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Midwest USA - Autumn 2022


Earache

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Back to the road - gotta get thee to Omaha tonight.

Hot as fook out here but the a/c in the room felt great. Skipped dinner tonight as the hotel didn't have a restaurant or bar and I wasn't going back out in that heat.

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The big Honda was kinda tough on my hands.  This was the first time I rode it for any distance and the different style grips were inflaming my throttle callous on my hand. Have to get the Dremel tool out when I get home for some surgery ... 

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32 minutes ago, Slowlycatchymonkey said:

Love the federal homes. Are there many semi dilapidated places like that?

Why are the farms no longer used? Ground looks fertile.

And the food, I cannae bear it, mountain dew? Did they force you to buy that? 😂

No Way Do Not Want GIF

Those old Federal style homes are all over Ohio - loads of them. Most aren't lived in though, just sitting there , rotting away

This area is pretty hilly and not conducive to profitable farming. So they also sit empty. The bigger farms - like 10,000 acres - in Iowa and Nebraska can operate at much better profit margins.

Food:  sugar and caffeine to keep me awake on long mile days. It's not really "food" but it keeps the stomach from hurting and I can eat it in 5 minutes and get back on the road. Plus, there's not really anything else to eat aside from the occasional fast food joint. 200 mile stretches of nothing are pretty common here.

It's Diet Dew. Not regular. They taste nothing alike. Still vile, but less vile - if that makes sense. I don't drink coffee so this is it.

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10 minutes ago, XTreme said:

Absolutely amazing Eric......but what a battle with the weather! 

Incredible Brit place......they even had an Ariel Square Four! :classic_ohmy:

That's the Midwest for ya - tornado alley. The locals have a good attitude about it though.

 Fuckin' nutters out there.

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2 minutes ago, Earache said:

Those old Federal style homes are all over Ohio - loads of them. Most aren't lived in though, just sitting there , rotting away

This area is pretty hilly and not conducive to profitable farming. So they also sit empty. The bigger farms - like 10,000 acres - in Iowa and Nebraska can operate at much better profit margins.

Food:  sugar and caffeine to keep me awake on long mile days. It's not really "food" but it keeps the stomach from hurting and I can eat it in 5 minutes and get back on the road. Plus, there's not really anything else to eat aside from the occasional fast food joint. 200 mile stretches of nothing are pretty common here.

It's Diet Dew. Not regular. They taste nothing alike. Still vile, but less vile - if that makes sense. I don't drink coffee so this is it.

Always seems a shame when historical buildings that look like it would have a practical use are allowed to rot away. 

The food - sounds a bit like endurance cycling (or any endurance sport) where you want calorie dense food because it's fast to eat and doesn't lay heavy in your stomach so you don't lose time. Not for me anymore I like at least an hour for lunch 😂

Why up at 3.00am? Weather? Time? ADHD?  😁

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48 minutes ago, Slowlycatchymonkey said:

Always seems a shame when historical buildings that look like it would have a practical use are allowed to rot away. 

The food - sounds a bit like endurance cycling (or any endurance sport) where you want calorie dense food because it's fast to eat and doesn't lay heavy in your stomach so you don't lose time. Not for me anymore I like at least an hour for lunch 😂

Why up at 3.00am? Weather? Time? ADHD?  😁

I'll go to West Virginia next year on a trip - loads of cool houses there that aren't being used. A real shame.

Food - See? You get it now! Just something until the next stop, light , fast and easy. I get it that not many others like this kind of riding but when there's great distances to be covered in short amounts of time / days - this is what ya get.

3:00 AM starts allowed me to get to the next stop around dinner time and beat the hot weather or rain. Usually did about 700 miles per day and passing time zones going east costs me an hour on some days. So had to start early a lot.

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Todd's charcuterie board that crossed the US with me.

Fuggin' huge since he said he couldn't find one big enough. 

2" thick X 30 inches long,  black walnut, cherry and a purpleheart racing strip in the middle. Weighs ton. ":Culley" is Todd's last name so I routed that in for fun.

It's slathered in cutting board oil as I knew I'd be riding in rain and I didn't wanna get it wet.

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17 minutes ago, Earache said:

Todd's charcuterie board that crossed the US with me.

