CLUB CAMPOUT NATURAL FALLS ST. Park. OKLA.
By Lee Kubicki
This years
outing was up to par weather‑wise, RAIN, but it seemed all (l8‑20
?) attending enjoyed themselves. A nice park, complete with canyon, waterfall,
pool, and scenic babbling brook. I'd bet this was a prime outlaw hideout back
in the I.T.‑Judge Parker times.
Special thanks to:
Otto and Gail for all the good
food, and all the trouble they went through to provide it, not the least that
lovely, large, coffeepot.
Rod for dickering the site cost
down to such a minimal hit on the club treasury. (I can’t claim credit for this;
it was Gwen! Ed.)
Fred C. for supplying that oh so
wonderful rick of wood which kept the hearth fire burning and the chill‑demons
at bay.
Jerry, whose camp fly became so
popular a shelter in the Sunday morning rain.
Bob H. we all thank you for our
gifts and the "AWARDS", its a hell of a deal when youngest rider goes
to a guy already an over the hill 40.
P.S., my niece
thanks you for the NEW frypan, she is, shortly (FINALLY) (my brother!), leaving
home for a house of her own and this will be a nice stand out to her present
collection of early garage‑sale kitchenware. I thank you; she thanks you
and her FATHER THANKS YOU.
Yours, youall
Falling Leaf
By Lee Kubicki
This was the
first time I'd attended this rally at the Potosi site, my last Falling Leaf was
the last year at Bland, MO., where the weather being so miserable I had to
spend all my partying money on warm clothes and gloves. BUMMER!
This run, up‑anyhow,
was very pleasant, warming up nicely after a short stop in Clinton, AR. to
visit an old bud from my days in Cleburne Co., being a business entrepreneur,
as you‑all can observe Warren Buffet wasn't to worried.
The route I‑40,
AR.9 MO.l9, A, KK, MO.32, DD, P, to MO.8 right there in Potosi is scenic light
on traffic and plenty curvy without being treacherous, a real fun ride.
The rally site
is really very nice spread‑out, grassy, much shade, clubhouse, good
firewood supplied, showers at the firehouse where I got to watch TV in the
ready‑room (TENN. over ARK. such a shame boohoo). Lots of food and fun
visiting around, I believe there were about 10 Naturally Beemers plus 800+
others attending, the rally's largest, one of which TOTATALY UNDESERVING SOUL
got off with my door prize bike. I had displeased the GODS somehow?
I rode the
observation run, and didn’t win. A real neat (120+? mile) cruise thru backroads
and small towns, most of them having their fall‑harvest festivals. The
Acadian Valley on rte.C a highlight, also saw Elephant Rocks, buffalo, and one
VED. Rescue Squad picking up the pieces of a rollover on rte.Y, a Trooper there
said they get about one a week off this 6 mi. stretch, almost all single‑car
wrecks, all locals, most DUI, seldom fatal as the road is so twisty they can't
get up to real speed. PTL
Sunday,
shortly after leaving for home the nice weather broke and it was on and off
light to heavy rain to about 30 mi. E. Of Springfield where I'd had enough of
the 2 lanes and took US 60, MO.59, US71 to I‑540 and my snug DRY house.
P.S., silly me
almost forgot the ANVIL TOSS, what a HOOT!!
Falling
Leaf - By way of the Blue Ridge
By Harlan
Brown
Donnie,
Rod and I left Friday for the Return to Shiloh rally, which was a good rally.
We normally camp in the trees, but because of space we camped across the road,
in the open, which had plenty of sunshine to warm us up (Burr) but plenty of
sand burrs. We camped next to Stuart Bogue, who worked for “Venture BMW” in
Birmingham, Al. We shared his fire and had a good talk Sat. night. We also saw
Barry Phillips, who came over for the day Saturday. He’s the only other club member we saw.
Sunday,
I left for a week’s vacation ride to the Blue Ridge Parkway and then back to
Falling Leaf the next weekend. Rod and Donnie had originally intended to make
the ride but had too many iron’s in the fire at home. The ride for me started
o.k. until about 50 miles east of Pickwick Dam, where I acquired $140 speeding
ticket (70 in a 55) from one of Tennessee’s finest. This kinda left a bad taste
in my mouth, but soon forgotten, I had to make Cherokee N.C. by night. My route
was Hwy. 64 across southern Tennessee, loop around Chattanooga and up to
Cherokee, actually to a campground about 100 mi. north of Cherokee on the
parkway, but I didn’t make it. I only reached Murphy N.C. in the extreme
southwestern corner of the state and moteled it Sunday night.
