A Good Old Gal.

365 Group

One of my "girls" turns 40 this year.

"Miss Tilley!"  My 1977 KZ 750 twin, that I bought in original stock condition, 18 years ago from a lady in Oklahoma who's husband didn't like the fact guys whistled at her when she rode around town. They made a compromise and sold both their bikes. I was rather happy he was pissed that I took her old "junker" over his shiny late model V twin.
 This bike, with 97 thousand miles plus/ minus, has literally taken me all over the the Southern United States. Not too shabby for a $700 investment.

"catch ya on the road."
            (f)

9/24--27/2014


 The annual Bikes, Blues and BBQ Motorcycle rally was this week. I spent the week seeing it from all sides since it is in my back yard, so to speak and I finally had the time off to go and spend some time.
 The bikes began building up on Wednesday on the main drag, Dickson Street, around the local bars and night clubs. Not too much through the day as the town doesn't really gear up till the end of the week. From all that I heard the local campgrounds and motels were filled by the first day.
  It was really hard to gauge the amount of people that were showing up this year, there wasn't a lot of bike traffic on area roads compared to previous years.   This years rally was spread over a large area to relieve congestion and I"m sure the attendance numbers that are reported will be bigger than years past.
  I had the new "boss" wandering around with me after she was done with work each day.

That was a lot of fun. This was the first rally she has been to and says she had a blast.
 (maybe I can talk her in to going again?)

  The rally sponsors a beer garden with live music and it stayed packed to standing room only after the sun went down.

The vendors were out in force and you could find barbeque just about everywhere. Some of it was actually pretty good.
 As the week progressed the bikes piled in and it took on the air of an actual bike rally.

This years rally was a lot of fun and it had a little something for everyone that showed up. (even us old guys.)

         

  Some of the sights were easy on the eyes  while others, not so much... lol.

Better than all that, the best part of Bikes, Blues & BBQ is the area roads. Lots of twisty mountain roads with some really great scenery, all in a real laid back part of the world.

 Looking forward to next year.

  catch ya on the road

2/9/11

365 Group (f)


"God is Great, A cup of coffee is good and this weather is crazy!!!"

I was anticipating this morning as being a good, maybe a ride in, kind of day.

The recent snow and ice was all but off the area roads that I use. The weather folks said that we would get some more snow but, I for some reason had the feeling it would miss us. At least the bulk of it. After careful deliberation I have come to the conclusion that my weather forecasting skill needs some honing.
I got up to about eight inches of new snow and it was still falling. By 8 am it was a good 12 inches deep all over the area. I made a few phone calls and got work covered and settled in to wait it out.
When the snow stopped falling I measured an average of 18 inches all around my place. Lots of drifts were up to 36 inches.
Guess it was a good thing that I really hadn't planned to ride in.
I had a couple of small tarps covering my bikes (as you can see) that are nowhere to be found. I'm thinking the wind took them off.
when the thaw hits...catch ya on the road

9-17-09

365 Group (f)

This morning was another damp one. As I headed out to town the rain had all but stopped and it looked like a good day was starting.
Pulling on to the highway I headed west toward Fayetteville and before I knew it I was crowding 80 mph. The damp air was agreeing with my old twin. I floated along like this for three or four miles until I came up on a sub division. A car pulled out in front of me causing me to greatly reduce my speed and mutter unwholesome phrases. This seems to happen more around this time of the year. Think it has something to do with school starting back.
After getting past this "chuckle head" I had a good ride on into town to the first convenience store I saw. Coffee and gas were greatly needed. While I was sipping my coffee I made small talk with the woman behind the counter. She had mentioned Bikes, Blues & BBQ Rally that was coming up at the end of the month. She pointed out that there seemed to be more bikes around than normal and that she had noticed people that she had known for years and never seen on a bike before riding around town. Pointing out that it was funny how you can not really know someone. As we chatted I asked her if she wanted to have some fun with these neighbors of hers. (Of course.) I told her to start asking questions about their bikes. See if they stuttered and stammered over their answers. Look over this leather they were now wearing and see if it all looked new. And....if she could manage it to get a look at their bike. See if it had a rental sticker on it. I explained that since this rally has grown to one of the biggest in the country. Every body wants to be a part of the crowd, a few people break down and buy a bike. But, now, bike rentals are a going business. She thought about what I said then cracked into a laugh.
After leaving the gas station I headed over to work to turn in some paperwork to get my guys a raise. Running down Old Missouri Road I noticed a couple on a newer Harley inching along ahead of me. Traffic was backed up as everyone was apparently running late for work. By cheating a little I managed to get up beside them and we talked a bit about the slow moving traffic. They were headed to almost the same place I was. Finally I had had enough inching along and decided to hit the back roads and get around all this mess. Without asking, I just told them to follow me and took a right on Old Wire Road and tooled the narrow back roads over to Hwy.412. Rolling into a parking lot, they were laughing about the traffic. He said he hadn't considered doing that. I explained that it was one of the benefits of being on a bike.
The rest of the day I spent picking up camera supplies and all the junk that goes with it for me and Bikes,Blues & BBQ. After last year, I'm getting it all done early. Nothing worse than going to photograph something and running out of film and or memory or battery before you really get started. I had to run back to the house about every three hundred or so shots to download. So this year I'm hoping for around a thousand to 1500 before taking a break. People have asked me for more so these albums have steadily grown each year and that's what we are all about. Keeping everyone happy.
If you get the chance I recommend you visit Bikes, Blues & BBQ. I always have a good time.
Catch ya on the road

