Sure, Yves, but atleast you have an excuse, unlike Ed hear. ;-)

Well, I've had a chance to continue my story about my trip across the states. At last writing I left off leaving Utah, still following Hgwy. 50. Just getting close to Colorado and the Rocky Mountains is enough to perk me right up. I think most will agree it's always a great ride when you roll through those mountains and this was no exception. The weather was on our side and I don't take that lightly in Colorado. All along the way we had been watching the Aspen turning to yellow as fall was under way. You can't help from being impressed as you approach the Rockies, they really are majestic. I have been over this route a few times and I can assure you, you never get tiered of it. We stayed in a small town called Salida, it epitomizes the warm hospitality of the people who chose to live in the mountains. If you find yourself in that part of the country, stop and take in this little slice of heaven. It was necessary for us to head into Colorado Springs and pickup Hgwy. 24 up to Interstate 70 and into flatter eastern side of Colorado. Moving right along into Kansas. Ok, what can I say about Kansas, if you've been there you know my dilemma. As luck would have it just about the whole stretch of Hgwy. 70 was either under construction or needed to be, badly. Then there is the wind! We spent almost the whole trip across Kansas leaning to the left, the wind is always coming down from the north. I have to a mit the endless fields of sunflowers is quite a sight. It was on one of those many stretches of construction where we hit a "dump" and trunk which is also the back rest flipped right off. You can imagine my wife was none too happy with that. The next day we pulled into a brake shop (the only thing around) and asked them to drill a couple of holes through the trunk and its frame and bolt it on, they did and only charged five dollars, most mechanics can't even write out the bill for that! I will stop here and finish our story tomorrow. Have fun, ride safe.

Ahh, Larry, thank you. I enjoy reading about such travel, especially since I just finished scraping sleet and ice off my buggy this morning!

Larry, I've been to Kansas and know you're dilemma. It's hard to hold your nose and steer at the same time!

Greetings to all X-Roaders! I see that X-Roads is about to go through the dying quivers. Thanks to Jon for providing the forum. Your time and efforts certainly have been appreciated! Right now we have about 2 inches of snow on the ground in Northern Wisconsin. It will no doubt stay until the meltdown in April. The swapmeet season for me starts on Nov 30th. I am looking forward to the numerous swap meets even though they are nothing like they used to be. The swap meet bargain of the year (for this last year) was a pair of Indian dirt bikes for sale for $150 (for both). They didn't run, had no titles, had many missing parts, but both had a beautiful Indian gas tank. I had just bought a Kawie Spectre about 20 minutes earlier and had no room on my pickup (or so I thought). I walked around the swap meet looking for other goodies. After talking it over with my friend--I decided to buy the Indian dirt bikes. Guess what--they were gone! I wound up buying a near mint exhaust system for a 79 Sports er. Harley only made this exhaust system for 1 year. Finding this for $125 was a real bargain. The police chief in my town now has it for his 79 Sporty. Glad to be on this new forum!!! Hoop

Hi Hoop, good to see ya again.... Is the Spectre going to be a Big Project?? Nice looking machines and they ran like hell.... Are you going to stick to the Black/gold paint pinstripe theme?? Someday the time will come that I will be able to afford about 2 project bikes a year... the Spectre is on the list...

Hey good to see you Hoop! Y'know, there are almost NO swapmeets for bikes here. Just car stuff. I'd love to get in on one at some point. What's the overall intention for the Spectre? i seem to remember 'em as excellent bulletproof streeters when not abused by draggers.

