| Author | Message | ||
     Pnw_uly |
A lot of us have benefited from the Uly musings and technical knowledge from Doc Greg, that twice Uly owner who posted frequently here on his experiences with the Ulysses. Doc's moved on from Buells (first a MultiStrada [or two], and now the BMW GS), but still posts here occasionally. Doc was on one of his multi-state, multi-week rides (ADV Ride Report: http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1070136) and found himself in the Pacific Northwest and was slated to meet up with another (former) Uly owner JPhish, who I've known for a few years. So we met up for breakfast at the local greasy spoon. Here's a pic of the Doc and John(JPhish) wishing they still had a Uly. . .  Okay, maybe not... And with their respective bikes. . .  Anyway, it was a fine opportunity to meet up with the "famous/infamous"(?) Doc Greg - - always got something out of most of his posts - - great perspectives on riding and such, as well as a chance to shoot the Bull (Buell?) with John . . . Just thought I'd share. Ride Safe. | ||
| Rcf2 |
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| Tootal |
The Doc is looking in great health! Really good to see. Thanks for letting us know.  | ||
| Skifastbadly |
Doc Greg touched the bike that has my old seat....be still my heart. Great pics! | ||
| Etennuly |
Well excellent! Great to see the good Doc on the sunny side of the soil!  Thanks for posting this. | ||
| Dr_greg |
Howdy folks, I was going to reply just after I returned from this trip, but you know how time flies... It was SO good to have breakfast with Jphish (John) and Pnw_uly (Paul), although seeing Paul's Uly just about brought a tear to my eye... Buell Uly folks are the BEST. Wish the annual rally was still held, wasn't it called "Homecoming" or something like that. Anyone recall that I left Albuquerque to attend Homecoming in 2009...made it as far as Santa Fe before the '06 Uly broke down (forget the cause). That was the first of FOUR consecutive breakdowns; Mrs. Greg was gettin' mighty tired of rescuing me with our '68 GMC pickup. Unfortunately, the midpoint of my '06 Uly ownership had a little bit too much of this:  And---thanks for any concern---but I HAVE been in pretty good health (knock on wood). Gettin' ready to leave for another "Civil War" trip around Labor Day. Anyone between Albuquerque and VA/NC/SC that wants to put me up for a night? Actually, I'll have all my camping gear and will hopefully do that some, along with the odd motel. Also spending a week at a resort near Cashiers, NC...right in the middle of all the good Southern Appalachian riding. Will be writing a "live" Ride Report on ADVrider.com (Epic Rides). Regarding the 2013 BMW R1200GSW---I like it a lot. Currently have 43,000 miles on it (bought it June 2013), and not a blessed thing has gone wrong. Especially appreciate being able to---once again---perform my own maintenance. Er, except for the six computers, or whatever it has buried inside. NO BIKE is as easy to maintain as my '06 Uly, however. Sigh. I like the GSW much better than the (two) 2010 Multistrada 1200S's I owned. BTW, I always CRASH the first, then buy another---Uly, Multistrada, hopefully not the GSW. First the deer, then the hoarfrost. No more high-speed pavement crashes! Although this is a Buell forum, I wrote up a BIKE COMPARISON between the MTS1200S and the GSW. Some people have appreciated it. If I'd included the Uly in the comparison it woulda trounced 'em both. Well...y'know, it just might've. BTW, for many years I thought I should be riding a "GS" but upon test-riding an '08 and a '10, I didn't really like them. The liquid-cooled version is MUCH improved, at least IMHO. I have only two complaints: (1) heated grips aren't hot enough (corrected on 2015 bikes), and (2) wisht the wheels had a bit more "drop center"---would ease tire-mounting (Multistrada was the best there). Plan on keepin' the GSW till 2019 (end of extended warranty, and should be at 120,000 miles), then we'll see what Erik and Bruce Belfer have available by then (PLEASE don't let it have a chain). Ask Mrs. Greg and she'll tell you that the Uly is STILL the bike that captivated me more than any other. Best handling big bike I've ever ridden (both tarmac and dirt roads). And I paid the GSW the ultimate compliment when Jphish asked me how it handled: "almost as well as the Uly..." Cheers, --Doc | ||
| Fotoguzzi |
Nice Report.. you should buy my XT for nostalgic reasons alone..  | ||
| Ourdee |
Doc, We still have an informal HomeComing every year. Last week in May with the Road America races on the weekend. You need to come out. East Troy is looking for you. Erik even met with us in the parking lot this year. Has every year that I've been going. | ||
