The Ramblings of a Uralogist- A cross country ADVenture on three wheels

Clean and showered in a nice motel room in Henryetta OK, so it's time to update.
Last night I actually checked into two motels in Amarillo. I should have known better when I checked into the first one. It was on the main drag and next to a bunch of others but it was $42. There was a huge Fleetwood motorhome that was painted black and stickered up sitting in front with ghetto music playing. (Yes, I can be thick at times.) The little guy from the RV who was checking in was almost like a cartoon characature (SP?) of a guy from the hood. Baggy shorts with his ass covered only by his wife beater Tshirt, crooked baseball hat with an extra big brim, tatooed neck, really my kinda guy.:huh
When I got to the desk I just asked that i be put on the other side of the complex. That didn't help. Lots of seedy guys outside on that side when I got there. The room stunk so I finally got my act together and rode back up front and asked for a refund. The desk guy wasn't surprised and even suggested that I go back west a mile to a better place. $6 more got me a nice, clean place. I'm learning.
This morning I got up and checked things over. Two tires were down a few pounds. Damn Ural POS.
The guys at a tire place swarmed the bike when I pulled in. They all loved it. More sales for Ural? I hope so.
I then went another couples miles west to get to the infamous Cadillac Ranch.









What's this? A bumper sticker?



Nice. It's been to Sky Lodge! I wonder when that car was there?

From there I headed back east on I-40 and Rt.66.

This was at a visitor's information center.







Again, some abandoned buildings, but things about 66 were really about to look up.





Meet Dorris of Shamrock, Texas. This nice lady really made my day. She was so pleasant and informative. I wish she were my neighbor. After we talked for a while I bought the T shirt and some post cards. She then gave me a copy of an Irish blessing that really fit the day.

May the road rise to meet you, May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm on your face, the rains fall soft upon your fields and, until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of his hand.



I think that many of us will recognize the place where she works or volunteers. Ramone's from the movie Cars!



If you look closely you can see that they even have the neon restored. Simply beautiful. I think it might make a great Ural dealership. The Desert Rat looks right at home.



I hope I don't screw up the story when I say that the town or county got a government grant to fix the place up. This is one of those things where I don't mind my tax money going. This country needs to save a few old buildings. We'll never have 1000 year old buildings like europe if we keep letting every 90 year old one fall down.









Doris's little blessing did work. The day was as nice as you could ask for and I had a good 45+ MPH wind at my back. The bike ran happily at 65 and even 70 today.

Onward ho! On 66 I stopped by one of the museums dedicated to The Mother Road. I was just going to peek in but the very nice lady inside told me to take my time on my ride. She was too sweet to say no to. I'm glad I did. She then even talked me into sitting in their theater and watching the Rt. 66 movie that was 15 minutes long. A great stop.

My original plans had me following Rt.66 up to Tulsa before heading east on minor roads. Around 3 PM I stopped at a McD for wifi and checked the forecast for tomorrow. There were red watchboxes just north of Tulsa, almost touching it. No go. The forecast for straight east out of Oklahoma City was fine. On Rt. 40 I go.
I pulled off in Henryetta because it was about to get dark. It was almost perfect timing for my 7500 KM oil changes so I went into an O'Reiley's auto parts minutes before they closed. The two really nice guys there said they would stick around so I could dispose of my oil at their store. I quickly went through my stuff to get my extra oil filter and tools and got draining. I'm happy to say that the engine, tranny, and diff oils all looked good.
As I was wrenching a younger guy pulled up on a CBR to see just what the hell was being worked on in the parking lot. We talked briefly and he left. A few minutes later he returned with a friend to show him my bike. I'm sorry to say that I didn't get their names. The older of these three is Larry and Donna's son. More on them next.




The crowd grew. A pick up pulled in to see if there was something he could help with. Larry and Donna have been married longer than me (32 years I think?) and have been riding all that time. As I wrenched we all talked. I said that I was going to the east side of their little town for a room. Larry said that I was going to his friend's motel instead. By this time I knew that I'd be a fool to not take his good advice. They led me with his truck to the Green Country Inn that I had rode past a while earlier. Boy, am I glad I listened. Great place and rates.



