Bucket List of Motorcycle Touring Rides

I'm thinkin' I might could have shoulda started clickin' off the Longer Rides of the Bucket list... a lil' bit BEFORE my odometer clicked over 60 summers! ;)

Aw hell, I guess it'll keep me young trying to get 'em all accomplished on a pikers wallet huh?

The top three of my Motorcycle Touring Rides bucket list are... OK... cuz I can't say any one of 'em is lesser than the other... my top four would be;

1. The Pacific Coast. Finding every road to stay as close to the shore as possible... from The Mexican Border to Canada... starting from where ever I'm at.

2. The Four Corners. Finding the closest spots you can get on a motorcycle to the four extreme corners of the Lower 48 in Maine, California, Washington and Florida. Either Riding the perimeter roads of the country to get there or Criss Crossing the interior in a giant Figure Eight. A good special part of the ride could be... taking the footpath to actually take my bony butt to the exact farthest spot on the map.

3. A Return to Alaska Ride... or three! One; Ride my Raider one way and load up the other direction to coast along on the Marine Highway, the Alaskan Ferry System. Another one both ways on the road again. This time some little while longer and taking in the Cassiar Hwy and a few of the other alternative parallel routes to staying on the a traditional Alaskan Highway through British Columbia and the Yukon...

Give me a bit and I'll think up a good variation for a wished for fourth scooter ride to the land of the midnight sun.

Hell, that was easy! The Just Because Alaska by Motorcycle Ride! ;)

4. Bag every Mountain pass west of the Mississippi that rises higher than 7,000 feet in a few endless weeks of curly cues, twisting roads and crossed trails, trying to gather them all in.

Then... there's a nearly unlimited number of other ideas that fill my head if I let 'em... let's see...

1. The Great Perimeter ride... following every road I can find to keep me as near to the land perimeter of the lower 48 that I can find. Especially if the Four Corners was ridden in the figure 8 version! ;)
2. State Capital buildings... Every state in the west?
3. National monuments of the West?
4. All the National Parks in a big wide circle.
5. Hwy 287 from end to end.
6. Hwy 89 from end to end.
7. Motorcycle Touring Route 66 from start to finish... or ... finish to start!
8. The Motorcycle Camp in every National Forest in the west Ride! ;)

... and maybe the sweetest of them all, and juuuuust might could be it shoulda been named #1... Two wheels in the Wind May through October.

Start each day where I ended the last. Free on the road and knees in the wind.  Just following that ribbon of asphalt... as long as I feel like twisting the throttle.

No maps. No time tables... No schedules or goals... just fill the tank each morning, pick a direction and ride... where ever my nose and my scooter takes me. Turn when the road does and see where it leads. Aw it's a joyous and sweet dream.

Grab Your Handles and Ride
Brian

Come The Dawn... I'm Splittin' the Wind

I was feelin' low from all the miscellaneous garbage I've allowed to get to me the past few weeks. I nearly canned the whole trip 'cause I'm so broke...

Then I read a post on the ADV Rider forum 'bout a guy who'd taken a good face plant and busted up his back. It made me remember the days when I was hobblin' around after I first dislocated my spine. I thought it was all done at that point and nearly turned up my toes...

So... the fact that my pockets are empty on the eve of riding off on a wide circle just don't seem that big a deal any more. I'll go till what I've got is half gone...

... and then turn the headlight for home.

The Raider is packed and sitting outside ready to roll on a nice wide Motorcycle Camping trip...

*Yamaha Raider Packed and ready for that Ribbon of Highway*

Not so long after sunrise tomorrow I'll be hitting the road... Not sure where I'm bound... Just goin'.

Truly haven't decided on the initial direction yet. It'll be either due west on Hwy 14 toward Craig and Dinosaur... or shoot NW toward Thermopolis, and Beartooth and Lolo passes up in Montana... I've got to make the choice about a mile after I throw a leg over... so... assuming I'm cranky and draggin' in the morning, that decision will have been made by 9A.M. Mountain time. :)

I've got my tent, my ruck with my sleeping bag, stove and camp gear, rain gear, cold weather gear in that back bag for this time of year ;) a few odds and ends... and part of the cash to ride the circle I want to ;)

I'll make it or I won't... If I make it HooYa! If I don't... Well... it'll be a great ride to somewhere.

