| Author | Message | ||
     Jerry_haughton |
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| Jerry_haughton |
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| Jerry_haughton |
 photo by JB2 That's Bob McLain and Ernie DuBois riding sweep, followed by the chuckwagon and one of Cindy's daughters in the cage behind it. It had taken well over a minute for the entire group to roll past, and, in retrospect, the word "spectacle" comes to mind. The sound of thunder reverberated through the lush Indiana farm fields this cold, blustery August afternoon, wave after wave of good-hearted folks riding for a common cause. I was proud to be a part of it all. Next stop: The Woods. (Message edited by jerry_haughton on August 29, 2009) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
 This is my Road King parked next to The Woods. What? You don't see any trees?? | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
Here, look closer:  The Woods is Rick Tucker's place, and it's just what it sounds like: a chunk o' forest stuck smack dab in the middle of an otherwise treeless Indiana farm field. My pix don't do the bizarroessness of this juxtaposition justice. In other words: It was cool! | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
 JB2's Vic, covered in bug splat. What? You don't see the bug splat?? | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
Here, look closer:  What? Ya STILL don't see it?? | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
Try this:  Way back at the AmVets post in Hartford City most everyone had ponied up for a bug sticker or two or three. They were a buck a pop, with the funds to be split 50/50 with Cindy and Ernie, with the rider with a bug closest to the crosshairs at the end of the ride declared the winner of the pot. Have I mentioned how cold it was today? In spite of running multiple stickers on the RK, I didn't take a single hit during the ride. Not one. It may be the first time in my 45-year riding career that I can make that claim. JB2, as you can see, took exactly one hit, a bug barely big enough to qualify as such, but after all the measurements were taken (with a micrometer!), he was declared the winner and handed his share of the pot, to the tune of about $45 as memory serves. Which he promptly handed right back to Rick (which seemed fair to me, since I think his bug was fake...), to be added back to the other half of the bug fund, to be added to the rest of the money we were raising today for Cindy and Ernie. Classy move, my friend. | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
JB2 and Bhuff...  ...waiting in line for grub. Pretty cool deal for Rick & Co. to feed us all, and I was grateful to finally have a chance to woof down some food today. The Woods was a happenin' place, bikes and riders absolutely everywhere, kickin' and grinnin' and several campfires a-blazin' (have I mentioned how cold it was today?) This was a special time, the culmination of a great afternoon of riding for a very worthy cause, a time to reflect on the preciousness of our time here on Earth, a time to give thanks, a time to show our love and respect for Cindy and Ernie. | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
 photo by JB2 Well, it had been an awesome afternoon, in spite of the threatening weather. A lot of people had gathered and ridden from a lot of places, for a good cause, and the camaraderie in the air was palpable. Here are several photos from JB2's camera. When you get right down to it, the hard reality is that we had all come together today to raise money to help offset Cindy's considerable medical expenses. That's Rick Tucker with the bullhorn, saying some simple, yet heartfelt words, about the brotherhood and sisterhood of the road. There's Nuck at his side. Rick's holding a bag with today's donations. Out of frame to the right are Cindy's three daughters, and Ernie. And gathered around are some mighty righteous motorcycle riders. (Message edited by jerry_haughton on August 31, 2009) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
 photo by JB2 Cindy's daughter Chrissy says a few words. Her voice was choked with emotion. Next to her are Cindy's other two daughters Laura and Kelli, and Ernie. This was a somber moment. (Message edited by jerry_haughton on August 31, 2009) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
 photo by JB2 In this photo Rick has just handed Ernie a gift. Less than a week ago, Cindy's Ride was just an idea. In less than seven days, the word had gone out, e-mails had been sent, phone calls had been made, and plans had been formulated and implemented. Today, a hundred folks, on seventy motorcycles, had raised one and a half thousand dollars for Cindy and Ernie. At this point there was hardly a dry eye in the place, mine included. This is what it's all about, people: The brotherhood and sisterhood of the wind. I'm honored to have been invited to Cindy's Ride. I'm humbled to have spent the afternoon with such an awesome group of individuals. I'm proud to call Cindy and Ernie my friends. (Message edited by jerry_haughton on August 31, 2009) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
 More to come. (Message edited by jerry_haughton on August 31, 2009) | ||