When I got into the room it was well past dark and I figured that Julie needed me to check in soon. While I was talking to her on the phone I heard a bunch of guys out the door talking about my bike. I came out and met Jeff, Jeremy, and Jacob, a father and two sons heading home to Kentucky after picking up one of the sons from California. Yet again, three nice people that I would have never met if it were not for this bike and trip.

Just found this report and have spent the last hour cruising through it. Looks like a good time and certainly jealous of such a nice trip. Love those Urals, esp the desert rat camo. Have a safe trip home.

Just found this morning and since it's pouring down the rain outside I caught up with the report. A couple of questions that I didn't see as I went throught the report. What kind of fuel mileage are you gettting, two up and single, and what speeds are you cruising at? I enjoyed the west coast pics as I was out there a few years ago and most of where you've been I traveled through and it brings back a lot of good memories. Ride safe and I'll look forward to the rest of your adventure.

Hi Ron,
I'm stopped for lunch and checking maps. I honestly haven't been checking mileage although I would put a very rough guess at 25-32. I'm powering through Oklahoma and Arkansas today. I've been in warm sun but there has been dark clouds to the west and north all morning. Doing an easy 62-65 with a slight wind at my back.

Any Rancher/Dairy man will tell you that's the smell of money.

Lots of miles today. 742 KMs or 461 miles. No problems and not sore a bit.
The scenery was better than I expected. Left Oklahoma went through Arkansas. I stopped to check weather online a few times and it kept me on a southerly route.

I saw this neat old square log cabin on Rt64 in Arkansas.



I'm amazed by the amount of irrigation that I've seen throughout the country. There is not nearly the same amount where I'm from.



When I saw that I'd be within 10 miles of this place, I just had to stop for this picture. I was hoping that there would be Elvis impersonators around, but no such luck. I would have paid to have one sit on the Ural.



I just got off the phone. Looks like I won't be riding the last leg alone.

Tomorrow I'll be getting some pictures that should really please the gearheads. Stay tuned.

Really enjoying this RR, Tom. Thanks for taking us along on the ride!

Glad to have you along J-Dub. Not too many days left of this ride.
Thanks to a suggestion from my little brother, today I went to the Barber Motorsports museum in Birmingham. I started the day in Tupelo Mississippi and rode in for the noon opening. Words cannot describe this collection. I talked to an older gentleman that has worked there for nine years. He said he is still finding something new to look at everyday. I believe he said there were 1300 bikes on display and that was only 1/3 of the collection, and they are still acquiring bikes. :eek1 I took over 200 pictures and think I need to learn how to put up a link to a slideshow. Just name it and it was there. Old, new, original, custom, unrestored classics,.... My head is still spinning. Every rider that I talked to had the same impression as I did. Add to that the active race track that was out the one wall that was entirely glass for all of the five stories of bikes. With all the originals and sole survivors that were on display I cannot imagine any other place on this earth that can compare with what they have put together in Alabama. Motorcyclist heaven found.
After that I rode to Athens, TN. My older brother Knecht, I mean Panzir, rode his RoadGlide down from the shores of Lake Ontario to Front Royale today. Tomorrow I will ride the Tail of the Dragon, then work my way to the Blue Ridge. At some point we will meet o the parkway and ride back to the Finger Lakes together. That will be the end of this story.
Thanks to anyone who's hung on this long.

Small photodump of Barber.







































Look close and you'll see that guy walking to his bike that just slid out into the sand.

I'm so glad you made it to the museum. It looks friggin incredible!!
Beyond words really.

I love that they have John Britten's bike there. He was a true Kiwi legend, just like ol' Burt Munro.

Thank you for suggesting the museum. I would have never thought of it. They have Britten's bike displayed very prominently. That man was so far ahead of his time. The only bike that I saw that is close is Eric Buell's current bike.

I have to start with last night. I was checking out a moderate motel when I met a nice couple outside. They had driven their newer Shelby Mustang and towed a dresser HD behind another car. They were also planning on hunting dragons the next day. They just weren't sure which weapon they'd use. Talking with then convinced me that I should stay there for the night. I'm irritated that their names escape me.
This morning I rode the Cherahola Skyway to 129 (Deal's Gap, The Dragon) Lots to be seen there. Beautiful scenery and some neat man made stuff. Notice the guy half way up the crane. This stuff was huge!






