Pullman Bay

After eating lunch at The Outpost Restaurant, six of us rode over to Celina, Ohio.  We had coffee and pie at The Pullman Bay Restaurant

on beautiful St. Mary's Lake.

We then rode back to Bluffton, Indiana to visit with Steve Baller.

http://www.ballerpinstriping.com/

Steve does pin stripping and was doing a Suzuki/Lehman trike while we were there.  We rode home and got back at about 5:00 PM.  I rode 180 enjoyable miles, today.

Ride To Barney's

Six of us ate lunch at The Outpost and then rode down to Barney Winningham's house to see his Harley collection.  He has done several "frame-up" restorations of older Harleys.  Here are a few:

 
1969 FLH

                                       1953 FLE  Was a black police bike now red.

                                                                     1971 FLH

                                                                                         2001 Roadking


We then rode over to The Dutch Kitchen by Grissom Reserve Base, on US 31, for coffee and pie.  The sugar cream pie was very tasty.  Thanks for buying, Merle.  Larry Burke then led us along the Wabash river from Peru to Wabash and then home.


Beautiful day for a ride.

Ride to Pennville

Six of us rode to The Mill Street Restaurant, in Gaston, for lunch, Saturday.  Then we rode to Pennville, by way of Albany, for coffee, then home.  Nice ride.

Wednesday's Ride

Nine riders showed up today for our Wednesday ride.  We ate lunch at The Outpost and then rode over to Burlington, Indiana for coffee.  They had the best apple dumplings today! Yum, yum!  We then rode over to Tipton and back home.

Some of the riders were:

Phil Smith on his Harley Heritage Classic

Jerry Cole on his Harley Fat Boy

Art Adrianson on his Harley Ultra

I went 157 miles on the ride.

Wednesday's Ride

We met at The Outpost Restaurant today, as usual. There were five of us riding--seven showed up. Temperatures in the 60s. No reason not to ride. We had to go get Billy before we left Marion for Winchester, Indiana. Mrs. Wicks has a pie factory in Winchester and they have a restaurant out front of the factory so you can sample their wares. What great pies! I had Apple Crumb with a dip of ice cream on top--warmed of course! Thanks for buying, John.

Here's John Nave's beautiful Harley Davidson Rocker C:



Larry Miller rode today on his 2009 Harley Davidson Road King:



Our trail rider is usually Larry Burke. Larry made a trike using the front end of a Honda motorcycle powered by a four cylinder Volkswagen engine and transmission. Larry laid up the body with fiberglass. He's taken it up to Alaska and back so it's a job well done:

I rode 185 miles today.

New T-Rex and new Harley Trike!

Eight of us showed up at The Outpost Restaurant for lunch. Six rode. Billy was there with his new T-Rex:




(Click on picture for larger view)

Billy rode/drove it up from Dallas, Texas (about 1000 miles) Thursday and Friday of last week. It has a 1200cc Kawasaki engine. Goes fast!

Merle brought his new trike out for the first time:




(Click on picture for larger view)

She's a beauty! The bike started out as a 2007 Road King and then Merle added the front fairing, lowers, and then a trike conversion.

Only Two Rode!

Two of us rode to The Outpost Restaurant (one mile west of Fairmount, Indiana at the junction of Indiana 9 and 26.) for lunch today. Larry Burke and I rode. Not cold at all--in the middle 30s F. I'm sure more will ride Saturday when it's suppose to be in the 50s F. We meet at The Outpost at 11:30 AM Wednesdays and 11:30 AM Saturdays until the weather turns nice and then we'll meet at 8:00AM on Saturdays with Wednesdays meeting time unchanged, 11:30 AM.

Billy Niverson is riding his T-Rex from Texas today and tomorrow. We hope to see him in it at lunch, Saturday.

Bike's Ready!

Stone's Harley Davidson called and said my bike was ready. It turned out to be "a wiring error" on the heated grips not working. My wife took me out there and I rode the bike home. Nice weather for riding (isn't any weather good for riding!:) It was 30 degrees with 19mph winds (gusting to 25mph). Light snow. I didn't notice the wind too much but I could feel the cold air coming in a little around my gloves. I pulled my gloves down over my leather jacket sleeves and that fixed it. Heated grips on 3 out of 6 and still a little too warm.

I road through snow on one cross road where the wind had blown the snow over the road. First time riding in snow. No sudden moves. No problem.

I bought a battery tender when I was at Stone's as I noticed the battery on the bike was a little low when I started it at home the other day. I can use the battery tender on my mower, also, as the mower battery usually goes down during the winter. It's good to have the bike home. Now, can we get some good weather to ride? :)

Second Ride Of The Season.

I rode out to Stone's Harley Davidson (Marion, Indiana) today. Temperature was 35 with little wind. Nice to ride, if even for a little while. I needed my heated grips repaired so I took the bike out to them. Nice to be out and about on the bike.

WWII Victory Museum

Several of our "gang of riders" are history buffs so we like to ride to museums. One museum we rode to last year was the WWII Victory Museum just south-west of Auburn. They have a great display of vehicles, uniforms, and weapons used in WWII. To get to the museum, get off Interstate 69 on County Road 11A west. It's across the Interstate from Kruse Auctions.

