James Burleigh
Well-known member
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a person in possession of a ride plan, must be in want of a riding companion.* So on Friday evening, still absolutely uncommitted to going to the International Bike Show in San Mateo (San Francisco Bay Area), possessing no electronic ticket in hand, and determined to get my beauty sleep the next morning, I wandered into the Forum bike show thread.
[*Fun for English majors (like my very own wife, Fang): Spot the famous novel.]
Behold! My trusted riding companion Hycle was planning to ride down with his daughter, Jycle, to join the Sport-Touring.Net gang for an 8AM breakfast a couple of miles south of the bike show. And he had no riding companion.
The STN Gang (from an undated archive photo).
Source: The Wild and Comfy History of the STN Gang, by E.M. Shorts:
I saw that Hycle was on-line, so I sent him a PM asking what time he was going to be riding through Concord, World Headquarters of J. Burleigh & Family. He quickly replied that he figured he'd be passing through at about 7AM, assuming it was an hour from Concord to San Mateo. I paused before suggesting we rendezvous and went into the bathroom, where I studied my face in the mirror: Hmmm.... The beauty sleep thing was definitely working for me. Besides, I was taking Thanksgiving week off and could catch up on my beauty sleep, not that I needed it. I have all my hair too, BTW.
I PM'd Hycle back: "Wanna meet at Starbucks at 6:30?" The ride was on. (Later that day Hycle confessed that before hearing from me he'd had no intention of going through Concord, but decided WTF after I'd PM'd him. Like I said, trusted riding companion (sans buckskins--he doesn't ride a Harley, after all). Thanks,Tonto Hycle).
It was chili con carne when my garage door lifted at 6:00 "A"--freakin'--"M" Saturday morning--52 degrees :cold: (okay, this IS California, so bite me Mr. I Live in Mmiinneessoottaa and You Do NOT KNOW the Meaning of Cold--guilty as charged and glad of it, and I'm sorry if I don't know how to spell your state either, which is why I hedge my bets and just double everything; but I know Old Michael likes it there because they have a good football team, or is that a different cold state? :glare: ).
I met Hylce and Jycle at Starbucks as planned. Faced with two route options to the show (southward over the San Mateo Bridge or westward over the Bay Bridge), we elected to head over the Bay Bridge and through San Francisco because the City is spectacular in the morning light. Okay, San Francisco is also famous for its fog. As we crossed the Bay Bridge we couldn't see the bridge let alone the City. So we just hunched our shoulders against the cold and damp and pressed on. (Have I mentioned how much I love my Widder heated vest? :heart: )
We got to the breakfast rendezvous at 8:00 on the nose, thanks in part to loose traffic and some spirited (but never faster than the stated speed limit :nono: ) riding. The STN gang was already there a little ahead of time in appropriate deference to the highly anticipated arrival of the FJR Forum members. After signing autographs for the STN members and answering their endless questions about our bikes and gear and seeking our opinions on all things to do with riding, Hycle and I finally had to break up the admirationfest and insist we move inside, where we were all seated at a common table in a private room reserved for VIPs like motorcyclists (pics).
STN Bikes at Breakfast (Hmmm, that one on the right looks familiar....):
A Handsome Red BMW K1200RS in Profile Next to Hycle's and JB's FJRs:
It was after riding a buddy's RS that I realized my HD Sportster wasn't enough
motorcycle, and I picked up an FJR.
Breakfast:
After breakfast we headed to the show a couple of miles north. There was a free parking area for motorcycles. And as we were stowing our gear we spotted Silent on his burgundy '07 pulling in. We successfully flagged him down, and he joined us. Then Hycle pointed to a bike that seemed a little lost, doing a couple of tentative circles in the M.C. area. The rider was wearing a distinctive jacket, and Hycle said, "I think that's Painman." When we saw the bike exit the M.C. parking and pull back into the flow of cages heading toward the cage parking, we both said, "Yep, that's Painman." We headed inside....
