Brian: How many days were you away from your early home there that yeah, I showed up your place on Friday

Robin: before the trip sevens tour We did everything that we did took off Saturday morning for day zero

Brian: So you showed you showed up in my house on the 7th of June

Robin: So 400 plus miles got to your place after that ran sevens after that Stayed with my brother for four days and after that went to the next weekend's rally to meet up with you once more

Brian: Then you got home on the evening of the 22nd.

Robin: Yeah Two weeks easy. Yeah, you could say it was a rollercoaster of emotional experience But two weeks is two weeks. I mean you count to 15 seconds. Sometimes that can feel like a long time I think you and I ran the gamut everything from me Sponging every opportune lychee Assist from you I could request to me Grumbling at you with angst and saying you deal with these guys. I'm leaving Yeah, these are the most important ingredients in a long-term friendship. I've known you since 2013 I think Something like that over 10 years and we've never had the opportunity to really be like, okay Let's really understand one another a little bit better now Even though we run the podcast together.

Brian: Let me show you this other side here It wasn't a big deal.

Robin: Anyway, go on I could not have gotten through any of that stuff without you and I probably could have gotten through some of it a little better But I don't want to say it. It was all a new perspective in so many ways Here's the story the chit-chat and banner the whole thing We'll start with the seven seven seven day by day all the way to day negative one We have a common rule that we learned a long time ago. Brian knows it. I know it you don't do major maintenance on a bike within Three days of a major event and unfortunately, I had no choice This had to happen the last episode that is currently out there before this one about it's called before detour Pay on words. Oh Very clever. I'm gonna call this one after or as an aft to our Day minus one. I met up with Travis near the Illinois border we knocked down Over 400 miles to get to your house both pretty tired pretty exhausted getting to know our bikes again I arrive at your house and we're gonna tackle this pre-tour maintenance in the quiet and secret of our own Knowledge of the situation, but we got it. Oh, there's a lot of cooks in that kitchen Yeah, I told Travis on the comms sit your butt down have a beer don't do anything He knocked that out of the park. He got there He saw what was happening and he grabbed a chair stood far away took a took a seat and just started drinking beers Well, I immediately promptly started drinking all your whiskey. Thanks for that. Hey, no problem Immediate here have this calm down Despite what you heard at the beginning of the previous episode the old shaft removal meant an unexpected gear oil loss It leaks from the rear speed sensor Right helps the DTC calculate its oversampling on which wheel is spinning at what rate? That is actually also a high pressure. We pull in case of emergency we pull for overcooked oil to fire out of should there be an incident and Pulling everything apart the way that we said Out comes a bunch of oil an unknown amount of oil and with those bikes you kind of want to be accurate about it So Brian, of course, well, I'll go get my measurements and my gear oil and we will replace the gear oil and we did

Brian: Yeah, I say we even scared up a Crush washer. Yes, so you could feel like okay. This is done to my specifications.

Robin: I don't have to think about it Yeah, that worked out great there is that section of Zen in the art of motorcycle maintenance where he helps the guy out with shims For like his front forks or something like that and he used like some beer cans The random person that needed these things who always went to the dealership with such thing. He's like, oh, I don't know I don't know about this. It's like the exact same metal the exact same density. Just use it It's gonna get you where you're going. He's like, I'll have to find the nearest dealership that you know I'm not gonna be that guy.

Brian: No I Remember that incident in Zen in the art. That's like, yeah, I know people like that and I've run into them Yeah, I don't know beer cans and my German bomb motorcycle What never and we didn't have to do that actually I had the correct washers had the correct oil My house stays in one place for years at a time.

Robin: So you kind of accumulate shit the new shaft was Incredibly resistant to installation. Yes. I'll give you that. It wasn't broken in That's for sure All of the things I used to have to do to put a shaft back on Was for some reason no longer required the old shaft which was notched on both u-joints in both directions Would just if you get the right angle, it'll slide right on this one I Remember the first couple of times I did this we had to tie string to the front Get it at the right angle tug the string and jiggle tug the string and jiggle press press jiggle Hope hope hope lots of hope and then eventually Oh and we're on Maggie was actually the answer that the first couple of times I did she was like, let's take some string drag it through get it Lined up. She was the one that coined that procedure and it has always worked I just didn't expect we're gonna have to do it again. I forgot the process So there was that moment after the second whiskey where it was just like I'm gonna turn my back now I think I told you I need you to disappear this Disappear this problem for me because I'm losing my mind and you did now by myself in my garage I probably would have been okay with a crew of people saying well, let's try that was And the cooks I was just like I don't I'm no longer cooking this kitchen somebody get me out of here So I started to freak out but it got done.

