Spring 2015 - Romney, West Virginia - May 1-3

[snakebitten]

No! I need SUZUKI to build it. You know, mass production. Economy of scale.

NOT a 1-off RideOnAdv showpiece with the Texas Size budget to go with it. ???

 

[Dirt_Dad]

I promise, no Strom bashing by me. I'm a motorcycle love-hippy. O0

I'll bash a little. Considering the only new DL1000 I've seen in the wild is the one I was riding on my demo at Romney last year, I suspect they may have missed the mark with that one. Both price and putting a chain on a heavily street oriented ADV bike I think hurt them. It's the kind of bike I'd like to tour on, but there's a whole lot of people who are done doing chain maintenance on long trips. Just my opinion.

Now the little DL650, I think they knocked that one out of the park. The perfect "joy of motorcycling" bike. In fact, I will have one of those temporarily shacking up with my bikes starting next month. It's won't be mine, but I am expected to exercise it from time to time. I'll be happy to do it.

 

[Dirt_Dad]

We have a few more items which will be given away during the charity raffle. One of the Stromtrooper guys, Mark444, has a website (http://moto-kafe.smugmug.com/browse ) and sent a few of the items for us to include in the give-away. Thanks Mark.




I intend to do a group briefing here on the site like I did last year. We've become too big to try to do it in person. That will come sometime this week, but something happened yesterday that makes me want to highlight a critical point about riding this area, and probably other areas, too.

The roads here are twisty...really twisty. It is critical that you approach every blind corner and blind hill crest with the expectation that someone coming the other way will be using a good part of your lane. Yesterday that came in the form of blind 90 degree left hand (sharp) turn with a what looked to be a teenager coming the other way. He was far too fast, loosing control, his rear end fishtailing into my lane just after I cleared him. My wife said he was just about stopped when she got to him. Fortunately I've learned to cheat to the far edge of the lane (where the gravel can be) around all blind corners and hills. Of course since there could be gravel on those edges, speed must be adjusted to compensate.

Bottom line: On blind corners and hills around the area, assume you could be sharing your lane. More to come later.

 

[eemsreno]

Now the little DL650, I think they knocked that one out of the park. The perfect "joy of motorcycling" bike. In fact, I will have one of those temporarily shacking up with my bikes starting next month. It's won't be mine, but I am expected to exercise it from time to time. I'll be happy to do it.

I'm not afraid to bash junk, I've had a DL650 for 4 years and 35,000 miles and it is just a cheap made fake ADV want to be. Only the engine in it is very good. I happen to like Suzuki's too. I have owned and raced RM's and one of the best all time MX bikes I've had was a 1978 RM125. It's nothing like my modern YZ125 but for it's time it was Great.
If Suzuki would have taken that DL650 engine and put it in a real ADV frame and suspension and body works that could have been a real winner instead of the "only good for commuting" bike it is.

 

[Checkswrecks]

The roads here are twisty...really twisty. It is critical that you approach every blind corner and blind hill crest with the expectation that someone coming the other way will be using a good part of your lane. Yesterday that came in the form of blind 90 degree left hand (sharp) turn with a what looked to be a teenager coming the other way. He was far too fast, loosing control, his rear end fishtailing into my lane just after I cleared him. My wife said he was just about stopped when she got to him. Fortunately I've learned to cheat to the far edge of the lane (where the gravel can be) around all blind corners and hills. Of course since there could be gravel on those edges, speed must be adjusted to compensate.

Bottom line: On blind corners and hills around the area, assume you could be sharing your lane. More to come later.

D_D, I am REALLY glad that you were not in the kid's line and I want to pile on with your message. Right after riders getting themselves into trouble by going into corners without regard for sand on the road, the oncoming Speed Rickey Racers and other corner obstacles are probably our #2 threat. I'm just back from scoping out a bunch of roads for the last couple of days, too. Yesterday was beautiful and today I was almost to Gassoway when the rain came in.

