December 2013

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M our le T cyc tor Mo

DECEMBER

2013 Volume 19 No. 12

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Motorcycles, Travel & Adventure

t i u r F n e d d i y r b e r v o o c F

s i e D o h t t o g M n h i t i t s w a a T Cub g n i d i R

Backroads 15th Fall Fiesta Three Guys, One Dream Tons of Great Product Spotlights for your Holiday Shopping

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W H A T ’ S M ON T HLY COLUM N S

I N S I D E FEATURES

FREE WHEELIN’.................................................................................4 WHATCHATHINKIN’..........................................................................5 POSTCARDS FROM THE HEDGE .................................................6 ON THE MARK ..................................................................................7 THROTTLE BLIPS ..............................................................................8 BACKLASH .........................................................................................9

POLAR BEAR GRAND TOUR SCHEDULE ................................15 15TH ANNUAL BACKROADS FALL FIESTA.............................25 THREE GUYS - ONE DREAM .......................................................42 TASTING THE FORBIDDEN FRUIT .............................................56

MOTORCYCLE REVIEWS 2014 SUZUKI V-STROM 1000....................................................32

INDUSTRY INFOBITES ..................................................................10 2014 ROYAL ENFIELD CONTINENTAL GT500 ........................39 THOUGHTS FROM THE ROAD....................................................12 2014 KAWASAKI Z1000...............................................................41 BIG CITY GETAWAY........................................................................16 MYSTERIOUS AMERICA...............................................................18 GREAT ALL AMERICAN DINER RUN ........................................20 WE’RE OUTTA HERE .....................................................................22 WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE .......................................................48 UPCOMING EVENTS CALENDAR ..............................................49

PRODUCT REVIEWS/SPOTLIGHTS HOLIDAY SHOPPING SUGGESTIONS .......................................34 AND MORE HOLIDAY GIFT IDEAS ............................................46 MOTORCYCLE MARKETPLACE...................................................50 ADDITIVES FOR YOUR MACHINE AND BODY.......................63

Brian Rathjen • Shira Kamil ~ Publishers Contributors: Jeff Bahr, Mark Byers, Bill Heald, Tony Piano, James Donley Shaw, David H. Taylor, Michael Vaughn, Dr. Seymour O’Life Motorcycles, Travel & Adventure

BACKROADS • POB 317, Branchville NJ 07826 Phone 973.948.4176 • Fax 973.948.0823 • email editor@backroadsusa.com • web www.backroadsusa.com

For Advertising Sales Information: 973-948-4176 BACKROADS (ISSN 1087-2088) is published monthly by BACKROADS™, Inc. 2013. All rights reserved. BACKROADS™ may not be reproduced in any manner without specific written consent from the publisher. BACKROADS™ welcomes and encourages submissions (text and photos) and suggestions. Include phone number with submissions. BACKROADS™ will only return material with enclosed sufficient postage. The written articles and opinions printed in BACKROADS™ are not necessarily those of the publisher and should not be considered an endorsement. The Rip & Rides® published are ridden on the sole responsibilty of the rider. BACKROADS™ is not responsible for the conditions of the public roadways traversed. Please respect the environment, read your owner’s manual and wear proper protective gear and helmet. Ride within your limits, not over them.

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DECEMBER 2013 • BACKROADS

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I mentioned to the angry guy that I have the same pump he has and was happy to upgrade the attachment for such a light price. He gave me a look BRIAN RATHJEN that told me I should mind my business.

At this point David, who was being a total gentleman to this arrogant jerk, was done as well and he told him that he would not give him a free chock Give them a break and to either buy or to please move on; end of discussion.

I was spending some time at the vendor The guy made a few more derogatory remarks and stormed off. area at the BMW MOA International Rally We just shrugged our shoulders and I bought another air pressure gauge, in Salem, Oregon a few months back when I stopped by one of our advertisas I like to keep them on all my bikes all the time. ers, BestRest Products, that had a large booth at the rally and, like so many Later on Shira and I were discussing how hard it is to sometimes just make others, was doing a brisk business. a small profit, much less a great living in so many industries.

While there chatting it up with David, owner operator of BestRest, a fellow Riders look at vendors, shop owners and dealerships and feel that everycame over and sorta-kinda-rudely interrupted us. body is riding high and ripping them off, when the truth is more likely the He looked like he had a problem and David, always the gentlemen, exexact opposite. cused himself to see if he could be of help.

Take any big motorcycle touring rally; the vendors have to purchase booth It turned out that this guy had bought one of space, make travel arrangements – many times ext time you walk into a shop or up to a BestRest’s portable pumps, which are awedriving thousands of miles themselves – secure vendor’s booth at a rally try to remember some on the road if you need to inflate a tire, a nearby hotel, handle all the meals, pay others that things cost money. Things cost but he now had a problem. It seems he was to help man the booth (usually paying for all money to design, to build, to package, to upset that since he bought his pump, which we their expenses as well), not to mention bringing transport and to deliver into your hands. also have, David had upgraded the chock that all their wares into the rally site as well. attaches the hose to the tire’s valve stem. The new one is larger and more Then you get a guy like the previous one who will argue over buying a $7 durable and allows for a better and more secure attachment. chock for a year old pump.

If you wish you could easily upgrade from the old to new chock for just Am I the only one who sees the problem here? $7 and 5 minutes of work. We bought two, for our pump and air gauge.

These vendors, just like your local dealer or shop, have large overheads David listened to this man complain that he had bought his pump the preand are in the motorcycle industry because they are, most likely, riders just vious year and had even used it, but was demanding that David give him the like you. newer chock for free. He even wanted BestRest to change it for him.

Next time you walk into a shop or up to a vendor’s booth at a rally try to David said he would be happy to change the piece for the guy, but it still remember that things cost money. Things cost money to design, to build, to would cost $7. package, to transport and to deliver into your hands.

The guy was incensed and began to loudly let everyone within earshot Nothing is for free in this world and capitalism is a good thing that makes know. David smiled and repeated he would be happy to help him upgrade the world go round. his older pump, but still would have to sell him the chock.

I am not saying that there are not scam artists or bad people who are lookTo be honest I don’t think the profit margin on a chock selling for 7 bucks ing to take advantage of you, but for the most part the people in the motoris all that great and to start giving them away defeats the purpose of even cycle industry are good folk, so please, give them a break. making them available.

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BACKROADS • DECEMBER 2013

W H ATC H AT H I N K I N ’ SHIRA KAMIL

Why We ride This past Friday we took a drive into Manhattan. Yes, it was the Friday of production for the December issue, which would be featured at the International Motorcycle Show. Yes, I was working on a deadline to get all the elements for this issue pulled together before those involved headed off for their weekend. Yes, I would normally be working until long past the clock turned midnight. But, this was an exception that had to be made.

For several weeks we had known of an upcoming release of a film entitled ‘Why We Ride’. An independently financed production, it is described by its producers as: ‘Why We Ride is about who we are. Individuals with a desire to dream, discover, and explore. Seeking a life outside our daily confinements and sharing those moments together. It’s about the journey, not the destination.

Motorcycles represent the milestones of our lives. From a kid’s dream come true, to a retiree’s return to freedom. From a family riding together on the sand dunes, to hundreds of choppers carving through the canyons - the bond is the same.

It’s about the passion of the riders and the soul of their machines. Your senses will heighten as the world rushes in, your heart will beat to the pulse of the engine, your mind will race and set you free. Once you let a motorcycle into your life, it will change you forever.’

From this and viewing the trailer, I was quite excited. It has been a while since a film has portrayed motorcycling, in all aspects, in a positive light.

And after the horror story that happened in Manhattan in September, I hoped

Page 5 that this film would help alleviate the disdainful looks motorcyclists have been getting. Perhaps this would be a newer version of ‘On Any Sunday’.

We would see.

As a litmus test, we brought my mother. While we’ve been putting this magazine together for twenty years now, I still have a suspicion that she really doesn’t ‘get’ what we do. Perhaps I think that because, when I tell her of an upcoming trip we’ll be doing, she asks if we’re ‘taking our motorcycles.’ I thought that seeing the different styles and forms of motorcycling would give her more insight.

First off, let me say that the film was very good.

The cinematography was incredible. It was nice to see some folks that we know in the industry giving their thoughts, opinions and inspirations. While the showing that we attended was not a sell-out, I know for a fact that the two later shows were and hoped that the theaters weren’t full of just motorcyclists, but also ‘just plain folk’ who might be wooed to feel the same way that we do about these wonderful machines.

While most of the hour and a half was filled with tales of racing, there was a good portion dealing with the touring aspect of the two-wheeled life. Ted Simon and Dave Barr regaled us with their journeys. Although I know the story, hearing Mr. Barr tell the details of his transition to double-amputee riding was awe-inspiring. And to hear Mr. Simon reflect on why he did his travels really made me think about the way some folks compartmentalize their lives and miss so many great adventures.

But, by far, the highlight of the film was the tales of family. Children learning to ride soon after they could walk. Spending their weekends, or more time if possible, on and around two-wheels, growing up immersed in this wonderful comradery of motorcyclists. There were generations telling their stories, from bike building to racing to just taking off on trip to anywhere. All this interspersed with wittiness, poignancy and love for the life they’ve been able to enjoy.

(Continued on Page 7)

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DECEMBER 2013 • BACKROADS

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you know the rest. The things are breeding you see, and infiltrating every aspects of our lives with surprising ease.

Back on these pages long, long ago (although it was probably quite reBILL HEALD cently, to be honest) I mentioned that it’s only a matter of time before we see displays in our helmets that tie into our bikes, as well as giving us navigation Pixel dust information. At least two manufacturers are poised to do this as we speak, If you watch the classic Marlon Brando moessentially creating a heads-up display in the helmet. The idea is you can torcycle movie The Wild One every 12 hours or keep your eyes on the road while also reading the map, speedo, etc. much in so like I do, you’ll remember that a shopthe same way hands-free devices keep you keeper comments that a reason for the focused on the road when driving a car. I “trouble” being caused by the “visitors” is was pretty gung-ho about such technology the fact that they are “over stimulated.” Oh when I first was introduced to it, but now sure, you can belittle this dated relic (and I’m not as keen as before. The reason can even the movie) all you want, but there is be best illustrated in something that hapan enduring point floating around in all that pened just a few days ago, as it got me lovely black & white imagery. We are livthinking. Hey, it’s been known to happen, ing in an age where stimulation is being when conditions are right. blasted into almost every aspect of our The scene was as follows: I was riding lives, in the guise of a remarkable clear home and decided to check the ol’ trip screen that comes in various sizes and odometer to see if I should alter the route form-factors. They started back when twoa bit to swing by and get some fossil fuel. strokes were as common as cigarettes, and The process of glancing down at the the portable television was born. Then came computers with their own fancy clocks took maybe 3 seconds, tops. When I looked up, danged if there wasn’t screenage, and then portable computers, then laptops, then smartphones, a couple of deer that had appeared out of nowhere. Fortunately they were tablets, mini-tablets, mega smartphones, glasses adorned with Googles, and content to jog on the side of the road and not jump in front of me, but I couldn’t believe the way they suddenly appeared (as they are known to do. I think it’s some kind of trans-dimensional thing). Here’s a scenario where, in theory, a heads-up display would have come in mighty handy. With such a display I might be able to see what my trip odometer said without having to look down at the instruments as it would theoretically be projected in my helmet visor just out of my main field of view. When I glanced at the trip odometer in a helmet so equipped, I would have still seen the deer in my peripheral vision, right?

Before I would have said absolutely, but now I’m not so sure. It all has to do with concentration, and how the mind works. In the past, I used to be a solid multitasker who could keep a lot of balls in the air. My spouse used to be amazed at how I could watch a movie and talk to her, and not miss a word of dialogue in either arena. But now, I seem to generally be more focused on individual things rather than taking it all in the way I used to. In the case of a heads up display, my mind would still be off the road for that critical split-second while I read the trip odometer, and processing the information as to whether the mileage indicated I should get gas. My point here is as great as some of this technology is, we have to be careful in realizing what benefits we can derive from it and not let it lure us into thinking we have eliminated a potential distraction by introducing a more subtle one. I harp on this a lot, and I apologize if it’s getting tedious, but riding a motorcycle requires a deep commitment to focus on what’s going on around us.

This is getting all the more critical as more and more cars we share the road with are distracted by all the brilliant new devices that seem to be appearing every 20 minutes or so. No doubt there are seriously good advanHuge Selection of Victory Parts, Apparel and tages these new aides can bring, but just remember Accessories for all your Holiday Shopping. when you invite a display into your helmet you’re likely Visit our Showroom or Shop Online to look at it, and this can be a problem if done at the wrong time. This goes on the auditory front as well.

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BACKROADS • DECEMBER 2013

ON THE MARK MARK BYERS

scaredy cat

Page 7 ted on an off-camber turn, when I realized my fun clock had run out. We all sat around, listening to the bikes cool, talking about what a great day it was.

Yes, I was scared, but it was a good scared. It was the kind of scared you conquer and feel the better for. It was the kind of scared you dread and love – the kind that makes you go on roller coasters and get back in line to feel again. It was the kind of scared that makes you sit around and talk about afterward, like cavemen reliving the hunt. Scared is good: it keeps you alive and it makes you alive. Are we going to do it again? We’re already making plans. I sure hope I get scared again.

When was the last time you were scared?

I’m not talking about the moment a minivannite turns across your path and you squeeze the front brake like the hand of God. That would be a simple cortisol shot from your lizard brain. I’m talking about a premeditated “Holy shit, what the devil am I doing here?” day-job-loving, mid-life-crisis-relevant, Whatchathinkin’ (Continued from Page 5) insurance-card-holding, scared. I can tell you when: it was the 30th of SepAfter the show, we sat at a very nice Greek restaurant off Time Square – tember.

Brian, my mother, our friend Billy and me – enjoying a glass of wine, dinner My friend, Dangerous Dan, married a woman who is definitely “The and discussion. Interestingly, my mom said she really enjoyed the film but Coolest Wife Ever” (TCWE). A few years ago, she gave Dangerous a trip there were parts of it that scared her. ‘What could have scared you?’ I asked. to the Isle of Man TT for his birthday. More recently, she gave him a beauShe answered, ‘When the bikes were jumping in the air and riding over the tiful daughter who is equal parts sequin-purse girly-girl and “Go faster boulders and those racers who were scraping their knees.’ I assured her that daddy!” wrench-wielding motorcycle chicklet. Little Cora is growing up we did not ride any motocross, and probably never would. However, those around her daddy’s 36 motorcycles (TCWE again). So, what does TCWE folks in full leathers tearing around the track? Well, as Alonzo Bodden said do for an encore? in the film ‘If my knee or elbow are dragging, that’s just part of my crash.’

She rented Budd’s Creek Motocross track for the entire day for her husband But we do try our best to emulate. and his riding buddies. Oh, hell yeah. And even though his birthday is in I’m glad that I got to share this with her. I hope that she has a better underJuly, she hired it for September so we wouldn’t have to die of heat prostration standing of what riding means to us. That’s it’s not just a means to make a on the barren slopes of said venue. And she brought doughnuts. Double living, but our lives. chocolate. That wonderful, euphoric start to the day, my friends, leads us to the fear part of the program.

If you don’t know Budd’s Creek, push aside the rock you’re under. It hosts National-level motocross events and a few years ago, was the site of the MX de Nations.

Placing me on it with anything short of a bulldozer is casting pearls before swine. Add a new-to-me Honda CRF-250 with titanium valves and remember that we had no marshals, flaggers, or ambulances. The track was raced all weekend and had not been groomed for us. The release form went on for a page of legalese, whose text can be summarized as, “Dude, it’s your ass.”

It was into this muddy maelstrom I was tossed. After kicking the finicky Honda to life, I rode down to the grid and lined up like the big boys. The start was loose, but rideable and the first turn was off-camber, but I was all by myself. The whoop section was followed by a tabletop. I was negotiating things pretty well, although any air I caught was purely accidental. Then, I got to the top of the first hill. You don’t realize how steep they are from TV and you know they’re kind of steep going up, but you tip over the top and that’s when it hits you.

True motocross riders leap off the crests and land well down the slopes. Patzers like me look down the steepest part and have mental images of “The agony of defeat” scene from the Wide World of Sports. The ruts from a The limited production Raider SCL is loaded with premium cruiser features. Crafted weekend of racing didn’t help. I tipped over the first for riders who value exclusivity, only 500 of these exceptional machines will be built. hill, telling myself to stay off the brakes lest the bike The Raider SCL features newly developed, aggressive, robust, dark Matte Iron paint accented with a Matte Raven swap ends, and rode a bucking rut to the bottom, wherecolor including unique pin striping on the front/rear fenders and headlight. A new blacked-out theme embodies upon two things hit me: 1) I made it, and b) “Oh gawd, the Raider SCL with black components throughout: oxidized titanium coated fork tubes, push-rod tubes, forks, I’m only a third the way around.” The far side of the exhaust, air cleaner box, wheels, meter panel, switch gear, and master cylinders, just to name a few. The 2014 track is a series of off-camber turns, connecting steep Raider SCL simply stands out from the crowd. Get yours today at: ups and downs, including the fabled “Henry Hill,” where in 1995, Doug Henry fractured two vertebra. I am neither proud nor ashamed to say that I came in after surviving the first lap, arms pumped to the moon with lactic acid, and thought, “Maybe I’ll just take pictures 67 North Broadway • Route 107 • Hicksville, NY of the other guys.”

It took ten minutes of personal pep talk and vigorous, spastic arm-shaking before my brain and body were convinced that sidelining myself was a bad idea. Each lap was still an adventure, but I gained confidence every time I came through unscathed. I kept reminding myself not to squeeze the black out of the grips and the arm pump lessened. I even started catching a little intentional air here and there. It was near the end of the day, as I stuffed my face in a hay bale after getting cross-rut-

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DECEMBER 2013 • BACKROADS

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THROT TLE BLIPS JEFF BAHR in Praise of - Part one In this column I often zero in on deficiencies in the motorcycle world, things that irk me, things that I believe can be improved upon. But, lo and behold, our sport also contains things that meet with my approval. Some of these even make me smile. Surprised? Hey, I’m not Gruff Gus all of the time. center stands: Once so common they were almost an afterthought; center stands became scarce as machines became more complex and narrowly-focused. In their absence it didn’t take long for motorcyclists to recognize their worth. That is unless one actually enjoyed rolling their heavy bike a few inches, lubing the chain, then rolling it a few more; or finding a way to lever the rear wheel off the ground during chain adjustments or tire changes, or...

