cowpuc

anddd,, everyone knows that whoever has the most spare parts wins!!!!!!!!!

I am not really sure what happened during the 85 model year,, I am SURE one of these guy who actually owns or has owned one can attest.. The reason that I didnt include the 85 was that I thought it was the year that they went to the bigger bags and trunk - the MK2 1st Gen look so to speak? I might have made a mistake in just putting 83/84 in my response CJ.. One of the really really great things I have come to enjoy and appreciate about the MK1's are the smaller bags and the smaller trunk.. I know that MANY people prefer the added space but,, I personally have always enjoyed the more "sport touring" look of the smaller bags.. I also REALLY like the ease of getting a back tire off and on with the smaller bagged MK1.. Yes, you do have to smack the right bag pretty good sometimes to get it to slide off once you unlock it (not that bad once you get the hang of it) but - its a whole lot better than having to unbolt stuff.. A HUGE issue that I might add here has to do with the seat, rider backrest, seating position.. Having ridden many many miles on the 83/84's, it always intrigued me at how comfortable these bikes are.. For some reason,, the seat always had a special feel to it.. I have owned lots of bikes thru the years, including early Wings (several up to an 86 Interstate), Kaw Voyager 2's (gotta remember to mention those - AWESOME BIKES).. I have found NOTHING that saddles like the 83/84.. I have an 87 parts bike that may very well become a Tweeks.. I will gladly let you know if it has that same seat feel as the 83/84 for long distance touring BUT,, Tippy and I have toyed around a little with it and found it to not quite be the same.. I did find out after many miles and many years of owning the 83/84's that the seats, bars and seating positions on them were created by an Orthopedic Dr. or something,, when I found that out I shook my head and told Tippy - THAT makes sense!! Ok, the Kawasaki Voyager 2,, this is NOT the early 1300 6 cylinder fuel injected - Kaw had LOTS of problems with that.. This is the 4 cylinder Voyager 2 - think it was made from 86 till like 03.. WOW!! NICE BIKE!! I redid one (long story but awesome deal!!) a number of years ago.. When I finally got it back on its feet, Tip and I spent a few days on it.. Had the same numbers (HP/TRQ) as our 1st Gens but totally different in its delivery.. I was AMAZED at the MPG this thing got - we actually saw 62 MPG running 55 on the back roads! Guy I got it from (neighbor) said he always got better than 50 with it!! Overall, a truely remarkable bike all the way around!! I also had a few more of them that I had taken in.. The first one was a 37k bike, highest mileage one I had was 120k - still ran and rode like new.. Couple of things,, I know from experience,, a huge issue for me was how low and scrunched I was on the bike.. I am spoiled with being able to stretch out on my 1st Gens - the Voy didnt offer that for me.. If I were shorter, I would ride one!! I had a silver,, 01 I think it was,, that the previous owner had suffered the same issue - he was about my height (6' 1").. He had gone to the trouble of extending the drivers footrests down by about an inch and a half.. This took a LOT of work on his part.. He found out that the Voy does not have the ground clearance needed to accept this mod and still be fairly good in the corners (I scrapped em right away just playing on our road during pre trade test drive.. Just (IMHO) something you should look at if you find yourself thinking of this gorgeous bike.. Oh yea,, one of the guys at Raggies Meet n Greet last has one - who the heck was that,, talk with him a LOT about it too,, oh well - if your interested in one you could ask on VR and I am sure we could find him and he would be more than willing to tell ya all he knows!! Seems like, as with most first year models of anything,, the 86 Voy had an issue with the TCI - ignition module.. Like Kawi didnt have the timing curve set up just right for start up and they had a problem with them snapping starter motor chains.. They did provide an upgraded module that solved that.. I also ran across a Voy 2 on the road a number of years ago with rear gear problems (bike had a lot of miles on it) - dont think this is an over all issue though.. I got my first one from my neighbor.. He had snagged the oil filter cover on his trailer way back in 89, ripped the guts right out of the internals, let it set for over 20 years!! I got it CHEAP, tore it apart, bought a new bracket that the oil pump mounts on (sets between the tranny and the forward gear) BRAND NEW from Kawi - all parts still available and CHEAP - 65 bucks for the bracket.. Rebuilt the carbs, prelubed the top end and did it RUN!! My neighbor, who is 5' 6", had JUST bought a new Harley Ultra Limited 2 days before I fired the Voy up for its first ride in over 20 years.. He came over, took the Voy out for a ride, came back with the sickest look on his face.. He said , I could have had a bike that actually feels like it was made for me and saved myself 25 thousand dollars I keep typing here thinking I can pull the guys name who had that Voyager 2 at Raggies,, dog gone it,, oh well,, I guess I better post this and let Raggie, Bongo, Buckshot, ,Billmac, Habfan, Carbon One or one of those other guys who were there show off the better memories... Ratsssssssssssss

