4,500 miles from OR to WI and back and saw nothing but Harleys

[pnelson]

After a thread discussing the lack of ST sightings I tried to keep count on a recent trip we took from Oregon to Sheboygan, WI for some sailboat racing. Granted, the count is skewed as many riders were headed to Sturgis and there might be a few extra Harleys in Wisconsin to begin with. Anyway, here's what I found...

1,000,000+ Harleys, all ridden by overweight middle-aged guys that look like me only with more hair, more tattoos and generally meaner. None were wearing helmets or any other gear, just big boots and wife-beater muscle shirts. Some wore leather vests over their wife-beaters. (Yes that count may be low but I ran out of room on my tally sheet.) ;-^)

100+ Lady Harley riders. I was surprised at how many there were. They generally looked a lot like the men Harley riders.

20+ Goldwings, many with trailers and most wearing gear.

6 BMW GS riders, all in full gear. (We were making miles on I-94 and I-90 so maybe the adventure riders were on other roads?)

Just a few other BMWs including some old air-heads and a few RTs. All the BMW riders wore gear.

Super Teneres out crossing the USA? - Not a single one. I did see a Tiger and a V-Strom and even a Yamaha Venture Royale. There were also several cool Victory cruisers and a handful of Honda STs.

I was surprised as I see Super Teneres every time I go riding here in Oregon. My bike with panniers and a tall Parabellum windshield is every bit as comfortable and capable as my old Honda ST1100 with the exception of having to stop for gas more often.

At least we made it there and back in our old diesel Ford van which now has 245,000 miles on it. Now it's time to do some more riding here in the PNW so I'm heading up to the Central Cascades ride on August 15-17. If you're looking for a great reason to come to the west coast on your Tenere, this weekend might be it!

http://pnwsuperteneres.wordpress.com/

 

[528Hz]

Super Tenere is one of those bike that is pleasantly rare. You don't see a Rolls Royce every day do you?

 

[HHH]

Since I have mine, about 10 months which 6 months were on the road, 60.000+ Miles on east of the Rocky mountains and I only saw four S10's, one blue, two gray and one black...

 

[terryth]

I'd bet a fair number of those Harley's were various Japanese cruisers anlong with some Victory's, indian's. I end up going though the Sturgis area regularly in August on my back and forth between Montana and Nebraska

 

[Donk]

The local Yamaha dealer( Mukwonago, WI) sells a fair number of S10s. All the riding I've done around WI I have never seen another on the road. There was one at the dealer the same day I was there but I'm not sure that counts. Pnelson you are right, there is a big HD bias out here but I also see a few BMW GSs and an equal number of Victorys and Goldwings. What type of boat do you race?

 

[pnelson]

...
What type of boat do you race?

It's a 17 ft. Thistle. I restore them and have 4 more that I'm working on in the shop right now.

https://plus.google.com/photos/103841350024498346596/albums/5654885456366855729?banner=pwa

Sheboygan was nice but it seemed like half the town was gone. Lots of empty businesses and homes. ???

 

[rotortech71]

I really enjoy owning something that most people haven't seen or heard of. I once had a guy ask, "what size is that engine?" When I told him it was a 1200, he said in surprise, "NO WAY! Are you SURE!?"

Another was a guy on a BMW 1200GSA. He was staring at the shaft drive on my S10 and told me, "man, I don't know. I just don't see how that's going to work." ???

 

[booner223]

So pnelson, do all Harley riders wear "wife beaters", and their wive's look like men? Mine doesn't look like a man and doesn't wear wife-beaters.

 

[pnelson]

So pnelson, do all Harley riders wear "wife beaters", and their wive's look like men? Mine doesn't look like a man and doesn't wear wife-beaters.

<grin> Booner223, I may have over generalized to some degree. It struck me as strange that so many looked alike, both in their demographics and in apparel. I'm happy for you that your wife doesn't look like a man or wear wife-beaters. Though, if she did, I'd be the last person to argue with her or you about it.

;-) Paul

 

[booner223]

Yeah and I hate to say I used to look like that. No wife beaters though.

 

[Langolier]

Sheboygan Falls here (5 mi from Sheboygan). Other than mine the only S10 I've seen near me so far is the other one on the show room floor. Was at the BMW rally in Minnisota with my brother (1200RT), I guess that would account for seeing a few Beemers around. I have to chuckle when asked what I ride, When I say a Super Tenere I get the crinkled up nose with "you ride a what ?". Had a Wing for 10 years prior & always had dirt bikes. Sold the Wing and my TE510 Husky...... loving the versatility of this bike.

Lango

 

[autoteach]

Sheboygan Falls here (5 mi from Sheboygan). Other than mine the only S10 I've seen near me so far is the other one on the show room floor. Was at the BMW rally in Minnisota with my brother (1200RT), I guess that would account for seeing a few Beemers around. I have to chuckle when asked what I ride, When I say a Super Tenere I get the crinkled up nose with "you ride a what ?". Had a Wing for 10 years prior & always had dirt bikes. Sold the Wing and my TE510 Husky...... loving the versatility of this bike.

