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Visionary
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Memphis | I got invited to go ride with some guys from work yesterday and jumped at the chance. It was going to be a good mix of bikes with several different brands represented. I got a call about 30 minutes prior to departure and was informed that two of the guys had to back out and it would just be 4 bikes: a Road Glide, an Ultra Classic, a Screamin Eagle Ultra Classic and my Vision. (Great.) I have worked with these guys for nearly 20 years and we are all friends but I should introduce the cast of characters: The Road Glide driver (I'll call him RG from now on) is in his early 50's, never been married and bought the RG as his first motorcycle ever last year. His #1 concern was hoping his mother wouldn't find out about the bike. (Don't go there.) Very conservative rider. The Ultra Driver (UD) is a long time rider, ex-diesel mechanic and terrific wrench. He owned several different foreign brands in his younger days. Always works on his own bikes and knows a lot about the various brands and is genuinley interested in good engineering and design, regardless of the make. Has been married a long time and his wife always rides with him. He is the guy who turned me on to the Vision. Super easy to ride with. Screamin Eagle Ultra Classic (SE) dude is the poster child. He is as narrow minded an individual as God ever created and anything less than his brand is not a "real" bike. Stuck his finger down his throat when he found out I got the Vision. Has at least 40 grand in his bike. The day was going to involve a lunch run to a town about 70 miles away. Interstate on the way there, back roads on the way home. No clouds, 80 degrees. We met at a gas station and guess who showed up late and needed gas. Yep, SE. As we were leaving, SE advised the lead rider (UD) that he (SE) would be riding as the trailer. I knew RG didn't like to ride in a tight formation so I flew wing on UD with RG behind me and SE in back. It took about 5 minutes to get to the freeway from the gas station and within 10 minutes of being on the freeway, RG and SE had fallen at least a mile in trail. All of us had cruise control and UG had his set right on the speed limit (70). We slowed down to 65, waited for RG and SE to get within 50 yards of us then eased it back up to the speed limit, hoping they would get the hint. No luck, they fell way back again. This went on for an hour. Agonizing. RG was the new guy to riding and gets a certain amount of slack because of it but he is extremely hard headed and doesn't heed advice on how to ride in a group. He's gonna do what he wants, screw the group. SE is just as pig-headed and stayed behind RG no matter how slow he went because he didn't want anyone running up behind him. (I guess the 20mph overtake from cars and semi's didn't count.) We finally got to the lunch stop and killed an hour with good food and conversation. As we were mounting up to leave, UG informed me that SE wanted to stop over at the local shop and check it out. "Seriously?" I asked. He shrugged his shoulders and said it was close by. I let out a huge sigh and followed them to the shop. As we pulled up to the last stop light prior to the shop, SE pulled up along side of me. I shouted over "It's a perfect day out here and you'd rather go shopping!? I thought we were going riding! I could have stayed home and gone shopping with my daughters!" He grinned at me and said "Hey, you've got to pay your respects!" I replied "You got all the respect you need by the fact that I'm out here with you!" We pulled into the parking lot and those guys went inside while I stayed out in the parking lot and broke out the cell phone. UG stopped and said "You can come in, you know." I said "Naw, I'm gonna call my brother in Houston and tell him how I was invited to go ride with some "hard core, all-American bikers" on a perfect 80 degree day and all we're doing is shopping." He grinned and went inside. They came out about 20 minutes later (SE had bought a $75 shirt, to which I replied "Let me guess...the black one?" He grinned and nodded.) and we finally headed for the back roads way home. With a 50mph speed limit, RG was even slower. The Vision and I were bored to tears. It made for a really long day. I'm gonna kill the Goldwing guy for backing out. The #1 advantage to getting stuck with a certain brand all day? I got 47.1 mpg. |
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Las Vegas, Nevada USA baby! | That's what I say! |
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Tourer
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Mount Vernon, WA United States | Hence why I don't ride in groups.
I used to ride with some fellow riders, who would usually take the same road to get to the same destination, but it was "Ride Your Own Ride".
We looked out for each other as a courtesy... but in the same scenario as above... when "UG informed me that SE wanted to stop over at the local shop and check it out. " the response from me would have been.. "Cool, send me an email if you find anything interesting" or maybe a "Do you want us to wait for you at the destination" if that was the plan. Would never even have thought to join him, unless it was something/somewhere I was interested in too.