Monday
morn. I left Murphy toward Cherokee, the south end of the Blue Ridge. This area
between Murphy and Cherokee parallels a river, I forget the name, that the
water events for the Atlanta Summer Olympics were held. By the end of Monday, I
was about 130 mi. in, about 50 mi. north of Asheville, at Crabtree Meadows
campground. People say that the southern portion of the parkway, from Cherokee
to Asheville Is the prettiest and best riding, elevation from 3500 to 6000 ft.
After breaking camp Tuesday morn, I headed out. Stopped at Linville Fall’s and
took an hours hike up to the falls. After, I had lunch in Linville, just off
the parkway.
Here’s
one Charlie Bishop will appreciate; I stopped at an overlook, there were two
young guy’s on Mountain Bikes, each pulling a little single wheel trailer,
loaded down with their gear. They were from Toronto, Canada; boy, you talk
about nerve. Moving on, I camped at Rocky Knob campground Tuesday night, about
a 170-mi. day. After pitching my tent, I actually cooked, well warmed-up some
Soup and Vienna Sausage with crackers. Light my propane lantern and sat for
about an hour, then turned in.
In
order to make Potosi, Mo. by early Friday; I had to head west Wed. morn. I
didn’t cover the total length Blue Ridge, all but about 150 mi. I could have
kept going north Wed. but that would have made me arrive In Potosi Sat. By not
getting as far up the parkway the previous Sun., my timing was off all the way
up the Parkway. I never was at any of my pre-determined campgrounds the day I
intended. To cover the total length of the Blue Ridge, you a minimum of 3
day’s, 4 day’s to do it comfortably and even 5 if you really take your time and
stop at all of the overlook’s you want and maybe even drop down into a couple
of towns. Anyway, Westward Ho!
Wednesday
morn. I headed for W. Virginia. I picked up Hwy. 52 around the southern and
western perimeter of the state. Hwy. 52 runs thru coal country. This whole area
of W. Virginia has tight and twisty roads, between two mountain ridges. Little
small towns with streets coming right up to store fronts, because of lack of
space. This is kinda depressed area, but still pretty in it’s own way. If you
were wanting to get away from it all, this might be your place. Here’s where I had my second encounter with
the law. All through this area you encounter slow traffic. Finally, after
following an old gentleman traveling 35 mph, who had traffic backed-up for
about a quarter of a mile, I passed him in a yellow zone. I just didn’t know
that Chevy Shurburban behind me was full of W. Virginia Hwy. Patrolmen. After
they got around, they came up and pulled me over, (4 of them). After they told me why they stopped me and checked
my license they asked me where I was headed. After I told them and showed them
on the map they said Boy, you must not be from around these parts! You’ve got
some bad information. Apparently there was some roadwork up ahead, so they
showed me another route to get me north to I-64. We had a good talk for about
10 or 15 minutes and they let me go, without a ticket.
I
finally wound around and got to I-64 and headed west to Huntington W. Virginia
I passed through Huntington and on to Grayson, about 20 mi. inside Kentucky and
moteled it Wednesday night. Thursday morning I headed for Lexington on I-64.
Going around the loop in Lexington, I saw one or two horse farms. Boy would I
like to have the concession on just the white paint to keep-up those white
fences; acres and acres of white fences. After getting around the loop in
Lexington, I picked-up the Western Kentucky Pkwy, going southwest toward
Paducah. I planned to spend the night in Cape Girardeau, Mo. About 100 mi. west
of Lexington. I stopped in nearby Hodgenville; the birthplace of Abraham
Lincoln. The original log cabin he was born in was dis-assembled and
re-assembled inside a marble memorial building, just a few feet from the
original location of the cabin. Continuing on toward Paducah, then down to
Cairo and crossing the river, then up to Cape Girardeau by 8:00 p.m., about a
550 mi. day. Whoa! That motel room sure felt good! I’ve been in Kentucky 3
times in the last couple of years and I can say, there is nothing I need to go
back there for. Of course, I was Interstating it all the way I believe there
are some prettier parts, probably east-central in the Daniel Boone National
Forest.
