What's in your toy hauler?

[rickeieio]

It seems more than a few of us still play with motorcycles.  So, it just seems natural that we might like to have a camper rally in a good riding area.  But where?  I've been fortunate to have ridden in several states with good roads. paved and otherwise.  The Smokies are great, Texas Hill Country is nice, Big Bend is fabulous, Santa Cruz, CA is a hoot, Yellowstone NP area is sensory overload with Bear Tooth Highway, and of course there's Colorado. I may have left out some................

So, where and when, would we gather for day rides, campfires, and tall tales?  Durango? Gatlinburg? Terlingua?  Let's hear what your favorites might be.

I'm the round boy with the yellow bike.

My bride with her SV650 and my Blackbird.

[BlueLghtning]

We aren't there yet with our toy hauler, but it's coming soon. My wife and I are both MC riders and if everything goes right, we should have our truck and toy hauler pretty soon. We ride adventure bikes and dual sports. We are getting on the road to go chase the good weather and enjoy the good riding. We live in GA right now and have traveled a lot all over the US to go ride, but always felt rushed to see as much as we could. Now we can go visit places and enjoy our time there a lot more.

As for meeting up, I don't think you can go wrong with CO or places in CA to go ride. I've been making trips to CO for the last 5 years to go ride off road there. This past year, we traveled up to Nova Soctia and rode the Cabot Trail and camped out at Meat Cove at the very northern point of it. 

I'm always up for meeting other MC riders. 

I'm not sure what our garage will look like once we hit the road. Currently I have a 2005 BMW R1200GS, KTM 650 ADV, & 2008 Yamaha WR250R. My wife has a 2008 Kawasaki Versys 650 & a 2013 Honda CRF250L. The Versys is up for sale and we plan to replace it with a Honda CB500X for her. 

[rickeieio]

Ah yes.  What bikes to keep.  We're thinning the herd.  I'm down to 10, looking to sell a few more. 

Nova Scotia is nice.  Went there in '01 and '03.  We were on street bikes, so didn't make it to Meat Cove.  I was told it was a 4 1/2 hour drive around the Cabot Trail.  It took me 8 hr. because of stopping to watch whales, eagles, fishermen, etc.  While gawking, I got passed by a bicycle on a steep downhill section.

[noteven]

Is that...are that... 4 CBX'sz in one location? 

[BlueLghtning]

1 hour ago, rickeieio said:

Ah yes.  What bikes to keep.  We're thinning the herd.  I'm down to 10, looking to sell a few more. 

Nova Scotia is nice.  Went there in '01 and '03.  We were on street bikes, so didn't make it to Meat Cove.  I was told it was a 4 1/2 hour drive around the Cabot Trail.  It took me 8 hr. because of stopping to watch whales, eagles, fishermen, etc.  While gawking, I got passed by a bicycle on a steep downhill section.

Our most at one time was 9 for us, but it seemed some bike always needed something. We've had sport bikes, dirt bikes, scooters, and I've owned a couple crusiers over the years. The Toy hauler we are looking at getting has a 14ft garage so 3 bikes would be easy in there and then maybe 1 on the back of the HDT. I would like to hit the road with 4 bikes. Keep our two small dual sports and then each of us have something larger to ride the street with. 

The road into Meat Cove is all paved, or at least it is now. I had the TransLabador highway on my radar as they are actively paving that, but just not enough time that trip to do that. I did ride to AK all the way to Prudhoe Bay in 2006. I want to go back there to visit. I figure this way we can go travel up there and take side trip so go explore more.

[rickeieio]

Noteven,  yes, that's 4 CBXs.  The white one rode from Minneapolis to Colorado and back.  In 2005 we did US 50 Coast to Coast on CBXs.

BlueLgtning, we were up to 13, many not running.  I still have my 1972 CB750 which is a hotrod/cafe, 2 CBXs, a '27 Henderson, and some little stuff.  Most are appreciating nicely.  Our daily rides are a Honda Shadow and a Moto Guzzi Griso.

We hauled our dual sports to Alaska and back, without ever unloading them.  We just didn't have time..........