The Spectre is not a project at all. It's a 1982 1100 in stock condition with 12k miles on the clock. Its my go fast bike. It needs nothing. I know the newer bikes put this to shame, but I'll stick with this--thank you very much. Believe it or not, I prefer the Spectre to the 73 Z-1 I had. A friend has a 73 Z-1 that is sitting outside rusting!! Numerous attempts to get him to take care of the bike (or at least sell it to someone who will) have proven fruitless. The swap meets are numerous in Wisconsin. After all--we have to have some bike events in the long winters to keep from going bonkers. 90 % of the bikes/parts at the swap meets are Harleys with Triumph making up the difference. I thing nothing of traveling 200 miles to go to a swap meet. The swap meet heritage is colorful. 20 years ago you could put together a complete bike from various booths at swap meets (buy a frame here, a tranny there, a motor and electrics here--and behold--a swap meet special) The swap meets have changed drastically in the last 5 years. About 4 years ago, German nationals bought up enormous amounts of panhead and shovelhead parts--thus driving the price through the roof. The price has since dropped--but never again will drop to the pre buying spree days. The people that have booths are searching other booths for underpriced items so they can resell them at a profit. As with anything in the world we live in, money dictates everything. There is a Japanese/European swap meet in our area that is growing every year. By the way--I like all motorcycles from Kawasaki to BMW to Harley. Some of my many friends that own Harleys think I'm nuts for owning bikes other than Harleys. The ones that yell the loudest are the ones that ride the least (or not ride at all--they just own a Harley) !! I have ridden a chopped Harley to a Gold Wing event and a Kawasaki to a Harley event--guess what--nobody cared!! I have this desire to keep trying different things when it comes to motorcycles. My next project (this year or next) will be to put a sidecar on my R100 Beemer. Who knows--I might even like it!! Regards Hoop

I think you are entirely justified in your thought of liking the Spectre better than the 73 Z1... The early Z1's had some serious frame deficeincies that came with putting all that power into a bike of the early 70's. Because of this they handled poorly and frame stress could be critical. IMHO, you lucked out getting a Spectre in such fine shape... Most who bought them rodded them to no end and they ended up trashed... What did you pay for it and when can I have it?? ;o) You also should have your fri nds head checked.... Jon and I know a guy in San Angelo that has a whole collection of Z1's and they bring a premium when restored to stock, not to mention the fact that they are Primo Drag Bikes.... Sounds like your philosiophy on bikes is very similar to mine.. If it's a bike, I proably want it... hehehe

Stacey, we aren't in Kansas anymore.

Interesting, Hoop, that the speculation crap hits even swap meets. Cycle World has a little article on a couple who lives from one meet to the next, and in so doing found a way to restore a 1929 HD with Goulding sidecar, a beautiful piece.

Thank god!

Hi all, I thought I would try to wrap up my ride out to Virginia. Nowe are not in Kansas anymore (Stacey ;-) The ride through Missouri, Indiana and points east start to run together after a couple of days. Don't misunderstand me it's great riding but how many time can you say that. Once we started getting into the sort of typical soft rolling hills characteristic of the eastern states you couldn't slap those silly grins off our faces. Compared to Hwy.. 50 through Nevada where the road always stretches to the next horizon, this is a riders paradise. I love the way the eastern states ribbon their roads through th country side. Fall was in the air and we felt we could ride like this for ever. We had by this time slid into a very comfortable routine. We would start the day around 7AM with about an hour and a half ride and then stop for breakfast. After a couple more hours and a few sightseeing stops it's time to grab another bite. We like nothing better than to find a small town and look for where the locals seem to be hanging their hats, you can get some good eats that way. We would then asses how the day has prog essed and try to determine where we thought we'd spend the night, tough huh. One thing was for sure once we were off the bike for the day we walked and it stayed put. As we rode into the state of West Virginia we knew our trip was drawing to a close. Be that as it may, we had some terrific miles in front of us. We stayed in a motel on the Kanawha river in Charleston, West Virginia, it was gorgeous. It's the first time I had ever witnessed a barge being push up a river. I still can't believe that pilot did what he or she did. That barge or more precise barges, I think there were five of them hooked together and one little tug at the end. That pilot had to turn right th re in front of us and what a maneuver, the tug would stop and this huge barge, would by the current, start to swing around. This was all done at night and I mean it was dark and they would shine these big spot lights on the banks for a sense of bearing. We sat out there and watch this for an hour until they got that thing swung around and heading up the middle again, quite a site. We were home a day and a half that. We have a ton of good memories and a solid resolve to get to know the east coast as well as we know the west coast. Thank you for your interest and an opportunity to share this with you. Have fun, ride safe.

