2015 Year in Review, Post Up Your Favorites!

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hppants

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Thought I would start the 2015 version of what has become a time honored tradition at this very special place. Share your highlights of the year with us!

I had some great adventures on the bike this year.

In January, we camped on the Natchez Trace.

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We visited and were humbled by the Civil War Memorial in Vicksburg.

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In March, my nephew Jacob moved up from a 250 nighthawk to a 600 Hornet. We had a shop day and a great shake down ride.

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For Mardi Gras, I took my wife camping and riding.

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In April, I met some guys in Arkansas for some Ozarks twisties:

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I made some new friends

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We rode the steep and crooked, but we kept the shiny side up!

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And even had time to reflect

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In May, I played Hookie one day from work and took a walk in the swamp. I didnt realize that this would be my last trip on ole blue.

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Also in May, I bought my dream bike, a brand new 2014 FJR.

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And my salesman became my friend. On the last Monday in May, we had a very memorial ride.

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Shortly after my 600 mile service, I learned about the value of using a torque wrench.

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In September, I rode West with the Redfish, fulfilling a life long dream.

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We picked up a new friend in New Mexico and it just kept getting better.

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I camped in places that surpassed my wildest dreams.

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Hiking Zion was a spiritual experience.

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We really enjoyed ourselves I think.

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The scenery was incredible.

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That trip took a pretty shitty turn for the worse...

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But all is well that ends well.

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In November, Poolboy passed through my neck of the woods and I had a good ride with him.

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We had a nice ride to Natchez in early December.

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Also in December, I went shooting with Jacob in the morning, and fishing by myself in the afternoon.

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I missed the weather on a planned East Texas regional ride by one week, but I made of the best of it on the next weekend by myself.

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Plenty of food porn to go around this year. Some meals were pretty simple

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Others were more caloric.

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We did some campfire cooking.

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My wife made these awesome brownies on the campfire!!!

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BBQ is always a good choice.

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And of course, PIE!!!

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So heres to 2016 more miles, more smiles, more adventure.

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Stay thirsty, my friends.

 
Took a day trip in April when it was starting to get pretty in these parts. Forsythia and redbud were blooming

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Saw Jackson's Mill near Breezewood, PA

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Miller's Corner Rd. near Chaneysville, PA

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Another weekend ride through southern VA and WV

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Snowy Mtn. Rd. near Cherry Grove, WV

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Highland Scenic Hwy., WV

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Burkes Garden, VA

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VA 16, near Tazewell, VA

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Another day trip in July through south central PA. Getting ready to bale some hay

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Miller's Corner Rd. again

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Vintage Japanese Motorcycle show and swap meet, White Rose MC in August

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After my fall Parkway ride, I limited myself to mostly day trips, even though the weather has been great up until recently. Caught some fall color on some local back roads in late October

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Another day trip to Gettysburg in early November

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Had some great rides this year; hope everyone else had the same and 2016 turns out even better. Tom

 
I remember many of those (great) pics from each of you in your reports last year. Thanks for the refresher and the memories to you both!

 
This thread makes me wish I stopped to take pictures more often. In 2015, I rode in some of the most amazing parts of this country I've ever seen, but never bothered to take a picture. I need to do better this year.

 
This thread makes me wish I stopped to take pictures more often. In 2015, I rode in some of the most amazing parts of this country I've ever seen, but never bothered to take a picture. I need to do better this year.
The picture taking thing requires time and effort. It is one thing if you are by yourself, if you are riding with a group it can get complicated. I am fortunate that Pop is always patient and encouraging about this. He often prompts me to take a pic "for your forum" when I would otherwise just move on.

The other side of that is that Pop seldom takes any pics. He says that he is the only one who looks at them anyway and he cannot remember where he was when he took them half the time.

I/We recently discovered that he loves reading my Ride Reports. He can see the best of our pics and the story tells him where he was.

 
I had a pretty good year. A few of my highlights:

Pop and I both installed top boxes on our FJRs:



I said goodbye to hppants' awesome Gen 1 that I could not keep up with:



Pop and I helped welcome hppants' gorgeous '14A with a huge assist from G Squared:



Pop and I made a quick run to Arkansas and our friend BMWBrian rode a few hours with us:



We found fog on the Talimena Scenic Byway:





And we were joined for our ride home by my friend HarleyMike:



 
I installed a long overdue set of heated grips on Dad's '07:



Pop and I joined our dear friend hppants on an Epic Out West Trip:



The wind blew:



We got our kicks on Route 66:



We crossed the Rio Grande:



We saw Aspens turn Gold in the fall:



We were awed by the powers of nature and time at Goosenecks:



We learned that the 2014 Red actually glows in the Desert Sun:



We went Dual Sporting at Mexican Hat:



We looked for Forest Gump outside of Monument Valley:





We saw Horseshoe Bend just south of Page AZ:



We saw Marble Canyon:



Where we encountered a Racing Buzzard that turned out to be a Condor:



We rode to the North Rim:





We rode through Zion NP:







I learned that 'pants cannot cook bacon:



I added a friend to the short list of people that like me:





We saw Cedar Breaks where there are no cedars but there is lots of awesome:



We saw Bryce Canyon NP:



We made 'pants very happy:





I smiled a lot too:



We rode Hwy 12:



We rode the Burr Trail:





I discovered the awful magnificence of Utah with a friend:



And I kept on smiling:



I found something even older than Pop:



We saw the Aspens in Colorado:







What else to say? I had a great year.

