Let's get this show off the road!

I'VE been itching to get some chapters done.  No, I'm not writing a book, although 9 years of this Blog could certainly qualify as one. 

CLOSED Early!

The last time I rode my Phx based XT 350, it was the fall of 2016. 

That's a very long time for me. 

Fortunately I have covered a fair bit of ground on my Canadian bikes in the interim.



No way I'm getting in there...

ON that ride I had set out to find my way to the Old Stage Coach road at the community of New River, which at one point connected the Prescott area to Phx.  I've ridden several parts of this road, my favorite being the southern return from Prescott on the Senator Highway* a few years back. This time I was heading North.

Me on the Stage coach road... Happyface!

Steeper than it looks!

Of course, I got lost, asked directions from a local walking his dog which ended up getting me more lost, when the route he had suggested was crossed by a barbed wire fence and BLM Do Not Enter, warning signs.  Not wanting to 'blow myself up on the Buried Land Mines property (just joshing you, it's short for Bureau of Land Mgt)

I wasted an entire hour riding through the village of old ram shackled double wide's and what I would call 'mansions' at the other end of the financial scale.



FINALLY having found the right track but having to do some freeway riding to do it, I was thwarted by yet another gate, this one very sturdy steel and wire fencing on both sides, with machine gun nests at both corners.  Of course I'm kidding, but not by much.  I had intended to follow the OSCR** to the top of Lake Pleasant state park via West Table Mesa road and traversing the mountains and washouts to connect to the Cow Creek Trail, an area I have explored extensively in past years.  In fact one year I had tried to make the west/east crossing but got into a huge, wide sand wash and simply was too tired to give the trail a try. 

Me having missed the turn off and about to get really lost!

True, I didn't have the latest intel on that trip, it being one of the first times I was out to simply explore about 8 years ago. Having been now to both ends of this 'trail' I was keen to close the loop.  Of course, just my luck, that area of Lake Pleasant regional park has a winter closure to allow for bald eagles nesting.  Closure in affect December 15-June 15. 

Talk about Big Sky country.

It was December 1st! 


No problem, I had a 'back up plan B'  Failing first to find the OSCR** then getting turned back by the iron gate, I could take a trail known locally as the 'North Old Mine road' and thread my way through the mountains bordering the east side of LP on the North Kv Power road. 

Course what I hadn't counted on was first, the Gate closure, next the numerous 'shooters' that were out there practicing their Sunday 'deer hunting' skills, in every nook or cranny. 

You see, this area being only an hour from Phx center via I-17, was a playground for ATV users and shooters. In any case... as luck (bad) would have it, I could not find the Old Mine road.  I'm certain I rode by it at least twice, maybe more, failing to see anything on a sign pointing south. 

By this time I had ridden about 75 miles more or less which for me is a long ass day, dealing with several failures and having ridden off road on a sunny but windy day, for half those miles.  Remember, I'm not as young as I used to be.

Pretty good view from a mountain top.

No problem, I wasn't discouraged because... I had a plan 'C' ! 

Plan C was, if I couldn't find my way across the top of  LP, and was not able to locate N. Old Mine road, there is always a route which would connect me to the latter.  It required retracing my steps to West table Mesa. I would head south and pick up the Rock Spring Road, heading south and eventually via a bunch of itsy bitsy trails/roads, get back onto the El Paso Gasline road and eventually hooking up with something more rugged past Lake Pleasant and home via the Care Free highway 74.

Guess what?

 

Another sand wash.

I got lost. 

In fact I got so lost I wasn't certain I could find my way home on these desert mountain trails before dark, which was coming fast.  I did find more shooters and did make it onto the Gasline road but it was about a hundred feet wide, mostly deep sand and I was already feeling the effects of a very long and frustrating day. 