Lango

I am surprised that I haven't bumped in to you. I am in Belgium and occasionally stop at The Other Place. Although I have been riding my wr250r more lately. Have you seen that outside the bar? P.S. I dont drink, I stop there because my sister is a bartender there.

 

[Langolier]

There's always bikes parked along that row, I have been their on occasions. I know Linda the lady who is married to the owner (Rob), Went to high school with her.

 

[Scoobynut]

<grin> Booner223, I may have over generalized to some degree. It struck me as strange that so many looked alike, both in their demographics and in apparel. I'm happy for you that your wife doesn't look like a man or wear wife-beaters. Though, if she did, I'd be the last person to argue with her or you about it.

;-) Paul

It's a bit of a generalization, but not too much...I traveled down through Sturgis on Monday -- was hauling my old RD400 to the vintage bike show in Custer -- and I recall thinking every time I'd see one of the women on those bikes with exposed shoulders and arms, 'Honey, it ain't gonna get less leather-like by getting more sun.' I commented to my friend, "Hey Dave, remember when riding a Harley marked you out as a rebel, back in the day? Nowadays, it seems like some conformist, group-think lifestyle cult, with leather lingerie uniforms for the men and the women. I don't know if I could pull off this sort of play-acting with a straight face, you know? It would be interesting to devise a psychological study of a typical cross-section of Sturgis attendees. We could pay them in beer, and tell them there'd be a random drawing for accessory chrome once the study was complete." Dave remembers the old days and thought that was pretty funny. I saw many, many beer and liquor ads on billboards and advertisements featuring a motorcycle (usually some sort of cartoonish chopper device) as prominently as the liquor. I saw hundreds of bikes at the various watering holes before noon. Hmmm, I thought, aren't they going to ride at all? I recall reckoning that the ever-present booze was probably why most of these people are wobbling around the corners and twisties impeding the progress of our minivan hauling 1,500 lbs of bikes and a trailer. I also saw a couple folks lying in the ditch or on the road with their prone bikes next to them, cops gathered around, of course. I read a story in the local paper about a drunk rider from Texas who crossed the center line and took out two other bikes, killing one person and seriously injuring 3 others, one critically. As is usually the case, he had the least serious injuries.

The most interesting thing I saw down there was when a pair of Hell's Angels (Los Angeles, CA, according to their jackets) going about 90 mph split a line of riders in staggered formation and our minivan -- went right between our minivan in the slow lane and the other riders positioned next to our minivan in the fast lane. They literally had inches on either side as they blasted through, cool as cucumbers. I yelled, "Wow, you effing retards!" It was the most intentionally dangerous thing I'd ever witnessed from a rider or riders. The snap conclusion I reached was that Hell's Angels have as much respect for rally-goers as they do for silver minivans towing 2-stroke Yamahas. Funny thing, the Hell's Angels were some of only a handful of riders I saw wearing helmets and full jackets.

I live 190 miles from Sturgis and have never attended the rally, nor do I intend to. I like riding (my minivan excursion being the rare exception) and the riding seems to take a back seat to the boozing and socializing during 'Bike Week.' These are simply my observations, they may piss off some people, but I don't really care, not in the least. Are we not allowed to poke a little fun at whatever cults we run across? ???

 

[booner223]

Scooby you're right. I think if I was still a Harley owner, I am still a fan, I wonder if I would be on some forum going, "man did you see all those guys wearing full length pants, helmets, full fingered gloves, a jacket with armor and over the ankle boots. Those guys are crazy. It's about getting to the party man." Mullets and all. I think that is one of the reason I chose go the adventure bike route this time. I knew way to many Harley owners that had they're bikes for years with less than 5k on their bikes. Just didn't want to be stereotyped with that crowd anymore.

 

[Donk]

Sounds like we should have a WI S10 get together, RTE or something. I am in East Troy but travel a lot for work.

 

[MarkM]

The most interesting thing I saw down there was when a pair of Hell's Angels (Los Angeles, CA, according to their jackets) going about 90 mph split a line of riders in staggered formation and our minivan -- went right between our minivan in the slow lane and the other riders positioned next to our minivan in the fast lane. They literally had inches on either side as they blasted through, cool as cucumbers. I yelled, "Wow, you effing retards!"

No, they're Fags, not Retards. Gotta use the right terminology. ::025::

Don't Be a Fag

 

[Langolier]

Sounds like we should have a WI S10 get together, RTE or something. I am in East Troy but travel a lot for work.

I would be up for that ....

Lango

 

[autoteach]

cool with me.

 

[Twisties]

Rode from Brookings to Moscow, ID and back in June. Probably saw 20+ S10's. But we didn't ride no stinkin' slab. I'm thinking interstate hwy is not the S10's best suit. Rode mine on I-80 from SLC to Winnemucca several times and never saw another S10. Constant riding of long distance at about 85 mph and head winds sucked fuel like crazy and left me beat to a pulp. Now the back roads, that's where you'll find the S10's!