Still Wandering in Indiana

@old_airhead: The Versys X-300 is likely to be more reliable than either the 310GS or any RE. A small bike to me these days is my 800 lbs Road King - hey, it's smaller than an Ultra Limited or Road Glide and I can pick it up when I drop it on occasion (the engine guards prevent it from going over more than 35 degrees but I couldn't lift a UL or RG with their added top heavy weight). But I sat on a Versys X-300 at the motorcycle show when it first came out and, aside from the seat, it felt like a great size motorcycle. I'm also not a fan of singles so the parallel twin appeals to me. I don't think I've seen an X-300 in the wild but that wouldn't be unusual for where I ride.

Welcome to Joel's circus. I'm a native Hoosier but have lived elsewhere for the last 32 years. Deep down inside though - I'm still just a fourteen year old kid riding out the blizzard of '78 in Avon a mile or so east of where Joel lives now. Back in 1980 I took my RD350 to Dreyer motorcycle on Washington Street to get new Dunlops mounted. If I had stepped into the showroom and seen those BMW's I never would have become a responsible adult.

Too bad they didn't have one to see. I have a certain fondness for the look.

Some pretty nice smaller bikes becoming available.

Nice pics Joel of your meeting with Mark(aka Old Airhead)! Here's to hoping he becomes a regular on your thread. Box left Saturday a.m. and tracking says it should be there today. Busy in the shop with the KZ400 and Josh's wicked 750/4 chopper. Too focused on building bikes to have time to ride.

Joel: Do NOT watch the Triumph Trident videos unless you have room in the garage for a third bike.

Nice bike...but doesn't spark any urge to by one in me.

Must be getting old.

Took a step toward more comfortable riding next summer and placed an order for a Seat Concept kit for the KLX. The reviews are good, so hears hoping.

I wish they made a kit for the Scrambler.

Your two bikes satisfy all your riding desires. Nothing wrong with that.

What impresses me about the Trident is the power-to-weight ratio. Its closest competitor is the Honda CB650F but the Trident is 30 pounds lighter. Probably not enough to make a huge difference but I've always considered the 600-800cc class to be ideal for solo riding.

Likely to be a hit...but as you say, my bikes are satisfying the itch at the moment!

This ride is starting off well. Ran out of gas...battery died at gas station...and am now on the side of the road awaiting Deb with my air pump.

Here's hoping the tube holds enough air to get home.

Update--nope. Friend on way with truck.

Sigh.

Aaron showed up with his truck and I had texted Bob telling him it was too bad he want home (thinking he was still out west.)

Got a text back saying he arrived home last night. Her ride down and helped us load up. I gout the bike home...unloaded....and headed back out on the Triumph.

Stopped to return some straps to Bob and finally got about an got in on the Triumph.

As Bob said, "That's why we have two bikes."

Glad you got Kawi home with enough time to get a ride in on the Scrambler.

It was 70F here today but I was content to let Elvis sleep. I had enough chores to keep me busy all day but when I was out picking up nuts and bolts at the hardware store (I was there four times today!) I saw lots of bikes, including one Harley group of about a dozen riders in my hometown. They come from all over to rider the river road.

I have begun thinking about next summer and where I'd like to ride. A lot of things have to fall into place but LoLo Pass appears to be at the top of the list. But that's more than six months away and there will be a whole lot of "Longmire" episodes watched between now and then.

This isn't LoLo Pass but this guy lives near Idaho Falls and records a lot of rides around Grand Teton. On this ride he goes to Grand Targhee. You might give it a watch. He usually Vlogs but not on this one.

Hi @old_airhead !
Welcome to Indiana - glad Joel got us acquainted :)

And Hi to everyone else that already knows me.

Joel, I thought about calling you Thurs or Friday to see if you had any availability this weekend but I was not sure about whether or not I'd have any free time. Turns out I did, but it was just a few short hours. I needed to get a lot of around the house stuff done and thought it would be more pleasant to do it this weekend in the great weather instead of waiting until next weekend. I have a limited window for all my "pre Winter" activities as I am having a total knee replacement done at the end of the month which will kind limit the ladder climbing, etc. for a while. (Notice I waited until sub optimal motorcycling weather) :)

I went on a relatively short but beautiful ride late yesterday afternoon. Here's the map - I'll also copy in the "points" I used to make the map at the bottom.
Highlights:

Section 1- Between the Doc James Road start (my pole barn) and County Road 900 (the long straight road with "Alma Lake" superimposed over it.)
Joel also has taken this road out of Greencastle a few times - he has started at the intersection of "Jackson Street" and "West Walnut Street" just south of the Courthouse Square. I like my start better because it almost immediately goes through a covered bridge.