The one thing I'll have, guaranteed is the Open Road and the Freedom that lives there.

Grab Your Handles and Ride!
Brian

P.S.; I'll post updates either from that smartphone or my lil' Acer if/when I have signal for the phone or pirated WiFi for the laptop... 

Roll Me Away... and Roll me NOW!

Summers slippin' away and all I've done is day ride... That just ain't sufficient for a long rider for sure and for certain!

Between broken bits and parts here and there on the rig... the cost of making some pricey, for me anyhoo! Changes on the scooter, and compounded by the time of doin' all those repairs and upgrades, not to mention the recent thieving of both my cameras... it's ate up the summer and my meager assets without a good long ride. Two hundred mile day trips are fine, don't get me wrong...

... but... I'm speakin' of the Healing Freedom of ten days in a row of 300 - 400 milers and more! It's an aching hunger that ever' once in a while has to be fed. Such a ride is a greater purity to me then a long hike in the High Up and Lonesome.

Just me, the bike, and the road stretching out in front of us, disappearing into the far blue horizon. Choosing the route when I pull up at a stop sign. Camping not at some spot I picked on the map the day before, but when a place whispers; "Roll in here." ... Climbing into my bag at night knowing... when I get up in the morning... I'll be in the wind on a road I've never ridden... for another four hundred miles of Freedom.

No bosses, no banks, no one reminding me ungently, of commitments; no radio squawkin' more lies, no people claiming ownership of great bloody chunks of my life... Just the open road; where my bike rumbles me past texting, raging cagers with a flick of the wrist... and restores an empty open road in front of me.

Just speaking that is a pleasant sound... The open road... A place where my spirit is blown clean of the poisons of civilization.

I'm fightin' to ride out on such a roll in maybe a week. I've got the last of the refitting parts for my Raider waiting on me back in Fort Collins. It's the replacement back rest by Yamaha. This'un is the steel, fixed, black powder coated model to go with the black pipes and dark hard bags already put on. We'll be rolling back there in a few days and I'll get it bolted in place.

Then... With maybe half the required fuel/feed and camp dinero on hand for the road I'm thinkin' of... I'm considering just sayin'; "Screw it, I'm gone!"... just loadin' my gear, twisting the throttle and splittin' the wind. Let things catch up as I need 'em!

It wouldn't be the first time I've told the world; "Step away from the Motorcycle. Stand back out of the way. There's no need for anyone to get hurt! I'm outa here!"

The road I have in mind is mostly a pick a direction and go rather than a choose a destination and ride sort of a run. How-some-ever, the direction I'm thinking of goin' would have 4,000 miles or better pass by under my tires to cover it all...

Just the thought of it has me aching for the wind in my nostrils and the miles rolling past... and the sight of my bike parked in front of my tent when I look out in the morning.

Sometimes that's what you just need to do. Stand up... tell the world to stand back, get your foul smellin' ass out of my way... I'm Ridin'!

Ready for the Road
Brian

A Gypsy Biker finds the Occassional Not-So-Good-Camp for a Road BIke ;)

I live on the road... whoever has read this blog or the site itself for any time pretty much knows that. Most of our camps have been pretty good compromises.

Far enough back for the solitude and privacy I admire... yet close enough to let the Raider roll with ease.

Parked up in Montana it was a short run from our boondock camp to the asphalt to make a few runs over Lost Trail pass...I rode the pass to go get a cup of coffee! ;)

In Utah we enjoyed Zion and were parked close to highway twelve up on the Escalante... and farther north I was close to the asphalt when we rode Arches National Park. Up in Wyoming we were parked smack in the middle of Yellowstone...

I rode Goin' to the Sun road when we stayed up in Glacier...

Perfect camps to day trip from

This summer has seen more times like now. Back in the early summer we found ourselves near ten miles of backroad from the nearest asphalt. The camp we found here near Steamboat is also nearly ten miles of rough road from the asphalt. I stick the truck in 4by just to handle the washboarded grades better, and it's still 2nd gear in a lot of places.

If I rode a dual sport it wouldn't be much of an issue. These guys rolling past below my camp this afternoon didn't appear to be having any issue with the dirt and the rocks. I suspect they came here Looking for bad roads to challenge their skills.