“Weight savings and lean angles be damned!” riders collectively declared.

“Give us back our center stands.” Now that’s what I call taking a stand! shaft drive: Unless you’re a racer looking to shave hundredths of a second off of each lap, shaft drive offers the cleanest and most fuss-free drive system (read that the best) presently available. In fact, chains and belts, which require regular adjustment, seem almost archaic in comparison. With “shafties” you change the gear oil every riding season and you’re set. No messy chains. No saggy belts. No slimy wheels. Mean and pristine. What’s not to love?

Windshields: My first road bike was a standard UJM that lacked a windshield. I was told I should keep it this way, that it wasn’t cool to be seen with a dorky piece of Plexiglas punching a hole in the wind. To this I eventually said “phooey!”

Riding distance and comfort are greatly improved when you sit within the still air envelope that windshields provide, and your riding season will be greatly extended as a bonus. Plus, you won’t be forced to eat bug stew.

For the profilers among us, there are quick-detach windshields that allow you to act rugged in front of your pals at the Tombstone Tavern, but ride

home with full weather protection. A tough guy with smarts, if you will. abs: One moment I was happily making my way through a gentle rainstorm, the next I was doing the “macadam ass munch” sliding down the highway on my hip and wondering just what in hell happened. That’s how quick bad things can happen when you’re forced to stop abruptly in the rain and your front wheel inadvertently locks up.

To avoid such painful moments, I now ride machines with anti-lock brakes (ABS) exclusively. Will this safety feature prevent all stopping-related accidents? Of course not. But the system is better than most motorcyclists can ever hope to be skills-wise; particularly when road surfaces turn wet or slick.

Like the song says, “We’re only human, bound to make mistakes.” A little insurance never hurts. electronic fuel injection: I still remember the annoying drill on those chilly mornings. Fire up the beast on full choke. Build the revs very slowly while simultaneously backing the choke knob off. If all went well the machine would settle into a loping idle and I could ride off. More often than not I’d miss the perfect ratio, the bike would putter and stall, and I’d need to start over from scratch. Aargh!

Invariably while this was playing out, my buttoned-down neighbor would start his cruddy econo-box, throw it into gear and drive off. How could this be? It was the 1980s for goodness sake! Why did my superbike falter and his crappy car excel? Answer: Electronic Fuel Injection (EFI).

This great invention, only recently adapted to motorcycling, has changed everything. No more playing games during warm up. No more uneven idling.

I think of EFI as the great liberator; the breakthrough that will push motorcycling well into the future. My neighbor’s wife is just happy that she doesn’t hear me cussing anymore. A square deal all around, wouldn’t you say? backroads: Okay, so this pick will undoubtedly come off as self-serving.

But I don’t care. As a fellow with very limited resources, I feel it’s my duty to trumpet the great bargains currently available to riders. This premium regional magazine, more than any other that I’ve come across in the U.S., delivers on those fronts most important to motorcyclists.

Is it informative? Yes. Provocative? Check. Does it entertain? You bet.

That it consistently does all of this on or above the level of national rags is nothing short of stupendous, particularly when you factor in its price. Simply put: Freebies aren’t supposed to be this good. Bravo.

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BACKROADS • DECEMBER 2013

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BACKLASH

Letters to the Editor

On The Mark hits it Again

Don’t Punish Us All….

Dear Editors The comments made by Mark Byer’s in the last issue were right on the money. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen a piece of chrome poking out from under a Tarp or peeking from behind an old wooden fence! Every time I MUST investigate. Those old bikes were once the dream of someone: from a High School student who purchased a used Yamaha 400 Special with his newspaper delivery money-to the WWII Vet who rode a ‘42 WLA in Africa for the US Army and brought it home, keeping it in the corner of his garage. It is almost inevitable that these gems will be found and resurrected in one way or another.

Thank you for continuing to produce the kind of great magazine we, on this coast like to read.

Sheldon Braffman - Reisterstown, MD

When I first watched the video of the incident of Sunday, September 29 with the SUV and motorcycle gang, the first thought that popped into my mind was that this is not going to be good for the US motorcycle community as a whole. It doesn’t matter whether we belong to clubs or not, ride in groups, own European, Asian or American machines, the public will judge and punish us under one big “two-wheel riders are a menace” umbrella.

Unfortunately for the past 60 years the public has been incessantly exposed to the negative Hollywood biker stereotype, starting with the Stanley Kramer production of “The Wild One,” (1953). Ever since, Hollywood has cashed in on the lawless biker image and in the process has left a lasting image on the public’s mind that bikers are bad news.

With that in mind, we are commonly thought of as “guilty” just for the sake of riding an environmentally friendly, alternate form of transportation. Of course the entire Sept. 29th incident is very unfortunate and I wish it had never happened, however, let’s not forget that incidents like this are extremely rare in the 120 years of the popularity of the motorcycle.

The truth is motorcycles are far from menacing and in fact globally hailed as a green form of transportation. They occupy much less roadway - hence reduce congestion. Compare to other vehicles, they have little impact on the wear and tear of our roads. They offer twice the fuel economy of an average car — most motorcycles offer 50mpg — hence they not only save fuel but they also reduce the harmful emissions. They require far fewer raw materials to manufacture and most of their parts are recyclable. And they only need one-fourth the parking space of an average car.

In short, there are no inherently negative attributes associated with motorcycles and in larger cities they provide an unquestionable benefit to growing global congestion and emissions problems.

Therefore, please don’t allow such rare incidents cloud your mind about this great past, present and future form of transportation.

Shahram Shiva (Continued on Page 14)

Kudos to Mark Byers. My friend, you nailed it! That first bike, the leather jacket, the girl, it was all there. I have always had a passion for two wheels, whether pedal or motorized. I remember my Schwinn Stingray with banana seat and ape hanger handlebars. I even had faux exhaust pipes bolted to the rear axle nuts.

But, I digress. I sold my first car to finance my first bike. A BSA 441 Victor replete with single cylinder, compression release kick start and scrambler exhaust. And, did I mention that it was yellow? I rode that bike right through the winter even in moderate snowfall. It was all I had but it was mine.

Fast forward to today. I now know why I have an affinity towards adventure bikes. Be it my BMW R80GSPD or currently my Cagiva Gran Canyon in Corse yellow. Are you seeing a pattern here? Given the right circumstances, I would gladly revisit that BSA. Not up to today’s standards, but it was mine.

Thanks for the memories.

Sam Porfido - In Sight Optics

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DECEMBER 2013 • BACKROADS

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INDUSTRY INFOBITES AMERICADE ANNOUNCES 2014 DATES Americade will open on June 2nd with a huge lakeside party for all preregistered attendees. Americade’s motorcycle expo—-TourExpo, rides and tours, and more factory demo rides than any other U.S. event will open from Tuesday, June 3rd through Saturday, June 7th. Many new events are planned for the week, including special Saturday events. Details for the 2014 event will appear in January on www.americade.com Pre-Registration will open on January 25th.

AIMEXPO HUGE HIT AIMExpo’s inaugural show in Orlando attracted total attendance of 13,219 over its five-day run, according to data released by AIMExpo officials.

Part trade convention, part ‘open to the public,’ its first year drew solid numbers. Here’s a look at how the numbers broke down for the first-of-itskind event in the U.S.: Total square footage of AIMExpo • 732,644. Exhibiting companies • 392 Total attendance • 13,219. Consumer attendance • 7,781. Dealer/industry professionals • 2,417. Exhibitor attendance • 2,798. Countries represented • 49 Credentialed media professionals • 223.

The second AIMExpo is scheduled for October 15- 19, 2014

BOB’S HIGH MILEAGE POLAR BEAR CHALLENGE SPONSORED BY GERBING AND REV’IT! HOW MUCH WINTER RIDING CAN YOU BEAR? This winter Bob’s BMW Motorcycles in Jessup, MD is hosting its first annual High Mileage Polar Bear Challenge! All brand riders are welcome and encouraged to participate.

If you are a year around rider, this is a great opportunity to show off what you’re made of and ride home with some great prizes in your side case just for logging the most miles in a given period of time. Or maybe you aren’t typically a year around rider but have considered it…like thought about all those extra dollars you would save in gas?! Either way, the High Mileage

News from the Inside Polar Bear Challenge is a cool and fun opportunity to do what we enjoy best…ride…it’s that simple!

The first round of the Challenge begins in December. Every month one male and one female rider will win prizes donated by the sponsors of the challenge, Gerbing Heated Gear and Rev’it! Plus, at the end of the four months, the male and female rider with the highest cumulative miles will be the Grand Prize Winners. In addition to the great winter riding gear, winners will get bragging rights among fellow riders and a cool “High Mileage Polar Bear Challenge” bike decal.

How To Register Bob’s Service Department will handle registration. Registration is open during its regular service department business hours, Tuesday-Friday 9am6pm and Saturday 9am-4pm. Service advisors will have registration forms at the counter to record starting mileage. Registration must be done in person.

With the obvious intent of the challenge being to log as many miles as possible in a short period of time, each motorcycle will receive a FREE winter safety inspection by a certified technician at the time of registration. The idea is to have fun and enjoy a friendly competition but Bob’s want to do what it can to ensure everyone is safe in the process.

For full details and registration dates, please contact Hanna Creekmore at Bob’s BMW via email: hanna.creekmore@bobsbmw.com

AMERICANS FEAR E15 FUEL A recent survey found that more than three-fourths of Americans fear that E15 fuel may damage car engines and fuel system components, the American Motorcyclist Association reports.

Also, more than two-thirds of those surveyed believe that using more corn for ethanol production could force up food prices, the AMA said.

E15 is a fuel blend of 15 percent ethanol and 85 percent gasoline that the federal Environmental Protection Agency has approved for use in 2001-andnewer passenger vehicles. Ethanol is grain alcohol produced from crops such as corn that is mixed with gasoline to produce an ethanol-gasoline blend motor fuel.

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BACKROADS • DECEMBER 2013

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E15 is not approved for use in any motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles, boats, lawn mowers and other small engines. Since 2011, the AMA has repeatedly expressed concerns to government officials and federal lawmakers about possible damage to the estimated 22 million motorcycles and ATVs currently in use by the inadvertent use of E15, which is now becoming available at gas stations.

Some 77 percent of registered voters are concerned that ethanol blends above a 10 percent level can cause severe damage to car engines and fuel system components, according to the poll.

Also, 69 percent of those surveyed said that using more corn for ethanol production could increase consumer prices for groceries due to a reduction in the corn supply for food, food products and animal feed.

MOTORCYCLE SALES BACK UP IN 3Q Motorcycle sales for 2013 have pulled back to even with last year’s numbers thanks to a stronger third-quarter result. The Motorcycle Industry Council sales data records a slight 0.9% year-over-year gain for motorcycle sales in Q3, erasing the -5.2% decline registered through the end of the second quarter. Off-highway and Dual-sport sales have shown the greatest percentage gains, while the Scooter segment sales continue to lag.

The largest MIC motorcycle segment, On-Highway, has posted 274,578 unit sales to date – a modest 1% gain of 2719 units through Q3. Representing all street-legal bikes excepting Scooters and Dual-sport models, the On-Highway segment’s strong summer results eliminate the 10,199 unit -5.3% decline it registered at the end of Q2. That six-month tally was itself an improvement from the -16.2% year-over-year THE 2013 decline in Q1 – as the slow start to the year was blamed by various manufacturers, namely Harley-Davidson and Polaris, on the unseasonably warm winter and early spring in 2012 which contributed to an earlier buying season.

HOKA HEY MOTORCYCLE CHALLENGE 2014 TRANS-AMERICA ENDURANCE CHALLENGE One of a kind long distance endurance ride for motorcycles is still “The Toughest Ride for the Toughest Riders on Earth!”

Planning for the 2014 Hoka Hey Motorcycle Challenge is currently underway and applications are now being accepted for participation in this extraordinary endurance rally.

While planning for the 2014 event, organizers have carefully reviewed the last four years to identify improvements to be made going forward. A communication addressing the facts surrounding the event can be read at HokaHeyChallenge.com. Director of Operations, Beth Durham states, “The Medicine Show LLC has formed a new Board of Directors and we are doing everything in our power to position the Hoka Hey Motorcycle Challenge as an annual, iconic experience that makes history in the annals of American motorcycling.”

The Hoka Hey Motorcycle Challenge is the first of its kind - a long distance endurance ride designed to pit participants against the road and Mother Nature. By getting riders out of their comfort zone, the Hoka Hey Motorcycle Challenge not only opens the participants’ eyes to the deplorable conditions on remote Indian reservations around America but it brings out the riders’ own true character as well. The warrior spirit will always surface for any one that runs the Challenge with integrity, tenacity and heart. A photo gallery, the riders lists and some stories about how the event impacted the riders can be found on the event website. These are the stories that must be read in order to understand the significance of the platform that the Hoka Hey Motorcycle Challenge offers.

The 2014 event begins on July 20, 2014 and covers a little over 7,500 miles between Key West, FL and Homer, AK - using a new route to connect two favorite destinations. This year, all riders who follow the rules

of engagement” and arrive at the finish line by the 2nd of August, will be eligible for the prize drawings that will take place at the “End of the Road” party in Homer.

Durham stated that “Although there have been some changes in the way the Challenge will be run, the Board promises to uphold the same mission of the event along with the hard-core intensity that participants have come to expect from the Hoka Hey Motorcycle Challenge!”

The entry fee is $1,000 and riders must be at least 18 years of age to participate. Applications can be found online at www.hokaheychallenge.com or call 605-890-0386 for more information.

HARLEY RECALLING MACHINES FOR CLUTCH ISSUES The recalls affect over 25,000 touring motorcycles and nearly 4,000 Softails and Trikes built between May 3 and October 14 2013.

The Milwaukee firm state that motorcycles fitted with a hydraulic clutch system may “Pose a safety issue for riders and/or passengers. Some of these motorcycles may exhibit a condition in which the hydraulic clutch system may lose the ability to generate enough lift to disengage the clutch.

“If the clutch does not disengage as intended, the rider may have difficulty slowing or stopping the motorcycle, which could result in an accident.”

The recalls include a “Do Not Ride” and “Do Not Deliver” notice until the machines are properly fixed. The American firm is asking owners to contact authorized dealers to arrange for an inspection. The fix should take one hour and dealers will pick up and repair the motorcycle at no cost to owner.

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DECEMBER 2013 • BACKROADS

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THOUGHTS FROM THE ROAD

Brian Rathjen • James Donley Shaw

John

Just like that.

We could not be part of the services for John, and for that we are sorry, but miles and time kept us away.

I thought of how we could ever write about just who John was, and what he was about. Nobody did it better than Melissa Pierson, who wrote a book about John – The Man Who Would Stop at Nothing. Well worth reading, especially now.

Sometimes you just get lost in your thoughts and grief.

Then I received a poem written by James Shaw, one of John’s many, many friends.

James said it all.

Good bye John….you will be missed, admired and always thought of fondly.

I was in the lobby of a hotel in southern Italy. The only place in this 5-star hotel that actually had a wifi signal. I just set myself up with a coffee and was ready to see what was happening in the email world.

It is always a good part of the day – but not this day.

As I studied what had come in I spied the incoming subjects, and one from my friend Dan - The man who would stop at nothing – has been stopped.

I sucked in a breath loudly. Shira looked over at me. I instantly knew what this meant.

“What is up?”

I read the email to myself, trying to slam shut any emotion.

Again, Shira asked, “What is up,” knowing my expression showed something terrible had just happened.

It has been a bad year so far and so I just, and maybe coldly, stated that our friend John Ryan had been killed.

Shira was stunned. I walked outside to the patio and stared into nothing for what seemed like forever.

Shira grabbed the laptop and studied the email.

We were staggered this early Italian day.

Even in Italy, miles from home, we were part of a flurry of emails, messages and cell phone calls this day. The folks we were riding with understood what had happened and a few knew of John as well.

It was a somber day.

One of the nicest men in our motorcycle world, a true gentleman and one with just a few serious twowheeled accomplishments had ridden on.

Honda has Five Exciting New Models for 2013

John Ryan Has Left The Building The music is still in our ears, that sound of throaty exhaust.

The dance is still in our eyes, the oneness of man and machine, that graced the roads and our lives, and left everyone else behind.

We feel the warmth of that handshake, that hug, the smile, the strength of our friend.

There is an emptiness in us, as we remember the man whom everyone noticed when he entered a room.

What tragedy!

He will not be back in our world.

He will not amaze us, again.

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ALWAYS WEAR A HELMET, EYE PROTECTION AND PROTECTIVE CLOTHING. NEVER RIDE UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF DRUGS OR ALCOHOL, AND NEVER USE THE STREET AS A RACETRACK. OBEY THE LAW AND READ THE OWNER’S MANUAL THOROUGHLY. For rider training information or to locate a rider training course near you, call the Motorcycle Safety Foundation at 800-446-9227. CB®, CBR® and Gold Wing® are registered trademarks of Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (01/13)

KAWASAKI CARES: Always wear a helmet, eye protection and proper apparel. Never operate under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Adhere to the maintenance schedule in your owner’s manual. ©2012 Kawasaki Motors Corp., U.S.A. • Pictured is the Isle of Man: a closed track on otherwise public roads. PROFESSIONAL RIDER ON A CLOSED COURSE.

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December 2013 Pages_2011 Page Layout-New 11/5/13 12:18 PM Page 13

BACKROADS • DECEMBER 2013

Page 13 In loving, living memory of John Charles Ryan (1960-2013) who will always be my very best friend.

