La fameuse Route 66, qui traverse d’Est en Ouest les Etats-Unis d’Amérique, est la destination de rêve pour nombre de routards. Eternelle Route 66 (Timée Editions) rompt avec les précédents ouvrages parus sur le sujet par son approche très pragmatique, à la fois road book et guide pratique. Etape par étape, suivez le parcours de Marie-Sophie Chabres et Jean-Paul Naddeo, qui ont suivi le long chemin allant de Chicago à Los Angeles.

Saint-Louis, Springfield, Santa Fe, Albuquerque, le Grand Canyon, Las Vegas sont autant d’étapes qui vous feront découvrir l’Amérique profonde et ses paysages de western, vous plongeant dans les décors de grands films américains (Bagdad Café, Blues Brothers, American Graffiti, Easy Rider, …). Les auteurs nous font partager l’aventure qu’ils ont vécue pleinement en parcourant les 3 620 Km au guidon d’une Harley Davidson. Au-delà des illustrations, ils évoquent l’histoire des Etats-Unis rencontrée à chaque virage de cette route mythique, première desserte Est-Ouest ouverte à l’époque par des pionniers venus d’Europe. Côté pratique, vous trouverez dans le Guide du voyageur à la fin de l’ouvrage, les bonnes adresses et les lieux à ne pas manquer dans les 8 Etats traversés (musées, lieux de visite, restaurants, hôtels, …)

Un livre que je vous recommande vivement, que vous prépariez l’aventure ou que vous ayez envie de rêver !

There will be thousands of riders taking to the roads in the Northwest during this time frame to converge in Milwaukee during the last week of August.

According to the Harley Ride Planner 2.0 site there are three official start points in the Northwest.  Actually there are more, but the "official" ones are Vancouver, BC (2328 miles), Seattle, WA (2132 miles) and Bend, Oregon (2074 miles).  The Bend route, like all of the other routes include stops at local Harley dealers who are planning street parties and events to bring in the riders and more importantly their $$$!   It's not well known, but over the past three years, clothing and apparel sales are up 12 percent at Harley, largely due to a stronger female customer base. As a corporation with 684 independent dealers, Harley last year sold $305 million in general merchandise - or 5.3 percent of the company's $5.7 billion revenue - which includes apparel, according to their annual report.  That's a lot of t-shirts!

The Bend route will make six overnight stops and ride less than 300 miles per day providing dealer's an opportunity to extract a few extra dollars from riders wallets in including mine.  Our small group has not decided which route (northern or southern) we'll take.  It really depends on weather. 

Drafting behind others from dealer-to-dealer on the interstate isn't my idea of a motorcycle road trip so, we'll take our own path and intersect with others as we get near Milwaukee.

Woke up, blogged, myspace, had lunch and got ready to goto RudeTV. I've been hit up by some of the newer girls in the business about how to increase their exposure and presence on the web. There are times we all need a little guidance toward our goals in life so, I can't fault anyone asking. Its funny though that a lot of times, when you give advice and that person hears there might be actual work involved, the suddenly loose interest. Its an often repeated pattern in the business.

Once I got to RudeTV, I found out that our naked exercise show, "Buff in the Buff" with Heidi Mayne was a replay. Dug into our archives and got something decent with Heidi doing most of the show nude to play. Didn't hear any complaints from the fans.

The BDSM show, "Baadmasters Dungeon" was up next. Both Baadmaster and Satine Phoenix were energetic and ready to go. Director Jake Malone was on along Aryana Starr, who I'd met last week at Sardos. Aryana Starr is a tall black performer who has a nice round ass, fantastic breasts and a great attitude. She fit right into the show as she was whipped, flogged and tied up. The show had its train wreck moments due to so many people being on at once and all of them talking at once.

"Smell My Finger" was the Porn Star Karaoke 5th Anniversary taping we had done last week. I was curious to see how the footage I had shot came out. Several of my camera shots were shaky due people bumping me during the taping but the lighting was better on video then I remember. Wankus had been hustling all night to finish the production for todays show and it came out very well, with a lot of old clips interwoven with last weeks footage. I ended up going on the air to do a post show wrap-up and showed a few pictures I took from the event.

Up next was "Dirty Divas" was Darryl Hanah and Samantha Sin. Both ladies seemed tired at first but the energy picked up rather quickly. Plus they got topless for the entire second half of the show and you can't beat that. Behind the scenes stories of being on set, waxing gone bad, and weird fetish shoots were told. It was a good talk show with lots of stories. Its not all glitz and glamor folks!

Once "Dirty Divas" ended, I left for Porn Star Karaoke. The drive was smooth and when I arrived Gen Tilly pounced on me with hugs. Tony Batman was there looking pretty tired. I think all the traveling he's done recently caught up with him. Tara from Freepornstarpix.com was there as well and we talked a bit about our websites and industry gossip. Made my way inside and found the night to be a bit subdued but there were a decent amount of industry people so I started snapping away with my camera. Emma Cummings was hosting PSK tonight and looked adorable. Ran across Harley from Harley's Adult TV, who I seen on myspace. Was nice to meet him and his producer Adriana in person. Also ran into my boy, Flexx who was still bitching about his shirt, from last week.