Motorcycle Parking at the San Mateo Bike Show:
L to R, Silent, Hycle, J.B.:
Another View of the Bike Parking:
Inside the Show:
The Show Gave Everyone the Opportunity to Sit on Their Dream Bike:
J.B.'s REAL Dream Bike: BMW K1200S: 1157 cc, 167 bhp, 96 ft/lb torque, all for only $14K: :yahoo:
Looking at a Two-Fiddy, L to R, Jycle, Hycle, Silent:
Sometimes you could spot a celebrity:
At one point we wandered over to the Suzuki display and asked to see their latest light bulbs (ooo la la, seemed a little expensive for a bulb!
):
This Pic is For my buddy Jim who let me ride his RS, and for whom there is no cooler sight than the hiney-bottom of the MV Agusta F4:
My first-ever ride on a motorcycle was on the back of my buddy Brad's BSA in about 1973, so here's to you, Brad:
But from the moment we'd suited up that morning and headed toward San Mateo, we were all drawn toward the superstar of the show, the 2008 version of the one bike we'd ridden hours across the state to see in person and to sit on. Of course I'm talking about the...Connie-14 :
Painman Sits on the Connie-14, and Makes a Special Sign Against the Bad JuJu of Bike Adultery:
JB sits on the Connie-14 and in the delirium of thinking with his, uh, wrist, conveniently forgets he's married to an FJR (Silent in right background):
We looked at our watches and saw that it was now 11AM. Highlander had called for a rendezvous in the Yamaha area at 11. So we headed on over there, though we weren't sure what there was left to see since we'd already seen the bike we'd all come to admire and sit on.
On the way through the Yamaha display area we spotted the new black FJR. Somehow it didn't look as cool as we'd expected:
The New Black 2008 Yamaha FJR:
Wait a minute...wasn't that Highlander over there by that other black bike? We went to have a look. Oh yeah, baby. We were in love again for the first time all over again...
If you wanna be happy for the rest of your life, fall in love with your...FJR (BikeEffects in right background):
The AE Model, in Cool Charcoal Gray:
This of course had been the real highlight of the show, and by now it was time for lunch. While Hycle, Jycle, and I were sitting in the courtyard having lunch, we were pleasantly surprised by Ric-in-Sac and his neighbor and fellow Forum member Gary (handle unknown). Ric had not been aware that Gary was such a close neighbor, and they'd ridden down together from Sac.
After lunch we rendezvoused with Silent back in the parking lot and headed home after a great day at the Happiest Place on Earth!
JB
[*Fun for English majors (like my very own wife, Fang): Spot the famous novel.]
Behold! My trusted riding companion Hycle was planning to ride down with his daughter, Jycle, to join the Sport-Touring.Net gang for an 8AM breakfast a couple of miles south of the bike show. And he had no riding companion.
The STN Gang (from an undated archive photo).
Source: The Wild and Comfy History of the STN Gang, by E.M. Shorts:
I saw that Hycle was on-line, so I sent him a PM asking what time he was going to be riding through Concord, World Headquarters of J. Burleigh & Family. He quickly replied that he figured he'd be passing through at about 7AM, assuming it was an hour from Concord to San Mateo. I paused before suggesting we rendezvous and went into the bathroom, where I studied my face in the mirror: Hmmm.... The beauty sleep thing was definitely working for me. Besides, I was taking Thanksgiving week off and could catch up on my beauty sleep, not that I needed it. I have all my hair too, BTW.
I PM'd Hycle back: "Wanna meet at Starbucks at 6:30?" The ride was on. (Later that day Hycle confessed that before hearing from me he'd had no intention of going through Concord, but decided WTF after I'd PM'd him. Like I said, trusted riding companion (sans buckskins--he doesn't ride a Harley, after all). Thanks,
It was chili con carne when my garage door lifted at 6:00 "A"--freakin'--"M" Saturday morning--52 degrees :cold: (okay, this IS California, so bite me Mr. I Live in Mmiinneessoottaa and You Do NOT KNOW the Meaning of Cold--guilty as charged and glad of it, and I'm sorry if I don't know how to spell your state either, which is why I hedge my bets and just double everything; but I know Old Michael likes it there because they have a good football team, or is that a different cold state? :glare: ).
