2008 VELOCETTE SUMMER RALLY - The Ride, Part 3

I hadn't been to the top of Mt Shasta for years, so included a picnic at 8500' in our Thursday agenda. It was an easy 75 mile ride on quiet roads to the mountain, but some of us needed to do a little maintenance in the morning, so the lax schedule was welcome; that's Don Danmeier (president of the BSA club) taking care of his unique blue Venom.


Once again Norlene provided our high-altitude picnic, which really made for a dramatic lunch spot, overlooking the valley below. We were high above any smoke, but the lowlands were fairly well covered, so the usual crystalline visibility from up high was obscured. The final 6,000' of Mt Shasta towered above us as we ate at picnic tables seemingly at the edge of the world.

Our progress to the top, and down again, was spotted from millions of butterflies which had recently hatched. It was bizarre to ride through huge clouds of lovely Painted Ladies - when I first saw them along the road it was cheery, like seeing pretty flowers in bloom, but as I soon began to kill them by the hundreds with my body, helmet, and motorcycle, I felt a combination of horror and humor. It was also terribly distracting as we wound our way to the top, and many riders mentioned the challenge of ignoring the butterflies and keeping their eyes on the route.

Panther Meadows sit at tree-line, with clumps of mountain heather and wildflowers carpeting the terrain while small streams of snowmelt wind through. These meadows are held sacred by the local tribes, and make a perfect spot to listen to the breeze and the butterflies (yes, it's so quiet you can hear them crisply flapping their wings). Lanora Cox (editor of Fishtail West) thinks its a nice place as well.

It's 14 miles all downhill from the top of the mountain, and I love a good engines-off race. Jeff and Lanora were game too - those black specks on the video are suicidal butterflies! We were doing about 50+mph on the straight bits...

The Callahan-Gazelle road proved the be lovely and fast, but on the return high marks were awarded Forest Road 17, which paralleled C-G road, but wound over a dramatic mountain pass with deep canyons. 17 has no lines or guard rails, and is basically one lane, with only moderately bad pavement (nothing like as bad as Alderpoint or Mattole roads). It's my feeling that the narrower the road, the fewer lines, and the less marked the transition from pavement to vegetation, the greater the experience of intimacy with nature.

But at the end of the day, intimacy with a beer was just about perfect, and as mentioned the town of Callahan hides a perfect wild-west bar amongst abandoned hotel and bank buildings. The upper pic shows a few of the expats joining our rally - Dai Gibbison (Velo Tech forum guru, from London), Cheryl and Neville Mickelson (classic sidecar racing champion in New Zealand), and Graeme Glover from Australia.

2008 VELOCETTE SUMMER RALLY - The Ride, Part 2

After two 'loop' days which ended up back at the Benbow, Wednesday we ventured deeper into the wild heart of California. Our first challenge was Alderpoint Road, which heads northeast out of Garberville for 50 miles, eventually landing at Hwy 36. The surface is in very poor condition, and I think the locals prefer it thus, as it keeps tourists at bay - and motorcycle speeds distinctly down.

Barring the bumps, Alderpoint rewards exploration with breathtaking views of the inland Coastal Range, and passes through two tiny hamlets which haven't seem much progress in 40 years. The houses in Blocksburg are very close to the road, common in extremely rural areas, as the road used to be a horse trail. The first time I rode through here, perhaps 20 years ago, a laundry line fluttered white sheets from a house, while a girl of 8 or 9 wearing an old-fashioned gingham dress was spinning around in the sun, and I wondered if I was glimpsing a previous century.


But, we had come this way to visit Mike Cook as well, and completely inundated him and Bonnie with visitors. Mike was happy to have a task at hand, as Pete's '38 MSS had broken a sidecar strut - too many bumps! Being used to taking care of his own motorcycles, Mike had everything on hand needed to re-tube and weld up the break, and Pete's bike was soon repaired.