Stephanie Swift and Seymour Satin, owner of Sardos were talking in a booth. Stephanie still had those killer lips and was looking hot as always. Said hello to "The Real" Tommy Gunn as I moved through the lounge as well where I greeted RudeTV fan, Lord Blu. Met up with Desi Foxx and her daughter Elli (both very cool people). Desi introduced me to David Willis, a reporter from the BBC, who they had brought to Sardos. Later, outside in the smoking area, Moxxie Maddron and Chris King stopped me to take a picture with Moxxie. Great to see them both at PSK. I've always like them both. Good people.

I hung out with Tara and Desi for a bit outside, talking about various things, until David Willis asked to interview me about RudeTV and the industry in general. We ended up speaking for about 45 minutes. We covered topics like dating the adult business, false perceptions people from the outside looking in, going back to mainstream work, etc. It was an interesting experience as I've never been interviewed that way. We exchanged business cards as well to do a possible follow up as well. Hopefully it will be a fair and balanced piece rather then an anti-industry article.

After the interview, Got back inside Sardos and said my good-byes then headed for home to end the night.

Emma Cummings

Moxxie Maddron

At any rate, many of the changes feel a bit cosmetic or like minor "updates" with no major new model launched compared to previous years.  Maybe I'm biased toward touring bikes, but there was no "Rocker" type equivalent announcement or a news making launch of the U.S. XR 1200 to break through the ever increasing motorcycle market noise. 

Harley introduced a new frame/swing arm for touring models.  It has 50% fewer parts and 60% fewer welds which result in better maneuverability, heat management, luggage capacity and rear-tire life due to the new Dunlop D407 Multi-Tread tires.  Touring models have new 17-inch 28-spoke "cast" aluminum wheels, 180mm rear tire and a new exhaust system that passes under the frame vs. under the seat.  Exception is the Road King Classic.  In an acknowledgment of the "widening-girth-of-America" the cargo/passenger capacity was increased approx 70 pounds and slightly larger injection-molded saddlebags were added this year.  The Road King Standard has this funky Red colored light (vs. amber) on the front fender..gives it a police special look.

The V-Rod gets "Muscle" (as if it didn't have enough already!), a new model with a heighten angular appearance over the standard model.  It has air scoops eerily similar to the mid-80's Yamaha V-Max.  The Screamin' Eagle treatment from the Custom Vehicle Operations (CVO) is added to the Fat Bob and Road Glide models.

I don't see these changes creating a lot of additional demand or perking up sales in the near-term for heavyweight motorcycles, but Harley has taken some solid steps to improve their line-up.

HD photo source Harley-Davidson.

This one is for all you do-it-yourselfers out there. Check out this home built electric motorcycle. Looks like the guy tied a few Optima dry-cell batteries together and hooked them to a little electric motor. This baby is rumored to go up to 45 mph, and have a range of a little over 20 miles. Also, this whole project cost under $3,000. I really like this idea, and think that it would be a really fun project to build an all electric cafe racer. For all the details on this bike click here.
Something like this may just be HONAHA'S next project if gas prices get much worse. Stay tuned.

You may recall that forty-two members of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (HAMC) were indicted on federal racketeering and firearms charges from the confrontation between Hells Angels and Mongols members at Harrah's Casino in Laughlin, NV, on April 27, 2002.  The gun battle left three people dead and a total of nine guns and sixty-five knives were recovered at the scene.

After six years Frederick Donahue of Rodeo, Ca. who vanished after indictments were handed down turned himself in and appeared last Friday in a Las Vegas court.   His trial is scheduled for Sept. 8^th.  Donahue was not released from custody as the judge felt he was a potential danger to the community and a flight risk.

Jorrg Maykopf of Germany remains the only fugitive.

Photo courtesy of Mylife of Crime blog.

But I said WTF. Instead of loading the bike in the truck, I hopped on it and rode over to the new place. It wasn't quite like the feeling of riding a bike for the first time, but it was close. It was faceshield open to the warm night air. It was loud pipes roaring as I ran the bike up through the gears. It was the smell of burning oil and backfiring carburetor. It was a feeling of freedom as I leaned it over through the corners, accelerating from the apex straight out of this life and on to the next thing for me.

I guess I should do that oil change so that I can go back to riding every day...