Sounds like a mind cleansing, spirit lifting experience!

Spoken like someone whose been there!

Larry, that sounds like a great trip. It seems like every part of the country has something unique to offer riders. Living in DC, it's easy to forget how nice I have it with attractions like the Blue Ridge Parkway, and rural West Virginia so close by. For me, the only part of the East Coast I haven't seen much of is New England. I hear nothing but rave reviews of Upstate New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. In fact, I am bound and determined to attend the Laconia rally in New Hampshire one of these years. It's the oldest rally in the country, with incredible scenery and spectacular riding. You can't see it all, but you can sure have fun trying!

Do Vermont in the fall! Amazing colors EVERYWHERE!

When were you there?

Spent many summers around Lake Champlain as a younger guy, very beautiful place. Saw an original 50's Ferrari Barchetta haring around there several times!

Rodehogger you are so right, everyplace you go you can find something interesting. I don't think there is a state that doesn't have something to offer if you take the time to find it. fortunately I've had the opportunity to have seen a good majority of them by motorcycle. Thanks for the tips on places to ride on the east coast. A few years back my wife and I flew out to Boston on vacation and drove a car :-( to up-state New York where she was born. This was in the fall and it was beautiful. We knew for sure one-day we would return with a proper mode of transportation and see area the way it was meant to be seen. She also is the one that got me down to Virginia and once here I didn't want to leave. We had no idea in two short years we'd be living here. Now that we have the bike we can explore to our hearts content. I would highly recommend to anyone a tour of the Civil War battle fields in and about Fredericksburg. I live and work here and never get tiered of them. A little run over to the Chesapeake Bay for a some spiced grab never hurts either.

Larry, I went to undergraduate college in Fredericksburg! Neat town--really liked it. My buddy rented a house that was a Civil War hospital, and as you know, the college (M. Washington) is built along Sunken Road, where the Confederate troops mowed down the Union forces who were advancing from the river up the hill. Of course, many locals there still refer to the Civil War as "The War of Northern Aggression"! Honey, why are you loading that musket?

Hey! I do too!

History books are generally written by the winners...

Very, very true. Which is the exact reason why the north weren't a bunch of valiant crusaders fighting for slaves' rights, as I was taught in grade school. But I suppose I may have just opened up a big old can of worms.

We love those cans of worms, they start conversations.

I have a bulletin for ya all, some folks here are still fighting the civil war. As a Yankee transplant I know this all to well. Still a beautiful place to live. Happy Thanksgiving!

Same to you and everyone else, Larry. Happy Thanksgiving.

Hi, Iam BJ Ondo, been riding for 20 years and have had many brands and style of bikes. I love to watch motorcycle racing and wish I was only 22 in great health so I could ride sportbikes but Iam 42 and have tendonites in both wrists and elbows so I have tried everything in motorcycling. My last bike was a Triumph ThunderBird but the bike I really loved was the 95 Triumph Speed Triple, I traded in. If you look at me you'd swear I rode a GoldWing or a Electra-Glide but I like bikes that will have fun in th twisy's. Currently Iam looking at buying a 883 Sportster and working it into a CAFE RACER, a 70's XLCR look a like or a used S2 Buell (gave up on the Beemer). Yes, Jon (ie:Triumph) thinks Iam crazy but he's the one buying a old Triumph twin, ha ha! Iam a AMA, ABATE, and MORA member, I firmly beleive in "IT'S NOT WHAT YOU RIDE BUT THAT YOU RIDE", that makes us all Special. Tailwinds BJ http://members.tripod.com/~britrider/index.html

You still have the Honda, BJ?

Yeah, I may be crazy, but you can't beat the style of that bike for $3500. Only a HD or certain Ducatis (many are butt ugly) match the pure style of a Bonneville--and they're all going to cost you more.

