Picture: Taking a break out side of Dover, KS
571 miles of rain and wind on a Royal Enfield Bullet (REB) may no be everyone's idea of fun but it sure beats staying at home flipping channels. It may not sound like much of a trip to a real road ranger but try it on a 500cc single.
Actually, had I know the weather was going to be so crappy I might not have made this little trip but when Neil (KLR-650) and I headed to Lindsborg Wednesday morning it looked like a nice day. We joined up with Richard (scooter) and Gary (big Japanese V-twin) and commenced Richard's quest of towns that spelled ROMEO. I think we made M and E before we hit the rain, after that I remember an R town and meeting lots of trucks on Hwy 54 going into Eureka, not much else. Eureka was the lunch town for the ROMEOs. About 16 of us made the rainy trip. Lunch lasted a long time as we were reluctant to saddle back up in the rain. Finally we could hold of no longer and 6 of us ventured to the next part of Richard's fantasy....ice cream at an old fashioned soda fountain in Hamilton, just a short ride Northeast. Thankfully the rain slacked off as we rode North. After ice cream the remaining riders followed Richard to Olpe This Counts as Two, KS. Shortly before Olpe I peeled off East to ride in more rain to Iola, KS to spend the night with an old classmate from Galva HS. He and his wife own a liquor store and he thinks I should try some of everything they have, I usually don't protest too much. Had a nice visit, yada, yada.
Thursday's forecast showed little chance of rain but high winds out of the NW as I ride to see Julie in Shawnee. It was a pure bitch riding into 40mph winds for 100 miles but the REB is a gutsy little bike and we maintained a steady 55-60.
Phoebe was really glad to see me, she peed herself before she got calmed down. Julie was glad to see me too but didn't pee. Lunch with Julie, supper was broasted chicken from Hen House, nice visit............
Back on the road Friday morning, first stop was the closest motorcycle shop to get a new face shield. The other one was a scratched up mess from wiping of road spatter and rain. Talked to a nice Scottish gentleman at the Honda shop about the REB and old bikes in general, he told me he had a Rebel and we lamented to lack of small bikes in the USA.
I know this is getting boring but since I'm doing it mainly for myself tuff shit. The ride back to Salina got interesting in Lawrence as they were having the NCAA National Road Championships, see here for story:(http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2005/may/12/bike_race_different/?sports) It was fun to watch them battle the wind as I rode along but because of the race my planned route was blocked. Since there was a nice cop sitting there in his car I stopped to ask for directions. Heading back the other way there was a bike race standing in the median holding his arm and surrounded by bike parts. I u-turned to check on him and he assured me that help was on the way so left. A couple of more detours on my planned route made for a long trip back to Salina and I finally pulled in about 3:30. I battled West winds all day, not as bad as Thursday but strong none the less. One of these days I'm just going to ride where ever the winds takes me and come home when it dies down.
I talked to one other guy coming back. In Topeka I stopped for gas beside a Yamaha shop and this guy comes tooling over to check out the bike. He told me he had considered getting one but settled on a new V Star. He was at the dealer's picking up his bike, trouble was they couldn't get the thing to run. It was his first ride in 25 years so I could feel his pain. I didn't take many pictures cause of the weather but all things considered it was a great trip.
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