| Ourdee |
I'd put you up, but Northern Illinois may be a little out of the way. | ||
| Dr_greg |
Yes, I'm afraid N IL is a bit off the route. But thanks very much anyway. Re Homecoming...hmmm, I'd feel a bit awkward riding to a Buell event (however unofficial) on a GS, However, I do have some "long-lost" relatives in WI, and I'm no longer tied to the academic calendar, so May is no problem. I'll keep it in mind for next year. Always up for another motorcycle road trip. --Doc | ||
| Phelan |
Doc, what happened I that pic? Why was the motor apart? | ||
| Ourdee |
There will be a countdown thread on the Quick Board after the first of the year. I'll try to remember to PM you with places to stay etc. We had a good time this year. You know us Buellers like looking at different bikes too. I'd like to hear first hand from a Uly driver about the GS while sitting around a campfire. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
>>Doc, what happened I that pic? Why was the motor apart? There is an epic thread where his 2006 spat out a spark plug. You should seek it out. | ||
| Etennuly |
Sending you a PM.... | ||
| Dr_greg |
Doc, what happened in that pic? Why was the motor apart? Like Nate said...it turned into quite a project. One thing led to another. Bottom line is that I got it all back together and got it to 55,000 miles. Like he said, there's a long thread about it (pic is from that thread). Then I hit the forest rat...cancel one Uly. --Doc | ||
| Ourdee |
forest rat That was what it looked like.=] | ||
| Etennuly |
The good Dr made it by my place Friday afternoon for a couple of night's stay. We had a great visit and what turned into a nice local ride on Saturday. My Uly with Wotan at the Dragon.  We debated not riding at all Saturday because of rain, but we decided to give it a shot. Somehow we managed to skirt some storms and only had to ride in a small bit of rain. Riding became a good decision after a while. For my area of East Tennessee to ride into the Smoky Mountains on a Saturday, that happens to be a "Rod Run" weekend, is just stupid. To ride any where near Sevierville or Gatlinburg....stupid. But that was the given choice of days.....and I did not know of "Rod Run" happening on this particular weekend.....for that I apologized. To say the first hour was slow going.....well it sucked for a while. But that is what I call the price of admission to ride the Great Smoky Mountain gap roads. Once on 441 - New Found Gap, South of Gatlinburg the traffic thinned considerably. We rode, still with traffic, at around 40 mph, not bad with the speed limit actually 35. Then we did lunch in Cherokee. On to rt 19 to Bryceville then with even less traffic, on to rt 28. This is the road to the Dragon that can be as much fun as the Dragon. It was great until we caught up to a pick up toting a boat and trailer. It, however, was not doing too bad. I knew the stop sign at the end of the road was coming up fairly soon so passing would have been unwise at that point. Much to Dr Greg's surprise we popped up at the Dragon store. The Dragon was our return home pass over the mountain range. He was following me so he did not realize at the time that I intended to ride home that way. It is after all, just another mountain pass to get over the Smokies. As we came down the North end of the Dragon traffic was no longer a problem and we rode a nice pace. My front tire is worn out and my riding skills are rusty, but we still had fun. We then crossed the Foothills Parkway. 18 miles of niceness. On through Maryville/Alcoa, and 50 miles of stress free riding back to home. I'm glad he came here, it was nice to meet the good Dr in person, and to share a local, to me, ride. | ||
| Pnw_uly |
Thanks for posting - - that Doc Greg guy sure gets around ! ! Glad to see he's still roaming, seems like he had a pretty high mileage riding season this year. | ||
| Hughlysses |
Cool story, Vern. Glad a Badwebber was able to introduce Doc to some of the southeast's best roads. | ||
| Dr_greg |
Just returned home yesterday at 1605 hrs. 5,206 miles total, and---as Vern mentioned above---we had a GREAT time riding in his area. With little sickness this year (so far), I've been able to do pretty well on riding: GSW is at 48,339 miles as it sits on my garage having the 48K maintenance done on it (by me, of course). Not bad for buying it new June 2013. Vern's Uly brought a tear to my eye. It was delightful riding with him. One of the real "good guys." --Doc P.S. Gonna leave Wednesday for a week-long ride out to my 50th high school reunion in SoCal. Then I'm STAYIN' HOME for a while... | ||
| Tootal |