That there is GORGEOUS country!! Have fun out there Midnight!!

Nope,, cant say I recognize the bike or stickers.. Pretty cool you guys bumped into each other though KIC!! Looking forward to having him jump in the pond here and say howdy!! A man cant never have enough friends!!

Prayers Up from Tip and I Kat!! Hope all goes well young lady!! We will be thoughtfully watching for updates as you progress thru it all!! Puc

I always look at it this way Silv,, we cant hijack if the OP ASKS us a question ,, of course, people like you and all these other troublemakers who subscribe to that theory tend to get into trouble alot:scared:, but we wont go there cause that may get you guys into trouble for hijacking:big-grin-emoticon: Its a shame to have to say this cause I really like the looks of the Beemers but, what Eckster is saying is vital info!! I might add, I have ridden with and helped a couple times with on-road Beemer issues and I also gotta say,, repair costs are up there even when ya can find a dealer. And most of the problems you run into on one of their modern bikes are usually not roadside repairable.. LOTS of Harley shops that work on Harley's only - if you ride an HD YOU are covered better than any brand - flippin Harley shops EVERYWHERE!! The metrics are kinda cool cause if you have a problem - most metric shops will help you out even if its not their sell brand,, Honda/Kawasaki/Yam and Suzy.. Getting to be a few more Polaris/Vic shops it seems like,, I am SHOCKED at how few of Indian Dealerships their are - from the beginning, I thought ALL Vic shops would instantly become at least able to help out with an Indian rider in need - NOT SO - they CAN NOT even order parts!!! I therefore would not be surprised that it goes the other way too if your looking for Vic parts.. Anyway,, really good point Eck!!

