I'm back from the XL List Rally in Kansas City. What a great time!
A quick synopsis of the event:
Wednesday, June 23, 2004
I hooked up with a group heading out of the metromess at about 10am. We took some back roads, staying off the interstate and winding our way to Tulsa, OK. The weather was perfect, clear skies, and the bikes were running great. In Tulsa, we crashed at a road side motel and floated the miles away in their pool. Dinner and a quick beer at a local Tulsa biker hangout (The Pump House?). After the beer, we headed back to the hotel to crash for an early evening.
Thursday, June 24th, 2004
Got up early, loaded the bikes up and headed north towards KC again. Once again, the weather was pristine. It got a little warm in the afternoon, but not near as hot as it has been in the past. We checked into our respective hotels and headed out to the Rally site - to check things out.
The road leading to the rally site was nice and twisty - good asphalt to wear the edge off any squared up interstate tires. We followed the signs to the site, and turned in. The grass was freshly bush hogged. The actual site was down a rather steep hill and set a ways back from the road. There was a clearing right off the road, from which you can go straight down the hill, or take a less treacherous curvy path down to the bottom.
The campground was a rather large clearing bordered by the steep hill, and little creek running through the trees. People were already setting up camp and staking out their territory.
He hung around a bit, met with some bikers that had just rolled in. We decided to head out for steak dinner back in Lansing.
Friday, June 25th, 2004
The official start day of the Rally. We had tours scheduled at the Harley-Davidson plant. Normally, this time of the year, H-D is not giving factory tours - as they are in the middle of change out for production of the 2005 bike models. Luckily, the rally coordinator was able to bend enough ears at H-D corporate to give us a special tour. The MoCo really came through! They took us through in groups of 25. We were sworn to secrecy about anything we saw regarding the 2005 model lines. This was because the new models had not been introduced yet (so the story goes) to the general public or even the dealers.
Very interesting to see the production line. Factoid: A Sportster spends just 43 minutes on the assembly line. The production line moves at 6 feet per minute. That’s a pretty good clip for assembling a motorcycle.
After the tour, we left as a huge group and headed back to the rally site.
It was a great view to see sheer number of bikes all in line. It was significant because they were all the same type! I don't think there has ever been that many Sportsters gathered in one place at the same time.
That night we had BBQ chicken as the main course - grilled out at the rally site. It was all good.
Saturday, June 26th, 2004
We meet early at my hotel and head to the Rally site - they were serving breakfast at 8am. The morning dew was heavy on the grass. We decided to take the steep hill down to the rally site.
I almost made it.
I was inching the bike down, doing well, until the bottom of the hill. I just touched my front brake. Like a magnet, the bike was pulled over and I jumped off. Granted, I wasn’t moving very fast - just creeping along.
Several people put down their pancake breakfast and ran over to check on me and help me get the bike upright. Luckily, I wasn’t hurt physically - just embarrassed to have fallen - and to have done it in front of everyone.
We inspect the bike for damage, and find that I broke my right front blinker. One of the rally attendees produces a roll of electrical tape and tapes the dangling light to my handle bar to keep it from scratching the paint.
The breakfast was catered - pancakes and sausages! Excellent pancakes! They had a 6 foot grill that would cook 24 pancakes at a time. The cook would flip the pancakes in the air, and you had to catch it with your plate - great fun.
Later that morning, we headed to the local Kansas City H-D stealer to get me a new blinker. Headed back to the hotel and installed the new blinker. I am now road legal again!
Dinner that night was BBQ again - this time catered. We had sausage, beans and bread. Once again - an excellent meal. As the evening cooled, the band set up and played into the night.
We had a the raffle drawing. Lots of great prizes were given away. T-shirts from dealers allover the US, chromed parts (guaranteed extra horsepower!) with the grand prize being a custom paint job for a bike.
Sunday, June 27, 2004
We loaded up early and were on the road by 6:30am. As soon as we hit the southbound highway, it started to rain. And rain. We pulled over and the rest of the group put on their rain gear - I was already wet, so I didn't bother.
We rambled on. We hit Tulsa again about lunch time. Took a break for some resting and eats, and headed out again.
About two hours south of Tulsa, I ran in to problems. The bike seemed to be running fine, but it was losing speed. The tach was still up in the high RPMs and the speedometer was still showing 75 mph, but I was defiantly slowing down. I shifted gears to see if that helped - no good. No matter what I did, the bike wasn't going forward.
I pulled off the side of the road and wait for the rest of my riding group to circle around.
Luckily, one of the guys in the group is a defacto expert on the mechanical innards of a sporty, and diagnosed it as "bad". The front drive belt pulley was stripped against the output shaft of the transmission. This means the engine and transmission are all fine, but no power was getting to the drive belt.
I wasn’t going anywhere.
I whipped out my HOG card and was going to try their roadside assistance. They told me the best they could do was take me and the bike back to Tulsa. And HOG only covers the first $100 of a tow. I then called Progressive (insurance) to see what options they offered - even worse. 15 miles, after that its out off my own pocket.
So I called HOG back and told them to dispatch a truck. I figured that I would rent a car in Tulsa, drive to Dallas, get MY truck, drive back to Tulsa, get the bike and then head home. The tow truck was supposed to arrive in 30 minutes.
