Guys, thank you for giving me good ideas.

Some 40 yeras ago, my big dream was the route 101 on a pushbike, not a motorbike, starting in Vancouver, British Columbia and ending in Tijuana, Baja California, covering three North American countries.

Unfortunately, I've never had enough time and developed knee probs later which made things even worse:
No more pushbike riding.

So maybe on a motorbike once I've retired?

bad boy wrote:Guys, thank you for giving me good ideas.
Some 40 yeras ago, my big dream was the route 101 on a pushbike, not a motorbike, starting in Vancouver, British Columbia and ending in Tijuana, Baja California, covering three North American countries.
Unfortunately, I've never had enough time and developed knee probs later which made things even worse:
No more pushbike riding.
So maybe on a motorbike once I've retired?

The idea of travel is often just enough to satiate the desire, but the act is the goal. How do the German says it? Der Weg ist das Ziel.

Whether by pedal or combustion, best to begin in Victoria, on Vancouver Island. Victoria is quite picturesque, seat of that province's parliament, and much easier to deal with than the crush of Vancouver the city. You can take the Black Ball ferry straight across the Strait of Juan de Fuca to Port Angeles, Washington. From there, route 101, which actually starts round the other end of the Kitsap Peninsula near the WA capitol, Olympia, heads west then south round the Olympic Peninsula, following the Washington coast and the edge of the Hoh Rainforest. Logging of the mono-culture forests scars the green, rolling hills, looking like nature's had a bad haircut. Cross the mighty Columbia River on the 3-1/2 mile-long Megler bridge which takes you into Astoria, Oregon. Ride up to the hill behind the town to the Astoria Column for a sweeping view of the Pacific, Oregon's coastal ranges, and the wide mouth of the Columbia River. Astoria has some very good brewpubs.

From there it's picturesque and not-so picturesque coastal towns and tourist traffic, but a winding road along a beautiful coast in many places. SW Oregon and Northern California see the towering redwoods, and a snaking river appears in Humboldt County, sight of many a well-hidden, weed growing operation over the years. Veer off 101 and take CA 1 south of Garberville, and again south of San Fran.The rest is simply amazing save for a few places where you have to deal with cities and suburban sprawl. But south of SF the road is truly spectacular. Big Sur comes to mind. Mind the frequent landslides.

I reckon I've talked myself into the route I'll take come Autumn to visit my daughter is SoCal, an elderly second cousin in Phoenix (once it's cooled off from the current 44 - 48C), and then back over via the Mojave desert, and Arizona, to New Mexico just as the Hatch green chilis are roasting and ready. The scent of those beauties fills the air. A bit later, the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta is starting up in October. Mass asencion is not to be missed. I know there are heaps of the inherently religious in New Mexico, but it should not be confused with another event, potentially some vague distance in the future.

@TWB
thanks for all these precious inputs.
Nothing beats insider information / knowledge  

'der Weg ist das Ziel' - exactly
I am amazed by your knowledge of german

With the planned trip back home not doable this year (sad to miss the 40th anniversary K event in NSW, and my Aussie mates), I'm looking round for options of stateside rides before the snow flies. The white stuff is not that far away, time-wise, in many parts of the lower 48. 

On the 27th of September I'm away on the beastly K1200R for a cross-country ride to attend the BMW Motorrad 100th Anniversary Days at Barber Motorsports Park near Birmingham, the Alabama version! I've got a mate in northern Colorado to see, American rellies in Atlanta, Georgia and near Biloxi, Mississippi, friends in New Mexico, a recently reconnected with-elderly second cousin (92!) near Phoenix, as well as a lust for riding the American desert south west. I expect I'll be away for three and a half weeks, and 6,000+ miles. New tyres are fitted, fresh brakem pads, a dry run's done with requisite bits packed, the bike's checked over and freshly serviced, maps & Google studied, friends & fambly contacted. 

My partner enquired "Why not ride the K1300GT?"

Travelling light(er), is the only way to fly..." 
~JJ Cale

Trying for another two-lane, state highway route most of the way, as I did in June this year from New Mexico back to the Pacific North Wet. I've even added the touring version of a windscreen.