The Raider on the other hand is not a machine known for its abilities in the rough and rugged backwoods. :) Put her on a ribbon of asphalt and she gets with the program... out here... she's a mite out of her element... and I got a guy that wants me to ride with him clear to Prudhoe next summer.

Ah... I hate wussin' on a deal like that...but three hundred miles or so of rocky, tire slashin', butt thumpin' mud and potholes?... ooofffff... Not sure my Ol' butt has the ambition for that. The Yukon and Alaska again? You bet! but... fightin' mud on a ROAD burner? Even a rider with all the loose screws I enjoy is havin' some trouble seein' the fun in that! :)

*Watchin' the Dual Sports Roll by*

I don't mind the weather mind you... I actually smile when it's raining. On a road where I can figure on a bit of traction, I actually enjoy bad weather rides.

But... a road that throws up a challenge to even the dirt bikes with their skinny, knobby, rubber ( that would climb a tree if you twisted the throttle hard enough ) and has 'em wallowin' around in the gooey clay... is pure agony on the wide floatin' ski on the back of my Raider!

*Raider watchin' another storm rolling in*

I picked this camp 'cause I needed a good Free Boondock camp to setup for a while and work. To support my gypsy biker lifestyle I was needful of completing the work on my third western novel. That's done now; it's been published and In a few more days we'll pack up and be moving on.

I believe I'll see if I can't find something a mite closer to the pavement for my next camp so the Raider can show those Dual Sports what a road bike can do. ;)

Though this camp isn't the best for a Road Bike... it has been good for hiking and one unexpected thing...

I discovered something after this afternoons storm passed... it ain't gold at the end of a Rainbow...

*The Treasure at the end of the Rainbow ain't gold!*

It's a Yamaha Raider! :)

Grab Your Handles and Ride!
Brian

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A Bucket List of Long Rides...

 Been working on a couple of projects while we've been landed in Colorado for the last few weeks. It goes slow though when you're workin' with a thin budget and waiting on parts to arrive from far across the Pacific...

It gets frustrating since...

... I've got two rides I'm trying to keep on the calendar for this summer... life and unexpected consequences keeps interfering with that schedule... but I'm stubborn so Something is likely to happen.

Next June I've got it penciled in the calendar to make a return ride to Alaska. I'm calling that Alaska II... This time I'd ride at least partially with another rider who is planning on riding the haul road clean to Prudhoe...

I'm not sure I've got the ambition to push a Raider that far on dirt and gravel with maybe 300 miles between fuel stations in a place or two... My Adventure level has degraded a bit with age to not wanting to wiggle and wrassle 900+ lbs of road bike, camp and biker cowboy too awful far from something that resembles asphalt :) but then... I've never been accused of exercising an excessively High IQ so... you never can tell. :)

The other guy is talking about taking the Ferry to Skagway to cut off some of the early miles and save some wear and tear for the haul road... I'm thinkin' I'd rather do the Ferry part on the comin' back leg... After my butt has started feelin' the miles... not before ;)

We'll see if I sell enough of my Western and Action Adventure Ebooks to finance another roll up to the Land of the Midnight Sun!

If course... I'm hopin' enough folks like 'em to help finance a few other rides...

One of the Bigger of several Long Rides I've got penciled out started out as what some call a Four Corners Ride, or a Border to Border or a Boundary Ride. I'd like to stretch it a touch with the Northern leg being on the North side of the Border... I think Canada will still let me in...

I'd like to start from where ever I happen to be at; Arizona or Colorado most likely... and ride out to some point along the perimeter of the ride.



Then just turn... uh... right or left, twist the throttle and roll!... Still have to decide which direction to run the ride ;) and then ride the 9500 miles give or take... probably add a few making a side ride or two along the way...

There's others... all sorts of "inspirations" for Long Rides... as if a rider needs a reason ;)

1. All the National Monuments west of the Mississippi
2. All the passes over 7,000 feet from the Continental Divide west (there aren't too many in Kansas!)
3. Every state of the "West"
4. All The National Parks of the West
5. Waterfalls
6 The ten Best Roads of the West
7. Route 66... the Whole Mother Road starting from Chicago and rolling west.
8. The Trans America Trail
9. Hwy 287 end to end
10. Hwy 89 end to end
11. The Continental Divide... zig zagging back and forth to see how close I can stay from Canada to Mexico

... and then there's always the Old reliable Inspiration; Walk out to the packed bike... Pick a Direction and just GO!

