First real road trip
 

I took her on her first REAL road trip today, from the Chicago area to Clinton, Iowa right on the other side of the Mississippi River. The bike did awesome, and surprised my new riding friend on his Kawasaki Concours. On the way home on I88, we cruised at 90 for quite a while......this bike really IS a train......never shaken by the wind even a little bit. I love it. Did just under 300 miles today.

Warner


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I was only talking with my eldest son today that he should start researching on doing a holiday over to the states. We go over every couple of years as a family but I said to him that he should fly into L.A., buy an old classic of a bike and do a monumental ride around the west coast then middle and onto the east coast. Do it while he is young and really enjoy what riding around and exploring can really offer.

I did however say that I feel he should look towards a sports tourer or even an older cb750 or even another hurricane or a blackbird so the riding would be more comfortable than doing long distances on a bike like he has here at home which is a cbr1000rr. Nice bike to ride but I think doing a real tour around the states he would quickly become uncomfortable day after day on the rr

Anyway great to see your post and enjoyed the reading

300 mi day is noting for this bike. A few years ago I did a 625 mi day. When I got home I walked around the house looking for something to do and decided to go for a ride. I ended up putting something like 90 more miles on that day.

It really isn't......I never felt the bike was taxed in any way. Then again, I'm the guy that rode a damn DRZ400s dual sport over 2,000 miles in a week. Hahaha....

Warner

I'll tell you....don't discount the option of riding around the Smoky Mountains in North Carolina / Tennessee either. Some GREAT roads down there. You have the Tail of the Dragon in Deals Gap, the Cherohala Skyway, a good stretch of the Blue Ridge Parkway, and almost all the roads around there are hilly and twisty. It's difficult to go wrong there. Beautiful area.

Warner

Thanks for sharing the report and great pictures Webbie...........

That's what the CBR1000F is, a locomotive, a Gentleman's express, a great way to get from Point A to Point B is comfort and style with power to spare.

Cheers, SB

Yesterday my eldest boy and I had a free afternoon so it was an exploratory ride north on the New England Highway until we found what looked like a reasonable toad west, some 6 hours later we had found our way through some of the best countryside riding we had done for ages.
Definitely wasn't a fast road but mate it hit the 10 points for enjoyment.

We have done quite a lot of driving around the states as its always been a family holiday and our youngest wasn't old enough to do anything other than passenger in a comfortable vehicle but it sure would be a treat to do some riding around the states.

We are talking about coming over at Christmas time for another holiday but also hunt down some parts for some old bikes and bring back.

Would be great if there was a Cbr get together that we could work our holiday around

Where do you stay in the US when you come out here?

Warner

It's Quite strange replying to you as Webbie as I quite often by close mates have the same nick name. My surname is the same but without the ie1.

Predominantly we always start and finish our holidays at the Marriott Residence Inn at Anaheim basically because it's handy to Lax.

From there last trip over we were suppose to head to Michigan meet up with our adopted daughter as we call her and then head over to the east coast and do some travelling but the weather was really bad with massive storms and record snow storms. That was Christmas 2014/ 2015. We spent 4 weeks but really ended up being confined to the western states as the weather everywhere just wasn't great.
Normally we fly in and hire a reasonably large 4wd and then just head off and wander around
She originates from Tennissee
Our next trip we had been considering getting an RV and we had been doing a really well planned excercise on a program called road trippers that will see us again fly into lax then make our way upto Canada then across to Niagara Falls up into the Gloucester area then back down the east coast to Florida then I think it will be probably hit places like elvis's grace lands , I know the wife wants to go to Nashville as she is very much a country music fan and has actually recorded one of her own songs on cd and its out there on like iTunes and other download sites.
Then from there it will be back to Texas Tennessee and back to the west coast. At this stage were planning on about 9 weeks of travel
Ideally keeping an eye out for a couple of bikes that we are interested in and whatever parts we can easily find.
It's definitely a family holiday but going to keep an eye out for a few things we have been chasing and arrange freight to send them home.
My eldest boy was interested in a t shirt from the motorcycle superstore and postage was like $90 American which really puts most things in the to hard basket.
Last time over we spent a great morning at the Oakley head office store as well as a massive bass pro store just outside LA as we are also into our fishing and boating and love game fishing. We have a pretty serious offshore boat that really does the job.
Where are you located, it would be great to find a cbr get together or rally somewhere while we are over there
Anyway have a great day

Sounds like quite a trip! Make SURE you drive through North Carolina / Tennessee and see the Tail of the Dragon, Cherohala Skyway, and part of the Blue Ridge Parkway......


Warner

Hey Warner, there may be some confusion on our part. The New England Highway Gazz is referring to, I believe is the one in Australia. I thought the same thing, how could he fly into LA and be riding around in New England?

Hahaha....could be!

Warner

Confusion
 

Yes a bit of confusion, the New England Highway is in Australia and pretty much runs up the eastern inland side of the country on top of what is called The Great Dividing Range.

