Vermont to Key West - The smooth way down......

Leaving for FLA in the AM. Three weeks ago or so, my big bike looked like this:



If you're having trouble seeing the bike, it's a 2004 1150 GSA.

Supposed to look like this:



So, for a road trip, those TKCs have gotta go.

Oh yeah, the sight glass fell out of my old motor, and I smoked it. Whooops. Dammitalltohell. Musta been the three wheel daze I was in.




Got a used motor, from this site, (thanks super-single!)

Got it running in early march, put near 1000 miles on it so far, should be good to go, so - I'm off!


My folks are living in Zephyrhills, FLA, now - Dad is retired, Mom is still a nurse, and I'm planning on arriving there on this friday-saturday, after a visit to a buddy in Central PA the first day.

After the long weekend, my Dad and I (he has a Goldwing) are headed to Key West, and have reservations at the Pegasus International, just the two of us. Father + Son. I'm really looking forward to it.



If you see me on the road, gimme a salute! I'm rolling on two wheels this trip....



I will have updates daily, posted when I can poach some wifi with my netbook.

So, by this time of the year, up in Vermont we are just getting our bikes out of winter storage, and getting out on the roads. Spring is early this year, and has been dry, so I was out in early march, getting some miles in.

By now, I've had enough of this:



The roads in VT are rough, bumpy, and all broke up from the winter deep freeze. Great stuff for d/s bikes, but some days, you just want the ribbon of smooth tar.

Time to find some *SMOOTH* roads that head south...........

Ride safe. Sounds like a wonderful trip.

lg

Alright bud I'm in...now get off the internet and get on the road already..

It's not that cold this morning

Man, that is one "stripped" bike! :huh I've had my motocrossers and trials bikes down to the bones before to weld up the frame or such, but never my 1150GS or RT. So I'm kinda curious, what were you doing?? Did you really have to strip it that far to replace the motor?

The roads in VT are rough, bumpy, and all broke up from the winter deep freeze. Great stuff for d/s bikes, but some days, you just want the ribbon of smooth tar.

I lived in Wyoming for 34 years and got thoroughly sick of the long Winters, and the roads were always trashed in the Spring with gouged asphalt, missing asphalt, frost heaves, windrows of sand and gravel everywhere, etc. The frost heaves got so bad in Yellowstone NP that you could catch air on The Pig even at the posted 45 MPH speed limit. So when I moved to Virginia I was THRILLED at the zillions of miles of outstanding asphalt and great dirt roads all over this country. It was the Holy Grail of riding experiences after all that time in the frozen Rockies! Well, then we had the first hard Winter in a decade here and guess what? All that fine asphalt is totally trashed after a few months of moderately bad weather. I don't think the pavement specifications or road construction standards were good enough for a normal Winter season and the roads just all fell apart. The Blue Ridge Parkway is still excellent probably because they built it to higher standards, they don't allow heavy truck traffic on it, and when the weather gets crappy they just close it rather than plow it. But man, all the other secondary roads down here are just a mess. I don't know how the Commonwealth is going to deal with all that because they are BROKE. It's even worse in West Virginia because that state is REALLY broke. The GS is the perfect bike for these conditions, but you still have to be extra vigilant because the roads just took a beating and may not recover for some time.

Have a great trip, and it's very cool that you and your Dad are hooking up to ride!

Doug

Have a great trip, Scott!



--mark

Hope the trip is going well. You sure got a nice day to leave, though it was 25 deg at my house this am.... Enjoy the ride.

Happy Wednesday
junkyard

Scott it's Abbey! Got all signed up on here so I can keep track of you! I think that's great you're going down there, can't wait to hear how nice and warm the riding is. Got my bike out a few weekends ago when it was 80, but this 50-60 degree crap is too cold for this chicky! Enjoy!

Ride Safe MZ !!!!

Enjoy the warm weather!

Keep us tuned!

Have a great trip, Scott.

Ride safe.

Say Hi to Ryan for me.

arrived here in Tyrone, PA. 558 miles today, getting 42 mpg, mostly slab today, pictures soon!

Kent Pond - Killington, VT

Cold and crispy this morning.



saw a green up day poster! Yay!



And into New York...........

NY that's it...you pushing that pig or what



OK I just read your previous post..you better be having a Yuengling for us

Nice!!! Glad you made it safe. Nice choice of Kent Pond. And this years poster looks GREAT. Love it. Think your connection can get me one? I want one for the shop. Hope you and Ryan have Wishin I was with ya. Enjoy the traveling groove.
Happy Wednesday
Junkyard

:slurp

A sweet boat I saw outside of lake George -



Welcome to PA



whatta beautiful day!

arriving on the Ryan Scene...........



Ryan has a Lancia, a Fiat, A Taurus, and a MZ - Eclectic to say the least.



going on a beer run............

pizza from Paesanos Pizza -



this hotel has a wifi hot spot.