cowpuc

Cool! Any idea what brand?? Remember alllllll the different brands of minibikes there were back in the late 60's? Of course, my moped would outrun them all,,, unless little Joey figured out how to over ride the governor - than it was all over...

AND THAT IS WHAT ITS ALL ABOUT,, hell yea!!

Saved my paper route money back when I was a kid and bought a 1957 Sears Allstate Moped,,, that was Pucs first bike.. I still have the frame to it in the basement... This followed me home yesterday!! Got most of the missing parts to actually build up my old 1st bike!!! Even has the original 2 speed shifter on the bars WITH the original grips!! I even got er fired up!! Cool eay!:cool10: Makes me wonder what all my buddies on Venturerider started on?? Keep Smilin Puc

Thanks, gotta love e-slay,, gotta protect that wallet when surfing it though..

Thanks Andy!! I think it should be standard procedure for we Ventureriders to post reviews of the bikes we get to test ride. Personally I love it when ever there is a shot at something "different" introduced by the bike people, dont care who it is!! I been reading a little on the F6 and about the only complaint I have seen is a paint problem.. Havent had the chance to ride one and in all the cross country riding we did this year I never even saw one so people like me have to be happy with reports like yours! SAMPLING IS FUN!! Puc

Put in proper Cowpuc verbage,, now THAT is a gorgeous campground!!!! NICE WORK!!!

Every bike trip I have ever ridden has its truely sad times, usually the sadness involves riding in an easterly direction - more accurately described as heading home.. The following is truely the saddest part of a bike trip I have ever encountered. Years ago I was exploring old cow towns in Montana on another old Venture and came across this little town called Plevna. I was admiring these old buildings and a cowboy in a pickup trucked pulled up. I asked if he knew any of the history of the buildings I was viewing. He told me to ask the old lady in the Post Office about them so I did.. Inside the Post Office I met the sweetest, kindest, elderly cowgirl I have ever known. She remembered the real Cowboy days and had VERY sharp memories of days long gone by. Her name was Ruth Sieler and she instantly became my friend. While chatting with Ruth about an incident that involved two indians attacking a stagecoach and a twelve mile old stage coach path ride on the bike that would lead me to an old monument where this had happened,, she all of a sudden got a smile on her face and said, I have something that only you would deeply appreciate.. She went in the back room and after a few minutes came out with this book - entiltle Plevna Montana - 75 years.. We stood and chatted for hours while digging thru pages and pages of Montana history!! At days end I mentioned to Ruth how I would LOVE to get my hands on a copy of this book to take home to my wife (Tip was home caring for kids - while I am on ride about), sweet little Ruth signed the book and sent it home with me!! The years leading up to this current ride Tip and I are on have always been filled with "Scott, you gotta take me to meet Ruth and show me Plevna" so thats where we headed after The Battlefield. We pulled into Plevna, Tip immediately felt at home and recognized the old buildings that covered pages and pages of the book.. We went to the post office and it was closed. We rode around town and found some folks playing with their kids in thier yard and stopped , after explaining why we were there, asked the young couple if they knew where an old townsperson named "Ruth" lived. The lady pointed across the street to an ol home and said, right there.. I asked if she thought Ruth was home and she said yes.. We parked Tweaks (our bike) and I knocked on the door.. An elderly cowgirl came to the door, I said "Ruth"? Yes was the response.. I said, its me Scott. She gave me a distant look.. I said are you Ruth from the Post Office and than explained to her about our meeting years ago.. She got a really sad look on her face and she said - I am sorry but the Ruth you are speaking of passed away 3 WEEKS AGO!! I about balled my eyes out!! Ironically, this Ruth was just as sweet as the Ruth I had known. She invited Tip and I into her home and we shared for a couple hours of how my Ruth had passed on.. She offered to feed us and a place to camp for the night.. I was in shock and couldnt think of any thing besides riding that would comfort my soul so we said our goodbyes to this sweet little Montana Cowgirl and headed towards South Dakota.. We slept out on the prairie in Montana that night - even the cows mooing in the distance and Coyote howling didnt help my aching heart.. I finally got to sleep and woke to a fresh day. I cant say how many times I have said to my wife and kids one of my favorite lines - "isnt it amazing how everything looks better in the morning".. Tip looked at me and said exactly that.. Things did look better but I will always remember my friend Ruth and her genuine western hospitality and that little town called Plevna. After waking up on the secluded prairie, we packed, rode a ways and I spotted it!! A gorgeous, although half eaten, Antelope buck laying dead in the ditch,, HORNS STILL ATTACHED!!! Slowing down the bike, Tip instantly says, "you going back?" and of course I was.. The ground under the deer was soaking wet and VERY sticky Montana clay!! As I walked down to him my feet went from size 11's to size 15's in both length. width and WEIGHT hahahaha.. Despite his icky condition he was GORGEOUS! I always carry a 16 inch pair of channel locks (my favorite hand tool of all times) with me on the bike.. I have never encountered an Antelope before so what happened next really surprised me.. As I gripped the Antelope horns they just unplugged,, I barely even tugged on them,, they unplugged --- the thought went thru my head of just like unplugging a sparkplug terminal - weird for sure!!! Covered in mud but still GORGEOUS,, that applied to the Horns - my pliers and of course to yours truely!!! They did smell funny so we wrapped them in plastic bags and attached them on the carrier frame under the bike. Later, just before we got to Sturgis we stopped at a Dollar store, bought some Peroxide and Frebreeze and commence to clean the horns (and me) up. Short video link,, Of course the odors associated with any dead animal gets riper as the days go by and I would estimate this deer as being dead for at least 7 days,, it stunk pretty good.. If you ever do something like this its best to try and remember not to scratch an itchy mustache after handling such prize possesions no matter how much it itches, or step on them or brush against them for that matter.. Peroxide and Frebreeze does help though - even on cleaning facial hair.. Tip says she is thinking of writing the Frebreeze company and and letting them know about the new use for their product.. LOOK OUT STURGIS WE ARE ON OUR WAY!!!

