A Little Nippy!

I woke up this morning to 31 degrees and wondered if it would be too cold to ride today.  Luckily, it warmed up nicely by 10:00AM and so off I rode to the Outpost Restaurant.  After we ate lunch at The Outpost, seven of us rode off west and north to Converse where Charley split off and went home.  Six of us rode over west to U.S. 31 where two more split off and rode home (had a meeting to attend) .  We are down to four riders, but we rode on anyway! :)

Merle took us over to Monticello, Indiana and we rode north past Indiana Beach:

 Not very busy this time of year. It opens the first day in May, this Saturday.  Here's a link:

http://www.indianabeach.com/


Looking at Lake Shafer from the bridge that crosses it up north

We left Lake Shafer and rode up north to Buffalo, Indiana.  East on Ind. 16 back to U.S. 31 and south to home.

I saw this field of Canola just west of Converse and we stopped to take a picture.  It sure is a pretty sight:

A link to Canola: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canola

A track of our ride:

(Click map to make larger)

I got home about 5:00 PM and rode 187 miles.  Nice day and it warmed up to 63 degrees for most of the ride.

A special thanks to Merle for leading us.

Dinner Bell

We rode over to Burlington, Indiana for lunch this Wednesday.  Nine of us rode over and eight of us rode on down toward Indianapolis.  The "famous" Dinner Bell Restaurant at Burlington:

Old men getting off our motorcycles:

 

Inside The Dinner Bell:

 

We rode south on Indiana 29 until it turned into US 421 and then on south to 71st Street in Indianapolis.

By this time, traffic was getting heavy, so our intrepid leader, Merle, turned west to get us out of the traffic.  I breathed a sigh of relief as the traffic in Indianapolis is hard to deal with when you try to get eight motorcycles together through all the stop lights.  We were separated a few times and had to wait until all the bikes were back together.

We turned north off of 71st St. onto Lafayette Road up to 116th St. and then east to U.S. 421 and then back north to 176th street, back east to U.S. 31, and north to home.

 

Very nice ride with perfect weather.  I rode 193 miles and didn't get tired at all.  In fact, I mowed our yard when I got home.  I hope we have many more days like today!

Warm Weather is Back!

We got very warm riding yesterday.  Eighty two degrees was the maximum temperature.

Ten of us rode down to Richards Restaurant at Elwood for lunch, yesterday.   After lunch, we rode over to Attica, Indiana and ate ice cream at The McDonald's there.  After ice cream we rode along the Wabash River back to West Lafayette.  We rode through the Purdue Campus and over into Lafayette.  After a quick stop for gas it was on home.

 

Stopping for gas in Frankfort, Indiana on the way over to Attica, Indiana.

Max Pitts

Three rode Saturday.  We ate lunch at The Outpost and then rode over to Max Pitts near Peru, In.  Not much at the store anymore.  Just a few used bikes and scooters.  We then rode along the Wabash River from Peru to Wabash and then home.  I was tired from the Friday ride so a short ride, Saturday, was all I wanted.

Boggstown, Indiana

Six of us rode down to Bikes-N-Trikes, Friday,  just northeast of Boggstown, Indiana to see if they could repair Merle's trike reverse problem.

Website is here: http://www.bikes-n-trikes.com/Scripts/default.asp

See Store Here: http://www.tinyurl.com/y37h8wb


We rode over to Interstate 65, where there was a Pilot truck stop/McDonald restaurant, for lunch, while they worked on the trike.  After we got back, and several hours later, they got reverse working.  Since some of the guys needed to be home by six o'clock, three riders went back home and two riders stayed with Merle.  After they got the trike back together, Bill, Merle, and I rode on back home.

I got home at 7:45 PM and rode 211 miles.

Nice ride and I got to see places I'd never been before.  We rode through a wooded place near Boggstown that was like a primeval forest.  I'd never seen anything like that before.

Three houses east of Bikes-N-Trikes is the house Marjorie Main (real name Mary Tomlinson) was born in.
Marjorie played Ma Kettle in the movies.  See Here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ma_and_Pa_Kettle


Nice day and nice weather.  Good to be alive!

Eleven Ate, Five Rode

We had eleven show up for lunch at The Outpost, today, and five of us took a short ride before the rain got too heavy.  We just got sprinkled on.  A few of us are going to ride down to Boggstown, Indiana, Friday, with Merle to get his trike reverse gear situation resolved.  I'll report on that afterward.  Ride safe!

Rain, rain, go away!

I rode to the Saturday meeting in the rain,  The only one to ride, of course.  I don't mind riding in the rain and with the new Dunlop Elite 3 tires I had put on, feel safe.  I had to stop fast, once, and the ABS kicked in on the rear tire and kept me from skiding.  I don't think I'd buy a new bike without ABS--it's that good.

Eight of us showed up for lunch as Charlie Thomas is back from wintering in Florida and was there.  David Payne made an appearance for the first time this year.

An elderly looking gentleman walked over to our table and started talking to Phil Smith.  Turns out his name is George Segal, (same as the movie actor), and had ridden with our group back before I started riding with the group.  Mr. Segal is ninety years old and rode a Honda 150 scooter until he was eighty five.  It's like they say, "You don't stop riding because you get old, you get old because you stop riding."

Return of Warm Weather

Ten of us ate at Chism's Corner (corner of US 35 and IN 13) after meeting at The Outpost.  Nine of us then "rode the reservoirs" including The Mississinewa Reservoir and The Salomone Reservoir.  We stopped for coffee in Huntington at The Country Post Inn.  I rode back to John Nave's house, in Fairmount, so he could help me increase the bend in my riders's backrest post.  My back rest kept pushing me forward.  Mission accomplished!


Today's ride:

(Click to make larger)

I rode 149 miles today.

Pin Striping

I rode up to Bluffton, Tuesday, and had Steve Baller pinstripe my bike.  I rode through dense fog and chilly temperatures (37 degrees F) to get there.  It took him about three hours to do the job:

It turned out nice.

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.