 What's wrong with this picture?  (Click on the picture above for a larger image to examine closely.)  I just returned from the Black Hills.  Last weekend they had a BMW motorcycle rally in the Black Hills.  They were everywhere.  With all due respect to BMW riders, they're all a bunch of geeks.  The one BMW rider I personally know is the most incredible geek I have ever met.  (He wears a Bolo tie with Birkenstock sandals, and named his Dodge Durango 'Wolfgang'.)  I know I shouldn't generalize to all BMW riders, but honestly, none of the riders I saw/meet in the Black Hills last weekend did anything to change this stereotype.  Sorry.  By the way, what's wrong with the picture above?  There are three BMW's parked in front of the Sturgis Harley-Davidson dealership.  You could consider it blasphemy or Harley envy.  (What's with the ammo cases for saddlebags anyway?)  (Do they have Sudoku and Crossword tournaments at their rallys?)

the

 WOW!

(click on the "wow" for our gallery)

After the naked truth about some of the great and good within the Hoggin the Beaver and Sherwood Chapter organisation, Saturday evening back on the campsite could have been a real anticlimax. However, the band that Pete had booked for this evening proved to be more than equal to the task of filling the dance floor and keeping the assembled throng entertained.

The Hound Dogs are a three piece rockabilly band. This statement does nothing to convey the supreme musicianship of these three lads, a guitarist who fingers turn into a blur across his semi-acoustic instrument as he finds time for fills, riffs and solos among the frantic pace set by a drummer who hardly ever sits down and an upright bass player who spins his bass around, lifts it above his head and never misses a beat.

The only down side to Saturday night at Hoggin the Beaver is the interminable raffle and auction that went on for over an hour between the band's two sets. It's a real shame that the music has to stop for so long, but let's also remember that the weekend is fundamentally all about fundraising. I know that I am in a minority here, but my own approach to this long and dull hour is to stay out of the way. 

Maybe last year's experience of having a pint of beer spilled over one of our speakers also influenced on my lack of interest in this, apart from a healthy determination to keep our equipment right out of the firing line.  Once we had achieved this, we stayed outside the building among the smokers, having some good conversations with a few other people who were .

It is a real credit to the Hound Dogs that they managed to rekindle the vibe once their second set got under way. Sue and I pushed and shoved our way back into the room to enjoy the music and the whole spectacle of the show. This culminated during their encore with the drummer setting fire to one of his cymbals and the guitarist standing on the bass drum.

If you get a chance to see the Hound Dogs, grab it, it will be a night to remember. They really are the ideal band for a small venue like the Rutland Arms at a gig packed with middle-aged bikers. From my point of view, they are also the kind of consummate professionals that any DJ is delighted to support.

After the band had finished, I was able to pick up on the great atmosphere, although I was disappointed that Sue was again unable to be with me on stage and that she went off to the tent and to bed.  Would you credit the fact that I even played some Northern Soul at a biker gig! Dobie Gray's "Out On The Floor" went into Muriel Day's "Nine Times Out Of Ten" and segued into the original version of "Tainted Love" by Gloria Jones. With lots of other Motown and sixties music as well, we all had a chance to re-live our youth club days.

Whenever I do a gig for the Sherwood Chapter lot, I always play the favourite record of one of our members, Carol Wright. From the reaction at this gig, it seems that a lot of other people also have a soft spot for "Everlasting Love" by Love Affair.  One of these days I must play Robert Knight's version for Carol.

At about quarter past one on Sunday morning, I was asked by one of the bar staff what time we intended to finish, so, abandoning the usual end-of-evening love songs, I finished with Led Zep's "Whole Lotta Love".

I was almost glad to stagger off down the camping field and fall into bed.

Sunday morning dawned bright, sunny and dry. We were still in the land of nod when we heard the first V-Twin engine rumble into life and away from the rally at about 7:30am. We had already decided that we were in no hurry, so the day eventually started with a cup of tea and spaghetti on raw toast (OK, it was on bread.)  We eventually went up to the pub and borrowed the function room key and got stuck into  a leisurely de-rig of the equipment. After loading up the car, it was time to turn our attention to the tent and camping gear.

By this time, the last of the dew had long dispersed and we stacked the contents of the tent outside on the grass while we took the tent down and worked out how to pack it back into the bag.

I really don't know why such a simple task always has to result in a few "words" between Sue and I, but it always does. She ought to know by now that I don't need to be told how to fold a tent. In fact, I'm reckon that tent packing is one skill that all men acquire in their genes.

Once the camping gear had been stuffed into the car on top of the disco gear it was almost lunchtime and Sue had very sensibly booked us into the pub for our Sunday lunch. We had to wait for a few minutes, which I used to help with some of the clearing up before settling down to an excellent Sunday roast and all the trimmings. I was surprised that we were the only campers in the place, although enough people seem to travel to the Rutland Arms that the campers weren't missed.

After lunch, we said our final goodbyes and set off for home where, after unloading the car, we crashed out to catch up on some much needed sleep.

Although we don't know the dates for next year's Hoggin the Beaver, it is possible that we won't be able to go if it's the same weekend in 2009. This has already been booked for my eldest son's wedding.