Brian: Thanks to Brian and thanks to Tim and Travis and Tim Basically grabbed a spatula and like I'm gonna go make burgers and they did and it was awesome.

Robin: Yeah Thank you both of them and then I didn't even want to work anything Travis came out to torque things down I was just done working. I was done wrenching. That was day minus one.

Brian: Yeah, that was minus one.

Robin: This is day zero Okay, got it day zero Everyone gathered in Maysville, Kentucky. We got to know each other. We ate we drank there was a loud festival in town So when I asked Travis to find a nice quiet place to eat, it wasn't really an option Everything was just loud loud loud everywhere But we did manage to sit down did manage to chat got the feel for everything and everybody was so cool Felt like alright, this is a good start and lo and behold it was We went through some of the general mindset stuff that the video portrays It kind of made sure that we know that there are certain flexibilities to that. I might not be always visible up front I might be way up ahead looking for whatever but it worked out So day zero as an orientation was great day one Which hits the triple nickel in Ohio from Zanesville down to Parker's Rose, Virginia I kind of forgot I make all these notes. I have all the information. I have a way to operate and I always Abandon it right when the tour starts because I'm just so I'm thinking about the customers thinking about the customers, right? Half of the day is mild riding. There's a flinch in the beginning of holy crap That was awesome followed by a lot of scenic, Ohio rural pretty landscape Because I need to make sure that everybody that I haven't met before is sane I need to make sure that people haven't written this year are Warmed up. There's a process of are we riding staggered? Is everybody in a good formation? There were some hiccups here and there they were corrected and I was becoming frustrated with myself because my own notes say date One is gonna start out mellow and then we headfirst dive into the nickel and so yee-haw for the rest of the day The other thing I forgot was that like usually I've got two Navigation systems going I've got ride with GPS on my phone and I've got my actual standalone GPS unit Keep the standalone GPS unit zoomed in keep the other unit zoomed out When you get an alert to a road name look at your GPS unit It's easier to read you can tell what you're coming up on. It's easy to identify you make the turn you're done Whereas with ride with GPS It's got a lot of like would you like to press this feature and none of them are attractive when you're in the motion in Like moving that's never gonna be good All in all everybody had a ball. They had a great time. There was a lot of hand seal clapping at the end of the day And you had a kick-ass group of people I did so Travis Burrell sent a sweep you as a guest lead when we got to Indiana, but all the customers big shout-out. Thanks for making it happen. The order I would typically see them was either Paul Dunn or Dale Rosner Those are mismatched names, but those two guys were always entangled So it was either I'd either see Dale Dunn or Paul Rosner. Hey guys, shout out then Norm Felger who? Wow solid sturdy Reliably quick rider incredibly skilled incredibly safe way to go Jasmine Islam who's been on the podcast? Exactly what you would expect just the sweetest person and she's sandbagging I know this for a fact after seeing what she can do on the dragon She is sandbagging actually before her was Greg white and Travis. Thanks for helping me make this happen day one at the end of it We arrived in West Virginia at the Blenner Hassett Hotel, which is supposedly haunted. I might add this is the most elegant hotel We've ever put on the tour. It was high-brow Absolutely top-tier Beautiful. I felt like royalty. They were everybody there was lovely everybody. That was beautiful. Nice. All the rooms were lavish and The dinner was delicious. The breakfast was it was awesome on-site bar What we went for a walk by the river. They're just a great way to start things. Don't worry. It'll get worse.

Brian: So It only go down from here. No, it's fine, right?