The black mule is packed and ready to depart once a useful gap opens up in the current 'atmospheric river' (remember when we simply called that sort of thing a wet spell?) for escaping over the Cascade Range. Right now, as I look out the lounge room window, and scan the interweb weather forecasts, it doesn't matter whether I drop south towards Oregon via Portland, or go straight east up over Snoqualmie Pass towards eastern Washington, it's gunna be wet for the first day's riding. The forecast is looking good, growing warmer and drier as I head in a generally south-easterly direction towards Alabama. Give that I have a choice, due to plenty of time, I'll watch and wait for a drier moment to depart in the next coupla days.

I'm factoring a bit less than one month's riding time and up to 7,000 miles/11,000+ kilometres distance to cover. I hope to get it all done on two-lane state highways rather than the (more rapid but often boring) interstate system.

As they used to say on the TV news, "Pictures at eleven."

TWB,
Hope you have (make) time to take us along. I for one will be looking forward to it. And "lets be safe out there".

I won't have my home laptop 'puter but will have my Personal Communication Device, which is a bit fiddly to get to the forum on, but I'll try. I keep my PCD pretty locked down so I don't have to see advertising (Quit a hollerin' at me! ~ John Prine), feed yet more info to the Google Gods, or absorb unwanted cookies. I try to choose my personal diet well. One has to, at minimum, allow third party cookies to access the forum online. But, will try to keep a post or two coming once on the road. I'm packed, watching the rain fall again today. Seems that the Pacific North Wet is pretty much the only place it's steadily raining in the contiguous Untied States, at the mo'.

ETD is tomorrow at 0-dark-thirty in military jargon, and before sparrow fart in Down Under speak. 

6:35 in the AM, light rain. We're off!
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Idaho tonight.

Have a great ride, Darren.  Wish I was heading out now myself. That photo of your bike out in the early morning darkness is stirring the wanderlust.  

This is the time of year when I used to take off on my horizon chases.  The engine seems to like the cool crisp air and my riding gear feels so much more comfortable.  Less traffic and smaller crowds is so nice, and the motels are cheaper as well.  Am really looking forward to my situation improving next year so I can hit the road again.

Please keep us posted on your travels.

Well, I tried to but couldn't get close enough to the statue of a rampaging bull and some famous cowboy or sheriff, smack dab in the old part of Dodge City, Kansas, to prove I was there - and, wait for it...getting outta Dodge!


I had the best sleep of the whole trip last night. It stormed with hail, rain and heavy wind as predicted. Only one bump in the night disturbed me. I opened the room's door to see rain lashing around wildly. The bike just sat there, taking it on. I towelled it off at 6AM and hit the road before 7 o'clock. The sun rose around 7:45, all red and angry against the grey clouds. Now it's just sort of tranquil, low clouds, looking like it'll clear off in a while.


I'm eating at a café which took ages to find. I spotted every chain as I rode through town, but no local cafés with muddy pickups outside. Those are usually the best. Maybe the pandemic chimed the death knell for many of them. Macca's & Denny's don't need my money.


It's about 60° F with heavy air, some of it due to the ever-present & massive cattle feed lots & abbatoirs here in Kansas. I feel sorry for those poor dumb beasties, and won't eat them but sure appreciate my leather boots and belt.



I'm heading for Fayetteville AR as planned, to ride in the Ozarks.


[size=32]I left last week, rode over the Cascades of Washington state in dark, cold rain. It cleared by the Oregon border. From there I got onto two laners and made it to Twin Falls, Idaho, where I stopped for the night. Next day I turned up in Snowville, Utah to Mollie's café, only to find it closed. Up the street a bit - there's not much in Snowville - I sated my hunger and need for caffeine at the Ranch House café, my new favourite.[/size]


[size=32]That night I camped in the city park of Maybell, Colorado. I renamed it Dogtown in honour of the local dogs, and distant coyotés, which chimed in unison throughout the cool night. Dawn saw me an hour down the road having rolled up my swag before first light. I ate brekky in Steamboat Springs, 32° F on the way into town. God is good as he allowed some smart, larger brain than mine, to invent heated jacket liners and handgrips, thermostatically controlled.[/size]