After the 30 minute timeframe, we come up with the idea of calling Uhaul, and I can rent a truck, and haul the bike myself. We get in touch with the local Uhaul place. The guy who answers the phone tells me that HOG just called. Apparently, this place is the only Uhaul / tow truck company in the area. But he tells me that their truck is currently out on another call, and doesn’t have an ETA back to base. I start hammering on him about getting ANY truck or even a pickup. He agrees, and promises to be here in 15 minutes.
We wait another 30 minutes - I call back. The same guy answers, he tells me that his boss took off and has the keys to all the trucks with him. They best he can do is a trailer hooked to his car. But he doesn’t have any tie-downs, and suggested that we use old tires as cushion. I THINK NOT!
I ask him to look for a full size pickup. He tells me there is one truck on the lot, but he doesn’t know if he can borrow it.
20 minutes later a 1986 Ford Ranger (full-size, pre-F150 moniker) lurches into out parking lot. The truck is complete with cracked windshield and the requisite "No Fear" eyebrow sticker on the windshield.
We have him pull the truck in to a ditch so we can roll the bike into the bed. We strap it down, and try to back the truck out.
No good. The bumper has dug itself into the dirt.
We have to unload the bike, shove rocks and other road debris so that the tires can get some grip. We back the truck up a bit, re-load the bike and tie it off.
The rest of the bikers wave goodbye and head off to Dallas. I hop into the truck with "Levi" and we head to the Uhaul place.
Arriving at the Uhaul place, I find that they have NO truck available, and the closest truck is in Tulsa. And Tulsa closes at 5pm (its not 4:30pm). I refuse to be stuck in Henryetta for the night. I head out, and find the owner of the pickup that still held my bike. "Randy" is the local boat mechanic and was just getting off of work.
I ask him "How would you like to go to Dallas this evening?". He waffles. And I start my verbal influencing. He finally agrees to take me and the bike to Dallas that evening. We agree on a price (only about $50 more than had I rented a UHaul).
We drive the three hours to Dallas, and unload the bike. I am actually home by 8:30! Sporty in the garage, and me sitting on my couch.
Overall it was a GREAT trip. The mechanical problems - eh. That just adds to the adventure.
Its finally here! The All Sportster Rally in Kansas City. I'm packed and ready to leave tomorrow morning.
Later
What a great evening! An Uncle of mine has some suite tickets to Texas Motor Speedway, and somehow came up with a few extra tickets for the race last night.
I have never been to an actual IRL (Indy Racing League) race. I have been to the qualifying trial at the Brickyard but didn't stay for the actual race (they next day).
It was quite a site to behold. I enjoy racing on the Speed channel, but when you are there in person - its a different world. The screaming engines, the fans, the whole experience of it all.
We sat out in the grand stands to watch the start of the race. we had a few people in the group who had never been to a live race before. It worth it to be there in person, to hear, no, feel the concussion of the cars as they stream by.
To keep every one interested, we started a pool - $5 on a car, and whose ever car came out in front, would win the pot. for most of us, it was a crap shoot in the dark. We scribbled down the choices on the back of an entry ticket, talked some smack, and keep asking for the program to correctly identify our chosen car.
I choose Tony Kanann from Brazil driving the 7-Eleven car. he was easy to follow - bright green and white, and he started the race in second place. Always a good sign.
After about 10 laps, we moved inside to the suite. Air conditioned, catered food, free soft drinks (cash bar), and seats that seemed to hang out over the track.
We cleaned out the buffet line and settled down in our primo seats to watch the rest of the race from our perch on high.
My car, Kanann was leading the pack for a good portion of the race - much to the disappointment of my fellow race fans.
The race went quickly. There were a few crashes, but luckily nothing in terms of fireballs, mostly it was hitting the wall or spinning out of control. None of the drives were hurt, but it still impressive to see a car slide into a wall at 210mph and just disintegrate as it plows down the track.
Kananna ended up winning the race - leading the pack for something like 145 laps of 200. He just dominated last night.
I finally decided to move to a more "normal" comment system. this time its javascript. The previous system required the use of email. *I* never felt comfortable with that system, but it was easy to setup and get going.
Try it out.. let me know what you think.
This past weekend, I went to a birthday party. A Centennial Birthday party. I have a Great-Great Aunt who turned 100 this weekend.
Most of my immediate family loaded up and drive to Lafayette, LA for the shin dig. It was good to see everyone. Unlike most family, ours is large and fairly non-dysfunctional. We mostly get along, and enjoy each others company. Family gatherings are actually something I I look forward to. A rare thing in these days.
Anyway... "Auntie" the Birthday girl was looking sharp. She was feeling good. One of the amazing things about Auntie, is that even with her age, she still does not need a wheelchair or even a walker. She is still able to get up and walk around. I was amazed, she was on her feet for a good portion of the party.
On the drive back, I reflected about the importance of a 100th birthday. I kept thinking about how many thing Auntie has seen in her lifetime. The technological changes, the social movements, the wars that have raged across the planet. Yet, through it all, she raised not only her family, but has been around to see her grandchildren to have children of their own.
I firmly believe that her values and matronly influence has thoroughly permeated the fabric of my family. As I mentioned above how well we all get along - it all rolls back to my parents, who got it from their parents, who in turn got it from Auntie.
Here are some pictures I took of the party.