 
2015 was without question my best year of riding. But like others have stated, I didn't take (m)any pictures.

In May, on a whim, my love and I made a last minute call to head to Wellsboro, PA for the Penn-Run. That was our first face to face with some wonderful folks from this forum, and we fell in love with the experience.

Toss in a Tech Day, a good number of RTE's, and EOM to round out the riding year. I put just over 8,000 miles on my FJR this past season. That is by far the most miles I've put on a bike in a year, and I owe a good number of those miles to the people here.

I think the high point of the riding year was in July, when my SO went to the DMV and got her permit, and then hopped on her own 2 wheels. It's one thing to find something that I love. It is a whole lot better when I can share what I love with who I love.

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Until next year.......

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Enjoyed the pics, again! I had a great riding year. SW-FOG in Utah, Pioneer Days in WV, EOM, IBR checkpoint in Kingsport, TN and many other rides in between. Held my third Tech day. Purchased a brand new 2015ES and put over 10K on it in 6 months. Tried selling the '07 with no luck so far. Doesn't hurt my feelings, though. Only 97K on it. I may as well take it to 100!









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Heh, well, it's hard to compete with RFH and Pants this year, but I got a few decent ones. It was a fun year...Tech Day, Pioneer Days, EOM and topped with Florida trips over Thanksgiving and Christmas. I don't know how many miles I piled onto my '07 this year, but the '15 picked up nearly 8k in 5 months before the year closed out. :D

Heading to Bob's Tech Day

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Riding with friends....Pioneer Days

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Pioneer Days...

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Picking up a new riding partner...

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Wandering...

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Getting a little goofy (EOM)....

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Riding with friends, old AND new (EOM)!

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Enjoying Christmas sunshine

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And the Blues Brothers...

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Taking it in...

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Old 'n New

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Enjoy it while it lasts...

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2015-01-03 23rd Annual Freeze Your Balls Off Ride - HiWay 58 east of Creston, Calif
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2015-01-17 Road to Jalama
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Got a ticket for something I didn't do. Jeesh. I don't even live in the Bay Area or use their stinkin' bridges.. JSNS.
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I have not been here before. Emotions are running full throttle. I am crying. I did not cry, as a very young man, at her churce service. Yet, here, so many years later.. Tears flow.
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2015-03-08 Uncle Dutch Rides Hondarosa
WooHoo! After a carb clean and SeaFoam, maybe an hour of running.. She's ready to rawk!
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KwaqKer First Ride
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Spearfish/Sturgis 2015-06
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BearTooth with PNW Krew
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The Bugnatr
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Sacramento Mike
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2015-08-22 of Vincents, ParkField, Cemeteries and Hudsons
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In the tribute to Don Stanley, BeemerDon on the FjrForum, AvGeek posted up Don's first ride on Naomi.
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Turns out Tyler has been right all along. It really is about the peeps in the long run.

 
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I'll play, another year of fine riding and friends!

Winter is KLR time

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Fall had a great day at Thunderhill Raceway with Russperry

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A chilly ride home after the Ruben in Eastern Oregon

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Beartooth Pass is always a treat

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Craters of the Moon is a trip

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Mr and Mrs Speed, I had no idea a Bustec trailer was that fast

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FJRay and his lovely daughter

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My wife keeps me entertained

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Can't ride ever day but I'm enjoying the warmth of these beauties as I type

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SWFog was a blast, great to see Bob and Janet made the trek out west, we were just showing them which way home.Plus it's always a treat to ride and spend time with our down under bud Fester. That guy can really hustler a fully loaded 03.

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Our supervisors

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Mark and Old Michael discussing the fine points of Coors Light

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Can't forget our four legged friends, Duchess lives a charmed life thanks to Mark.

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A day riding with my son in Joshua Tree National Park, priceless.

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Had a blast riding with Gramps and others in SoCal last winter even if he was on a Triumph
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I just love riding the Eastern side of the Sierra's in the fall.

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Final action shot into the sunset, another great year of riding but 2016 will be even better! Thanks to all the great people here that add so much enjoyment to our lives.

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Friggin awesome!!! Bug - I don't remember seeing most of those shots when they were "fresh". Thanks for sharing them with us.

 
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