Midway Cafe in Detroit, KS 4-26-06

  I'll write more on this tomorrow but for now the Midway Cafe in tiny Detroit, KS was worth the chilly ride IMHO.  The burgers were great and the signs on the walls made for some entertaining reading. 

  Well it's tomorrow (4-27-06) I had to drive to the VA hospital in Topeka today so didn't get to the blog.  Not too much to add except on a personal note I met an old retired Navy Chief at the Midway Cafe.  Standing around outside I noticed a picup with a USN plate on the front and a Ft. Riley sticker on the windshield so I went inside to search out this person.  Turned out to be an 81 year old retired Chief corpsman who joined right after WWII started and stuck around for Korea and Vietnam.  George retired in '69, said three wars was enough.  He promised he would give me a call the next time he came to Salina and drink so of my beer.

  As always it was a good lunch and of course any ride is better than no ride, so it was a good  motorcycle day.

Entry for April 24, 2006

  Finally some rain, things were really getting dry around here.  I think I'll give the REB a rest today and catch up on "stuff".  Yesterday the "tick, tick, tick" was getting louder so I tightened up the exhaust valve and presto, no more loud tick, tick.  The adjustment is easy but a fine line between too tight and just right.

  I pulled the following excerpt off Yahoo's Royalenfield group, have no clue who the orignal author of the essay was:

                One doesn't buy a bullet for transport, show or performance, one buys it because one loves what motorcycling stands for: individuality, independence, an eternal love of tinkering and of course adventure and the sound of untrammelled wind in one's ears.

Search for the Stone Buffalo, con't April 21, 2006

Picture:  Stone Buffalo near Longford, KS

...........to the next turn and there up on a hill was the stone buffalo.  Last week at lunch in Longford I had heard about a buffalo ranch near by that had a statue of a buffalo.  In addition to the buffalo, the owner also had exotic animals and had also built the statue.  As I continued down the road I crested a hill and off to my left I thought I had found a smaller statue of a buffalo.  Turns out this one was real, a big bull all alone just enjoying the sunshine.  As I stopped and fumbled for the camera he rumbled out of sight behind some brush.  About a quarter mile up the road I could see the rest of the herd in the distance, too far for a picture.

  A few more miles of dirt road and it's back to the tarmac and a leisurely ride home.  About 105 miles and the bike is a mess.

Search for the Stone Buffalo April 21, 2006

 I didn't start out looking for the stone buffalo.  In fact I had no plans at all except to ride downtown and eat a couple of world famous Cozy Burgers.  With no particular ride in mind I headed North on 9th street until I came upon the area that I was lost in Wednesday.  I think I have those roads firmly implanted in my mind now.

  I headed East on highway 18 through Bennington still looking at the map in search of an interesting road.  The interesting road I decided on turned out to be rock/gravel and I knew I would get the bike all dirty but it sure looked like fun.  After a few miles the road turned and straight ahead was an inviting trail (see picture).  As it turns out the REB does real well plonking along in 2nd gear.  I jumped four pheasants, two cocks, a hen and a youngster of some sex.  By and by the trail plays out and the going was a getting a little rough so I backtracked to the gravel road and continued on.....................con't

Post Rock CountryApril 19, 2006

Picture:  The REB in Post Rock Country

 

  The ROMEOs were meeting the Cedar Vale for lunch.  That is 180 miles via Interstate so I figured it would be close to 400 round trip for the REB (Royal Enfield Bullet).   A bit much for my back and the REB's seat so I took my own ride today.  I had been meaning to ride over to Wilson, up to the lake and back East through Lincoln, Ada, etc.  My friend, Jerry, rom my postal days, is the Postmaster in Wilson so I'm thinking I'll have him take a poor retiree to lunch.  As luck would have it he had already closed up for lunch so I had to buy my own.

  Now let me rewind to 9am when I had intended to leave.  I hadn't checked the push rods for awhile so I gave them a quick look then thought I would see if I could get a little better adjustment on the clutch.  It had been klunking a bit more than usual so I pulled off the inspection plate to take a peek.  Sure glad I did because I could see broken cable strands looking back at me.  Lucky for me Royal Enfield includes a spare clutch cable with every bike.  It took about an hour and improved the shifting significantly.

  I ate at a buffet place named "Made from Scratch".  It was aptly named as they put out a good meal.  I passed on the homemade pie.  I visited with Brian, from the local phone company, about the REB for awhile.  He told me that he rode a Big Dog and put on about 10,000 miles last year.  A friend of his came in a joined the chat.  Sounded like they take some long trips.  They knew Jerry of course.  Since Jerry is from Wilson most folks around there know him.  They said he would probably be back by the time I finished eating.  He was and we did the catching up thing then I headed out.

  It hadn't warmed up too much and the wind was really kicking up now.  Wished I had of put the liner in my jacket.  The lake had white caps so I didn't long for the sail boat this ride.  Nice ride the rest of the way, lots of open space between small towns, gives one time to think.  Did you ever notice that horses don't pay much attention when you ride past?  Cows, on the other hand, will stop in mid stride to stare.  Maybe they think I am another cow.  Sometimes I honk at them and they always look up, horses don't do that.  I saw a big red fox outside of Ada, just picking at some road kill.  He took off when I got close.