Grab Your Handles and Ride!
Brian

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Getting the Rust Knocked off by a Ural Hack

A bit over a week ago we were camped in the Utah, Goosenecks State Park...

*RV's Top Right... Boats on the San Juan River... Bottom left*

It was hot, pushing 90 and we were getting ready to move to higher ground.

A couple rolled in riding a Ural Hack. The he side of the pair has kept a pretty detailed Ride report of their comings and goings on the ADV ride forum... that lil' link above...

They'd flown out of Upstate New York to land in Seattle to pick up their new Ride. They already had 3,000 miles on the odometer of their new sidecar rig on the ride home.

They rode out the next morning bound for new roads and the sweet wind of Freedom on a Ribbon of Asphalt.

Made me stop and look at what I've been doing for two years now... and I came to the conclusion that I've been slipping. I got careful... and I got lazy.

You know what careful breeds? ... Complacency... and a whole hell of a lot fewer stories to tell when old age conquers your kiester and you're relegated to sitting on the porch zingin' the neighborhood kids with your wrist rocket as they ride their damned bicycles across your front grass!

So... the upstart is...that though I've ridden my Raider all over the west in the past two years... I've been doing that riding too... careful... too... comfortable... and too... Little.

Watching those folks ride off... with nothing but their bike, their camp gear and the Open Road in front of them made me stop and think... 

It's time to shake things up a lil' bit... this summer... though I might get a slow start at it... I'm working to do just that... Get back to pushing the envelope a bit.. and splitting the wind a lot!

Grab Your Handles and Ride!
Brian

P.S. I checked last night and the mileage he's wracked up since I saw him ten days or so ago in Utah had climbed up well over 6,000... and included trips over the Moki Dugway... and down The Tail of the Dragon a couple of thousand miles east! just stirs something in a Biker... Don't it?

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The IBA... It's Capturing My Imagination

In contrast to the past where sheer miles was never a goal... something is tickling me...

I don't know. Maybe I just need a challenge that combines tests of mind and body that I can get my teeth into. Maybe it's just that the lust for a Ribbon of Highway has finally made my brain go soft! :)

But the Iron Butt Association is rumbling its way into my thoughts more and more these days...

There's a rally coming in June in Colorado... The Ultimate Coast to Coast... "Florida to Alaska", every two year, marathon in 2013... a 48 states in 10 days asphalt burner, 50 National Parks in 25 States within one year... and all sorts of other rides and ideas for rides that test man, machine and inject a bit of adventure into life on two wheels.

I've had some of those rides, or rides awful close to 'em listed on my Motorcycle "Bucket List" for quite a while... maybe this is the jab I needed to start dingin' 'em off... one... or three... at a time!

Whatever. It's got my imagination lit up... in a way that it hasn't in quite a while. Awesome... though... now it also takes me back to the Sketch Pad... to tinker with the remodeling I want to do on the Raider. I need to tweak a few things... I wonder how many other Factory Choppers there are on the Iron Butt rides? :)

Grab Your Handles and Ride!
Brian

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Freedom... Have You Ever Really Thought About It?

What does "The Freedom of the Open Road" mean to you?

It's more than just rolling two wheels down the asphalt... it's more than just Splitting the wind... but what? Can you really put words to it? Or is that other Old Cliche really the truth?; "If I have to explain it, you won't understand."

What is your idea of pure Freedom... or ... what would be the "environment" in which that Pure Freedom, or as pure as you could get, could exist?

What would you need to eliminate... what would you need to keep? What is necessary for living... what is just excess baggage, weighing you down?

There's a fella, up in British Columbia... that seems to have his soul wrapped around the meaning pretty fine. He's at least one guy... that you've not got to try and explain it to...

I may be taking liberties here... I'm hoping he'll forgive, as I'm sending anyone who reads it here, to his blog, to capture more of his wisdoms...