Speaking about vibrations on these V-4's. One of the things that I have always appreciated on my 1st Gens has been that when I do notice buzziness, even my mirrors, it always seems to turn out to be either my tires or carbs out of sync.. I have, on several occasions thru the years, dealt with both of these and was always amazed at how smooth these big V-4's are when everything is right.. I will admit though,, probable the two absolutely smoothest bikes I have ever owned and operated has to have been, 1st the Honda 350 Four.. Had a few of them and THEY are AMAZING for smoothness.. Second place would have to go to a Honda CBX 1050cc that I redid a few years ago.. It had an inline 6 in it - that thing was also almost supernatural in its smoothness.. Might have a pic or two here to show off with,, nothing like pics right? Having ridden Harley's for years too, including the new Twin Cam,, I LOVE the bikes BUT - they do have their slight drawbacks in viberations (rubber mounting of the non-counter balanced "A" engine, modular tranny and highly improved frames have helped a LOT when talking vibs) but I would say an even hotter subject to discuss would be the hotter temps ya gotta work with concerning them.. Gotta say though,, I have seen LOTS of really really great deals on Twin Cam Harleys these days - some in the 5k range!! Something I have ALWAYS liked about HD is the available factory and aftermarket parts.. A got can torment that pretty simplistic V-twin tractor motor to no end!! Plus,, according to the masses (and me too) there is NOTHING that sounds, looks or has the appeal of a Big Twin HD! Concerning Victory's, if we were talking a few thousand more $$'s here CJ, I would STRONGLY advise you to go test ride a Vision 8 Ball if they still make em.. I rode one for a day and gotta say,, I aint NEVER ridden a bike that handled the road like that thing.. I nicknamed it the "Weeble" cause it was so inspiring, it felt like a rider could not force it to fall over even if you wanted it to.. After riding the one I did for the day, I pulled into the dealership with it, the dealer met me outside and asked what I thought, I started telling him about naming it the Weeble, he says - oh yea,, step off it - I did WITHOUT putting the kickstand down,, crazy thing leaned over on some pads on the lower fairing and sat right there!! Pretty cool!! I did notice on all the Vics I have ridden that they seemed to have notchy and noisy tranny's.. Have also heard of lots of electrical probs on the Visions of past.. Speaking of the that Great big George Jetson looking Vision thingy,, CJ - if you end up with one of those things and nobody will ride with you, you can come ride with me cause I LOVE em - weird eay!! Speaking of the 1800 Wing, Having never owned, ridden or even really rode any distance with any one on one I cant say much about em.. I do know that the first model year or two they had frame issues and the dealerships were welding them inhouse - seen this with my own two eyes.. I wouldnt touch an early 1800 Wing just for that cause - unless it was a 2000 dollar or under bike (which probably aint gonna happen).. Beyond that,, all I have heard from people who have owned/operated or even test rode one has been DO NOT DO IT UNLESS YOU ARE WANTING TO OWN ONE,, they are that nice!! There are lots of VERY reliable, down to earth people on here that have them that I am sure - can corrupt,, I mean steer you into Goldwingism.. Bongo already mentioned the Valk - cool bike!! Dont forget the mighty Strat - or even the chopped Strat known as the Raider!! I LOVE the Raider and have seen some UNREAL prices on both Strats - Roadliners and Raiders!! FJ's, Concours and that line - I have always DREAMED of flying across the desert at a comfortable +140 on any of them.. I also would LOVE to own a new V-Max and create a mini bagger out of it and tour on it!! My problem is, with any of the above,, I am smart enough to KNOW that it wouldnt take me long to get used to running high speeds all the time and,, I am not sure my pocket book can afford the additional costs of the tickets I would accumulate.. Enter the most iconic, pretty fast bike even by todays standards, awesome sport touring, most highly overlooked, most durable, very effective canyon carving, not to bad a lookin (there are better looking bikes in my book) and extremely comfortable for both passenger and driver,, the 83/84 Yamaha Venture! Yep,, if it were me and I was gonna have just one bike and had 5k to spend,, I would spend my time searching the internet and I would find as close to a brand new left over 83/84 !st Genner.. Wouldnt matter where it was, if it was like new and RAN like it looked,, extremely low miles, 2nd gear was replaced on recall (if not, just deduct for having the repair done),, I would own it.. Beyond that,, all you need are stickers!!! Puc

I just noticed that Midnight is having problems similar to some I was having yesterday.. Our Boss who is a LIFE saver, asked me try cleaning my cache,, did it and it helped.. I also increased the amount of space allocated to the cache.. I passed this info on to Randy who, even though I FORGOT to tell him to click on the "Network" tab, was able to successfully do the same.. Here is a copy of the email I sent him (notice I fixed the part about clicking on the "network" tab Randy - sorry about that buddy).. If you are running Firefox and having problems like some of us are - try this and it might help.. Might not be a bad idea to do it anyway.. Hope this helps someone out there!! Hi Rand Think I read that you were having some issues with the puter again.. ust went thru some of the same stuff, thought I would pass this on... Upper right hand corner of the Firefox page again (just like last fix).. Click on the icon with the 3 bars again. This time, instead of clicking on the "?" at the bottom of the window when it opens, click on "Options" (looks like a nobby tire symbal).. In the window that pops open next, click on the "Network" tab, next window on the top bar to the far right should be "advanced" - click on "advanced" (symbal looks like second gear out of 1st Gen). Middle of that page you will see 2 "clear" icons - click on those buttons than click on "ok" at the bottom of the page.. Try it now, that may fix it.. I also increased the size of the cache on mine while I was in there.. You will find the selection for doing so to the left of the "clear" icons.. I would be happy to walk you thru it if needed..