I met Hylce and Jycle at Starbucks as planned. Faced with two route options to the show (southward over the San Mateo Bridge or westward over the Bay Bridge), we elected to head over the Bay Bridge and through San Francisco because the City is spectacular in the morning light. Okay, San Francisco is also famous for its fog. As we crossed the Bay Bridge we couldn't see the bridge let alone the City. So we just hunched our shoulders against the cold and damp and pressed on. (Have I mentioned how much I love my Widder heated vest? :heart: )
We got to the breakfast rendezvous at 8:00 on the nose, thanks in part to loose traffic and some spirited (but never faster than the stated speed limit :nono: ) riding. The STN gang was already there a little ahead of time in appropriate deference to the highly anticipated arrival of the FJR Forum members. After signing autographs for the STN members and answering their endless questions about our bikes and gear and seeking our opinions on all things to do with riding, Hycle and I finally had to break up the admirationfest and insist we move inside, where we were all seated at a common table in a private room reserved for VIPs like motorcyclists (pics).
STN Bikes at Breakfast (Hmmm, that one on the right looks familiar....):
A Handsome Red BMW K1200RS in Profile Next to Hycle's and JB's FJRs:
It was after riding a buddy's RS that I realized my HD Sportster wasn't enough
motorcycle, and I picked up an FJR.
Breakfast:
After breakfast we headed to the show a couple of miles north. There was a free parking area for motorcycles. And as we were stowing our gear we spotted Silent on his burgundy '07 pulling in. We successfully flagged him down, and he joined us. Then Hycle pointed to a bike that seemed a little lost, doing a couple of tentative circles in the M.C. area. The rider was wearing a distinctive jacket, and Hycle said, "I think that's Painman." When we saw the bike exit the M.C. parking and pull back into the flow of cages heading toward the cage parking, we both said, "Yep, that's Painman." We headed inside....
Motorcycle Parking at the San Mateo Bike Show:
L to R, Silent, Hycle, J.B.:
Another View of the Bike Parking:
Inside the Show:
The Show Gave Everyone the Opportunity to Sit on Their Dream Bike:
J.B.'s REAL Dream Bike: BMW K1200S: 1157 cc, 167 bhp, 96 ft/lb torque, all for only $14K: :yahoo:
Looking at a Two-Fiddy, L to R, Jycle, Hycle, Silent:
Sometimes you could spot a celebrity:
At one point we wandered over to the Suzuki display and asked to see their latest light bulbs (ooo la la, seemed a little expensive for a bulb!
):
This Pic is For my buddy Jim who let me ride his RS, and for whom there is no cooler sight than the hiney-bottom of the MV Agusta F4:
My first-ever ride on a motorcycle was on the back of my buddy Brad's BSA in about 1973, so here's to you, Brad:
But from the moment we'd suited up that morning and headed toward San Mateo, we were all drawn toward the superstar of the show, the 2008 version of the one bike we'd ridden hours across the state to see in person and to sit on. Of course I'm talking about the...Connie-14
:Painman Sits on the Connie-14, and Makes a Special Sign Against the Bad JuJu of Bike Adultery:
JB sits on the Connie-14 and in the delirium of thinking with his, uh, wrist, conveniently forgets he's married to an FJR (Silent in right background):
We looked at our watches and saw that it was now 11AM. Highlander had called for a rendezvous in the Yamaha area at 11. So we headed on over there, though we weren't sure what there was left to see since we'd already seen the bike we'd all come to admire and sit on.
On the way through the Yamaha display area we spotted the new black FJR. Somehow it didn't look as cool as we'd expected:
The New Black 2008 Yamaha FJR:
Wait a minute...wasn't that Highlander over there by that other black bike? We went to have a look. Oh yeah, baby. We were in love again for the first time all over again...
If you wanna be happy for the rest of your life, fall in love with your...FJR (BikeEffects in right background):
The AE Model, in Cool Charcoal Gray:
This of course had been the real highlight of the show, and by now it was time for lunch. While Hycle, Jycle, and I were sitting in the courtyard having lunch, we were pleasantly surprised by Ric-in-Sac and his neighbor and fellow Forum member Gary (handle unknown). Ric had not been aware that Gary was such a close neighbor, and they'd ridden down together from Sac.
After lunch we rendezvoused with Silent back in the parking lot and headed home after a great day at the Happiest Place on Earth!
JB
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