Friday
morn. I visited Grass Roots BMW in downtown Cape Girardeau, then eased on up to
Potosi, for the Falling Leaf Rally (25th anniversary). By the time I
registered and set-up my tent, it was noon. While waiting for some of our other
club members to arrive, I wandered around looking at bikes and the vendor area.
Friday afternoon people really started coming in. About 3:00 or 4:00 p.m. some
of our club arrived; Donnie Rice, Rod Kilduff, Jim Dickinson and Doug Hines.
And Charlie Bishop, Otto Ising, Greg Parish, Barry Phillips and Lee Kubicki
were already there, I just hadn’t stumbled across them yet. Friday night, the
rally furnished hot dogs and all the fixins. After we got back to our camping
area, we had a good time sitting by the fire and talking about motorcycles, our
kids, ailments retirement, you know, what most old folks talk about.
Saturday
morn. The rally served breakfast. After we milled around the vendor area, Jim
Dickinson found some guys who were going up to Herman, Mo. a town about 100 mi.
north of Potosi for an Octoberfest. We all jumped on our bikes and headed out.
Herman was a nice little German town, approx. 10 or 15 thousand right on the
Missouri river. The entire town participated, several restaurants with German
food and Beer Halls. Lots of people walking up and down the main street, mainly
like us, from surrounding towns and communities. After we ate and sampled some
beer (about an hour), we headed back to Potosi. I was kinda in a hurry to get
back. I didn’t want to miss the Ringing of the Anvil, a demonstration of
signaling from community to community in the pioneer days. Fortunately, I had
forgotten about the time change and was watching the clock on my bike, which
was in military time. It read 1400 Hrs. and I thought it was 4:00 P.M. when it
was actually 2:00 P.M. We actually had a couple of hours to spare, Ha!
At
4:00 P.M. they started serving barbecue, then the Anvil Ringing. This was the 3rd.
consecutive year the rally had this demonstration. The demonstration was given
by a man who competes in these Anvil Ringing competitions and was National
Champion last year. Two anvils, weighing about 60 or 70 lbs. ea., one placed on
top of the other with the right amount of black powder between them to shoot
the top anvil up in the air, about 100 ft. Everyone gathered around the area
set up for the demonstration. Doug Hines and I got behind a pickup, just in
case. The blast was so loud you had to cover your ears. I thought Doug was going to turn the truck
over when the blast went off. The top anvil went straight up and straight back
down. Then everyone gathered at the grandstands for the awards ceremony.
Because it was the 25th anniversary of the rally and they were
giving away a bike, a `75 R90S , it drew a large attendance, between 800 &
900. The executive director of BMOA was there and spoke to the crowd. Then the
awards and door prizes. The Kermit Chair, Rod you might as well give-up and buy
one. The 50/50 pot, actually, 50/25/25, the club didn’t keep any of the pot.
$874 for 50% and $437 x 2 for 25%! The R90S was really a nice bike, redone by
the Gateway Riders and painted by BMW Motorad. All of us Naturally Beemers came
back empty-handed, except Donnie, who I think won some Gorilla tent stakes.
Then some of us hung around the vendor area long enough to lighten the load on
our pocket books. Sat. night’s campfire
was about the same as Fridays, you know, more ole folk’s talk. But still, I
could stand about 3 or 4 of those nights in a row, just sitting there.
Well,
Sun. morning arrived and it’s off to the races. Some enthusiastic campers woke
up at daylight, packing and in a hurry to get home. I’m hardly ever that quick,
although I did get started pretty early and didn’t take much longer than the
rest of the group. And off to Little Rock we headed. When we got to Hwy. 62
running East & West across northern AR., Jim Dickinson and I split-off and
ran over and went down Hwy. 341, I had never been on it and had heard a lot
about it. We didn’t charge too hard, we were following a rain and were loaded
down. But still, it was nice; I’ll have to go back when it’s dry.
Now,
to get to the end of this novel, we were doing O.K. until we got to about
Rosebud, just south of Heber Springs on Hwy. 5. I had noticed for the last
several miles, my bike seemed to wander more in the curves than normal. And I
would shake it from side-to-side on the straight’s and it would wiggle like a
snake. A few miles and it got worse and worse. Finally, I decided I had a wheel
bearing going out; not thinking of the obvious, a flat. Finally ,I decided,
I’ve got to stop and check this out or I’ll wind up in the road ditch. After I
stopped, sure enough, it was a flat. Jim’s yellow Concours just ran me into the
ground. I wasn’t getting very good mileage out of this tire, two weeks old and
three thousand miles. I found the nail hole and apparently, I’d been riding it
40 or 50 miles on the way down. The sidewalls were worn down to the cord. We
decided it was too risky to plug it and try to make it in. So Jim went on and
brought his trailer back and hauled me in. Now I’ve got two rear tires in my
storage building to get rid of.
