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2019 Gap Trip.


Tonik

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On 6/8/2019 at 6:49 PM, Tonik said:

Lunch at Coal House BBQ. Then the fun part of 119, then 421, 80 and 550. 

Hammer down on 550 I see a deer running up the hillside....so I shut it down hard figuring there are more....and signal everyone behind me. Crest the hill and there is a doe and her few days old fawn in the middle of the road. Full on ABS...the fawn freezes so I dove right. That moved the fawn left where it froze again and found itself staring at the front tire of an MT10 that stopped 2 feet short of it.

That fawn should now understand the value of ABS. I know Jamie and I do.

So we start to accelerate and are still going slow and around the corner comes a cop.

So we saved that fawns life, and it for sure saved us tickets. Win win.

IMG_20190608_121807.jpg

IMG_20190608_140046.jpg

who's riding the Bimmer?

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44 minutes ago, NinjaDoc said:

I have same trouble as well on weird motorcycles. The Tracer I have no place to lock in the knee on the counter side. 

I was intentionally leaning in the pics for grins. No doubt that is what is going on...learning to lean. But I have no intention of leaning on a regular basis, or for real.

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So Jim's Wing is amazing.  Its light years ahead of the whale.  So stable in the corners and clearly enough power.  It looks great and pretty darn sleek considering it has three hards cases the passenger seat has arm rests.

Nice bike man, ride the hell out of it.

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1 hour ago, jacobhawkins said:

So Jim's Wing is amazing.  Its light years ahead of the whale.  So stable in the corners and clearly enough power.  It looks great and pretty darn sleek considering it has three hards cases the passenger seat has arm rests.

Nice bike man, ride the hell out of it.

Couldn’t agree more. Pretty much decided during this trip that the Goldwing is my retirement bike. And maybe I’ll own one a little earlier than that, considering the wife enjoys riding two-up.

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22 minutes ago, Blitz said:

Couldn’t agree more. Pretty much decided during this trip that the Goldwing is my retirement bike. And maybe I’ll own one a little earlier than that, considering the wife enjoys riding two-up.

If you want one sooner lmk, you can take her for a spin on the back. She will insist you get one.

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I saw something I never want to see again on our trip. 

Tuesday after going to the falls we were headed to Blood mountain. There was an old Chevy Tracker in front of a jeep in front of us. All of a sudden he starts going toward the left side of the road... I yelled at Helmut to slow down. Then the tracker went in the ditch (3 foot drop)... The guy woke up and hit his brakes and jerked the wheel, turning him sideways in the ditch then flipping over 2xs before stopping on all 4 tires up against a tree. He did not have his belt on. He was ejected most of the way through the drivers window, he hung by his leg before falling to the ground. The guy in front of us had to go call 911 (no service). The guy in the tracker was alert and of sound mind (knew what happened and where he was). A kid in training to be an EMT (level 2), showed up right after it happened an a nurse from the local hospital. Guy was lucky. 

Guy was a third shift worker and still in uniform...it was 2 in the afternoon.

Edited by snot
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Delayed gap trip summary since i never got time to sit down at a desk top to type out this big wall of crappy text : 

Looking back, even though it was a slightly less exciting trip but a very worthy fun trip. Almost the last few days before the start i was literally ready to abandon the plan and not go. Thought of staying away from the young one was difficult, I bet most of the guys here are currently a "new dad" or been a "that new dad" at one time. I decided to take it one day at a time and set off and every day of riding was fun and exciting. By evening i would be filled with happiness of escaping without "an oh shit" moment, ton of adrenaline and endorphins and to cap it off little bit guilt of staying away from family and missing them the most. Glad at least to have done at least 3 days, and by friday morning i couldnt stay away any longer and  decided to just do one whole straight trip back home. It was a real bad idea, riding almost 6 hrs out of 12 though heavy downpour. The more i got wet the more i was determined to just finish this crap in one day and not let mother nature beat me. And hence not stops or taking a break etc , just gas up and just kept going and got home late night. 

few positive learning points i take away 

i think the max i can only do is a 2 max 3 day trip away from home as of now. I am thinking by next year or two,  once he is more grown up i will be more than willing to get the heck out of house and stay away longer as every one says :D 

i really need to go out and hang out with other people more, as i was sitting down with the gang to eat i realized this is the first time in many years i am eating out with others other than my immediate family. As in i even try to avoid work related friends social group dinner etc. Which explains my awkwardness and lack of understanding proper etiquette it takes me quite a while before realizing whats the right thing to say and do haha At this point i would like to thank the gang of misfits @Pauly @Skinny guy @Blitz and @tonik for letting me tag along and tolerating my ambivalent decision making and poor social company lol The whole group had nothing in common if you ask me other than love for motorcycling. But it worked out well with no one shooting anybody despite all these days together :)

I finally got to do the OR gap hang out and infamous camp fire. I was always afraid of that part being the part introvert guy and being among big crowd of people. But it turned out to be fun and easy going, esp since i was well camouflaged int he dark lol It was fun just to sit there and hear stories and do nothing for one night.  I guess @max power and @2talltim deserves some praise for taking up the reigns and making this trip happen this year from a shambles of confusion. 

Extra appreciation points for @Tonik for taking all the effort to plan and haul us around all these days. This was the first ever bike trip, or even just any ride where i was going out without any idea of route or   of the iteniery etc. And for once it was really refreshing, no anxiety or needing to remember anything and no time crunch to make it happen, zero stress, well rested and good riding. And all day just following a great pace, and not having to lead or watch out for stuff etc makes it literally only half as tiring as leading a group. So thx again my man. My only advise for you to at least one day in the middle of the trip to take it easy and let some one else haul the train while you get to relax by just following the tail lights. But then again i guess you love this job too much. 

