Home again !  

Great ride ,    ,  

Jed drove all the way home and didn't start getting Dangerous with his driving habits again till we were in his home town .   We needed to stop for fuel as we came up on his town so I motioned for him to pass knowing he would take me to his favorite gas station.  Well he not only passed me . but the car in front of me (exit ramp 1/4 mile ahead) ?? ??  , so I passed the car also .   So --- I almost couldn't hardly believe what he did next --- He passed another car with just enough time   to cut into the right lane (I-24) and the exit ramp all in one motion ...     ...   I tore his ears off for it when I caught him , but I wonder if he heard a word I said ?      Watching  that last act of stupid I couldn't help but wonder if he will live long enough to take another trip with us , when I suggested he drive his bike more like he drives his car he said "That is how I drive my car" , his younger brother later confirmed , "That is how he drives his car"   ---  maybe he won't have his driving license very long.   might save his life if he was walking for a while.  

Thinking of "Wrecks" , that guy from the Louisiana/NY (Adam) was following Dave on the Dragon with me behind him and was doing OK kinda so Dave went on with his normal pace and disappeared around the next corner.   I watched him for a couple more turns and though he was doing just fine , so I went on around him and was keeping him in my mirror hopping he would would pick up on my lines .   It was frustrating to hold-back that much but things were going along just fine till I need to pay attention and set up the next "inside-the-cove-horseshoe-left-hand bend 160deg curve with a right-hand 120deg right behind it.   For the folks with a map it was ("SHAW GRAVE GAP AND MUD CORNER) mile 6.4 and 6.5  .   I got up to GUARD RAIL CLIFF (Mile 7) the road quit twisting so much and I noticed Adam wasn't in the mirror no more   .   So , ---- , I went back to see .  Sure enough a couple of sport-bike guys were helping him up out of the ditch at SHAW GRAVES GAP.  I stopped too and he had one little red spot on his left knee.   It took him a long time to get the 1.5 miles up to the overlook after that , and his bike was fine.  Only the footrest gouge in the dirt and the red spot on the knee remained .   That SV650 he was ridding was almost to tall to be an effect cornering tool the was I see it,  but I couldn't help but wonder "what if it was lowered just a little ??"

In my own defense :   My 05 S-40 had 22,600+- miles on it when I replaced the front pads and I use the front brake for 99% of my stopping needs (with the idea that the front tire will dry-rot instead of wear out if the rear tire does the pushing and the stopping)  .   But   I should have checked it be for I left the house for a fun ride.  

I got the chance to ride Dave's ST1100 on a gravel-dirt-washboard-hill climb type road going up the back-side of the Indian Boundary area on top of the SkyWay this pass weekend.  It was interesting to say the least ---   , it was also a better behaved bike than the physics of it would lead one to believe.   The shocks kept the tires on the ground most of the time and the motor has such smooth low end pull that I could leave the clutch alone when not shifting and the low gear is low enough to do a slow walk with no problem.

These adventure rides are so much fun sometimes I wonder if I should be on a adventure bike --- wait I got one even better I got A SAVAGE !    I think I will put the original front pully back on it,   cruising at 75mph is fast enough.  

Yeah, the "just us old chickens" rides are the best ones.    

We all know what the other guy is going to do before he does it.  

Jeb was an exception to that rule --- nobody (including Jeb) knew what he was going to do next.

He kept me amused and belly laughing a LOT though .....   it was good for my soul to see a youngster enjoy himself so.

Adam was a classic case of the timid new guy on a new to him bike goes to the Dragon and scares himself some.

MMRanch wrote on 09/08/15 at 10:10:59:


Be sure to let us know when they are headed that direction.......so that we can all go somewhere else!

MMRanch wrote on 09/08/15 at 10:10:59:


Or.......maybe we should head that way with our lawn chairs and a cooler, and just set around and watch the show!

Hey Oldfeller...in your post #150 none of the photographs open for me.  

Am I the only one that can't view them?

Must be something here at work.  I just tried looking on my phone and it showed the same thing.....but it uses the office server for internet connection when I am sitting in the office.

I will look again when I get home.

I tried my home computer using Chrome and could not open them, so I then switched over to the old Outlook we still have on the computer....still nothing.  I will run by the library and see if the photos will open.