We had another casualty of the 'road disintegration blues', Bill Getty's Venom began to handle strangely a few miles after leaving Alderpoint Rd, and on stopping for lunch in Mad River, was mildly amused to find his frame had a 3" gap between the headstock and front downtube! By luck, the local towing company, headquarted several feet from the Mad River cafe (see pix below), was owned by a drag-racing enthusiast who built his own chassis, and was also well-equipped to repair the Venom frame. This took a bit more time than Pete's sidecar tube, as quite a few parts had to be removed from the bike to access the frame. The details of the fix are painful - the lower tubes were pried apart using blocks of wood and a jack, then a smaller tube was pounded into the headstock lug, slipped into the lower frame tube, and pinned at the top with a bolt, and spot welded at the bottom through holes in the tube. The new inner couldn't simply be welded to the headstock as Velocette frames are pinned, then hearth-brazed together ('sif-bronze welding'); thus there is brass contamination on the lugs and tubing where they join.

Bill and riding buddy Mark Hoyer (of Cycle World - this year without a press entourage) didn't leave Mad River until 9:30pm - and it was still a 3.5 hour ride to Etna, our destination. Their journey must have been epic - riding in the dark over 150 miles of relentlessly twisty mountain roads, using Lucas 6v headlamps. Cojones. The only saving grace, according to Mark - he couldn't see the deer coming, so didn't have time to be scared when they continually leapt across his path!

Hwy 36 began a stretch of true motorcyclists paradise, with smooth paving and 170 miles of beautiful bends. Our speed was kept down a bit when we began to encounter smoke soon after Mad River, which eventually became so thick it reduced visibility for riding quickly. Several large forest fires were growing near our path, but fortunately not near enough to close the roads - yet. The town of Hayfork, on Hwy 3, was particularly smoky, and the outskirts were being evacuated soon after we left. We almost lost one of our members, Kevin B, as he had a near-fatal encounter with a bee, as he's deadly allergic. Fortunately, he was stung just a few hundred yards from an ambulance depot, and was only unconscious for a few minutes...! As his wife Melissa was driving our chase truck, by 7pm I began to worry that it was so late, and was lucky to reach her by cell. 'Don't worry, we're just leaving the emergency room' was not reassuring! I felt like a mother hen all evening, until the last of the flock arrived at 12:30am. Luckily Kim and Kimberly felt like staying up late and drinking, so I wasn't waiting alone.

How do you feed 70 hungry motorcyclists in the tiny town of Etna, on the night when the local restaurant is closed? Call 1.800.Norlene. Not only did she cook for all of us, the food was excellent - her famous 'garbage can' turkey and beef, plus several salads etc, it was terrific - thanks again Norlene. Afterwards, there was plenty of time to tell lies about the day's adventures, like this gang of old friends. A keg of Gold Ale (delicious - not as hoppy as the usual CA microbrew, but malty like English beers) from the Etna Brewing Company made for a relaxing evening.

"EASY RIDER San Remo, Italy, Jun 17 After dining with friends, Keanu Reeves dodges overeager fans on his motorcycle"

Photo taken from July 7, 2008 People magazine.

My post title quote came directly from their photo.

I first of all must say, I did not even know Keanu was a biker.

Secondly, I think he looks like a total F'n dork in the suit with helmet and bike. Maybe that's why it looks like some of the girls in the back ground are laughing at him.

I know, I know, giddy with exitement. (BARF).

Thirdly.... Don't get me wrong here. I own a Sportster, and love Sportsters, but for a star of his calibur, a "stock" Sporty???? WTF???

I saw this and thought it was interesting.

Just food for thought.

A Visit to Orange County Choppers - Road Trip

The regular monthly gathering of Chapter NJ-F (F Troop) of the Gold Wing Road Riders Association (GWRRA) was held at the Empire Diner in Freehold, NJ on July 27, 2008. After the gathering, many members and guests rode to the Orange County Choppers (OCC) headquarters in Newburgh, NY.

We rode in three groups, each with a leader and drag rider. Most members communicated via CBs to keep the groups together and informed.

