat old b&b hosted us, I did treat myself to one local ale which was very tasty after the all day's riding.  Then back to the rally site via beautiful WI 131 for closing out the event.  This one follows the course of the Kickapoo River, great greenery, great scenery, and lots of nice pavement.  Cruising along, I suddenly found myself in the midst of a gang of 5 Skorpions and GB's who were trimming apexes a bit sharper than I meant to.  Wow.  At times like these, I always wonder if my wife will be able to find the insurance papers.

So…Friday meant it was time to travel home, and very early at that to make some St. Louis commitments I needed to keep.  As a time saver, I chose an all-Interstate route home, so instead of 60 mph look at the scenery it was a day of 75 mph blast from semi's.  I'll book more time in the future, the interstates are much less fun, at least on my SR.  No incidents, but the SR's tank really seemed small on this leg…about 120 miles and it was time for another $2.50's worth.  And, the only near-miss on the trip was some idiot in an Acura who did the sudden lane change routine on me a mere 3 miles from my house. 

And so, back home.  It felt great to finish the trip, and to meet a few of the folks I had come to know a bit through the Thumper News.  We've got a really nice club, and I'll look forward to trying this again.

I used some products for the first time on this trip, here are some things that worked well for me:

>National Cycle Street Shield: A very good size, small enough so that it doesn't overpower the SR's lines but large enough to take most of the wind blast off the torso.  It feels like the bike is planted better also, much less skittish on interstates than before; downforce, I guess.  Fits like a charm and works well.

>UltraRide Blue Gel saddle insert:  Okay, so it's a butt pad for the iron-buttless.  But this SportsMed product does work well, and keeps my SR saddle from putting my lower extremities to sleep as it used to.  Money well spent.  I lifted the saddle cover and placed it over the foam, then reattached the cover.  It stays in place, is semi-invisible, and really helps.

>DriRider 2-piece Rain Suit: I don't have any comparison with this to other suits, but I can say it fit great, was relatively easy to get on/off, and didn't leak.  I don't think I'm a pencil-neck, but my only criticism would be that the neck closure on my XL was built for Butkus, nothing that a spare Velcro™ tab wouldn't take care of to seal this opening a bit better.

>Lifter1 Tar and Bug Remover: This guy reviewed bug remover?  Get a life!  No, really, I mention this stuff only because it's so different from what I've used before.  I use tar and bug stuff to rid my back wheel and sprocket from excess chain lube before I repolish the rim with Mother's.  The usual stuff is petroleum based, probably doubled as flame-thrower primer in the Gulf War, smells bad, and takes the skin right off your hands (well, at least it does mine).  Anyhow, this Lifter1 stuff is great, it's citrus-based, no burning of skin, and still does a dandy job.  Highly recommended, and found it at that great motorcycle parts place, WalMart.

Enough already.  Thanks to Jack Robinson and everyone who attended for making this such a great event.

Indiana Mark's very clean SR...class winner!

Breakfast lineup at Viroqua, getting ready for the FSSNOC annual meeting

Soldier's Grove dinner spot...a nice gathering after a fun day's ride.