cowpuc

The ride out of the north end at Crater was just as beautiful as our ride in. I have always enjoyed "coasting" down the mountains and, while no match for our record 39 minute coast into Kings Canyon last year, we did enjoy a solid 16 minute coast out of Crater Lake! Next stop found us at Newberry Volcanic National Monument. This place was again different in its display of volcanic activity.. It literally was covered with actual "lava rock" like you would buy for your gas grill. Also miles and miles and mounds and mounds of black lava.. At days end we slept on Oregons gorgeous High Desert about a mile off the road. Just far enough so we could no longer hear the trucks/cars going by and be able to listen to the coyotes howlin. Pretty rocky out here, I am considering building a skid plate for Tweaks (our bike). Had a fabulous meteor shower going on!! Area was hot in the day and FREEZIN in the night.. Amazingly NO dew at all on the tent!! One of the great things Tip and I have discovered about retirement is being able to actually stop and read all those "Historic Point of Interest" signs along the way that you always want to read but never do. After reading this sign about the Bannock Indian Wars it occurred to me that I dont remember ever even hearing of the Bannocks!! Also stopped for a while at the Snake River - beautiful!! Stopped for gas just inside of Idaho on our way to Crater of the Moons and met a new friend named Frankie “Medicine Wolf”.. Had a really good time chatting with Frankie!! He was on his way to Sturgis, bike all loaded for bear!! The “wolf” is an outdoors writer and a riot to hang with!! An interesting side note here, after chatting with Frank about our travels it comes to light that he makes his home about 12 miles from the Cemetery that Tip and I had camped at back Gold Hill Oregon! Crazy eay!! What a hoot!! PLUS, I have always been an avid Pat McManus reader (They shoot canoes, crazy eddie muldoon and all that) and knowing that Pat wrote alot about adventures in Oregon and Idaho I had to ask, come to find out Frankie is close friends with Pat himself!! If you take the time to do it, it is amazing the folks you meet along lifes pathways!! At any rate, if your following this story try to remember Frank, he is gonna pop back into our travels.. After making plans to hook up with Frank at Sturgis we headed toward Craters of the Moon National Park. We rode out the day and camped north of Fairfield Idaho behind some hay bales. Our riding style usually consists of riding till we are tired, pull over, drop the tent and go to sleep.. The only problem with riding like this is sometimes you wake up to surprizes,, like cops staring at you or people walking past you in a walmart parking lot or animals walking around your tent.. This particular excursion found us waking up to the farmer stopping in his tractor - farmers get up real early you know!! Thankfully he was a great guy,,, I have found that most folks are if you give them half a chance, personally I like people..

Hi Lewis and B2 (and everyone), just wanted to thank you (and your wifes) and your helpers personally again for all your hard work putting on Vogel. Also all the folks who contributed to the event in any way, if nothing other than being there and giving the wife and I a chance to meet you - THANK YOU!! You and your team of colorful charectors made our first contact of the REAL people of VentureRider an amazing experience and truely, a very bright highlite of our summer riding experience!! Jamie and Dana, you two made the day brighter in everyway.. You guys are about as close to being a LIVING cartoon charector team as I have seen in a long time - cudos to both of you (and those wifes of yours). I know I told you all this but I wanted to reiterate, one of my summer riding goals was to prove once and for all whether or not the people on this website actually existed.. Mission accomplished with a big YEEEEEEEEEEEEEHAWWWWWW from ol Cowpuc!! A greater bunch of actual living, breathing, TALKING, EATING, bike riding, willing to share and generous folks there has never been, at least in my encounters.. As for the REAL heartbeat of the Vogel Day, St. Judes Childrens Hospital, with folks like these on their side maybe just as real medical answers will soon be found!! God Bless each and everyone of you, our friends!! Puc and Tip (Scott and Cheryl)

Hey George, sounds like you had a great ride, congrats!! That Coure De Lain area is beautiful,, its to bad summer is sooo short - I could head out there right now!! Besides, that Dennys in town has the bestest pancakes ever (its amazing how starving in the after being lost in the mountains makes your food taste so good)!! Thanks for posting Puc

Hey Spear, thank you for sharing your friends with us here in the States.. My wife and I FINALLY had the honor of meeting them both at Vogel this year.. What a wonderful time we had!! That loveable Annie even came up with a couple stickers for our bike from your homeland - we are now proudly displaying the flag of your country on the windshield of our bike, plus a signed "I Luv Australia" to boot!! We will send Annie and Al home well fed, a little tired perhaps and FULL of great memories!! Annie and Al, ride safe out there and thanks for some GREAT times at Vogel!! Puc and Tippy