I had seen the guys from OCC in June, 2004 when I was at the Americade Rally in Lake George, NY. At that time they were becoming well known through their TV show, American Chopper.

The motorcycle community was split as to whether they were amateurs who got lucky or genuine biker craftsmen who knew how to create a masterpiece chopper. I think that most were amazed that they caught on so fast and made a bundle of money doing what backyard mechanics had already been doing for 30 years.

Sometimes when I attend a motorcycle rally, something unexpected happens. At Americade 2004, I found out that the Orange County Chopper (OCC) cast from the Discovery Channel's American Chopper (now on The Learning Channel), was going to be in the area. This was not an official Americade event. It was thought up by the town fathers of Bolton Landing, a town 10 miles north of Lake George. They felt that they needed to do something to attract some of the 60,000 or so Americaders and get them to spend some money in their town. Turns out that a few emails and a phone call did the trick and the whole cast of Orange County Choppers (OCC) showed up for a 4-day run to meet with their fans and sell a few autographed T-shirts.

The Teutuls: Paul Sr, Paul Jr, and Mikey have to choose carefully their visits to rallies to allow them time to build the theme bikes required on their TV show. They skipped Laconia that year and instead did Bolton Landing where they brought 20 of their most popular theme bikes. Here's a picture of Paul Jr signing my OCC T-shirt. My wife, Jane, stood in a long line to get these shirts signed.

The Teutuls were just getting started then. They still had a small shop but millions of fans were watching them on TV every week to see that next theme bike being built and to hear the yelling and screaming as Paul Sr and Paul Jr clashed.

Years passed and they built a bigger and bigger reputation. Now they were in a huge building in Newburgh, NY that contained a showroom of their merchandise and products. Tucked in the back of the building is a small factory where their choppers are built in the glare of TV lights and multiple cameras taping everything going on in the creative process including the antics of the Teutuls and their employees.

Many motorcyclists now visit the facility. It's almost a motorcycle mecca. In fact, our group from New Jersey was only a small part of the riders present that day.

I took a few pictures of the new digs for OCC. The place is quite impressive. I have written descriptions and captions for each picture. Take a look.

If you'd like to know more about choppers, take a look at my Choppers article, my Chopper Gallery, and my Choppers subject. I also wrote a book review, Orange County Choppers: The Tale of the Teutuls - A Motorcycle Book Review.

If you decide to take a trip to Orange County Choppers, you won't be disappointed. Just don't expect to see any of the Teutuls there on Sunday, the day we chose to visit.

First picture ©2008 Jane Ann Kern; second picture ©2004 Walter F. Kern

Your speed...

Click on the picture to enlarge it.



Thanks to those of you participated in my scientific study from the "How Fast Did You Say?" post on thursday July 24th!
http://01mrmotorcycle.blogspot.com/2008/07/how-fast-did-you-say.html

LOL!

Star Wars...... Weekend review

Star Wars stole the day.

There are Trekies, and there are Star Wars nuts.

My son is a Star wars nut. He has Star Wars collectibles, and ALL of the movies. He's got multiple sets, special editions and so on. Although I don't really get it, I did enjoy the movies, and I can appreciate them.
When my son found out that the Science Museum here was having a Star Wars exhibit, he was dying to go. So, Mrs. M. and myself got tix to go and brought the young ens with.

We started out with an Omni theatre movie about movie magic, and technology, primarily based on star Wars, but not exclusively. Got to see ton's of stuff blow up. That was cool. The movie screen is Ginormous, and round so you feel like you are watching everything around you literally.
Kinda can make you motion sick if you aren't careful.
Then we went onto the exhibit portion where they had actual characters, costumes, and real props used in the Star Wars movies.

All in all, we had a great time. I especially like spending time with my family doing stuff like this, even if I'm not the Star Wars freak that my son is. I know it made his Universe, at least for one day anyway.

Here is a mix of photos that I took of things I thought were cool. I didn't want to post them all, as I took a ton of them, and barely caught everything they had.

Excuse some of the quality. I had to shoot through glass.





























































USE THE fORCE!