We Invade EOM from the North

[beemerdons]

Hola Mi Amigo!! ?Que Tal? I see Mek, Stef, Dr. Bob, Orestes, but you forgot Hook! I wonder if Hook ever found any decent pasta....

Other than that, you have an Andorran reunion there. I will never forget the ride home from that event - 8 hours of italian and Austrian freeways in a constant downpour! It was still wonderful. Maybe we can both trek to a central meet (Are there any good riding roads in the middle????)

As for here, new PR3's on the italian girl and we're off to the twisties tomorrow.

Ciao

Bonjourno: Have some big fun on the twisties today Caba, looks like EOM is a really fun FJR Forum event and I sure wish I could have made it! Rick Corwin has secured NAFO for the Midwest in LaCrosse, Wisconsin in the Year 2014.

However, we of the FJR Forum Southwest are lobbying to have NAFO 2016 up in Utah. Not quite central, but Utah has fantastic motorcycle roads! Ciao, BeemerDonS

 

[RaYzerman19]

Postscript: Always stand upwind from yamafitter Bill! jes' sayin' and nuff' said!

Brother Don, I got it figured out........ always volunteer to lead the ride or be the subject of Bill's videos......

 

[yamafitter]

Brother Don, I got it figured out........ always volunteer to lead the ride or be the subject of Bill's videos......

Don,

Ray also discovered that his GoPro doesn't do video when there is no SD card installed.

 

[yamafitter]

The Ohlins Tour

Wayne had organized a tour of the Ohlins Americas Distributor facilities here in Hendersonville on the Friday of EOM. We met in the parking lot of the EOM Headquarters at 8:30 AM and took a short ride over to Ohlins ....

We were helping ourselves to the complimentary fried apple pie & donuts as the last few stragglers arrived ....

Here is a shot of everyone's FJR that went on the tour ....

After a short greeting it was time to walk through the motorcycle shop facilities were the service work in done ...

It was probably a good thing I left my wallet locked in the side bag of my bike.

Over in the one corner of the shop was the motorcycle shock dyno ....

As we walked over through the office section one of the employee's spare time project was resting against the wall ....

Very, very trick.

The automotive shock service area had their own shop that included this seven post shaker rig ....

The Michael Andretti Race Team had lent Ohlins one of the team's spare cars to do some development work. The shaker rig allows for suspension testing without having to actually run the car and can simulate any track conditions.

We then headed over to the parts warehouse where all the shipping is done. It was a very good thing my wallet was still locked up on the bike. The last thing we checked out was the some of the lastest motorcycle development the engineers are working on .....

The Ohlins TTX Electronic Suspension System allows for on the fly suspension adjustment. This was their test bike and they now have other ways of doing their development work so this GS is now for sale as it stands with the Ohlins Suspension included .....

This 2011 GS can be had for $18,000 as it is shown here. It was a very, very good thing my wallet was locked up on the bike.

With some more fried apple pie & donuts it was time for the group to depart Ohlins and head over to the next part of the tour .....

more to come .....

 

[yamafitter]

Harper's Cycle

After the Ohlins Tour the group headed over to the local Yamaha dealer who put together a welcoming lunch and a few seminars for the group...

The first seminar was with the Continental Tire Reps who talked about their new Atack GT Tires and was the featured tire that was available at a discount for a limited time on the EOM website ...

It was then time for lunch compliments of Harper's Cycle ....

Tom never goes anywhere so I'm not sure who this is stuffing lunch into his head ....

After lunch we had a suspension seminar given by Dave of Fast Bike Industries. Dave is a former employee of Ohlins who decided to start his own company selling and servicing bike suspension components. I offered by bike up as a prop for Dave's seminar and in return I got the sag set correctly on my bike as the rest of the group looked on. I found that my front fork springs had sacked out a bit over the last two years and we needed to add more preload. I've also gained a few pounds since the bike was worked on by GP Suspensions and we needed to add a bit more pre-load in the back.

After a few others had their bikes checked for correct ride height it was time to sample a few of the fine roads in the area. It was almost 2PM but we had a quick discussion with Wayne and we set up a short route that would give us a nice afternoon ride. We took off and circled around the south end of Hendersonville and then north on Hwy 276 up to the Blue Ridge Parkway ....

