My girlfriend's dad, Ed, is a great guy. We really get along etc and we both ride so he invited me to come on this bike run to raise funds for a memorial scholarship for this great guy who died a few years back. After some hemming and hawing I agreed to go. I met him at his place and we rode together to the turkeyfoot sportsmans club, who sponsored the event. $5 gets you a decent breakfast and a copy of the route. Now Ed rides a Harley, and I figured there would be a lot of the leather vest and geezer glide crowd there, and I was right. My tl was one of 5 jap bikes. The other 4 being an old Honda cbx, a magna, a warrior and an intruder. The rest of the parking lot was full of your usual scores of virtually identical street glides, springers, a few soft tails and sportsters and some dynas. This wasn't a poker or dice run, just a 125 mile ride into the sticks and back, with a few bars to stop at. As we head out I notice that not only am I the only person riding in full gear, I'm one of only 4 with even a helmet on. So here I am on the fastest bike in the group, forced to ride at what I can only describe as a frustratingly slow pace. I'm used to group rides with other sport riders, where you accelerate into the turns. These guys slow down for turns. At first I was getting pretty annoyed with the pace and was bitching to myself about it, but I realized that was pointless and decided to just enjoy the scenery and experience. Then I realized I could entertain myself. I started lagging and building a big gap between myself and the bike in front of me, then I'd wait for a fun curve, grab a gear, rocket from 40 to 75 and whip through it hanging off the side of my bike with my knee an inch off the ground, slam the brakes to avoid hitting the bike in front of me, and settle back into formation. We stopped at 3 bars during the ride, the first one I had a bottle of water, the 2nd I had a beer and a bottle of water, and the third I had a beer. I know my limits and 2 is it on the bike. Some of the other riders were guzzling 2 beers and a shot at each bar, which made me a bit nervous. I don't really like riding along side fearless old farts who like to get drunk by noon. Anyway, I had a pretty good time and there was some great scenery along the way, everyone finished the route safely and we raised money for a worthy cause. I guess I just didn't realize how big the disconnect is between the sport/sport tour world and the Harley guys. Definitely 2 different worlds.