[noteven]

24 carburetors in one picture  -  

- US 50 - that would be a great trip - 

- plans are for some extended bike touring in the next couple years - my bikes are oldish or small -  I may splash out on something built in this decade - I like paved sweepers and twisty bits but I also have this habit of wanting to turn at those signs pointing toward some mountains that say "this park or that lake or that place - 24 miles" and the road is gravel ... 

 

[mr. cob]

Howdy All,

I gave up the hard off road riding a few years back so sold the real dirt bikes, I still enjoy riding drit-gravel-two track trails with the Ural sidecar rig, I have a BMW-GS that is hacked for the long haul fast trips and have kept the Road King Classic as my two wheeled touring machine, occasionally when I need a real adrenalin RUSH I fire up the R1, scare myself then put it away again, hate to admit it but I am to darn old ( turned 69, 3-24 ) and gimpy to really enjoy that bike anymore, and for stupid stuff no sane person think of doing I have the Rokon.

So I have the tool for just about any job, really not interested in going east of the Mississippi River but open to all point west of it.  Most of the southwest is to darn HOT in the summer, the north to cold in the late fall-early spring, the Nor-Wet, well its wet from late September to late May.  I have ridden darn near every road west of the big river that is worthy of a motorcycle so I am up for just about anything and would enjoy a motorcycle themed rally where we could sit around the campfire tell tall tales and talk about "How fast them trucks can go."

Dave

[rickeieio]

Mr. Cob,

I hear ya about the sport bike.  I still have the CBR-XX, but now ride the Griso the most.  I don't have to fold these old bones into so tight a ball to ride it.

If you like a warm dry place in the winter, with sweepers, this ain't bad.  It's the road from Ft. Davis, TX to the Macdonald Observatory. 18 miles of bliss......

[mr. cob]

3 minutes ago, rickeieio said:

Mr. Cob,

I hear ya about the sport bike.  I still have the CBR-XX, but now ride the Griso the most.  I don't have to fold these old bones into so tight a ball to ride it.

If you like a warm dry place in the winter, with sweepers, this ain't bad.  It's the road from Ft. Davis, TX to the Macdonald Observatory. 18 miles of bliss......

Howdy rickeieio,

That, looks like FUN.  Funny story, years ago I brought my RKC to the local Hog shop to have the rear tire replaced, they had a new guy working there, he looked at the rear tire, looked at me, looked at the tire again and walked away.  A few minutes later he returns with Ed the service manager, he shows Ed the rear tire, Ed laughs and says "That's Hooker's bike, it normal."  What the new guy couldn't wrap his head around was the fact that the entire tread surface not just the very center of the tire was worn out.  The new guy later told me that in ten years of working in different Harley shops he had NEVER seen tires both front and rear worn to the point they were on my bike, then he made another comment that I got a kick out of, he mentioned that the underside of my floor boards were as sharp as razor blades and that there was paint worn off of the fixed part of the floor board mount where it is welded to the frame.  I told him that yes I had slowed down in the corners after dragging hard parts of the frame that darn near levered the tires off the road.

Over the last ten years or so I have slowed down a LOT, there comes a time when you realize your on the down hill slope of life and every day is irreplaceable and that a day spent recovering from a wreck is a day you'll never have to ride again.  My wife Donna, was so HAPPY the day I brought home the first Ural, a machine that the only way it would ever be fast is if you dropped it out of the back of a C130 from 10,000 feet without a parachute.  That said I have managed to take the Ural places most sane people would think wiser of NOT going and have achieved a speed of 86.3mph going down hill from the top of Town Pass on Hwy 190 going into Death valley verified by GPS. 

I have no control over how my body is aging and deteriorating, if my mind what's left of it ever progresses beyond 18 I hope someone shoots me and puts me out of my misery.

Dave

[Quickthrotl]

This is what we keep in ours, 07 FLHTC, Pic is in North Carolina when we rode the Smokey Mountains, when we used to travel on the scooter and sleep on the ground, bones are getting to old for that now.

[noteven]

H-D's are nice, Guzzi's are cool, Bonneville Scrambler, KTM... ,

Urals look like a hoot, VFR800, 750 Tenere, 

Little Tiger, Big Tiger, 

[RickS]

Bought and sold many bikes over the years! Right now we have a BMW R1200GS adventure touring, a BMW K1300GT Sport touring and 2016 Polaris RZR 1000 we use the Toy Hauler for. Have loaded the Smart Car in the back as well.

