4,250 miles...10 days...VFR

[raisin75]

I just returned on Monday from a 10 day trip to Nova Scotia from Nashville with a good friend who rides a BMW K1200LT. I never even sat on his bike, except for pulling it into the garage where we had to replace his throttle cables just south of Louisville, KY. I wanted to say that I rode the whole thing on my 2000 VFR, which I did. What was supposed to be a 9 day trip, went a half day longer because of a bout of vertigo catching up with me on Saturday. Vertigo and riding DO NOT mix! Fortunately, I was feeling much better the very next day and was able to put in a good 750 mile day to get within 300 miles of home.

If at least 3 people are interested in reading a decent trip report, I will continue into the details of the story along the next week or so.

[Britt]

I always enjoy reading trip reports - even more so when they involve a VFR!

[Scubalong]

Originally Posted by raisin75

I just returned on Monday from a 10 day trip to Nova Scotia from Nashville with a good friend who rides a BMW K1200LT. I never even sat on his bike, except for pulling it into the garage where we had to replace his throttle cables just south of Louisville, KY. I wanted to say that I rode the whole thing on my 2000 VFR, which I did. What was supposed to be a 9 day trip, went a half day longer because of a bout of vertigo catching up with me on Saturday. Vertigo and riding DO NOT mix! Fortunately, I was feeling much better the very next day and was able to put in a good 750 mile day to get within 300 miles of home.

If at least 3 people are interested in reading a decent trip report, I will continue into the details of the story along the next week or so.

As Drewl said no pictures no story, Never happen................

[raisin75]

I can assure you there are pictures, and they will come. I need one more taker and I'll start typing...tomorrow!

[SLOVFR]

Start typing mister...

[diVeFR]

Another taker. Yes, Id like to see some trip pics since I'm going to be too busy for a trip of my own thanks to Gustov.

[drewl]

We like a good story. Just be sure an add lots of pictures, cuz I can't read.

[julianivfr]

What's taking so long???

Type away.

[reg71]

did you start typing yet?

those things take a while, eh? I find it's easier doing the ride than trying to formulate it all into something cohesive and entertaining for everyone. It's hard to figure out what parts to leave in or take out, etc...

[RVFR]

I'm waiting....... tap a tap tap

[R.W.]

Bring it on! Road trip threads are my favorite

[vfourbear]

Hey c'mon inquiring minds want to know. No pressure or nothing

[raisin75]

First of all, my last reply said "tomorrow!" That would be now. Some of you really can't read, huh? LOL Anyway, this whole report is not going to happen overnight. And, it's not going to be anywhere close to as entertaining as reading about Peter Egan on one of his adventures, but I'll do my best. Also, here is a link to my flickr site with all of the pictures, for those who don't or can't read, but like to see the pics.

Trip pics

The start of the trip was a short day of riding, though it turned out to be about as much riding as we would do the first official day (Saturday). I worked all day on Friday, August 22, and drove home to be with my family for a while and have dinner. Robert Lee (Bob), my good friend and travelling buddy, was at the BP gas station just off I-65 on highway 52 on my way home to Portland. I just waved, because I knew I'd see plenty of him in the next 9 days. My wife had made a very nice meal of meatloaf, corn, black-eyed peas, and rolls. I had to write this part, because it is so rare for her to cook, and I know she won't be reading this. LOL! I gave the wife and kids lots of hugs and set out for our adventure.

Before we left, Bob wanted me to feel the throttle on his 2000 BMW K1200LT. It was very stiff, and we decided to get some Teflon lube on the way up to Morehead, KY, that night. Keep this bit of information in mind, as it plays a vital role in this story very soon.

We left Portland at 6pm, and rode up to Bardstown, KY, where we stopped at a Wal-Mart for Bob to get some lube for his throttle. We took a few pictures of the bikes all loaded up and then hit the road to finish the day to Morehead, which was about a 250 mile ride from home.

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Day 1…much shorter than planned

On Saturday morning we had breakfast at the free Holiday Inn Express (I love Priority Club points), and went out to lube the throttle. I removed a little plastic cover that goes over the ends of the cables at the bars, and discovered several metal shavings. OH CRAP! We looked up at the cables and saw that the pull cable was badly frayed. Roughly half or less of the cable was holding it together. Obviously, we could not continue with this problem, so we got on the phone to the closest BMW dealer, which was somewhere in Ohio. Bob is very prepared. He had printed the list of BMW dealers from all over the states. That dealer quoted the parts at $269, but did not have them in stock. Not good! Then we called BMW of Louisville, who not only had the parts in stock, but quoted them for $169. That was good, but it did require us to backtrack almost 2 hours. No other choice.

