BigLenny

Hey Folks, Not sure if we have any members in the Waco, Texas area, but I'd like to ask a favor. My wife and I are going to trailer our bike to Waco (Or close to that area), and park the truck and trailer for few days, and go ride the Texas Hill Country. Just wondering if we had any members in that area that would have a safe place for me to park my truck and trailer. We would be leaving it on Friday the 16th of September, and returning Sunday the 18th. WE then have to be in Grapevine for my wife to attend a 3 day training the 19th-20th. Thanks so much, Big Lenny

Well Kids, I'm having another heart surgery/procedure this coming Monday the 29th. I have a condition called Atrial Fibrillation going on with my heart. Have had 2 other ablation procedures in years past due to A-fib, and I'm hoping this one will fix it for a long time. I'm gonna be off work for 10 days after the surgery to recover, then my wife has to be at a training conference in Dallas September 19-21. We are planning to trailer the bike (only because I don't want to over do things with the heart) down to Waco on the 16th. Then leave Waco on the bike early Saturday morning of the 17th and head down to the hill country. Figured we'd spend Saturday riding and looking at some of the old towns (Fredericksburg, etc) in that area, get a room in maybe Kerrville and ride the 3 Sisters Sunday the 18th before heading back to Dallas to get her settled into the hotel for training starting monday morning. We've never been to the hill country area. I'm looking for suggestions of things that are must sees from you folks that have been there, or live down that way and are familiar that area. Thanks, Big Lenny

I'm sure a lot of my opinion comes from the fact that I pass by my Yamaha dealer on my way home most days. It's a stones throw away. I figure if I lived a fer piece from a dealer I'd prolly have a different feeling. I don't reckon I've ever really thought about another oil making my bike run quieter. Its' pretty dang quiet as it is. I tried synthetics one time, but my clutch started slipping, so I changed back quickly. Hmmmm.

I have a question. And I'm serious. What the heck is the deal with all of the different oils and oil filters everybody on here uses??? I mean, Yamaha recommends Yamaha oil and filter, so I just go to my Yammy dealer and get the oil and filters. It has never occurred to me that Yamaha could be wrong with their recommendation for oil and filters. I know they're making money off of branding their own oil and filters and selling them, but, to me, it's a lot safer staying with what they sell, than hoping and praying some brand I buy at a big box store will fit right and work. I'm not trying to be ornery here, but I see folks making recommendations saying try this one, try that one, this one should fit, but maybe not, etc, etc. I say TRY WHAT YAMMY SAYS TO PUT IN IT!. LOL. In my mind its' too critical of a thing for me to get wrong. If i'm gonna try something, it's gonna be new mirrors, or lights, or something like that. But not engine oil. I'll go back into my hole now. Big Lenny

Slowroll, This quote makes me go huh? You test rode it and decided not to get it because the wife got too hot from the pipes, but then you go on to say; if you replace the RSV, it will be a Roadmaster, or a Slingshot. So, did you lose your wife or something? LOL!!!

My wife and i have test ridden the Roadmaster twice. The first time we rode it, we were impressed, but it was on a day that was about 50 degrees. The second time was last September at Bikes Blues and BBQ, and it was an 80 degree day. And boy did that make a difference! My wife was very agitated with the heat coming from the exhaust. I was feeling it too. After we got finished with the ride, both me and my wife stood and looked at the bike kind of dumb founded at the fact that it produced so much uncomfortable heat on the ride. We immediately marked it off of our list just because of that. It is a beautiful bike, no doubt. But, one has to be able to be comfortable while riding. Another thing that kinda leaves me a little short on the bike is: For the money, (which is more than the comparable Harley) it is rather low tech compared to the Harley. For less money, you can get the HD that has a "with gloves on" touch screen infotainment/sound/GPS system, and at least partial water cooling. And the point Don brings about the dealer network is very important to me.

I think you did awesome! You can tell you put a lotta thought into it, and you're a detail oriented guy. Love it!

Dang Darrin!!! That thing looks sweet!! Ima hafta do that. Did you do the paint?