I’m through now-Rode Out! I assure you,
there will not be a sequel to this novel.
HAPPY BIKING!
What
a Great Year of Motorcycling
14
Months – 40,000+ Miles – 6 Bikes
by Doug Hines
In
July of 1972 I had a Harley Sporster left over from my college days at the
UofA. One night I was on my way home doing 70 mph when a dog ran in front of
me. I hit the dog and crashed. The bike and myself slid about 100 feet. One of the neighbors said she heard the
crash, walked across her living room to the door and still saw me and the bike
sliding down the road. I was not wearing a helmet and just had on a tee shirt
and jeans (typical Harley gear). However, I had a big thick wallet in my hip
pocket (most likely full of bills in those days), in which I must have slid the
entire distance on that portion of my buttocks as the wallet was almost
non-existent at this point and I had not one scratch on me. The dog did not fair as well as I did. Thanking the good Lord for saving me
(literally), I pushed my bike home, put it back together, sold it and never sat
on another motorcycle until July 1999 (27 years later).
At
the age of 52 I decided I had waited long enough for another bike. Remembering
the old Harley Sporster days, I knew I didn’t need a touring bike because
anyone that could sit on a bike for more than a 100 miles must be an iron
man, so I bought me a new Harley Dyna
Wide Glide. With the rubber mounted
engine I soon discovered that I could actually ride all day, however, about 250
miles in a day was still a long trip but I was really enjoying the riding. Not having enough room to carry extended
trip gear on the Wide Glide, I bought me a new Harley Ultra Electra Glide in
February 2000. This way I could carry my gear but still get that great Harley
sound. With this bike I was getting my
daily trip mileage up to about 350 miles.
Europe Tour
By this time I was really hooked on
motorcycling so I booked myself and my wonderful wife a 14 day Europe Tour
through the Harley Davidson Adventure Tours . They use Edelweiss Bike Travel
tour guides and equipment. This is a
very expensive way to motorcycle tour but what a luxury. They furnished me with
a new Harley Electra Glide, a van to haul all of your luggage from motel to motel,
a tour guide that gives you the route and you may follow him or go on your own,
wonderful motel accommodations, and most of your meals. The cost for riding two
up is $6,850 plus $200 for bike insurance, plus your airfare for two. I think
my total cost including spending money was about $9,300. You could do this much
cheaper on your own but being my first trip to Europe and not speaking the
language, it made life very easy. We
met in Frankfurt, Germany and toured Germany, through the Austria and Swiss Alps,
touched the tip of Italy, France, and back to Germany. The Austria and Swiss Alps is wonderful
motorcycle riding. The German people are extremely friendly (must be all that
great beer) and actually enjoyed everything except the French people. They were
rude and crude and very unhelpful. While
in the Alps I kept noticing all these BMW’s passing us Harley’s like we were
sitting still. In Europe, you will see 100 BMW’s to every Harley. Just the
opposite of the states. I didn’t know
one BMW from the other but I did recognize the blue and white emblem. I started asking questions and gleaning
information from the tour guides to find out more about the BMW’s. One night in Switzerland the two tour guides
and I were having a late night beer at the bar when one of the ex-tour guides
came in and sat down with us. I started asking him about BMW’s since he had a
new R1150GS. To my surprise, our tour
guide said “Let Doug ride that BMW tomorrow, we were racing today and he was
riding two-up on a fat Electra Glide and I couldn’t shake him off my tail.” Again
to my surprise, the BMW owner said “Sure thing, I’ll let you ride it in the
morning before I go my separate way.” I
thought to myself, “Yeah, that’s just the beer talking and he won’t remember
that in the morning.” Again to my surprise, as we were preparing to leave the
next morning he came up to me and handed me the key and said, “take a
ride”. He lowered the seat and showed
me a few things about the bike. Man
this is one tall bike for a little guy that is 5’ 7” tall and has a 27” leg
inseam. He almost had to hold the bike
upright for me like you would teaching a kid how to ride a bicycle for the
first time. I thought the boxer engine
(by this time I had learned some BMW terminology) sounded kind of funky and I
thought it was odd when I goosed the throttle to downshift I could feel the
bike torque to the right. I thought
this GS was absolutely the ugliest bike I had ever seen. But whow! What a
difference in this BMW an that Harley I was riding. I could be running 70 mph and had plenty of throttle and
acceleration left to pass cars, I could just think turn and it would turn, and
boy what brakes. Also with the high
altitude, the bike wasn’t spitting and sputtering. When I returned he asked me what I thought about the BMW. I said, “I’ll own one when I get back
home.” He said, “If you buy a BMW when
you get home, write me and let me know.”