To do away with confusion we live in Australia and holiday every couple of years in America.

The rides on and around the New England area in Australia can be great and heaps of history tucked away in some out of the way places.

Yesterday seen us as ride out to a place called Cabalah, this little place and really blink and you will miss it has an old Tavern and on the door it has its name "Farmers' Arms" Queenslands oldest surviving hotel, licensed 1863. The food was great, it wasn't modern hardly anything on the plate, it was order what you want as the basis and then a huge bufett of all you can eat veges and salads. Certainly came away with a full belly.

I have heard of the Tail of the Dragon , the trip is still in the planning mode and as we find things we want to see we just add them in. I think the wife is also wanting to catch the Trail of Lights I think it's called.

All in all we are looking forwRd to seeing a lot more this time but I guess it will again depend on the weather as its always winter when we come over and the snow falls determine where we can get to

Hey gazz, look me up next time your in Anaheim. I'm close to there.... Really close.

Will do mate and likewise if you ever find yourself coming this way, were only a couple of hours away from Brisbane.
We have found the Marriott Residence Inn to be really handy to use as a base and the general manager there has been the same one since we first stayed with them back in 2003.
We had thought of possibly renting a house for three months as a base but haven't fully decided on the hange as yet.

I'd love to get down there someday. There are a few members I'd like to visit with that call Australia home.

It's easy to take for granted what we have here but there really are some amazing rides to be had.
One of my most memorable and favourite is 'The Great Ocean Road' if you google it even just seeing what it has to offer makes your mouth water. It runs along the coastline and encompasses what is called 'The Twelve Apostles' even though some of the rock formations have collapsed it is still extremely breathtaking with its views.
We have done quite a lot of the out of the way roads and tracks, one of which brought us from Western Australia through the centre passed a place called the Docker River into the back of another group of huge rocks called The Olga's then into the western side of Uluru
We were stopped by police out there as they just wanted to say hello as nobody ever goes out there. It's all roads or really tracks as its all dirt through aboriginal reserves.
I've hoped to hear from some other Aussie members but as yet there hasn't been any response. I had a response from a Kiwi member and hope to get some sort of cbr get together happening.
I guess it is extremely affordable for travel from the states over here especially with the constant dollar value being in your favour so if you do find yourself heading this way certainly look is up for some Australian hospitality.

There are a bunch of Aussie and NZ members. Sebastian bear is, although he is in Vietnam at the moment. I'm sure he knows more of the guys, I just can't remember.

Then there is teeks.... KiwiTK

It would be good to catch up with some Aussies with cbr's.
There is a lot of knowledge held in every bodies experiences and it's great to share that knowledge
My two buys, one being 19 the other 11 are both keen on their bikes and it's been an ongoing job getting vehicle, boat and bike knowledge firmly implanted in their minds.
I actually bought a set of Stainless steel Laser exhausts for my cbr1000ft and came home the following day to find both boys sitting on the garage floor fitting my exhausts. Don't have to tell you how proud I was. Both not only doing it but working together on something they both enjoy.
They like their 4wdrives and boats and bikes big time and love the outdoors.
Have to say I'm one happy dad

And if anyone does visit Oz don`t forget the south island most of Tassie`s roads make the great ocean road look like a freeway and no copper around every bend.


Just make sure you come on the 2 days of the year when it does not rain!

I'm hearing you mate. Of all places I got a ticket for spreading and 10 k's over the limit near Bordertown and mate it must of been the only ticket written in a decade. Of all places , there are hardly even any people out there let alone a speed camera.

We have been to tassie a few times and wine glass bay is fantastic but yes your right the roads are tremendous. We even got down to southport. Also love the fly fishing that you have down there

10k over? That's 6.2mph! Wow. That's harsh. My "safe" rule is what I call the 7/11 rule....7mph over on side streets, 11mph over on the highway. I'd think it's pretty safe to say that (at least around here) you'll NEVER get pulled over for that. Now, 125 in a 65 might get their attention. Hehehe.

Warner

Once upon a time, and yes that's like back in fairytale land we would also say 10% over was pretty safe, but things have drastically changed.

Parking meter cops are actually on a required budget and I remember a few years ago now that there was an article done on the in the Brisbane metropolitan area alone each individual parking meter cop had to write $700 k in tickets per annum yep that's in thousands per parking meter cop.

There has been a real push here in Australia to actually privatise the speed cameras as they are really pulling massive amounts of revenue in.