Ride Safe
Dave

But most (including me!) of the 105^th Anniversary attendees will be locked out!  Harley tells it like this:

Myth #4:  You can get into the Museum during the 105th Anniversary celebration in August.
Busted: Museum tickets are not available during the Harley-Davidson 105th Anniversary Celebration August 28-31, 2008. To ensure an excellent experience during the 105th Anniversary Celebration, tickets to the Museum were already distributed via a lottery system; therefore, the Museum is closed to the public during the 105th Anniversary.

Those who are planning to come to Milwaukee during the 105th Anniversary who don't have a Museum ticket still will be able to enjoy the Museum grounds. In addition, those who would like to visit the Museum and didn't receive a ticket through the lottery can purchase Museum tickets before and after the Labor Day weekend (while supplies last).

It turns out that people who purchased tickets for the 105^th event prior to November 30, 2007 were part of a random drawing/lottery to receive Museum tickets.  Sure, I'm welcome to hang out on the Museum grounds, enjoy the river walk and green space, listen to bands, people watch or try and locate a rivet, but I'm bummed. 
 
Photo Credit : Scott Paulus and the Milwaukee Business Journal.  Museum credit Harley.

We secured a cardboard sign on the Harley’s sissy bar that read, “Robert 08,” (Drop us a line if you’ve seen Robert on the road. Tell us where and when, Added by Campaign Staff) before hitting the road. After a brief stop at an Eremont C-store, where, after introducing myself, I garnered an annoyed expression and a curt, “that’s nice.” We pushed for Sandusky. We pulled into town and stopped at Camp Street Bar. We introduced ourselves to an elderly customer who introduced himself as Stu. Despite a hearing aid in each ear, he couldn’t hear every other word. He announced to us three times that he drove a city bus for thirty years and that he remembered me as a quiet kid who used to ride his route to school. The bartender was about as receptive and we skipped out and trolled the streets till we came to Vicki’s, where we ponied up to the bar in the midst of the lunch crowd. Despite being somewhat busy the bartender listened to my spiel. Biscuit, the bartender spread the word of a presidential candidate’s presence and a couple curious souls ventured my way.

The one topic I despise arose: abortion. I kept it simple; despite anyone’s religious or moral beliefs it is up to the individual. The government has no right to interfere in the bedroom and the results of such action. Luckily, the curious souls agreed and the conversation didn’t digress into useless debate.

Afternoon: After Vicki’s we departed Sandusky and after a quick pit stop in Brunswick we made another campaign stop in Warren, a small city fifteen miles from Pennsylvania. Warren is the home of Dave Grohl of Nirvana and Foo Fighter fame. It also home to a laundry list of current and past NFL stars. Glenda drove up and down the streets before parking in front of Guido’s Wonder Bar and Grill.

Evening: After a few hours of stumping in Guido’s we got on the road. I was anxious to move on; I shook enough hands in Ohio and wanted to get into Pennsylvania, even though I was planning on cutting through its Northwest corner and taking on New York State. At dusk we crossed into Pennsylvania and shortly after pulled into Pymatuning State Park and set up camp. I built a campfire and switched my attention from the campaign to Glenda, and why she wants to help Don Quixote tilt windmills? She grinned, firelight dancing upon her pale skin.

I know I've been slacking on the posts again, but you know how wild summer can be. Anyway, I wanted to highlight another great looking aftermarket cafe racer seat similar to one I wrote about in an old post, but perhaps even better looking. This seat is fiberglass, and has a little lower bubble than most as well as a flat spot at the very end for a taillight or just to give it some distinction. Also they make them for cb 750s 550s and 400s, as well as xs650s. Personally, I really like the looks of this seat. In fact it is a front runner in the race to see what seat I choose to put on my own cb550...serious stuff. Take a look at caferace inc. their seats come in a gel coat from the maker, and look mean on just about any application. For more info or to place an order click here. Enjoy this link, caferace inc. has a ton of cool cafe racer parts and accessories. Enjoy.

Saturday morning dawned overcast and the overnight rain had left the tent wet and the camping field pretty soggy. After a hearty breakfast, and Sue and I shared a mug of tea with Eric, also known to Sherwood Chapter members as Bananaman, it was time to get ready for the ride-out. 

There was some debate about weariing waterproofs as the dark, rain-laden clouds were scudding overhead. I decided to compromise and wear waterproof trousers, but to put my waterproof jacket in the saddlebag. As it turned out, waterproofs weren't really needed as we only saw a few drops of rain all day, and nothing to worry a bunch of tough biker types.

The initial route was the one that has been established over the last three years of Hoggin the Beaver. We ride up to Belvoir Castle and assemble on a terrace behind the castle where we park the bikes and present the cheque for the funds raised during the previous year. This year we presented £3000 to the Air Ambulance and it was announced that the next 12 months fundraising wil go to cancer Research.