[size=32]Next coupla nights, after rocketing up and down Colorado highway 14, often over 3,000 metre (10,000') passes, I stopped at a long-time mate's new place in Loveland, close to eastern Colorado's dry plains.[/size]


[size=32]Yesterday had me fighting a strong southerly that blew the few trees and debris sideways. That tempest turned to a monster hailstorm which dampened my plans to camp. So a motel it was where I managed the best sleep of the trip so far.[/size]


[size=32]The sun is glowing through lifting clouds as I write, portending a good riding day.[/size]



Many more piccies to follow. This one is of the quaking aspen all gold-like in autumn splendour.

Two Wheels Better wrote: I feel sorry for those poor dumb beasties, and won't eat them

So that's at least two of us on this forum then. Haven't eaten anything with four legs or two wings for over forty years now, but there's been plenty of times when I've wanted to shoot things with two legs

Nope, don't eat anything with a face.
That'll be beasts, fish, poultry....and clocks.

I did not have to go too far to find proof. A handful of miles later on highway 50 - which back in Nevada is known as "The loneliest Road in America" - I came upon the next town, called Ford. Reckoning Chevrolet or Pontiac might be next, it dawned on my feeble rider's brain that I had better look for those closer to Michigan, round Detroit way.

Random piccies while this heat-addled rider noms lunch in a nameless but quaint Kansas town on the way to Arkansas. But first, I know why Chicken, Alaska, is called Chicken. It's because the place is, or was, loaded with Ptarmigan, quite tasty they said, but not a one of the miners in that frozen place knew how to spell it. So how did Arkansas become "Arkan-saw", but Kansas isn't also afflicted with that pronunciation? 

Emigrant Hill, Oregon
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[size=32]Near Cameron Pass, Colorado (3,000 metres)[/size]


[size=32]Crap internet where I'm sat, so will try more later.[/size]


[size=32]Arkansaw, here we come. Gunna find me that sweetest road through the Ozarks. Cue Deliverance music.[/size]

Of course, what trip to the south wouldn't include brekky (but ya'll best not say it that way here) at Waffle House!? Commence WH praise:

This one's near gorgeous Lake Dardenelle, in the Ozarks of Arkansas (originally Aux Arc).

Biloxi tonight? S'posed to get 2" of the wet stuff today.

Waffle House is my home away from home. I think I might be a southern boy who by accident of birth is living in New York State. The lack of a single WH within a 4 hour ride is a frequent source of morning anguish.  Nothing I enjoy more than sitting at the counter at 6am chatting with the locals and watching the cook and the servers making breakfast.  A WH breakfast is good for a guaranteed 700+ mile day.

Not having a WH handy I also look for the diner surrounded by muddy diesel powered trucks with welders or ladders on them.  It's been almost 50 years on the road for business and pleasure, and I have never had a bad breakfast from one of those places.

PS: I drink my morning coffee from a Waffle House Mug I got in Kingman, Arizona.

Suzi Q wrote:Nope, don't eat anything with a face.
That'll be beasts, fish, poultry....and clocks.

So... no rocks either?

I'm at Barber in Alabama. Here's one. Who needs what?

This K100RS 16V (no title) with totes full of spares, "turns over" for US$600


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Or this for $800 with title (not worth it)

Wot's 'no title'?

Dai wrote:Wot's 'no title'?

'Merkuns will know.

Must have certificate of title to re-register in Los Estados Unidos. It "proves" it's not stolen. There may be workarounds in some states.

From what I can see in the picture the seat, panniers and spare valve cover would get you your money back in OZ.
Regards Martin.

It's the ninth day on the road. I've covered about 3,100 miles so far. The bike hasn't needed any oil. I'm getting a low of 39 (4 qt US gallon) mpg when it's raining and/or I'm skipping along between 75 & 80 mph on major roads - it seems most traffic flows at those speeds, and greater. A couple of time state troopers or sherrifs would go past at greater speeds, unconcerned. The south seems to have greater speed enforcement, ie, cars hidden in trees at roadside, or radar in use. The average high mpg is about 43, I did once get 47, and even a fluke 51 mpg when I was in the mountains under 60 mph.