BEAUTIFUL!!! THAT makes me just :95:for summer!! Hope it all works out and you ride the socks off that gorgeous scoot Rbig!! Puc

One of my son in laws from Sac has flown here a few times now over Christmas.. Last time out they got snowed in and wound up having to drive back to Sac cause all the airlines were shut down... Couple days later as they were pulling out of Needles, my daughter said he looked at her and said "I dont understand why people like your parents actually choose to put up with that stuff.." I used to love it, hunting, snowmobiling, ice racing bikes, spearing fish thru the ice... Its the getting old and what the cold does to me now that has me

Could be worse Sonshine!!!!!! Serious though,, wish I was out there to lend you a hand!! Don't know much about the tach thingy on Genesis (we could figure it out though) but the battery stuff - quick trip into Vegas I am sure would turn up something!!! Wishing you nothing but the best in working through it Coff!!! Oh yea,, THANK YOU and your family for your service to God and Country!! Also,, makes me proud to hear they still play the National Anthem on our military bases!! Wish you nothing but the best as you work thru the repairs! Puc

Exactly the info I was looking for, thanks for the help guys!!

Indeed!! Something just like that!! No Bull,, that particular set of horns would make an excellent rack to strap a tent/bed roll onto!!

WORKS GREAT DON!!! Took me a couple trys to find the little arrow and figure out how to change the sort order but that was my fault cause I am a little slow!! Just what the Doctor ordered Chief, be sure and tell the person who did the sorting programming thing for us that we really appreciate the work!!

Right Bum!!

Good grief,, that is terrible!! So glad you are basically ok Cha, Prayers Up for quick and full healing!! Sounds to me like you experienced one of those infamous "tank slappers", a high speed wobble turned ugly!! Couple questions concerning what happened.. Its really hard to tell but it looks like the front axle of your bike may be sticking out, like it may have lost the nut.. I dont have a 2nd Gen to compare those pics to but, when you get a chance - would you look and see if your front axle was tight.. Also, it looks like you were darksiding it? Have you noticed any other time since you put the car tire on it that it felt like it wanted to tank slap ya? Wonder if anyone else has experienced tank slapping experiences on the RSV's? Back when I was doing high speed stuff playing on the lake ice on my KX500 I ran a steering damper to help with exactly what you went thru (if indeed it was a tank slapper).. It only happened on my KX when I had the tires screwed out with Kold Kutters to give traction.. Without a damper, running +90 on the ice and that sucker would out of no where turn against me!! The only way out of it (besides crashing) was to lift the front wheel up.. Something ya probably aint gonna do at high speed on a touring bike.. That is horrible Cha,, so sorry to hear about it!! Glad you didnt have someone on the back and, again,, that you are ok!!

Ratsss,, oh well,, cant win em all,,, but can't blame a guy for tryin!!

If I go with him to check the bike out, is there anything in particular to the first year of the 2nd Gens that I need to be aware of? Thanks in advance gang!!

Sounds like we might be getting those Gen 3 Ventures after all eay!! Put me down for pick of the litter will ya!!!

FANTASTIC!!!!!! :clap2:

You did remind him to read the fine print of the contract didn't you? You know, the part where it says "failure to complete project by 9:01 PM EST, 1/28/15 shall result in the contractor hereof to figure out a way to get the members balloons located on the VR Members map who offer VR Assistance to appear as a different color free of charge" didn't you?

Just wanted you to know I thought the sign off page for Touring Hogs was very well done Don! You are a class act Sir!!