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Visionary
Posts: 3204
Memphis | I basically took one for the team thinking there would be a better mix of riders. UG knows that if they want to invite me along in the future, just tell me the name of the restaurant and time to be there. |
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Montreal, QC Canada | Alright Songfan, Saddle up!!! We will be in Houston April 18, ride with Vision Tex for a day and head to BTR then MEM. We would love to do a day of some serious southern drivin with you. If the weather is good to us, We should get into MEM mid day Tuesday. We HAVE to be back in Toronto by Saturday night. Please have the chrome polish ready for us. |
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Tourer
Posts: 460
Centennial, CO | SongFan - 2009-03-19 3:21 PM
I basically took one for the team thinking there would be a better mix of riders. UG knows that if they want to invite me along in the future, just tell me the name of the restaurant and time to be there.
Any time you are near Denver...we'll ride out to meet you and stop about every 3 hours or so. It isn't about the destination...its about the miles and comradeship and cool pics you get along the way! |
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Posts: 367
Cottage Grove, Mn | Songfan
Taking one for the team sure can SUCK can't it? Same thing happened to me last year but I wasn't as gracious as you I just wave as I continued on my way. |
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Visionary
Posts: 3204
Memphis | kenandpen, Tuesday the 21st works perfect for me. On Wednesaday the 22nd I'll be headed toward Houston to hook up with VisionTex myself. We're going to make a run through Hill Country and on out to Big Bend and invite anyone along who can make it. Keep me advised as you guys get closer. ElroyJ - Thanks for the invite. Colorado is at the top of my list for next years vacation ride. Lots of nice people from this forum I'd like to meet there. Blackjack - To answer your question...YES! |
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northwest florida | we got to pay our dues once in a while in order to have REAL FUN when we can. |
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Posts: 8144
New Bohemia, VA | Man, I pulled into Memphis back in November at 2am and Songfan wouldn't even come out and ride. I think he had a work excuse when I pulled out around 9am that morning. Maybe next time. I think the more I ride, I realize what a lone wolfe I am because I can't get into the rides around the block and sit and talk about the motorcycle all day. I can do things like Rolling Thunder as it is a phenomonon that has a life to it, especially with all different people that is there. I think it is great for charity runs, keep doing them, but I have a weekly volunteer encounter that is my ride rally. I've done a couple work lunch rides, when others ride that day. But I can't see myself riding to the mall unless I had to buy something myself, whoever came along would be welcome. Other than that, if you see me it will either be just me or my honey and me, and baby makes three. |
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Visionary
Posts: 1484
LaPorte,Tx. | Last year I had the opportunity to ride a couple of days with Songfan, there were no Hard Core Bikers involved in that ride, just a couple of Vision Pilots. There was some floor board scrap'n, plenty of counter steer'n, a lot of smiles, good conversation....you know the stuff that makes for a good ride. Arkansas highway 7 rocks.....!
This year, Texas, big sky, Big Bend, speed limit 80 mph, mountain twisties, and some more big smiles. Again no Hard Core Bikers. Come on Songfan, you know who to ride with, and it ain't no Scream'n Chicken, "Giddy-up". 