There ARE bayous in Arkansas, too.
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Heading east in Kansas a coupla days ago, the weather ahead spelt doom. When I arrived to it, it rained for two days, heavy at times. Some of my my gear leaked a bit, but it was warm enough to not be an issue, and I was able to dry it out overnight.

Larry Romestant and his brilliant KGusta are at the Barber Vintage Festival. I'm here thru Sunday then heading back to Mississippi for several days, then making my way to New Mexico & Arizona, home eventually by end of month.

One of the curious things about K Bricks is that at an indicated approximately 60mph/100kph, the speedo needle and the tacho needle are both pointing straight up while in top gear. The K40 series does that, too, but in this case straight up is 100mph and 6,000 rpm.

Did you see the kgusta again ? 
Seen there i believe

The rs is likely worth persisting with if they have the heritage rego like here 

Have fun

charlie99 wrote:Did you see the kgusta again ? 
Seen there i believe

The rs is likely worth persisting with if they have the heritage rego like here 

Have fun

Indeed he is. See my post,  K1200R Sad Sack...

Thanks TWB,

But posts like that piss me off that I still have to go to work!

1. Cheers, Caveman, I feel your pain. You'll enjoy it when you get there. I highly recommend it to all hourly and salary workers, but please know it does reduce significantly your access to 'fun tickets' when you rely only on what you've squirreled combined with the measly dribblings of social security.
   

Some Barber piccies (random) to take your mind off having to punch the clock.

My youngest American cousin Anthony from near Biloxi, now Atlanta. He rides (quite well) this gorgeous '22 'Busa. We did the six hours' ride together from Mississippi yesterday.
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[size=32]There's no tittie show at this 'family event' but you do get to gaze with amazement as daredevil, thrill-seeking riders circle the bowl in The Wall of Death spurred on by held out dollars, and the '50s looking rockabilly announcer with his microphone! [/size]
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[size=32]Reg Pridmore's R90S, from the pair of title winning superbikes from 1976. The other bloke, who if I recall correctly was the actual winner, was Steve McLaughlin. You may recall seeing a dramatic shot of an upside down, low flying missile, shrouded in dust. That was a good year for BMW, but with a lot of heartache, too. Udo Geitl built the bikes. As I was viewing the display, who was stood beside us but Kenny from Buchanan Spoke & Rim, the storied company, still doing business, who built the wheels for those bikes in that era.[/size]
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[size=32]The far larger than life, Lady of the Lake, sculpture.[/size]
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[size=32]A fine Hannigan sidecar rig. Gorgeous![/size]
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[size=32]R1300GS, if it pleases you.[/size]
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[size=32]A view of the track.[/size]
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[size=32]A tastefully done R90S[/size]
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[size=32]An NMoto kit to Nazify your R9T... [/size]
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[size=32]Novelty bikes galore.[/size]


[size=32]Today I'll head back to the track to explore some more. It looks to be a fine day, no rain, about 68°F/20° C, with sunshine all round.[/size]


[size=32]I am not sure why my phone leaves those distracting 'size' marks all over the text and next to the photos.[/size]

Love the bayou photo TWB!  I've never had any real thoughts or intentions of 'retiring' but as more family, friends and folks that I have worked with make this transition I will confess to experiencing a certain amount of peer pressure (in a good way).

Woodie wrote:Love the bayou photo TWB!  I've never had any real thoughts or intentions of 'retiring' but as more family, friends and folks that I have worked with make this transition I will confess to experiencing a certain amount of peer pressure (in a good way).

Goodo, Woodie! No alligators were spotted, but in Mississippi I saw a six footer and named him Boudreaux, right there and then.

A good mate of mine, retired at age 58 from the carpenter's union, said you must find something to do with the aproximately 8 hours a day you used to be shackled in chains during - figuratively. 