What happened to me was that somebody was in - I mean literally stopped cold IN - the road halfway through the corner. TWICE I came around right curves with speed to something like the view below. (photo borrowed from unknown person on the web, writing about how he and a friend were having fun on WV roads)

Yesterday with the warm weather was a car with DC plates and they had STOPPED to look at a friggin' little damn black bear which wasn't even near the F*cking road. I realize that bears are uncommon for these tourists from Washington, but this is West By Gawd Virginny where wild animals don't get put into cages at night. They live here ALL the time and it wasn't even a decent sized bear. Thank God for ABS and I did come to a stop rather than go into the oncoming lane. What REALLY scared me was the thought of getting rear-ended at this point.

Today, I was coming around another right hander to find a freshly spread bale of hay and the farmer who dropped it off his truck. He was literally in my original line while he tried to pick some up and most of the hay was in the oncoming lane, to the left of my line. Hitting that hay would have been worse than sand. I could have stopped, but instead came to a crawl as I hugged the inside edge of the road.

If people are decent riders and the corners are free of sand, it is tempting to go through corners at substantially more than the marked speed. However, you will absolutely NOT have reaction time and stopping distance for gawking tourists, farmers in the road, broken hay bales, or kids coming the other way using half of YOUR lane.



Not meaning to scare anybody off. Come, ride, and have a blast. Just don't ride these roads so fast that you can't stop mid-corner. btw - As DCStrom posted in a different thread, the ABS works really well even in turns! But you need to try it a few times before you realize this and trust it.

 

[trikepilot]

More piling on from another WV resident....

Most of the state uses a mixture of road salt and cinders all winter to keep the roads passable. The salt is long gone, but the cinders often remain. These are little BB-sized pieces of gravel that can still be on the road into mid-Spring. The cinders get pushed around by water and the cars so that they build up in the center-stripe (between car wheels) and along the outer apex of turns. They are treacherous. Just keep an eye out as ya'll make it cross the state to Romney!!

 

[Dirt_Dad]

What happened to me was that somebody was in - I mean literally stopped cold IN - the road halfway through the corner.

Glad everything worked out safely for you. Guess it was one of those weekends for both of us. I've experienced that situation where a car stops in the middle of a blind turn when I traveling through PA. It does demand immediately decisive action. Another example of why you can never ride at your personal limits. Must also keep a safety reserve.

 

[Checkswrecks]

Back to the more fun riding stuff, I was having a ball riding all sorts of gravel and dirt roads and guess I knew I was too cocky on my 16,000 mile old Anakee 3s. I was even hitting the smaller creek crossings with a bit of slipperiness, but no real problems.
So no surprise that when the nice dirt road turned into soupy bottom-land, this is where the front washed out and down I went on the right side. LOL

Remember my saying how little I like these tires?

It took about 45 minutes of digging and pivoting on the side stand on a flat rock to get turned around and out.

 

[Dirt_Dad]

Remember my saying how little I like these tires?

I'm amazed at how long you've had those tires. I'm pretty sure we were having dinner in Elkins when you told me you just bought them...that was a very long time ago. As of today both the Teneres are fully outfitted with E07s. Time for your next tire. Having been stuck in WV mud for 45 minutes, alone, digging and pushing...I know it's not all that much fun.

Sounds like you may have found some good stuff or Romney. ::008:: Of course you may want to change your tires.

 

[Checkswrecks]

Yep. I have been traveling so much the last couple of years, I've not been home to ride as much as I was. And because most of my miles are commuting or on the slab to go somewhere, I get really good mileage on gas, brakes, and tires. This rear actually has a lot more life in it, but the sides of the front are gone. I have absolutely no chicken strips on the Anakees, and for the tire to limit me before the feelers is one reason I dislike these tires so much. And they still howl.


As you know, I was on the fence about ordering tires the other day. I ride in the rain a lot and want a good 2-up highway tire for Karen and I to head to Nova Scotia, so was down to the TKC70 and the E07. I finally bought the TKC70s because they seem to have tread higher up the sidewall, I'll still get lots of miles out of them, they get better reviews for wet weather, ought to be a better ride for 2-up, Nick Sanders has been using them extensively on dirt (granted - he gets them free), and I also was thinking that I'll use the WR250 when I want to be more dirt oriented.