I've been lucky enough to ride the dragon on my VF1000R and FJR1300 a few years back. I've always thought the oncoming traffic is the biggest danger around there.
On my way there I saw this fantastic topiary and had to turn around. The creator of these masterpieces happened to be in his front yard and came over. I got his card but can't find it now. (Things get a little disorganized after three weeks on the road and no wife for a few days.) He's even gone to AbuDabi to make some for bigshots over there.
Edit- His name is Joe Kyte and his amazing work can be found at www.topiaryjoe.com. Go check it out.

The master:



An old Porsche he's finishing up:




Today was a Monday with perfect weather and the amount of bikes and cars weren't bad. After a pit stop at the store I was getting ready to ride the famed 11 miles when three Harley Pirates rode past on one dresser and two RoadKings. I finished putting on my helmet, gloves, and checking things and took off a ways behind them. In less than a minute I and a GSXR750 pulled over because we were on the HD's asses. We gave them a good minute, then left again. The GSXR disappeared but I caught them all in another minute or less. The HDs were in full parade mode. I pulled over again. I noticed that a bolt on my plexifairing was loose. I pulled off my gloves, finger tightened it but it was still loose and a distraction. I opened my tank bag and pulled out a zip tie to hold the bolt. Failed at the first attempt, got a second one and it did OK. I closed up the tank bag, wrestled my gloves onto my sweating hands, then took off. I caught up with the Harleys and GSXR as they finished the 11 miles. Was I going too fast? I think three guys were going too slow.
I'll have to look for the pictures on 126slayer or killboy. I know that there is at least one ugly one of me doing a bad flying the chair. I blame the pirates for throwing off my game with a heavily loaded sidecar.



A random shot of the area.


After my runs of the Dragon I stopped across the road and met Ron and Nancy who run tailofthedragon.com. They are happy Florida transplants that sell Deal's Gap stuff, rent bikes, and even vacation rentals. Since Julie and I do the latter, we talked for a while. As I said before, more great people that I've been lucky to cross paths with. I wish this picture they took of me at their place would show better detail of their sculpture. It is a steel dragon's tail with a built in road, wrapped around a pocket bike. It is really great work.





Gotta add a state.




There was a two stroke gathering at Deal's Gap. You should of heard the one with the stingers.







The Tree of Shame. Made it through on three bikes and haven't left anything yet. Knock on wood.









As I was getting ready to leave the couple with the Shelby and HD dresser from last night and 50 miles away walked up. They had chosen the Mustang but were going to come back for a week next year.

I thought this paint job was stunning.





Then it was on to the parkway.

I think I know this girl.



I've always admired this clean little gas station, grocery store, and motel. I've stopped everytime for an ice cream.



The southern entrance to the BRP.



It gets dramatic very quickly.









You can see the cut of the road through the mountaintops. This is looking north towards the Mt. Pisgah Lodge where I'm spending the night. I also ended up here a few years ago when I was riding my newly purchased FJR home from Orlando.


Meet Chris W., the guy who checked me in at the lodge. I'm glad that he was here. We immediately started talking bikes. This is him with his everyday ride. A damn clean bike. Chris is interesting as hell. He's been around the country, knows a ton about birds and has even hiked the entire appalachian trail. I'm sure that if he had more time I would have learned more interesting things about him. Great to meet him.

Your story has been so cool, I had to stop lurking and register and make this my first post telling you how much I have really liked your adventure. Hopefully and if everything goes as planned I will be going on a 3 week ride at the end of July, going from Naples Florida to El Paso Texas, to Libby Montana, Sturgis, and then back to Naples. Reading post like yours really get the heart pumping and makes me long for my trip. Thanks for all of the great ideas... and screw you at the same time because I see a new bike in my future.

Good morning LawHawg, and welcome to the asylum. Thank you for the kind words. ADVRider can be a dangerous place. It and Pashnit.com played a large part in my motorcycle trips. The people you meet here and on the road will make you glad you started reading stuff like this.
Best of luck on your trip. I encourage you to use both websites for your planning.
Please take the time and write up a Ride Report when you do your ride. Many of us live vicariously through other's reports. (I have on a good number of them.) I've also gotten many great ideas from a few members from their reports and in the trip planning sections of these forums, and in my case also SovietSteeds. I've found that it has made me relive the day in more detail than if I just fell into a motel bed at the end of a day.

:eek1
Running? For sale?

Uh, great RR btw! Stirring up my own wanderlust once again...