The ONE Picture Ride Report

Yamaha FJR Motorcycle Forum

Help Support Yamaha FJR Motorcycle Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Two things I try to remember when pulling,

!) Don't cut corners.

2) Slow down before the corner, the trailer will push you!

 
Here's my One Picture Ride Report: SFO is always a bunch of fun, even if you can't stay the entire time. Here's my picture, from Clanton, AL, located one exit north of the SFO hotel and Shoney's.

45182803561_f19999d371_z.jpg



These things must be available on ebay or Amazon, because .... there's a similar thing on the side of I-85 near Gaffney, SC.

43892956921_1cd20abbd8_z.jpg


Roadside America, FJRFarrier's new travel planning resource, says both were made by Chicago Bridge and Iron, and the SC version holds twice the volume.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Ha...going to her new home in Oklahoma, a friend is delivering for me on his way home.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Hope to see you around here for a long time John with comments and adventures on your BMW GS. In particular I'd love to hear about your BMW experience. I'd like to have a R1200RT as it is about 70 lbs lighter than the FJR and the saddle bags and top case is larger.

 
<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote'data-author="Fontanaman" data-cid="1407111" data-time="1539109454"><p>

Hope to see you around here for a long time John with comments and adventures on your BMW GS. In particular I'd love to hear about your BMW experience. I'd like to have a R1200RT as it is about 70 lbs lighter than the FJR and the saddle bags and top case is larger. </p></blockquote>

I ain't gonna go anywhere.

Brown truck disgorged several boxes today, more on the way. Snow flying, farkling season has begun.

 
October 2018
Brothers

Do you have to share DNA to be family? And how far would you go for your brother?

These days, those are hard questions to answer. The world is a tricky place and in the immortal words of the late, great George Carlin: “It’s all Bullshit and it’s bad for ya!”. You’d think that the world is coming to an end. Fires here. Storms there. And when nightfall comes, they start shooting.

People are stupid. The world isn’t coming to an end. It’s still spinning on its imaginary axis, one revolution per day.

I’m tired of worrying. I’ve spent my entire adult life worrying about something. Somebody would get sick. Somebody would get hurt. Some stupid shit would break. There isn’t enough money. There isn’t enough time. And on and on and on….

It’s exhausting and quite frankly, I’m sick of it.

It’s taken me decades to realize this, but the truth of the matter is this. There is nothing to worry about and it doesn’t help anyway. Good days come and bad days come. When bad days come, you assess the situation and you either react or you don’t. But standing in the corner sucking your thumb and wondering “what if” isn’t going to change that, no way, no how.

So I’m done with worrying. I’ve met my obligations for this life. I’ve raised my kids and they are on their own. I’ve done my work and in due time, I’ll retire and without guilt, they can just kiss it where the sun won’t shine. Or they won’t – doesn’t matter to me. Every month, they will send me the check whether they like it or not.

What matters now is what should have mattered all along. Priorities should be with happiness, health, and family - in that order, and without compromise. And since I’m feeling pretty dam happy and pretty dam healthy, why not move directly toward family? If there is one thing I have learned from my travels on the motorcycle, it’s that there is a brotherhood (and sisterhood) between bikers. It’s impossible to understand by the non-rider, but among riders, it’s not only understood, but cherished like a prized possession. No matter what you ride, how you ride, or where you ride, we all have a certain amount in common. We know what the wind really feels like. We know how a cage’s windshield can shield the real world we are traveling through. We know that the real world exist in 3 dimensions, where depth of field provides true context to our environment.

And to solidify this brotherhood, we find ourselves attracted to each other. Not in some kind of sick voyeurism, but in ways beyond description. We hold rallies, rambles, meets, and rides. We travel great distances to be with each other. The location of the meet and greet is important, I guess. But the fact is that doesn’t really matter much. What matters is that we will be together, enjoying our motorcycles together, and sharing our lives and our happiness together.

And if we are especially lucky, one or more of our brothers will come to see us. He or she will take time out of their busy lives and devote a portion of their very limited vacation and riding time to come to where we live and see us. They will let us take them to see our version of what we like most about our homeland. Not the stuff they can find on google or Yelp. The REALLY good stuff. The stuff that only a rider would appreciate. Your roads, your food, and your happiness.

My brother Doug was nice enough to give me a shot. And I was ecstatic to have him.

doug%20and%20dan_65-X3.jpg


Tomorrow, my other brother Dan will be here. And we’ll do it all over again. I’ve got my priorities straight – happiness, health, and family.

Stay thirsty, my friends.