- James Donley Shaw ©2013 John was a diabetic and had spent a good deal of time working with children afflicted with the same disease and his family has asked that any donation be sent to:

Camp Nejeda 910 Saddleback Rd, Stillwater Township, NJ 07860

Our memories will remain, large and clear in our mind’s eyes: The gentleness of his manners, the brilliance of his insight, the plain truth of his humor, the glow of his easy smile, that je ne sais quoi…

Yet we are left with memories that can be recalled, but never more added to.

The very notion that we will not see John walking toward us again in full, riding suit-clad athletic form, the massive boots that grounded him like an oak, with his helmet under his arm, and his trusted mount parked behind him; this is our personal disaster almost as much as John’s, our personal loss, and leaves an emptiness in our family, a vacuum in our community, a hole in our heart.

Yet, we have great hope: I am convinced that people like John live on in our memories.

I’ll see his face, those bright blue eyes.

“Whatever it takes…” I’ll hear, ringing in my ears, that motto I heard from him so often, when he offered help, or described some effort that would astonish his peers, that would take him beyond others’ limits.

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(Continued from Page 9)

Looking Back on the Fall Fiesta To All, Friday's ride to Kinzua State Park was exactly why we attend the Backroads getherings. We rode some beautiful roads with amazing vistas with old friends we brought, some not so old friends that we only get to ride with at these events and some new friends that we met the morning of the ride.

The venue together with the fall weather was perfect!

Brad Tabbac Hey Backroads, Regarding the off-road video: Big wow. Bunch of fricking pansies. Anyone can do that on an adventure touring bike with knobbies. It's a mostly flat road, with a few rocks. The road we rode on the lunch & ice cream run on Fall Fiesta was actually worse, I'm not kidding. They are riding on mostly flat paths, with a few rocks. We rode a goat trail with deep ruts on either side of an elevated center patch. Oh yeah, the center patch was mud and grass.

Ask Kenny, twist the throttle and the rear wheel just spins! We did it two up on RTs, and a Yamaha Star cruiser, go Jim Reutlinger! Not to mention I rode out of it on a flat tire. Hey, they said you are supposed to reduce your tire pressure off road, right?

I gotta say, it was the best crew to travel with. They fixed my flat for me,

Mail: BACKROADS PO Box 317 Branchville NJ 07826

Email: editor@backroadsusa.com Fax: (973) 948-0823

Got something to say? We’d love to hear it.

Letters may be edited, never censored, to fit.

SUSSEXMOTORSPORTS

in the pouring rain. Go Jim, Tom, Ed, Ken, and Glen. Special thanks to the ladies who had to walk out the last downhill mile, Diane, Lynn, Yvonne, Karen, and Sylvia.

And we were all smiling and having a great time!

Get their names, invite them on a Backroads trip, we'll see who makes it out of the woods! My money is on the Backwoods crew, umm… Backroads.

Regards, Paul T. Donoghue

Looking Forward to the Spring Break Backroads, Boy am I really bummed! I think I have been on the last 10 (if not more) Spring Break rallies, and have look forward to them as the opening of my riding season. I had heard the rumors that there might not be anymore (at least for the time being) and was upset by that possibility. And was thus obviously excited to see that they’ll continue, and doubly so to see it being in a fantastic area to boot!

Thanks for continuing the tradition. I know it will be a success. I’ll miss you all and look forward to whatever else Backroads puts together in 2014.

Take care, safe riding, Craig Grant We heard those rumors too. All Shira said was that if they didn’t like the routes, perhaps we wouldn’t do anymore. It started from there. Your riding should be a priority, so cancel any family thing and get to Virginia in May! Hello Shira and Brian, I was wondering if you were planning to recommend a hotel or stopover location on route to Marion Va. for May 22 (Thursday) 2014. Something similar to 2012, when on the way to Luray we stayed at the Shippen Hotel.

We know you have your hands full and if you need any help I can look up some hotels on the way. I am already making plans for an overnight stay in either Winchester VA, Front Royal VA, Strasburg VA, or Shippensburg PA. Let me know if I can be of any help.

Keep well - Alma

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Experience the full line of Kawasaki motorcycles, sales and service we have to offer.

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BACKROADS • DECEMBER 2013

POLAR BEAR GRAND TOUR SCHEDULE 2013-2014 The Polar Bear Grand Tour consists of 550 motorcyclists from all over the NJ, NY, PA, DE, and CT area who each individually ride to a designated destination each Sunday. Points are awarded for each ride. When we each reach the destination, we sign-in and write down how many round-trip miles we traveled to get there. Then there is usually a restaurant at the site or nearby where small groups will congregate. There are no planned routes or group rides to get to the destination. The sign-in is usually between 11:30 am & 1:30 pm unless otherwise posted. There are no planned rides after the sign-in. The Polar Bears represent many individual groups and we all come together to ride during the winter under the Polar Bear banner.

The Polar Bear Grand Tour membership is divided into two groups, Flight "A" lead by John Bachota and Pat Bachota and Flight "B" led by Joan Roselli and Jim Guiteras. These are your FLIGHT LEADERS and are available to answer any questions you may have. 24 Sunday rides are scheduled to the various destinations throughout the 5-state area.

Pre-registration for each Polar Bear Grand Tour season is conducted online in the summer. After that, you may register at any destination event, although the Cape May ride is usually preferred. To check on Polar Bear cancellations & updates call A.M.A. Dis. #2 • 908-722-0128 December 1, 2013 MONTGOMERYVILLE CYCLE, 2901 Bethlehem Pike Hatfield, P 19440 • 215-712-7433. • www.montgomeryvillecc.com

December 8, 2013 THE CABIN, 984 Route #33 Howell, NJ • 732 462-3090 • www.thecabinrestaurant.net

December 15, 2013 POCONO MOUNTAIN HARLEY DAVIDSON, Rte. 33 Snydersville, PA • 570-992-7500 • schochharleydavidson.com

December 22, 2013 COOL CRICKET RESTAURANT/SPORTS BAR, 216 4th Street, Fieldsboro, NJ • 609-291-9110 • thecoolcricket.com

December 29, 2013 RHODES NORTH TAVERN, 40 Orange Turnpike, Sloatsburg, NY • 845-753-6438 • www.rhodesnorth.com

January 5, 2014 De THOMASI's EAST 5 POINTS INN, 580 Tuckahoe Rd/Landis Ave., Vineland, NJ • 856-691-6080 • www.fivepointsinn.com

January 12, 2014 WEARHOUSE GRILL, 161 Rte. 181, Lake Hopatcong, NJ • 973-663-2222 • www.wearhousegrille.com

January 19, 2014 SIR JOHN'S, 230 Washington Place, North Brunswick TWP, NJ • 732 297-3803 • sirjohnsinc.com

January 26, 2014 THE EXCHANGE, 160 E. Main St., Rockaway, NJ • 973-627-8488 • www.exchangefood.com

February 2, 2014 THE FRANKLIN HOUSE TAVERN, 101 North Market Street, Schaefferstown, PA • 717 949-2122 • franklinhousetavern.com

February 9, 2014 PIC-A-LILLI INN 866 Route 206 Shamong NJ • 609-268-2066 • picalilli.com

February 16, 2014 HOOTERS, 25 Rte 23 South, Wayne, NJ • 973-837-1876 • www.hootersnj.com

February 23, 2014 BAHRS LANDING, 2 Bay Ave., Highlands, NJ • 732-872-1245 • www.bahrs.com

March 2, 2014 FIREHOUSE EATERY, 455 Saint Georges Ave. Rahway, NJ • 732-382-9500 • www.firehouseeatery.com

March 9, 2014 LONG VALLEY PUB & BREWERY, 1 Fairmount Rd., Long Valley, NJ • 908-876-1122 • www.restaurantvillageatlongvalley.com

March 16, 2014 THE CHATTERBOX, #1 Rte 15 South, Augusta, NJ • 973-300-2300 • www.chatterboxdrivein.com

March 23, 2014 BRIAN'S HARLEY-DAVIDSON, 600 S. Flowers Mill Rd., Langhorne PA • 215 752-9400 • www.brianshd.com

March 30, 2014 THE HICKORY BBQ SMOKEHOUSE, 743 Route 28, Kingston, NY • 845-338-2424 • www.hickoryrestaurant.com

April 13, 2014 CAPE MAY V.F.W. post #386, N .J. 419 Congress St., Cape May, NJ • 609-884-7961

April 26, 2014 END OF THE SEASON GET-TOGETHER - At The Pic-a-Lilli Inn, starting @ 11:30AM. The rain date would be April 27, 2014 same time. Cost to Members: $6.00 per person. There will be salad, Wings, Beef, rolls, and lemonade, plus a cash bar.

You must get an arm band from your flight leader.

Page 15

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Hanover Powersports Presents

BIG CITY GETAWAY Ghosts of the Past a look back at a feW motorcyclinG hanGouts no lonGer With us Every month our Big City getaway gives you places to search out, ride to and explore. Museums, parks, historical sights.

Over coffee one morning we got into a discussion of places that used to be and how newer riders will have missed out on some of the great riding hang outs that some of us riders got to experience first hand.

Around the immediate New York City area three come quickly to our minds.

red aPPle rest - southfields, neW york

The Red Apple Rest was opened in back in May of 1931

by Reuben Freed, and had much business during the 1940s and 1950s. It was open 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, and was patronized by socalled “Borscht Belt” comedians and professional athletes as well as families travelling to campgrounds and resorts. Although the Thruway (which was built beginning 1953) bypassed the restaurant, and vacationing in the Catskill Mountains became less popular after the 1960s, the restaurant remained very busy until the 1970s.

In 1965, the Red Apple Rest served 1 million customers about 350,000 hot dogs, 200,000 hamburgers and 800,000 cups of coffee, according to a Times Herald-Record article that year.

Years later we followed the wake of all the others up to Southfields. How many times did we slide trays down the steel tube counter asking Pete Kourakos for a burger, eggs over easy or the meatloaf special before carrying our trays to have his wife Vicky ring it up?

I, for one, miss their green beans.

The Red Apple Rest was a staple for so many riders in this part of the northeast. Every mid-July we would be there early on a Saturday morning, with a few hundred others, to sign up for the Ramapo 500, a yearly trek through parts unknown. The Red Apple was also the first place we rode to

daytrip ideas to get out of the daily grind when Shira bought her first bike (Honda CM450T) and took her first onstreet solo ride back in 1992.

The Red Apple was closed in September 2006.

On a recent visit there it was sad to see it such a shell of its former self (although the bathrooms were never anything to rave about).

But even today there are old and fading “Backroads Available Here!” stickers still adorning the glass door.

Maybe somebody, someday, will do something great and motorcyclish here.

haWk nest café - sParroWbush, neW york

High above the scenic Delaware River, just north of Port Jervis you will find the famed Hawks Nest. New York State Route 97, which traverses the site, was originally a one-lane dirt road beginning in 1859. It was paved in the early 1930s and subsequently dedicated in 1939, and rededicated on September 21, 2002, as part of the “Upper Delaware Scenic Byway.”

Just past the cliffs there was a café’s that drew riders to it like a magnet - The Hawks Nest Café.

To be honest we forget the former owners name, but I do remember he had little love of motorcyclists and let us know it.

Eventually it was sold to Ron Babcock, who not only welcomed we riders, he was one of us as well, with his Triumph taking center stage in the middle of the Hawks Nest.

With a rider-friendly owner more and more riders would make the Hawks Nest a must do when riding the area. The magical combination of the surrounding sensational roads, incredible view from the restaurant and its outside deck and great food gave the Hawk Nest Café a near legendary and nationwide status.

A fire in the early morning hours of October 30, 2002 gutted the place.

We rode up that day to find that, thankfully, Ron’s bike was saved and to see a scorched bundle of the latest issue of Backroads smoldering in the ruins.

Will the Hawk Nest Café ever fly again? Well, we have heard rumors and it would be nice for new riders to enjoy the place and see the view through new eyes.

210 Route 10 West, East Hanover, NJ

973-428-1735 www.HanoverPowersports.com NOW OPEN MONDAYS 9am-5pm

follow us on

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BACKROADS • DECEMBER 2013

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marcus dairy - danbury, connecticut Although the first two were located in the middle of some serious riding and a more rural setting, our last ghost was the polar opposite.

Marcus Dairy, in Danbury, Connecticut, was never much to look at, as it was tucked

under the overpasses of I84 as it divides and turns west toward New York and south toward Ridgefield at exit 3. It once was a simple dairy bar, but as time went by it was renovated into a full-fledged restaurant.

Every day riders would meet up here for a quick bite to eat or a cup of coffee before taking off to explore the surrounding Connecticut region.

It was even used in a Kawasaki ad back in the day. You know you are getting old when you throw that statement around.

Super Sundays Rallies at Danbury, Connecticut’s Marcus dairy were always a crazy party. Held a few times each year thousands of riders would come from around the state, regions and the nation to attend this event.

When we first started Backroads we had a small booth in the back of the parking lot handing what was then a black & white newspaper to whomever would take it. Boy, that seems an eternity ago.

Marcus Dairy closed at the end of business on Feb. 6, 2010 after nearly 63 years in business and right after the finish of that year’s Super Bowl.

Neil Marcus, of the Marcus family, said they held an auction for most of the restaurant equipment afterward and that many of the items were purchased by riders who “just wanted to have a piece of the dairy bar.”

So there are three famed motorcycle hangouts from the recent past that have been demolished, burned to the ground or abandoned. Where are our places these days? Two-wheel hip restaurants, cafes and watering holes that are frequented by today’s riders? There are many out there to be discovered and we’ll bring them to you in these pages whenever we visit.

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www.Powersports.Honda.com Mon, Tue, Wed, Fri: 9am-6pm • Thur: 9am-8pm • Sat: 9am-5pm SUNDAY: CLOSED - GONE RIDING honda.com ALWAYS WEAR A HELMET, EYE PROTECTION AND PROTECTIVE CLOTHING. NEVER RIDE UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF DRUGS OR ALCOHOL, AND NEVER USE THE STREET AS A RACETRACK. OBEY THE LAW AND READ THE OWNER’S MANUAL THOROUGHLY. For rider training information or to locate a rider training course near you, call the Motorcycle Safety Foundation at 800-446-9227. CTX™ and Gold Wing® are registered trademarks of Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (07/13)

www.HanoverPowersports.com Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday 9a-6p • Thurs. 9a-8p • Sat. 9a-5p Sunday: Closed - Gone Riding

210 Rte 10 West East Hanover NJ

973-428-1735

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DECEMBER 2013 • BACKROADS

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Morton’s BMW Motorcycles Presents Dr. Seymour O’Life’s MYSTERIOUS

AMERICA

Whydah Pirate shiPWreck museum 16 macmillan Wharf, ProvincetoWn, ma 02657 508-487-8899 • Whydah.com C’mon…. be honest now. You have never dreamt that you had a treasure map? A real honest to goodness map that, if you were smart enough and tenacious enough, would triumph and find a pirate’s hidden bounty?

Didn’t you cheer when the Goonies finally found One-Eyed Willy’s hidden fortune? I know I did and still do wonder what it would be like to actually find a pirate’s hidden treasure.

Well, it has been done. But, only once.

This story has its beginning with a dark and disturbing history and what was called the Triangle Trade where three ports were used in voyages across the Atlantic. The best-known triangular trading system is the transatlantic slave trade, that operated from the late 16th to early 19th centuries, carrying slaves, cash crops, and manufactured goods between West Africa, Caribbean or American colonies and the European colonial powers, with the northern colonies of British North America, especially New England, sometimes taking over the role of Europe. The use of African slaves was fundamental to growing colonial cash crops, which

were exported to Europe.

European goods, in turn, were used to purchase African slaves, which were then brought on the sealane west from Africa to the Americas, the socalled middle passage.

The Whydah Gally was a fully rigged galley ship originally built as a slave ship for the Atlantic slave trade. The threemasted, 300-ton galley was said to be the most advanced of its time.

In late February 1717, the Whydah, under the command of Captain Lawrence Prince, was navigating the Windward Passage between Cuba and Hispaniola when it was attacked by pirates led by “Black

Sam” Bellamy. At the time of the Whydah’s capture, Bellamy was in possession of two vessels, the 26gun galley Sultana and the converted 10-gun sloop Mary Anne.

After a three-day chase, Prince surrendered his ship near the Bahamas with only a desultory exchange of cannon fire.

Bellamy decided to take the Whydah as his new flagship; several of its crew remained with their ship and joined the pirate gang.

On April 26, 1717, near Chatham, Massachusetts, the Whydah approached a thick, gray fog bank rolling across the water that turned into a violent nor’easter, a storm with gale force winds out of the east and northeast, which forced the vessel dangerously close to the breaking waves along the shoals of Cape Cod. The ship was eventually driven aground at Wellfleet, Massachusetts and disappeared, lost at sea for hundreds of years.

By morning, hundreds of Cape Cod’s notorious wreckers (locally known as “moon-cussers”) were already plundering the remains. Hearing of the shipwreck, then-governor Samuel Shute dispatched Captain Cyprian Southack, a local salvager and cartographer, to recover “Money, Bullion, Treasure, Goods and Merchandizes taken out of the said Ship.” When Southack reached the wreck on May 3rd, he found that part of the ship was still visible breaching the water’s surface, but that much of the ship’s wreckage was scattered along more than 4 miles of shoreline. On a map that he made of the wreck site, Southack reported that he had buried 102 of the 144 Whydah crew and captives lost in the sinking (though technically they were buried by the town coroner, who surprised Southack by handing him the bill and demanding payment).

According to surviving members of the crew – two from the Whydah and seven from the Mary Anne, another of Bellamy’s fleet which ran aground in the storm – at the time of its sinking, the ship carried from four and a half to five tons of silver, gold, gold dust, and jewelry, which had been divided equally into 180 50-pound sacks and stored in-between the ship’s decks.

Though Southack did salvage some nearly worthless items from the ship, little of the massive treasure hoard was recovered. Southack would write in his account of his findings, that, “The riches, with the guns, would be buried in the sand.” With that, the exact location of the ship, its riches and its guns were lost, and came to be thought of as nothing more than legend lost in time.

For sure many went searching, but no trace of the doomed ship or its treasure was ever found.