I agree with Rickard. I like your bike a lot. I think it looks cool.........for a firefighter. And I certainly appreciate your firefighter service. But, I would never buy it with all of that firefighter personalized stuff on it, and red is my favorite color. You narrowed your seller market down to some, not all, firefighters, and a hand full of other folks that might accidentally buy it just for the niche thing. If you really want to sell it, either drop the price, or take all of the firefighter stuff off of it. BigLenny

Dang! I'm tempted to run out there. I have a heart surgery scheduled for August 30th, so I might oughta run out there as a last harrah, before I'm stuck on doctor ordered low activity rest for a spell.

Dang! I just home from spending a week at the beach. Y'all are making me tired.

I filled up today for $1.71 per gal. here in Little Rock, AR.

videoarizona, Thanks so much for your insight and advise. You are obviously a very knowledgable dude when it comes to computers. However, I must point out something you said. You said your daughter loves her MAC, and you like your PC's. You see the key difference there? Love vs Like. Love is a very common word used by people who own MAC's. After years of owning PC's and fighting to keep them safe with anti-virus this, and firewall that, only to eventually experience something like what Yammer Dan is going through on more than one frustrating occasion after another; in 2011, I got pissed and threw the considerably more dough down and bought my first MAC. OMG! I freakin LOVE my MAC! I wish I had made that decision a long time before I did. I have never ran any kind of anti-virus on this thing, and it still runs just as fast today, as it did the first year i bought it. So it's not "open". Who friggen gives a flyin can of corn? I understand for serious techno's, a computer being open is a big thing, but for the vast majority of us average Joe's out here, we just want the d#@* thing to work! Everytime! My MAC has done just that, ever since I bought it. I have now converted everything to Apple. I have 2 iPads, myself and my wifes phones are iPhones, and I even bought an Apple TV unit. Everything just works now! All the time. Yammer, I say give the old college try to all of the ideas videoarizona and others are suggesting. It ain't gonna hurt to try em. They might just fix your issue. But, if it doesn't work out. Get to Best Buy or the Apple Store, bite the financial bullet and buy a MAC. You'll never regret it.

That is a gorgeous scoot. But, I still don't see Cruise Control listed. Gotta have that for it to be a serious tourer. IMO.

Don, I pray that Eileen gets better soon. We also had a doozy yesterday with my wife Teresa. We haven't been on the bike in a couple months, so we very foolishly decided to go for a ride,even though the temps were going to get quite warm (97, with a heat index of 103). By the time we made a 200 mile loop, my wife was sick with a migraine headache and throwing up. We got home about 2:00PM, and she went straight to bed and stayed there except for getting up and throwing up once. The heat about did her in. I was concerned she had a heat stroke. She woke up this morning without the headache, but feeling shaky and weak. We had the discussion this morning about how age is starting to effect how long and what conditions we can take on the bike.

That might be something to consider Cwhite. It is hot. But, on the other hand, we went the last week of July and I don't really remember being miserable or anything. I think I was in the mode of letting my wife do something she wanted to do on the trip, so I just sucked it up and enjoyed it no matter what. As I said before, I had done my share of griping about us having to tour a big house before we got there. Then, I actually thought it was awesome! As far as the money; I think it was $50.00ea. with the headsets when we went in 2012, but what the heck ever. Money, Smunny, you're on vacation. That means take a break from everything back home, including worrying about the budget. LOL.

Cool! If you do decide to go, splurge and get the headsets. It makes the tour WAAAYYY more interesting!

I have test ridden them a couple times. Had this hankering awhile back to get a sport tourer. It's a good bike, but, its kinda getting dated, Honda has sat on there laurels for a while with that bike. It is missing a key thing for me if i"m gonna "tour", cruise control. Yammy upped their game by putting cruise on the FJR, not sure why Honda and Kawi are sleeping on the ST and Connie. Zzzzzzzzzz.

That might be okay, but, that doesn't take you by the Biltmore Estate. LOL LOL LOL! Ima keep hounding you until you put that in your agenda. BTW, it looks like you would get off at 191, and then run up to 112. Also, FYI: the Blue Ridge Parkway is a non commercial road. Can't have buses or big trucks or anything like that on it. Thats a big reason it's a great bike road. Also, there is no businesses on it, ei: gas stations, restaurants, convenience stores. It is a road that our great country built strictly for driving and enjoying the scenery. You have to get off the exits to get find a gas station, etc. Awesome road. There are several tunnels between Cherokee and Asheville.