Yep, that Annie can stir the pot and not even realize she is doing so.. I got to see this with my own two eyes!! Puc

That is beyond words terrible, our love, prayers and condolences go out to the family of this young man... Tippy and Puc

Thanks for your service to our country and protecting our way of life KY Rider!!! Puc

I have owned a dozen or more HD's thoughout the years and actually always loved the bikes, even my old 59 XLCH that I built with its 10 over Grass Hopper forks and its, stock from HD - knee braking kicker (if you didnt know how to start it) and finicky magneto!! I just sold my 03 88inch twincam with a blower on it to help pay bills.. Alot, if not most, people really misunderstand HD - or think like I do.. I am a gearhead at heart, I LOVE the simpleness of the HD motor.. While yes, the marketing genuises at HD have taken advantage of capitalizing on the human need for a sense of belonging BUT they have also capitalized on the gearhead market AND created a market so huge that it supports many aftermarket organizations - lots and lots of jobs!! HD (and these aftermarket folks) give folks who have my charector flaw (gear headedness) the chance to fool around with things like valve overlap and timing, high compression pistons, tuned exhausts, Tuneable EFI (I still prefer carbs) mapping and on and on.. It may not sound interesting to most people but for some of us it is a heart thing and because of the simpleness of the Air Cooled push-rod V-twin motor it is all do able in an old school garage setting!! Not cheap BUT it is all available because HD does listen to the riders (wish other manufactures would listen as well). Another point is where HD has taken that old, total loss V-twin,, it amazes me.. This new Twin Cam motor with modular tranny, is pretty cool.. So, why have I also stuck with the Venture all these years? Because I have another flaw, I also LOVE to put the tools down and, like Crockadile Dundee and his walkabout, ride thousands of miles at a time and pretty much know I am gonna come home on the same bike I left on,, with a minimal amount of tools in tow.. And, even if it breaks down, and I cant fix it I can give it away, buy another one cheaper than a HD Front Wheel and continue on (never had to - knock on wood)!! AND - I truthfully have never ridden a bike that fits my body like the Gen 1, I can sit in the saddle hour after hour and watch the stress just evaporate as the world just goes by.... Puc

Gotta agree with you!! Sounds like you guys are having a riot,, man I love those small western towns out there and the people!!! Watch the distance between gas stations if you do alot of cow towning,, and carry water hahahaha Tippy says to watch your fuel even if you dont go cow towning hahaha Your making my wrist twich and my butt itch....

It was down at Wilton, just off Alta Mesa Road,,, it may be on "Blake Rd.. We did visit a larger range up by Rancho Cordova (I am terrible with all these strange none michigan names) but just to get Ammo...

When we left the Redwoods park we took 199 into Oregon with a heading for Crater Lake.. At the time there were 3 major fires going on and 199 was one smokey puppy!! Worse I have ever encountered! All the way up to Grants Pass in Oregon my eyes were burning!! We didn’t want to drop tent in the smoke so we rode hard all the way to a place called Gold Hill Oregon.. About 2am and Tippy spots an old Cemetery and we pulled in.. Real quiet place with the quietest neighbors I have ever seen hahaha.. During the night Tippy thought she heard a Cougar growling so I got up, took my flashlight and pocket knife out to do battle with the cat.. It happened again only I thought it sounded more like a deer snorting than a cougar.. I yelled my battle cry and that was the last we heard of what ever it was,, thankfully.. The road leading into Crater Lake is just beautiful biking!!! Huge Douglas fir trees line the path and the air is just amazing!!! There is "chasm" with falls along the route, stunning!! About ¼ of the way around crater lake we had a pedal biker ask for some water, carrying that 1 gallon jug of water may look goofy but boy does it come in handy!! Crater is tucked into a volcano and is almost 2 thousand feet deep – you swear you can almost see bottom it is that clear.. Amazingly enough, by the time we finished our tour the wind had changed and the lake hallow had almost completely filled with smoke from those fires miles and miles away!!!

