The Prophet

After a horrid, long, cold, and endless winter here in northern Illinois, some long awaited warm weather is finally here. I enjoy the HOT, and will take it anytime over the long, bitter cold winters we’ve had back to back in ’08 and ’09.

90 degrees F (33 C) last Saturday. 90 again on Sunday. 89 (31.6C) yesterday, now 89 again today. It rained for just a few hours yesterday, otherwise Sunny, and crystal clear blue skies. This weekends forecast is more of the same. Oddly though, on Memorial Day weekend (May 29, 30, and 31) far more often than not we get rain ‘round here. This is Indianapolis 500 weekend, so fans of this Race know that well. Forecast says otherwise, so keep your fingers crossed.

I rode last Saturday for a few hours solo, then Sunday we (the wife and I) took two separate rides, one mid to long one in the morning , 2.5 hrs, ending up at “Southern Belle” restaurant for a huge pancake breakfast at 11:00 AM, then another, shorter one right at dusk - after a great BBQ Steak dinner - for some Ice Cream at “Smokey Joe’s”. Sunday there were bikes galore out, everybody friendly and smiling/waving. Nice.

This was the first ride for the ailing (back and lower leg pains) wife on the new K&Q Seat, and she praised it as “way, way better” then the old, stock, slab seat. The ride did not add any pains, not was she ever uncomfortable during the ride(s). Done.

One serious note on all this though… dehydration. Just a reminder here to always bring along a couple bottles of water, and drink plenty, even when you’re not thirsty.

When I got to the restaurant after the morning ride, I kept buggin’ the waitress for “more water”… “more water”, like in one of those old Sahara desert survival movies. Reality is: When you get dehydrated, you may start making poor, or too late, decisions. This could be… bad.

Ride Safe (and fully hydrated)!

Bob

__________________

• A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving. ~Lao Tzu
• Motorcyles are not my whole life, but they make my life whole. ` me

motowebmaster

Summer is here.

I rode to Tulsa last weekend, in my perforated leathers, but felt that it wouldn't be much longer still the armoured textile and water pack will have to come out. The water pack was a Christmas gift, that hasn't been used in two years

The Prophet

Update:

It os SOOO nice 'round here that I'm taking Friday off and turning it into a four day weekend. Weather experts are calling for mid to high 80's, and clear sunshine Friday, Saturday, and again on Sunday. Monday there's a "chance" of rain predicted.

Already have an great all day outing on the bike planned for me & the Mizzuz on Friday. Saturday we have a friends BBQ to go to, the rest we'll play by ear.

Ride Safe!

Bob

The Prophet

Yesterday (Saturday) morning, we went here:

Kegel Harley-Davidson

This is a small diner in Rockford, Illinois, that is connected to what claims to be the "Oldest" Family owned HD Dealership in existence.

It was HOT yesterday, as in 95 -98 degrees F. The ride was super nice, about 1.5 Hrs each way through scenic countryside, all fast backroads. Arrived at 11:15 AM. The restaurant was pretty cool (literally and figuratively!), and had one of Evil Knievil's old bike's on display, right in the middle of the diner counter. All sorts of "motorcycle" related stuff around the walls. Actually, a very nice place, but oddly, totally empty except me & the wife, on a beautiful, sunny, Holiday Weekend Saturday morning, AND... right smack next to a motorcycle dealership! Mysterious.

Hmmm, wierd we thought, so we cautiously began to eat breakfast while watching numerous Harleys come and go to the Dealership entrance. Seems a LOT of Harley types go to the Dealers on Saturday morning to buy... T-Shirts. That's all we saw being sold.

Breakfast was very good, and plenty of it, coffee was excellent, Waitress was very nice, no complaints at all. We would go again some time.out of Five. At this restaurant you just walk out the back door and Viola, you are inside the dealership.

As said before, lot's of fully costumed "bikers" buying T-Shirts and doo-rags, that kinda stuff. No one - except us - was looking at the bikes in the seperate showroom area. Cheapest new bike was $19,800, most expensive was $31,899. They load these things up with accessories, chrome, and other pricey doo-dads, so the MSRP skyrockets.

One nice XR1200 Sportster , but no MSRP attached. Three Buells way in the back, but no tickets on those either. There was a very nice used, super clean, fully loaded Black "Ultra Classic" something or other, 2007, low miles, for $13,899. The "evil" little devil guy on my left shoulder began to goad and coax me until "Sold" was read on the ticket. Oh well...
We didn't purchase anything, because you can't get anything that doesn't say "Harley Davidson" on it in large letters. They did have a few nice sets of gloves (but "HD" logo'd), and oddly, a whole department, or section, dedicated to helmets. THAT ... I found perplexing. You have to wonder how many they sell per year at a HD Dealership?

All in all, a very nice little restaurant, we had fun, and our take on why it was empty?.......

No Beer (or any type booze)! See menu. Must be a liability thing. Why do we say this? Because all the way there and back, the local bars were jam packed - or at least the parking lots were full, of Harley and other clone type bikes. Just what you want to be doing at 1:00 PM on a beautiful, Sunny, Holiday Weekend Saturday afternoon. You own a bike, but instead of enjoying it you're suckin' beer in a dark, smokey Bar Room. Oh well, to each his own.

Got back home 'round 3:30 PM (98 Degrees F), just in time for a shower and change, then off to a good ol' buddies for a nice BBQ party. Life is tough.

Bike ran flawlessly all day... I got sunburned forearms, as I was lazy (it was HOT!), and didn't wear an armored jacket. My bad.

Ride safe!

Bob

motowebmaster

It was surprisingly nice here yesterday. I rode by myself, in my perf leathers, from 7am to roughly 2pm. We've got family in town this weekend.

There were some bikers at my breakfast spot in Eureka Springs, but the tourists were in a bad mood. I didn't care for the music, but they truly hated it. Most of the road traffic and law enforcement, were allocated to the lakes and rivers; I rode for miles on Missouri's Hwy90 without any interruption, except for a very cool corvette with it's top off.