Tiffany Ambling through America - Page 16

Tiffany · 07-06-2012, 03:42 PM

For the eagle-eyed amongst you, I know there will be some questions about that last picture of Thelma..just what is that "pink thing" on her??

I can explain...on my way north I dropped in at Ozzie's BMWs in Chico, California.

http://ozziesbmwcenter.com

Ozzie is a legend, a classic grumpy German, with a heart of gold, who knows everything about airheads. We'd originally met at the BMW MOA National Rally two years ago in Redmond. He'd wandered over to take a look at Thelma, we got chatting and then he said if I was ever passing to drop in and say hello, and to ask if I needed anything.
here I was two years later, and he remembered me, he was starting to wince as I casually said "Thelma needs something". But I think he was pleasantly surprised when all I pointed out was the missing panel on the side. Up to now there has been one in the pictures as I "nicked/borrowed" one off Bill's Dad's old bike in Bill Mayer's workshop...I must confess that Bill was not there at the time.
It was time to return the panel to Bill and I asked Ozzie for a replacement. He scratched his head and then led me into the room out the back. It was like an Aladdin's cave of old BMW parts- I'm kicking myself I didn't take a picture. He poked around on various shelves until finally he unearthed a panel for me. Not only was it not quite the right colour- it was pink

and it had the WRONG numbers on it

Ozzie assured me this was the only one he had, and so I said a grateful thank you, put it on and rode off.

Looking on the positive side I see it as a way for Thelma to get in touch with her feminine side, but the numbers,,,well they are something else.

Almost daily I have had "enlightening" discussions with Yanks who are swearing blind that my bike is an R100GS and who refuse to listen when I say she's an R80GS. I know many of them walk away still not believing me. Just because it wasn't introduced into the States, it doesn't mean they don't exist. Everyone knows they kept the best BMWs for the European market

And now, to aid them in their arguments, the bloody bike has the characters R100 on it.

One Less Harley · 07-06-2012, 03:47 PM

can't you peel those decals off. Such blasphemy 100 decals on a R80

Tiffany · 07-06-2012, 04:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by One Less Harley

can't you peel those decals off. Such blasphemy 100 decals on a R80

Not a good look, don't worry, coming up is the "sorting it out" post

Tiffany · 07-06-2012, 04:40 PM

We'd reached cowboy country

and apparently it's cougar country too. When the bloke in the garage heard that I'd been wild camping, he told me I was mad (and no, I had NOT mentioned the knickers on knees scenario to him). He said there are lots of cougars around and that they will attack, particularly people on their own.
Oh great I thought, I'll be keeping a careful eye open for them, apparently there's not a lot you can do to protect yourself from them. I'm just hoping my helmet and jacket would be up to the job. I asked the guys at Rukka how well they think my Rukka kevlar jacket would stand up to cougar claws, they said that was a test that hadn't been tried out yet, but that they would appreciate any first hand reports back about the jacket's performance under those circumstances

Mudclod · 07-06-2012, 07:56 PM

Ha! I don't know if you've heard that "Cougar" could mean something totally different around here. I don't think you have to worry about that kind though!

Tiffany · 07-06-2012, 08:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mudclod

Ha! I don't know if you've heard that "Cougar" could mean something totally different around here. I don't think you have to worry about that kind though!

Mudclod- I've had it explained to me, I'd heard of the TV Show but hadn't realised that was what it referred to

Tiffany · 07-06-2012, 08:55 PM

I've made it to Austin (as you can see the RR is still catching me up)

I popped in to see the guys at Horsepower Farm who are hosting me tomorrow, they're billing it as lunch with Tiffany Coates and are promising a big Texan Barbecue, maybe I should remind them that I'm vegetarian.
Winslow Mankin (great name) is the owner and was there to greet me when I visited, they've got a cool poster about the event which we posed next to.

I hope to see some of you tomorrow.

WeazyBuddha · 07-06-2012, 09:35 PM

'Gonna be around on the 14th?

A bunch of Two Wheeled Texans are getting together for BBQ at casa Tricepilot in San Antonio (i'm sure there will be veggies around, guacomole, corn, etc), LINK.

Last year's event LINK.

Tiffany · 07-07-2012, 06:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WeazyBuddha

'Gonna be around on the 14th?

A bunch of Two Wheeled Texans are getting together for BBQ at casa Tricepilot in San Antonio (i'm sure there will be veggies around, guacomole, corn, etc), LINK.

Last year's event LINK.

It looks great, but unfortunately I won't be able to make it, as I'll be in Louisiana by then, riding and socialising with the Swamp Scooteer Boys!

FotoTEX · 07-07-2012, 07:24 AM

Welcome to TEXAS. Austin has plenty of Veg. places to eat. Do not miss swimming at Barton Springs......

Tiffany · 07-08-2012, 06:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FotoTEX

Welcome to TEXAS. Austin has plenty of Veg. places to eat. Do not miss swimming at Barton Springs......