Edited by VisionTex 2009-03-19 7:27 PM
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Visionary
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Memphis | VaRyder - I still feel bad about not hooking up during that 7 hour window. I'm a baaad host. V-Tex - I have made my slow ride sacrifice for the year. Let's giddy-up! |
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Visionary
Posts: 8144
New Bohemia, VA | SongFan - 2009-03-19 7:32 PM VaRyder - I still feel bad about not hooking up during that 7 hour window. I'm a baaad host. V-Tex - I have made my slow ride sacrifice for the year. Let's giddy-up! No sir, just joshing with you. I was on a mission and that occurred on my end when I left 2 hours later from Texas than I had planned to spend more time with the family. Also, the fact it was COLD and I had to do warm ups at the gas stops, up to about 30 minutes which made me lose a few more hours. I had wanted to come into Memphis around 8pm as not to be pressed to get on so I could make it back to work on Tuesday. However that was thwarted with another night fall in Western NC and my desire to ride the Dragon. I was actually about 18 hours behind schedule when I finally got home. Next time it will be in much warmer weather and I'll make the time as planned. We hope to do it again this year, so you, nor Po think that it was on you guys, my end for sure and I hope I can make it up. |
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Visionary
Posts: 3204
Memphis | I was joshing back. Can you imagine the conversation with my wife? "Gee hun, I'm gonna be gone for a few hours. VaRyder's coming to town and I promised to meet up with him." "Uh, it's two o'clock in the frickin' morning and yang-freezin cold outside." "Yeah, but a promise is a promise. Bye." |
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Cruiser
Posts: 194
Buford, GA United States | I rode last weekend with a new friend and he had a spiffied up harley road king. People were actually taking pictures of it where we were having lunch. It did look pretty good. After our ride we made one more stop and I wanted him to ride the Vision as he he complained earlier that it was going to be a fast day as we went through a construction Zone doing 85. Been there many times and I don't consider it a construction zone on the weekends anymore...{sorry for the confusion}. I am not going to buy a Road King anytime soon as I had to tighten my helmet twice due to the wind effect. I have to give the guy credit for keeping up with me as I don't think I could keep up with the Vision as well as he did on that harley... I think he said something about buying a vision as he rode off... |
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Cruiser
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VA | This story reaffirms why I don't ride in groups very much. I was briefly in a "club," which was a bunch of guys that I knew. Our first real ride, it was freezing cold and raining. It was a large group, and when we stopped after a few hours for gas and some coffee, I was in the back of the group. I got in, numb all over, and the coffee was gone. While I was waiting for the coffee to be brewed (so I could get enough warmth and feeling in my fingers to hold onto the throttle) I hear bikes fire up and leave. That was my first and last ride with a large group.
Now, I have 2 to 3 friends that I ride with on a semi-regular basis. Other than a couple of people that I like riding with, I'll ride by myself. Although, it is more fun to ride with someone else. Gives you a reason to eat lunch somewhere.
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Tourer
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O'Neill, Nebraska | The last time I did a formal ride, we had probably 30+ bikes and guess what? We rode from bar to bar. Yep you read it right.
Needless to say my level of confidence in the group plummeted after 2 stops and I left. Sorry guys....riding and drinking something other than Dr. Pepper is NOT cool and certainly not safe. During the ride some hot shot kept riding up NEXT to me while we are in formation. I guess he thought he was in EASY Rider the movie.
Now I just ride with my 1-2 friends who know how to handle their bikes and don't care about my Vision. They both have HD's and really hate all the attention the Vision gets when we stop. |
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Visionary
Posts: 3006
San Antonio, TX | SongFan and VisionTex,
Let me know when you guys will be in the Hill Country or near San Antonio. I would love to meet up with you guys. I have been lucky riding in groups so far.
The guy that usually rides sweeper (a coworker) is a former Air Force Training Instructor and a current member of the Gypsy MC "Rude Dawg". He has no problem keeping a group together and has taught me allot about group riding.
Ride Safe! |
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Posts: 97
Brighton, Colorado | I'm a member of the Patriot Guard Riders and I've been on a little over 100 missions with them. Generally all over Colorado, Utah and Wyoming. For some reason, the testosterone level seems to rise to a really stupid level, what with all the different bikes, the different sounds and almost everybody thinking they are riding the baddest bike out there. When I'm in these groups, I usually take the tailgunner slot. Safer back there. Don't need to worry about people running up my ass or whatever. A guy in front of me (we were riding staggard), decided to take both hands off the handle bars and adjust his bandanna. When we stopped, I told him that I didn't care if he wound up rubber side up on the road, considering what he just did, but I did resent the fact that I may have wound up riding over the top of him and killing either me or my wife. REALLY pissed me off. Try at all times to do the 2 second rule, but NOBODY can keep that up for any period of time. So........I usually ride by myself, or ride with people that have the same riding style, experience and "SENSE." Usually works out for me that way. |
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Tourer
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Tacoma, WA | It is too bad that they basically dictated where you would stop...and to go shopping! Ok, first, SE shows up late??? Then tells the group where to stop. Sounds like a selfish guy to me. I ride with small groups often, and if you find the right folks, it is very fun! Riding a few hours away for lunch is a great way to enjoy a nice day. I ride often with my 75 year old Dad, and his 08 Wing. We ride nearly the same style, and it makes for a pleasurable day every time. I have ridden with those who view every ride on a bike as an "event" and it takes a LOT of fun out of it. I have noticed, however, that when I ride with a group, and we stop at a Harley dealer, my Vision gets all the attention. Kind of fun!-----Metalguy |
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Tourer
Posts: 520
Simi Valley, CA | Ah I can relate!