We made many life long friends on this trip as we toured with 4 other
couples from various parts of the US. Europe is beautiful, very clean, and very
well maintained. Even in the Alps, farmers grow hay on 45-degree slopes and
must be harvested by hand, but you never see any erosion. Our highway department can’t seem to grow
grass on a 3:1 slope without erosion. I told one of the tour guides that I
think the people from the US must be slobs. We tend to trash our land and not
take care of it like you do. Before leaving I asked the Edelweiss tour guides
if they liked doing the BMW tours or the Harley tours the best. They both said, the Harley Tours. Their reason was that the BMW riders are too
intense and come to just ride but the Harley riders come to just have fun.
True
to my word, two days after I got home from Europe I was the proud owner of 2
BMW’s. I didn’t know for sure which BMW
I wanted to own so I bought a new R1100RT and a K1200RS. Since I worked a lot of overtime the year
before and had about 30 days of comp time coming, I put 600 miles on the new
bike in 2 days, took it back to the dealer for the 600 mile service and left
for a trip out West one week after returning home from Europe. I made the trip by myself and is probably
the best motorcycle trip I’ve ever taken.
Rocky
Mountain High
Day
1 - I started my scenic riding in Durango, Colorado (It’s pretty boring from
Arkansas to Colorado). Headed north up
Scenic Route Hwy 550, through Telluride, Delores River canyon and up to Grand
Junction, CO. From there north through
Dinosaur National Monument and over to Vernal, Utah, north through Flaming
Gorge and up to Rock Springs, Wyoming.
I put in a 10-½ hour day on the road, covered 492 miles, and stopped
enough to burn 3 rolls of film, and still felt wonderful. I thought to myself, “Man this BMW is a
traveling machine.”
Day
2 - From Rock Springs, WY, I headed Northwest up through Idaho with the backside
of the Grand Tetons in view. After 400 miles by 1:00pm, I arrived at
Yellowstone and spent the rest of the day touring Yellowstone. By the way, out West you can really cover
some ground. You may go for 30 minutes
on some of the roads in Wyoming without meeting anyone. Never saw a state
trooper in WY, Idaho, or AZ.
Day
3 - I left Yellowstone the next morning taking the northern loop to go out the
Northeast gate headed for the Beartooth Highway to Montana. Yellowstone is such
a gorgeous place and actually has wonderful bike riding roads, especially if
you catch it early in the morning with no traffic. Must be careful for the
buffalo, deer, and other critters though.
If there is ever a “must do” bike run, the Beartooth Highway is it. This has some of the most beautiful scenery
and bike riding roads you’ll ever experience.
The weather was great for me. Although, it was a cold 28 degrees when I
left that morning in June, it was a clear sky and bright sunshine and I was in
luck. The road sign at the northeast gate said the Beartooth Highway was
open. It is not unusual to get snow even in August and close the
road down. The Beartooth has many
switchback turns as the Alps but in general the road is much better and wider
which makes for wonderful twisties. I
had so much fun on the BMW. It brought
back memories of the Alps of the BMW’s passing us Harley’s all day long, except
this time I was on my BMW and eating the Harley’s up. There was one pack of about 6 Harley’s that I must have passed
about 5 times in the twisties. I would pull over and take pictures and they
would come by. I would get back on my
bike and suck them under. Stop for another picture and start all over
again. After reaching Montana, I turned
south to Cody, WY and then West to enter the East gate of Yellowstone and
exited the South Gate of Yellowstone headed for Grand Teton National Park. Took a roll of film at the Tetons and headed
south to spend the night in Dubois, WY on my way back to Colorado. I originally planned on leaving Yellowstone
and go south through Idaho and Utah down to Grand Canyon in Arizona but after
riding in the Colorado Rockies that first day, I decided I wanted a little more
of that.