I'm out riding. And before heading back to Barber, eating brekky at every Southerner's favourite brekky joint, where the menu's in pictures. Kinda represents what you end up eating, too. The food, not the plastic coating.

I'm not much of a coffee drinker, prefer strong black caffeinated tea, but it's perty good stuff. They keep it comin' 'til you're hummin'.

TWB
thanks for your blog, all these encounters and these great pictures.
More plz!

Did I get that right:
You are really camping i.e. not sleeping inside houses on your whole trip?
Hats off.

At the end of my compulsory army service (mainly in the Swiss mountains - go figure), I've had enough camping for the rest of my entire life.

bad boy wrote:TWB
thanks for your blog, all these encounters and these great pictures.
More plz!

Did I get that right:
You are really camping i.e. not sleeping inside houses on your whole trip?
Hats off.

At the end of my compulsory army service (mainly in the Swiss mountains - go figure), I've had enough camping for the rest of my entire life.

Yes, mainly camping, excepting when staying with extended family in Mississippi, briefly with a mate in Colorado (two nights) and here at the Barber event, my younger cousin sprung for a fancy, 3rd floor room with a view, and a sweet, woodsie ride in the back way to the museum/racetrack where it's all happening. 

Damn, that was a run on sentence.

Over the years I've organised a set of miniature, motorbike sized kit. Everything is 3/4 size for easy packing. It's a b*tch to climb into and out of for a midnight wee, especially now I'm retired and gaining middle age spread.


I can boil up a hot cuppa or quick slop of poxy podge of a morning with a Primus stove, fold flat bowl & cup, & K-Bar cutlery set. Gourmet meals often consist of a tin of tuna, insta-rice, a can of (insert greying vegetable name here), and for spice I carry Tabasco, salt & pepper. For after dark solo by the light of the (real or imaginary) fire there's the ever-present & compulsory 'thin man' of 12 y.o. Macallan for frosty nights.

There's always a diner or fast food options available, tho' I'm picky about the latter.

"Where ever you go, there you are."
-Buckaroo Banzai

I see the Kgusta is sporting an Oklahoma number plate with 'KGUSTA' spelt out, and was entered in the custom bike category smack in the middle of the BMW Motorrad area.

Dunno if Herr Romestant sold the machine or relocated from Calithumpia to 'Merkuh's heartland. I did not spy the man meself.

I spoke to a friendly gent at a tram stop near the museum who was carrying a K100 belly pan in imaculate pearl white which had a $40 sticker on it. He'd paid that for it. I nearly cried with anger/disgust/happiness for him. Then it turned out he was from Massachusetts and lived in the next town from where my parents had a farm, and where I'd lived for several years in the late '70s when we first came to 'Merkuh. Later, I sat next to a friendly woman on the tram who was FROM that very town, tho' ten years younger than me - I left there in 1978 after high school graduation. 6° of separation.

Yesterday, a Georgia-based Western swing/rockabilly band, ala Stray Cats, played the stage mid-arvo. They were tight and punchy, great costumes (just enough shine & filligree), & pointy toed boots, I'd only had two tinnies with my Thai shrimp peanut sauce burrito. We are getting way multicultural at these events these days. 

I like it.

Two Wheels Better wrote:
A good mate of mine, retired at age 58 from the carpenter's union, said you must find something to do with the approximately 8 hours a day you used to be shackled in chains during - figuratively.

This retirement thing might work for me then as I feel currently feel that a 33 hour day might make everything more manageable.  Retirement would leave me with just one hour to sort out - lol.  One summer when I was 13 or 14 my father got home from work and checked on what I had (NOT) accomplished during the day.  He pointed out, in a strong and uncharacteristically loud way, that all I needed to do was open my eyes to see what needed to be done.  He had a job in the city to pay for his farming habit.  His motivational speech worked as now all I see around me are the things that 'need to be done' and have not been able to turn this off and especially so once I had a family and a mortgage - lol.

When you are camping in gator country do you have to take measures similar to what is needed when camping in bear country?  Personally I would feel more comfortable sharing space with grizzlies than gators but this is likely just because grizzlies seem more cuddly than a rough and knobbly lizard.