Hi FotoTex,
You'll be pleased to hear that I'd already noted about Barton Springs from your earlier post about it...and yes, I went and yes, it was great, a really refreshing dip on a hot day.
and here is the proof

For once, I had resisted the temptation to go in wearing my bike gear.

Tiffany · 07-08-2012, 07:06 AM

I was travelling north through small town, cougar-filled mountainous California then Oregon and into Boise Idaho because Thelma was heading for some TLC at Happy Trail at Boise, Idaho.
Here she is in the workshop with Jeff taking a close look

Her front end has never been the same since the Mongolian Episode...

stripped down

does that look straight now???

calling in the reinforcements

and hey, presto, Thelma was so much straighter (and easier to ride) than before. Huge thanks to Jeff at Happy Trail.
Meanwhile, I was upstairs, giving a talk and presentation about my travels which was a lot of fun. Thank you to Tim Bernard at Happy Trail for inviting me to give my presentation and for arranging for giving Thelma so much workshop time and parts, a big hi to all the busy people at Happy Trail and hello to Nevil from Plymouth/Canada whowas also presenting about his upcoming 2013 charity ride from my house (I kid you not) and around the world with his brother.
And also a big thanks to Tim's wife Sherri as well as they put me up at their house for a couple of days.

take a look at what Happy Trail has to offer for adventure riders

http://www.happy-trail.com/

Squishy · 07-08-2012, 11:30 AM

Great ride reports. Brings back wonderful memories of my solo travels through the US, Aust, England & NZ (my homeland). Good on ya, all the best.

Neil.

ThomasVolomitz · 07-08-2012, 07:51 PM

Tiffany rocks, pure and simple.

kumori · 07-08-2012, 07:58 PM

Was a pleasure meeting you at Horsepower Farms in Austin! You're presentation was great. Thank you for sharing your travels with all of us!

07-06-2012, 03:42 PM	#226
Tiffany ^OP Airhead Adventuress Joined: Jul 2010 Location: Lands End, England (sometimes) Oddometer: 669	Thelma has a Pink Turn For the eagle-eyed amongst you, I know there will be some questions about that last picture of Thelma..just what is that "pink thing" on her?? I can explain...on my way north I dropped in at Ozzie's BMWs in Chico, California. http://ozziesbmwcenter.com Ozzie is a legend, a classic grumpy German, with a heart of gold, who knows everything about airheads. We'd originally met at the BMW MOA National Rally two years ago in Redmond. He'd wandered over to take a look at Thelma, we got chatting and then he said if I was ever passing to drop in and say hello, and to ask if I needed anything. here I was two years later, and he remembered me, he was starting to wince as I casually said "Thelma needs something". But I think he was pleasantly surprised when all I pointed out was the missing panel on the side. Up to now there has been one in the pictures as I "nicked/borrowed" one off Bill's Dad's old bike in Bill Mayer's workshop...I must confess that Bill was not there at the time. It was time to return the panel to Bill and I asked Ozzie for a replacement. He scratched his head and then led me into the room out the back. It was like an Aladdin's cave of old BMW parts- I'm kicking myself I didn't take a picture. He poked around on various shelves until finally he unearthed a panel for me. Not only was it not quite the right colour- it was pink and it had the WRONG numbers on it Ozzie assured me this was the only one he had, and so I said a grateful thank you, put it on and rode off. Looking on the positive side I see it as a way for Thelma to get in touch with her feminine side, but the numbers,,,well they are something else. Almost daily I have had "enlightening" discussions with Yanks who are swearing blind that my bike is an R100GS and who refuse to listen when I say she's an R80GS. I know many of them walk away still not believing me. Just because it wasn't introduced into the States, it doesn't mean they don't exist. Everyone knows they kept the best BMWs for the European market And now, to aid them in their arguments, the bloody bike has the characters R100 on it. __________________ Tiffany On the way home from...Mongolia www.tiffanystravels.co.uk Tiffany's youtube video

07-06-2012, 03:47 PM	#227
One Less Harley OH.THAT'S GONNA HURT Joined: Nov 2006 Location: Bowling Green, Ky Oddometer: 3,814	can't you peel those decals off. Such blasphemy 100 decals on a R80 __________________ 2004 BMW R1150RS 1984 BMW R80G/S (wrenching index) 2003 Suzuki DRZ 400S (TAT Prep) One More DRZ does the TAT (Ride Report)