The secret to riding loose foot deep gravel/sand of course is to lean back, twist the throttle and shift up.  That takes the plowing effect off the front tire and allows the bikes, theoretically to skim the surface.  You have to be very brave doing this.  The down side is if you do lose traction for any reason, the resulting 'crash' can hurt!  Riding off hard pack into deep sand or gravel is like throwing the anchor out of your Zodiac.  You do a massive head shake and come to a very quick stop, sometimes viewing your headlight beam as you go over the bars!

 

Imagine how far a 30.06 bullet will travel after passing through 1/8" of aluminum!

I remember riding in Baja on the XT 600 back in the winter of  '98, with then partner Deb on her own identical Yamaha 600.  After leaving Mike's Sky Ranch, I was riding fast (around 50-60 mph) on these great curvaceous  mountain roads, pretending I'm doing the SCORE 1000.  Suddenly and without warning, the bike literally plunged into bottomless fine sand nearly spitting my over the bars, which would likely have resulted in broken bones at the very least, and bent bike plus a helicopter ride to Ensenada. 

Fortunately for Deb, she was more cautious and held back.  Her comment that she'd heroically ride on promising to think warm thoughts of me as I came to rest on the valley floor, impaled on some saguaro cacti, as she pushed on like a good trooper, was small consolation.
 
I remember distinctly looking over the cliff next to where I stopped to change underwear, it was at least 2-300' down among massive rocks!

I said a blessing to the 10,000 plus foot Cerro Picacho del Diablo for sparing my life!

I digress...



AFTER nearly tossing the XT down the road several times I decided to wend my way back to the New River (paved) road and speed up.  I didn't wish to be, nor was I set up for a night on the side of the Bradshaws with nothing but my canteen and a DOHC 350 as company!

Easy trail in and out of a N-S sandwash looking for the Old Mine road.

By the time I landed in Glendale, it was dark (of course it's December, right) getting cold and I was hungry, thirsty and bone tired. 

That was my last ride on the 350 nearly 18 months ago.

The reason I haven't ridden the XT since of course is the flooding that occurred at my place the day before I arrived in March 2017.  Since that disaster, I have been waiting with growing impatience to get my home repaired.  I have no idea why it took so dam long but after nearly a year (1 week short) the contractor was paid off and I look forward to 'moving back in' shortly.

Top of a mountain.  Just a moment after I snapped this pic, the bike blew over!

If I haven't forgotten how to start the bike... I thinking maybe, this time if I do it right, make zero mistakes and get away early enough... maybe I can do it.  Not the LP connector as we're still in March and the Eagles (the birds not the band) are still making babies!


 
THIS year, I am going to try 'plan C' first... and do the toughest part of the 120 mile ride early in the morning while I'm still fresh.

* The Senator highway is all off road.  In places a rugged high clearance vehicle could make it through in good weather conditions but previously on another trip at the end of November I encountered snow and ice at higher elevations (~8000') That was a butt clencher, believe me.

** Old Stage Coach Road

 

What if?

Is that an old BMW with sidehack? Or an old Russian copy of an old BMW, or a Chinese copy of a... you get the picture.

YOU know I consider myself to be a typical motorcyclist, that is funny, good looking and smart.  Well, okay lets agree on good looking and funny.  How about just funny and leave it at that.

Personally I started out riding primarily for two reasons, back in 1968.  The first was... I wanted the Independence and freedom of being motorized on wheels.  Sometime after the last ice age, Alberta allowed 14 and 15 year olds to ride on the street  by limiting engine size to 100cc.  That wasn't a problem back then because my first two bikes were "little".  Initially I had a Honda S 90 with it's 4 speed gearbox, then a Suzuki A 100 Scrambler, which was also a 4 speed but was powered by a rotary valve two cycle engine.  Because the 'Zuke' had a high chrome exhaust, it was cooler because it could be ridden off road which I did a lot of on vacant lots, and out beyond St Albert and the confines of the city routinely.  Look at the current popularity of street scramblers.  Both bikes were very common and available given the licensing restrictions.  With enough acceleration to at least stay with traffic on city streets, they were also abuse resistant given that my rides quickly advanced to highway jaunts to places like Lake Wabamum, Elk Island National park and Red Deer.  It's a wonder that neither bike exploded held with the throttle pinned, speedometer showing 66.5 mph for miles on end.