I have to say the people at BMW of Louisville were extremely helpful. They gave us some bits of information that would make the job go a little better. Fortunately for us, Bob had some friends in Sheperdsville, KY, about 20 minutes south of Louisville, who were at home and willing to let us use their garage. Thanks Charlie and Sindy.

We had to disassemble a lot of plastic body work, radio equipment, and a really weird looking fuel tank to get down to the throttle bodies. After about 5 hours of labor time, we had the bike put back together and working much better. (I think I failed to mention that this was an upgrade kit for the first 2 years of the K1200LT. 1999 and 2000) I laughed, because the new kit had the same type of cables that are on almost all the Hondas that I’ve seen. Maybe there’s something to that, you think?

Charlie and Sindy provided us with much needed refreshment throughout the day…sweet tea, and helped us with a few tools we didn’t have and miscellaneous items that made the job go much easier. Sometime while we were working on the bike, Bob was showing them the frayed cable, lightly tugged on it and it broke. I think God was taking care of us to get us where we were.

About 8:00pm we were ready to hit the road again, and decided to go ahead and ride a more northern route through Ohio. After a great burger at Waffle House in LaGrange, we went on up to stay the night in Cincinnati.

nova scotia trip 2008 005.jpg
Bob at Waffle House
nova scotia trip 2008 006.jpg
Yours truly at WH.
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About half of that crap gets strapped onto my VFR!

Maybe tomorrow will be better!

[SLOVFR]

Ah the fun of those unexpected detours and repairs. Thats what a rode trip is all about. Sometimes you dont know what to expect or where you will end up.....

[RVFR]

^ spoken like you know something or two about that Huh?

[hondawolf]

I'm just amazed your rode that many miles! I've never rode more than a few hundred miles in a day and never back-to-back days. That sounds like an amazing journey.

[SLOVFR]

He had to beat the 3k mile journey Reg71 and I just took in 8 days :)

[vfourbear]

Interesting, good pics. Looking forward to the next installment. Every time I've done a long trip, something crazy seemed to happen. Just gotta roll with it.

[raisin75]

Okay, it’s Sunday morning and we don’t see any problems with making this a better day. We had granola bars and chocolate chip cookies out of my saddlebags for breakfast and hit the road on I-71 north. A couple of hours or so later we made a gas stop north of Columbus, OH. A little snack, a couple of pictures, and back on the road toward Cleveland.

nova scotia trip 2008 010.jpg
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We rode around Cleveland on 271 and then hit 90 east toward Erie, PA. A few miles out from Erie, I noticed a sign for “Quaker Steak and Lube.” I’m always up for wings, and I’ve heard good things about this place. Plus, it’s almost time for a gas stop. (I love the 250 +/- mile range this VFR has.) The wings were great, the waitress was great, and the root beer was great. Not a bad stop. Of course, everything seems to be better at a stop when you’ve been riding for the last 3 or 4 hours straight. We fueled up after lunch and hit the road again for Syracuse, NY.

nova scotia trip 2008 015.jpg

After going around Buffalo, a few of those really crappy toll booths, and through some rain, we stopped about 40 miles before Syracuse. I forced the stop! I have never ridden this far before in this short a time. We pulled in to a truck stop and I pretty much fell off my bike. I just laid down on the sidewalk for about 10 minutes while my body screamed obscenities at me in my head. I started getting very frustrated at this point, because I’m already about 1000 miles from home and feeling really tired with a lot farther to go. Bob sensed this, since I was in a PMS mood, and asked what was wrong. He suggested we go in, get some coffee and pie and relax a while. I got one of the best banana splits ever and a cup of coffee. After an hour of relaxing there, and a caffeine and sugar rush, I was feeling much better and ready to ride.

We had originally planned to go north into Ontario from Syracuse, but we decided to press east and stay north of Albany, NY, for the night. We rode about another 130 or 140 miles that night to Glen Falls, NY, and rang the door bell on a small family owned hotel in Glen Falls at about midnight. Fortunately, they came to the door and had a room available with double beds. I unloaded the bike, carried everything into the room and crashed. I’ll shower in the morning when I’m able to move again!