Hopefully you are enjoying your ride just as much I am TWB, thanks for bringing us all along!

I carry bear spray, not that I'd have much time or the wearwithall(sp?) to use it in time as the roaring bastard shredded my plastic-thin tent and ripped into the synthetic feathers of my swag on his way to my tender, sleeping flesh.

As for alligators, they're not much different than crocs, and can be roasted on a spit made from triangulated wood kept a distance from the hot coals needed to char the meat because you can eat it but it tastes like sh*t.

Yup, dunno know why I felt safer inside the tent in bear country but I did.  I've never tried gator or bear but have been told by those who have eaten bear that it ain't the finest meat to be had either.

Two Wheels Better wrote:
Over the years I've organised a set of miniature, motorbike sized kit.
I can boil up a hot cuppa or quick slop of poxy podge of a morning with a Primus stove, fold flat bowl & cup, & K-Bar cutlery set. Gourmet meals often consist of a tin of tuna, insta-rice, a can of (insert greying vegetable name here), and for spice I carry Tabasco, salt & pepper.

That's more or less what I had in mind for my 1980ies project 'bicycling from Canada to Mexico'

Man, you certainly are cool

Thanks for sharing

I have a lot of respect for anyone who can sleep on the ground and then get up and move the next morning.  That's something I haven't been able to do for over 20 years.  Sleeping in aa bed can make touring a bit pricey, but I get around it by doing my trips in the early spring and fall to avoid tourist prices, and by staying at the little mom and pop places in small towns off the main drags.

As far as eating gator and bear, It's been a while since I've had gator, but I recall it tasting a bit like the veal/mystery meat we used to get in the cafeteria in high school.  It's not filet or pork tenderloin, but I found it okay and would have it again if the opportunity arose. 

When it comes to bear meat, I've never had grizzly, but I have a friend who gets a black bear in Pennsylvania every couple of years.  He does it as a pot roast, slow cooking it all day with potatoes, onions and carrots.  Surprisingly tender, and tasty too.  I suspect the fact that he comes from a long line of hunters who eat what they take has given him a lot of skills in the handling of the meat and the preparation to make it taste so good.

Point-Seven-five wrote:I have a lot of respect for anyone who can sleep on the ground and then get up and move the next morning.

https://www.expeduk.com/products/dura-5r

I've had two of these over the years; no more cold ar$e or roots digging in and preventing you from sleeping. The r-value is the important bit; IIRC r5.0 is the highest you can go. They're tough too and roll up really small. One of these, a down-filled sleeping bag (also rolls up stupid small), two methlated spirits-powered Trangia stoves and a two-man Vango Banshee (pronounced 'baanshay'!) tent sums up my camping kit. Just  need to keep the knees lubricated to get up off the floor...

Four years ago I picked up an ultralight camp cot to go with the same basic backpacking and sea kayaking kit that I have used for years.  My back is shot and I couldn't sleep on just a Thermarest pad anymore.  The cot is also by Thermarest and packs up to nothing.  Sleeping out in a tent is something that I look forward to again.

I'm back down in Mississippi after a six hour ride from the Birmingham area (Leeds, actually, and not far from York) of Alabama. No Pommie origins there.   

I slept in a bed at my eldely aunt & uncle's place last night. A very good snooze.

In several days I'll begin my ride to New Mexico. I can do that distance in 2 solid days, even given the lack of daylight hours available at this time of the year, down to about 11-1/2, depending upon where I am in the time zone. That's something that might not be an issue in north-south long, thin countries like the UK, but certainly is in North America & Australia, where I ride the most. I'll take a few more days to reach Albuquerque because I'm planning to visit TX's Big Bend National Park, towns like Alpine and Marfa, on the way out. This will all be camping. Sometimes very cold (near 2 or 3°C at night).

I have a basic, microfibre mummy bag, a mesh-like cotton liner which gives an approx 5° C buffer, a 3/4 Thermarest I've owned since the late '80s (has never leaked), and I wear poly longies, probably made from recycled bleach bottles, but they wick and work. I'm good to the freezing point, then I have to add layers. Oh, and I always wear a hat and socks to bed when the temps dip. I am comfortable on the ground. 