Lucky suckers, next thing ya know he's gonna report on some exotic ice cream he found...

But, Barry,,, you gotta admit, some really great folks came out of that chaos (mamma always taught me not to point fingers but sometimes in life it's appropriate) -- meeting and chatting with you was one of the highlights of our travels this year!!! There are bad attitudes and folks with lousy charectoristics all over but there are also lots of really really great people out there, I like sorting them out and getting to know the good ones.. Puc

Oh yea, can totally relate BUT I actually LOVE Manhatten (NYC)! Both Tippy (the wife) I were born and raised in the sticks, we raised our 4 kids in the country - dogs, snowmobiles, dirtbikes, tree forts, fishin and hunting right out the back door (house bordered 5000 acres of state land).. My second born got accepted at Cornell Med School (68th and 1st Ave, culture shock big time for her) and we visited her a LOT while she was there.. I had sooooo much fun exploring the city - took for ever to get the hang of the subway system, LOVED the sidewalk hot dogs with saurkraut, snuck up onto the tops of a number of skyscrapers for some great views (could be really scarey places if I didnt have a building maintenance background), LOVED diggin around chinatown - couldnt believe some of their fish stores, deeply saddened by the post 9/11 scene, loved driving my little beat up Festiva all over the island - just follow the taxi drivers and drive it like ya stole it, LOVED battery park and the museums, people were paranoid, got a ticket for parking in a "no standing zone" - just parked there never did "stand". My kid is now in Sacramento and misses NYC everyday, 2 of my bucket list goals are going back to NYC and dress up like a bag lady and live on the street for 3 days, and riding a moped all over the city (you can get away with a LOT on a moped there) - Tippy thinks I am nuts!!!! I could live there if Donny would rent me a suite for 500 bucks a month in his tower,,, and tell his snippy bell hop to chill a little.. Puc

Took the words right out of my mouth there Mini-Muffin!! If there is one thing I learned at Vogel this year it was how "family oriented" VR is, and once family always family..:bighug: Besides, me and B2Dad aint flown one of them there a-row-plains his boy flys yet and he cant go no where till we do, he is going no where soon :cool10: Now down to business, get a Miata with a broken motor, dump a 302 in it - cheap fun... Get a snowplow for it (now its a tool not a toy) but never never never try to hook it up My mind goes blinky winky when I go into shock and its going blinky winky... Puc

