Motorcycle Riders?

[frenchiectfd2203]

I used to work with a guy up in Warsaw who somehow could afford a new Yamaha R-1 but not a helmet to go with it. TB and offered him one of ours (we had plenty) but he declined.

We used to take our telescopes to the dark sky preserve up there and go observing together, which is where he told us about his encounters with whitetail deer while on the bike. He said you could see their eyes up in the woods off to the sides of the road.

It wasn’t a week later we heard he had struck a deer while riding and was brought by helicopter to a local hospital. He was brain dead and they kept him alive long enough to harvest his organs for donation. A very sad story, he was a really cool dude and a hell of a machinist.

Wear your helmets, folks.

I second the helmet.

 

[frenchiectfd2203]

Melensdad,
You may have already gone this way but what about North to Pictured Rocks, East to Copper Harbor, then Duluth. North to Thunder Bay stopping at Kakabeka falls and then the rest of the way over Superior stopping at White River which is Winnie the Pooh's home. Then over and down to Mackinac bridge, Traverse City, Sleeping Bear dunes, down to Ludington and across lake Michigan on the SS Badger in to door county Wisconsin and then home.
Clockwise around Superior is supposed to be one of the 8 best MC rides. I've done 3/4 of it counterclockwise. Definitely would be better clockwise.

This is interesting as a few of us were thinking of riding to mackinaw and heading west to circle the lake. But, we are tent camping too. How long did this take you and about how many miles a day did you embark?

 

[tbhausen]

I used to work with a guy up in Warsaw who somehow could afford a new Yamaha R-1 but not a helmet to go with it. TB and offered him one of ours (we had plenty) but he declined.

We used to take our telescopes to the dark sky preserve up there and go observing together, which is where he told us about his encounters with whitetail deer while on the bike. He said you could see their eyes up in the woods off to the sides of the road.

It wasn’t a week later we heard he had struck a deer while riding and was brought by helicopter to a local hospital. He was brain dead and they kept him alive long enough to harvest his organs for donation. A very sad story, he was a really cool dude and a hell of a machinist.

Wear your helmets, folks.

Our best friend up there, it was terribly tragic. The shop was quiet for over a week after that.

Obituary for Bradford Michael Adams at Grandstaff-Hentgen Funeral Service, Inc. - Manchester Avenue Chapel

Bradford Michael Adams, 37, Warsaw, IN, died July 8, 2002 at 800am at the Parkview Hospital, Fort Wayne, IN. He was born July 7, 1965 in Wabash, IN to James and Alison Bradford Adams. He was a precision machinist at Othy in Warsaw, IN 12 years and was also a

www.grandstaff-hentgen.com

 

[melensdad]

Melensdad,
You may have already gone this way but what about North to Pictured Rocks, East to Copper Harbor, then Duluth. North to Thunder Bay stopping at Kakabeka falls and then the rest of the way over Superior stopping at White River which is Winnie the Pooh's home. Then over and down to Mackinac bridge, Traverse City, Sleeping Bear dunes, down to Ludington and across lake Michigan on the SS Badger in to door county Wisconsin and then home.
Clockwise around Superior is supposed to be one of the 8 best MC rides. I've done 3/4 of it counterclockwise. Definitely would be better clockwise.

We did Lake Superior, clockwise, the summer before Covid

FWIW, we stayed on 2 lane roads for most of the trip, stopped for tourist things frequently, visited the Terry Fox memorial north of Thunder Bay. Saw the giant Goose. Got stuck on the north shore when the ONLY road was closed for 20 hours due to a fatal crash. Sat in a giant beach chair that was 20' for photos on the shoreline. Ate with locals. Visited the Winnie the Pooh park. Averaged about 200 miles per day on the trip, but that gives plenty of time for visiting sites, good meals, etc.

I know people who do it much faster, but get to see far less. Our goal is to stop and see things rather than ride past them.

ALSO, take note of Canadian helmet laws and the required certifications on the helmets. DOT does not pass muster in some parts of Canada (and honestly I'm not sure why we use it in the US since at 1 least 1 test in the DOT certification process is known to be FATAL to humans!) If you want to roam various parts of Canada you are well served with a helmet that has a European ECE certification. It should be at least standard 22.05. There is a new standard, the 22.06, but the 22.05 ECE will get you anywhere in Canada.

 

[EyeCarry]

This is interesting as a few of us were thinking of riding to mackinaw and heading west to circle the lake. But, we are tent camping too. How long did this take you and about how many miles a day did you embark?