C, This sounds like a good plan. I have ridden the Foothills Parkway, and its a good (wouldn't say great) ride. It comes out on 129 a few miles north end of the Dragon. You might want to look at leaving south out of Gatlinburg for a spell on 441 and take Fighting Creek Gap Rd west to Little River Rd, to East Lamar Alexander Pkwy(Townsend Entrance Rd) to 321. It comes out on 321 about 7 miles east of the Foothills Parkway. We rode that route and it's really cool. After you get to The Cherohala at the end of 360, you'll want to take a short break there in Tellico Plains before you ride east on the Cherohala. Heres a side note: from the 360-165 (Cherohala Skyway) intersection, go 4 miles up the Skyway and take a right onto River Road. Ride River Rd about 6 miles and you'll come to Bald River Falls on the right side of the road. Really pretty place to get off the bike and gander and take a photo or two. You can also get there by going up the Cherohala to Turkey Creek Rd, Turn right on Turkey Creek and go down to River Rd, and turn left on River Rd to go to Bald River Falls. When you take Moonshiner 28 out of 129 (Deals Gap) over to 74, as I said before, be sure to ride up on top of the Fontana Dam and get a look at Fontana Lake. When you're in Cherokee, ride around the little town. Lotta indian history there. You'll see a lotta folks swimming in the river that flows through the town. Not sure if you're into gambling, but if you are, there's a very large Harrah's casino there in Cherokee on 19 east of town. When you leave Cherokee heading north on 441 to go back to Gatlinburg, on the north edge of town the Blue Ridge Parkway turns off to right. Just a reference for if you want to come back down and ride it another day. I highly recommend riding it to Asheville and touring the Biltmore Estate, as I stated before. 441 is an awesome ride if the traffic is down. but, the time of year, it's gonna be crowded. Remember, you are going to be in America's most visited national park. And there are a boat load of folks in and around that area. Clingmans Dome is off of 441 between Cherokee and Gatlinburg, and worth the looksee. You gotta get off the bike and walk a bit to see it. I can't tell you exactly where this was on 441, I think it was closer to Cherokee than Gatlinburg, but my wife and I stopped at an old grist mill that is about 100 years old. That was really interesting to see and hear the park attendant tell the story of how they used to use it, and how they got water from the stream to the mill. Good place to take a break. The thing that is so nice about the area you're going to go to is; shade. The heat and humidity will probably be smothering at times, but the roads you'll be riding will have large sections of shade covering. Trees trees trees lining the roadways everywhere. I love out west, but out there, you really out in the open for the wind and sun to wear you out. Not so down south and particularly in that area. You're gonna love it. There's so many trees you'l be in shade a lot. As I said before; I'm jealous. Lol.

Good job Condor.

I wanna go there. I'm needing some utopia in my life about right now.

Wow!. Now THAT really is neat. Looks like that pic of her was taken in a cold room. Lol.

Cwhite, I too am very jealous! What a wonderful area to ride motorcycles. You could close your eyes and put your finger on a map, and it would land on a great motorcycle riding road. The Cherohala Skyway from Tellico Plains to Hwy 129 (Cherokee) is one of our all time favorite roads we've ever ridden. At the end of the Cherohala, go north for a short spell to Deals Gap. Thats where The Dragon starts, and you can go into the Deals Gap Motorcycle Resort Store. It's always fun to watch all the bikes come and go there. Always a bunch there. Then, go southeast on Hwy 28 (Moonshiner 28). Wonderful road. Stop at Fontana Dam. It was once the tallest dam east of the Mississippi River. Drive across the dam and take a gander at Fontana Lake, beautiful. Then on down to Hwy 74, then over to Cherokee. The ride from Cherokee up 441 to Gatlinburg is awesome, but sometimes crowded. I think a must for most people and their wives would be to run over to Asheville and tour the Biltmore Estate. Do that if you have time. My wife really really really wanted to tour the Biltmore. I griped and moaned about the idea of going to tour a big house. Well, it wound up being one of the coolest places I've ever seen. Highly recommend it. I think another must is; ride the Blue Ridge Parkway from Cherokee to Asheville. The speed limit is only 45, but you win't need to go any faster. Big Lenny