[Av8r3400]

Mine

Hers (notice it ain't pink)

[Star Dreamer]

We have an ultra rare, 4 wheel enclosed cycle that weighs just under 6000# that we put in the garage in our toyhauler:

 

 

The display fits partially in the garage and partially in the living area, when we do the indoor shows.

Ok, so it is not a Motorcycle, but I do have a motorcycle license, have had it for over 30 years, just never bought the motorcycle!

Dave

[rickeieio]

 Okay, so when and where, is our first rally?

[Chad Heiser]

There are some awesome riding roads in Northern CA (Sonoma, Napa and surrounding counties) and if your into wine, there isn't any better place in the country.  I'm currently bikeless (I sold my Victory Vision to help fund my new shop/RV garage), but I could probably come up with a bike for some rides in the area.  The DW has put the brakes on buying a new bike for a while since we just bought the new trailer.

[RickS]

Chad,

I could bring you a spare! No need to buy one.   

[Chad Heiser]

 

6 hours ago, RickS said:

Chad,

I could bring you a spare! No need to buy one.   

Now that is a very friendly offer that I would be happy to take you up on.  I get my riding fix taken care of at work right now, so I'm not in a hurry to buy a new personal bike and I am "familiar" with BMW's (although mine has a different paint scheme and some added aftermarket equipment  ).  I'm trying to come up with a creative way to justify to my boss why I need to "escort" a bunch of civilian bikes around with my department bike, but I'm not having much luck.  All of my imagined justifications end with me imagining my boss saying, "you want to do what?"

[mr. cob]

12 minutes ago, Chad Heiser said:

 

Now that is a very friendly offer that I would be happy to take you up on.  I get my riding fix taken care of at work right now, so I'm not in a hurry to buy a new personal bike and I am "familiar" with BMW's (although mine has a different paint scheme and some added aftermarket equipment  ).  I'm trying to come up with a creative way to justify to my boss why I need to "escort" a bunch of civilian bikes around with my department bike, but I'm not having much luck.  All of my imagined justifications end with me imagining my boss saying, "you want to do what?"

Howdy Chad,

If your "escort" would come with a get out of jail free card, I'll bring the R1.

Dave

[Chad Heiser]

4 minutes ago, mr. cob said:

Howdy Chad,

If your "escort" would come with a get out of jail free card, I'll bring the R1.

Dave

That why I keep hearing my boss say in my head, "you want to do what?!"

[RickS]

Are laser jammers reciprocal between states and provinces?  They are legal here so must be legal in CA.  

[Chad Heiser]

Jammers are illegal in CA.  We use radar and lidar so both would have to be "out smarted".

[RickS]

Only "laser" jammers are legal here not radar (doppler) jammers. My K1300GT has a radar detector and laser jammers front and rear on it. The R12000GS doesn't have anything as it's mostly used off highway and doesn't have near the power of the 160 hp Sport touring bike. I have a wireless led light receiver in my helmet that flashes red when being hit by laser. I usually just slow down if going to fast and click off the jammer with the handlebar thumb switch to avoid the 20 questions when you jam the laser right to the gun.  

 

 

 

 

[mr. cob]

Howdy All,

I have no knowledge of the new detector-jammer technology, in the past I used them but they only really worked if you were riding alone to tell you just got a ticket or if you were lucky they nabbed someone in front of you.  For years I have been using a "rabbit" tag behind someone who is running a bit fast, keep them in sight look for their brake lights and hope for the best. 

I found honesty to be the best policy, if the only person I am endangering is MYSELF and I am not acting like a loon zigzagging in and out of traffic but making time in areas where you can see the road ahead of you I have been very lucky at just pulling over, shutting the bike down, put the kick stand down, take the helmet off and have my license and registration in my hand when the Officer approaches. 

Can't say it has always worked in my favor but back in the old days when I was a SPEED Horse Power addict it kept a license in my wallet and my arse out of jail.  Now I mostly ride the Ural's, a speeding ticket other then in a school zone is something to be proud of.

Dave