Melensdad should chime in on his time too.
I did my ride a little differently that what I wrote here.
I left Bloomington and went up to Perrault Falls Manitoba. I went up through Mi (one stop)and over the Mackinaw bridge into Canada and started my counterclockwise Superior journey (second stop in White River). Third day I got to Thunder Bay and then on to Perrault falls. 14xx miles in three days as I remember.
On the way back it was P. Falls to the border crossing near Kakabeka/TBay down to Duluth, then made it as far as Solon Springs WI. (first stop) Next day SSpr to home. 12xx in Two days.
It was a ride to "do it" and get to camp more than stopping for all the great things to see. I saw so much more than I expected. GREAT road. Wide sweepers. Views are better going the other way (internet info is correct on this).
When in Canada, when they say roadwork ahead they don't mean a mile/km up the road. SLOW DOWN QUICKLY, they mean it. Got caught with my pants down twice before I wised up. I had this confirmed by some Canadians I met at Solon Spring hotel and had dinner/beer with. It's a Canada thing, not much warning.

Lots of recreation activity along the road up there Frenchie. Bicycling, hiking, windboarding the Superior. Love to see it again but getting older. I'm trying to get a chance to tent camp semi locally this summer as a trial run before going longer distances.
Do your research for "have to-s" and save time for "oh look at that-s." Kakabeka falls has a attached campground for a 1-2 day stay, probably no more unless as a base for TBay and the upper part of Superior into Michigan on 61.

 

[melensdad]

Melensdad should chime in on his time too.
I did my ride a little differently that what I wrote here.
I left Bloomington and went up to Perrault Falls Manitoba. I went up through Mi (one stop)and over the Mackinaw bridge into Canada and started my counterclockwise Superior journey (second stop in White River). Third day I got to Thunder Bay and then on to Perrault falls. 14xx miles in three days as I remember.
On the way back it was P. Falls to the border crossing near Kakabeka/TBay down to Duluth, then made it as far as Solon Springs WI. (first stop) Next day SSpr to home. 12xx in Two days.
It was a ride to "do it" and get to camp more than stopping for all the great things to see. I saw so much more than I expected. GREAT road. Wide sweepers. Views are better going the other way (internet info is correct on this).
When in Canada, when they say roadwork ahead they don't mean a mile/km up the road. SLOW DOWN QUICKLY, they mean it. Got caught with my pants down twice before I wised up. I had this confirmed by some Canadians I met at Solon Spring hotel and had dinner/beer with. It's a Canada thing, not much warning.

Lots of recreation activity along the road up there Frenchie. Bicycling, hiking, windboarding the Superior. Love to see it again but getting older. I'm trying to get a chance to tent camp semi locally this summer as a trial run before going longer distances.
Do your research for "have to-s" and save time for "oh look at that-s." Kakabeka falls has a attached campground for a 1-2 day stay, probably no more unless as a base for TBay and the upper part of Superior into Michigan on 61.

We went north to GARY, IN and then followed Route 12 up to the Red Arrow highway and went up the East side of Lake Michigan to the Mackinac. For much of the northbound travel we were at/very near the lakeshore. Crossed over and rode north on 2 lanes and gavel roads to get up to Sioux St Marie, followed the South Shorline of Lake Superior all the way around back to the Canadian sister-city Sault Ste. Marie, then eastward along the north shore of Lake Huron. Dropped down onto an island (bridges) in Huron and loaded the bikes onto a ferry to cross Georgian Bay. Offloaded and followed the coastline south. Dropped down to the north side of Lake Erie, followed that east, then followed Lake Ontario's shoreline, 2 more ferry rides along that shore as we island hopped the shoreline. Picked up the St Lawerence Seaway and rode that a little ways where we picked up a ferry to cross the St Lawrence and land in upstate New York. Huge storm front was moving our way and we got to a big Indian Casino with a parking garage, food court and entertainment where we stayed for 3 nights while several fronts rolled over. Back on the bikes and we rode the south sides of Ontario and Erie, then dropped a bit south and aimed for Fort Wayne, then westward across the state to home. I live on the west side of the state, almost at the IL state line. We got caught in another big downpour near DeMotte, IN and couldn't avoid that one.

We were on the road for approximately 24 days. Of that we were on the interstates for a total of 7 miles. 1.5 miles leading up to the Mackinac Bridge, 5 miles of the Mac, and then about a 1/2 mile after the bridge we exited the interstate.

Some camping. Mostly roadside family operated motels. On the Canadian side it cost almost as much to pitch a tent as it does to spend the night in a small hotel with a hot shower & wifi so we frequently opted to leave the tent and sleeping bags strapped to the bike.