| Prior |
Ferris, Thanks for the great pics and story. I'll have a card and my contribution on the way this week. In case any of you missed it, the address is: Ernie and Cindy DuBois 906 N. Monroe St Hartford City, IN 47348 Hope TO hang soon, Bueller. Prior (Message edited by awprior on August 31, 2009) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
Hope you hang soon, Bueller. Man, if I had a dollar for every time I've heard that...  Thx, brother. | ||
| Prior |
I swear that was not a freudian slip!!! Fixed it! | ||
| Blake |
He's always bragging about how well he hangs. | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
It was a long, cold ride back to JB2's in Hartford City – just me, JB2 and Bhuff now - but my spirits were high. It'd been an aggressive pull to make Cindy's Ride and I was starting to feel the effects, but I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat. This part of Indiana pretty much doesn't have a curve to save your life, but there's a beauty to the lay of the land that is wholesome and refreshing. Farms and farm fields dominate the landscape, and in another life I could easily see myself being a farm man. Cue John Cougar. As the three of us cruised along in formation, I couldn't help thinking we were probably scaring the bejeebers out of the locals - we may be the only three riders in all of Indiana wearing full-coverage helmets that day, and the thought crossed my mind that we probably looked like some sort of gang. I grew up riding in a "right to choose" state, or at least it was at the time. Washington State, I'm talkin,' way back in the 60's and 70's. Sometimes I'd wear a helmet, sometimes I wouldn't, and it seemed as natural as could be either way. Washington has long since decided it knows better than you do how to manage your life, but I've ridden in several states since that still believe that American citizens should be the masters of their own destiny. South Dakota comes to mind. I've done Sturgis twice, and a fair amount of that was lidless. After thousands and thousands of miles wearing a full-coverage helmet, it's odd at first to set out down the road without one, but the resultant feeling of freedom is hard to put into words. Several years ago while visiting JB2 I did a lidless ride with him to James Dean's gravesite in nearby Fairmont, Indiana. We toured several of Dean's boyhood haunts on our way there, on a warm, gorgeous mid-September afternoon. At one point the spirit moved us and we tore for miles down a narrow county road well in excess of the ton. It was exhilarating, an experience made even more so by the rush of the wind thru my hair and the heady sense of danger. Sounds corny, but it's true: I felt the spirit of James Dean riding with me that afternoon. I love America, and what this country stands for. I ride 99.999% of the time wearing one of the most expensive and well-respected full-coverage helmets on the market. But I also dig the fact that here and there in America these days one can still make their own choices. Your odds are better with one, no doubt. On the other hand, your odds are WAYYYYYYY better if you don't ride at all. And the first time some do-good lawmaker tries to take our motorcycles away, he or she will learn a hard, painful lesson about what it means to be an American. Hey, what the heck is that in the back of JB2's truck, and why is it here in Cindy's Ride???  photo by JB2 (Message edited by jerry_haughton on September 01, 2009) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
The photo above was part of a Facebook series that JB2 posted about his and Kim's trip to Franklin, North Carolina over the July 4th weekend. Kim's a rock hound, and they had stopped on the way back at this road cut so she could root around the rock layers above the roadway for fossils. The fact that JB2's truck made it in the photo is just by happenstance, but it's what was strapped down in the back that really caught my attention. Follow along, won't you? :-) Tue, Jul 7, 2009 at 12:24 PM JB2 - Looks like you and Kim & Crew had a fabulous weekend, thx for sharing. We had a good weekend. Headed out 8-ish Friday, up the Parkway to Meadows of Dan for breakfast. Very cool, almost cold, and windy, but better as the morning progressed. Hit the Starbucks in Roanoke, then dropped down off the Parkway to the NE and just followed the wheel for several hours. Ended up riding along the eastern "foot" of Peaks of Otter, meandering along the back roads, very nice, and perfect conditions temp-wise and weather-wise. We had planned on doing Poplar Forest on Saturday, but by chance we ended up near there on early Friday afternoon, so we opted to do the house tour then, when we had it virtually to ourselves, as opposed to Saturday, when they were expecting several thousands visitors. Cool place, being carefully researched and restored, a lot of fun re-living the history of the place. The volunteers treated us like family, and we had a very enjoyable visit. The Craddock Terry hotel in downtown Lynchburg is sweet. Five-story century-old brick shoe factory overlooking the James River. Spacious rooms, two restaurants on site, plus their own in-house brewery, and damn the beer was