A few years ago my daughter and I spent a week touring Yellowstone just after it had burned. It was remarkable how long it takes for life to recover after a burn! Another thing I remembered was all the extensive road work that was going on in the area back then, this time the only road work Tip and I saw was exiting out of the east gate, one small repair job going on.. We sat at the light for about a half hour, no cars coming thru, nobody around, hmmm. Jumped up and down and waved our arms at the camera that activates the light. Not sure if it was this movement or the clouds of radio active dust from EBR-1 (nuclear reactor) that activated the lights but thankfully something worked or we would probably still be there.. Typical road repair, never saw a worker, never was another car coming the opposite direction, just quiet peaceful roadway leading to Cody.. Cody's a great town with lots of history!! Good food too!! Be a great place for Venturerider meet-greet-eat-ride and eat some more.. Upon leaving Cody, for some reason when I came to the alternate route (14A) I turned and followed it.. Sometimes I get into trouble when I do this and sometimes it works out. Gotta tell ya, this was one of those that it worked out - THAT is an awesome ride(14A from Cody to I-90)!! This road crosses the Bighorn Mountains on a roadway that took from the mid 60's to the mid 80's to complete, if you ride it you will understand why this was so - an amazing accomplishment for sure!! Also, definitely some of the steepest grades I have ever encountered (excluding dirtbiking of course) on a roadway!! The views off the mountains on the west side are SPECTACULAR and the east side are just as stunning!!! A must ride if you ever need a way into Yellowstone from the east and are on a bike!!! We saw lots of animals in the bighorns along with the mountain ranges unreal beauty. We had to boogy to beat the cold that was setting at high elevations for the evening - easily headed into the 30's!! The ride down the east side of the Bighorns was inspiring, lots of switchbacks, coasted just over 23 minutes on this one before a stalled car caused me to turn on the key and drop her in gear!! Pulled into a little town called Dayton, a massive buck Muley ran across the road in front of us right in the middle of town, Tip drew her 9000 shot repeater from its holster and fired a round, if you look closely at the pic you can see him standing in a side yard!! That Tippy is mighty quick on the draw!! Sacked out just north of town,, nice and warm having out ran the cold and an all night lightening display in the mountains was beautiful!! Woke up to this beautiful view of the mountains (things always look better in the morning).. Pulled into Custers Last Stand just as they were opening.. Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument was truely an amazing place. It brought the same "feelings" that one gets from visiting Gettysburg or even Arlington for that matter (there is a National Cemetery here too), only this place is different in that the actual battlefield markers are laid where bodies fell during the battle. There is monument on the hilltop where Custer's body had fallen with all the names of the soldiers of the 7th Cav who gave their lives . Amazingly the battlefield covers an area of over 3 miles - all accessable from the seat of the bike - with grave markers and signage of what-happened-where all along the way. The detail that is included of how and why the battle was fought is shocking.. The tribal encampment was spotted by Custers scouts from a mountain top over 14 miles away, in the vast valley where the little bighorn flows there were over 20,000 indian ponys!!! Given facts like these sure makes you wonder what on earth he was thinking - he was vastly outnumbered but attacked none the less!! Being an Indian History kinda guy, I was extremely pleased to see that our Government finally allowed the Indian Tribes to place markers for their fallen in this sacred place (brown ones in the pics) as well as renaming the actual area to honor those native americans who fell in battle too.. They also have a Memorial Circle to honor their dead and there is a gathering every year here by the multiple tribes that is open to the public - we would LOVE to go to this, dont have to worry about getting scalped cause I got nothin to offer!! At any rate, this place is a must see, and a place we will return to!! The area is still owned by Indians and we toured and SHOPPED with the Indian people. If you tour here watch out for their horses, they wonder the roads like they own the place. We have a "Native Montana" sticker on our bike (of course) purchased from these folks.. I gotta say though, touring the area revealed once again to me that these folks are still in very hard times!!!

:rotf: Now there is an experience that dont need no pictures!! I can totally relate though, I cant tell you how many times I have been in that exact same same set of shoes only for me its usually the styrofoam cup that comes flyin out of its cup holder, first it goes airborn - than I catch it in mid air and the plastic top flys off and I get doused in ice cold pop, sticky stuff when it drys!! A word of advice, glue all your plastic down with stickers and you wont have parts flyin off! Puc

Outstanding :cool10:!! Thanks for the update Lewis! Puc

Sorry to hear that Yammer!! Tippy and I are praying for her, you and for the extended family! Count on it. Puc

Hey Dragonrider,, when I get to the section in my report about Vogel do have the go ahead to tell the story of the first time I met you?? If not, its ok BUT that was hilarious... :rotf: Seriously though, I wouldnt want to cause grief for anyone!! Puc

All sounds wonderful Annie but I am still stuck on wanting you guys to demonstrate the proper way to suck innards out of crawfish:cool10: Hmmm,, must be hungry cause that actually sounds pretty good..

cant wait!!!!!!!

