A Biker Caught Betwixt and Between

I've been on the road now for three years... Which fits pretty fine, since I've been a gypsy spirit since as long as I can remember. My only regret is that I didn't just change my life to this "way" of going a Long, Long time ago.

Buuuut... There's ALWAYS a but...

I also have a very big "scheming" gene that never rests. To many it carries a face that looks just like indecision or at best a short attention span. In reality, it's more akin to an open mind mixed with a hyper active curiosity and seasoned by a hunger to try a bit of everything; all compounded by the very strong realization that my scrawny ass sits on the shady side of the mountain.

It's a lot like one of those; "If I could" grunt, grunt "just get this" gruuuuunt! "pushed into pla.... Oh Look! A Butterfly!" Clank!! as the tool in my hand falls forgotten on the ground and I go wandering off following my new interest sort of mental meanderings. ;)

Too bad all those psychological deficiencies are financed by the wallet of a gypsy biker cowboy disabled vet! :)

So anyhoo, wandering across the country, riding roads all over the west and having a warm dry bed and a refrigerator for my beer in the fiver right behind me, is absolutely fine! If I get to not liking a neighborhood all I gotta do is hitch up and move my house to a fresh place. No shortage of new places to flicker past my wandering eyes.

The ONLY drawback is there are things I want to do, things that really grab my imagination, that just don't fit into that gypsy living.

I have in my head a vision of a one of a kind camp catering specifically to traveling bikers. Keeping that company are visions of several versions of a "vintage/hot rod/classy "rat ride"/survival" sort of a bike... I'd like to carve the tooled leather seats for those bikes with my own tools... since I used to make my living doing custom leather for several years.

...then there's several, looooong... Rides I want to make that a wife, two dogs and a fifth wheel just don't fit well with... especially a wife that enjoys the occasional 200 mile day with me... but not 40 300 mile days in a row... or longer!

All of those are nestled amongst plenty of other schemes that float around behind my eyes when my vision clears after just a few miles out there on the two lane. 

So... though I am as happy as a biker with new tires with the life I have... I am one of those lonesome souls that's never fully satisfied. I'm always pushin' for the horizon... reachin' for the stars... and dreamin' way beyond the world I'm in.

Ain't that what it's all about in the first place? Dreamin' the dreams... and then seein' how many of 'em we can chase down before our odometer ticks its last mile... Living Life and Chasing the Wind!

Grab Your Handles and Ride!
Brian.

Pristine and Showroom Condition?... or ... The Patina of Many Miles?

I've seen some blogs lately, and had a conversation or two about the nicks and dings bikes get goin' down the road.

Many riders work and spend hundreds, thousands even, keeping their rides in showroom condition. The other end of the biker spectrum bein' the rat rides that are kept together mechanically... but look like rolling wrecks otherwise. ;)

I gotta say... there's something about those battered but not beaten bikes that capture my imagination. I can't help but wonder about all the roads that old Indian I crossed paths with, up in Tok, has seen...

*a 1936 Indian I met on my Alaska run*

You can't help but wonder about the stories behind that scratch or this scrape... or that bent fender...

When I see a clean, unblemished motorcycle the first thought in my head, right or wrong, is; Too bad that guy don't ride much. He'd be a lot happier! ;)

I've talked and schemed a lot in the past about hangin' some fancy paint on Sonja and some other flashy farkles... For a bit the scratches, dings and worn spots bothered me.

Somewhere in there that being bothered about it got to bothering me and I really started looking around and thinkin' on it. Do that and you start to see a lot. Some riders polish... and some riders ride.

I came to the conclusion that other than making repairs to the mechanical faults, keeping her sound and road worthy, doing much in the way of cosmetic repairs... simply erases miles of joyous memories.

Leaving that road patina alone is like maintaining a 3D rolling book of memories! ;)

That was in my mind when I started doing some mods on Sonja this past summer. I began moving away from that spit and polish motorcycle philosophy as I changed over to the blacked out Hard Chrome pipes and powder coated Yamaha Backrest. The main motivation was to improve function, with little thought about the Showroom appearance.