The night breeze coming down the Colorado River as we slept next to that abandoned motel was just amazing.. It was perfect in the sense that it covered even the slightest noises coming from the town of Page located a few blocks up the Mountain side.. There is something special about camping on the desert floor that is almost unexplainable.. As harsh as the desert regions are (trust me - they are harsh) during the day hours, darkness creates a change that offers some of the best sleeping known to man.. The next morning, we rolled our tent up and headed west across the Glen Canyon Dam.. Crossing over the Colorado River I couldn't help but remember how tiny of a stream it had appeared to be while viewing it from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. Back there it looked like nothing more than a muddy little stream but from the bridge crossing into Utah and across the Glen Canyon Recreation Area, one has a whole different opinion of the mighty Colorado.. It felt good to be back in Utah.. Tippy and I have always enjoyed the endless and almost supernatural landscape that this state offers.. The colors hidden in the mountain slopes offer an inescapable dream of wondering whats around the next corner!! Little two tracks and trails running off into those same mountains can also play games with your mind by constantly beckoning you to follow them and find out where they lead... Being fairly easily distracted by this call of the wild,, it wasn't long before we found ourselves bouncing along an old Utah mountain two track whose summoning had gotten the best of me.. The sign a couple miles back mentioned something about an old town only a few miles in (more like 11 but dont tell Tip) on a trail that the Utah Highway Department strongly suggested people headed there be traveling in a 4 wheel drive vehicle.. Folks that ride motorcycles know that usually a sign that informs the reader that they should have a 4x4 to enter, actually means "4x4 or road bike" and that "Road Impassable" actually means "you must have a real 4x4 with locked differentials or a Dirt Bike".. I have come to believe that most Highway Departments don't finish their notice signs when printing them because most signs don't have enough space on them to cover all the bases. The criminals in the prisons who make these signs therefore only include vehicles with 4 wheels on them because the state wants to save ink. They also know that most bikers cant read anyway.. Which brings me to another interesting point that involves Tippy and possibly even has something to do with how I have come to live as long as I have.. Even though she's a biker, Tip can read. She was a school teacher before I married her and twisted her life all up by dragging her into such highly volatile extremes as raising four children, all of who learned to ride a dirt bike before they were 5 years old. If that weren't twisted enough, I than expected her to have enough energy after raising those kids to ride on the back of old Tweeks all over the country and put up with bouncing down two tracks like the one we are on here in Utah.. Unlike me, Tip actually learned something in school and has remembered a remarkable amount of the things she was taught.. Her ability to read has actually gotten better during the years I have known her, clearly proven by her uncanny ability to read me like a book.. Maybe its something she feels in my body language as I am leading us off into the desert on some wild goose chase, or, it could be that she has some hidden 6th sense of fear about having to walk more than a few miles out of the desert to find a highway should we have to abandon Tweeks.. I have gotten to know her well enough to know that when she addresses me by my first name, saying something like "what are you doing Scott", that she is on to me and I have some explaining to do.. Fortunately, I am usually able to smooth talk my way out of most situation's and distract her with "WOW - LOOK AT THAT MOUNTAIN" or the reasonable excuse of "Did you happen to notice that sign a ways back there that said 4x4's only".. Thereby buying myself a few more miles of time to actually find out what really is around the next bend and to figure out exactly how I am gonna get us out of this mess.. Tip actually really enjoys getting off the main roads and CTFWing out in the middle of no where as much as I do.. One of the main reasons we pack like we do and don't use a trailer is because we do a fair amount of back roading and snake trailing on our youthful excursions.. I have had numerous friends and acquaintances who have inquired about this, some being almost insistent that we borrow their trailer for our trips - we just smile and say no thank you because we both know that dragging a trailer behind Tweeks would probably not be a good idea back on the "4x4 Only" two-tracks.. We finally found what was suppose to be an old Mormon Town.. There wasn't much left of the place. Apparently some pranksters had driven back into this desolate area and burned down the 100 year old buildings that had survived everything from Indian attacks to major sicknesses but couldn't escape some kids with matches. Even though the buildings were long gone, its still almost impossible to not imagine how hard it must of been to raise a family back in a desolate area such