EXACTLY!! Body all banged up, bike all worn out, tires all worn out, shoes smelling cow crap, tent leakin from all the wind and brush, brains all overloaded from seein all the sites and meeting new friends.... Takin it to the limit now cause ya never know what tomorrow brings!!! Ohhhh the power,, I could feel my dark side coming over me as pressed the button that said "do not press"... If you look at the pic of me at the controls, I am smiling saying to Tippy,, "I just tied with those guys at Chernobyl", than the sirens started to blare and I ran out the door.... LOL,,, the place would have been safer.. Puc

Sounds great Barry but,, whine whine boo hooo, I cant see nuttin.... Congrats anyway!! Puc

Hey Craig, the wife and I have yapped and yapped about a "Canadian ride",, thanks for posting this as a primer.. You guys tenting? Hows the skeeters up there eay (practicing my foreign language skills)? Enjoyed your report! Puc

After packing up we headed to Craters of the Moon.. This place was pretty much as its name described,, it really does make you feel like you are no longer on the planet - except it has roads that are perfect for biken (if the moon surface is paved like this I really really need to build a space ship with a payload big enough for the bike).. We chatted with the parks guy in the picture who had a background in sysmic stuff and he predicts our next volcano will be in this area. He was all exited about this, I am happy just riding my bike away from that thought! This next unplanned stop was AWESOME and we spent a lot of time here.. From the roadway there is a sign that says something about a NUCLEAR POWER PLANT OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.. Like oh my gosh.. So of course we stop.. WOW, this place is fascinating right from the get go!! Out side the actual building that the famous Fermi the Physicist (sp) spent many hours doing his thing are two nuclear test engines intended for use in aircraft!! You have to see them to believe them - and of course be much smarter than ol Puc to understand their workings.. Inside the building are all the workings, knobs to turn, buttons to push, fuel rods to deploy and LOTS to study!! An absolute dont miss if your gearheaded at all !! Also, just walking the same stairs and pushing the same buttons as Fermi did can sure be surreal ,, not sure any superior intellegence rubbed off but it may have,, could have been that drink of heavy water I had too.. Now on to Jackson (Jackson Hole) Wyoming.. Pulled into town and the first thing Tippy spots are a pair of cool looking chairs in front of used furniture store.. Hmmm.. carried a lot of stuff on a bike but not sure about this one Tip.. Than she points out the sticker on em - $450 - for something that looks like something I made in wood shop back in the 60's.. Cool chairs but we are gonna need a set of new tires more, sheesh.. Gettin late and knowing that this whole area is a National Park and VERY BUSY, Tippy makes a suggestion that proved to be brilliant.. She says lets go find a campground to camp in tonight (I have a hunch that bear fear was knawing at her). Couple miles north of Jackson was the first camp ground in the Tetons Nation Park and they had 1 (ONE) camping spot left!! We took it and all those throngs of bikes headed for sturgis had to look elsewhere, I felt sorry for them!! We set up camp and went looking for bear.. We didnt find no bears but we did see two moose feeding in the river AND we bumped into Frankie, our friend from oregon, feeding in town.. Downtown happenings were like a mini sturgis, lots of bikers and harleys.. Sitting there on mainstreet Jackson Hole with Tippy on my knee and chattin with Frankie was relaxin.. I happen to ask Frank where he was bagging it for the night and he said on the steps of the Masons building.. I invited him to stay on our site at the campground and he did (they allowed two tents per site). Told stories way to late and got up way to early.. It was nice peeing in a bathroom for a change but not that nice, nothin like markin your territory out in the wilds hahaha.. There is something different about the Tetons, truely magnificent beauty! The park is long and skinny but there is a mountain climb (on bike, I am that ambitious) up Signal Mt. we did that led to the over look of a lake that was, shall we say, oddly shaped,,, at least I thought so.. Of course we saw buffalo,, lots of them in both Tetons and Yellowstone.. Now on to Yellowstone, it was fun BUT there really needs to be a limit on how many little ol men driving big ol motorhomes they allow in,, 10 miles an hour up and DOWN hills in line with these not so much taxi drivers can wear on you physcologically,, and emotionally.. After risking our lives dodging these guys and other critters, finding this gorgeous waterfall to play in was a GODSEND!!! The water was ice cold and refreshing.. We also found lots of bear poo poo and large claw marks on trees while exploring this neat little falls canyon.. Click here to Reply or Forward

Way to go Don!!! Dont know about you but as long as I stay on the bike my ol body hurts way less.. Glad your taking the time to break in that new bike,, and cheering for the HD of your to see many many more years of great riding time!! Puc

Been in the business a longgg time and have actually lost customers (no sale) over the issue being discussed.. As crazy as it sounds I still think a summer trail riding a little XR100 is the best investment a newbie can make.. Sounds to me like the salesman AND the newbie rider mentioned here are both suicidal.

It works the other way around here I figure that by the time I am in the grave - bike, body, tools, house all worn out from living life, I will pretty much be at a "dead" even split, 50% good - 50% bad decisions, and at that time someone else is gonna have a heck of time sorting it all out... Pity those kids of mine