The ride up to the castle through the parkland was interesting this year as we were sharing part of our route with a triathalon. At the briefing before the ride, Pete warned us to give way to any runners that we encountered and there were plenty of them all the way through the park. I felt quite happy to be using 1440cc of Harley-Davidson power up the hills rather than the muscle power that the runners were having to employ.

After the cheque presentation, it was time to set out on the ride proper. Our route took us through Leicestershire towards Market Harborough and into the village of Tur Langton. We have now been here three times to the very welcoming hostelry, the Crown. Each time we have been there for a rideout, the staff have been great. They have put on a band, a barbecue and generally made us very welcome. Although the range and quality of food on the barbecue wasn't quite up the high standard of last year, my burger was perfectly OK.

The first time we went to this unsuspecting little village, a couple of people raised quite a lot of money by riding their bikes naked along the main street.  A couple of tasteful pictures of this can be seen on the Hoggin The Beaver website. This naked riding has become something of a tradition and this year the assembled throng were stunned when someone came round with a jug saying that Sam wouls strip off and ride down the high street if we filled the jug with pound coins. It didn't take long for the jug to filled with coins and notes of all denominations.

There was a lull while preparations were completed, although I suspect that this was well planned before the day. Eventually, no less than three bikes appeared, led by a naked Pete, followed by an equally naked Sam with another young lady on her pillion and a husband and wife couple. they were followed by the van from the Robin Hood Harley-Davidson dealership which had served as changing room and support vehicle.

There were lots of people taking pictures, so I am sure that these will appear sometime soon and maybe I'll update this post when that happens.

In Part 3 I'll cover Saturday evening's entertainment and anything else I can think of about the weekend.

Ride Safe
Dave

Name: Kathy Fowler

Shop Name: Art of Spirit LeatherWorks

Blog/Website: http://www.aosleather.com
http://www.aosleather.blogspot.com

Location: Beautiful Northern Michigan

What do you sell that would appeal to the guys?
Belts, of course. Hand-tooled full-grain cowhide and (if you look on my website) gorgeous rattlesnake skin belts (which seem to ONLY appeal to men). I do a lot of custom orders and men seem to like the ability to get what they want done their way. Though you won't see any examples in my current inventory, I do a lot of "bike" leather on request. In response to a number of requests, I am starting to make my original stone & leather pendants with a more gender-neutral silver bale so that men can wear them. I call them Earth Medallions. They've been very popular with women, but men have been shying away because of the floral drop-tube I currently use. But I like customer feedback, and I listen. Men have been telling me they would wear them "if only" ... so I'm excited about the new style and am currently working on a batch. Examples of those will start appearing in my Etsy shop.

Where do you sell your stuff?
Etsy, other online venues, I have my website for custom orders. Also in Ward & Eis Gallery in Petoskey, MI, Guntzviller's in Elk Rapids, MI and at craft shows and powwows all over Michigan.

How long have you been in business?
In one form or another I've been selling my craft since the first pieces I turned out, over 35 years ago. Due to family and other life-considerations there have been times when it wasn't my primary income, but I've never left it behind and I've never done it as a hobby. It's currently my only income source, and I'm planning on keeping it that way. Michigan is going through some serious employment and economic issues now, and the ability to be self-employed with internet options so I can reach customers outside of the state has been my saving grace.

How did you get started?
True story: when I was seventeen years old (way back in the early 70's) I wandered into a hippy leather shop called Silo Leather in Birmingham, MI. The owner, an ex-con named Chuck, was sitting at his workbench tooling belts. After watching him for awhile I said, "I could do that." He laid out a fresh strip of leather and backed away from the bench, handing me the mallet. I wetted the leather like I'd seen him do and selected a stamp from his rack. Putting the stamp to the leather and pounding, I repeated his design layout but put my own spin and flourishes on it. It took me 20 minutes to tool my first belt -- I was hooked! He was so impressed with that he handed me ten dollars and claimed the belt for himself, then offered me a job. I worked for Chuck for several months, using a portion of each paycheck to start my own tool collection. Silo Leather burned down at the end of that summer, but by then I had enough knowledge and tools to segue right into craft shows. Over the years I've morphed from a hippy leather crafter, through my western leather phase while I lived in Texas and into my current style, which leans strongly toward the Native American. I've been a fixture on the Great Lakes powwow trail for over a decade, and my scope of what appeals to men widens in that area. My fringed deer hide bags, for example, are considered purses outside of the powwow world and sell only to women. At powwows, though, they're looked at as bags and men wear bags too!

How do you get the word out about your shop?
Well there's the internet of course. I'm pretty new to blogging, but I've found it to be an innovative and exciting way to be seen. I try to keep my blog away from being overtly commercial, focusing instead on some of my processes, some info about leather itself and a few glimpses into the life of an itinerate artisan. That sort of sums up my approach to business, I think -- let people see what it is and show them quality and dedication, and the goods will sell themselves.