It wasn’t until the early 1980s when undersea explorer Barry Clifford set his sights on Black Bellamy’s treasure.

Searching old maritime archives Clifford came across Southack’s map from 1717, which seemed to point in the right direction. This old piece of parchment, it turned out, was a real honest to goodness treasure map!

Clifford organized a ship and crew to search for the Whydah with the latest modern technology and sonar. He put everything he had into this venture and

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BACKROADS • DECEMBER 2013 after weeks of searching he and his crew felt like they were getting nowhere fast with cash and capital quickly running out.

Then on what they felt might be one of the last days out the sonar discovered something odd. Clifford suited up and dove into just 14 feet of water and swimming down he spotted a shiny and reflective object in the sand. It was a Spanish coin.

Work soon began on what would turn out to be the wreck lost Whydah Gally.

To this day the Whydah is the only pirate shipwreck ever found, and her treasures are still being archaeologically recovered. With the discovery of over two hundred thousand artifacts – including sixty cannon, over ten thousand coins, 400 pieces of Akan gold jewelry, and much more – this project has completely revised the world’s understanding of pirates.

“What people have to really understand when they come to see this is that they’re seeing the only pirate treasure that’s ever been discovered in the world,” says Barry Clifford, the explorer who found the wreckage in 1984.

“Anybody who had ever walked the beach and thought of finding pirate treasure this is the only place in the world they can see it,” he says. “It’s

Page 19 the only documented pirate treasure that’s ever been excavated.”

Barry Clifford and his crew were awarded the entire find and instead of selling off his found treasure Clifford instead kept it all together and founded the Whydah Pirate Museum, on the wharf in Provincetown, Massachusetts.

And, you can visit this treasure yourself when you take a ride to the end of the Cape Cod peninsula and the museum.

Provincetown is an interesting seaside town with great scenery, superb seafood and plenty of history, a big part of what you will find at the Whydah Pirate Museum. O’Life out!

Rip & Ride® WHYDAH PIRATE SHIPWRECK MUSEUM 16 MACMILLAN WHARF, PROVINCETOWN, MA 02657 508-487-8899 • WHYDAH.COM

GET YOURSELF TO THE BEGINNING OF CAPE COD US 6 EAST RIGHT AT RTE. 130 LEFT AT RTE. 28 LEFT AT RTE. 134 RIGHT AT RTE. 6A LEFT AT BRIDGE RD. LEFT AT MASSASOIT RD. LEFT AT RTE. 6 TO PROVINCETOWN LEFT AT STANDISH TO PIER

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DECEMBER 2013 • BACKROADS

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GREAT ALL AMER ICAN DINER RUN layton General store 150 county road 560, layton, nJ 07851 • 973-948-0045 We like to see nice places stay open. But, that doesn’t always happen.

So, when we hear that a place that has so much promise has reopened its doors we have to smile.

But, in the case of Layton General Store, not far from the Delaware River and Dingmans Bridge, it gets even better.

Now run by Anastasia and George, via Astoria, New York, you can get all the standard American favorites, but now the Layton General Store offers a serious Greek menu as well.

And, for an old Astoria, Queens boy like myself, don’t talk Greek food to me unless you are from Athens, Tolo or Astoria!

But, we’ll get to the gyros in a minute.

Let us talk a bit about this region. We have mentioned it many times, but the Upper Delaware River has some great riding in and around it and Layton is one of those little old northwestern New Jersey hamlets that you could easily miss if you are not looking hard enough.

Layton, at the northern end of the Walpack Valley which, if you read Backroads monthly, gets a lot of play for its remoteness in today’s New Jersey.

Layton was first settled around 1800 by John Layton and was known as Centreville.

In 1861, John B. Layton petitioned Washington, D.C. for mail delivery. The petition was in the name of Centerville, but that name was already being used by another community in the state. The name “Laytons” was assigned to this area, named for Layton who had put forth the petition.

tasty places to take your bike These days Layton has just 250 permanent residents, a bar, body shop and the General Store.

The building the store is located in was built back in the 1820s, but none is sure of exactly what year.

It’s old, okay?

Inside you will find a few chachkas and local town signs crafted out of wood along with a long counter, tables and a separate dining room that fits this country atmosphere quite nicely.

The store has a wide porch with outdoor dining, so you can enjoy the nice weather and watch the world go by on its way to the Walpack Valley or into Pennsylvania over the old Dingmans bridge.

Heading to the Layton’s General Store for breakfast you will get all the good basic egg sandwiches or bagels, breakfast platters with your choices of meats, nine different omelets including a ‘Greek’, of course, and the Layton with its green peppers, onions, tomatoes, ham, bacon with Swiss cheese.

A great way to start the day.

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BACKROADS • DECEMBER 2013 If you and your friends swing by the Layton General Store later in the day they have a lot to offer from the grill with burgers, dogs, grilled cheese, Philly cheese steaks, BLTs and cold sandwiches as well.

They also serve grilled chicken and eggplant items.

On the Greek-side of things and that is why we rode here, right? – they have both hot and cold appetizers; Dolmades – grape leaves stuffed with rice and herbs, Melitzanosalata – roasted eggplant and garlic dip and Patzaria – fresh beets with garlic, oil and vinegar. Hot appetizers include Greek-style meatball or keftedakia or loukaniko - seasoned Greek sausage and spanakopita – spinach, onion, feta and dill pie served with a Greek salad.

Their Greek specialties, served Friday through Sunday, include pastitsio – which is like a lasanga but with ground beef and béchamel cheese and Mousakas which is the same , but eggplant instead of pasta.

Combining a little Mexican with Greek they offer Greek tortillas.

But, sometimes you just need to go with the basics… the gyro! You can have it as a sandwich or a platter, either way you will not be disappointed.

If you feel the need you can make a real meal out of the trip and bring your own bottle of wine and spend some time on the porch.

And try to save some room for dessert, as they are homemade as well and include Baklava, Tiramisu, Cheesecake and whatever other sweet treats George thinks of that day.

As you can tell we here at Backroads are really happy the store is back and has this wonderful Greek-flavor to it these days. Being it is not all that far from homebase you can bet we will be there often.

With all the roads around this region we will give you a neat Rip & Ride from one of our Ghosts from the Past – the Red Apple Rest, in Southfields, NY. Enjoy the food and enjoy the ride!

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Rip & Ride® • LAYTON GENERAL STORE 150 COUNTY ROAD 560, LAYTON, NJ 07851 • 973-948-0045 ONE-WAY ROUTE: 60.5 MILES • GPS: WWW.SENDSPACE.COM/PRO/DL/ICWL0K

START AT RED APPLE REST NYS RTE. 17 SOUTHFIELDS, NY RIGHT ON RTE. 17A LEFT AT RTE. 94 SOUTH RIGHT AT RTE. 1A INTO RTE.1 LEFT AT RTE. 284 IN UNIONVILLE RIGHT OVER HILL (SLOW DOWN) LEFT AT CR 36 INTO CR 651 IN NEW JERSEY CONTINUE ON CR 651 (WATCH FOR 15 MPH TURNS) BEAR RIGHT AT SIGNS FOR RTE. 23 NORTH LEFT AT CR 519 RIGHT AT CR 636 RIGHT AT RTE. 206 N LEFT AT STRUBLE ROAD CROSS STEEL BRIDGE AND RIGHT AT NPS 615 BEAR LEFT AT BEAVENS RD. CR 640 LAYTON GENERAL STORE ON LEFT AT INTERSECTION

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DECEMBER 2013 • BACKROADS

Bergen County Harley-Davidson Presents

WE’RE OUTTA HERE hilda crockett’s chesaPeake house 16243 main street , tanGier island, virGinia 23440 757-891-2331 • WWW.chesaPeakehousetanGier.com There is no doubt that we here at Backroads love to head down to the Chesapeake Bay and Maryland and Virginia’s eastern shores. The lure of Old Bay will get us down at least once, twice or three times each year.

In all the years we have been down this way we have never gotten the chance to explore some of the few islands that call The Bay home, but towards the end of last summer we took a few days and made a couple of days trip down through Maryland and then a nice ferry jaunt across the water to the tiny (and I do mean tiny) island of Tangier.

To get there from our part of New Jersey we scooted along the backroads, carefully avoiding the sprawl called Philly and then making a quick hop through Delaware and slipping into Maryland.

Although not the most technical or twisty, Maryland does cover miles of farms, forests, rivers and small bays off the Chesapeake.

Always looking for something new on the tiny roads we combined our best maps, Bing’s website and Garmin’s Base Camp GPS program to ferret out some of the tinier and more hidden roadways that you can find sprinkled along the Eastern shore.

We needed to be in the town of Crisfield, Maryland for a noon-ish sail over to Tangier, so we made an overnight in Rock Hall (another place for another issue) and then meandered south to the dock at Crisfield.

Over the years, especially when heading to an island, we have been forced to park the bikes on the mainland. Maybe we are just lucky, but we have never had the machines played with while we were gone.

You won’t find many cars on Tangier as most folks drive golf carts and scooters around the salty piece of land.

a weekend destination keeping you on the backroads We were assured that they would be fine, but we took common sense precautions, locking up some of the gear and Kryptoniting both machines together. They remained untouched upon our return.

The Steven Thomas, a 90-foot cruise ship that can hold 300 people (which is getting close to the total population of Tangier Island), makes this trip each day during the season and returns back to the Maryland mainland at 4:30.

Tangier itself lies in the waters of the Common Wealth of Virginia.

Many day-trippers will take the Thomas over for lunch and a bit of exploring on the island.

When we got to the island we were met at the pier by two young ladies in a golf cart who were sent to fetch us back to our Bed & Breakfast, the Hilda Crockett’s Chesapeake House.

They really needn’t have gone to the bother as it was a short walk to the B & B and a good stretch of the legs was in order. Still they navigated us down a tiny road, that was barely wide enough for two carts to pass each other.

In a minute we were in front of the two white buildings that make up the Chesapeake House. The girls showed us to our small, but comfortable room and told us dinner, which is included with the room as is breakfast, would be served until 5. Talk about the early bird special!

This place has some history and it was back in 1939, Hilda Crockett began her business providing home-cooked meals and lodging to visitors to Tangier Island. Her reputation for warm hospitality, wonderful meals, and comfortable lodging were the secret to building a business that would continue for years to come.

This place is also known around The Bay for its food – especially their crab cakes.

We took a walk back to the ferry landing to sample the soft shell crab sandwiches sold at the takeout stand. These were, most likely, the best soft shells we’ve had in a very long time. After renting a cart and exploring the entire island – twice – we moseyed over to the dining room.

We weren’t really hungry, but wanted a taste of these famous cakes, so we allowed ourselves to be talked into sitting down family style with a number of other guests who knew far more than we did.

Soon we got a gander of what was being offered – the Chesapeake Bay Crab Cakes, Chesapeake Style Clam Fritters, Virginia Ham, Potato Salad, Coleslaw, Pickled Beets, Apple Sauce, Green Beans, and seriously delicious Hot Corn Pudding.

Also, just as enjoyable as the food, was the company; two families and one single guy who was doing electrical work on the island.

The conversation was wide and varied and even made more enjoyable for us when it turned out one couple had a Gold Wing and had ridden all 50 states, with all but Hawaii ridden to and from their home in Virginia. Very impressive.

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BACKROADS • DECEMBER 2013

Page 23 but they do hope you will be respectful and discreet with it.

A bottle of wine down at the beach at sunset will not get you thrown into the jail.

Do they have a jail?

We spent the evening chatting with other guests on the screened porch and strolling down to the ice cream shop for a little frosty desert.

Morning found a spectacular sunrise pouring light across the tiny island and soon we were back in the dining room for a breakfast that could not be beat.

Scrambled Eggs, Bacon, Chesapeake Style Fried Potatoes,

After dinner we walked around a good part of the island and then took an offered golf cart ride to the beach to watch a superb sunset.

One of the things you need to know about Tangier Island is that their nightlife is non-existent.

This is a crabbing and fishing island and most folks are in bed early and on the way to the bay by 4 am. Also, it is a dry island as they don’t sell alcohol at any of the restaurant. There are no bars to be found in this deeply religious close-knit community.

They aren’t against you bringing a bottle or two of wine over with you;

Home-made Fried Bread, Cheddar Cheese, Preserves, Juice, and Coffee.

Just the thing to get us ready for a day of ….not much.

Here you are on island time.

It seemed to us that Tangier Island and Hilda Crockett’s Chesapeake House is the sort of place you go when you really wish to escape.

No cell service. No WiFi. No worries. No distractions.

Just a wonderful island hideaway, a good day’s ride away in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay. What are you waiting for?

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BACKROADS • DECEMBER 2013

W

e have always made the claim that autumn was one of the finest times of the year to ride and each year, for the past 15, Backroads has held a gathering – a fiesta – in different parts of the northeast.

This year, following our baseball themed Spring Break in Cooperstown, New York, we rode west into the Keystone state and to the home of Little League baseball, Williamsport.

We grabbed a block of rooms at the historic, and large, Genetti Hotel, right in downtown Williamsport and then sent the word out via Backroads, the web and word of mouth.

Reservations soon overflowed our grouping, but the hotel could easily handle it.

When mid-September rolled around we found ourselves meeting up with a group in Port Jervis and spending a splendid late summer day riding 200 or so miles through the backroads of Pennsylvania, crossing the Delaware, Lackawaxen and Susquehanna Rivers, scooting around the Scranton sprawl and making our way along some of the sweetest riding in this region.

We did our best to cross through some of this region that we hadn’t ridden it before and were happy to be gifted with miles of perfect sweepers, forests and parks. World’s End was once again a gem to ride through. We even spotted a large male bald eagle along one creek, enjoying his meal of very fresh fish.

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DECEMBER 2013 • BACKROADS Clockwise: An impromptu lunch meeting at the Jolly Trolley in Dunsmore, PA. Destination Genetti Hotel, WIlliamsport, PA which is a pet-friendly establishment. Hey, where do they keep their credit cards?

Opposite Page: The beautiful view from Hyner State Park, Riding the Wilds of PA, Pam enjoying her healthy lunch.

We had a rendezvous of sorts in the town of Dunshore, with a number of Fiesta folk stopping there for lunch. From Dunshore it was a quick hour and a bit into Williamsport. By mid-afternoon we had rolled into the tiny PA city and took our room at the Genetti.

As the next few hours ran by our closed off bikes-only section of the hotel’s parking lot filled up and the evening found the local restaurants and bars filled with Backroads attendee ready for a few days of great riding in the Alleghenies.

We had provided suggested routes and GPS files for all and that evening maps were gone over and plans made.

Our rides were many and varied with trips to breakfast and lunch spots, the ice creamery at Penn State, the wrecked Kinzua bridge and the Zippo Lighter Museum and some that were just big high-mileage loops designed and planned to make the best of riding in this part of the Alleghenies.

Friday morning found the city shrouded by heavy fog, but that would soon burn off and riders were out doing what they do best shortly after the Genetti’s ample breakfast.

As small groups began to filter out, we were asked what route we would be doing.

I said, “This one,” holding up a blue route sheet, “it has my name on it.”

And, in truth, it did as it was Brian’s Fall Fiesta Loop.

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BACKROADS • DECEMBER 2013

A planned 193 miles that would first head south then west before looping northward for lunch and then meandering back east to Williamsport.

Joining us on this little day trip was Backroads journalist Jeff Kurztman, our buddy Danny Russo from Virginia and two friends that happen to live one town over from our home base for the rally, Pam and Tim Collins. You might have seen one of Pam’s many by-lines in Backroads and a number of other riding publications.

Heading up along the ridges that surround the valley that keeps Williamsport so Americana, we had miles of morning sunshine filtering through the trees to be followed by a few miles of chilly fog in the valleys.

It all looked good, as did our route that brought us along some roads even our local riders knew nothing of.

We scooted along tiny roads that ran along the peaks and along some Pennsylvania parks that were simply pristine.

One such place, Bald Eagle State Park, might sound familiar as we had written about its great Inn back in the early summer of this year.

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It seemed so far away from the rest of PA that I was half expecting that blind girl from M. Night Shyamalan’s movie ‘The Village’ to run out in front of us.

Stopping at one lookout that was sorely misnamed, our group was passed by the only other vehicles we had seen in a long while – two dozen large American cruisers ‘cruised’ by. We got going about five minutes later but it did not take us long to catch up and become the tail of this patriotic parade as it slowly and tediously rolled down one of the sweetest few miles of twisty downhill turns towards Renovo.

Thankfully this group headed in the opposite direction and we soon sat down for lunch at a favorite of ours in this region –Yesterdays.

With our bodies replenished we headed east a bit along Route 120 and then took a left towards Hyner State Park.

This view from the top of the park, at some 1,300 feet high, is one of the best in Pennsylvania, with the West Branch of the Susquehanna and her sur-

I like mixing new roads and old familiar ground.

Heading north we rode through the Russel P. Letterman Wild area, which it certainly was. We had to have ridden some 20 miles without seeing anything but the forest, wetlands, lakes and streams to our right and left.

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DECEMBER 2013 • BACKROADS

rounding peaks looking so stunning from up high.

This is a major hang gliding spot and the park holds another special monument, as Hyner View State Park is the site to the state’s forest fire wardens, erected in 1965 by the Forest Inspectors Association. The monument consists of a large monolith with a plaque reading “1915 - 1965 Dedicated to the Forest Fire Wardens of Pennsylvania in recognition of their faithful service to the Commonwealth during the past fifty years”.

The monolith is at the head of a low, keystone-shaped concrete wall. On each of the two long sides of the keystone are ten stones, one for each of the twenty state forests in Pennsylvania. Each stone is a rough cube in shape and each was taken from its respective state forest.

Between the stunning view, the history and the road to the park itself Hyner View State Park is a must see and the reasons I slipped it into my loop for the Fall Fiesta.

Back down on the valley floor we sped along the winding sweepers that the Alleghenies are famous for and then made a short side-trip north along Little Pine Creek. The road follows the creek as it meanders towards the Pine Creek itself, right at the deepest part in the middle of the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania.

Clockwise: Road out of Hyner View State Park, a little gravel road never hurt anyone, the beautiful murals of Williamsport, statue for the state’s fire wardens, riding into Little Pine Creek.