Ray needed a smoke break so we pulled off for a bit ....

We then dropped off the Parkway on the highly entertaining Hwy 80. I have video and there was a bit of an incident involving a Ferrari. I have some video of the aftermath that I will be posting later. One of the folks on the ride was in need of gas so we stopped done in the valley on Hwy 70 were I spotted this nice Husqvarna Supermotard ....

We finished the day off with a ride up Bat Cave Road back to Hendersonville for a nice little 150 mile afternoon ride ....

Saturday - the EOM Southern Cross Route next.

 

[fjrob1300]

I was there in spirit bill. Great pics.

Rob

 

[yamafitter]

I will post up the video from Friday later but I was able to do a frame capture of one fellow that was having a bad day. Fortunately it was not one of our group but it was still not good and looked to be very expensive ....

This was towards the bottom of Hwy 80 after we dropped off the Parkway.

 

[Bustanut joker]

Hate to say it but... I'm actually finding humor in the fact this guy "ate" it... As ONE who was belittled for "riding my own ride" It's funny to see 4 wheels busted up for riding beyond traction/ driving ability's.. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[yamafitter]

Saturday morning there some discussion on which route to follow but in the end most of the Canadians were out to go on the Southern Cross route. At 9:30 we rolled away from EOM Headquarters with Ray in the lead along with Bungie, Huron52, Ice_Station_Zebra along with a token American from Virginia but whose name or handle none of us can remember now that we have had a few beers and have killed off the brain cells where that info had previously resided.

The route went south of Hendersonville and after dropping down to pick up some fine roads down in South Carolina we came north on Hwy 178 and turned west on Hwy 64. It was not part of the route but BikerGeek had told us about Hwy 215 and I spotted the turn and then chased down Ray and had the group go back and run a section of Hwy 215. This was a fabulous road worthy of a photo shoot.

Ray (RaYzerman19) ....

Steve (Bungie) ....

Our Token American from Virginia ....

Tom (Huron52) followed by Mike (Ice_Station_Zebra) ...

I was mostly concentrating on video this day so these are the only photos I have. The rest of the day was a bunch of twisties that finally took us up to the Blue Ridge Parkway and then back off the Ridge at Hwy 276 and then back to Hendersonville. It sort of looked like this ....

We were back in time to herd all the cats and I had to yell at people but in the end we got a decent Group Shot done ....

Next - The trailer queens report.

 

[yamafitter]

Hate to say it but... I'm actually finding humor in the fact this guy "ate" it... As ONE who was belittled for "riding my own ride" It's funny to see 4 wheels busted up for riding beyond traction/ driving ability's.. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

I don't know if the Ferrari driver had to dodge an animal or something but he crossed over into the other lane on a sharp bend and parked it into the guardrail and then crossed back into his own lane before coming to rest. I'm just very glad this all occurred before we were occupying that particular corner.

 

[Blind Squirrel]

Our Token American from Virginia ....

That would be me, your tanslator.

 

[yamafitter]

Our Token American from Virginia ....

That would be me, your tanslator.

Sorry, as I get older I am going to have to start writing these things down. We definitely needed a translator in these parts. Every time I asked for poutine I would end up getting grits. Also no one down here has a clue what a Spicy Caesar is.

 

[Bustanut joker]

Hate to say it but... I'm actually finding humor in the fact this guy "ate" it... As ONE who was belittled for "riding my own ride" It's funny to see 4 wheels busted up for riding beyond traction/ driving ability's.. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

I don't know if the Ferrari driver had to dodge an animal or something but he crossed over into the other lane on a sharp bend and parked it into the guardrail and then crossed back into his own lane before coming to rest. I'm just very glad this all occurred before we were occupying that particular corner.

Well as people who have to deal with critters on a daily basis.. We don't swerve to avoid animals in the roadway if we have 4 wheels underneath. Shit ends up just like that, or worse.

Stupid is as stupid does. Bet the dipshit hugs tress when he's sittin at his desk..

 

[RaYzerman19]

Our Token American from Virginia ....