Well, you can see how well that last bit of logic worked yesterday.
:


btw - The "road" is called Buffalo Pass and it is only about 3 miles east of Romney Cycles, as the crow flies.

 

[Dirt_Dad]

Just in case you are not following the Shirt thread...today is the last day to order an event shirt.

 

[Andrew]

Andrew hope you and Stephanie can come. It's beautiful over there! Any of y'all coming from the west I'm 17 miles south of I40 exit 148. We got 1 spare bedroom several couches,big yard or covered river pavilion. Our newly married son has depleted some of our home furnishings but I'll do my best to make you comfortable. If Stephanie comes she gets dibs on the bedroom. Everyone is welcome PM if you want my address.

Thanks for the invite. We may be heading east later in the summer, but definitely planning on Sturgis and Tabasco's extravaganza. See y'all soon!

 

[trikepilot]

Remember my saying how little I like these tires?

Hmmmm.... Glad to hear about a pending upgrade. Those tires are wholly inappropriate for the kind of fun that a Tenere was meant to have in WV!!!

 

[Dirt_Dad]

Okay, we're about a week away from kicking off the party. There are a couple of questions out to Romney right now, then Checkswrecks and I will start getting out the final per-arrival info. But speaking of Romney...

A word about our host. This event is all Romney Cycles. This has become their big event of the year. They really care about making this a great experience for everyone. I also know they are very pleased to supporting the school with this event. They are not trying to sell you anything during the weekend. That said, I'm sure they will be happy to sell you anything you want. Romney does a huge amount of out of state sales, so please think of them when it is time for you to buy your next bike, ATV or side by side.

If you like what they are doing with this Camp N Ride event, please tell them. Kevin (owner) and Larry (GM) are both very low key and incredibly nice guys. They really do care about your experience with them, and I know they appreciate getting your feedback. If you see something they could be doing better, let them know that, too. That said, give them the benefit of the doubt, if something is wrong they will care and want to address it.

It's been a long build up, glad we are just about there. More to come...

 

[keeponriding]

+1 for what DirtDad says....this will be my 3rd year and these guys go way out of their way to make us feel welcome and roll out the red carpet for us.

And...they have great deals on bikes and know how to ship them the cheapest way.

We owe our support to dealers who support us.

 

[snakebitten]

I'm looking forward to meeting the folks at Romney. I'm looking forward to finally meet a bunch of my forum friends that I haven't had the pleasure yet.

But can I say I'm REALLY looking forward to riding my dang Tenere!

I rode this bike daily since the PDP arrival. Then I parked it for 6 months last year while I healed.
The Arkansas rally is when I jumped back on it. And it was awesome bonding a second time.
But then I decided to give it a second round of farkling and it turned into a second multi-month hiatus.

So Romney has grown into something much more than just any ole AdV trip.
I already appreciate the efforts by so many of you guys. All the way back to Trevor!

Thanks.

 

[sail2xxs]

I can't wait to catch up with everyone again and get some more riding time with DD. Snake - really looking forward to meeting you.

Best,

Chris

 

[Checkswrecks]

Well, Snake, WE are looking forward to finally seeing whatever beauty-queen surprise YOUR bike has turned into. Weellll, maybe not as much as you are.

And another nice thing about WV mud is that if you drop a bike here, the ugliness generally just washes off and the only painful lasting part are the photos your buddies took.
::025::

 

[snakebitten]

Just got off the phone with Jaxon. Paint is finished! So it's on schedule for him to go get it tomorrow and start bolting it all back together. I'll pick her up Saturday and trailer it home.
Church Sunday morning, and then I might setout for a leisurely, un Chris-like, jaunt to the East coast. (is WV the east coast to a coastal Texan?)

And yes, Jaxon already told a few folks he saw were eyeballing it that "the dude that owns this bike is gonna jump right on it and head straight to West Virginia to ride it in the mud"

So we can't make a liar out of him.

Again, thanks everybody for the kind words and the effort it takes to do these things. I won't ever take it for granted.

 

[eemsreno]

Worked on the beast today getting ready.

This thing is like "IN YOUR FACE" isn't it?