WWII Victory Museum

Click to Enlarge Map

Brown County

One "fun ride" we did last May was a ride down to Brown County, Indiana. We left The Outpost Restaurant just west of Fairmount, IN (our meeting place) and proceeded down Indiana 9 to US 31 south of Indiana. Down US 31 to Interstate 65. South on Interstate 65 to Indiana 58. We took IN 58 to IN 446. We took IN446 north over Monroe Lake to Bloomington, IN. From Bloomington we turned back east on IN 46 to Interstate 65. Then back home on IN 9. A total of 201 miles and rode for a little over seven hours. Beautiful scenery in Brown County.

Click on map to make it larger:

Adams Mill

Several times a year the group rides over to Adams Mill west of Kokomo. It's a very pretty place on the Wildcat River:

 
Click here to go to Adams Mill Web page: Adams Mill Website



Just a peaceful place to rest and watch the river. There's a covered bridge there that you can ride through.



Adams Mill Covered Bridge Webpage

40°28'50.13"N 86°30'31.99"W

The Wabash Gardens Restaurant

Click on Picture To Enlarge
Some of the group's bikes parked at The Wabash Gardens Restaurant in Wabash, Indiana. One of the guys checking in with the wife before going in to the Restaurant.
(40°48'31.42"N 85°48'58.98"W)

Celina, Ohio

Several times a year the group rides over to Celina, Ohio to ride around Grand Lake St. Marys. We always stop in at The Pullman Restaurant for coffee and pie. It's very pretty around the lake. From the lake description,"Originally constructed as a feeder reservoir for the Miami-Erie Canal, Grand Lake St. Marys was for many years recognized as the largest man-made reservoir in the world."

(40°32'55.24"N 84°33'49.25"W)

Windmills

One of the places we like to ride to is the windmill farm that is going up around Fowler, Indiana in Benton County. (40°37'2.67"N 87°19'24.35"W)

My bike beside one of the windmill blades:

Click on Picture to Enlarge

Click on Picture to Enlarge

Click on Picture to Enlarge

Kersting's HD Museum

One of the best motorcycle museums in the Midwest (that we've been to) is Kersting's HD Museum just south of North Judson, Indiana. It's about 3.3 miles south and then .2 miles east of North Judson just off hi-way 39. It's not just Harley bikes but all brands. (41° 9'26.91"N 86°46'19.62"W)

Front of store:

Click on Picture to Enlarge

Inside museum:

Mendon, Ohio Harley Davidson Dealer

Three of us rode over to The Mendon, Ohio Harley Davidson dealer. He has a great little Harley museum in a back building of his dealership. If you're ever over that way, it's a great place to stop.

Just north of Mendon, Ohio on hi-way 707. (40°40'11.96"N 84°31'27.67"W)

He has one model of every Harley Davidson Hummer ever produced:

He has the sign that was at Snake River Canyon when Evel Knievel attempted to jump the Snake River on a motorcycle:

And a lot of Harley Davidson memorabilia: 

Click on Pictures to Enlarge

Just a few of the bikes he has in his museum.

Drinking the Kool Aid (riding a Harley)

I started riding motorcycles back in the 1970s. My Dad , brother, and both brothers-in-law all rode Harleys so I didn't stand a chance. Being contrary, I started out with a 1973 Yamaha RD350 in 1973:

and traded up for a 1975 TX500 in 1975:

After dropping the Yamaha on my foot (and breaking a bone in my foot), I decided to sell it. It was very top-heavy, especially with a full tank of gas.

Years pasted and finally the children were grown so in 1998, I took up flying. I flew Challenger ultralights for about six years and then gave it up when Sport Pilot licensing came into effect.

Me flying my first Challenger I built in my garage:

My second Challenger I bought already built:

I decided I wanted to ride something with only two wheels so I bought a used Yamaha Zuma scooter.

The scooter was a lot of fun but even after I increased the horsepower it was still too slow. I could see a motorcycle in my future so I bought a new 2006 Suzuki SV650:

To say that the SV650 was a great bike is an understatement. I really liked it except for one thing; it was the most uncomfortable bike to ride for any distance that's ever been made (for me at least). The seat was so hard I had to stand on the pegs after a couple hours in the saddle.

It was time to get a long-distance bike that was comfortable--a big Harley!

I asked the HD dealer at Wabash, Indiana which model I should buy. He told me to start out with a Dyna Super Glide. So I bought a new 2007 model:



The above photo is me and my grandson after riding out to the open house at Stone's Harley Davidson, Marion, IN.

After riding the Super Glide for awhile I decided I really needed a long riding tourer model. One I could ride comfortably all day. I loved the look of the Street Glides, so I traded up to a 2008 model:


Me and my great-grandson.

So, that's where we are today.

The Street Glide is a really great long distance cruiser. My group, The Over The Hill Gang, ride 200-300 mile rides each Wednesdays and Saturdays. I never get tired of riding my Harley.

Rode My Bike Home

I had my wife take me out to Stone's Harley Davidson in Marion, Indiana to pick up my bike. I rode it home (37 degrees) and didn't get cold at all. It was a great ride. The bike looks like new (it should with over $7,000 parts and labor.) I can't wait until spring and warm weather.

2008 Harley Davidson Streetglide

Here's my 2008 Streetglide