The second reason I started riding, was named "Kelly"

Kelly was the teenaged girl who lived next door to me in NW Edmonton.  Label me if you want, but I fantasied about the long red hair, flowing in the wind arms entwined around me as I rode to the beach at Pigeon Lake!  Of course it was only a fantasy as I didn't yet have a bike, she was beautiful and had a boyfriend named 'Butch'  which in them days was the moniker of a 'tough guy'.  Butch would ride up on his CB 160 with the mufflers cut right off after the header pipe, clad in dirty blue jeans,  a white T and boots.  He could have been the prototype for Arthur Fonzerelli except the Fonz rode (?) a Triumph.

So between my fantasy of Kelly, aided by her sunbathing in the back yard in her bikini (it was the sixties) and the ability to escape parental control for hours at a time, I began riding motorcycles. 

Anyway, as often happens, I wake up remembering some point of my riding career that's spanned 50 years.

A few weeks back, I popped out of bed... okay languished for an hour and then clumsily rolled out from between three cats, I had a different "what if" moment.  Let's say I was returning from Phx and due to a mix up I was invited to sit in first class next to a guy that looked suspiciously like Bill Gates.  Of course I turned the conversation to motorcycles and this passenger asked what I would ride if money were no object?

I decided to put it out there amongst some of my motorcycling pals.

What would you buy if money was no object?

I know this isn't an original idea but that morning I was curious enough that I circulated the question and sat down waiting for some feedback.  It wasn't long in coming.

The guidelines were simple.  Regardless of your experience level which varied from beginner to "old geezer," if you had to choose a single bike of any brand, type and had a barrel of cash stashed in your jeans, or you were wearing the jeans while inside the barrel.. which was full of green/blue/purple or orangebacks. 

I didn't want a long obtuse dialogue, just send me a line or three to explain your choice.

Here's some of the answers I got... see how yours compare?

Scott said:  (probably my favorite)

"A URAL Gear Up.  He liked the 2WD (that's right, it has a 2WD option) modern? Russian copy of the BMW and ZUNDAPP machines used by the German Army in WW2.  The sidecar equipped URAL has plenty of storage space and the ability to include his girlfriend on Adventure trips which otherwise are ridden solo on his KLR.  (Frank's note; With a Ural's "cool" factor, he could carry more than one girlfriend at a time!  Now there's an adventure!)

Kathy said: "she loves her Vulcan 800!  It's well balanced, has lots of pep and she likes the Classic style typified by numerous Harleys."  

I too like the mid sized Vulcans, which reminds me of a story... back in '88 when the first 1500's were imported, I was out with some friends riding.  We stopped at a little café off route 19 here on the Island, frequented by riders and sports car enthusiasts.  When we came out there was a guy sitting on my bike. Tsk tsk I said, or something like that, and he stared at it obviously liking it.  He asked me what it was and I answered, a Vulcan 88 as in cubic inches.  I told him it was the largest production MC engine in the world and it was built be Kawasaki.  He disagreed and pointed at his own bike and said tartly that it was the biggest.  I asked him if it had been bored or stroked although it looked brand new, which it turns out it was, and I could see my question went right over his head.  I did point out to him that although large at 1340cc, the Vulcan at 1470cc was indeed bigger!  He begged to disagree with me, and by this time my riding partners are nearly rolling around splitting a gut laughing at this exchange.  I'm not certain where he learned his math, but we parted at that...

My often times KLR riding pal Trevor, didn't disappoint when I put this to him.  Trev shot back a reply immediately informing me that his dream bike would be a Husqvarna Super Enduro 701.  His reasons; lots of power (near 70hp) both road legal and off road capable, and as I mentioned to him, he had the giraffe legs for the 38 or so inches of seat height! 