Regardless of where you start, West Walnut Street Road has very nice and smooth pavement all the way to the County Line which is where I turned and went south to US 40 . West Walnut Street Road also has more curviness than the scaling of the map shows and also has a lot of elevation changes which make it a very nice ride. It was even nicer due to all the corn being harvested which allowed better views across fields.

Section 2 - Co. Road 900 - the straight section. Kinda of unremarkable except for the fact that is is also in very good shape (for that road at least) and "wicking it up a bit" was the order of the day as I could see very far in a lot of places and there's NO traffic until the last half mile or so before Highway 40.
It also has a few elevation changes and some nice scenery but as you can see curves are not on the menu for that section.

Section 3 - left turn onto US 40 then right turn onto the county road that led toward Huffman Covered Bridge. The US 40 part - is NEW pavement all the way through Putnam County. We just caught up with Hendricks County (gets repaved often and if usually in stellar shape) and Clay County (just has a major improvement project all the way across that county to include new drainage, improvements at intersections, etc.) Enough about 40. The nice part was once I turned south off of 40 and through the Huffman Bridge. That IS curvy and has elevation changes that make you wonder if you're in a different state in a couple of places. It's best at a leisurely pace due to hidden curves, lots of places with woods and "deer funnels" that guard both sides of the road and some stretches with less than optimal pavement. Not in "bad shape" but also not a glassy smooth path like most of the rest of the trip. Still was nice to see - it offered some nice views and in a couple of spots a guy could have the thought he should have worn his "Paddle Faster, I hear Banjo Music" T-Shirt. (I spent a lot of my youth in that area - so that explains a lot) :)

Section 4 - Huffman Bridge to Poland, then back around through Cunot to Putnamville. After going through the Huffman Bridge about a mile and half or so later I crossed over I-70. From here all the way back to Greencastle is is ALL new or recently repaved. This was by far the best section. Lots of curves that could be taken at a "brisk pace" and a lot of nice views along the way including a few glimpses of Cagle's Mill Lake. The I-70 to Poland stretch was a big surprise as I used to keep cattle on a farm just off that road and it was mostly an improved dirt road most since I was a kid. (some parts gravel, some parts missing, etc.) It's now VERY nice and it contains a lot of elevation changes and curves. It also leads to the "Poland Store" where I once met the guy on the Honda Shadow 1100 that was riding while missing one of his legs from the knee down. (From a meeting with a deer while riding that same motorcycle a few years before) That's a different story which most of you have probably read before.

Section 4 - continued. The Highway 42 ride from Poland to Highway 243 was also excellent. That road has more traffic on it than most of the route before this point but it's not too bad and the ride again was very beautiful. Almost perfect road - and some ability to do that "wicking it up" thing again.

After turning onto highway 243 it's VERY curvy for the first 3/4 of a mile or so. Like 30 mph curvy. The "reward" for making an unplanned exit in one of those curves is HIGH, especially on the lake side of the road as it mostly drops off to the lake which is a a quarter to half mile or so down hill. Don't worry, you wouldn't make it that far before being impaled on the limbs of a tree or wrapped around one.

Once past the "Jeopardy" game part of our 243 tour there's again an opportunity to joy ride (wick it up) all the way back to US 40 at Putnamville. Although only a few miles long, this is probably (consistently) the best stretch of road I get the opportunity to ride on because it's almost always in good shape.
I warn our readers against going too fast until you are north of the State Park - the "deer woods" along this stretch are in the thousands of acres and the deer still haven't figured out that running across the road without looking is a high risk activity. (They also are very active now due to the fact that "gun" season just opened "Fudds" ALL are out there on opening weekend taking shots at them which makes them move around even more.)

The 243 section between I-70 and US 40 is one long LONG sweeper with elevation changes after another. Even the parts that look straight on the map have some curviness. (Joel - 243 is very similar to West Walnut Street Road except better)

End notes: (See below the images)




Point by Point


End Notes - Roads not Traveled

1 - Where I turned south onto Co Road 900 (that Alma Lake Road section): If I not turned south and had continued on toward Mansfield that's a neat ride - but the road between Co Road 900 and Mansfield is more "Adventurish." Not exactly gravel, but parts are - not necessarily by design. It's a skinnier, less traveled, and less well maintained road but I like it. To be honest, it would probably still be gravel if not for the Parke County Covered Bridge Festival. However, you can go that way and then jump on Highway 59 which itself is a nice road for motorcycling (and going north on it leads the way to Highways 47 and 234 - 234 is another GREAT ride and 47 isn't too shabby either. A loop that includes both is even better)

2 - Where I turned north on Highway 243 toward Putnamville. If I had continued east on Highway 42 that's also a very nice road all the way back to US 231 just south of Cloverdale. It's EXTREMELY unremarkable east of US231 to at least Monrovia. It improves slightly after that all the way to Mooresville. (Redeeming value - you can get on Highway 39 south from this road and it's nice almost all the way to Martinsville.)