Back in October he wrote a short piece... that for me... sums it up... You'll either "Get it" or you won't... If you don't... sorry... you're just one of the poor "many"... who won't understand...

I reprint his post here:

"Freedom

Imagine if you will, shedding every item you own, every problem you have, every burden you carry, every issue that haunts you, and becoming a free thinking, free riding, free man.

Imagine if you unpacked the bike you packed and retained only the things you really needed to survive on the bike. All you really need to survive is air to breath, water to drink and something to eat, the rest is just clutter.

Add in some clothes to wear, cooking utensils, camping gear and some cash to buy gas and you will be completely outfitted to take the motorcycle ride of a lifetime.

Riding a motorcycle unencumbered by clutter, devoid of a befuddled mind and a yearning to learn is as close to being free as you can get."
                                                            - Silverwinger
   
There it is... nothing can be added to that... As clear as it can be said. Makes a man ache to see the road, stretching out in front of him... Don't it?

Awesome...

Grab Your Handles and Ride!
Brian

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Ewan McGregor gives a bit of an education in his "Long Way Down" DVD...

... Sounds a lil' bit like me.. or me like him?... he complains about feeling like he's caught in the "Gotta Keep Moving Along" trap... Pushed by Time Constraints... and not really being able to See the country he was traveling through... 'cause he had to get to the Next Place... to meet a schedule...

...Which is something that pushed me on my Motorcycle Trip to Alaska... and is something I Rail against on BOTH my websites! aaaarrrrgggghhhh! :o)

Time and weather conspired to move me along faster than I'd have preferred. Had I the option, me and that Roadstar Raider... would still be out there on the Open Road... and... waaaaaay back down it... covering the same country... not necessarily slower... but circling and yondering around... adding a Lot of miles, taking a lot of time... exploring back into out of the way, off the beaten track, lil' places...

Hunting up more opportunities to meet folks like Kerry, Ken and Sue, Genine and Nicole, Shadow Moss... and lunch with "Bob" Seeger! :o)

... and people? That is what made this trip, too short and too wet as it was... a Motorcycle Ride in Shining Times! ... looking past the Tourist Icons... and meeting up with the People along the way...

Though I wasn't as tight on time... except from the Money aspect of it... the weather wouldn't allow me to sit around much... I mean... sitting in a three man tent... alone... for days... waiting for a rain, the weather man says "ain't gonna quit"... to quit... is NOT my idea of a good time! :o)

So... if I could make a couple of changes to the trip, they would be to have had more time for it... a Month is Just Not Sufficient for the Best run through Alaska... though, I knew that going in... but sometimes you just take what you can, and do the best with it...

Then, the second change would be... to NOT ride it alone...

That was an unchangeable thing on This trip. I had personal reasons for it this time... but it would be a Huge upgrade of an already Great  Ride on a Glorious Motorcycle Road, to have at least a buddy or two along to share it with...

And, with more Bikes... you could conveniently carry more "Shelter" gear, along with the hands to help put it up, that could make riding out the weather a less athletic piece of work...

So... tonight I'll watch another segment of Ewans' journey... and see if it continues to stimulate my "wandering gene"... In RVing we've got Hitch Itch...

... Now it looks like I'm infected with Two Afflictions... Hitch Itch... AND ... The call of Two Wheels on the Open Road...

Grab Your Handles and Ride!
Brian

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Motorcycle Prejudice

Harrrrumph! Another tirade 'bout Motorcycle Prejudice...

I just heard 'bout a "Challenge Ride" that's supposed to be run starting in late June and running into July... To be run, 7,000 miles, from Key West, Florida... to Homer, Alaska... Freaking Awesome...

I've been struggling for as long as I can remember, to ride the Alcan SOLO. It was a dream I had a long damn time ago... that kept me goin' the final months of my first hitch in the Army... To come home, buy a new bike, Ride the Alcan... and get my Head Right...

I've let myself get "Ambushed" by life and nonsense, and allowed the Dream to get obstructed, for way too long... and I've been working to make that Dream... a Reality... once and for all... This summer...

Then... I heard about this Ride... and got all cranked up... How awesome would that be? To show the world... I may be a stove up, bald headed, puss gut, Cowboy Biker, Disabled Vet... but I ain't Dead!