07-06-2012, 04:40 PM	#229
Tiffany ^OP Airhead Adventuress Joined: Jul 2010 Location: Lands End, England (sometimes) Oddometer: 669	Cougar Alert We'd reached cowboy country and apparently it's cougar country too. When the bloke in the garage heard that I'd been wild camping, he told me I was mad (and no, I had NOT mentioned the knickers on knees scenario to him). He said there are lots of cougars around and that they will attack, particularly people on their own. Oh great I thought, I'll be keeping a careful eye open for them, apparently there's not a lot you can do to protect yourself from them. I'm just hoping my helmet and jacket would be up to the job. I asked the guys at Rukka how well they think my Rukka kevlar jacket would stand up to cougar claws, they said that was a test that hadn't been tried out yet, but that they would appreciate any first hand reports back about the jacket's performance under those circumstances __________________ Tiffany On the way home from...Mongolia www.tiffanystravels.co.uk Tiffany's youtube video

07-06-2012, 07:56 PM	#230
Mudclod Mojo Moto Joined: Jun 2010 Location: Killeen, TX. Oddometer: 1,046	Cougar Country Ha! I don't know if you've heard that "Cougar" could mean something totally different around here. I don't think you have to worry about that kind though! __________________ 74 TY250 89 GB500 03 KDX220 06 DRZ400 08 DL1000 09 XR1200 Abandon all hope, it will help you focus.

07-06-2012, 08:55 PM	#232
Tiffany ^OP Airhead Adventuress Joined: Jul 2010 Location: Lands End, England (sometimes) Oddometer: 669	Calling All Texans I've made it to Austin (as you can see the RR is still catching me up) I popped in to see the guys at Horsepower Farm who are hosting me tomorrow, they're billing it as lunch with Tiffany Coates and are promising a big Texan Barbecue, maybe I should remind them that I'm vegetarian. Winslow Mankin (great name) is the owner and was there to greet me when I visited, they've got a cool poster about the event which we posed next to. I hope to see some of you tomorrow. __________________ Tiffany On the way home from...Mongolia www.tiffanystravels.co.uk Tiffany's youtube video

07-06-2012, 09:35 PM	#233
WeazyBuddha Carbon-Based Humanoid Joined: Mar 2008 Location: RGV Texas Oddometer: 2,715	'Gonna be around on the 14th? A bunch of Two Wheeled Texans are getting together for BBQ at casa Tricepilot in San Antonio (i'm sure there will be veggies around, guacomole, corn, etc), LINK. Last year's event LINK. __________________ 08 GS ● 02 KLR ● 12 WR250R ● 04 KDX200 ● 00 VFR

07-07-2012, 07:24 AM	#235
FotoTEX Beastly Adventurer Joined: Feb 2007 Location: Granbury Texas Oddometer: 2,404	Welcome to TEXAS. Austin has plenty of Veg. places to eat. Do not miss swimming at Barton Springs......

07-08-2012, 07:06 AM	#237
Tiffany ^OP Airhead Adventuress Joined: Jul 2010 Location: Lands End, England (sometimes) Oddometer: 669	Meanwhile, at the other end of the country... I was travelling north through small town, cougar-filled mountainous California then Oregon and into Boise Idaho because Thelma was heading for some TLC at Happy Trail at Boise, Idaho. Here she is in the workshop with Jeff taking a close look Her front end has never been the same since the Mongolian Episode... stripped down does that look straight now??? calling in the reinforcements and hey, presto, Thelma was so much straighter (and easier to ride) than before. Huge thanks to Jeff at Happy Trail. Meanwhile, I was upstairs, giving a talk and presentation about my travels which was a lot of fun. Thank you to Tim Bernard at Happy Trail for inviting me to give my presentation and for arranging for giving Thelma so much workshop time and parts, a big hi to all the busy people at Happy Trail and hello to Nevil from Plymouth/Canada whowas also presenting about his upcoming 2013 charity ride from my house (I kid you not) and around the world with his brother. And also a big thanks to Tim's wife Sherri as well as they put me up at their house for a couple of days. take a look at what Happy Trail has to offer for adventure riders http://www.happy-trail.com/ __________________ Tiffany On the way home from...Mongolia www.tiffanystravels.co.uk Tiffany's youtube video Tiffany screwed with this post 07-22-2012 at 02:58 PM Reason: life sometimes needs tweaking

07-08-2012, 11:30 AM	#238
Squishy Projector head. Joined: Mar 2008 Location: Out there! Oddometer: 588	Great ride reports. Brings back wonderful memories of my solo travels through the US, Aust, England & NZ (my homeland). Good on ya, all the best. Neil. __________________ ......

07-08-2012, 07:51 PM	#239
ThomasVolomitz Not so Gnarly Joined: Aug 2010 Location: DDR c/o Honecker Oddometer: 3,978	Tiffany rocks, pure and simple. __________________ Doo Done

07-08-2012, 07:58 PM	#240
kumori Adventurer Joined: Oct 2005 Location: TX USA Oddometer: 34	Was a pleasure meeting you at Horsepower Farms in Austin! You're presentation was great. Thank you for sharing your travels with all of us! __________________ Barron - IBA#47897 2007 BMW F650 GS 1980 Honda C70 (sold)

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