Can't Argue with your statement's on the Triumph Jon, they are excellent looking machines! No, the gas tank kept leaking and the idle was a real problem. So since they wouldn't get me a different tank, I just returned it and got my money back, Iam bikeless once more, RATS. $3500 would only buy you a "total basket case" of a Harley-Davidson and Duc's would probably be higher also! You might be crazy but you have taste my friend. Tailwinds, BJ

Jon: Only a HD or certain Ducatis (many are butt ugly) match the pure style of a Bonneville- Two words here: Silver Star.

Hey, Bone! What was that? I can't hear you!

Welcome Bone. Anyone have ol' Eirik's regular mail address? E-mail me.

Hey BJ, Welcome!! Shane

Still just a manual bike rider but I did go down to San Diego last week and see a BUNCH of old Harley's cruising Mission Beach area. Sadly enough, it all it's reality, I thought of my virtual springers!

Hey how are you?

I'm groovy. New job, greatly rested and looking forward to a mini vacation in Sedona this weekend!

What new job?????? This is a surprise. Wow! In California?

Not in California, that was just a little sun, sand, warm weather excursion! New job is: self-contained ED (emotionally disturbed) teacher at Knight Academy. Same school as before, new classroom, new students BIG learning curve!

Sounds tough. I'm sure you'll be good at it.

Jon, you've touched on the number one key to effective classroom management -- confidence! And yes, I think I'll be good at it too.

What's the difference between this job and the other? You're narrowing in on emotionally disturbed children? Sounds like it will be pretty trying and stressfull, but probably rewarding as well.

These kids have been determined "too severe" to be in a regular envioronment. They have been deemed "a danger to themselves and others." Most of them have been severely physically, mentally, emotionally and sexually abused and have taken all the baggage with them (at a VERY young age). They have VERY limited, if any, appropriate social abilities and it shows! But they are all neat individuals really searching for a chance (although that desire may be buried down deep)

WOW! I'm impressed. It's great that we've got folks like you who are willing to take on a challenge like this.

and folks like me to remind you to wear a helmet! JUST KIDDING JON!!! *smile* Have a really happy holiday, Jon if I don't get the chance to tell you again!

and folks like me to remind you to wear a helmet! I thought Jon said he always practiced safe sex? hehe Turtle in a shell

Oooooh Brad, LOL. You mean in a state like Colorado it's legal to NOT practice... *GRiNs* Stacey, I definately admire what you're doing. It takes a heck of a lot of patience to handle all those kids..which I'm not sure I could do. Sounds very rewarding (which it'd have to be), because I know you and most teachers are smart enough to make better money elsewhere. So you're doing this because you want to and that's cool.

Thanks Kevin. Always nice to be appreciated!

Kevin: You mean in a state like Colorado it's legal to NOT practice... *GRiNs* Who knows, they might soon start the Junior Anti-Sex League... 1984 was 13 years ago, but 1984 is still a possibility!

Uh, yeah Brad. Merry Christmas, Stacey. Are you going home? My parents were supposed to come up but they didn't. I may go home.

Better go to Texas before your snowed in there Jon. Merry Christmas to all.

Hee. Actually, Kevin, it hasn't snowed in two weeks and it's melting everywhere. Amazing. Still snow around, no doubt, but lots of places are basically snow free (on the south facing hillsides).

But if I do go home I'm going to go riding with my old riding buddies--I'm sure he'll find a bike to loan me.

Hey, does anyone know what happen to Tony??

Tony Pan?

Tony Scatton. Hmm. No, I wonder what happened.

I have mailed him a couple of times. Last I heard he was very busy with his shop, but still very much alive and well! ;-) Tony the Scat!

Yeah Jon, with your luck though, the day you want to leave it'll dump over a foot of snow. *GRiNs* If you make it to Texas, I'll bet your buddy finds something to ride. At least you got the little 4WD in case it does snow.

That's right, but if it was like the "Great Storm of '97" where even the snowplows were getting stuck, I'd have to stay. A foot ain't no biggie, though.

So are you going to Texas? Does this Spring site load as slowly for me as everyone else? I'm on a LAN at work and most things download in a matter of a few seconds, but this site loads no faster on the LAN than it does at home with my 56k modem.