Hey Dr. Greg, it's so good to hear how well you've been doing. You really had us worried for a while. I'm sure that Mrs. Greg is really pleased she hasn't had to come to the rescue for a long time! Enjoy your ride to SoCal, always one of my favorite destinations! | ||
| Arry |
Doc, you really put on the miles! What do you figure, on average, for a set of tires? with the kind of (tire) mileage a lot of us get, that would be 8-10 sets in two years. Yikes!! | ||
| Etennuly |
Hi Greg! Glad to see you successfully completed your trip. I hope you were able to get in at least most of what you wanted to. Time for your visit here seemed so short. Heck I did not even get a chance to let you ride the Uly! I have become quite busy the last week or two and as such have not had a chance to get back to your blog. Sounded like you had a great time at least as far as I had read. I will catch up on that as soon as I can. There is so much more to see and ride here. I feel like with the limited time we had it was best to ride one of our local "standard" loops. I went out and got lost frequently for a few years, within a couple of hundred miles of our home, before it started to feel any where near repetitive. Most of it is so much fun, repeating is what it is about. It was great meeting you and happy to have been your host for a spell. Next time we'll try to make time for that beer! | ||
| Dr_greg |
BadWeB is the best---nobody over at ADVrider.com cares about me  ...ha, ha, just kidding. Hey Dr. Greg, it's so good to hear how well you've been doing. You really had us worried for a while. I'm sure that Mrs. Greg is really pleased she hasn't had to come to the rescue for a long time! Enjoy your ride to SoCal, always one of my favorite destinations! She is, indeed. Although I now have emergency road service, so she's off the hook for good. My three-day route from Albuquerque to SoCal goes thru some very nice rural parts of NM, AZ, and CA. I avoid the interstate for almost the entire distance. Camp at Fool Hollow Lake in Eastern AZ highlands; rest of the time at motels. I'm no longer much of a fan of SoCal---TOO MANY PEOPLE! Although I do have some favorite roads in the San Jacinto Mountain and N San Diego County area. Tolerable on weekdays, but won't be doing that on this trip. Reunion only, then hightail it back to New Mexico. Doc, you really put on the miles! What do you figure, on average, for a set of tires? with the kind of (tire) mileage a lot of us get, that would be 8-10 sets in two years. Yikes!! Yessir, that's one benefit of retirement---more time to ride. Good thing I mount my own tires (and have the scratched wheels to prove it). I use Michelin PR4 tires on the road, and get maybe 8K on a rear, double for the front (I'm fairly light, and I ride like an old lady). One problem is, I rarely get the "full wear" out of a tire, cuz ya never want to start a long trip with a tire that won't go the distance (er, I don't), so I end up changing them a little early. During the cool weather months I've been known to mount TKC-80s; they "fall into" corners a bit, but sure are better on soft surfaces. I'd still be stuck in the mud near Reserve, New Mexico if I hadn't had the TKC's during my 4-day trip last April. Hi Greg! Glad to see you successfully completed your trip. I hope you were able to get in at least most of what you wanted to. Time for your visit here seemed so short. Heck I did not even get a chance to let you ride the Uly! I have become quite busy the last week or two and as such have not had a chance to get back to your blog. Sounded like you had a great time at least as far as I had read. I will catch up on that as soon as I can. There is so much more to see and ride here. I feel like with the limited time we had it was best to ride one of our local "standard" loops. I went out and got lost frequently for a few years, within a couple of hundred miles of our home, before it started to feel any where near repetitive. Most of it is so much fun, repeating is what it is about. It was great meeting you and happy to have been your host for a spell. Next time we'll try to make time for that beer! Vern, you were the PERFECT host. We have roads in New Mexico that IMHO equal any in E TN/NC/etc, but we don't have very many of them. So one ends up riding the same roads over and over... I will undoubtedly do more "mid-Atlantic" trips in the next few years, so rest assured you'll get a second chance. BTW, if anyone wants to look, the ADVrider.com Ride Report is HERE. I'll quit "polluting" this forum now---being a wet-head GS rider---but it's always good to interact with all you folks. Still the best bunch overall that are out there. --Doc |