cold, fresh, dark and good! Kicked around downtown Lynchburg on Sat, nosing around antique stores, old book shops, farmer's market, etc. Ate supper Sat night at the Depot Grille and got plenty soused on more local microbrew (oatmeal stout - yummy). The ride home Sunday was a wet sumbitch, and the Parkway was second and third-gear fog, but....................... ............we'd do it all over again in a frikkin' heartbeat. :-):-) Pls tell me about the RD in the back of your truck. ******* Tue, Jul 7, 2009 at 12:39 PM Ferris, The RD. That was Mom's first and only bike. Her and Dad bought new bikes in 1972 when I was running around SoCal. We rode as a family everywhere we went for 4 years until she crashed pretty hard in 1976. Minor damage to the bike but it cured Mom of ever wanting to ride again. One of the only items Dad had to replace was the speedo. It had less than 10K on it when it was wrecked and has had 23 miles put on it since. Dad kept it running and maintained but it hasn't been started since he died. Mom called the other day and said she wanted it out of Wally's way cause he had talked about getting it running again and riding it. I have some work ahead of me but it shouldn't take much. Maybe expansion chambers and clip-ons? Could be fun. I remember that it was an awesome little bike for a 350. ******* Tue, Jul 7, 2009 at 12:48 PM My first bike was a '72 RD-350. :-) ******* Tue, Jul 7, 2009 at 12:49 PM Wanna 'nother one? ******* Tue, Jul 7, 2009 at 1:04 PM Tempting... ******* Tue, Jul 7, 2009 at 1:37 PM Well I wouldn't want to start on it if you were inclined to take it off my hands. I really like the little bike but I just bought materials to start on the garage and if I were to build something it would be an old rigid bike. However, if the project doesn't tempt you I would do a basic resto and put it on eBay. ******* Tue, Jul 7, 2009 at 1:44 PM It'd be fun to have it, for several reasons, but I sure don't need another project right now. Any idea what it might bring on eBay? ******* Tue, Jul 7, 2009 at 1:50 PM $500.00 as it sets. Prolly $1-1200.00 with a patina type restoration (keeping it mostly original). I haven't checked lately but stuff of this era seem to be surviving the recession regarding sale prices. ******* Tue, Jul 7, 2009 at 6:19 PM JB2 - Is it a runner? Wouldya send me some pix, pls? Story time: Back when I was still in high school I rode my new RD-350 to Seattle International Raceway one day for their annual "64 Funny Cars," which also included jet cars, beer in glass bottles (gasp!), and, if you were lucky, a hot chick or two showing their titties to the crowd. This was a big ride for a young lad, maybe 60-70 miles one way, navigating unfamiliar roads by map, all on my own. The races were at night, which meant when it was all done I was riding home well after midnight. Pretty heady stuff. I always had problems with the oil injection system on the bike, and was constantly fouling plugs. About 30 minutes from home the bike quit, on a lonely pitch-black highway. I had tools and extra plugs, but I hadn't packed a flashlight and couldn't see to save my life. Of all crazy things, a woman stopped her car to see if she could help in any way (this was prolly 1 in the morning, maybe even later). I thought at the time - and still do - that that was a pretty brave, righteous thing for a woman to do. With the light from her headlights I was able to swap out the fouled plug, and we both were on our way. This was my very first ever pavement-based adventure ride, and, as you already know, the rest is history. It might be kinda fun to get to know (again) the bike that started it all. :-) ******* Tue, Jul 7, 2009 at 7:04 PM Ferris, Yes it's a runner the last time Dad started it in '02. It never had oil injection problems that I know of. Like I said it doesn't have many miles. It still has the original tires mounted. It is complete even down to the tool kit. Battery gone of course. Dad had started applying a new paint job so it's not all together at the moment. There is a box in the Hog Room with the gas cap, nameplates, petcock, mounting rubbers, owner's manual, shop manual and the trim panel for the right side cover. I forgot to get it while I was there but it goes with the bike of course. Mom still has her original title and that I could preserve if your desire reached for the wallet so you could transfer as second owner. I kicked it through by hand a couple of times when I got home. Good compression and smooth since he had oiled the cylinders. Seat is almost perfect, no tears but the YAMAHA has faded some. Front fender chrome is the worst of the chrome parts. It would need re-chromed or painted but it is straight. The saddle bags and crash bars took the worst of the crash and were removed in 1976. It still has a factory luggage rack but I would remove it (looks like three dogs ••••••••• Brakes, lamps and turn lamps are in very good working order. It should be disassembled and serviced especially the oil injector. Wheel, neck and swing arm bearings need serviced. The left exhaust pipe has a stain from the crash. The battery leak onto it while it lay on it's side. I'll get some pics and send them. Very cool story BTW. I could see this being a