A few years ago I planned a 4-state in 4 night ride for my wife and I , I posted it on a SCRC forum and the next thing I know I have 20 bikes on this ride.
Ten minute Gas stops took 30 minutes, one rider of that name brand forgot to check his tires before we left on this 1800 mile ride, and had to get NEW tires the first day of the trip! The steel belt was actually showing through. (He was also the President of the SCRC chapter! Great role model.)
Our start time was delayed on two days because a few of those riders wanted to buy shirts at the local shop when they opened....
That was the last time I ever anything did that!
Tim
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Visionary
Posts: 1324
So Cal | Its hard to find a good group for riding. Thats why I usually go by myself. I pack my wife of course. We are very much in sync when it comes to riding. I only like to stop for gas and food.
I quit going to charity rides because there's alway too many squirrels. I'm always affraid I'll be the next charity. Same with the big events like Daytona and Laughlin. I'd much rather go when the event is over.
I've found some good people to ride with over the years, unfortunatley, we end up going in diffrent directions and lose touch. Doesnt take away from some great memories though.
Edited by cjnoho 2009-03-20 9:47 PM
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Visionary
Posts: 1340
Gainesville Fl Home of the Gators | I hate to drag this subject off topic, but what the hell...
If RG is a friend of yours then you really need to talk with him about riding habits. Going below the posted limit on a bike is one of the most dangerous things you can do. Buffy, and Biff in their big ass SUV's do not pay atention, and expect bikes to be going fast. The closing rate will confuse the average Buffy, and next thing you know; she runs you over |
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Visionary
Posts: 2027
Brighton, TN | I rode with the Songfan a few months ago. Then we went and had a little dinner at a small town cafe'. Good eats and the conversation was interesting and stimulating due to our background with the Navy and now with similar bikes. Black "as quoted, Sexier and Faster" over the Midnight Cherry! That would be our biggest disagreement. He taught me a few things, like pointing with your foot. I had never seen this and thought he was trying to hang a leg out for a 45mph corner. I thought it too be odd. So I inquired at the dinner and with a complimentary slap to the face with a ostrich glove, I have become wiser and fuller (good eats)! Thank you Oh Saged one! I have never rode in a group before, so I am not familiar with the terminology of people in different positions but it sounds aweful close to an aircraft reference.
I followed Songfan on his route of funness, the day was perfect, nice breeze and some sunshine. I felt like we were rolling at a pretty good clip, but not knowing the route, I gave myself pretty good room to see how he handled the turns and at what speeds. Especially listening to the song of those S1/L1's, you could hear him get on the throttle or downshift. I forgot to ask if that was the normal speed at which he rode through there or if I was slooooowwwingngg him down. Then again for a large chunk of it, we should have pulled over and waited a few minutes for the landscaping truck to get way ahead.
I thought it to be a good afternoon of riding. I still owe him dinner, so I have to figure out how to get him up my way. I don't remember us shopping, but we did start off at the Victory dealer. He was inside when I got there and looked like he had some cute new pink t-shirt on, but I could be wrong or just a different memory colliding with another.
I would probably consider SongFan and I both to be quite the "Bikers" just due to enjoying "BIKES"!
Last Sunday morning, I guess I was in La La land, lost in thought, I didn't even see your approach at the light. I rode today and will be going somewhere for lunch, riding again. I just love having my bike around. |
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Visionary
Posts: 3204
Memphis | Pollolittle (L) SongFan (R) - Be afraid, be very afraid...... 
This is a picture of the day mentioned above by Pollolittle. About 5 minutes after this was taken we started to pull out of the parking lot and I came within an inch of laying my bike down trying to miss the dark colored SUV in the background. Po could not believe I held it off the ground and pulled it back up. If it had been a lot full of Harley guys I would have dropped it for sure. I'm not very hardcore but I have a good time. That was a really nice day and he didn't slow me down a bit. |
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Riding With Hard Core Bikers
