Ride report: retirement tour | GTAMotorcycle.com

Ride report: retirement tour

Very nice:thumbup:
 
Thanks! It was pretty special. At my age anymore, once in a lifetime.

Combined age of rider and bike is almost 100 years. (57 + 39)
I think that's pretty funny.
 
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I was going to comment on that earlier but didn't want to get too wordy and mung up your victory lap. I did 4 days on the road couple weeks back and didn't ride for one week after. So I would consider your trip an achievement.
96 years, that's wild. We've been alive for more than half of the motorcycle industry's existence and I clearly remember the launch of the 1969 CB750. It was a big deal.
 
A dozen or so years ago I went on 2 motorcycle trips during back to back summers, one to Morgantown TN, the other longer one to PEI. After each of those trips, I didn't get back on my bike for a few weeks because of sore bum.

This trip, it's not a problem. I'll ride my bike this afternoon to do an errand.

thanks, Brady
 
Great read. Thanks for sharing.
 
Enjoying the blog.
Loved the coincidence in Memphis....that was incredible....GF in Australia got a chuckle too.

This givesmeasore neck. What I did was to take a spare tie down strap, attach it to the lower back of my jacket onto an unused belt loop, run the strap between my legs, and attach it to the bottom frontofmyjacket onto a pocket snap. It looks dorky, but it prevents the jacket from riding up.

Dri-rider is an Australian gear maker and the riding jacket I brought home from there has that between the leg strap as part of the design.
Feels kinda goofy but sure does work.

Two nights ago at the Super 8, the 2 queen beds in my room had 4 thick pillows each! I was even hugging one.

We were super impressed with the Super8s in Alaska and Alberta anf Yellowknife NWT and sought them out.
Superb beds and pillows, great breakfast and snacks all free ( one even had Apple pie and cinnamon coffee cake slices as a snack )
We joined their loyalty program )
$100-120 a night - very good value for the comfort level.
With two of us it kept the price down and the rest we needed for the long driving days )
Highly recommended chain.

I crossed the border without even having to take my helmet off. I pilled up the bike, shut it off, and began to undo my chinstrap, but the border guard told me not to bother, looked at my passport, asked me how long i had been in the States for, and welcomed me back home. The last time I came back into Canada, the border guard was ticked off because she had to tell me to take my helmet off.

One reason I wear and open face. It's quieter and no removal at the border.
With all the earphones wired up etc it's a pain to remove.

I have finally got beyond chin straps. :D

The new flex shape helmet for AFX has a quick release.
FIddly to set up but KISS once it's done....2 sec on, 2 sec off....too nice.

Welcome home. I personally think you are crazy but i a good way.
Your adventure was the kind of scrape by ride we used to do when your bike was the latest.

Route 66 indeed !!! ;)

Inspired by your ride tho I'm going to start a touring on the cheap thread for riders including me that do not camp out.
 
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Thanks for sharing your excellent adventure.
 
Aside from the fact that I don't own a modern bike, part of the satisfaction of doing this trip comes from the fact that it's a classic bike, no fairings, no windscreen. Pretty much anyone can do a trip like this in a car, a modern BMW tourer, a new Harley bagger, or a Goldwing couch. Going solo was another important part. It was a test, a challenge I set up for myself. I needed to do something physically epic before I got too old. I'm very lucky the way this turned out.
 
My ipad remembers where I took my digi pics on my trip.

(The florida pin was a family vacation last March.)

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Great pictures so far, I am only partway through your ride report. I remember when you were getting your bike in shape for the trip. Glad to see it had completed the journey. Well done.
 
I just read your blog in one sitting, and let me say that the pictures are wonderful, as is your narrative.

I very much enjoyed dreaming of riding that way myself and experiencing it.
 
Much appreciated, RR!
 

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