Bonneville America Forums Forums General Motorcycle Forums Rides, Rallies, & Events GA Rally 1st experience PART ONE (the back story)

Georgia Rally 07 a first time experience,

Part one: The back story

Having hosted a small rally in NH in July and then riding out to the North East, both of these now being infamous rides for their own reasons, I HAD to go to GA this year to complete the trio.

This would be just one more decision in a long line of decisions, that would lead me down the path to the Nirvana that is the GA Rally.

First we need a plan…well first I need to know if it’s “we” or “I” that needs this plan…So I call Lee (he’s been to Pats for the NE and he rode with us in NH so he knows a lot of the players) and tell him “I’m going to GA this year and you are too”… this seems to be enough of a push for him to tell me the next day that his schedule is clear and he has requested the time off…it’s now mid October and the countdown has begun…

First is a long list of “must-haves” for the trip a bunch of new shiny stuff for the bike, cam cover, foot bar, rear master cylinder cover, license plate bracket, a throttle boss for the ISO grips cruise control, an MP3 player, a trunk bag to match the gargantuan saddle bags I have, an E-Zpass for the tolls, better get the patches put on the vest, a GPS system (incase I should suddenly forget how to read a map) change the oil, put in a 12vt power port, clean and polish the bike, swap out the rain jacket, adjust and oil the chain, check the tire pressure, did you order those stickers from Fast Eddy? Where’s my dam BA.COM patch??….sh!t so much to do and its already Halloween….I better get started…

Days turn into weeks and weeks to months, to pass the time Lee and I plan a mid winter rally, I quit smoking and get a vasectomy just so that I’ll have something else to focus on besides the slow passage of time till that day when we leave. In the boredom that is the winter doldrums an idea is born…lets “Iron Butt” our way there…great one more thing to plan out to help pass the time while we watch the snow pile up on the shed roof…

The holiday season is over, the winter rally (a fun time for sure) is over, it’s now full on winter and S.A.D. is starting to take over…I long for the warmer weather and begin to mope about, the new chrome arrives, but as my shed is unheated it must wait till the warmer weather breaks, so it sits in the living room, next to the couch, slowly loosing its luster as the dust from the winter heat (wood stove) piles up on it. I dust it, clean it, and move it to the shed, (so as not to be reminded of the fact I cant ride now) like somehow, if I can’t see it perhaps I’ll forget…to help pass the time I clean the workshop and set up for reloading…I load 1000’s of rounds but it doesn’t help…I want to ride and winter is holding on like a 6 year old kid on a sit and spin…just for fun it dumps a couple more feet over the next few weeks when you would expect it to be getting warmer. The trip is planned, the players are in place, Big-poppy, Lee, and myself will ride the “Iron butt” together to GA, the reservations are made, the MP3 player is loaded, the GPS is programmed, the route has been checked and rechecked, adjusted and re adjusted….yet 18” of fresh snow reminds me that it’s not quite time to leave yet…bullsh!t 18” of fresh snow just tells me it’s DEFINITELY time to go to GA…and mert’s countdown isn’t moving near fast enough.

The weather breaks (briefly) and we go for a quick blast to Kittery ME (about an hour away) we take the bikes and a short cut so it only takes us 4 hours to get there. On the way Lee low sides it and breaks 3 ribs and messes up the bike…mostly cosmetics but none-the-less, after all would we spend so much time cleaning and polishing if cosmetics WEREN’T important…were just outside of GA by shy of a month and now this…what next….how about 12 + inches of snow and Ice….I refuse to shovel or run the snowblower…I’ve HAD IT!!! SCREW YOU OLD MAN WINTER…you brought it you can take it away…I AIN’T DOING IT! It gets to a point were all we do is laugh and half joke that we might have to delay an early start to leave for GA till the plows clear the roads a bit…but in reality things are starting to look questionable, Lee is injured, the snow is still around and my bike is acting up…

Over night Old Man Winter decides he’s had enough and packs it up to leave the temps rise and the bike gets a bunch of shiny stuff put on…the GPS gets a mount, the oil gets changed, I’m even starting to pull out stuff to pack…the countdown has nearly reached single didgits…it’s here FINALY…just one quick Patriot Guard ride, and even it is a happy occasion as opposed to the usual PGR events it’s a welcome home ride…and the weather is BEAUTIFUL for it!! Then it happens the bike dies…dead…pushin up daisies… gone to sing with the choir invisible…it won’t start, I keep pushin the start button but nothing…I’d already eliminated all the usuall suspects and some unlikely too (remember earlier I said it was acting up) we push start it and I drive straight to the dealer…FIX THIS NOW I patiently explain to them…I leave in 10 count them 10 days and I will NOT drive 1300 miles and push start it at every fuel stop…and since you have it fix the dam speedo too…(the trip meter was AFU)