Fuggin' huge since he said he couldn't find one big enough. 

2" thick X 30 inches long,  black walnut, cherry and a purpleheart racing strip in the middle. Weighs ton. ":Culley" is Todd's last name so I routed that in for fun.

It's slathered in cutting board oil as I knew I'd be riding in rain and I didn't wanna get it wet.

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Now that is nice. Love the wood choices, neatly written too. 

Where's mine? 😆

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16 minutes ago, Slowlycatchymonkey said:

Now that is nice. Love the wood choices, neatly written too. 

Where's mine? 😆

PM me an address and I'll send one out to you. Tell me what size and what wood.

Wood choices - all made from scraps around my shop, so they weren't really "choices" - just what I had on hand.

As for "neatly written" - I cheated.   See: https://www.shapertools.com/en-us/origin

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14 minutes ago, Earache said:

PM me an address and I'll send one out to you. Tell me what size and what wood.

Wood choices - all made from scraps around my shop, so they weren't really "choices" - just what I had on hand.

As for "neatly written" - I cheated.   See: https://www.shapertools.com/en-us/origin

Careful I'll take you up on that! 😆

Buying the right tools to do a neat job isn't cheating, it's satisfying. 

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I would expect that the Goldwing is THE bike to ride through all those miles in shitty weather, I’m curious to ride one as well as an RT, I’ve turned my GS into a non motorway bike by fitting a low screen and now I’m addicted to the view so it’s hardly changing. 
 

Those meal stops seem like pain and I’d rather munch on an apple and eat a few nuts and done.

I expect you not to be a fan of the big heavy bike, but has it grown on you over such a distance?

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29 minutes ago, Pedro said:

Those meal stops seem like pain and I’d rather munch on an apple and eat a few nuts and done.

I expect you not to be a fan of the big heavy bike, but has it grown on you over such a distance?

I wouldn't consider them "meals" really - just fuel. So doesn't matter what it is.

I still would rather be on my Super Tenere for this distance as I find it more comfortable to me, The Wing seems to be made for short people and doesn't give me much leg room. I can't hang my legs down, feet off pegs, to stretch as I ride like I can on my Tenere. Also, the seat is dished out in a way that keeps me too close to the handlebars and prevents me from scooting back for more room. Just feels odd to me.

But in the rain, I barely got wet as long as I was moving forward. Even my feet stayed dry! Still, the wing is one heavy assed bike.

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43 minutes ago, Marcel said:

Again amazing ride report!

Has for the wing have yet to ride one...I'm 6'1 and the ulta seems comfortable enough it was a late season purchase after the KTM craped out after the fifth time...so the only long distance thing I did with it is about a 600 mile stretch in September...but I do prefer the riding position on the KTM and after replacing the stock seat it was way better...

I rode a few Wings belonging to mates in the 70's and 80's......I was always totally underwhelmed.

In fact the first bike my missus ever saw me ride was a Wing.......I thought it might impress a 20 year old! :classic_laugh:

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47 minutes ago, XTreme said:

I rode a few Wings belonging to mates in the 70's and 80's......I was always totally underwhelmed.

In fact the first bike my missus ever saw me ride was a Wing.......I thought it might impress a 20 year old! :classic_laugh:

They are comfortable, handle well and equipped with everything. Unfortunately they are completely soulless. 

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18 hours ago, Earache said:

The big Honda was kinda tough on my hands.  This was the first time I rode it for any distance and the different style grips were inflaming my throttle callous on my hand. Have to get the Dremel tool out when I get home for some surgery ... 

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I used to get one of those on the side of my finger at school from all the bloody writing we had to do.

I helped some children with their home work last year (6 and 11 years old), they had to log on and type it in!!!!!

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4 hours ago, Marcel said:

Again amazing ride report!

Has for the wing have yet to ride one...I'm 6'1 and the ulta seems comfortable enough it was a late season purchase after the KTM craped out after the fifth time...so the only long distance thing I did with it is about a 600 mile stretch in September...but I do prefer the riding position on the KTM and after replacing the stock seat it was way better...

Thanks. I'm also 6'1" and I think the Wing is made for those around 5'9" or so. We're just a hair outside of the comfort range.

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