6/2/09

365 Group (f)

This morning I was sort of running a little behind. I had planned on taking the long way in this morning and having breakfast out on the road. Since I was a little behind I grabbed a Bacon biscuit at the corner gas station and hit the road.
Heading east I had the road all to myself till I got just outside Hindsville. As I came up on the old 412 merge I laid on the throttle and leaned in to run on up to the new 412 intersection. About half way into my merge I noticed there were several slow moving cars coming my way and figured that there was Trooper up ahead. Topping the hill at the intersection I came upon some farm equipment that was slowing folks down. Glad it wasn't an early morning accident or a Trooper.
Heading back west I ran up to about seventy and just kind of held there. This stretch of 412 is fairly new and is still pretty smooth riding. I had adjusted my chain yesterday afternoon and it made for a smother ride. The bridge across the lake was the only rough spot that I noticed.
Before I knew it I was coming into Springdale. Traffic started getting heavier and at the last moment I hit the spur and made a detour down by the livestock auction and through the old part of town traffic on these back streets hadn't picked up yet. If it weren't for the traffic lights I wouldn't have had anything to complain about.
Pulling into a gas station I got a cup of coffee and sat on my bike and ate my Biscuit. It was good. Several bikes roared by and waved. I waved my coffee cup back at them. Seemed that this was starting out a good day.
Catch ya on the road

First trip of the year

Proud member of the 365 group

(I rode mine today)

I took my first trip of this year this past week. I had a doctors appointment in a couple of nearby towns so I combined them and made one three day trip.

The weather was perfect for riding, although I didn't see any other bikes on the road. Lightly cool when I started out and turned to down right warm as the days wore on.

My first stop was Harrison. About 80 miles down hwy 412. Over the last couple of years this stretch of road had been under construction and was slow in places. Now it's mostly back to normal and I made good time. (About an hour and a half.) While I was in Harrison I met some people that said they were riders and had a lot of questions about Bikes, Blues & Bar B Que. I tend to get that alot. People all over seem to be interested in B,B&BBQ. I have developed a standard answer for them when they ask about the different attractions. I tell them, "You need to come and see". B,B&BBQ has steadily gotten bigger each year in all areas from food to manufacturers and is worth getting out to see.

After my Doctor visit in Harrison I pulled out for Conway down hwy 65 and just got lost in the ride. Hwy 65 is kind of fast paced like it wants to grow up and be an interstate or something. Lots of traffic and not too much road work going on. It was a nice ride and I made good time for just taking my time. I managed to get through with the Doctor by about 2pm and went out to grab something to eat a Sonic. Now a sonic drive in on a motorcycle is a sure fire grin producer. The girl that brought my burger out said that I was the first bike she had ever waited on. While I was munching my burger a group of younger local guys drove by slowly and finally circled and started asking questions about my "Dodge". All of them said that they owned bikes, mostly Harley's and although I didn't ask, had reasons why they weren't riding. One of the main questions I hear about my bike is "how old is it"? When I tell folks that it's 31 years old they kind of take another look at it. Usually that is followed by "you rode that all that way"? Then usually all kinds of questions about wasn't I worried break downs and how does it run. Most people now a days only know of the newer sport bikes and the chopper type V twins. Most are younger and weren't around when this model was the sport bike of the day. It does tickle me to see their reactions when they see an old 70's bobber style beater that's still running strong.

I pulled out of Conway and headed back up 65 in a lazy fashion. The evening was warm and I was headed over to my place in Deer to spend the night. Everything felt good as I buzzed up the road. The rest of my trip over to Deer was the kind of ride you always hope for. Just a comfortable uneventful ride. This is the perfect time of year to be getting out and taking trips, long or short. I highly recommend it.

All total I got in almost 400 miles and had a blast.

Hope to see ya on the road.