 
Stelvio. 19 turns behind, 29 turns ahead. The bike continues to run well. The rider begs to see turn 1 behind, and only Bruno's wurst stand ahead. It is a contest between will and fatigue, one not understood by those who have not completed Stelvio's 48 hairpins.

2017-jul-7-1-1200-1230-IMG_2371-X3.jpg


 
December 2018
The Perfect Solvent

In a former life, I worked as a laboratory technician and much of what we did was wet chemistry. More specifically, I did work in a water and wastewater quality laboratory, and I learned very quickly that water may be the world’s most perfect solvent. It is soluble in just about anything and if you have enough of it, and you use it the right way, it will make just about anything go away.

Back in the day, I met an old timer named James, who was a lab tech back from when the dinosaurs walked the earth. James was the quintessential lab technician. A man of details, James only knew two ways to do things: his way and the wrong way. He would keep to himself, but from the word go, I gravitated to his experience and his demeanor, and my youthful but respectful energy won him over quickly. Like everything that I’ve ever put my interest in, I wanted to learn the trade, and I knew that James could teach me much. And I was right. For a couple of years, James showed me things you can’t learn in books. In the twilight of his career, he seemed eager to share his knowledge, and my enthusiasm didn’t hurt much.

One thing James told me that I’ll never forget:

“Son, when you get right down to it, dilution is the solution to pollution.”

I always thought that was insightful. Since then, I realize that James didn’t make that quip up. Who knows who started it, but it dates back to well before James. Regardless of who started it, the shoe fits. The fact of the matter is that James is right, but the context of the quip is not limited to water. I think that concept can be applied to matters of life and importance as well. I have found that when presented even the worst things in my daily life, if I dilute it a little, it gets better. Things like a little time here, and a little whiskey there. A little discussion with a friend that cares here, and perhaps that follows with a heartfelt apology and remorse there. In any case, it works. Dilution makes the pollution easier to deal with.

I find this phenomenon directly applicable to riding as well. When life finds me in disarray, or a problem that is seemingly challenging arises, sometimes all I need is a good ride. Just a couple days to get away and put it in the back of my mind. Some quality miles with my motorcycle and my thoughts inside my helmet. Some time to feel the wind and smell the aroma of the world.

And ironically, at least for this rider, it works very well if I ride to some water. I don’t quite understand the concept of Feng Shui, but I know that the term translates to “Wind Water”. And for any motorcyclists, how appropriate is that? Riders need the wind – it’s a key basis for why they ride. To be open and exposed to the wind and the elements. And in many cases, we need the water. We ride to the waterfalls. We ride to the lakeshores. We ride to the rivers. Getting to the water’s edge does something for us. We gaze upon the million and billions of gallons and we understand the purity of it. It gives us perspective and it gives us understanding. And when we see it, we realize that our problems and our challenges are not invincible. We are not lost, and hope is not lost. The bike does this for us. The bike and the water.

Tom and I stopped at Toledo Bend Reservoir to stretch our legs. But for Pants, this stop means so much more. My mental pollution has been diluted, thanks to the perfect solvent. I can let it go now. Everything will be just fine.

texas_4-X3.jpg


Stay thirsty, my friends…..

 
HippiePants finds water in lakes.

All I get is toilet bowls?

LOL

Not really, I got me some good water in life...

And I appreciate more than ever..

 
DSCF1310-X3.jpg


Hogback Mountain, VT Rt 9, Marlboro, VT

Taken while heading home on a trip from NW of Phila. to Canterbury, NH. The reason for the trip was to attend my step-brother's Old Time Days festival on his farm. David and I don't do a good job of keeping in touch. The festival was a good excuse to show up and get in some F2F time. The ride up was too much interstate to get to the Taconic State Parkway (nice cruising), and cross country towards Concord and then Canterbury. I'm glad I went - "a good time was had by all". Well, not counting my main credit card was scanned at the local Z1 gas station. Z1 gas??? That's what it said on the signs. On the way back I went through the town where my father grew up. The house has been replaced with a ticky-tacky block of apartments. "Emerson Park" is still there - named after my (step-) grandfather who was Town Moderator for years, in the NH state legislature, and was generally a local panjandrum. I stopped at the gift shop (more maple stuff than is good for you) to get just enough maple fudge to be good for me. And to take a few pictures pointing back towards the mountains my step-father loved to climb. More cross country to the NY Northway southbound until I reached the rt 209 exit. The Thruway further south was blocked by a car fire. I hadn't planned to do it, but took 209 and had a much better ride than I would have had on the planned route.

The trip was a long weekend of family re-connections. And great maple fudge.

Where's my FJR? From the moment the picture was taken, it won't be built until three years later, and won't be bought for a year after that. But it's coming...

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Top