Last December we were driving back from Sydney to Queensland, we had stayed overnight in a small town enroute anyway about 0830 the next morning we are coming through a medium size town, not city just town but it was workers traffic so it was bumper to bumper in two lanes going either way, well under the speed limit, next thing I see a highway patrol vehicle go past us heading in the other direction, and he done a u turn and pulled us over.
Up to the side of the vehicle he walked and said, sir you were going in excess of 20 kilometres over the speed limit, I'm going to write you an infringement notice for that and it will be $395 plus 3 points off my license.
I bucked big time but politely, said to him, sir, I wasn't speeding, I was in the middle of traffic and going with the flow, apart from that, I have this new pioneer stereo that we have not long installed and it talks to me when ever I am going over the speed limit and further to that I have this little gadget that records on a micro sd card anything that goes on including our speed as well as video footage of and voice recording of even what we are saying now including what you are saying to me.
He closed his book, walked back to the patrol car, came back with a ticket for 10 kilometres over the speed limit, $110 fine and 1 point loss, and said feel free to come back to court here if you would like to fight it.

I was furious but after investigating it all if we had of wanted to contest the fine, it would of meant travel back to where the court would be which would mean a minimum of three days plus travel plus motel which would far out way the $110 plus in the legislation it states that if a fine is contested the judge has the right to fine you a total of $2000 if he believes in fact you were at falt

That's our lovely micro managed free country.

I've got a better story than that one though and it's a laugh

Ugh....that sounds horrible. I was literally cruising for several miles (with traffic!) On Sunday at 100mph. Speed limit was 70, most traffic going 85, and a few cars in front of me rolling along at 100 (160 kph).

Warner

Yeh, we wish , a lot of our roads still are not upto international standards, and the ones that are get so overcrowded. Sydney I think has just hit the 5 million population so we are still very sparsely populated but the roads just are not designed to carry the traffic that we are getting now.
Eventually most of the main national highway will be pretty good but it's got a long way to go yet.
My son and I took off this afternoon for a ride, it's probably one of the best feelings I have had in my life mate, actually going for a ride with my son. Just doesn't get any better than that.
We're still playing around with his suspension on his cbr1000rr just trying to get it comfortable for the non metropolitan roads. I told him he might have to get a ball protector as the seating position pulls you right into the tank, fine on smooth toads but through some big bumps in and it's borderline painfull.
We have spent the evening looking at the new Yamaha xsr900 as a possible second bike for him so he can get a bit of normal riding and then jump on the RR occasionally. I've tried to persuade him into a 2006 cbr1000xx limited edition that's come up for sale, immaculate condition with 8000 kilometres on the clock, never been even rained on but he's just I think still to young to appreciate the advantages of the real sports tourer. He's ridden mine a few times but there is just so big of a physical size difference to my f to his rr that it seems overwhelming to a point but I'm hopeful he will come around

The very few times, over many years, that I've gotten a moving violation (in US, all in Texas), I've opted for "deferred adjudication".

Yes, the "fee" is the same amount as the fine, but after 3-6 months (depends on district's policy), if you don't get a ticket, the original is wiped from your record.

That's a good system.
Our system is way over micro managed here.
My eldest boy turns 20 in late October. We bought him a v8 sc400 in immaculate condition, one owner. We had checked with the department of motor transport that it was fine for him to drive it, as he being still on his provisional license until late October.
In Australia young ones on provisional or learners licenses are limited in what they can drive or ride. It all comes down to power to weight ratio.
On bikes it's pretty much has to be under 600cc and cars it cannot be a v8 or turbo charged or supercharged. Crazy as smaller capacity bikes are still fast and powerful as well as some cars.
So after department of transport telling us it was ok because even though it was a v8, it would fall under the category of power to weight ratio suitable to give him an exemption to drive it.
Away we go and buy it, next thing they tell us after changing rego over into our sons name after purchasing the cat, that he isn't allowed to drive it because it's a v8.
We had paid for the car, paid for a roadworthy inspection, paid transfer and stamp duty fees, paid registration fees and then told no he can't drive it.
I hit the roof, after 2 days of me telling them how stupid they are, the department of motor transport comes up with an idea.
Change the rego over into my wife's name, pay another transfer fee and stamp duty and they will give our son an exemption to drive the car.
He's not allowed to drive it if he owns it but he can drive it if he doesn't own it.
All for the sake of a few months and he will be on his full license anyway but that's how silly our system is here.
As our son says, dad you would think that they would understand that a person would tend to look after and drive more responsibly a vehicle they actually own.
Anyway we live in a weird world.
Our son is not 20 yet and owns two four wheel drives, one car, 3 motorcycles and 2 boats, all registered through the same department of motor transport, never had even a parking ticket and they can't see a responsible person if one head butted them

And THAT, sir, would piss me off! Yikes.....first they take your guns away, then treat you like criminals with no reason to. Not that I could afford to, but that just got the big NO stamped on the "places to move" sheet. :)

Warner

Back when I turned 15 (almost 45 years now), you could get a restricted license and ride a bike no more than 100cc. I bought a Kawasaki 100 Trail Boss - it had a switchable 10 speed (5 high for road, 5 low for trail) tranny. When I hit 16, I replaced the 100 with a Kaw 250, then months later, got a Kaw Z1.

Nowadays, in Texas, you can ride up to a 250 when you're 15, and at 16, the CCs are wide open. Not sure if there's a limit on cars (engine wise), but at 15, you have to have an adult in the front seat.