We didn’t go that far along, opting to follow some tiny roads back to Williamsport as the day was getting late, but we found out later that a few groups did head to the canyon and made a ride of it in that part of the state.

That Friday night we had dinner reservations at the Peter Herdic House, one of Williamsport finest restaurants, and then we strolled back to the Genetti and the surrounding bars to hang out with our crowd that had only gotten larger from the previous day.

That Saturday saw an end to our run of superb riding days.

It seemed for year our rallies were known as ‘rain makers’ but

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BACKROADS • DECEMBER 2013

for the last four or five we have been in the Weather Gods good graces and only dealt with the occasional bit of wet stuff.

At the end of this week the news was talking of a massive cold front, pushing a powerful tempest that stretched from Ottawa to the north all the way to Monterey, Mexico a thousand miles or more to the south.

Ours would not be the only Saturday to get a bit soggy this weekend, but any all day rides would be met with some serious downfalls and wind by mid-afternoon. Riders began planning short hops and a few enlightened riders asked what was playing at the movie theater down the block.

With the knowledge that today’s riding would be on the short side many folks took advantage of a few of the shorter rides we had laid out, while other sjust went out exploring.

Shira had a lunch ride routed that was just 125 miles or so. We took that and were on the road by 8:30.

This route combined some smallish Pennsylvania towns, and meandered along through mountains. Along the way we passed a few Fracking Pads and if I didn’t know what I was looking at I would have missed them as their footprint was far smaller than I was led to believe in some news reports.

Later in the day we crossed another area in the middle of being regressed and forested; again, something that is rarely reported by most agended news agencies.

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As is Shira’s way you tossed in a good 6 miles of packed gravel that made for a bit of fun, especially as everything was a tad moist, but we soldiered onward.

One of the stops Shira had put on this route was the Forksville General Store.

This restaurant/store/landmark, found at the entrance to the old covered bridge just a few miles from World’s End State Park, has been here for 160 years and served up some serious food, whether breakfast or lunch.

The promised rains had held off so far so we made the best of a great old place and sat a spell, enjoying their homemade biscuits and gravy and a jar of strawberry rhubarb jam that would find its way home.

Continuing on Shira’s planned ride we scooted north and then looped around some mountain valleys to end up just outside Williamsport, parking

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DECEMBER 2013 • BACKROADS home, some directly on the big roads and others following the backroads, soaking in the last rides of the summer and the first of the new fall.

This was our 15th year of these rallies. We hope you gals and guys enjoyed the ride.

While we made mention that this might be our last foray planning our group gatherings, we’ve decided to give it another go, with a bit different format. So, come May 23-26, 2014 we’ll be heading south to Marion, VA and the General Francis Marion Hotel for some excellent exploration of the southern Virginia mountains. There are limited rooms, as the General is a historic lodging, but there are other options. All the booking information can be found in the ad on page 52, so put down this magazine right now and call.

We’ll see you there.

Words from a New Rally-Goer the bike with time to spare before the deluge.

Greek food and a search of Otto’s, Williamsport 165-year old book store, was in order.

As promised the rains rolled in for the afternoon, just as most were returning from a shortened day’s ride.

This is when we started to hear of the gravel roads, flat tires and general disgruntlement from a lot of folks.

Well, truth is some of the gravel roads, that we were sure were around the area, were in pretty bad shape and not everybody was prepared or willing to traverse such roads.

Although unplanned, we tried to avoid them, but still had riders on roads that were marked paved but turned out to be less than so. Add in the rain beginning to fall and things went down hill for some.

Some riders shook it off as a fun and interesting riding experience, others seemed a bit more than peeved.

Mea culpa - and we think you need not worry about dirt during the next rally.

The rains ran through the region that evening and the next day was brilliant and after breakfast most packed up their machines and began the trek back

First and foremost I’d like to thank Backroads Magazine for putting together the 2013 Fall Fiesta. This was my first trip and it will certainly not be my last.

We arrived late Thursday night to the Historic Genetti Hotel in Williamsport Pennsylvania. There was this hauntingly, eerie feeling about the hotel (not scary) driving in. The hotel sits high above the buildings with the name all in bright red lights like it’s watching over the town. As I walked into the hotel Mr. Jeeves (an old time butler figurine) was standing there to greet me. As soon as I saw him, being the Halloween enthusiast that I am, I started picturing the whole hotel in Halloween décor with spider webs, candelabras, and pictures of skeletons with eyes that follow you as you walk. The elevators are small and old but suit the hotel perfectly.

If you take them to the lower level, when you walk out, the newly renovated women’s bathroom is right in front of you. The all black and white decor is designed perfectly for the hotel.

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BACKROADS • DECEMBER 2013

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Friday morning was welcomed with a hearty breakfast filled with eggs, bacon, sausage, hash, grits, French toast and biscuits & gravy to start off a full day of riding.

After eating breakfast we headed upstairs to get changed.

While riding in the elevator we met two people named Peter and Paul who introduced themselves to us. Being first timers they told us where they were riding and said if we wanted to join them be downstairs in 15 minutes. Before getting down to the bikes however, we ran into someone else who was going a half hour later which was better timing for us.

We all met downstairs at 9:45 and headed to the Kinzua Bridge in Mt. Jewett, Pennsylvania. After riding for a while we stopped at a gas station to fill up or top off. That’s where we met the whole group. There were 7 bikes in our group. Two of us knew each other. We were introduced to John, Michael, Brad, Barry and Bob who will now be known as John, Michael and the 3

my reaction, had you been there, would have been priceless. WOW is all I can say.

The bridge was HUGE. It was cool how they just left it the way it fell, cool but at the same time eerie. You can walk out on the train tracks and when you get to the end where the bridge fell there’s a glass opening where you can see all the way down to the ground or look out over the railing to the other side and see the emptiness in-between.

So if you’re ever in the area, it’s a must see.

Thanks again Backroads Magazine for putting this together.

Lisa Mutchler A New Member

B’s. What a wonderful group. We had so much fun, it was such a wonderful time. The roads were absolutely amazing. The scenery was beautiful, so much open land and the leaves were just starting to change.

After riding some more we finally arrived at the Kinzua Bridge. At one time it was one of the tallest and longest viaducts until an F-1 tornado came through in 2003 and knocked part of it down. I had no idea what to expect since I hadn’t read up on any of the rides. So

ROLLIN’ FAST Cycle Sports is your tri-state Victory motorcycle and Polaris dealer in New Jersey. We are a performance-oriented shop that specializes in all Victory motorcycles and Polaris side x sides and ATVs. We are the best-stocked dealer in the tri-state area. Whether you are looking for a Victory or Polaris vehicle, parts, or accessories we have it. We offer all dealer programs including financing, extended warranties, and vehicle insurance. Our knowledge of Victory motorcycles and Polaris vehicles far exceeds our competitors. We stock just about every Victory and Polaris accessory in the catalog plus many more aftermarket accessories for Victory.

ROLLIN’ FAST Cycle Sports 104 Main Street, Lebanon, NJ

908-236-9000 • www.rollinfast.com Here to serve you Monday-Friday 9a-6p • Thursday 9a-7p • Saturday 9a-5p • Gone Riding Sunday Victory and Victory Motorcycles® are registered trademarks of Polaris Industries Inc. Always wear a helmet, eye protection, and protective clothing and obey the speed limit. Never ride under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Warning: The Polaris RANGER® and RZR® are not intended for on-road use. Driver must be at least 16 years old with a valid driver’s license to operate. Passengers must be at least 12 years old and tall enough to grasp the hand holds and plant feet fi rmly on the fl oor. All SxS drivers should take a safety training course. Contact ROHVA at www.rohva.org or (949) 255-2560 for additional information. Drivers and passengers should always wear helmets, eye protection, protective clothing, and seat belts. Always use cab nets or doors (as equipped). Be particularly careful on difficult terrain. Never drive on public roads or paved surfaces. Never engage in stunt driving, and avoid excessive speeds and sharp turns. Riding and alcohol/drugs don’t mix. Check local laws before riding on trails. ATVs can be hazardous to operate. Polaris adult models are for riders 16 and older. For your safety, always wear a helmet, eye protection and protective clothing, and be sure to take a safety training course. For safety and training information in the U.S., call the SVIA at (800) 887-2887. You may also contact your Polaris dealer or call Polaris at (800) 342-3764. ©2013 Polaris Industries Inc.

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FIRST LOOK

2014 SUZUKI V-STROM 1000

There is little doubt that the ADV machines and the genre are making strong headway in the motorcycle world. Bikes that are super-tough and more and more dependable seem to be everywhere.

Having debuted as a concept at the 2012 Intermot show in Germany, the all-new Suzuki V-Strom 1000 has been thoroughly revised and brings a host of top-notch upgrades over the old liter-class VStroms. Couple these with a very attractive price, and we might already be looking at a future bestseller.

While the older Stroms were way better on asphalt than they were off the road, it looks like Suzuki has done a great job upgrading the liter bike. A former superbike 90-degree v-twin engine was revamped and became bigger, with new cylinders and heads, pistons, a new crankshaft, connecting rods, radiator, and a new clutch: in one word, a new engine, altogether.

Suzuki claims 59 mpg from this new offering, which is truly impressive, if true, and a major help deciding in favor of such a purchase these days at the pumps. Suzuki claims the 1037cc will deliver 99hp at 8,000 rpm and 76 lb-ft of tourqe at 4,000 rpm. Impressive.

New technology, such as traction control was also installed on the bike, with dual mode operation and the possibility to switch it off for off-road use.

Add in a nice freeze sensor lighting up a warning light in the dash, fully adjustable suspensions, ABS for the 310mm and 295mm rotors (front and rear, respectively), slipper clutch and an adjustable windscreen for even more touring worth.

Aluminum wheels remained in the 19” and 17” zone, not exactly the favorite combo for really rough ground, no matter what BMW and other manufacturers say about the 19” front. The new, and attractive, styling looks very familiar as well.

The 2014 Suzuki V-Strom 1000 was presented at the 2013 AIMExpo that was held in Orlando in October, and the price is rumored to be under $15,900 and such a price is sure to move a lot of bikes.

It seems these days BMW has more and more competition in the mirrors.

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H

DECEMBER 2013 • BACKROADS

ere it is, time to turn the last calendar page. The deep-fryer for the turkey and the Menorah have barely been put away before you’re looking for the Christmas decorations. But there’s no rest for the weary; it’s time to satisfy the needs of those near and dear to you, and those not so.

Well, sit down, pull out the cheaters, and take a look at some of the ideas we have for the motorcyclists in your life.

CAMEL TANK FOR BMW F-SERIES TWINS How could we resist a product called the Camel Tank?

Camel Tank was invented by adventure rider Cory Hanson to correct a shortcoming of his welltravelled BMW F800GS: the small gas tank. Though there were other fuel options available, there was no auxiliary fuel tank that suited an adventure rider’s needs quite right.

The tank is specifically designed to fit BMW F-Series parallel twin adventure bikes, including the F650GS, F700GS and F800GS models. Born from the need for function, Camel Tank is the first product of many innovative adventure-riding accessories to come from Camel ADV Products Ltd. The Camel Tank is designed to work with common panniers and racks without interfering with a top box or duffel bag. Camel Tank can hold 7 Liters of fuel and is designed without the need for a fuel pump or transfer. It is a rugged, attractive addition to your bike without seeming out of place.

It is easily installed with basic hand-tools, the average motorcycle owner can install Camel Tank in a couple of hours. When you buy your tank, they provide detailed instructions with images of each step to guide your installation process.

Be aware that only certain luggage systems will fit with the Camel Tank, so check their website to see if they will work on your F-Series.

The Camel Tank increases your BMW adventure

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bike’s range by over 40%. This cleanly designed auxiliary tank adds 7.1L to your bike’s fuel capacity, giving you a total of 23.1L (over 6 gallons). Where will you go when the only limits you have are the ones you impose on yourself?

Don’t let the fuel gauge tell you when to stop exploring, if you ride your F-Series BMW large then you need the Camel Tank!

The Camel Tank lists for $499 + shipping, and you can log onto www.camel-adv.com/ for more information or to order yours.

KNOTBONE ADJUSTABLE FLAT BUNGEE A few months back we were riding some dirt trails with a friend and they took a bit of a spill. They were fine but the impact took out one of their bags snapping it off the railing that held it on.

Not wanting to leave the bag and his gear on the side of the trail he wondered aloud if there was a way to temporarily hold the bag back on his bike.

Of course there was, and with that I looked deep into my own saddle bags and came up with a few straps that I ride around with for just such an emergency.

The newest straps, in my arsenal of tie downs, straps and bungees, is the Knot Bone Adjustable Flat Bungee.

Available from Whitehorse Gear for around 10 bucks these bungees are strong, adjustable in size and very easy to use.

The innovative carabiner ends of the KnotBone Adjustable Bungee allow you to adjust and lock its cord length precisely for each individual job. It’s a little bit evolution, a little bit intelligent design, and a whole lot handy.

Once you have it adjusted to the right length, secure it in place with a simple wrap-and-lock motion. We’ve even added small self-clipping plastic caps to the cord ends to keep them in place once you’ve got your load secured. No more pulling, stretching, and re-hooking to get the tension you want - job after individual job, the KnotBone Bungee stays right where you attach it, pulls securely to the exact length you need, and locks there.

Everybody should carry some sort of strap and the KnotBone fits this bill perfectly. Log onto www.whitehorsegear.com or call 800-531-1133 to order yours.

THE AEROSTICH MESSENGER BAGS Andy Goldfine and RiderWearhouse have been around for 30 years.

That’s right. For three decades they have provided serious gear for serious riders. For twenty of these years they have been selling the best Messenger Bags on the planet.

The other day I was testing a machine without the luggage I am used to having and came to the conclusion that an easy to use and portable bag would be a good thing to have.

It took all of a second to realize I needed to contact Andy & Company in Minnesota and get hold of one of their Messenger Bags. – oh sure you betcha!

Over the years Aerostich has refined these bags – and there are four different styles coming in different sizes: Letter, Dispatch, Courier and Parcel; and a number of colors available too. And these bags, specifically made for us riders, were the first to use Cordura Nylon and have integrated reflective areas. The bags all have oversized and removable ultrasuede padded straps that do a great job of spreading the weight evenly on your shoulder and back.

All of the bags are constructed of urethane-coated, 1000 Denier Cordura and are fully lined as well.

I ordered a Courier Bag in High-Viz yellow ($97), which easily carries all I could possibly need for a short day trip, and then some, and had the extra benefit of the bright conspicuous color and the reflective parts.

On the road this bag works as promised and designed with big padded strap holding the bag securely behind

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me, even at speed and through the twisties.

To keep things a bit more in order in the bag, Aerostich offers an organizer pocket ($27). With its mesh compartment, an elastic compartment, stiff sleeves, and zippered compartment, the organizer attaches securely inside and make sure your phone, iPod, sunglasses and other items don’t get crunched, damaged or lost among the larger stuff you are carrying.

If you are looking for an alternative to cumbersome backpacks and have the need to safely bring your stuff from Point A to Point B then one of the various Messenger Bags from Aerostich should fit the bill for you nicely.

Log onto www.aerostich.com to find yours and a website full of more useful motorcycle gear than any other on the planet.

THE LATEST FROM GARMIN - ZUMO 390LM Garmin International is now offering the zumo 390LM GPS navigator – a stylish, rugged, sunlight readable and glove-friendly touchscreen device that helps keep motorcyclists on track, on and off the road. Mounted on the handlebars or in the car (motorcycle and car mounts included), the zumo 390LM’s design offers the flexibility riders want.

“In addition to features like the Service History Log, lane assist with junction view and TracBack, the zumo 390LM adds improved Bluetooth functionality, new Curvy Roads feature and motorcyclists can now monitor their tire pressure in real-time with the new Tire Pressure Monitor Sensor (sold separately),” said Dan Bartel, Garmin vice president of worldwide sales. “It’s light-weight and easy to mount, includes lifetime map updates, and can handle the toughest weather conditions.”

With the zumo 390LM, Garmin has updated its popular Motorcycle Series to make it more than just another GPS navigator. zumo 390LM features Bluetooth wireless technology that allows riders to simply connect their zumo with their mobile phone and a Bluetooth-enabled headset or helmet (sold separately) to make and receive calls on the go. With it, motorcyclists are free to talk on their phones without having to remove their gloves or helmet. Riders can also call points of interest through the zumo Bluetooth interface, perfect for a last-minute change of plans or a quick pit stop for food and fuel. zumo 390LM can transmit voice guided navigation to motorcyclists’ compatible headsets or helmets. Hearing street names and navigation commands lets riders keep their focus on the road and truly enjoy the ride. zumo 390LM is the first in the motorcycle series from Garmin to be compatible with the NEW integrated Tire Pressure Monitor Sensor3 (TPMS). Add a sensor for each tire and easily monitor the pressure using the zumo display. The system works with up to 4 tires in any configuration. One TPMS sensor is required for each tire. Also, the Service History Log lets cruising enthusiasts record the date, mileage and type of maintenance performed on their motorcycles. Tire mileage, tire changes, tire pressure, chain cleanings, oil changes, new spark plugs – almost anything you can think of, zumo will keep a record of it.

Whether riding during a bright summer day or a moonless fall night, the zumo 390LM has motorcycle-friendly features any rider will appreciate. With its new Curvy Roads feature, zumo 390LM will allow riders to select and navigate routes on winding roads to their destination—making each new trip a memorable experience. Its large touchscreen color display is housed in a case that resists fuel sprays and UV rays. The zumo 390LM puts all the information you need in an easyto-read format as you travel down the road and features a glove-friendly intuitive interface that makes entering information

RIDE ONE AND YOU’LL

TEST RIDE A VICTORY

®

OWN ONE.

The cool weather is calling - head out of the city on a new Victory Cross Country.

We will never stop delivering the best riding experience on the planet.

Find out for yourself.

Victory and Victory Motorcycles® are registered trademarks of Polaris Industries Inc. Always wear a helmet, eye protection and protective clothing and obey the speed limit. Never ride under the influence of drugs or alcohol. ©2012 Polaris Industries Inc.