One of our sons is a Staff Sargent in the USAF and is based at Travis Airbase in California. He got us on base and we got to tour the base.. We had the honor of seeing his work, visiting the flight line and touring the outside museum.. WOW!!! Sad to end our time out there but Tip and I said our good byes and headed for Lassens National Park. We camped at the waterfalls (high altitude) – beautiful but man those mountains get cold!! The early morning sun never felt better and, even though stinky, visiting the hot sulphur springs was down right refreshing.. Lassens is an amazing place – when the volcano blew it shot garage/car size boulders miles away!!! Unreal!! Headed to the coast n hwy 101 for a tour of the Redwoods Nat Park.. Another beautiful ride into the park, thru the grand old trees, went whale watching (twice), never saw one but hey – it was awesome, we did however see lots of ELK,,, no not while we were whale watching!! Drove some dirt roads back to a WW2 Radar Station where our guys monitored Japanese sub activity on OUR coastline – never knew that!!! It was designed to look like a farm house but was actually a radar station!! Another thing we found out was that the Japs actually BOMBED us 30 miles north of this station on the mainland!!! Very interesting stuff!!!

As I mentioned earlier, Tip and I have two kids in Sacramento. We spent a bunch of time with them and the grandkids.. While there I repaired my grandsons PW50 and his dads KLR250 and or course, spent time riding them.. When I left the grandson had talked his dad into mounting his tent on the back of his pw so it would look like gramps bike. Also went trap shootin with the boys, been better off tossing rocks at those goofy things.. The other daughter lives in town, she had a huge silver maple die over winter and the two sons in laws were busy cutting it into handleable pieces.. One of these fine young men has a wood milling business and all this gorgeous wood is going to be put to good use!! Across the road from this daughters house is where I met a new friend, his name is “Sam” (name changed to protect the innocent). The day that we pulled in I immediately noticed Sams 05 Vette setting out front and his 1970 Stang sitting in the driveway.. Both the wife and I KNEW I was in trouble, the stang is an almost duplicate of one of my cars as a kid.. About two days later I get a text that reads, Sam wants to meet you and wants you to drive his “Chevy”.. NICE!!! Couple days later I find myself driving Sams Vette across Sacramento into worlds unknown!! What a car!! So we are cruising along with folks staring at the cool ol dudes in the sports car and I ask Sam where we are going.. He says he has another Vette he wants to show me.. We go to a Storage building in another town, Sam opens a door and HOKEY SMOKEYS, she’s a gorgeous mint 72 with original close ratio 4 speed!! Sam squeezes between the car next to it, climbs in, couple pumps and its running!! Backs it out and hands me the keys – what a guy!!! After driving the 72 Sam says,, hey,,, you ever driven an AC Cobra?? Sure enough, opens a garage door and BINGO!! Nope, never have and probably never will have the chance again so you KNOW I was all over that!!!! When we got back I took Tippy, my daughter and Sam out in the stang and had the pleasure of showing my daughter what life was like back in the early 70’s for her old man..

Not that you would ever want to but we found out by accident that the rear jug shut down switch can be turned off.. It is amazing to me what all can be done with modern day electronic wizardry.. Yapping with the HD folks out at sturgis about the water cooling that is coming,, heads only and it sounds like this is REALLY gonna help on the hot leg syndrome.. I think its already been mentioned but the fans are tentavily gonna be mounted on the lowers.. I am really not clear where they are going to go with the warm air off the rads/fans,, hopefully not back onto the riders legs... Hey don, I have helped two friends with the Cat removal on thier bikes and it really helps!!! Did the RG come with an oil cooler on it?? Not to sound dumb but if it didnt getting that hot oil out for cooling may help too!! Another something crazy I have thought about.. I know that HD has really struggled to meet regs and have to run their bikes as lean as possible to pass regs, life has taught me that this alone makes one hot engine AND may add in creating the need for higher octane fuels .. The race tuners HD is selling are tunable at every 200 rpms,, I wonder if purchasing the race tuner (450 bucks - ouch), dropping the cats and running fatter on the bottum would actually make em run cooler,,, just yappin off the cuff... be fun to have a dyno and the equiptment to play with one... Love this stuff....

Seems like Suzuki had some issues with the Bandit,, I may be wrong but cam journals or crank problems come to mind.. Now a Suzy 109,, that would be fun.... Of course a Ural like Brians would be too,,, Maybe even a newer 883 sporty with 1200 jugs, cams and a tuner and set of side pipes and tuned out to 95 horse and made to look like an XR750,,, jeeze guys this is a toughy.... I would LOVE to have a 2 wheel drive ural,, winters coming... Puc