Zac's answer did not surprise me.  He figures a Suzuki DR 650 with upgraded suspension, big bore kit, more fuel capacity and decent luggage would make an ideal bike for his riding style.  I myself have a similar bike with my XT 600.  He finished with the caveat that he wouldn't mind having a Triumph Scrambler too!

Chris #1 would pick a circa 2005-2012 Yamaha MT01.  A bike that couldn't get traction here in North America but was briefly popular in Europe.  Basically a factory modified V Star 1700 that played on the power cruiser looks but with lighter weight (aluminum frame) USD* forks, decent suspension and as Chris eloquently states it... "Quick, powerful and sports bike type handling."  He liked the upright seating position as well.

Chris #2 on the other hand would take an All Black Triumph Tiger 800 if somebody handed him the cash.  He liked its ability to do some casual trail riding, praising it's light weight as compared to the Mega ADV bikes, something that he could pick up off the ground if he were trailing somewhere in Baja or Chile or the Alaska highway.  Besides... he added it looked "Bad Ass"

Melanie chose a Yamaha Bolt.  She tells me it's comfortable to sit on, looks good, and has style and is easy enough to lift off the side stand.  She'd sure like to ride one!

Ron likes bikes that are like him.  Old, reliable, still dashingly good looking and devoid of frivolities that add nothing to the riding experience... but cost a barrel of dough if they need a visit to the shop.  He likened that experience to the difference between adjusting the valves on his DOHC GS 1000 Suzuki himself, to taking the bike into Exotic Cycles where a tune up would involve a day and a half, with several hours of removing and replacing body work and end with taking out a 2nd mortgage!

THEN THERE's TOM!

 

He loves his Magna.  A "cruiser" with a race bike engine.  He doesn't need anything more.  He tells me he's already cool, rich and handsome beyond belief and doesn't need any bike to enhance his many attributes.

Nuff said!

*USD Upside down

Cool 1981 XV 920 RH

 

Will HD fall afoul of the proposed US tarrifs?

(this taken from a US news article. Photos and opinion after, are my own)

Harley-Davidson implemented just-in-time manufacturing, different management strategies, relentless product improvement, and many other ideas stressed by William Edwards Deming. Ironically, many of these theories had been put into (successful) practice in Japan after World War II by companies employing engineers, managers, and scholars trained by Deming. The tariff gave Harley-Davidson a bit of breathing room, which Harley used wisely, by making enormous quality improvements, improving labor relations greatly, and modernizing their business practices.

Harley-Davidson reclaimed its market share and more. In 1987, Vaughn L. Beals, Harley’s chairman and CEO told the U.S. International Trade Commission, ''We're profitable again. We're recapitalized. We're diversified. We don't need any more help.'' He requested the ITC end the tariff plan a year ahead of schedule.

 

Analysis

Harley-Davidson largely saved their own bacon. Many business studies of the turnaround have been done, and the results are nearly unanimous: their metamorphosis was nothing short of transformational, and through loads of hard work, Harley pulled themselves up by the bootstraps.
However, that’s not to say the tariff was unimportant to Harley’s future. Even if relatively minor in terms of actual economic impact, It was probably a crucial action serving to calm the frayed nerves of Harley’s creditors. The investors who bought Harley back from AMF were very over-extended, and the paucity of excess operational capital was likely causing much temple-rubbing — Even though Harley was visibly righting the ship.

Darwin Holstrom, in "Harley-Davidson: The Complete History," notes that Citicorp, their lender, had continued to lend not out of generosity, but because it was felt that their chances of recovering the loan was better with Harley operational — they didn’t even believe Harley’s carcass would cover the debt. Eventually, even that plan was abandoned, and in November of 1984, Citicorp announced over-advances would stop as of March 1985, which they later pushed to December 31, 1985. Peter C. Reid notes in "Made Well In America: Lessons from Harley-Davidson on Being the Best," “...Citicorp officials began to worry about what would happen when the tariffs on big Japanese bikes ended in 1988.”