So... I went to the website for the Hoka Hey ride... intending to push the envelope... bite off one hell of a "Challenge", and likely sign up!... only to find this;  "in order to keep everyone on an even playing field, the Challenge is limited to Harley-Davidson™, V-Twin, air-cooled motorcycles."

"Even Playing Field"... What the Hell in Life is "even" or Fair? ... I wouldn't be a limpin', gimpy, VET... if life was fair... or even close to an "Even Playing Field."

It bothers me some lil' bit... when Harley Riders talk so much 'bout Freedom, Liberty, Individuality... and then... with a challenge like this basically say; "You're Free to Ride... Exactly what we tell you to ride... leave your Freedom of Choice at Home!"

Are they afraid of the Reliability and Durability of my Star Raider? are they upset 'cause it ain't American Made? ... Uh... ya'll might want to look at where a huge amount of the pieces of that "American Made" Harley are actually produced... and the VAST majority of the after market accessories...

... not to mention that a whole lot of Americans... make their living... With Yamaha and Star... 

This Ol' Vet was up to the Challenge, against all comers... too bad so many others... claim to be... but then... choose to decide that they are the Ultimate Arbiters of what is "Right and Proper" for ever'body else.

Jeeeesus have mercy! ... Walk the Talk... or stop talkin'!

Harleys are Fine Machines... I almost bought one... almost... but I flat fell in love with my red headed Star!

I admire the way Harley Davidson supports Veterans and American Traditions... but ... excluding a Free Man from a ride... 'cause he rides the "Wrong" bike... seems to me to violate those very same Traditions... I'm just sayin'...

I would have liked to have participated in such an event... Guess I'll just have to do it alone... without all the hoopla... and that's OK... Who wants a grumpy Ol' Sermonizin' Cowboy Biker B$@#&@D gimpin' around anyhoo?

Grab Your Handles and Ride!
Brian

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The Grass is Always Greener When Motorcycle Adventure Touring......

..if your Motorcycle Adventure Touring is done on foreign roads... right?

... or is it?

Do you have to ride in foreign lands to find good Motorcycle Adventure Touring?

Or, can you find the Spirit and Healing power of the Open Road, right here at home, on American Roads?

What is it we're really looking for? What is your definition of Adventure Touring?

Enough with the questions, and let's have some answers!... Right? :o)

Well, Ok... but I don't know that I have any! Just my "Opinions" and what works for me.

When I'm out, Splitting the Wind my primary goal is finding Freedom. That is the Great Adventure I hunger for.

Now... since that one, singular, thing, is sorely deficient over the majority of the rest of the globe... it turns out I find little to attract me to those foreign lands.

Let 'em keep their mordida and various tyrannies... and all their 'stuff'...

All I need to feed my soul is...

• The simple joy of living... with a motorcycle! :o)


• The Glorious Visions you see around every bend on almost every road in this country :o)


• The Scent of rain freshened air, splitting the wind on a Mountain Morning...


• The Joyous feeling of my ladies arms wrapped around me as we follow a Ribbon of Highway... after a night of my senior carcass provin'... I ain't dead yet! :o)


• A fresh view of a road I've not yet ridden...


• or finding that riding an old road again, is like huggin' a treasured friend I've not seen in a long time...


• Conversations with interesting people I meet along the way...

They all combine to prove that I can find all the Adventure Touring I need... all the Motorcycle Touring... I require.

All the Healing Power I can stand... from two wheels on asphalt!

... Right here in what has always been to me... Heaven on Earth...

The Great American West!

Anyone who claims this place or that country has beauty surpassing that of the Grand Canyon, Alaska, The Canadian Rockies, Yosemite, the Pacific Coast Highway, The Great Smokies, Glacier, Yellowstone, The Black Hills, Tonto Basin, the Sierras... and on and on...

... has issues we just ain't gonna address, or cure, here! :o)

...and yes... I consider the Canadian Rockies as part of the "American West"... The Great North American West! Canada ain't a part of the good Ol' U S of A... but she's darn sure her Sister!

Do you need a passport to find acceptable Adventure... Motorcycle Touring?

Nahhh... Not Even!... Just...

Grab Your Handles and Roll!
Brian

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