Hey Sandy, I have bars adjusted back and down and ride most of the time leaned back against tippy with my feet on the engine guards so I am low in the saddle.. This position is extremly comfortable for me (and her) on my back/legs and arms and it also eliminates that glare!! I never really thought about what you are saying until now but yea, if I am sitting upright with my back straight I do recall the glare your speaking of.. Even when I covered many many miles alone on one of my other 83's I would adjust my backrest (drivers backrest) rearward so I could put my bag/tent on the rear seat behind the backrest, ran a cut down windshield and left my trunk at home.. Rode many many miles leaned down in the same position I mentioned earlier and NEVER had glare issues.. First thing I have always done to my bikes is drop in Progressive springs in the forks.. I have NEVER owned a good set of OEM springs,, even though most of the 83/84s I have owned have had under 25k on them when purchased the front springs have been sacked out - I honestly believe this happens just from sitting/being stored with the weight on them.. I bought Progressives for the one we are riding now for 70 bucks (free shipping) off ebay.. Seems like I paid 140 for my first set years ago so not a bad deal!!! Never did the aftermarket fork brace but was always tempted to.. I have had multiple bikes that "shimy" right at 46 mph if you let go of the bars - I fixed this by only going no handed above 46 but always wondered if that stiffer brace would fix this.. Yea, that stupid speedo noise.. Lube it or loose it I always say, simple to do.. Mine is still noisey when real cold even after being lubed many times. It stops though after it warms up above 40 degrees... You ever had your carbs synced?? I got the tools if you got the time --- freeby to a fellow Venture rider!! Hey,, did you get my phone number?? You wanna try and hook up before monday?? Not for sure whether we are heading back out at that time but Tippy is ready and the bike is almost ready.. We are thinking about touching base at Vogel to give our worn out ol 1st gen an ego boost after rubbing shoulders with all those ritzy HD's at sturgis on our way out to Texas and we wanna ride the Nachez Trace to get there so Monday is almost a must.. Anyway,, give me a jingle if ya wanna chat!! Puc

While I do totally agree with you I gotta say, HD really does have nice stuff.. Not that I can afford most of it (or would buy it even if I could), I simply dont have the need for bling) but the hd stuff that I have owned for certain purposes it does tend to be quality stuff.. But yea, its amazing what some folks will spend to belong to adhere to certain lifestyles... Now stickers, I like stickers, as my bike earns em it gets em :rotf:I do like my bikes as quiet as possible too but hey,,, I was young once,, nowadays I either ride on the left side of the loudens or stay back so I have some hearing left for tomorrow.. We camped about 4 miles out of Sturgis on the prairie this year and sat in listened to the drone most of the night while gazing at the stars,,,, thunder road has a whole new meaning after years of that!!! Twenty dollar tent, 70 bucks for sleeping bags, sun screen for the wife and an open highway,, retirement is a great thing!! Puc

Gorgeous pics! Thanks for sharing!! We too have only been home a couple days and its shots like that that make my wrist twich and my back side ich for more saddletiime!!! Nicely done!!! Oh yea, I have found that I cant change yesterday so I might as well enjoy today before its gone too,, at least thats what we are trying to do!!! Congrats on riding again!! Puc

Lucky sucker!!! We were there for the unveiling party and knew they were doing the demos (they announced exit 30).. Had to beat foot it home to hook up with daughter or I would have signed up and waited.. I KNEW IT, I KNEW IT,,, I knew the report you are giving was what was going to happen.. Those things are gorgeous!!!!! I cant wait to see the final tally of Indians sold at the rally,, dealers probably wont see one till 2015!! I actually told my wife we should have ordered 5 of them and resold them,, adding enough to keep the 5th one free and clear hahahaha,, I got an evil mind I tell you.... Thats why God keeps me poor I guess...

I always give a wave to fellow riders, whether on the CT90, Helix, venture or even on the Dual Sport.. Tippy and I had sooooo much fun waving at the groups of HD out at Sturgis - picture the two of us on an 83 Venture covered with stickers from all the sites - a tent with two sleeping bags on a rack I built on the back and a set of antelope horns that I pulled off a dead antelope in montana mounted on the mirrors and you gotta ask yourself - would you wave back at something like that??? We found that the best way to be sure we got waved back at was to ride at the back of a pack of HD riders One really cute situation was once we were doing that and a couple guys went by us, giving the two finger down sign at about 20 bikes in front of us and as soon as they came to us they jerked their hands in quickly I take no offence, seriously,, if I found one of those guys stranded I would stop and help them too, guess I been biken long enough and have owned enough bikes that it really dont matter anymore, I wave cause I love riding!! On another note, the HD riders that we stopped and helped who were stranded on the the highway didnt refuse help hahaha... Oh yea, and I rode on the back of a Beemer to a gas station cause I ran out of fuel!! Guy was on his way to the Beemer International in Oregon. Nice as could be, refused any payment and loved our bike and what we were about... We bikers are nice people!!! Puc

Sounds like a bad spot in a neck bearing. I know one thing, if there is any chance of that bearing getting sticky or stuck (and it sounds like thats where it might be headed) I would fix it, when they get stuck (never had this happen) or get tight (have had this happen lots of times on both dirt and street) they really get squirrely - almost undriveable.. As far as driveability goes, loose is nothing compared to tight!!