Harley CFO Rich Teerlink simultaneously prepared the company for bankruptcy filings and searched for an investor, which only came at the last moment and after much negotiating and pleading. Would their new lenders have materialized without the temporary protection offered by that tariff? Highly unlikely. Harley-Davidson became a publicly traded company in 1986. “Going public was a hard decision, but we had such difficult financial problems it was the only decision,” said Beals.
Was the tariff the correct action for President Reagan to have executed? Can such a complicated topic ever have a “right” answer? That’s certainly a multi-faceted and complex issue, and likely not one I could answer, nor could a consortium of scholars and economists. (They’ve tried, and they have the same problem I do — they leave more questions than answers.)

Even Beals was fairly blunt. “For years, we tried to figure out why the Japanese were beating us so badly. First we thought it was their culture. Then we thought it was automation. Then we thought it was dumping. Finally we realized the problem was us, not them.”


Oddly, among all the politics and money surrounding this issue (and others like it), there is one statement Ronald Reagan made that sums up the issue completely accurately and can in no way be refuted no matter what side of the issue anyone found — or still finds — himself on. “I have determined that import relief in this case is consistent with our national economic interest.” Perhaps that statement cannot be construed as an explanation for enacting the tariff. On the other hand, perhaps it was all the explanation the situation warranted.



This mumbo jumbo is interesting to anyone that was around in the Reagan years.  That was back in the day that HD was repurchased from AMF (American Machine and Foundry) and to ensure the survival of the brand, a multi year tariff was placed on MC with displacements over 700cc originating in J A Pan.  The first year tariff was a whopping 49.4% 

That affected a large portion of Japanese imports being unfairly (?) penalized.  The long and short is HD survived and by successfully selling an "image" to the public (do I need to tell you... okay in case you've been lost in the Amazon for 30 years) dentists/construction workers/lawyers/politicians took on the visual persona of weekend "bad boys".  Watch Wild Hogs on Netflix!

I even had a guy working in my Financial office who came to live with me (big mistake) during his divorce, that bought an '03 Anniversary Heritage.  This guy didn't even ride bikes!

He ended up being so "f__g" obnoxious that my riding friends wanted to beat the crap out of him when he would come up to a group of us, flashing his $40 zippo, wallet chained to his jeans, the Beanie lid proclaiming that helmet laws sucked and proclaiming US as riders of Jap junk!



Today, there is much talk and reading on what is happening with the North American market for motorcycles.  With HD sales falling by double digit sales figures and the entire Big Bike market feeling the hurt, and... with much talk about smaller, lighter, easier, cheaper to ride motorcycles growing in the market place (albeit it it's the international marketplace, not American or CDN) it makes for great speculation. 



If you are a long time motorcyclist as I am, and if you came in during the mid to late '60's when the British and American industries' were on the cusp of collapse, teetering on the brink of oblivion, and the Japanese who were accused of being transistor radio makers and nothing else of any consequence... you know what happened in the next decade.  The once powerful British MC business went the way of the dodo, HD got bought out by a tractor outfit and the 100cc Yamaha's and CB 125 Honda's begin the switch for hundreds of thousands of new riders moving up to 350's, then 400's, 650's and bigger, while the little bikes eventually disappeared altogether. 

History tends to repeat itself, lessons go unlearned and those that paid no attention, fall by the way side.

 

 

 

 

In our case, that is the case of Motorcycles, which we all love, this likely won't happen again.  Why you might ask? 

To quote Albert Einstein... the "Fourth World War will be fought with rocks and sticks"

ps Coming up...

"If money was no object, what would you buy and why...?"

Inspiration

Unlike perspiration... inspiration can often be much harder to find.  As is defined in short...

inspiration

(ˌɪnspɪˈreɪʃən)

n

1. stimulation or arousal of the mind, feelings, etc, to special or unusual activity or creativity

2. the state or quality of being so stimulated or aroused

3. someone or something that causes this state

4. an idea or action resulting from such a state

5. (Physiology) the act or process of inhaling; breathing in

inspiration
 


It's certainly true that humans aspire to be not only inspired, but inspiring.