We did stay at a Hampton Inn in Defiance, Ohio. It was our last night on the road. It was the only chain operated hotel stay during our entire trip. The casino hotel was pretty luxurious. Every other place we stayed was just a small roadside stop, a farm field or something similar.

 

[cbhausen]

All this talk of Duluth, Solon Springs, and Canada brings back memories of when we had a cabin up on Clearwater, just north of Emo, Ontario. Hard work opening and closing the place up each year, got to be too much so dad sold it. Great memories, though. I’d love to retrace some of those routes on my new ride.

 

[melensdad]

All this talk of Duluth, Solon Springs, and Canada brings back memories of when we had a cabin up on Clearwater, just north of Emo, Ontario. Hard work opening and closing the place up each year, got to be too much so dad sold it. Great memories, though. I’d love to retrace some of those routes on my new ride.

There is a bridge in Duluth that is the one place on earth that scared the living s#!t out of me while riding. If I never go back to Duluth I would not miss a thing.


Back to the Satellite Communicators topic that nobody but me cares about

I mounted the new SPOT X unit on my ride, next to my Quad-Lock phone mount using RAM mounts. I already had the phone's Quad-Lock mounted there, simply added a 3 ball RAM adapter and another arm.

The SPOT X Sat-Com unit does not do navigation but it does allow waypoints and has a compass to it could be a rudimentary hiking navigator but I wouldn't use it for that since a pocket sized Garmin can show TOPO maps and would do a better job.

I set the SPOT X to drop an electronic breadcrumb to a map every 10 minutes. Granted you can cover a lot of ground in 10 minutes but if you are off-road then speeds drop considerably and it gives my wife some peace of mind knowing she can follow my route. The breadcrumbs would also help rescue find me if the worst happens. It also has an SOS button, so if possible I could send out my own SOS call to search and rescue. I may be old but I'm not dead yet and don't have plans to give up living anytime soon.

My phone uses the SCENIC Navigation App. Maps are all downloaded into the phone so SCENIC works in areas where there is no cellular signal. It gives 'turn by turn' navigation both on-srcreen and through via a bluetooth connection to my Cardo Palk Talk in-helmet audio system.

And yes, the photo does show that I really need to clean off my windscreen!

 

[cbhausen]

I see you use Quad Lock and RAM mounts… good stuff! Does RAM make a dedicated cradle for the SPOT X?

 

[EyeCarry]

Melen, I care!
I studied up on some of this tracking stuff before the Canada Trip but didn't buy anything.
Thanks for posting about it. I enjoy the info.

 

[melensdad]

I see you use Quad Lock and RAM mounts… good stuff! Does RAM make a dedicated cradle for the SPOT X?

Yup, got it on Amazon for under $11 shipped. They brought it right to my door next day with Prime, I wonder if they would have installed it if I paid them $12?

 

[melensdad]

Melen, I care!
I studied up on some of this tracking stuff before the Canada Trip but didn't buy anything.
Thanks for posting about it. I enjoy the info.

My initial thought was that I would somehow attach this to my motorcycle jacket, basically on my upper chest. On another forum I read that they fit into chest pockets on most motorcycle jackets. Seemed like a good idea to try.

So off I went on a 40 minute ride with the SPOT X in my chest pocket. In theory it should have dropped 3 to 4 breadcrumbs. In fact only 2 connected to the satellite. Coming home a different direction I had similar results. Not quite satisfactory. And honestly the guy on the other forum didn't mention if he was using his unit for dropping breadcrumbs, so maybe he was just carrying it there?

Placed it on the dashboard of my car, made a trip to the home center for some supplies. Slightly shorter drive than the ride but 3 electronic breadcrumbs were dropped on the way there, 3 more on the way home. I also tested the "check in" button and that showed the 'check in' location at about 150' south of the intersection where I pressed the button. So given travel speed, the unit connected up to the satellite and sent the signal in just a few seconds, I'm guessing it already had a satellite signal acquired to do it so quickly.

Off to the inter-webs I go in search of a mounting solution and I find Amazon has a SPOT X cradle for $11 with Prime shipping. Its a RAM Mount brand, I already use RAM products to hold my Quad-Lock so I simply T'd off the original mount and now the SPOT X and my iPhone sit side-by-side above my instrument cluster at the bottom of my field of view. The mount is oriented so the antenna is pointed straight up, which is considered optimal.