  Not much else to report other than me getting lost between Minneapolis and Bennington.  I had a map and knew about where I was put the directions weren't making sense.  A nice young man on a big V-Star stopped.  Turns out he was a county deputy and he got me headed to Salina.  I was on 9th but pointing in the wrong direction.  I have just got to get a compass.  Back home and a check of the odometer shows a 171 mile ride. 

Entry for April 14, 2006

Picture:  Spillway parking lot, Kanopolis Dam

  When the weather is near perfect you just have to ride, even if it is over the same old roads you've been on before.  Just to make things a little different I rode from Lindsborg to Kanopolis Dam (the world's largest earthen dam) just to look at the water.  It would have been a great day to sail with a steady North wind of about 15mph and not a boat on the lake.  I rode around below the dam in the spillway and camping area, stopping in the parking lot to take a couple of pictures and have a drink of water.  When I was a kid Dad used to bring me here to fish.  The water rushing through the spillway is still impressive.  The area is looking a bit run down, not enough money to keep it up I guess.

  About an 80 mile ride and it was 90 degrees when I got home.  My friend, Richard, in Lindsborg has about convinced me to try a windshield.  I will have to think about that for awhile.  What would be next?  A cup holder? Radio? GPS? the mind reels at the possiblities

Longford, KS 4/12/06

Picture:  The essence of being ROMEO(Retired Old Mo..... yada, yada)

A great meal followed by a huge slice of homemade pie topped with about 900cc of ice cream, that my friends is "what it's all about".  The Coachlight restaurant in Longford serves up a varied menu that was fully taken advantage of by the ROMEOs today.  I never knew there were so many people that liked liver and onions.  Thirty three bikes and one car for a total of 35 people descended on Longford.  The weather was absolutely beautiful, probably the best day that we will see all year.  High 70s, little wind, clear sky, it don't get any better than this.

  Pat and I made the short trip at a leisurely pace.  The REB is running great with no oil leaking around the head gasket and the larger front sprocket made cruising at 55mph effortless.  Although it is yet to be tested against a strong head wind I had no problem pulling any of the long hills we encountered.  The shift points have advanced a little and the little buzzy noises will have to be re-learned but I think I am going to like the 18T.

 

My Baby is Home!!! 4/11/06

Picture: The REB is home after almost 3 weeks at the dealer

Finally, after almost three weeks, I picked up the bike at Ron's Cycleland in Tulsa today. Everything seems to be OK. I talked to the Mike the mech and he thought the problem with the head gasket leaking was because of the middle bolts on the head being torqued too tight. He said he had a hell of a time breaking them loose. I'll buy that, I know I couldn't break them loose when I re-torqued the head.

It is too early to tell if the 18T front sprocket will work like I hope. I could tell the difference but I'll know more tomorrw after the ROMEO lunch ride.

Had a hard time getting out of Oklahoma. I stopped in Bartlesville for gas and lunch and talked to three people about the old bike in the back of my truck. Handed out my cards and everyone seemed duly impressed. Such fun owning this bike.

Entry for April 07, 2006

Picture:  East of Salina, KS on I-70

Since I still don't have a bike to ride I thought I'd go off topic and talk about the weather.  Weather is always an important topic in Kansas at this time of the year.  Yesterday, as I was driving the DAV van back from Topeka, I drove through a bad storm in the Junction City area and then just a few miles East of Salina I came upon this scene.  The picture is from the Salina Journal and doesn't show the other semi overturned about a quarter mile back.  Never under estimate the power of the wind.

  The storm that overturned the trucks also dropped hail and of course both the Buick and the S-10 got hit.  I have to call the insurance today and go through all that BS.  You know about that Pam.

  There were several tornadoes sighted yesterday but I haven't heard of any damage.  I wonder why Kansas doesn't have more deaths from tornadoes?  It seems other states rack them up but you seldom hear of many deaths here even when there is lots of damage.  Maybe we take it more seriously than people in other places.  Having a warning siren on every corner probably doesn't hurt.

  About the bike; the latest story is that the head gasket is finished but they had to order the sprocket again because they thought it came it but didn't.  They told me they were having it overnighter and it would be there today.  I am going to call again this afternoon and if they don't have it I think I'll just give up on getting the sprocket changed and go pick the thing up tomorrow.  Just goes to show you that you should do your own work cause even if you don't fix it right you will know what you did wrong.

I'm Famous!!!

Picture:  That's me on the cover

  In a previous entry I told you about Riding South motorcycle magazine and riding with it's publisher/editor/owner/photographer/journalist Robert Shearon.  I had thought maybe Robert would mention our ride together and what is was like to ride with another REB, but had no clue that it would be a feature article and with several photos of me.  I am just sorry I couldn't muster up a better smile.  If he could have got a shot of my face while riding the twisties of Central Arkansas he would have gotten a great big grin.

  The REB is still in Tulsa awaiting the dealer's attention.  I sure hope I get it back this week as I am going through riding withdrawal .