Day
4 - The next day I left Dubois, WY and went south to Steamboat Springs, CO,
east through the Rocky Mountain National Park. This is beautiful country and
more great riding. I actually saw more wildlife in Rocky Mt. Park than I did
Yellowstone. Got caught in a thunderstorm with mucho lightning coming off the
mountain headed to spend the night in Estes Park, CO.
Day
5 - From Estes Park, CO, I headed south down Highway 7, which is a beautiful
road full of twisties that runs along a river canyon. At I-70, I took a detour
to go to the top of Mt. Evans, which is the highest road in the USA, 14,260
MSL. I could not believe how well this
Bosch Engine Management System on my BMW handled this high altitude. I hardly noticed a decrease in horsepower,
although I know it had to lose some.
After returning from the trip to Mt. Evans I headed west to Copper
Mountain, south to Leadville and then west to Aspen. By the way, near Leadville
are the headwaters for the Arkansas River. I have a picture of the Arkansas
River, which looks like a road ditch flowing through a culvert. The road to Aspen goes through Independence
Pass, which was at one time an old stagecoach route. This was a fun road on a motorcycle, but I can’t imagine riding a
stagecoach through these mountains. Aspen is a beautiful and expensive town.
From Aspen, I kept going west to Carbondale, CO and then turned south on
Highway 133 to Hotchkiss, then Highway 92 and 50 to Gunnison, CO where I spent
the night. Highway 92 and 50 into Gunnison is fun and beautiful. Another “must
do” ride.
Day
6 – From Gunnison, CO. I headed east through Monarch Pass and was going to
leisurely work my way back to Durango where I started. Going south on Highway 285 to get back to
the scenic Highway 160 it was very boring riding so I just put the Beemer on
100 mph and let her go. About an hour
from Durango, I took another look at the map, added up some mileage, and
thought to myself, “You know, I think this Beemer could make the North Rim of
the Grand Canyon tonight if I let her go instead of going home.” This would add an extra day to the trip but
what the heck, let’s go. I stopped at
Mesa Verde National Park, 4 corners National Monument, toured Glen Canyon dam
and arrived at Jacobs Lake Resort just outside the entrance to the North Rim of
the Grand Canyon. I left that morning
at 5:30 am and arrived at Jacobs Lake at 6:00 covering 676 miles while stopping
at several tourist stops. From the 4 corners to about 50 miles outside of Page,
AZ, you’re just kind of burning pavement to get somewhere as it is desert and
not much to see except for some of the rock formations around Monument Valley.
By the way, this is where many of John Wayne western movies were filmed.
However, once you get to Page and cross the Colorado River and start up the
mountains passing the Vermillion Cliffs it is a gorgeous ride. Once in the
mountains, it cools off with lots of evergreen trees, Aspens and vegetation.
Day
7 - I left Jacobs Lake for the 40-mile
ride to the North Rim at 5:45am in order to watch the sunrise on the
canyon. What a beautiful ride and not
anything like I had pictured in my mind. I thought the Grand Canyon would be
all rock, but the 40 mile ride into the North Rim was much like Yellowstone,
with Aspen trees, beautiful meadows, and creeks. When I walked out on the deck to take my first look at the Grand
Canyon, I thought AWESOME. It was so awesome and breath taking that the other
people just sat there in silence not saying a word it was so spectacular. The North Rim is a much longer trip to get
to than the south rim where most of the tourist go, but is so much more
beautiful and worth the extra effort. After taking many pictures, I headed back
to Jacobs Lake. About 20 minutes into
the trip, it came a horrific thunderstorm and then started hailing. The hail was getting so bad that I laid my
jacket on the bike to protect some of
the paint and ran into the woods for protection. It didn’t last long, but the
ground was solid white with hail. At Jacobs Lake I had to decide whether to
backtrack my same path to Durango or to take the longer route up through Utah.
After looking at the map again, adding up the mileage, I saw this was going to
be a 700-mile day with a late start after touring the Grand Canyon. I knew the Beemer was up to it, but had some
doubts about myself, however, the great thing about a vacation is that they
always have motel rooms and what if it takes another day. I headed north into Utah on Highway 89, then
east on Highway 12 through Red Rock Canyon and Bryce Canyon. Then Highway 24
and 95 to cross over the north end of Lake Powell. What a great ride. From here it was back to Durango. I guess the greatness of the Beemer must
have inspired me as I made it back to Durango by 6:30 PM and covered 701
miles. My thought was, “You know, I
might go for one of those 1000 mile days and get my IronButt award on this
bike.”