Yeah, for three days, and yes, it does run slowly. I think Terry's running off of ISDN from his house, but that's just a guess.

It's gotten slightly slower for me just recently, and I run 14400bps. Jon did you know there's a site for great roads of Texas?

Intro - I feel A lot more at ease around a camp fire than a computer but i,ve injoyed the site so far.I ride a 72 BSA Lighting chop here in Wi , no snow yet still on the Road.

To all the great people involved here Have a Merry Christmas!

Welcome Pat, man dude that's pretty hardcore a good old Limey chop! It been pretty brisk with light snow on and off here for a few days on the plains of southern Colorado. Iam picking up a 98 CB750 Nighthawk in Jan., had NO RIDE for most of 97 and it plainly "sucked". Again welcome to the group, nice diverse folks here that just plain love to talk bikes. Happy Holidays BJ Ondo

Hey Pat, welcome. Haven't seen a chopped Brit for a while...long long ago in a galaxy, etc. etc. I built a chopper out of a '68 Bonneville basket case. That is all behind me...at the moment, riding an '81 HD shovelhead that started life as an FLT, and a Honda Gold Wing ('82) that I stole this last summer. I also ride long as the roads aren't icy, year 'round, but I think it is probably easier to do here in the Tidewater area of VA than it is up in your part of the world. Hope to share a fire with you ometime down the road...ride long, ride safe! Ed Hamblin (Blaster Ed)

Pat, Welcome to the site from a fellow Wisconsinite (near Eagle River). I haven't ridden since the first week in November. Good to hear that you have a classic Limey scooter!! One does not run across BSA's very often. Hoop

Welcome Pat....

What's the URL, Terry? 14,400? Geez. I think I can dig up a 28,800. If I can, do you want it?

The Spring conference is running off a 14.4k modem? You can get a internal 56k one for under $100 now..a 28.8k one goes for $30-40. Jon probably has a couple laying around somewhere.

I thought I had access to one, but it turns out I don't. Sorry. But for $30, it wouldn't be worth the cost of shipping.

What was that Ed?

Jon... I am at a loss. I didn't mean to respond...guess I pushed the wrong button. I did go back and review...see where I have a blank. Call the uh-oh squad! Ed

Here's a hint I'm not sure anyone uses when browsing the threads here. When the motorcycle conference comes up..choose 'Activity within last week' instead of all. Then when it comes back up..change the '../-7' to '../-1' in the address or location field of your browser and hit . This will bring up only the conferences that have had posts submitted in the last day or 24hrs or something like that. This is great if you check in everyday. If only once a week then no need to change to -1. If every other day..make it -2 or how ever many of the last few days worth you want to see. Either way..I bookmarked it at -1 and I'm able to only see the last days postings. Make a couple of bookmarks at -1, -3, -5 to pick from depending how long it's been since you logged in. Hope this helps, SK (Happy New Year)

PS - It loads quicker the less days you view.

Thanx 4 the tip! (I usually hit "new" anyway)

Mines marked at "new", unless I want to post to a topic not currently active I get all the posts within the last 24 hours or so.

If you have a conference list set up, then you only see what you haven't seen before. And you can use the "next topic" and "next conference" to cruise along. Of course, regulars here also get offered shell accounts if they want to cruise along at warp speed.

When I bring up the conference I only saw the All and Last Weeks Worth links. I just went further back and got it to list the New and Forgotten links too, plus I clicked the Mark All Read link and I think now I'm in business. I guess I never checked out the features here before. So I'll bookmark the URL for new now and it should be better. This site sure could use a faster modem though.

Jon, did you get back to TX for any of the holiday season? And Paul told me someone had an accident... who?

Yes, I did. Had a nice, but short time. I e-mailed you a while back asking about a concert. Did you ever get it?

never got it. what concert? Who? Where? When? (Why?) a new motorcycle in your possession yet?