Victory Metuchen

Can-Am Metuchen

911 Middlesex Ave, Metuchen, NJ (732) 491-2900

911 Middlesex Ave, Metuchen, NJ (732) 491-2900

www.VictoryMetuchen.com

www.CanAmMetuchen.com

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as easy as shifting gears. The zumo 390LM speaks street names and will deliver turn-by-turn, voice prompted directions, such as “turn right on Route 66,” via the built-in speaker headphone jack or through a compatible Bluetooth helmet or headset.

BaseCamp™ compatible, the zumo 390LM makes it easy for motorcyclists to plan their next ride.

BaseCamp, a free software program from Garmin, allows users to create routes and waypoints from their computer and transfer them to the zumo. After an open road or off the beaten path adventure, send the ride to BaseCamp to share the adventure with friends and relive the experience.

The zumo 390LM offers you the convenience of lifetime map updates (North American and European version available), which provides up-to-date mapping and current information about businesses like restaurants, ATMs, hospitals and more. With the easy-to-use premium navigation search bar, zumo returns results for points of interest (POIs) as they are typed providing a faster, more intuitive experience. There’s also a speed limit indicator, and Exit Services that display gas stations, food and lodging, ATMs and rest areas for upcoming exits. With the TracBack feature, riders can really let their minds be free and ride wherever the road takes them, as it is now as easy as a button push to navigate along that same route back to where the adventure started. zumo 390LM also lets riders, following a planned route, be in complete control as they can now skip waypoints with a couple taps of the screen.

No more guessing which lane motorcyclists need to be in to make an upcoming turn. Lane assist with junction view guides riders to the correct lane for an approaching turn or exit, making unfamiliar intersections and exits easy to navigate and gives peace of mind. It realistically displays road signs and junctions on the route along with arrows that indicate the proper lane for navigation.

The new zumo 390LM is available immediately and will have a suggested retail price of $699.99. The zumo 390LM will be available in North American and European versions. For more information about Garmin’s other Motorcycle products and services, go to garmin.com.

To see the zumo 390LM in action, go to www.garmin.com/zumo.~ Brian Rathjen

NELSON-RIGG CL-1060 SPORT TAIL/SEAT BAG Looking for something to carry your day-to-day stuff in an easy to handle tail bag? Then we might have the answer for you.

The CL-1060 Sport Tail/Seat Bag is a compact bag with a fully expandable main compartment and is the perfect size for light traveling.

The 1060 Sport Tail/Seat Bag easily mounts to most tail sections and seats and took all of five minutes to mount onto our BMW F800GS. New self-adjusting hooks attach to bag with soft ties which made the connecting to bike a breeze.

Made from top quality Tri-Max ballistic nylon with Fibertech accents, the Sport Tail/Seat Bag maintains shape, has reflective piping and a lined interior and mesh pocket and organizer under lid.

Inside you will find a good-sized compartment, with the compartment measuring 12.5”L x 10.5”W x 4”H standard - holding 8.60 Liters and a full 12.5”L x 10.5”W x 7”H when expanded – holding 15.06 Liters.

It also comes with a rolled up rain cover, in case things get bad weather-wise.

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CL-1060 Sport Tail/Seat Bag also has the “Dual Mounting” feature. This means it can be attached to any Nelson Rigg saddlebags to create a complete luggage system that is simple to install and even easier to remove and transport.

The Nelson-Rigg CL-1060 Sport Tail/Seat Bag comes with a Lifetime “No Hassle” warranty and is about as well constructed as anything else we have seen on the market.

With a list price of just $69.99 you really cannot go wrong with this bag. It is stylish, well-made and extremely useful. Log onto their website at www.nelsonrigg.com to find this and their other great products.

MOTOPOCKETS FROM

ADVENTURE POCKETS • KEEPING IT ALL TOGETHER

If you are anything like us you end up carrying a lot of smaller items when you are on tour or day tripping.

I have developed a system for myself of storing things in the same place all the time in the various pockets of my tank bag, but as time moved on I have added to the things I tend to bring along for day-to-day rides.

I needed to take advantage of some unused space on my bike that could be utilized with the right gear.

Over time I have seen some manufacturers make available stash pockets for the inside of some top cases, but nothing like this was available for my Givi or Shira’s Jesse top case – until now.

The folks from Adventure Pockets have released two motorcycle-specific pockets that fit this bill nicely. The motoPOCKET Glove and motoPOCKET-N “Take it All.” The motoPOCKET-N “Take it All” is the larger of the two and was created to be used attached to the inside of the top case lid. It is a removable top case organizer designed to hold your travel documents, registration, passport or maps. It attaches to the top lid with a patent-pending Velcro-like loop pad. Easy to remove and take into your hotel room, customs office or local sheriff’s department (kidding).

A full 11.5” wide x 9” tall it is made from durable 600 Denier Polyester with PVC backing. Installation took just seconds and now that “dead” space inside my Givi Top case has become that much more useful.

The smaller of the two, the motoPOCKET is a waterproof, removable and convenient glove compartment for your motorcycle. It was designed to attach to the inside of your windshield with their patent pending Velcro-like loop pad. It is perfect for storing your cell phone, paper work, eyeglasses or corkscrew.

The CasePocket did not fit well on Shira’s GS, with her GPS and radar detector in the way, but it did work perfectly inside the lid of her Jesse Top Case. Maybe not exactly what Adventure Pockets had in mind, but it basically does the same job as its bigger brother and in the same way.

On other machines it worked as advertised.

If you have multiple rides you can buy extra “Velcrostyled” pads so you can move the POCKETS from bike to bike.

I found both these POCKETS to extremely well made and they have already become my go-to pouches for a number of “must haves” while on the road.

The motoPOCKETS list for $45.95 and $39.95 and can be ordered from web at www.adventurepockets.com or you can call them at 208-720-5961. ~Brian Rathjen

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FIRST RIDE

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2014 ROYAL ENFILED CONTINENTAL GT500 Michael Vaughn

Royal Enfield, the world’s longest continual manufacturer, having been in production without interruption since 1901, chose London to introduce their latest model, the Continental GT500.

It was appropriate that the site chosen for the Café Racer-styled, 500 was the resurrected Ace Café, the home base for many Café Racers, or Rockers as they were known in the ‘60s.

The new bike, except for displacement and brakes, and the fact that it benefits from the latest technology, is almost a copy of the original Continental GT250 introduced by the company in 1964. Both bikes feature a bright red tank and fenders, clip on handle bars, rear sets, and racing-style, bum-stop seats, but there the similarities end.

Most obviously is the doubling of engine size. The new engine features a bore and stroke of 87mm X 90mm, is die cast, air-cooled and fuel-injected by Keihin. It produces 29.1 BHP at 5100 RPM, and 32.4 lb ft of torque at 4000 RPM, along with its fivespeed transmission it’s capable of pushing the bike along at steady freeway speeds of 60 – 70 MPH. The twin down tube cradle frame is all-new, designed by Harris Performance Products, a company well known for its expertise in frame development and design. Paioli twin gas shocks with adjustable preload provide three inches of travel in the rear, and a pair of non-adjustable telescopic forks in

front serves up 4.3 inches of travel.

With its 53.5-inch wheelbase, and overall length of 81 inches, the GT looks compact, but not small. The seat sits at 31.5 inches but, due to its narrowness and suspension compression, even with my 30-inch inseam there was no difficulty in putting my boots flat on the ground.

The clip-on style handlebars and rear-sets bend you into a classic “racer” posture, but it was surprisingly comfortable. The long seat provides plenty of area to move fore and aft, allowing for a wide range of arm lengths. Personally I had no problem with the leg room, but others, with longer inseams probably will.

With a fuel capacity of 3.3-gallons, Royal Enfield claims an overall weight, with 90% fuel and oil, of 405 pounds.

The bike features premium Pirelli Sport Demon tires, a 100/18 56 in front and 130/70 63 in the rear. Brembo brakes, with single, double piston caliper and 300 mm floating disc in front and a 240 mm, single piston floating caliper in the rear provide the necessary stopping power.

The headstock is topped with a Smiths-like analog speedometer and tach.

The trip meter is digital. The bar-end, rearview mirrors, while well wedded to the overall design, in my opinion are way too small and severely limit vi-

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Page 40 sion to the rear.

For the die-hard retro-biker the GT has both a kick-start and electric starter, for those who want nothing less than an authentic ‘60s experience.

Our test ride was to take us to Brooklands, up Box Hill, a popular destination for motorcyclists looking for challenging twisty roads. From there it was to be the M23 to Brighton, site of the famed “riot” between the Mods and the Rockers as portrayed in the Who’s movie Quadraphenia.

Unfortunately we must have dallied too long at Brooklands, because we passed through the roundabout pointing towards Box Hill with hardly a pause, which was too bad. The M23 is a four-laned thoroughfare only interrupted by the occasional roundabout, which requires some downshifting, braking,

DECEMBER 2013 • BACKROADS

turning and acceleration, but it mostly cranks along at 60 – 70 MPH, and was not the best environment to showcase the strengths of this motorcycle.

The GT is capable of sustained speeds of 60 – 70 MPH, but it’s really not the forte for which the bike was designed. What the ride did tell me is that the engine’s a willing performer, its lightened flywheel lets it rev up quickly through its first four gears and it moves along nicely in fifth, although it can get buzzy when it nears the red line.

Through the roundabouts the bike proved capable of quickly changing line without a lot of drama, and was capable of accelerating fairly quickly up to highway speeds, which could be seriously affected by body position. Generally the brakes work well, and can bring the bike to a controlled stop even from a fairly high rate of speed. next page

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New For 2014

Page 41

RADICAL NEW KAWASAKI Z1000 DEBUT

Since its introduction in 2003, the Z1000 has been regarded as a benchmark “naked” sportbike. Kawasaki unveiled the next exciting iteration of the Z1000 family at the EICMA show in Milan, Italy.

Reflecting a radical new design philosophy, the Z1000 is a result of Kawasaki’s unique “Sugomi” approach, which has created a machine with the palpable energy and appearance of a predatory animal stalking its prey.

Harnessing the awe-inspiring, dark brooding menace of a crouching panther, the “Sugomi” approach has resulted in a machine which appears poised on the verge of exploding into action, focused on its prey, its body crouching low, muscles tensing in anticipation.

Rather than simply being “fastest” or “most powerful”, the new Z1000 concentrates on the overall emotional intensity of the ride, the tactile feeling of physical control and a carefully measured balance between the two extremes of outstanding engine and chassis dynamics that only Kawasaki could have realized.

As Head of Motorcycle Design for Kawasaki, Keishi Fukumoto, notes: “The new Z1000 delivers an increase in overall performance combined with an emotional spirit which will appeal to riders looking for a motorcycle with a strong, discernible character in terms of both looks and riding feel.”

“We were delighted to be asked to take a “clean sheet” approach to styling the new Z1000, a naked sportbike with a refined blend of unique Kawasaki spirit and bold “Sugomi” emotion.

Royal Enfield Continental GT500 This bike is not a freeway cruiser, you could ride it from New Jersey to Florida, but you wouldn’t want to. This bike is for enjoying those twisty forest two lanes, a task I think it would accomplish with ease. It’s for showing up at your local hangout with something stylish, and different. It scratches the same itch as the Triumph Bonneville, but does it with more style, less money, and of course less horsepower.

This is primarily an urban bike, light, responsive and easy to handle, and a viable alternative to getting around on a scooter, or small displacement Japanese bike. It’s a bike you don’t mind being seen on.

The importer, Classic Motorworks, has not yet established an MSRP, but felt that it would be under $7,000. They noted that the price also would include setup and shipping. When asked about delivery date, they were unsure, but felt that the bikes would be in dealer showrooms before the end of the year.

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ROAD TRIP

THREE GUYS, ONE DREAM Tony Piano

Tony banged his fist on the table and said, “dammit, let’s do it!”.

The three men lunched together and made the plan. The date was set for June 22nd 2013.

Werner, Jack and Tony met six years ago and became regular riding buddies. They have been to Daytona Beach, Tail of the Dragon, Myrtle Beach, The Blue Ridge, Grandfather’s Mountain and many other adventures on their motorcycles. The adventure that they most spoke of and dreamed of doing was the cross country trip to explore the western United States. Jack now 81, exclaimed, “If we don’t do it now, we may never get another chance.”

The plan was agreed upon, hands down by Tony, 78 and Werner, 69.

The day finally arrived. Tony and Jack set out early in the morning and headed west on route 80 to Toledo Ohio where they met up with Werner who recently moved to Michigan. Tony and Jack already had about 450 miles under their belt.

It was a beautiful sunny day when the three riding buddies burst into the air of freedom that can only be experienced when riding a motorcycle. The feeling is one of floating and soaring through the air. With arms outstretched and the wind against you, you have the feeling of flying. You have but to lean in a direction and your body and bike will follow. The hum and the roar of the engine passes through the depths of your soul. All thoughts left their minds as they experienced these feelings simultaneously. Tony on his ‘09 Harley Street Glide, and Jack on his ‘11 Kawasaki Vaquero, were wired by intercom and could communicate while riding. Many times while the three soared together, Tony would shout, “Jack....We are living!” and

Jack would reply with a laugh, “Yes, we are!” Tony was the leader, Werner on his ‘04 Harley Road King was second and Jack was last, always keeping an eye on everything.

So far, no rain, only bright sun and temperatures in the 90’s. They traveled about another 430 miles and were on the outskirts of Iowa City, Iowa when the sky began to cloud up and turn dark. They stopped and scrambled into their rain suits. It wasn’t long before the sky opened up and the down pour was tremendous. It was so blinding that the three lost sight of each other and were in heavy

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BACKROADS • DECEMBER 2013

Page 43 traffic with trucks and cars speeding by. No one could tell which lane he was in. Finally the downpour slowed a little, just enough to allow them to re group and find an exit ramp.

Luckily there was a hotel at the top of it and the men pulled in to call it a day. As they rode

into the parking lot their cell phones began to sound an alarm. The message was EMERGENCY! TORNADO! 15 minute warning, SEEK SHELTER IMMEDIATELY! They parked the bikes and ran into the hotel to watch the storm from a window. The tornado came through roaring and twisting and blowing everything in its path.

It was not as severe as the recent Oklahoma tornado, but it did toss a shed off its foundation, spin it and set it on its roof.

The windshield of Werner’s bike was torn off and tossed in the air. It landed about 100 feet away.

The next day, they went north at Omaha Nebraska and on the way to Rapid City, in 100 degree temperatures, they stopped to tour the Badlands National Park of South Dakota. A narrow winding road led them through the Badlands.

It is a wonder of nature. It was a show of stone growths jutting up from the earth all around you. Each one is unique in size and height. Each one glowing pure white in the sunlight appearing like beautiful ivory castles and palaces designed by God Himself. They checked in at Rapid City, South Dakota for the night.

The next morning they visited Mount Rushmore. Faces were carved out of the granite mountains of the Black Hills by explosives. Not only is it an amazing feat of art but also a wonder of engineering. Holes were drilled into the stone where explosives were placed then ignited. When the explosions subsided and the dust settled, the likenesses of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln were revealed. People gazed in awe at the sight.

The three mounted their steeds once again and proceeded to The Needles. This is an area amid gigantic stone formations of lava. The roads lead through narrow holes in the stone barely large enough to allow an automobile to pass. And just when you thought no car

could pass through it, a large bus comes slowly squeezing through with only about a half inch of clearance all around.

The Chief Crazy Horse monument was the next stop. This is a memorial to a famous leader who fought Custer at Little Big

Horn. The figure of Crazy Horse is about ten times larger than the faces at Mount Rushmore and was carved using the same explosives method. It is not yet completed but the famous profile of the chief is clearly visible. When completed, it will show Crazy Horse seated on his stallion and pointing forward with his arm outstretched.

Young men who are descendants of this once great culture are now employed as waiters at the restaurant. One can’t help but visualizing them as warriors who fought at the side of Crazy Horse. Now

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they are young, quiet, polite and humble young men who are well versed in their heritage and will answer, with a smile, any question about their famous chief.

Next. The Black Hills.

The narrow roads leading through the dense forest of tall pine trees through the Black Hills presents a great challenge to the motorcycle rider. It contains hundreds of short curves and switchbacks. The roads are narrow. The elevation is 4,400 feet with no guide rails and a lot of dust and gravel on the roads.

Another danger is that of motorists who are gazing at the sights and may wander into your lane. The only thing you can see around you is the thick forest of tall pines. It is beautiful, but you must be alert at every second. As a biker, there is not much time to sight-see unless you pull over to a parking area.

They exited the Black Hills by the southwest route and traveled north to Deadwood, South Dakota. In the late 1800’s, Deadwood was known as a gold rush town. It is where Wild Bill Hicok was shot in the back during a card game. The hand he held was Aces and Eights. Card players to this day refer to it as the “Deadman’s Hand”.

Today Deadwood is known for its casinos. Its main business is gambling.

Riding further north, the three came to “Devil’s Tower”. It is a tapered rock with a flat top that juts over 400 feet above the ground. The legend is that four Indian maidens were being chased by a large bear. They jumped

upon a flat topped rock and the rock grew to a height that the bear could not reach. It is said that the grooves in the side of the rock were made by the bear’s claws as he tried to climb it.

On the way back to their hotel in Rapid City, the dreamers stopped off at Sturgis, South Dakota. It is the site of the famous motorcycle rally. The event doesn’t start until the first week in August but the town was lively with vendors setting up their stores.

Of course they visited the local Harley dealer and bought tee shirts for folks back home.

Their next destination, Yellowstone National Park.

A travel guide suggested that instead of taking Rte. 16 to the park that they

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should travel a little further on Rte. 90 to Rte. 14. He stated that Rte. 16 was a flatter route and would be jammed with travel trailers and motor homes.

Rte. 14 however would be clearer of those vehicles. It would also be more secluded and steeper than Rte. 16. It would eventually join back with Rte. 16 and take them into Yellowstone. He said they were more apt to see herds of buffalo or elk or even wolves or bears. The three adventurers decided that was the route for them.