On
this trip, I learned how much I enjoy motorcycle touring by myself. I can leave
when I want, stop as often as I want to take pictures, and quit when I want.
What freedom and what a way to see the USA.
Being a pilot and having an airplane business I have always flown
everywhere I went. I discovered how beautiful this country really is. Before,
if I could not fly, I didn’t go anywhere and if I had not bought a motorcycle I
probably would have never taken the time to travel this country in a car. In 7
days I covered 3,988 miles with an average of 570 miles/day. The least miles
covered were 465 and the most were 701 miles. Quite a switch from my Harley
days and made me fall in love with the BMW, because there is no way you’re
going to cover this kind of ground on a Harley. I also had to eat my words to the Europe tour guide about us in
the USA being slobs and not taking care of our land. Maybe it’s just the
Arkansas people that trash the land because everywhere out west the landscape
was clean. I’m not proud of this as I
love Arkansas and plan to spend the rest of my life here.
(to be
continued next issue...)
From: S & D Boggs
Sent: Thursday,
October 12, 2000 10:29 PM
Subject: Help Jerry!
I
have major brake problems on my 83’ R80RT with twin front Brembo’s. It started
with a leak of fluid at the master cylinder. Fluid was leaking past the last
seal on the lunger assembly and coming out around the lever plunger. I replaced
the lunger assembly and had a heck of a time getting all the air out after
cleaning the calipers and flushing the brake lines. Strangely the lever didn’t
move much but I had great brakes. A few days later while riding the bike lost
power suddenly(I thought) but was fine when I pulled the clutch in. I barely
kept it under control while an invisible hand seemingly applied the front
brake. I stopped on the side of the roadway with a locked front brake! I don’t
know for sure but I think it was only one caliper. The brakes were hot but I
didn’t check for one or two. I bled off the pressured fluid and went on my way
to work. I took everything apart and cleaned and checked again. Some time later
it locked up again without provocation. Same pressure bleed to get home. Scary!
I ordered factory caliper rebuild kits and installed them. I could never get
all the air out but setting overnight seemed to help. Now it has happened
again. I lack only replacing the pistons in the calipers to have all new
components. The discs are not visibly cracked or warped. 1.What would make the
brakes pump up themselves? It happens eventually even if I don’t use the brakes
at all. 2.Is there a trick to getting the lines to bleed easy?
Thanks,
Scotty Boggs
Scotty-
It sounds as if the small bleed hole in the master cylinder is plugged. If you
remove the reservoir from the master cyl and look at the top of it you will see
two holes, one about .080" and a depression with a smaller hole (about
.015"). If this smaller hole is clogged with corrosion, the fluid cannot
bleed back into the cyl as it expands from the heat of use. Poke it out with a
small wire and the problem should be gone. This will also give a little free
travel at the lever. The other possibility could be that you installed the
wrong piston or parts in the wrong order- not likely as it should be apparent.
---- Good luck, Jerry
Jerry, You are "Da Man"! Your guess about my braking
problem on my 83' R80RT was dead on. The brake fluid reservoir / master
cylinder union does include two "ports". The smaller is initially the
same size as the larger, it looked like a blanked off hole. After vigorous
cleaning it indeed did have a tiny hole in the center. The hole is so small
that a needle will not pass through. The ravages of 17 years of half-way brake
maintenance and neglect finally conspired to plug the tiny orifice but tight. I
finally got a small wire through the opening and now the brakes are working
better than ever. I hope to pass this info on to the other Naturally Beemers
riders in hope of preventing others from having the same problems I did. Thanks
again, you really helped me a lot. I hope to see you guys soon. Thad is my
Beemer man too so tell him hello.
Sincerely, Scott Boggs
From the Editor’s Desk
by Rod Kilduff
No New Members
2001 Dues
Yep,
it’s that time again. Time for your
2001 dues, you can mail them in anytime or bring them to the club meeting in
March.
There
are still a few folks who have not paid their 2000 dues. I have started dropping people who are more
than two years behind.
Your
address label shows the month and year that you are paid up to. If it doesn’t say “01/01” you still owe. The
dues are $10 for an individual or $15 for a family membership.
Wanted
Newsletter material: Always
I
am still soliciting for newsletter articles.
