I feel like a climber at a staging camp in the Himalayas; anxious to get going, but wondering if my less than youthful body can hack the summer heat, distance, and day to day pounding of the road. This trip may very well turn out to be more than 7,500 miles worth of sight seeing, thrills, and soul searching. Last September I did 1100 miles in two hard days of riding on this BMW R100RT.
But that was before it was discovered that all those years of Falstaffian behavior contributed to a little heart problem requiring some electroshock to return it to normal, and a few pills a day to keep it that way. That’s aside from my gimpy left leg that’s causing me to walk like Festus. Other than knowing that I have a few issues, when in the saddle I feel perfectly well… and if asked my age, without thinking about it, I wouldn’t know. My attitude is unchanged, and that arrogant strength will either be my undoing, or keeper of the flame.
It’s hard to believe that the first time I contemplated a big time bike trip was 40 years ago, and it would have been a pan European experience. The word unrequited now comes to mind. The Hog would have been shipped to Europe this summer had the cost of airfreight been more affordable. $9,000 seems a bit out of line, don’t you think? Well, maybe another time. What’s odd is that I have much less fear of a big trip though Europe than I do through the Western USA. Go figure.
This 1969 Triumph 650 TR6R, which I owned for 20 years before selling it a couple of months go, would have been the kind of bike I’d have ridden through Europe back in the day. If forced to do so now, I doubt if 200 miles a day, on an extended trip, would be possible. The world is so much faster, and riding this bike for long distances would be like taking a vintage 1938 car on a coast-to-coast jaunt. Possible? Sure, but at what cost?
I’ve had more than a few long rides on this Old Timer, Harvey the Harley, Sr., a 1972 Harley FLH ElectroGlide, that I owned for a decade. One of the most memorable rides was a hair raising blast from Lubec, to Eastport, Maine. One long right hand sweeper that connects the mainland to Moose Island Island, on which Eastport sits, was taken as fast as either of us could go. That experience was an all time, all time, thrill. This bike owns a piece of my heart, and it was only due to a brief moment of real dementia that Harvey Sr. was sold. Thank God he was sold to great new owner in New Jersey who truly got what this hunk of steamin’ funk was all about.
I’ve decided I dislike BMW snobs, and I’ve earned the right to say so. I’ve owned four of them, and disliked only one, a late model Oil Head R bike. Too smooth, no emotion. A buddy of mine in Oklahoma, owns a couple of bikes, a Ducati 1098R, essentially an off the showroom floor race bike, capable of about a buck 80, is shown with Bob on board…this is a nervous, highly strung, motorcycle with no patience for amateurs.
…his “other” bike, a BMW K1200S, is a benign, 170 mph autobahn burner with a lust for acceleration. It took me 50 miles just to learn how to shift the bugger…it liked it hard and fast. Riding this bike was a real joy—very smooth and responsive with no nasty tricks up its sleeve.
Cruising at 60 on a long and straight Oklahoma country road I wondered about it’s potential. So I snapped the throttle to full on while in 5th, (it has a 6-speed trans), and in the span of one breath, less than 2 seconds, it hit 90, with absolutely no fuss at all. Delicious.
As for Harley’s, no they aren’t prefect, but there’s a certain something about them with which I connect. And maybe it’s that lack of perfection, just like us human beings, that feeds into my love of these bikes. Riding back from the dealer in Houma, LA, today, on Harvey The Harley, Jr., cruising at about 80, all I could say was, Fuckin’ A!
While BMW’s make you feel like you’re Prince Charming, these new Harley’s make you feel like King Shit.
Harvey the Harley, Jr., is now completely prepped for the trip. A new hot weather mesh jacket with CE certified armor in the elbows, shoulders, and back, arrives tomorrow. All of the other travel necessities have been assembled. Now, all I need is the green light from my physician, and I am outta here… and on my way to cross the great plains, and climb the tall mountains!
X
Middie