Over my lifetime I have felt there has been cause for both. 

I like to read, a lot.  One of the must haves I had for building this house in the move to rural PEI was to have a library.  I'm not talking merely of a WalMart Ubuild book shelf in a box but a real honest to God enormous vast, heavy and appealing, library.  A place where I can display my little yellow Honda and have enough diversity to be able to pull something off the shelves and sit in the sunlight of a nice winter day, feet curled up under me, next to a furry creature.

I have a small version in my office where I keep a handful of pocket books but in our living room my bookshelf is 8 feet tall and 24 feet wide!  There are currently about 650-750 books, not counting magazines on my "bookshelf." 

It's a dream come true.  I've got stuff by hundreds of authors, some fiction, some non... plenty of history for I believe that if we don't learn the lessons that it teaches us, we are destined to repeat it.  Sometimes with horrific consequences.

I have fun stuff, and serious stuff.  Some of it is fluff, there are many who-done-its and there are many mind provoking volumes.  There's Lenin and there's Lennon.  There's Bryson, Evanovich, Grisham, Haley.  I have Travel, Mystery, Biographies.  I've got Dune, The JOY of Sex, The Gangs of New York, and Defining Moments in History.

Plenty to be inspired with.

Just yesterday as the sun shone in through our living room windows, I pulled Charley Boorman's "Race to Dakar" off for a look see.  Of course I have his and Ewan's  'Long Way Round' on video and the memory of having met them on the final leg of their journey, quite by accident while we were all in Great Falls Montana in 2004.  My buddy, Rock pestering (peppering?)  them with questions, while I could see they were pretty much exhausted and on auto pilot to get to NYC.

Anyway... I am always thrilled to read about other's adventures.  They may be simple or elaborate, but never the less I often find inspiration between the covers. 

Race to Dakar one of them. 

There were two things that jumped out right way as I leafed through the book version of the video.  The first was the constant references to ride within one's limits and capabilities without giving in to pressures to ride beyond them.  The other is to find away to ride beyond them.  This is true for just about everything in life.  Life to many seems like an ugly four letter word, something to be rushed through without stopping to smell the poppies, or taking it in, in glorious deep breaths, to savor over and over again. 

Take riding in Baja for example.  Although I haven't ridden there now since 2007, I still remember the beauty of the silence of the desert,  on previous trips, the fear of the unknown, the constant concern for safety and the cherry on the top, the relishing of another memory that will stay with you forever.

The last of my Freedom Cycle bikes, DT 50L/C

Although I have not ridden in Baja for many years now... I have spent almost 10 years with a secondary home in PHX Arizona from which base I have travelled the Superstitions, the White Tank, and especially the Bradshaw mountains extensively. In my photo albums both film and digital, there are nearly 35,000 digital memories.  One of my favorite things is to sit in front of my laptop, steaming coffee cup in hand and just watch the parade of memories flicker in front of my eyes on my screen savor. 

I've had many stories published about riding the SW deserts and even though I now live on the East coast... I am looking forward to making many more memories in the locale.

Anyway, getting back to Inspiration...

I picked up as I said, Charley's book... and inside the front cover in ink I see an inscription.  This one is hand written and personal to myself which I would like to share with you.

It's short and sweet and I will state it's origin and message to you, maybe there you will find some of your own inspiration for yourself.

it is...

Happy Birthday Dad!
More inspiration for your future publications!
Keep your adventurous spirit healthy and strong!

Love Holly and Lisa

dated January 3, 2008

Of course Holly and Lisa are my grown daughters and in January of 2008 I was preparing to travel fulfilling a very long time dream of mine.  In that year and the one right after I would be sitting on the seat of a beautiful and willing Diversion 600 Yamaha to finally ride not only the roads of my birthplace but covering nearly 30,000 km and two dozen countries.

You might say, I was inspired...

Right after completion...