Lastly,  before starting the trip i had made up my mind to list the bike after this trip and call it quits again as i was prolly not going to  enjoy these like i used to,  but it ends up being awesome despite the shitty weather. This thing is so dayum fun and addictive i dont think i can ever quit. Need to slow down 2 more notches and take up more exploration than express mail delivery. I guess you guys might keep seeing the skinny brown guy more and more at least this year. 

 the age old saying, dont ride for the camera in the gap is true. The day i returned from fontana through gap it was still pretty wet, but when i saw them photo peeps just couldnt help bu try to pose a little bit until i almost low sided and lot of blessing fortunately saved it lol after that all the way home for 12 hrs the bike never saw more than 5 degree lean  :D  The tires were not at all suitable for this trip as well, thats topic for another thread. 

 

obligatory gap trip signature photo, wish it was dry and clean. Wanted a really flashy picture with flashy gear and clean helmet and stuff to keep aside so my little man can be some what proud of it i suppose 20 years from now. dont know, at that time his friends will be like "what kind of mode of transportation is that thing? " 

large.C2EE8EF2-6698-4BD1-BE0B-44915B8F9000.jpeg.368b931bb32df01f26a8bc24af797df7.jpeg

 

Edited by NinjaDoc
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3 hours ago, NinjaDoc said:

Delayed gap trip summary since i never got time to sit down at a desk top to type out this big wall of crappy text : 

Looking back, even though it was a slightly less exciting trip but a very worthy fun trip. Almost the last few days before the start i was literally ready to abandon the plan and not go. Thought of staying away from the young one was difficult, I bet most of the guys here are currently a "new dad" or been a "that new dad" at one time. I decided to take it one day at a time and set off and every day of riding was fun and exciting. By evening i would be filled with happiness of escaping without "an oh shit" moment, ton of adrenaline and endorphins and to cap it off little bit guilt of staying away from family and missing them the most. Glad at least to have done at least 3 days, and by friday morning i couldnt stay away any longer and  decided to just do one whole straight trip back home. It was a real bad idea, riding almost 6 hrs out of 12 though heavy downpour. The more i got wet the more i was determined to just finish this crap in one day and not let mother nature beat me. And hence not stops or taking a break etc , just gas up and just kept going and got home late night. 

few positive learning points i take away 

i think the max i can only do is a 2 max 3 day trip away from home as of now. I am thinking by next year or two,  once he is more grown up i will be more than willing to get the heck out of house and stay away longer as every one says :D 

i really need to go out and hang out with other people more, as i was sitting down with the gang to eat i realized this is the first time in many years i am eating out with others other than my immediate family. As in i even try to avoid work related friends social group dinner etc. Which explains my awkwardness and lack of understanding proper etiquette it takes me quite a while before realizing whats the right thing to say and do haha At this point i would like to thank the gang of misfits @Pauly @Skinny guy @Blitz and @tonik for letting me tag along and tolerating my ambivalent decision making and poor social company lol The whole group had nothing in common if you ask me other than love for motorcycling. But it worked out well with no one shooting anybody despite all these days together :)

I finally got to do the OR gap hang out and infamous camp fire. I was always afraid of that part being the part introvert guy and being among big crowd of people. But it turned out to be fun and easy going, esp since i was well camouflaged int he dark lol It was fun just to sit there and hear stories and do nothing for one night.  I guess @max power and @2talltim deserves some praise for taking up the reigns and making this trip happen this year from a shambles of confusion. 

Extra appreciation points for @Tonik for taking all the effort to plan and haul us around all these days. This was the first ever bike trip, or even just any ride where i was going out without any idea of route or   of the iteniery etc. And for once it was really refreshing, no anxiety or needing to remember anything and no time crunch to make it happen, zero stress, well rested and good riding. And all day just following a great pace, and not having to lead or watch out for stuff etc makes it literally only half as tiring as leading a group. So thx again my man. My only advise for you to at least one day in the middle of the trip to take it easy and let some one else haul the train while you get to relax by just following the tail lights. But then again i guess you love this job too much. 

Lastly,  before starting the trip i had made up my mind to list the bike after this trip and call it quits again as i was prolly not going to  enjoy these like i used to,  but it ends up being awesome despite the shitty weather. This thing is so dayum fun and addictive i dont think i can ever quit. Need to slow down 2 more notches and take up more exploration than express mail delivery. I guess you guys might keep seeing the skinny brown guy more and more at least this year. 

 the age old saying, dont ride for the camera in the gap is true. The day i returned from fontana through gap it was still pretty wet, but when i saw them photo peeps just couldnt help bu try to pose a little bit until i almost low sided and lot of blessing fortunately saved it lol after that all the way home for 12 hrs the bike never saw more than 5 degree lean  :D  The tires were not at all suitable for this trip as well, thats topic for another thread. 

 

obligatory gap trip signature photo, wish it was dry and clean. Wanted a really flashy picture with flashy gear and clean helmet and stuff to keep aside so my little man can be some what proud of it i suppose 20 years from now. dont know, at that time his friends will be like "what kind of mode of transportation is that thing? " 

large.C2EE8EF2-6698-4BD1-BE0B-44915B8F9000.jpeg.368b931bb32df01f26a8bc24af797df7.jpeg

 

Was good to see you, buddy. :) 

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