What's your creative process?
One of the more challenging things to me is the waiting time involved in my craft. There are a lot of "drying" periods before, between and after many of the processes involved, so I usually have several different projects active simultaneously. It's a little hectic and harried at times -- rather like cooking a large meal and needing to plan for everything to get done at the same time. And of course, there's always lots of coffee involved!

What do you want people to know about your work?
Everything is hand-hewn. Very rarely do I use a sewing machine on my leather. One exception would be the inside pockets of my portfolios. I prefer hand-stitching, hand cutting, hand everything! That way every item is unique and made to last for years!

I sat in Blockhead’s cluttered kitchen contemplating my next step. Should I head to Indianapolis, deeper into Illinois and St. Louis, or up into Michigan? I studied the map and reasoned that Michigan was the best choice. Blockhead insisted that I wait for him to wake before hitting the trail. History has said when Blockhead ties one on like yesterday he would be down till early evening. I sighed and sipped the last of my coffee before depositing the cup in the sink and slipping from my friend’s apartment. Maybe I’ll stop back, I told myself as I made my way down the low rise’s steps and out onto the street.

Looping my thumbs under my backpack’s shoulder straps, I headed for the rail yards.

Afternoon: Kalamazoo: On the wrong side of the tracks from Western Michigan U. sits Jack’s Bar and Grill; that’s where I sat this afternoon talking politics to a 40ish red head. She seemed interested in what I was up to, admitting that some of my platform planks were nonsense: “their value is in their satire.” She excused herself for a moment. As she did, I returned to nursing my tall blond. Leather wearing Redheads and blonds are always a distracting combination.

“Here’s the deal,” she said upon return. “I’m riding my Harley to Vermont, you can ride with me if I can intern for you.” Earlier, she introduced herself as Glenda from Grand Rapids.

“I’ll help you campaign as long as you ride with me,” she answered my question about what she’d meant by interning. There was no mention of blue dresses or cigars, but it lingered in the bar like the proverbial elephant.

A live and let live gentleman such as myself would never refuse such help. As I finished my beer, I realized I hadn’t spoken to a soul other than Glenda and the frumpy barmaid. When I said as much Glenda retorted, “I took matters into my own hands, I wrote Robert for president on the bathroom wall.” Mission accomplished, we stepped from the dark bar into the sun-drenched afternoon.

I climbed onto the bike behind Glenda and pulled my hat low on my forehead and over my ears. Her bike roared and we took off down Michigan Ave. We headed east on I-94, Glenda pushing the bike, leaving semi’s, buses and cars in the rearview. We exited the freeway and crossed the Michigan Countryside till we came to a stop at the Office Bar in Athens.

“Kinda thought Athens was a good stop for a presidential candidate, beings it’s the birthplace of democracy and all.”

“I’ll have a Bud and the presidential candidate will have a tall blond,” Glenda announced to the sleepy happy-hour crowd. A few brows raised and scornful glimpses cast in our direction.

“Looks like no presidential candidate I ever seen,” said a blue collar guy wearing a NRA cap.

“I’m not like any you’ve ever met.” It wasn’t my style to burst into a bar and make bold pronouncements, there’s a quality of superiority that I don’t subscribe. I immediately diffused any potential nonsense. “When was the last time a presidential candidate bought you a beer?” Four happy hour beers was a cheap price for converts. I spent two hour stumping with my newfound friends.

I’ve learned not to question the abilities of an drinking rider. Maybe it is a dangerous assumption, but as a general rule, bike riders are more careful than others, possibly it’s not having metal surrounding you and being immediately vulnerable. Whatever the reality, Glenda rode well and pulled off a side road somewhere near Sturgis. “Figured I ain’t gonna be in the real Sturgis this year, so this has got to do.”

I offered Glenda to pitch her tent but she refused. I lay back on a nearby picnic table and gazed upward and the darkening sky. I felt like I was giving Michigan short thrift. I thought of slipping off after she dozed off and working deeper into the state. At an impasse, I closed my eyes.

If you stumbled across this post and are completely mystified about that title, stick around for a few moments and I'll reveal all. You know, that might just be the most appropriate phrase that I could have used to describe the most recent weekend of our lives.

Hoggin the Beaver is an annual rally where (mostly) members of the Harley Owners Group get together as the culmination of a year's considerable amount of fundraising. It's held in the Vale of Belvoir, close to Belvoir Castle, where Belvoir is pronounced (and I know that you're ahead of me here) Beaver! Obviously Hoggin The Beaver V is the fifth time that this event has been run.

Although the vast majority of people attending are from various HOG chapters, including Sherwood Chapter, it isn't a chapter organised event, but is organised as a labour of love by Pete Clifford and his partner Sam York. They sort out the whole weekend between them with what always appears to be the absolute minimum of support from anyone else.

The format is much like any other biker rally (in my limited experience), with arrival and tent pitching on the Friday afternoon and evening, before Saturday's main events and a Sunday packing up and travelling home.