Many years ago, an instructor in the outdoor school I attended for two years (early '80s), sort of an Outward Bound/NOLS-type course, wondered aloud to me why I hadn't packed a ground mat in my kit as we prepped for a 24 hour experience. I responded that I was trying to save space. He smiled and said "It takes an awful lot of body heat to warm the earth."

I once tried to sleep on my elbows and knees because the ground was so frozen - that was around the time the Karrimat was invented. When morning eventually arrived I unzipped the flap to find the world was just a big snowdrift.

Still not sure if all these jetboil or whatever stoves can beat a Trangia.

I nearly wrote 'meths-powered Trangia' above... that could have thoroughly derailed the thread. Ah well

Awaiting rain to decide whether it'll stay out in the gulf the next three days as it heads east, or go a bit north and let me stay dry on my way west. I don't mind, Ocean Springs & Biloxi are pretty alright places to hang with no 'must do' marks on my daily card. I changed the bike's oil & filter yesterday, Nikwax'd the riding jacket, ate 5 tangerines & drank 3 Yuengling black & tans. All near the beach. 78°. Sunshine all round. Light breeze. 

Oh, and a 6' alligator ambled up onto a lawn nearby from a swamp. I immediately named him Boudreaux. It suited. Some tourist lady asks, "Now where did my li'l Muffy dog get to?"

Considered moving here if felt so calm & romantic. I've got fambly here. Then they talked about Camille & Katrina, and all the others over the years. These are not old girlfriends. 

Dai wrote:I nearly wrote 'meths-powered Trangia' above... that could have thoroughly derailed the thread. Ah well

Have you ever seen a thread on this here forum that has not been hijacked?

---

Let's view some piccies of the past weekend at Barber motorsports track & museum, the vintage fest, and BMW's Motorrad 100 days.
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Big bore kit....looks like a pair of P&W Wasp cylinders. 2.5 litres apiece.

Is that Clearwater? Been there anyway.

I'm parked in Biloxi, Mississippi (Ocean Springs/Latimer, actually) for a coupla days. The rellies are growing older and I don't see them often. My uncle was a Massachusetts Yankee who relocated to the deep south after Air Force service in the late '50s, married a southern belle, three cousins a result. 

He is a fine welder (loves Brit bikes) and retired after many years from helping to build large, aluminium yachts for well-healed mobster businessmen & women (my emphasis).

It's nice to kick back for several days, eat hushpuppies, okra and crawfish etoufeé, sip sweet tea, and hear all ya'll spoken all about.

Next stop New Mexico, with a whole lot of Louisiana and Tejas in between.

Dai wrote:Big bore kit....looks like a pair of P&W Wasp cylinders. 2.5 litres apiece.

Score!

Dai wrote:Big bore kit....looks like a pair of P&W Wasp cylinders. 2.5 litres apiece.

Are you sure they are not Wright Cyclones 

I'm pretty familiar with the Wright Twin Cyclone GR-2600 version (don't ask); the cylinder head shape is very different to that. Besides, someone's already stuffed a pair of P&W cylinders into a motorcycle:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-Xr1bmbZ_s

If you thought Larry Romestadt was a bike-building genius, he has nothing on Allen Millyard. Allen is as self-effacing as he sounds; I interviewed him years ago for one of the the magazines I was contributing to. He'd just finished a nine-cylinder Kawasaki KH2250 (yeah - three KH750 engines on a common block) and I was set up for a test ride when I got a call saying the middle rear cylinder had thrown its toys out of the pram. Disappointed... you bet

Right down the bottom of Louisiana, where the road for vehicles ends, close to the gulf, is a town known as Venice, along the man-made embankment. No prizes for guessing how it got that name. The Mighty Mississippi River empties out this way and that from there. I'm thinking of heading down there for a look see. It might be a wasteland due to hurricanes over the years. It might be an oasis of calm, all bayou, fishing boats and alligators, no camping allowed, I'm sure.
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