The next morning they pulled into a gas station to fill up. Only 91 octane gas was available throughout the west but today they got another surprise.

The fuel contained 30% ethanol. They brought an additive to counteract the ethanol and had no problems with performance, even in the higher altitudes.

Rte. 14 brought them through the high winding roads of Granite Pass in Wyoming. It was 9,033 ft elevation. They finally arrived at Cody, Wyoming, a small western town of about 6 buildings. The travel guide suggested that if they really wanted to see wilderness, take Rte. 120 north to Dead Indian Pass and go west to Rte. 212 which would take them into Yellowstone. The temperatures were still in the high 90’s to 100. With Tony leading on 120 north, he watched for Dead Indian Pass but there were no signs. Now they were much too far north for Dead Indian Pass. They continued traveling north until they reached a barricade. Rte. 120 ended there and they were more than 50 miles north of Cody.

At the barricade, they were detoured to the west on Rte. 308. Tony’s sense of direction told him that if they continued west, they would come to Rte. 212 a liitle further north than they wanted but Rte. 212 would lead them into Yellowstone.

(Continude on Page 54)

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MORE HOLIDAY GIFT IDEAS BLACKOAK GLOVES – WITH TOUCHTEC - FROM THE MOTOR COMPANY FULL-FEATURED, FULL-FINGERED GLOVES WITH TOUCHSCREEN COMPATIBILITY Loaded with high-tech features and materials, the new men’s Blackoak Full-Finger Gloves with TouchTec from the Harley-Davidson MotorClothes® line are built for both riding comfort and convenience. They’re constructed from cowhide leather and 100 percent polyester mesh, featuring a Kevlar palm patch with gel padding for extra comfort. The TouchTec leather is engineered to be touch-screen enabled for added versatility.

The gloves also feature pre-curved fingers, ergonomic thumb with an anti-slip patch, power-stretch knuckles and neoprene cuffs with adjustable closures. They also incorporate 3M™ Scotchlite™ Reflective Material for enhanced reflectivity. Available in S – 3XL sizes.

The Blackoak Gloves with TouchTec retail for $65, and are available now at most Harley-Davidson dealerships.

MAUI JIM READER GLASSES FROM IN SIGHT OPTICS On the high end of protective eye wear Maui Jim has risen to the top of the industry.

If you want the best in sunglasses then their style and lens technology cannot be beat. Coming in Neutral Grey, HCL® Bronze and their excellent PolarizedPlus®2 these glasses will change the way you look at the world.

And, for those who want to look cool and still be able to read a menu these Maui Jim Sunglasses do double duty as readers with various powers available.

On the road these glasses, with aerodynamic polarized lens design, fit closer to the face and the straight back “bayonette” temples make it easier for helmet use.

All the lens have CLEARSHELL® Scratch Coating and the glasses themselves are made from Grilamid, a light, durable polymer with extreme bending strength known for retaining its shape; extra-grip Rubberon temple ends ensure a secure fit. They retail for $219 at In Sight Optics, Four 2nd Ave Denville NJ and they can be reached at (973) 627-8818.

TREEZ TENTS - A TENT WAY ABOVE THE REST Drop off into the bush…or just stop at a campground. Now, with the new Treez Tents you can.

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area and large undercamping area for a whole dry campsite even way off the road…and in the “backroads” wilds. Or, just get a dozen yards off road and disappear for the night into an instantly comfortable campsite during your travels. Treez Tree Tents & Camping Platforms range in price from $369 to $1879 with many custom variables, options, and accessories.

For more info or to order yours check out Tim Steiner’s Whole World of Treez Tree Tents at their website: treeztreetents.com.

SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO ADAPT… TWO EASY FIXES FROM RIDERWEARHOUSE Aerostich constantly has neat little things in their catalog that could come in very handy, especially as machines and electronic gizmos become more and more intertwined.

Many of us look to charge our devices on the road, but do not want to spring for another doohickey to power up our gizmo.

The SAE to USB Adapter from RiderWearhouse makes it simple. Easily charge or power a smart phone, MP3 player, tablet or other electronic device with this handy SAE to USB adapter. It stores in a pocket or tank bag when not in use. Changes the 12V SAE automotive standard to the 5V @1.0A USB standard and will cost you just $20.00.

Also from RiderWearhouse is a great adapter if you are using a touring bike with a sound or communication system already on-board and don’t have or want a bulky headset, preferring ear buds or custom ear plugs, like we use.

The Intercom System Adapter will fit any 5, 7 or 8 pin motorcycle intercom system connector (most aftermarket types, OEM Gold Wing, Harley, etc..) to a standard 3.5mm stereo plug for use with ear buds and ear speakers. Simple, durable and reliable. 1.8”x .6” and just $19.00.

Log onto www.aerostich.com to order yours or to see any of their excellent motorcycle products.

NO GARAGE? NO PROBLEM. Bike covers can be a hassle and not everyone has access to a garage. Well, here’s the simple solution! With a Speed-Way shelter you simply push your bike into the shelter, lower the retractable cover over your bike, lock it using the built-in locking hardware, and BINGO, your bike is securely stored!

The shelter’s fabric is 100% waterproof and UV protective. It does not touch the motorcycle so there is no need to wait for the pipes to cool down! The shelter offers 2 large side windows that can be closed or open providing full ventilation so there is no condensation build up. The structure is made of powder-coated steel

tubes to prevent rust and protection from falling objects.

The shelter operates using a simple hand lift-retractable function to cover and uncover your bike; and the best part…assembly takes less than 30 minutes!

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Height: 64” • Width: 43” • Length: 108” LARGE size fits most Touring bikes. Height: 76” • Width: 54” • Length: 136” The Speed-Way Motorsport Cover ($325.95) is available at Bob’s BMW Motorcycles. Get yours today at bobsbmw.com or call 1-888-269-2627.

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Welcome to the Jungle - The Art of Learning to Ride Skillfully A column dedicated to your riding survival

Be Careful… There are nuts on the road Something to be on the lookout when riding in rural areas, especially in late September and early October are the nuts on the roads.

No, not the kind behind the wheels of large automobiles, but rather the nuts that come dropping off the trees each year at this time.

I was riding down the hill from Backroads Central in late September and was leaning over into one of the sweepy and shaded curves this region is known for when my front wheel hit and ran over something on the road that gave me and the bike a jolt and sent that spurt of adrenaline shooting through me. A split second later I hit two more with the same result.

Looking around I could see that the entire road was coated with golf ball size dark green pods.

Green Hickory Nuts.

This time of year we should be aware of these little monsters lurking on the roadways.

When they start to fall they do it in bunches.

It is so bad at our friend’s farm they have a sign up to tell folks where to park and hard hats available.

The Hickory (from Powhatan) is a type of tree, comprising the genus Carya meaning ‘nut’. The genus includes 17–19 species of deciduous trees with pinnately compound leaves and extensive nuts. Five or six species are native to China, Indochina, and India (State of Assam), four are found in Mexico, about a dozen are from the United States and Canada.

These are the ones we need to be aware of.

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Like an errant stone that you might hit on the road the first thing not to do is panic.

Everyone can be surprised by something like this, but it is what you do after the initial impact that makes the difference. Don’t snap off the gas or grab for the brakes. Try to stay steady on the gas and look where you really want to go, not down at the road to see what you have run over.

Just like a dirt rider running along a stony trail stay steady, stay focused and stay safe.

By the way – the Hickory Nuts are simply delicious. If you do run into a few, take them home, split them open and get to the actual nut.

Open that and pick out the fruit.

They are scrumptious and good for you.

Don’t let the Green Hickory Nut ruin your day.

Eat them instead.

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UPCOMING EVENTS CALENDAR DECEMBER 2013 7 • Customer Appreciation Day and Holiday Party at Morton's BMW Motorcycles. Join us for food, amazing holiday sales, and much more from 9:00 am - 4:00 pm. Morton's BMW Motorcycles, 5099A Jefferson Davis Highway, Fredericksburg, VA 22408 • 540-8919844 • www.mortonsbmw.com 7 • Liberty Harley-Davidson invites you in for Free Photos with Santa on a Harley. Noon4pm. 12 W. Milton Ave, Rahway, NJ • 732-381-2400 • www.LibertyHarley.com 13-15 • New York City @ Jacob Javits Center • Progressive International Motorcycle Shows offers an all access pass to view all the new 2014 models and hundreds of the hottest street bikes, dirt bikes, cruisers, UTVs and ATVs for both new and experienced riders. From the latest gear and aftermarket accessories to informative seminars and interactive entertainment, this event is the place to experience the latest in the world of motorcycling. This motorcycle extravaganza will also feature live music; the Ultimate Builder Custom Bike Show featuring hundreds of the hottest custom motorcycles dripping in eye-popping chrome, wild paint jobs and dazzling rims; the return of The Podium that will host motorcycle racers, celebrities, DIY seminars; and much, much more. For more information visit www.motorcycleshows.com. Use code TBACKROADS for discount tix.

14 • Bob’s BMW Free Bike Wash •Are you a true year around rider? If so, ride to Bob’s Service Department on this frigid December day and let us rinse the salt off your bike, scrub your bike’s wheels, and make it spotless…all for FREE! All you need to do is arrive between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., check in at service and then relax with a hot cup of coffee (or hot cocoa) and a fresh donut! Complete details at www.bobsbmw.com. • 10720 Guilford Rd, Jessup, MD • 301-497-8949 14 • Bus Ride to New York’s International Motorcycle Show from Bob’s BMW, Jessup, MD. Conveniently travel to the East coast’s biggest motorcycle show on a chartered bus among dozens of fellow enthusiasts! Tickets include round-trip transportation, a bagged lunch, admission to the show, and snacks to enjoy on the ride home. Tickets sell out every year so don’t delay. Complete details at www.bobsbmw.com 14 • Bus Ride to New York’s International Motorcycle Show from Bergen County HD/BMW. $35/pp incl. ride, continental breakfast with Bloody Mary or Mimosa and show ticket. No driving, gas or parking on your part, just enjoying the sights. Seats are limited to get yours today. 201-843-6930 • 124 Essex St, Rochelle park, NJ

What’s Happening 17 • Liberty Harley-Davidson HOG Chapter 14th Annual Toy Run. Sign in: 10am-Noon ride to Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hosp., N . Brunswick, NJ. $15 w/toy or $20/wo toy • $10/passenger • 12 W. Milton Ave, Rahway, NJ • 732-381-2400 • www.libertyharley.com 21 • Bob's BMW annual customer appreciated day! Get into the holiday spirit at Bob's while we say THANKS to our amazing customers for what we know is going to be another great year. Food, great company, door prizes and special holiday savings • 10720 Guilford Rd, Jessup, MD • 301-497-8949 • www.bobsbmw.com 21 • Bergen County Harley-Davidson/BMW invites you in for Free Photos with Santa on a Harley. 11am-3pm. Free Gift Wrapping. 124 Essex St, Rochelle park, NJ • 201-8436930 • www.bergenharleydavidson.com 30 • Cross Country BMW/Ducati Open House. 911 Middlesex Ave, Metuchen, NJ • 732635-0094 • www.ccbmw.com • www.ccducati.com 30 • Liberty Harley-Davidson Orange Saturday Party. Great savings and specials all day PLUS deep-fried turkey and all the trimmings. 12 W. Milton Ave, Rahway, NJ • 732-3812400 • www.libertyharley.com 29-Jan. 12 • Pit Langner Wall of Death Rider is BACK. Check website or social media pages for times/dates of performances. Motorcyclpedia Museum, 250 Lake St, Newburgh, NY • 845-560-9065 • www.motorcyclepediamuseum.org

JANUARY 2014 3-5 • North American International SuperShow, International Centre, Toronto Canada. The Big One by the Airport. For full details visit www.motorcyclesupershow.ca or call 888661-7469 10-12 • Motorcyclepedia Museum Swap Meet. Clean out your garage and closets and make some money. Check website or social media pages for times/dates of performances. Motorcyclpedia Museum, 250 Lake St, Newburgh, NY • 845-560-9065 • www.motorcyclepediamuseum.org

MAY 2014 May 23-26 • Backroads Spring Break • Marion, Virginia. Info on page 52

JUNE 2014

14 • Bergen County Harley-Davidson/BMW invites you in for Free Photos with Santa on a Harley. 11am-3pm. Free Gift Wrapping. 124 Essex St, Rochelle park, NJ • 201-8436930 • www.bergenharleydavidson.com

2-7 • World’s Largest Touring Rally Returns. Americade, Lake George NY. For all the details and registration information visit www.americade.com

7 • Liberty Harley-Davidson invites you in for Free Photos with Santa on a Harley. Noon4pm. 12 W. Milton Ave, Rahway, NJ • 732-381-2400 • www.LibertyHarley.com

14-22 • 7 • 90th Anniversary of the original riding rally- Laconia Bike Week. Weirs Beach, Laconia, NH. www.LaconiaBikeWeek.com • 603-366-2000

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December 2013 Pages_2011 Page Layout-New 11/5/13 12:19 PM Page 51

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MOTORCYCLE MARKETPLACE

DECEMBER 2013 • BACKROADS

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2014

May 23-26 Join Team Backroads as we head to the southern Virginia Mountains where we’ll call the General Francis Marion Hotel in Marion, VA home for three nights. This region has some of the most serious motorcycling roads such as the Back of the Dragon and Claw of the Dragon, with hudreds of miles of incredible riding. In addition there’s quaint towns, deep history and phenomenal scenery.

We hope you can travel south for what promises to be a superb weekend of riding and a memorable Memorial Day Weekend.

Back of the Dragon Backroads Spring Break 2014

SPRING BREAK

Get out your maps and start planning now!

Call for a free brochure 877-255-9928 visitwytheville.com/motorcycle-trails.html

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BOOK TODAY. Rooms are $84 - $145/night + tax and include continental breakfast. When booking please reference ‘Back of the Dragon Backroads Group’ for discount.

General Francis Marion Hotel • Marion, VA 877-783-4802 • www.gfmhotel.com

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BACKROADS • DECEMBER 2013

Your Toy Store at the Shore

Page 53

Stumpy’s YAMAHA

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December 2013 Pages_2011 Page Layout-New 11/5/13 12:19 PM Page 54

DECEMBER 2013 • BACKROADS

Page 54 three Guys, one dream (Continued from Page 45) Missing Dead Indian Pass wound up leading them to one of the great highlights of the entire trip. Tony was right. Rte. 308 led them to Rte. 212. It was there that they turned south to Yellowstone. That route took them over the highest point in Wyoming...Bear Tooth Pass, 10,947 ft elevation over 2 miles up. It was the granddaddy of all motorcycle trip challenges.

The view was breathtaking. They had a clear view of the beautiful high snow capped mountains that seamed to touch the clouds. There were no trees to interfere with the view. Looking up at them it was hard to believe that they would eventually be riding on top of those snow caps. They started the climb, sharp curve after sharp curve, switchback after switchback, hairpin after hairpin all the while climbing, climbing, climbing. There were no guide rails. They could feel the temperature getting colder and the air becoming thinner. It was harder to breathe. They found themselves taking short breaths. They had to put on warm jackets. They had gone from 100 degree temperatures to the 40’s. The snow caps that they had looked up at earlier were now surrounding them. They had reached the top. They parked the bikes and frolicked in the snow like a bunch of little boys. They celebrated as though they had reached the top of Mt. Everest. Jack commented that he would not advise this route for the novice rider.

This was a magnificent experience for the dreamers.

They entered Yellowstone through the northeastern entrance and came to a clump of large buildings on the northwest side. Jack had been there before and explained that it once was an Army base. It was now converted to a large culture center containing a hotel, shops, and a museum. It was crowded with visitors.

The three continued south on the western side of the park. Earlier, Tony had called ahead to West Yellowstone to make hotel reservations for that night and they were trying to get there before dark. It started to rain so they stopped and put on their rainsuits.

The next day, they continued their tour of Yellowstone. They went east then turned south. They didn’t see any bears or wolves but they did see many buffalo and elk.

They’ve seen buffalo in local zoos back east. They seemed lazy and dirty and small. But these buffalo were larger, cleaner, more active and very beautiful. They had shed their winter coats and actually had shining new summer fur.

They seemed to ignore the cars and people as they stopped to take pictures.

They would cross the road whenever they wanted.

Tony, Werner, and Jack continued on when Jack, who has a sharp eye, called our attention to the largest bull elk I ever saw. He was in the woods about 20 feet off the road in the brush. Once Jack spotted him, other people followed him closer to take pictures.

They arrived at the “Old Faithful” geyser where they had lunch and waited for the next eruption.

It was a beautiful scene. Imagine all the pressure beneath the ground to force heated water through the surface causing it to rise 60 or 70 ft. As they traveled through the park they saw many smaller geysers, some were smaller and bubbling others were spouting only a few feet high.

The men happened to be standing on top of the largest volcano in the world. It is said that when it erupts, it will shut out the sun and cause a worldwide catastrophe.

Traveling south and leaving Yellowstone they were among dense tree coverage. But a little further to the south the terrain changed abruptly to flat open plains and when it did it revealed the beautiful sight of the Grand Tetons, a row of high majestic beautiful snow capped mountains that formed a wall to the west and that wall continued to

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Page 55

the town of Jackson known as Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

They decided that they would stay here for two days to rest their bodies as well as the bikes after covering so many miles.

Jackson is a beautiful little town typical of the old west. It still has wooded sidewalks and the buildings are reminiscent of those back in the 1800’s.

The men rented a small log cabin for their stay. It had three beds and two rooms.

are known to the locals as Rocky Mountain Oysters.

Glacier National Park is very beautiful. There is one road, Logan Pass, to the top and the same road comes back to the base. 6,664 feet elevation. You get one view going up and another view coming back. Each view is altogether different.

Again it was very hot and road construction caused many stops in the hot sun. They were wetting the road to hold the dust down. This was no good for motorcycles. The roads were muddy and slippery.

The roads were crowded with cars, and campers. The scenery was breathtaking but the heat and the traffic were unbearable.