In the bargain I discovered all that chrome really didn't suit me very well. I ended up with her showing a personality I'm a lot more comfortable with. Awesome!

I believe that the future will continue to see Sonja wearing the battle scars of her travels like badges of honor, and a visible testimony of the miles she's carried me.

*The road is nowhere for a weak spirit*

I can't hide the dings, limps and scars I've picked up. I don't believe I should hide those. They're more like beauty marks to a travelin' man whether they be on me... or... my motorcycle. I can't bring myself to call 'em damage. I want people to know... neither me nor Sonja are some prissy trailer queens! ;)

We ride in the rain. We rattle down the back roads. We take our lumps and we keep it in the wind!

And if somebody thinks it's wrong... He can sit in his garage polishin', paintin' and primpin' all he wants. Me and Sonja will be out in the wind somewhere, dusty, dinged and weathered! ;)

Grab Your Handles and Ride
Brian

A Ferry Ride to the Motorcycle Land of Embarrassed Riders...

Wandering around the Northwest... Settled into Anacortes for a few days... just enough time for a little excitement, and embarrassment.

Yeah... Put the Raider on the ground to tour around Whidbey Island and places beyond... So... We get on the Washington State Ferry to take us over to San Juan Island, and rode around the perimeter of it. A nice ride to make!

It's a little unexpected though. You think you'll be riding through ocean views, and a marine sort of place, but you ride a road mostly twisting through hay fields and small farms with cattle everywhere. It does turn out to the ocean here and there...

*Lighthouse on San Juan Island*

 ... So still a really fine ride.

... and you're never quite sure what you'll see along the way...

*Grey fox on San Juan Island*

Then yesterday they had a small equipment show here at the Marina we're parked in...

Along with the tractors, motors and Old cars... there was a couple old Bikes...

a '48 Harley and a Motoguzzi of a vintage I didn't hear...

So... Now... it's time for the embarrassment...

Got back to the Ferry to load up for the ride back to Anacortes... The staging area was hidden from me by a couple of big trucks... so I rode past it...

When I looked back I said; "Damn! No problem, I'll just hook around and I'm good."

Yeah well... Not so much...

I hooked around, or started to. A tight, slow u-turn on a pretty narrow two lane at the top of the hill... works ok if you take into account that you're NOT riding solo! ... Not so good... if you're two up, going too slow, turning too tight, and your balance is juuuuuuust a touch off.

The result? A big red Raider, laying on its side like a beached whale, with the embarrassed bozo riding it... on the bottom! :)

Sheesh... red faced to say the least... dropping the bike at 5mph!

So now... we're getting read to start working our way south again... this time... hopefully ahead of the coming winter.

Grab Your Handles and Ride!
Brian

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From Fine Old Vintage Motorcycles to New Tires in the Alaskan North

Was just climbing on the Raider in Tok, AK, to make the ride down the Glenn Highway to Anchorage to get my new tires... and this Ol' Indian scooter rolled in.

This Ol' Motorcycle rolled out of the assembly plant in... 1936! ... and it just rolled up the Alaskan Highway... from California!  Outside of a "Little hard starting"... its' rider claimed no difficulty along the road... How's that for a Touring Motorcycle? Awesome!

He noticed and admired my fuel bottles, and how I'm carryin' 'em. You can see his plastic fuel can strapped kinda rough, on the tail of his bike.

I've got four MSR fuel bottles from REI. They give me just a sliver over an extra gallon of fuel... for those times a fella might Miscalculate where he's at... and how far it is to the next place Fuel is at!...

... so far... I've only needed a part of these bottles, once... oops! I carry 'em in the outside pockets of my ruck, that sits strapped to the tail rack.