I may show up at the local seamstress with a strip of Velcro and my SPOT X and have her sew the velcro onto the upper left chest of my mesh jacket. Not convinced I want her to do the same on my leather moto jacket or on my Gore-Tex moto jacket. The Gore-Tex would no longer be water proof and the leather jacket would look like crap but I think I could get away with it on a technical looking mesh jacket. I'd rather have the SPOT X on my body than on my bike if there is an unintended dismount.

 

[melensdad]

Looks like Nova Scotia is NOT possible at this time.

I was reading the details about Canadian travel. They are relaxing SOME rules, but the border still appears to be closed to tourists. PERIOD. We would probably be traveling in mid-to-late August so maybe the border crossing will be open at that time? But that is anyone's guess.

I'm hearing great things about motorcycle riding in Nova Scotia so this is sort of depressing that it is still closed off. We are looking at many different alternatives, one of which includes riding to Maine, and having a PLAN B just in case the Canadian border opens in August for tourism.

Anyone have an ideas on a motorcycle trip that does NOT involve high heat or high humidity travel in August? We'd be departing from the greater Chicagoland area, and are looking for a 3000-to-4000 mile trip, probably 3 weeks of travel.

 

[melensdad]

Back onto the Satellite Communicators, my SPOT X unit arrived Monday.

I have been playing with this thing for a few days, set my "check in" to send a simple message to my wife, my daughter and myself. Obviously I don't need it to send the message to me, but I do it because it is simple confirmation that the message was both sent and received.

Both SPOT and GARMIN clearly state that you need a clear view of the sky for operation but I've run tests, sending message to my iPhone, from inside my home. It should not work from inside a home but I've found that if I set it on a windowsill I can get messages in/out on my spot. It surprised me, my eves on my home overhang 4' and there are woods directly behind my house. But the SPOT is able to send/recieve from a windowsill that obviously does not have a clear view of the sky.

Seems to me if I can get a reliable message sent out of my window, which is clearly a blocked view of the sky, then I should be able to get a message out if I am laying in a ditch

 

[doddg]

I had a dentist appointment this morning at Fort Harrison (59th and Lee Road area). So I hopped on the bike near Eagle Creek Airpark and took Kessler all the way across to 56th Street to get there. Had a great ride both ways and even got caught in the rain just before I got home from work. Diverted to Rick’s Café Boatyard for a glass of iced tea before putting the bike in the barn. Not a bad day; the bike made getting that temporary crown much more tolerable. The DCT is still flawless, an engineering marvel that makes riding easier and more enjoyable without stealing any of the bike’s character.

Sounds about what I do.
After 20+ MCs & not having one for 11 yrs b/c I thought I was done with them when I got a Honda S2000 convertible.
I decided in retirement I wanted to have a MC to putz around in.

In my case, b/c of arthritis, my last 2 MCs had been a 250cc & 400cc scooters (before that I had a Honda 600 twin, a Suzuki 650 single & Honda 750-4), & I bought another 400cc Yamaha Majesty, like I'd had previous.
I live in Wanamaker (SE Indy, outside E465) & I love to use the bike for errands to the Dentist up on Pendleton past Oaklandon, or other Dr. appts. around Community North.
I sometimes use the bike to run to the indoor range at Point Blank in Greenwood if I only take a few pistols.
Adjustable Bungee Cord Cargo Nets are a wonder on a MC.
Mostly I just head out into the country anywhere East toward Route 9, or South to 44, or North up to 36.

I've got caught in the sprinkles a couple of times so far this summer, but not in a good rain yet, but I can remember those days.
After you get good & wet it really doesn't matter, as long as it's hot outside.

 

[semperfi211]

Went up to Road Track and Trail in Big Bend Wisconsin and picked up a 2013 bagger. The maiden voyage through the south Milwaukee area and the toll road through the west side of Chicago isn't my favorite kind of riding. Got her home now to focus more on rural riding!

 

[bwframe]

If all goes as planned, I'm hoping to jump on the bike around 7:00.

On top of riding warm summer nights, especially weekends, riding with fireworks going in the distance has always felt cool. Not sure why, but it does.

 

[cbhausen]

I’ll be riding home from Lucas Oil Raceway tonight. Hoping to see a few fireworks too.

 

[Indyhd]

Rode the Goldwing DCT down to M&E Honda in Bedford this morning for the 4k service. Nice morning ride from Noblesville, they did it while I waited and for a minimal cost of $162. That's much less than the initial sevice on a Harley.

 

[melensdad]

Went out to lunch with Melensmom, my favorite riding companion