With this issue I have used up most of what I have had submitted since
last time. Send that article you have
been going to write for the past year. Also many thanks to those of you; who
have submitted material already. You are allowed to send in more.
Emergency and Personal Information
Packets
As
the primary club contact I receive a lot of unsolicited stuff, however in
October I received something I want to pass along to you all. It is a kit to enable you to record
emergency & personal information to
be carried by you when traveling on your bike.
It contains two plastic pockets to place the information in. One to go in your jacket pocket and another
to place on the bike somewhere. It also
contains yellow reflective informational stickers to place on your helmet and
your bike. These are in a standard
format that Emergency workers will recognize.
If there is enough interest, we can
purchase them in volume through the club at some discount. I would like you to think about this, I was
pretty impressed with what I got and plan on getting a kit. Look at the inside of the newsletter cover
for their flyer. We can discuss this further at the March Meeting.
Activities
Jan 1 – New
Year’s Day Ride – In Central AR, we will meet under the bridge at Toad Suck
Park for a ride to Petit Jean for lunch at the lodge and then elswhere
depending...
Jan 1 - In NW AR - Thad usually has a New Year’s
Ride, check with Bentonville BMW for verification.
Mar 17th
– Naturally Beemers Annual Meeting
May
18 - 20 - Naturally Beemers Natural
State Rally
FLEA
MARKET
There is no
charge for the ad; we only ask that you be honest and fair. Naturally Beemers
is not responsible for the quality of the items or any transactions made
because of the ad. Ads will run for two
issues of the newsletter unless extended.
Don’t forget
the 10% Club Member Discount at
Bentonville Cycle Sales
2000
R1100RT, red, 1200 miles, Like new with top case and Bob's throttle Rest,
$13,500, 501-301-3159
94
R1100RS, ABS, 46K mi. color matching bags(ivory), Bar Backs, Parabellum
Windshield, Throttle
Lock
RT tail rack which accepts Top Case and Throttle Lock. $7200
Contact
Harlan Brown @501-666-7844
Classic
1975 R90/6 with unmodified drivetrain. Breaker points, heavy #10 flywheel,
5-speed, Large 6.0 gal. Tank model. Proper detachable hard bags with rack. S
model bars and faring with clock and voltmeter. Stainless brakeline, fresh rear
main seal, good tires and batt. A gentleman’s daily rider with 60K miles.
Arkansas antique MC tags. Excellent and ready to ride. Too many. $3500.00 Scott
Boggs Phone 501-268-4775, e-mail boggs@mail.cswnet.com
1992
Buell RS1200 "Westwind". One of 30 produced in 92’, only 6 of this
"gunmetal metallic grey" color. Total production of the Westwind RS
was only 202 1989-93. This 1203 cc Sportster engine is the later 5-speed
Harley-Davidson Evolution version. The chassis is based upon a racing design
using the engine as a stressed member with the swingarm mounted to the rear of
the motor. The WP suspension is from Holland and fully adjustable. Features
also include Mitchell spun aluminum wheels and a Performance Machine six-piston
front brake. The bike has the RSS model dash and instruments. Stock in
appearance it has some intelligent engine modifications ordered new with the
bike. Screaming Eagle carb., air filter kit, hi-performance cams, ignition, and
oil cooler, plug wires. Rear wheel HP is estimated to be 75-80. Dry weight is
listed, as 450-lbs. Stock gearing would allow nearly 150 mph at redline. It is
reliable, fast, rare, unique, and comfortable even for two-up riding. The
rubber-mounted engine transfers no vibration to the rider. The bike had a
retail price in 1992 of $16,495.00 MSRP before options. I have installed new
original spec. Dunlop K591SP sport compound tires. The mileage is only a
pampered 4K. Selling price is $9995. Phone 501-268-2705, e-mail boggs@mail.cswnet.com Scott Boggs.
McRae, Arkansas.
Naturally
Beemers
The BMW M/C
Club of Arkansas
BMWMOA CLUB #181
Chartered 2/88
BMWRA CLUB #74
Chartered 4/91
Steering
Committee
Donnie
Rice....................President
Otto
Ising.................Vice President
Elmer
Sveda.........................Activities
Rod
Kilduff.....Secretary / Treasurer / Newsletter
Annual
Membership Dues:
$10.00 for Solo
$15.00 for Family
Send
correspondence to:
Rod Kilduff
822 Donaghey Ave.
Conway, AR. 72032
rod.kilduff@conwaycorp.net
