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So I attended the 2016 FJR Eastern Owners Meeting this year. This was my first big rally with the FJR folks and it was a blast. I left Thursday, ran across 33 to Ravenswood, WV and over to route 16. I stayed on 16 all the way through and picked up 52 in Virginia going over Big Walker Mountain. What a day. 350 miles of just awesome tight and technical twisties. This gave me amble time to get used to my new top case. I got to meet up with some old friends and meet alot of new ones at the rally. This year, there was 105 people registered. Friday, I rode with some of my Canadian/New York friends on a provided 270 mile loop. Once again, just endless great roads and scenery. Our pace was brisk, but not too wild. We kept our group sizes small which makes passing much easier. Then after an all day ride, the parking social hour lasted to throughout the night. Saturday I decided it was a good day to just go out on my own and see how lost I can get. Well i definitely did. I got on a secondary road, which turned into a mud road, so i just turned around and picked another random road. I made this day short, due to the previous 2 days were still wearing on me. Saturday evening was our banquet dinner, which consisted of a catered meal with several free gifts from many companies, door prizes, 50/50, silent auction, and a fugliest Hawaiian shirt contest. I didn't win a free set of tires from Bridgestone, but I did get a set of Grip Buddies. I tried them out on the way home, not bad. Today was go home day. I was going to 2 lane it all the way home, but the fog was terrible. I slabbed it back 77 and made it home about 9am. All in all, I had a great time and it made me really recognize how great roads Virginia has. The rally did have a few casualties. One deer hit on Thursday (Rideable), one low side Thursday (Brand New 2016, Rideable), one low side Friday (2014, Completely Totaled), and an automatic shift FJR shift solenoid failure. (Cracked Sub-frame Mount, He loaded the bike in a U-haul van last night and the van broke down this morning, rough weekend for him). Here are some pictures and a short video from the trip. Thursday Morning Big Walker Mountain Overlook View from my room Our Friday Group Parking Lot Social Saturday on 16 Banquet Dinner Video From Friday's Ride

I have never EVER put lock tight on a pinch or axle blot. And I've been changing tires for 20 years. Even when properly torqued I find that those bolts are hard enough to get loose on the next change and never had one come loose.

Derek wins both the internet and motorcycling for today. Hell, for a week at least.

MEDIC! GONNA NEED SOME BURN CREAM HERE.

I still had another gear.

Sent from my iPhone.

Nice bike!! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Just got back from a 1000 mile 4 day weekend in Wytheville. Finished off a rear tire, but not tickets and no one in my group ended up in the ditch. Can't say the same for other groups. Everyone was alright though.

Yup x2 for me as well!! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That big bucket is great for photo ops! Bike looks good man, glad you had a good day.

This pretty British chick, has been relocated to my garage! Thanks Lee!

+1 for Dr. Marino in Cincinnati. I had mine done 2 years ago. Cost a little over $3k (I can't remember exactly). Very happy with my results. Whole procedure took 10 min. Had a burning/sandy eyes feeling for about 4 hours after. Then it was fine, could see 100x better.

I used Dr. Marino also here in Cincinnati. I had my original surgery many years ago and had to have an enhancement done last year. Lasik was a quicker recovery than PRK. It takes a couple of weeks for clarity to set in. Being a paramedic/firefighter, its the best thing I've done. Sent from my LG-V930 using Tapatalk

I have made my stance on this every time this topic comes up. In Ca. it can work simply because of the volume of riders that commute and most of the car drivers understand that lane splitting is commonplace there. It won't work in Ohio. Most people driving cars now a days are asshats and are entitled to be in front of you and how dare you pass them. I have had numerous people give me the bird, try to race me for position, cut me off, tailgate, etc. just to keep me behind them. I am pretty sure this wasn't part of the driving test at the DMV. I don't know where it comes from, could it be jealousy, haters, entitlement, IDK but it is getting worse. I won't lane split for this reason, it is not worth the aggervation or confrontation and yes most of these are women! If people were more curtious and understood this is a legal form of moving through traffic on two wheels, then I would have a different opinion. I don't see this happening even if it was legalized here, I just see more accidents and hurt riders.

I am a bit confused on my own stance on this. I don't know if I'm advocating for legalizing lane splitting or just an advocate for not prosecuting those who do it. The more I see beginner riders riding over their head the more I think that encouraging lane splitting would hurt our cause, but rather not prosecuting those who do it. Maybe these are one in the same. I don't do it regularly, mainly because I'm afraid of getting popped. I've never had an issue while doing it, but I also can't recall a time where I've done it in the witness of a police officer either. As a side note, lane splitting is safer when done correctly and at safe speeds. I believe the law states that you couldn't exceed 5-10mph beyond the speed of traffic. If you are lane splitting at 110mph while everyone else is stopped, you are an idiot and deserve everything you have coming. Common sense should prevail in this situation.