Who--Buddy Miles. Where--The Little Bear. When--yesterday (Thursday). Why--I bought two tickets and didn't want to waste the second. You didn't miss anything, though. Buddy Miles, for the uninitiated, was Jimi Hendrix's drummer. He is an o.k. drummer, but has crummy taste in music and played a bunch of whiney pseudo-funk, pseudo-blues stuff. Yuck. I guess it was worth the price of admission to see the guy who played with Jimi Hendrix, but the show was pretty lousy. Have you ever been to The Little Bear? I can't remember if we've talked about that. That's where I was supposed to see Bo Diddley and forgot about it.

George "Buddy" Miles, of the Buddy Miles Express, was a blues man who whrote and originally performed the song "Them Changes". He later became part of the Band Of Gypsys, formed by Jimi Hendrix after the Jimi Hendrix Experience. The Band Of Gypsys broke up without ever releasing a studio album and is known from their live concerts, one of which was recorded on New Year's Night, 1969-70 and released as the album Band Of Gypsys. Buddy Miles later reformed the Express, and at one time performed wit Carlos Santana. Miles is a mediocre singer (and is therefore rather better than Hendrix was), but he did O.K. with the Band of Gypsys version of "Them Changes" (erroneously titled "Changes" on the album). But, for the record, when one speaks of Hendrix's drummer, one usually refers to Mitch Mitchell, who could easily keep up with, and actually at times surpass, Jimi's playing. After the Band Of Gypsys broke up, Jimi restarted the Experience with Billy Cox from the Band of Gypsys and Mitch Mitchell from the original Experience. "Them Changes" has also been covered by James Brown.

Again, Whoa! The human Archive! You almost know more about Miles than I do about Hendrix! Whoa! I mentioned to Jon that it's simply amazing that some of the 70's guys physically survived, good playin or not. Miles was never the greatest drummer, he just had a momentary and tenuous connection with the best guitarist on earth at the time, and never let it go.

yes, I've been to the Little Bear. No show, just lunch after a nice hike. Sorry I didn't touch base with you earlier, a drive up to the mountains would've been nice. Too bad the show wasn't better... *frown*

The snow? Did you go skiing or something? I went on Saturday and had a nice time.

O.K., I'm embarrased now. The "show" wasn't better! Hee. (Pink faced grin)

BTW, the "snow" was great this weekend. Yeah, the Little Bear has some good, big name shows. Do you want me to check with you the next time a good show comes to town?

sounds groovy! (you sure have the white powder on your mind!)

Speaking o' which, what happened to "El Nino"? He turned out to be a big sissy--it's been a month since it snowed here.

Well, I am enjoying skiing. I would like to have someone to enjoy it with. Half the fun is sitting around having a beer at the end of the day and saying "yeah, and then I came around this bend doing about 110 and came *that* close to kissing a tree". And "oh my arse is hurting...." :-)

You mean like after a good ride, right Jon? At least that's what *I* usually sound like...

A Top Ten of how to prepare for the ski season (and to assist non-skiers in determining whether they wish to take up the sport). 1.Visit your local butcher and pay $30 to sit in the walk-in freezer for half an hour. Afterwards, burn two $50 bills to warm up. 2.Go to the nearest hockey rink and walk across the ice 20 times in your ski boots, carrying two pair of skis, accessory bag and poles. Pretend you are looking for your car. 3.For ski boot simulation, put a pebble in your street shoes and tighten a C-clamp around your toes. 4.Buy a pair of gloves, and immediately throw one of them away. 5.Go to McDonald's and insist on paying $6.50 for a hamburger. Be sure to wait in the longest line. 6.Clip a lift ticket to the zipper of your jacket and ride a motorcycle fast enough to make the ticket lacerate your face. 7.Drive slowly for five hours - anywhere - as long as it's in a snowstorm and you are following an 18-wheeler. 8.Fill a blender with ice, leave the cover off, hit the pulse button and let the spray blast your face. 9.Dress up in as many sets of clothes as you own and then proceed to take them off, with your gloves on, because you have to go to the bathroom. 10. Repeat all of the above, every Saturday and Sunday, until ski season starts.

LLLLLL.O.L

Really funny!

A poor imitation of Peter Egan.