Life is filled with little surprises and when you think your life is miserable, look around something or someone will show up to tell you “it aint so bad bunky” Here I am bitchin cause my TOY isn’t working right, and it may disturb my plans for a little mini VACATION…

Well on the day Old Man Winter decided it’s time to split, he gives us a parting shot…but because its so warm his Noreaster drops rain not snow…but it drops TONS of it…I get a call from my wives second cousin (our age and we hang out ) and she say's they may be evacuated due to flooding…I say come on over, we got room…then they show up…two adults, 1 (16 yo) daughter 1 (4 yo) daughter, 1 (10 yo) chocolate lab, 1 (9week old) lab puppy, a cat and a rabbit, all arrive…the next day Brian goes to get some stuff from his house (school books and cloths) BY BOAT…he ROWS to the front door unlocks it and steps into his house….and my bike won’t start, tough huh! They now live with me till FEMA can sort everything out and they fix the mechanics of the house…the river WASHED AWAY THEIR FURNACE AND WELL FILTER SYSTEM….and my bike won’t start…. (I tell you this only to impress upon you one more reason why I NEED to go to GA I love them dearly but weeks of house guests and the ARK full of animals is one more reason for sure...and to point out that life ain't so bad and could be worse!)

Anyway they drop the bike off on Saturday “T” minus 3 days prior to liftoff…and it’s NOT fixed…it’s better but not right…now it’s back to intermittent function instead of just plain dead….great…no time to fix it now…intermittent will have to due…it starts like every 6 or seven pushes of the starter button…no biggie…right???

It’s Tuesday John (big poppy) has arrived from CT (he’s leaving from my house so that all of our mileage will match for the “Iron butt”) the bike are packed (except for some final doodads) and the day is here FINALLY! We leave in the AM…mert has reached zero…there is no more waiting, planning, re planning, waiting, packing, polishing, cleaning, or friggin waiting around,… just riding…

Now GET TO BED because 03:00 comes awful early to those who only know it exists because they drank too much one night and found it comes if you wait long enough…
Yeah right!!! Go to bed…tell a kid to go to sleep on Christmas Eve…Johny tomorrow we go to Disney World now go to sleep…Bob that blood work didn’t look good….we should know more in the morning try and get some sleep…Tim the jury won’t have your verdict till first thing so rest up….did you know that if you climb into bed at 9:00pm you can cont backwards from 1000 like a gazillion times and still not be asleep by 12:00am if your excited….and sheep (even the black Harley riding type) counting doesn’t help either…well after a restful 2 hours of sleep it was time to get up…hey what’s that I hear…sounds like…………….RAIN!!!!!!you GOT to be kiddin RIGHT!!! Were leaving at 04:00 and it POURING RAIN….great pitch dark, no sleep, we got to do 1000 miles in 24 hours or less AND document everything, and incase that isn’t enough lets add some rain to the mix…

Well it’s not like Lee and I haven’t ridden in the rain before…NH Rally was a monsoon and the trip home from the NE was bad too…and Poppy was there for that little rain filled party on the NY Thruway also so he’s ridden in it too…we’ll be fine…but it will slow us down….way down…..

more later but for now I'm going back to bed.....

Great first chapter
Can't wait for the next installment of
As the sprocket turns
By Rob Johnson

I'm reading this in a New Hampshire accent.

I have a quarta.

Loved it! Great story... can't wait for the sequel.

I'm waiting for part 2.

Great story.. looking forward to part 2..

I told you this guy is talented. I loved reading it and I lived it.

There are BS artists then there are Masters .. Rob is a MASTER . I was there an could not have created a better picture of our journey . The trip was difficult BUT fantastic . The two individuals I rode down with couldn't have made the experience any better . Rob , Big Poppy thank you for the oppertunity allowing my non Triumph to be a part of this experience . Shy , Di thank you for being the wonderful hosts you were. This was a trip I'll never forget .

you guys.... :

if all goes well I'll finish part 2 tonight

i thought it was youz guys.

That's New York. Rob's from New Hampsha

ayup

I reckon he'll get roundtoit soon.

just so happens I got me one of them thar roundtoits and part II is done!