as this.. Beautiful,, but miles and miles from the nearest McDonald's and the closest internet connection.. Fortunately, cause our tummys started to remind us that we hadn't eatin in a while , we had good old dependable Tweeks to take us into Kanab Utah where there was a McDonalds.. This McDonalds was really a funny place.. We have eaten at a lot of different McDonalds since our children purchased a Tablet for us to keep track of our whereabouts .. They wanted to this because we got lost for 3 days in the Utah Mountains a couple years ago and the darlings got concerned about us.. We didn't know it, but they even had the State Police out looking for us.. The kids didn't see the humor in the fact that a couple delinquent backpackers had destroyed some trail head maps and it took us a while to figure out how to get out of the mountains we were riding.. Out offspring purchased this Tablet for us and gave it to us with the understanding that we would check in with them.. It didn't take us long after that to learn that McDonalds is one of the few places that a couple old bikers can depend on to have the internet and salads to flop over hamburgers... As I was saying.. the McDonalds in Kanab is a really funny place. We noticed right away that there was a sign posted there that read "1/2 hour max internet use" - I can go thru a half our of time playing on the internet in just one breath.. We also noticed that the same Breakfast that cost $3.69 back when we were lost in the middle of Chicago was $8.48 here in Kanab Utah.. We found this all humorous cause there were only 4 other people in the store and two of them were McDonald employees who suspiciously appeared to be monitoring the amount of time we were using on their internet connection.. I laughed as Tippy looked down at her food that had cost us 9 dollars with the funniest look on her face, she had THE look that clearly said - a cowgirl could starve if she had to live on McDonalds in Kanab.. A couple minutes after I took this picture of her obvious concern with her breakfast, I noticed that one of the guards who had been keeping an eye on me while I played on our Tablet had disappeared.. Within a couple minutes after that, I lost my internet connection and never did regain it.. This overly friendly "guard" did finally come back out, but, now his concerned glare had turned into an odd smirk.. It was obvious that there was a lot more to this sleepy little town tucked away in the bottom of Utah than first meets the eye.. One can could probably understand the odd behaviors of the employees at the McDonalds if one considered the looks of Tweeks, Tip and I as we strolled into Kanab on that day.. We weren't exactly what would probably be considered desirable in appearance - unless one had a background as a Prospector or a Hobo.. The food prices really kinda threw me though as there was no way these folks could have changed all those prices between the time we pulled into the driveway and when we walked inside,, impossible.. Tip and I were still talking about this issue as we were filling Tweeks fuel tank at a gas station a few blocks away.. I went inside to pay for the fuel, which also was considerably more expensive than we had paid back in Page.. When I came out of the station an older gentleman was standing beside Tweeks, reading her life's picture story pasted all over her plastic panels .. He immediately asked if we had been to all those places and a discussion ensued about motorcycle touring.. This gentleman had some pretty interesting stories of his own. He had ridden motorcycles and did some cross country touring before he could physically no longer balance a bike.. I could tell by talking to him that the memories of the times he and his wife had toured the country, like Tip and I were doing, were still very clear in his mind, regardless of his other disabilities.. The two of them had moved to Kanab UT to escape some of the ailments that had followed him into old age and they both really loved the area.. Having made friends with this gentleman (anyone who is willing to sign Tweeks and become her friend is ok by me), l was comfortable enough with him to ask him about the odd behavior of the McDonalds employees and the prices in the area.. The gentleman explained that because Kanab is the only real sign of civilization between Zion and the Grand Canyon's North Rim that it is kind of a tourist trap.. Then he laughed and told me that Tweeks, Tip and I didn't look like the typical tourist they see come thru town and that this appearance might explain any strange looks we had gotten back at McDonalds - Tippy and the gentlemans wife both laughed when he pointed that out - I thought about erasing his name from Tweeks side.. On our summer tour of 2013 we happen to make the big Harley Davidson rally out in Sturgis South Dakota on our return trip from the west coast.. A company called Polaris had purchased the Indian Motorcycle marquee a couple years prior to this, had started producing the Indians again and had chosen the Sturgis Rally to show off what they had created. Tip and I had followed the process of this whole new breed of Indian, from its inception to its engines unveiling at Daytona and were very excited to see the new bikes that year. Even though we also had test rode the gorgeous critters on a