That would be me, your tanslator.

Sorry, as I get older I am going to have to start writing these things down. We definitely needed a translator in these parts. Every time I asked for poutine I would end up getting grits. Also no one down here has a clue what a Spicy Caesar is.

Don't beat yourself up too bad Bill, I couldn't understand a thing he was sayin', eh?

 

[RaYzerman19]

Here we are in the beautiful south, Lewisburg, WV. I'm out to check the weather and it was 2C according to my dash display. To you 'Mericans that'd rather cool. I wipe the dew off the seat and shield, then went to check Bill's which is parked in front of mine a little more in the open. I couldn't chip the ice off his seat!! Oh well, looks like the Canucks will have to put on the long sleeve tee shirts today under our mesh jackets... Bill has decided to change from his Speedo to Bermuda shorts for today.

 

[beemerdons]

You Hosers told me that Bungie couldn't lean a moto, Steve-O looks pretty damn good in that pic! Nice pics Bill, we do need food porn photos of the grits though! jes' sayin' and nuff' said!

 

[yamafitter]

You Hosers told me that Bungie couldn't lean a moto, Steve-O looks pretty damn good in that pic!

We did a good job of hiding the stick that is propping him up. jus sayin' & nuff said.

No grits will be consumed during this ride report or if I have my say at any other time.

 

[yamafitter]

Saturday night after the banquet wrapped up the FJR Fairies went to work under the cover of darkness ....

In the morning while we getting ready to start home, Bob was trying to find the guy that was hitting his head with a hammer. I believe there may have been a bottle of Eagle Rare Bourbon involved.

Most of our ride on the first leg home involved heading east along the Blue Ridge Parkway ....

Ray stopped for the odd smoke break which gave me the opportunity to get a few landscape photos ....

The Great White North Liberation Invasion Army (L to R), Mike, yours truly and Ray .....

At the end of the first leg home we made it to Lewisburg, WV via the BRP & Hwy 311 ....

still to come - day 2.

 

[yamafitter]

It was quite cool overnight in Lewisburg and this rude sight greeted me in the morning when I walked out to the bike ....

For our Southern friends that are use to only seeing ice in cube form in their mint juleps this is indeed ice. To add insult to injury it was also cold enough to lower the tire pressures enough to cause my tire pressure monitor system to alarm which drained the lithium battery on my bike to the point where it would not start. I have an AE which means you cannot bump start it. Fortunately Ray came to the rescue with some cables and we were able to get enough charge from Ray's bike to get mine started.

Once we got rolling the we almost immediately ran into fog going north on Hwy 219. Fortunately we climbed out of it and once out in the sun it started warming up. The fog was still lying low in the valley however .....

Mike & I had noticed that Ray's topbox seemed to be wobbling excessively and upon checking the box we found a large crack across the front of the box. We patched it as best we could with the tools at hand and covered the crack with duct tape ....

Mike also had some issues just after this when his GPS suction mount let go and was hanging by the cable. Other than this we were having a good day.

We turned off Hwy 219 at the Snowshoe Ski Resort and followed Hwy 66 for a bit over to the town of Cass. We just missed by a few seconds the departing of the steam locomotive as it took some tourists for a short trip. I was able to get a photo of the other train sitting in the train yard ....

We then crossed over the bridge to stop for coffee ....

While there a group of Southern Bells had rented some Mountain Bikes but the tires were all soft and the pump the store had was not working so Ray graciously took out his 12V compressor and took care of the ladies while I supervised the operation.

The next section of Hwy 66 would have been very nice except that there spilled gravel in a number of the corners that added quite a bit of pucker factor to the ride.

We then headed over to Hwy 72 that was closed part way through but I recognized the spot from last year's ride with WheatonFJR & Griff and led our group down onto River Rd and bypassed the closed section. Ray then led us on a merry chase through the rest of West Virginia and up into Pennsylvania until we ended the ride for the day in Brooksville, PA .....

Tomorrow we should be back inot the Great White North and complete our invasion of EOM.

Next - the final installment.

 

[yamafitter]

As seen in Cass, WV and without further comment .....

We saw this and immediately thought of BeemerDons ....