This year, Friday was decidedly showery, but Sue and I had a dry journey from Nottingham to the venue, the Rutland Arms, aka the dirty Duck,  just outside the village of Woolsthorpe. We had bought a new tent a day or so earlier and we are very grateful to Eric, one of the Sherwood Chapter members, for his help putting it up.

This is an enormous 4 berth dome tent, and even though there are only the two of us who will ever use it, the domestic authority needs the extra space to scatter her belongings. (Don't ask me, I'm just a man.)

One the tent was up, we could ignore the showers and turned our attention to our major responsibility of the weekend, providing the disco. It seems that it is 100% compulsory to have a live band to provide the evening entertainment at every rally. The band booked for Friday night was El Gecko, an alt.country four piece who were the most laid-back and easy-going bunch of musicians you could ever hope to work with. They arrived bang on time and took less than an hour to set up and be ready to go. I even had to invite them to take the time to do a full band soundcheck because they knew that I was waiting to start the disco. It was a refreshing contrast to work with these guys after one or two bands in previous years.

However, the problem with this venue has always been space. The stage is only just big enough for my own disco rig and the band. This means that Sue cannot take her rightful place at my side during the disco sessions and has to hang around at a loose end while I'm performing.  She won't thank me for telling you that last year she got a bit drunk and got into an argument with a hanger-on from the band. This year, she took a book and sat in tent reading during my early sessions. We linked up while the band were on, and although I don't normally drink at all when I'm doing disco, but everybody else was certainly getting stuck in, so Sue and I had a night on Magners cider.  It doesn't take much to be enough for either of us these days, but it's a fine tipple, if you like that sort of thing. But once the band had finished and I started my main set through until  about 1am, Sue went back to the tent and went to bed.

In Part 2 of this report, look out for my ride-out report and an update about Saturday night's entertainment.

Ride Safe
Dave

Pocos son los cambios que podremos encontrar en esta Harley Davidson 1200 Nightster con respecto a una Sportster normal. Además de los consiguientes a nivel estético, asiento más bajo, decoración específica bitono y piloto trasero incluido en los intermitentes a modo de LED´s, los cambios importantes inciden en el reglaje de las suspensiones que para esta ocasión han sido endurecidas.

Así la Nightster cambia ostensiblemente su comportamiento mostrandose mucho más firme cuando la velocidad aumenta. Además, al ser la más ligera es tambien la más divertida entre curvas de todas las H-D.  la potencia del motor no es excesiva, pero con la inyección se ha ganado en suavidad y respuesta en bajos y al ir anclado elasticamente al chasis no transmite tantas vibraciones como sus antecesores.

La posición de conducción es un tanto peculiar, pero una vez  te acostumbras no supone el más mínimo problema. Su autonomía es un tanto escasa debido a la poca capacidad del pequeño depósito tipo lágrima. En definitiva, una moto nacida en américa para los europeos.

Kemudian mbah Marijan melanjutkan perjalanannya. Sampai di depan pertokoan di kota tersebut, pemuda gondrong tadi tiba-tiba mendahului mbah marijan dengan kecepatan tinggi sambil berkata "Mbaaaaahhh. ..! pernah naik harley?" sambil berlalu dengan motornya yang melaju cepat.

Mbah Marijan hanya tersenyum pahit dan berkata dalam hatinya "dasar anak muda sombong....masih minta orang tuanya aja udah sombong"

Tibalah Mbah Marijan di sebuah jalan yang menurun tajam dan di ujung jalan tersebut ada perempatan yang ramai, namun baru sampai di pertengahan turunan tersebut tiba-tiba pemuda tadi menyalip mbah Marijan yang lagi menikmati perjalanannya dan pemuda tersebut sambil berteriak pada mbah
Marijan "Mbaaaaaaaaaaah. ...! pernah naik harley blum?"

Akhirnya kesabaran mbah Marijan mulai berkurang dan berkata dalam hati..."kayaknya perlu dikasih pelajaran nih anak muda."

Sesampainya di perempatan jalan yang ada di ujung jalan tersebut, ternyata ada kecelakaan dan setelah dilihat ternyata pemuda gondrong yang mendahului mbah Marijan sambil terus berteriak menanyakan pernah naik harley belum.

Tanpa diduga oleh mbah Marijan, ternyata pemuda tadi masih bertanya dan berteriak pada mbah Marijan.
Pemuda: Mbaaaaaaaah pernah naik harley?
M Marijan: Sudah sekarat kok masih saja sombong to.
Pemuda: Bukan begitu mbah....kalo mbah pernah naik harley, aku cuma mo
nanya REMNYA yang sebelah mana?"

M Marijan: $%#@%$ <mailto:$%#@ %$

I didn't know much about the Kiwanis.  With a little research I learned they are a group of international volunteers and all about serving children of the world.  That's a good thing!  Through ordinary people they are helping develop the future generation and from library book programs to at-risk youth they are involved in the community to make it a better place for all.