couple of occasions since the Sturgis Rally, we had always wanted to see one being ridden and, up till today, we hadn't had that opportunity. While heading south, just a few miles out of Kanab, a group of motorcycles appeared on the roadway in front of us. Tweeks noticed em right away so the chase was on. As we drew closer to the rear end of the last bike in their group it became obvious that the search for a glance of the new Indian Motorcycle in full use was now over! We followed the group of several of them into the little town of Fredonia and gave them all the thumbs up as we continued our journey to the North Rim. Years ago when my daughter and I toured the North Rim, we had the opportunity to watch firefighters in Helicopters do battle with a forest fire that was attacking one of the gorgeous Ponderosa Pine valleys that surround the rim. Fire is common in this area, especially when its as dry as it has been. Tip and I rode lots of miles on the path into the area that displayed a reminder of how cautious we all really need to be.. I love captive audiences and one of my favorite of all audiences within captivity that we seem to encounter are people who work in those little buildings along the road and collect money from people who are traveling. One time out in New Jersey we pulled up to one of these little houses. The lady who lived there looked really bored, she smiled haphazardly as I handed her the few bucks she was charging us to ride on her high way, I told her that her job looked kinda boring but, judging from the line of cars waiting behind me, I bet it paid pretty good. We went about another 5 miles and came to another little old lady with a very similar looking home, I stopped to pay again for the joy of riding on that last 5 miles of special, motorcycle friendly, pavement. We pulled up to the booth and suddenly noticed that the women inside looked just like the person who had taken my money at the last little house. This one was a whole lot friendlier though, she chuckled when I asked if she was related to the other lady about 5 miles back, she told me they were not related as she took my 6 dollars. The captive person who lived inside the little house on the trail to the North Rim was a very friendly person and, because we always get the yearly pass for the National Parks, she didn't even want any of our money. Instead of asking us about dollars, she mentioned that we looked like we had traveled a long way on our bike and inquired as to where we were from. As soon as she heard we were from Michigan, she stepped out of her booth and started telling us that she to was originally from our home state! Come to find out, she was born and raised a couple towns from our home port of Muskegon!! We talked as she walked around Tweeks admiring all the places that the ol girl had taken us to. Tweeks, Tip and I gained yet another friend as she gladly signed Tweeks side.. Unless you don't mind two trackin and deer trailing, there is only one way to see the North Rim by roadway and we followed that one way to the Rim.. It was a wonderful warm day and we were not alone in getting to motorcycle to the National Park on that day.. As we pulled into the parking lot, I could feel the eyes of several groups of bikers looking us over pretty cautiously as we found a place to park. One couple, who were riding a gorgeous big Yellow Gold Wing and pulling a trailer, strolled over to at least give us a chance to explain. After some brief interaction and finding out that the 3 of us were really quite friendly, this lovely couple shared some of their own ride history.. They were from Bozeman Montana (nice area) and were also on a cross country trip of about 2 weeks.. Very friendly people who took to signing Tweeks like they were shaking hands with a long lost friend. They offered to have us stay with them at their home should we ever make it out their way.. There were a group of people gathering around Tweeks who had been sitting there minding her own business, one of the kids in the group walked over and told us he really liked Tweeks decor.. I smiled at the lad, finished saying goodbye to our Wing Riding friends from Bozeman and walked back over to Tweeks to make more friends and get more signatures from people wanting to tell us their stories.. An interesting note here, Tip and I did get a phone call from the folks on the Wing last December, just checking up on Tweeks, Tip and I to make sure we made it home from our summer touring - LOT OF REALLY GREAT PEOPLE OUT THERE!! This side of the Canyon is totally different than the other, it has a very small viewing area located behind the lodge.. During another motorcycle trip with my second born out here, she and I went climbing on the rocks over looking the Canyon.. Cappy (her biker name) slipped on a rock ledge and I caught her by the belt loop on her pants as she was falling into the Canyon.. As Tip and I walked along the edge of the overlook, Tip asked me to point out where that had happened years ago.. I took her to a spot in the viewing area and showed her a white colored outcropping of rock and pointed exactly to the spot that my daughter almost fell in - there are times I cant remember where I left Tweeks parked but - THIS IS SOMETHING I WILL NEVER FORGET! After viewing all the views, playing with all the