That back tire is just starting to get thin... but this pic was taken down near Dawson Creek... and though it's still not in Bad shape... it's unlikely the front tire would go back down the Alcan... and it's just not worth it to me... to risk a thin tire on either end... when you're a hundred miles from the beginning of nowhere! :o)

I got here too late today to get the new rubber... so I'll be sitting there come 9 tomorrow morning when they open the doors...

Had an awful pretty ride down this morning...

There's a couple of things I'm finding on this trip... one is an old thing with a lot of people... the uncomfortable feeling you get... when you get back into some of these Shining Mountains... and you don't have cell... or Internet service... arrrrgggghhh! You get this lil' twinge of panic...

Like the damn sky is gonna cave in if you can't Check on things...

It's a double edged sword for me... first... it's how I'm carving out a significant part of my living... so I have to give that part proper respect... I have to write and post my scribblings... it's what I'm doin' for my beans these days... but... if a guy ain't careful... he can get so hung up on those electronic distractions... he loses sight of what he's here about in the first place! 

So... I find myself having to be real deliberate. Consciously doing my writing in its' proper time and place... and giving what I'm here for... its' proper, dedicated time... a lesson I've got to keep reminding myself of...

The second thing is the country itself... Kind of like the Big Sky country of Montana... only on steroids.

Everything here... somehow seems, bigger. It's an idea that's been growing for a few days... and it hit me as I rolled past that glacier today.

The mountains, the rivers... even the more open flat country all just resonate this sensation of being heavier, more massive... the distances seem to magnify everything... I thought of the same sort of view... down home in Arizona... running along through some mountain valley... and then how it looks here...

Alaska is like Arizona or any other part of the Lower 48... only 3X :o)

If being made to feel for sure and for certain, truly insignificant, is something you can't deal very well with... it'd be best to pick a different location for a long trip... it's common to hear locals comment that; "Your NOT the top of the food chain up here!" :o)

It goes back one more time to what Lloyd says... Life is a Matter of balance... just wish I wasn't so damned un-balanced!

Grab Your Handles and Ride!
Brian

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I'll tell you... I won't say I don't give a thought to it... layin' in my tent at night... but I sleep well, knowing I've picked my camp carefully... With plenty of Other very Large, tasty travellers... surrounding my site! :o) ... to distract any errant Yogis that might could wander through of an evening.

Vintage Moto in Denver

If you're passing through Denver, and have any interest in Old Motorcycles... there's  a neat lil' museum down on the corner of 28th and Walnut in the LoDo area.

Vintage Moto Museum has something over 190 old, looks to be mostly Italian motorcycles... restored and according to the fella taking care of 'em... all rideable...

I gotta say, lookin' at those bikes... I'll keep my Raider! :o)

Most of 'em seem to be built along the lines of a cafe racer... which don't appeal to me... but they do have one nice old 1949 Indian Scout that looks pretty cool.

I did find some inspiration checking out all the Vintage Motorcycles... Saddle Bags! ... If you've been reading here for any amount of time... you know I've been pondering what/how to put a proper set of motorcycle saddle bags on my Raider.. Well... I may have found the solution!...

 What a ya think? Those would do pretty fine... don't you think? :o)

Not real sure just What somebody is gonna carry in them lil' suckers...  but I suppose if you needed a kleenex or a bandaid...

The entrance fee, is a lil' high at $7... but... it is a fun deal to walk around and check out and compare the 'rides' from the middle of the last century... up to a few Racers that aren't very old at all...

Heidi's favorite was the "Bee"... Circa 1950... Typical German efficiency... carry a spare tire...

But... Like I said... I do believe I'll keep my Raider! :o)

So... 'bout all I can say is...

Grab Your Handles and Ride!
Brian

Return to the Home page of Motorcycle Touring on Freedom Road
Visit our sister site goin' RV Boondocking

Share your stories and opinions;
*Tell us Which you think is the... The Best Touring Motorcycle
*Share...  Your Personal Motorcycle Philosophy with us!
*Tell us about your...  Great Motorcycle Roads