3 - Also, if I had turned west at Poland on Highway 42 it's a pretty nice ride all the way to Highway 59 just south of I-70. The Section from 50 to Terre Haute is also pretty "unremarkable" but I kind of like it if I have to go to Terre Haute and am going on my motorcycle. It's a lot nicer ride that US40 or I70.

4 - If I had continued on through the Metropolis of Poland toward Bowling Green. That's one of my all time favorites and would be Number 1 except the road is not always in great shape. They seem to repave it every few years - and then don't do ANYTHING to it in between. When it has fairly recent pavement. It's awesome!

Bonus - when you get to Bowling Green you're on Highway 46 and every road south of 46 going east) is "pretty nice" to "awesome" for motorcycle riding. Even the gravel roads are pretty cool if you are an "Adventure Rider"

Good day, all. I had planned on riding to Effingham on Saturday to check out a Versys-X 300 at the Kawasaki dealer, but got a text Friday evening that a person that I do volunteer work had tested positive for Covid. I had worked with him on Wednesday. So, right now I'm kinda stuck on the 'estate', although I have taken several short rides (5 miles or so) working on the jetting on the R65 - I'm trying to perfect the just off idle 'burble' that has been there since I bought the bike.

About 8 years ago I was headed to Oregon and accidently discovered Lolo Pass - what a great ride. I got lost in the country, narrow roads and such, shortly after riding the pass and was looking for somewhere to gas up. I found a little town, don't remember the name, with a small grocery store with a single gas pump out front. Since I didn't really know how far the next gas station was I stopped for a fill. I talked to the woman that owns the store for about 15 minutes. I was amazed how many great roads Idaho has - wasn't expecting that.

Ride Safe (OK, I know it should be 'safely' for all you English majors).

You have some seriously good roads out your way. That part south of Reelsville looks very interesting!

Here's hoping the bug passes you by! I'd love to get out west on a bike--and I will at some point.

That last ride--with all of its problems--continues to haunt me. I'm not sure I mentioned that after I got the Triumph that a bug of some sort got into my jacket and stung me. I knocked it off and it went down my shirt and stung me again. I had to pull off and try to get my gear off to remove it.

Still feeling the stings.

Tube should arrive today--the rim strip early next week. I also ordered a compact pump to carry after I saw the one Bob carries on his bike (we tried it out on my tire, but the tube was beyond saving.)

I picked up a cord of wood once in Reelsville. Maybe 40-41 years ago. Don't recall why. I think our neighbor asked me to help.

Left work mid-day on Tuesday as the snow was beginning to fly and a stomach bug was taking up residence in the abdominal organs. Snow stopped at midnight (5 inches) but I found myself on the bathroom floor at 2am. Yesterday was rough (my gut sounded like an old steam boiler) but I seem to be on the mend. I did get out and clean the driveway. With temps in the forties all next week - it's all rather pointless. But the tractor didn't have any traction problems with the new additional weight on the rear. Snowed a bit more today but the driveway absorbed enough heat that it melted today's accumulation.

It's Master's week (due to Covid), so between golf, episodes of "Longmire", and watching some riding videos - there's worst weeks of the year to spend being sick.

All the pics and narrative from my 2020 ride are posted. I should be getting around to editing some video - but I'm successfully procrastinating that task.

Glad to hear you are on the mend!

Managed to change the tube that went flat on the KLX. Only took 2 hours and half the tools in the garage. Not sure I'd survive a flat in the woods.

Still need to change the oil in both bikes and add Stabil to the tanks. Will probably clean and oil the chains too.

I miss riding whenever I feel like it.

Kind of cool here. A bit overcast. A good day to go through the stack of motorcycle magazines that accumulated over the year that I have purposely avoided reading just for these months ahead. I'm still in love with the ride I took over the Big Horns this year - even moreso than the ride to Alaska. Maybe it's the absence of expectations and the complete surprise it was. Regardless, in the June 2020 issue of Roadrunner Magazine I came across this gem. Just like US-16 over the Big Horns - there's even a ski area up there, Snowy Range. I'm a sucker for long sweeper mountain riding. It is going to be a LONG winter.