At the hotel that night, the men discussed the next move. The temperatures were predicted to be in the 100’s on the road to Seattle. That road was desolate open and desert like. A vote was taken and 2 to 1 voted to abort the plan to go to Seattle. At this point, Tony and Jack had traveled almost 3,000 miles.

The new plan was to go east on Rte. 90 and visit Little Bighorn Battlefield. It was eerie to stand on top of the hill where the massacre occurred. A small stone monument was placed at the spot where each soldier died.

This ended the sight seeing and now it was time to start the long trek back home. The dreamers traveled a total of 6,350 miles and did it all in 19 days.

But dreamers never stop dreaming. So what’s next?.....Alaska?

Jackson is located at the base of mountains which surround the town. It is a famous ski resort. It is a perfect place to relax. The shops and art galleries are a pleasure to visit. The restaurants are average quality but are maximum priced, $17 for two eggs, toast, bacon and coffee.

The plan was to go south from here to Salt Lake City but they changed that plan when they learned that the 1269 DOLSONTOWN RD temperatures there were over 100.

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The men were hungry and thirsty so they bought sandwiches and soda. There was no place to sit inside but there were 4 picnic tables outside. Jack was always a step ahead of us. He had already paid for his food and went outside. He was headed to one of the tables. He made his selection and spread out his food ready for his feast. Werner and Tony were paying for their food when the lady looked out and said that there was a nest of skunks under one of the tables and there was a female with young ones. Dangerous territory. Jack was already seated and obviously made the right choice because there were no skunks under his table.

Werner and Tony were laughing as they approached Jack. He wanted to know what the hell was so funny.

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Page 56

Tasting the Forbidden Fruit CUBA WITH MOTODISCOVERY words: David H. Taylor photos: Don Toothman When I read that Skip Mascorro’s company, MotoDiscovery, had obtained permission from both the American and Cuban governments to organize a motorcycle tour of Cuba, as a person-to-person experience, I jumped at the chance.

We would be 13 riders, nine men and 4 women, with a 14th, Alex Moore, who was to be our primary in country guide. It was to be a 10-day tour, with eight days riding in Cuba.

We all met at our Miami base, the Miami Sofitel, on January 11, the day before flying to Cuba. The group was friendly and all of us excited to be going on the first such tour in almost 54 years. On getting acquainted with one another the conversations quickly turned to our mutual love of touring exotic places on motorcycles. Skip’s itinerary and do and don’t do talk was straightforward: no GPS, take no pictures of police, and the U.S. Treasury Department says spend no more than $150 per day.

Skip and Alex assured us we’d be on some really interesting rural roads, and, as we

later found out, they weren’t kidding; interesting didn’t quite sum it up. We were told that two Cuban bikers, both employees of the Cuban Tourist Department, would accompany us; Ernesto would be in the chase bus and Luis would lead the rides At home, our personal rides were mostly Harley-Davidsons and BMWs, but we’d been given the choice of riding either a BMW F650GS or F800GS bike in Cuba. Two of the women would ride pillion. The bikes were brand new and rented from a Havana company just started by a Danish entrepreneur.

The plane trip to Havana and our hotel and restaurant reservations were arranged through the Marazul Charter & Travel Agency. In Havana, we were bused to our bikes and after a brief ride around the pick-up area to get used to our rides, rode through the city to the hotel Quinta Avenida, our Havana hotel base. The weather that day, and during the entire trip, was perfect, very similar to Miami’s 70’s and 80’s; there was rain only one night, and that for only 25 minutes. But in the cities there was a lot of air pollution, particularly in Havana.

Havana is a sprawling city of some 280 square miles and a population of over two million people.

Its fabled nightlife was apparently still in full bloom and the many taxis made getting around safe and easy. Other than a great show

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Page 57 at the famous Tropicana Club on our next to last night in town, I didn’t see much of Havana nightlife, but those that did told me it was fabulous.

The next morning we met Luis and Ernesto. Luis Gonzales is the current president of the Havana Harlistas. He invited us to his home and gave us a tour of his machine shop where he maintains and repairs his fleet of eight Harleys, an

Indian, and a Triumph, all pre-1960 and all in good condition. On his main ride he had mounted an oversize battery and large speakers in the fairing so he could play music when he rode, and even when parked, mostly of the Bruce Springsteen variety.

The wisdom of selecting Luis as lead rider became quickly evident; he seemed to know everyone everywhere we went, and even at police checkpoints our group, Luis in the lead, was waved right through while others were lined up for inspection. Along the routes we noticed that some police cars had radar, but we had Luis.

The daily rides were focused on places famous in Cuba’s history, and the routes were often on secondary, rural roads. Our destinations extended as far east of Havana as Santa Clara on the north and Trinidad on the south. We were busy every day and every day we saw beautiful scenery and historic sites. We stayed in very comfortable three and four-star hotels, and the food was good to very good.

We always had lots of fruits, eggs, breads, and great coffee for breakfast.

Lunches and dinners were mainly pork and chicken entrees. I thought some of the fish dishes were overcooked and a bit salty, but that is the way they like it there. We were served black beans and rice with all of our lunch and dinner meals. Some of us stopped at roadside restaurants for a quick snack and to get the flavor of local life. As far as I could tell there are two varieties of beer in Cuba: Bucanero, a dark beer with a high alcohol content, and Cristal, a light beer with lower alcohol content. There were eight varieties of locally produced Havana Club rum on the island, and those I tasted were very good. I never had a bad cigar.

On our first riding day, we rode about 100 miles south of Havana to Cuba’s only racetrack. It was a standard straight quarter mile track, paved and well maintained.

Thousands of people were there, and there weren’t any grandstands other than the tops of cars and trucks. If there was betting going on, I didn’t see any worth mentioning. The locals understood the rules of racing, but we never made heads or tails

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Page 58 of them, and we never saw any trophies handed to winners. The main rule was that only two vehicles (either cars or motorcycles) could race at a time. The racing vehicles were mostly vintage, pre1960 models that have been maintained by scavenging and machining parts, and yet they ran great races. It quickly became clear that these races didn’t pit just driver vs. driver, or rider vs. rider, it was also a contest of how well the vintage race vehicles were cobbled together, and whether they could actually finish the quarter mile running flat out. It was the first, but certainly not the last strong evidence that the ingenuity and perseverance of a determined people can

overcome great difficulties. The food vendors at the track did a brisk business out of makeshift carts and wagons, and those of us who ate the local fare said it was very good.

Sightseeing along all of the rides was always interesting and often surprising.

We passed caravans of horses packed with coffee beans in bright yellow sacks.

On one back road, we spent some time looking over a Russian built MIG jet fighter lying on its side where it had crashed and a guy with a large crowbar was pulling off pieces-parts. It apparently crashed some years before. In Trinidad, Don Toothman and I visited Julio Muñoz, known internationally as “The Horse Whisperer,” and twice featured in National Geographic Magazine. We found the Cuban people to be very welcoming, and Señor Muñoz invited us into his home and talked with us about communicating with animals. He keeps two horses in his house, just as he would a relative.

We rode the Circuito Norte (North Coast) from Havana to Viñales, a well-known tourist area of Cuba where we chatted with Otis Campa about the Sierra Rosario Biosphere Project, and with Lester Campa, the respected artist who’s work has been shown in the United States, about Cuba’s art world. The government heavily subsidizes music, art, and sports, and evidence of that can be seen everywhere. The visit was very pleasant, but the road we traveled had us watching for potholes and huge cracks in the macadam, what there was of it. I’m sure we missed a lot of scenery.

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We rode up an inclined dirt road for a panoramic view of the Cuban coast at Mariel Harbor, site of the Mariel Boatlift, where in an agreement between Fidel Castro and Jimmy Carter, close to 130,000 Cubans left by boat for Florida.

We continued along the beautiful Caribbean coast highway to Cienfuegos and on to the Bay of Pigs museum showcasing some of the American military arms captured during the 1961 invasion. On the road to the Bay of Pigs we stopped at the memorial to Henry Reeve, an American hero to the Cubans, who sided with the Cubans against both the United States and Spain in the Spanish American War. He was captured and condemned to death by the American military. He is still a very popular hero to the Cuban people.

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Page 59 We rode to the 140 acre Cementerio de Cristóbal Coló, and its hundreds of elaborate mausoleums with their beautifully carved white Carrara marble statues to visit the tomb of Pepe Milésimas, Cuba’s famous and revered motorcycle mechanic and a past president of the Havana Harlistas.

Pepe died in 1991. On his

burial vault is a prominent Harley-Davidson emblem.

I was surprised and greatly honored when Luis gave me the bouquet of flowers to place at the foot of Pepe Milésima’s vault on what was the annual day of remembrance.

Andres Correoso, the cemetery’s historian, told us it there were more than a million and a half people buried in that cemetery.

We rode to Santa Clara where, on December 31, 1959, the final battle between the Fidelistas and Batista’s Federales took place. It marked the end of the Batista régime and the assumption of power by Fidel Castro. There are

many historic sites to visit in this second largest Cuban city, all well marked, including the Che Guevara Memorial Museum. We rode to the colonial city of Caibarién to visit the Sugar Industry Museum and then to see the many vintage steam locomotives at the Museo de Agroindustria Azucarera. On all the rides we had different Haristas riding with us, which made me wonder if they were our guardian angels.

Harlistas is their term for Cuban Harley-Davidson motorcycle enthusiasts. There are several Harlistas clubs, the two biggest being Havana and Santa Clara.

They’re affiliated with the larger Latin American Motorcycle Association.

Batista’s hated police rode Harley-Davidsons, and that was what they left behind at the end of the Revolution.

We heard a rumor that in 1960, overzealous revolutionaries buried all the police Harleys they could find, but, again, the ingenuity and perseverance of people with a firm purpose proved itself; we were told that they were dug up and were now part of the almost 100 Harleys still running in Cuba. We also saw Indian, BSA, and some CZ (East German) bikes, among the Harlistas as well.

In 1960, The United States imposed a commercial, financial and economic embargo on Cuba in response to Castro’s nationalization of properties owed

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DECEMBER 2013 • BACKROADS materials; I saw only one chopped bike with ape hangers. There were a few trikes, some with beautiful glassed bodies, and some ingeniously put together like engineering marvels. I saw some hacks, but none I’d care to ride in as a passenger.

Harley riders looked much the same in Cuba as they do in the States. Gear was the same: Jeans, short sleeved shirts, black leather vests with the large Harley-Davidson emblem and the name of their club on the back, boots, do rags, and a chain or two – but no helmet patches in the HD idiom.

There are three kinds of roads in Cuba: highway, rural paved, and used to be, all of them interesting in their own way. We saw lots of horse carts, and one Brahma bull saddled like a horse. None of the carts had rear reflectors, and they were on the highspeed federal highways as well as the rural roads. Some of the cars we

citizens. This effectively closed the door to any importation of new vehicles and parts for the repair of those already in Cuba.

For almost 54 years, motorcycle, car, and truck owners in Cuba have had no access to OEM or after market replacement parts for their cars, trucks, or motorcycles.

We saw few stock mufflers; straight pipes made of anything that looked like a straight pipe had replaced the originals, and baffles be damned. Tires were impossible to get, and some used automobile tires, which must have made for an interesting ride on twisties. One rider had what looked like the original fat whitewalls, hard as a stone and more cracks than tread, but it was original! I did hear that Metzeler was getting some tires into the country, but I never saw any. Same for the headlights; many were replacements salvaged from cars and trucks.

Oil is imported from Venezuela, and is plentiful, it’s refined in Havana and, therefore, oil and gas were cheap, about a third of what we pay in the States. The bikes were all kick-starts, of course, and, not surprisingly, burned oil; where could they get replacement rings? I wondered about brake pads, but didn’t ask. Some of the handlebars were cleverly made of various pipe

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passed at night didn’t have headlights, and even at low speeds there was a danger of running into these cars and carts.

Scooters are everywhere. There are very few road signs on the federal highway, less on the local roads, but we had a spiral bound book of up to date road maps as part of the MotoDiscovery package, and we always knew where we were, where we were headed and what we’d see along the way. The only real problem was riding at night; there are no lights on the highways, and those animal carts without rear reflectors, and cars without headlights tended to appear all of a sudden, and up close. We rode two nights on dark roads without a problem, but not because there weren’t opportunities. On the worst of the used to be roads, there were big gaping potholes at least a foot deep, some with grass growing in them. Of course, there were a couple of almost happened, and they were memorable, but we were all experienced riders and that made a great difference. Even on the bad roads, the rides were fun, and for all of us a new experience.

Page 61

The “President’s Highway,” honoring Fidel, was a main Havana city thoroughfare and well maintained. The highway has two lanes in both directions with a maximum speed of 50 mph, or at least that’s the way we rode. The minimum speed limit, strictly enforced, is 35 mph.

That meant that you couldn’t slow down in the passing lane to make your left turn because it would violate the speed law.

So, in order to make a left turn, you had to first turn right from the slow lane then two more left turns around the block so you were facing perpendicular to the Highway and then cross, effectively making your left turn.

One morning we were surprised to see 10 newer Harley-Davidson motorcycles riding toward us with women on the pillions. They were just as surprised to see a bunch of brand new BMWs in Cuba. Both groups stopped to find out about the other. They were from Germany, had shipped their Harleys to Cuba by boat, and had been touring for about two weeks. The group was heading to drop their bikes off for shipment back to Germany and then to fly

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back home. They all spoke English and we spent a pleasant hour talking about our experiences in Cuba.

The sights and what we learned of Cuban history, art, and music were all very interesting, but the most memorable times were those spent talking with the Cuban people. They seemed to be attracted to the BMW motorcycles, partly, I’m sure, because one doesn’t see many new vehicles in Cuba. When we stopped to take a break, or tour, or to get gas, people would walk over and look quizzically at both our rides and us.

The conversations, aided by translators, were casual and about motorcycles; no one seemed interested in fighting old battles. Quite often some one would point at the American flag on the back of my helmet, some would smile and say, “American.” They seemed anxious to interact with us even if we didn’t speak Spanish or they English. Even the Harlistas, most of whom spoke no English, were able to get across to us how they had modified their bikes using what pieces-parts were available. If we stopped near a school, the children would rush over to see the bikes, laughing and some of us picking them up and sitting them on our bikes.

The kids loved it. People were especially cu-

DECEMBER 2013 • BACKROADS

rious about our gear, pointing and nodding appreciatively at the workmanship, the design, and the security they provided. And, they were new. I got the impression that people rarely saw much of anything new. It wasn’t exactly “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” but there were similarities.

We didn’t see many retail stores, or any banks. There were a number of “hole-in-the-wall” shops called “Farmacias” where prescription drugs could be bought without a prescription. There weren’t any advertising billboards, nor was there any advertising in the local newspapers, but we did see large pictures of Che Guevera on the roads and streets everywhere; none of the Castro brothers though. We did see a supermarket in Havana that resembled some of the smaller ones in this country, and the shelves were pretty well stocked with local goods.

I logged about 1,000 miles in our eight days in Cuba, but the people I met and the new experiences made it seem as though I had traveled a much greater distance. I was delighted with the whole adventure and invited some of the Harlistas who rode with us to visit me in Virginia. Perhaps one day soon that will become a real possibility.

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Additives for your machine and body I like easy. And, I like it when easy shows up at the right time.

Here are two additives that have come across my workbench.

One should never be mixed with the other as fuel formulas usual kill people that drink them and vitamin formulas don’t run well in motorcycles.

But, stick with me on this and I will explain.

Sea Foam I was having a problem with one machine that has an old-style carburetor. It had been parkedfor a few months and the jet got a bit clogged.

It ran, but not as crisp as before.

Looking for answers other than taking off the carb and cleaning it the old fashioned way, the formula called Sea Foam kept being brought up with different internet and KLR groups.

To be honest I had never heard of this particular fuel additive but the local auto supply store had it right on the shelves so I gave it a try.

Running a few tanks and cans of Sea Foam through the old bike helped clear up the hesitation I was getting and I have begun using Sea Foam in our car as well.

Basically, Sea Foam helps liquefy gum and varnish deposits when added to fuels or oils. Mechanics have used Sea Foam for many things over the years including cleaning fuel injectors when using their professional injector cleaning machines. It is also used to clean air induction systems and throttle bodies.

Easy and it can’t hurt- only help.

You can find Sea Foam at most auto supply shop for about $15 a bottle.

Use it once a month and your bike will thank you.

ZipFizz The second additive goes into the most complex machine you own – yourself.

Zipfizz is an all-natural, great tasting energy drink-mix powder that delivers a powerful charge of micronutrients to the body’s fuel system. It contains no ephedra or other artificial stimulants. Most people experience an immediate, revitalizing burst of energy after taking Zipfizz.

Zipfizz is healthy energy in a tube! Give your body a rush of vitamins, minerals and key amino acids to protect the immune system. Zipfizz has created an advanced formula that provides a significant amount of vitamins, fewer calories, lower carbohydrates, superior taste, variety and unique packaging!

Simply put, it’s different because it’s good for you!

I have tried 5-Hour Energy, Gator-Aid and a boatload of others but this stuff was handed to me, literally, by Rick Mayer – a well known long– distance rider, friend and excellent guitarist! During a seminar at a recent rally that actually talked about things important to riders, Rick,

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DECEMBER 2013 • BACKROADS

Page 64 creator of some of the most comfortable saddles of the planet, brought up the need to stay focused on the road and his choice of using Zipfizz while doing long-distance touring.

Use Zipfizz as a morning or afternoon mid-ride pick-me-up, or enhance your training by taking it before, during, or after a hard workout. Because Zipfizz contains no sugar, users will experience an increased energy level for up to 4 - 6 hours without the sudden “crash” associated with other energy drinks.

But, using Zipfizz the correct way is important. Ask Shira, who loaded the powder into a full bottle of water. YIKES! Dump out about ¼ of the H2O and then dump the Zipfizz in.

Cap it, shake and then bang it down.

You will feel more alert, a better rider and safe as well.

Like I said before easy - I like easy.

Thank you Rick!

We found a box of 30 mixed flavored Zipfizz on the web for less than $30.

So there you go - additives for both you and your machine.

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WHERE CAN YOU GET ALL THIS AND SO MUCH MORE

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