very fun bike to have in the mountains with a set of chambers, rear sets and clip-ons. I always liked Mom's bike but with space and other commitments I have to pick my projects accordingly. It doesn't hold a spot now or anytime in the foreseeable future. I'm not hung up on the money but $500.00 is market value and that would be my price. Monthly installments accepted. :-) ******* Well folks, in the acoustic guitar world they call it "Gassin'," i.e. Guitar Acquisition Syndrome, the insatiable desire to own every cool old acoustic guitar ever made (especially if it's a vintage Martin...). Well, I hereby invent a new acronym: "Massin'," i.e. Motorcycle Acquisition Syndrome. Here, by chance, is an opportunity to own the motorcycle that pretty much started it all for me, a one-owner, low-mile, fully-documented gem, made even better by the fact the bike is "in the family" and would stay that way. I was Massin' bad (just ask Denise...) following the e-mail exchange above. I need another project like Pam Anderson needs another boob, but, well, you know how addicting addictions can be. Denise, being the coolest woman in the world - and equally as passionate about motorcycles as you and I and everyone else reading along - took matters into her own hands. On the sly she contacted JB2, struck a mutually equitable purchase arrangement with him, and bought the old Yammy for me as an early birthday present. Sweet! But first, this e-mail from JB2: Thu, Jul 9, 2009 at 10:11 AM Ferris, Well I sold the bike to someone else. I feared I was enticing you with something you prolly should steer away from for the same reasons I'm selling it. You will be happy to know that I sold it to a girl who is giving it to her significant other. He had one when he was young, too. Well you no-good, back-stabbin', horse-stealin', scum-suckin', dirty rotten son of a bit.... Hey, wait a minute. "Denise, dear, what have you done???" A grin, a hug, and an early "Happy Birthday!" came the reply. Yep. D rocks, she truly does. And Fast Ferris owns his first street bike all over again. :-)  My new scoot on JB2's bike lift after we got back from Cindy's Ride. (Message edited by jerry_haughton on September 01, 2009) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
 Original tires (not checked!), original chain, everything intact and un-molested. JB2's a master paint and body man, and later this fall will be laying a factory-correct black and Mandarin orange paint job on my new machine. (Message edited by jerry_haughton on September 01, 2009) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
 Cool Ness. (Message edited by jerry_haughton on September 01, 2009) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
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| Jerry_haughton |
 photo by Bhuff Cigar-chompin,' Mystic Roadshow t-shirt-wearin' Fast Ferris, making v'room v'room noises and pretending he's 17 again. Bad to my bone. :-) More to come. (Message edited by jerry_haughton on September 01, 2009) | ||
| Blake |
Have I said it lately? You are a very fortunate man. Betcha can't wheelie that thing. | ||
| Ulywife |
D rocks, she truly does. And don't you forget it! Congrats on the new/old bike! Can't wait to see it. | ||
| Prior |
Very cool! Let me know when you make the trip out to pick her up- might be up for a road trip, even if it's in a pickup. What a cool bike and even cooler birthday present!!! Glad I kept my first bike! | ||
| Iamike |
Jerry- What you need now is her little sister. A neighbor gave this to me and I got it to run but it needed more help than I was willing to give.  Great writeup on Cindy's ride. | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
During my research into Yamaha's old mosquito foggers I discovered that Mitch Boehm, former long-time editor of Motorcyclist magazine, has just launched a brand-new magazine for guys like me (55 going on 17...), called Moto Retro Illustrated. I subscribed and just received issue #1 in the mail last week, and his new mag is superb in every way, right down to the protective mailing envelope it came in. Here's a plug for a good guy and a good new read:  www.MotoRetroIllustrated.com The day's slipping away, but JB2 had one more adventure up his sleeve, a ride to the outskirts of town to photograph a fleet of old tractors:  (Message edited by jerry_haughton on September 02, 2009) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
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| Jerry_haughton |
 JB2, it seems, has been hankerin' to shoot the Rinker's fleet for his annual "Bikes, Barns & Bridges" calendar, but I reckon he figgered he needed a two-wheeled tractor in the shot to make the photo complete. I guess that's where the Road King comes in. The Tractor Factor, if you will. Anyway, Mr. Rinker couldn't have been any more congenial about our intrusion, and, with luck, my Glacier White Pearl farm implement will grace the 2010 version of "Bikes, Barns & Bridges." Here are a couple of images from previous years' calendars, to give a better idea of what I'm talking about:   JB2 does a brilliant job on his calendars. You can find out more at www.bikenutz.com. (Message edited by jerry_haughton on September 02, 2009) |