We just finished a month trip from Michigan to Sacramento, up into Montana, down to sturgis and back home.. Left with a new 404, bald in Fairfield Utah and bald when we got home.. Bottom line on the 404 is, like already mentioned, it doesnt wear good in heat or the extra weight of two riders and loaded up for tent camping BUT for rainy mountain riding they are awesome!!.. I always used e-2's in the past and had really good results, with 3 times the mileage on the rear.. I have yet to try the 3's but hear really good things about them.. Has anyone tryed the new "dual compound" tires? Talked with lots of folks about them out west and had a couple guys mention delamination due to high tempature riding.. Anyone have any thoughts on this? I also do my own tire changes on the road, I really wish the manufactures would match front and rear rim sizes so you could carry 1 spare tire (off rim of course) for road travel.. Tippy and I are thinking of riding down to Quademala and this is one of the issues I am contemplating.. Puc

Tippy and I just got in from a month on the road, left the SPAM Museum (more all about the ride w pics coming soon) in Minnesota (how many of you guys ever stopped and checked that out?) at 2pm.. Anyway,, We left the Sturgis Rally last Sunday morning, hit Rushmore and went up and grabbed 44 heading down to Scenic and than down 27 to Wounded Knee (stopped and played with some indian kids - getting side tracked again..).. While going down 44 we passed an early model Venture (appeared at a glance to be an 86 maybe..) pulling a trailer behind it, it was headed toward Rapid City.. I thought there may have also been a white van following it too?? We were riding our same old 83, unmistakealble - covered with stickers and a set of antelope horns (plucked em from a roadkill in Montana) mounted to the mirrors.. Anyway, thats the only other early Venture we saw our whole trip and just wondered if it happen to be any of our neighbors here on the site.. Had a GREAT month out and made it home in time to meet our daughter here at home (she is an interpreter for the deaf and has been working at a camp all summer) coming in today - just made it hahaha.. Puc

Its 3:15am Michigan time and Tippy amd I just got in from a month long tour.. We made it to Sturgis just in time for the unvieling of the new Indian line.. Awesome party and gorgeous bikes!! Polaris really did the marquee up right. I have been following the process since the buy out and telling Tippy all along how I hoped they (polaris) would follow the lines of the original Chief.. I redid one a few years ago and LOVED the bike.. Well, they did it - it is gorgeous!! Now, here is the major downer, EVERYONE I had talked to and everything I read about their pricing was a starting price of 18900.00 just to get a few on the market.. Since Harleys number 1 seller is the Street Glide and it can be had for 17900 I thought Polaris was walking a thin edge in pricing, like they have been doing with the Victory.. As we left the party at the museum in Sturgis there was a huge banner displayed showing the price had gone up to 20900 as a starting price!! I honestly think they should have gone the other way for a short time to get the bikes out and let them prove themselves.. So people KNOW they arent living in the realm of the old 92 inch Victory again - remember thse years? On the other hand, it is entirely possible that these new Indians will hit the market hard and be in the Zone of a CVO HD Ultra next year,, and than some.. Tippy and I were front row standers and the place was packed - and I mean PACKED - you should have heard the WOWs coming from the crowd!! Some well known riders (I am beat or I would download the video and get names) rode the bikes in and had spent some time on them and they just could not say enough for the dynamics of the bike.. I really think polaris has done it this time,, only time will tell which way the ball goes with the pricing.. If it were me and I wanted one (or should I say, if I could afford one) I dont think I would wait,, could get real pricey real fast.. Puc

Tippy n I are leaving Sacremento today and heading up to Lassen national park, than over to Redwoods and from there up to Crater Lake. gonna hit Yellowstone and do a little cow towning in western montana and that should put us inline for the sturgis ralley on the way back to michigan. I just finished fixing the tail light on the 83 at an all night gas station so probably a late morning depart. I have been going to the rally since 1973, have pretty much wore out the party seen BUT go for the late night chats with other builders down on mainstreet - usually thats where you will find us. Be great to meet up with some of you and say howdy!! I always tent camp about a mile east of the buffalo chip on the praire - quite, cool and peaceful... Puc