They don't have a web site up yet, but I committed to doing a shout-out on the Rally...a small part to bring some visibility to this good cause.

You can obtain more info by emailing: bikers in the blues (all one word) at Q dot com.    It was great to meet the Kiwanis Girls.

We were most fortunate as the wind was behind us with blue sky and mid-80 temperatures.  We rode past the Stonehenge, the Maryhill winery and near Goldendale we got a great view of the aluminum smelter.  I made a mental note to do a bit of research on this plant as I recalled it belching smells in full production a few years ago, but on this day it looked abandon.  It turns out that Brett Wilcox purchased the plant in 1996 for $67M.  It needed to be temporarily close (as the workers were told) in 2003, however, the owner of the plant sold off the power it purchased from producing aluminum on the open market at a hefty profit that went directly into the pockets of executive management.  Everyone was laid off and retirement funds disappeared. (Source: HERE)

Finally we arrived at the Red Lion in Pendleton and picked up our HOG packet, signed the release forms and then headed downtown.  Pendleton is located in Umatilla County and is situated along I-84.  For reference it's south of the tri-cities (Richland, Pasco, Kennewick) area of Washington.  Beside being labeled by the National Drug Intelligence Center (PDF) as a major distribution stop for many drug traffickers en route to the tri-cities from the Southwest Border it's also home of the Blue Mountain Enforcement Narcotics Team (BENT) and home of the famous Pendleton Roundup.  

Pendleton got its start as Goodwin Station in 1865 as a stop on the Oregon Trail.  The town's name was changed to Pendleton in honor of Ohio senator, George Hunt Pendleton.  The Rainbow is Pendleton's oldest continuously open and operated bar and restaurant and the oldest doing business at the same location.  Many know that that the Chinese came to the area to work the gold mines and many were employed by the railroad.  As the area grew, they soon became an integral and somewhat hidden, part of the local economy.  The Chinese operated laundries and underground opium dens and were relegated to Pendleton's seedier side. But I digress.  Back to the OR HOG Rally...

We parked the bikes on main street near Hamley's Steak House for a little grub and some refreshments.  I introduced myself to Larry (HD head tattoo above), met JT (regional HOG director) and took in some county music in the courtyard.  We headed to the restaurant and order up some fresh Salmon (yeah, go figure!) in this truly amazing steakhouse.  Most notable besides the Western stylized décor are the nude photo's of famous Western outlaw wives!  We received a Pendleton hat for drinking some and Linda/Lynette of the Kiwanis introduced us to the "save-the-date" for the 2009 Bikers in the Blues motorcycle rally.

Up early Friday and headed South on US 395.  I like to think of this route as Oregon's "mother road".  US 395 is a 1400-mile stretch which runs from the Canadian border in Washington state to San Diego, CA.  We rode out through Pilot Rock then in the middle of one of the small gorges there is a junction to OR74 which enters Morrow county and then Heppner Hwy.  Heppner has upgraded from years ago when I passed through on Eastern OR hunting trips.  With the Willow Creek dam you'd think it was a major water recreational resort.

We separated from the "official" OR HOG Rally route which veered off to Condon then on to Welches, OR for an overnight in the "snow".  Instead we headed directly to the "surf" part of the trip, arriving in Seaside in time for a well deserved happy hour and to meet some friends who rode directly to the coast.

On Saturday we were treated to a one-in-a-million type day on the OR coast.  Mid-70's, blue sky and NO wind.  Did I say there was NO wind.  Incredible!  It was a rare t-shirt riding day and Santiago invited everyone over to his Manzanita "Villa" for breakfast...there we were...perched high on the sand dune above the valley in the hills we were treated like royalty at the Hotel Piccolo Mondo in Acquappesa, on the Calabrian coast in Italy.  Very Tuscany!

For now I'll reserve another post/rant about the "Goin' Coastal" aka the Seaside Biker Fest.  Suffice to say it was most lame.  Sure there was a tattoo artist, bike builder and a couple t-shirt vendors...but, I've seen more activity at Taco Wednesday's than in Seaside.   We manage to have a lot of fun even without vendor booths to spend our money.

Here is what I've learned on the OR HOG Rally.

1. It's HOT in Pendleton and cold in Seaside.
2. The smell of wheat fields and ocean air isn't something you get in a car
3. Harley riders cannot be stereotyped.  There is the rich and famous to trailer trash and all in-between!
4. Harley riders are some of the nicest people you'll ever want to meet.

The event was well planned out and Cindy (HOG Director) Wayne Schumacher and the HOG Rally Committee deserves a shout-out.  The rides were long, scenic and PERFECT weather.  There's no pleasing everyone and I say get out and ride, whether your doing a poker run, rally or just on your own this is the time of year to get into the Northwest riding zone.