squirrels and making sure all the other tourist had a chance to watch Tweeks and I make fools of ourselves waiting for Tippy to take pictures in front of the sign so all my friends cant say we were never there, we pulled out and headed for Zion.. Because we had to back track up toward Kanab, Tips wasn't to surprised to hear me say I was bored and needed a break.. Back tracking on a motorcycle can be a little like going back and watching the beginning of a good movie ya just finished.. The boredom comes from having already seen it and knowing how the movie ends.. I picked a two track to follow to break the boredom. After we rode a ways thru the dust and climbed a couple pretty cool upgrades, my boredom disappeared and we finally came out in a meadow like area, surrounded by gorgeous Ponderosa Pines and, inhabited by Buffalo! We sat and listened to em grunting and visited with some of the other tourists.. Then jumped back onto the pavement.. Zion National Park is located conveniently along the trail leading from the North Side of the Canyon if your trying to get to your daughters graduation ceremony in Sacramento California.. We would have taken the time to visit the park anyway cause that is all part of CTFWing, but, even you aren't a CTFWer and you happen to be going that the way we did, you WILL get to see the Zion. Good thing too cause Zion is another GORGEOUS area! Lots and lots of really unique overlooks, some great hairpin turns AND seemingly endless tunnels that will echo a motorcycles backfire (Tweeks likes to do that at just the right times) for what seems like hours.. Once we got out of Zion, the north bound coin flip won the toss, there was no west bound trail heading toward California so we headed north on the ick-spressway.. Not to far north of Zion we found yet another little National Park area called Kolob Canyon.. We couldnt resist!! Good thing we didn't too cause God spared no expense in creating the shear beauty of this "mini - Zion"!! Beside being beautiful, Kolob Canyon also offers some really nice coasting opportunities if your into coasting like we are.. It was getting pretty late in the day and the $18 dollar breakfast we had eaten back at McDonalds in Kanab had long since lost any form of satisfying the hunger triggers in our now empty stomachs. Tip and I were very glad to see the approaching town of Cedar UT coming into view. We could also see our first glimpes of a road that headed out across the desert toward California running west out of Cedar.. We decided to not give McDonalds two chances in the same day so we started looking for a little mom and pop type of burger joint. We pulled into this placed called the "Top Spot". Just as we walked to the side door of the Top Spot their interior lights went off.. I could feel a poochy forming on my bottom lip as I realized that we had gotten into Cedar to late and were probably gonna be stuck staring at some guards at McDonalds again.. A very nice lady stuck her head out of the door of the Top Spot, took one look at Tweeks (kinda like that song,, some girls dont like guys (bikes) like me,, ahhh but some girls do) - and seemed to take an instant liking to the ol girl.. She smiled and told us to come on in and she would feed us! She let us use her bathroom to wash up (felt good) and even told us to take as much time and use as much water as we needed. We went back upfront, looked over the wonderful menu they had, ordered and sat down to see what kinda of meals they presented. I gotta say, this place rivaled the burgers we had way back at Laguna Burger! Talk about a meal!! If you happen to be taking the time to actually read all this nonsense I have been writing, you obviously have some time to burn. Take just a couple seconds and look back up at the pics of Tips face when looking at her Kanab Utah McDonalds breakfast and than notice the look on her face in the pictures below and remember, a picture is worth a thousand words! We left the Top Spot with those sending units in our stomachs telling our brains we were FULL!! With vast open western Utah foothills calling our names, we were far from being compelled to camp in a parking lot in the town of Cedar.. Even though it was dark by the time we had finished eating and had fed Tweeks, we got on the west bound trail and grabbed the first set of two tracks about 20 miles out of town.. It doesn't take long in this region to go from city living to real nice, quite desert camping.. Less than a couple miles off the main road, we found a perfect little "Y" in the trail, kicked the stand down, dropped the tent and fell fast asleep there under the clear, star lit skys of Western Utah..

THAT PIC OF THE 950 WITH THE MOUNTAIN IN THE BACKGROUND IS SOOOO FLIPPIN PRETTY THAT IT WAS HARD TO EVEN LOOK AT!! BROTHER, THAT IS GORGEOUS!! So thats your 1st Gen eay,, BEAUTIFUL bike David!! I really like the color,, all it need are a few dozen stickers and a set of animal horns and you could probably trade it for a brand new Caddie,, but who would want to? Thanks for sharing for us snow bound family members - you da man VideoAz!! PS,, did ya get a ticket for the caddie?

Wow Rand, sorry to read this BUT, THANKFULLY they are both ok!! Thanks for being there for them to help in the bike repair.. If I see or hear of any parts that may help I will let you know!!