Less than a week before time to leave for the 2009 Royal Enfield REunion in Lanesboro, MN by back goes south on me. I can't walk without pain and I can look in the mirror and see myself listing 10 degrees to port. Three physical therapy sessions later and the day before leaving I have serious doubts about riding the REB 700 miles in two days. Thursday morning, June 18th, it's going to be a hot one and I'm already sweating underneath my helmet as I roll into the parking lot of the Baptist church to meet up with my three ROMEO traveling companions. Pat is already waiting on his 900cc Vulcan and we are soon joined by Randy on a Suzuki Savage and Richard on his 500cc Aprillia Scarabeo motor scooter. Richard is already almost 20 miles into the ride coming from Lindsborg, KS. We're as eclectic a group of motorcyclists that ever hit the road but we're off.
As it turns out riding is good for my back and by the first gas stop I'm feeling pretty good. Pat and Randy are on their first long ride and doing fine. Richard is an old pro having three Iron Butts to his credit, I'm just praying my back holds out. We soon settle into a rhythm, I'm
leading cause it's my ride. Truth be told I'm leading cause I'm the slowest but it doesn't much matter as we will be mostly on two lanes where 55-60 mph is right in the REB's comfort zone. 100 miles, start looking for gas, 120 miles get serious about gas, the Savage has a small tank. Rhythm of the road, not exactly Iron Butt stuff but it's our ride.By Clarinda, IA the temperature has climbed to mid 90's at 3pm and it's time for a break. I spot a McDonald's with some little trees 
next to the parking lot in the back and we take over all available shade. As luck would have it there was a hydrant near so we could wet down and take a nice cool rest.
A ways south of Carroll, IA we pull in for gas and I spot a familiar bike and rider. My old Navy buddy George on his Concurs was to meet us in Carroll but decided to come looking. He led us to our motel and waited while we secured the bikes and decided on a place to eat. We all had a nice time at dinner,
looked over maps, told lies, swapped stories and made plans to rendezvous with George the next day as he was going to visit his mother. Before turning in for the night we watched the weather, a chance of rain in the early morning hours. The lightening flash lit up the room and the crash of thunder rattled the windows, a chance of rain indeed. I didn't sleep after the light show started at 0430, our basement room window was level with the parking lot and Pat looked out to confirm that, yes, it was raining. We both had left our tent and sleeping bags on our bikes and were hoping our water proofing held up.
More later.............It's later, June 30th, this isn't getting written too fast. Yeah, it was wet Friday morning alright. In fact we delayed out start time until 9:30 in hopes it would stop. I was in contact with George and he was watching the weather maps so we were fairly confident that the light rain would pass quickly as we headed out for our rendezvous. The strength of our water proofing would have to wait until we unpacked in Lanesboro.
We fought the slop and road spray until lunch time and it looked things were going to stay clear and dry for the rest of the ride. Except for getting lost in Belmond, IA after lunch things went off without a hitch. I suspect George was laughing at me as he peeled off to visit his Mom. I never stay lost for too long and we gave some locals a parade to watch as we turned around at a dead end and got back on track. In retrospect this was a developing trend and I continued having trouble getting us out of towns.
CJ had a beer stuck in my hand almost before I could get off the bike, good old CJ always there with what a guy needs. It was nice to greet several people that Richard and I had meet last year. Randy and Pat seems impressed with the campground and they have both done lots of RV camping.
Everyone was on their own for supper so the Kansas guys made our way into town to find food. Lanesboro is a tourist town with prices to prove it but we settled at the Pedal Pusher for their all you can eat fish fry, our kind of place. It was Richard's kind of place too and the cute waitress couldn't keep her hands off of him. We all knew that she was working him for a tip, but the free milkshake really got him fired up. Probably the best tip she got all week.
Saturday morning got off to a good start because someone had the foresight to get the coffee pot ready to go Friday night. Nothing like a hot cuppa while you are waiting on the pancakes to cook. Saturday is the day we have a group ride and this year we were lucky enough to have one of our own to chronicle not only the ride but the whole day. Dan, also known as Porkchop, posted his creation on youtube, you can see it here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNgGhTiFInE.
Most of us never see another Royal Enfield let alone get to ride some so it is a rare opportunity when this large of a group gets together (I didn't count but there was at least 8 REs). With the other brands along we were quite the mob as you can see at the start of the video. While riding is great it is the camaraderie with like minded enthusiast and the other things that happen that one remembers. Fer instance a motor scooter leading a gang of old looking bikes smack into the middle of a classic car show and stopping to inquire about a place for lunch then continuing along to the stares of the show goers.
Back to the camp ground for a fine evening meal of brats and all the trimmings, with homemade cookies for dessert. After dinner, Tim, CMW parts man extraordinaire, was in charge of handing out the swag. Everyone had their name drawn and got some piece of CMW merchandise to carry home.
It is never as much fun loading up to leave and the light drizzle made it worse. We all managed to re-pack everything but Randy appeared to be having trouble finding a place
for his new Royal Enfield coffee cup. After much consternation he managed to stash it someplace.
We say our good byes and roll out of the camp ground around 8am for the nearly 700 miles back to Salina, KS. CJ looks a little lonely as we ride by. He isn't leaving until afternoon, something about catching the ferry at midnight.
Other than some rain in the middle of Iowa the ride back is going well. So well that on a quiet stretch of four lane on Hwy 30 in western Iowa I decided to open her up. I had been doing around 60 according to the GPS so knew there wasn't much left but I saw 70.4 before I backed off. I wonder if that little blast had anything to do with my oil covered boot later?
We spent the night in Fremont, NE and the next morning looked great but we could see a big storm rolling in from the southwest and spent sometime discussing the best route to take. The consensus was to continue west on 30 and drop south on 81 to home. Not the most interesting way to go but so non-interstate four lanes so trucks could get around the slow moving REB.
We missed the rain but the heat really started to build up as the day progress and we traveled south. I keep the throttle at about 60mph the little thumper never missed a beat until I shut her down at home at 3pm. 1535 miles total, nothing fell off, there is oil leaking in the right fork, either a seal or o-ring and the oil on my boot that I thought might be a blown head gasket appears to have come from the exhaust. The muffler slipped back half an inch and I was getting some blow-by. Guess there is a little oil in the exhaust. At over 17,000 miles it is only a matter of time until a top end rebuild, but as long as she isn't fogging up the highway I'm going to keep riding. Next trip, Rally of the River in Missouri in September.