Robin: Yeah, I mean it's not a pretty high bar Luckily, we met it again, but day two that I don't know what to say about West Virginia There's nothing to change West Virginia's day two is perfection. It's untouchably good. There's zero change Nitty, there's no reason to change anything the whole day. I think it was like 240 miles of Just perfect curves all the way to Virginia where we arrive at the Warm Springs Inn Which has been developing for the better there. They're like taking in Students from around the world who are like becoming doctors electronic engineers and all this stuff They're the staff receiving us like they're on scholarship to come visit America and see how not to do things Basically, let's go to America and learn what not to do It'll be great and they they are the ones receiving us at this place on at the end of day Yeah day to day to big shout out to them for another lovely evening there and a beautiful dinner and a beautiful breakfast Everything on site the quiet and peace of the night in the rains. It was great. Wake up the next morning day three This did not go well for me Day three was a bad day for me. Nobody knows. They know that I'm stressed, but the customers are still like yes Yay, hooray for everything that is happening. They're all happy Travis on the other hand has a comm that's connected directly to my helmet He had to hear this. I believe it was either on the way from your place or on the way to your place I'm pretty sure was on the way from your place where I parked my bike filled it up with gas and then the suspension Collapsed it was just tall enough that it fell over to the right side Expand that experience when you're screaming some into somebody's ear via an intercom about how upset you are Expand that over the course of an entire day day three was a leadership nightmare for me personally Travis saved the day Start to finish every day had my back. It was mostly amazing. The route was absolutely fantastic But my turn-by-turn directions were gone, okay Anybody out there listening who knows well paper maps paper maps. You don't need that. You don't need that. That's fine. You're right You're absolutely correct Unless you've designed what you're doing around it And in this case that particular section of the route had been imported into the main route and had no cues I had designed it elsewhere Brought it in and there were no there was no turn on this street. There was no slowdown before this alert There's a hazard here. You can say these things shouldn't matter and they don't I know how to use paper maps I know how to navigate on a I'm going for a ride by myself or a couple of people or a rally I know what I'm doing. However, this is a Hardcore situation where I need to know where the main threats are and have documented them So they alert me when they're happening. I didn't have any of that. Got it. Okay. Yeah It was a bug on my part that I made so we had like four or five U-turns due to roads layering There's a section in West Virginia Where you look at the map and there are roads on top of you. There are roads below you They look like they intersect They do not and there was a point in time when I looked down at a road that I was not on and saw Oh good. There's a customer that roads gonna take 15 minutes to get to Travis kind of swept in and said, okay Then we remembered that we can always daisy-chain so one of the things that we sometimes forget to mention in our articles about leading a tour is If you have a sweep and the sweep is well versed in leading as well, then whenever you make a mistake Stop have the sweep rider Wait at the next turn get everybody turned around let them pass you by to the sweep rider They are now the lead you are now the sweep repeat Yeah, and this was something that again I always put this to practice and forgot to do so So there's a there's a lot being demanded of both people at this gate. I guess I'm half my paycheck for that day That was day three. So I made a note of it. I think I've corrected it.

Brian: If not, I certainly will Okay, so you were warm Springs and you went through boiling Springs?

Robin: Yeah, I forget what the town it was like Roanoke. I think getting around Roanoke is a pain That was rough, but we got through it and everybody was happy everybody had a good day Everybody enjoyed their day and that's all that matters day four We're gonna get up from Mount Airy and we're gonna ride to Maggie Valley. This was a pretty damn good day Unfamiliar curves our design the work we did in previous episodes that worked out really well. Thanks. Everything was going fine Until I left my cell phone at a gas station and was about 40 miles from it Travis kind of got to pick up the baton and take all of the credit for our newest grand finale section for that day Like big ups to my clientele the people that went on the tour They're the ones who kept me calm because they knew I was getting stressed out. It actually was Jasmine She was like, how about you go get your phone Travis leads us along the route and then everything will be fine Yeah, lo and behold like I called my phone and the person who found it picked up hi sir, yeah Thank you But I got my phone back and Travis led them and but he got to take all the credit because that section that they did After I went to get the phone is like absolute bliss

Brian: Excellent.

Robin: That's day four Now I forgot to get the creek side rooms at the Jonathan Creek in there Likely I was trying to save money for everybody but mom showed up a pizza next time We'll just have mom show up because the pizza, you know, they've got nice pizza in town. We don't need to do that She can just come hang out. It'll be fine. Okay Are you ready for the first bruising that is gonna come to both of us from both of us? All right, so you wake up in Maggie Valley full of pizza and then done done done I Was excited I was so happy that you and I had gone through all of that effort to say let's avoid the BRP We're gonna do everything. Look at these beautiful Beautiful roads. You remember this like you and I went to painstaking tasks. We talked through them. We looked at him We analyzed them. We were careful. It just goes to show you're right, man You got to put eyes on the road physically to really decide and the decision is oh hell. No do not Improvise roads to avoid the BRP to the chair Allah don't do it. It's just not worth it. The short of it is that We got on our bikes and took off and all of a sudden it was great. These are great roads Awesome. Yes. Yes. Yes, and then this is a little bit neighborhood ish. The corners are a little bit tight There's a lot of mailboxes and there's not a lot of escape path there people jogging and bicyclists. Okay, and then dirt It's gonna go for three miles. These are switchbacks. It's not well packed. It's enormous rocks. I Finally stop and Everybody knows that I did not intend this. I'm like Travis get us back to the BRP. He pulls up He does this thing beep beep boop boop, you know, you hear all the sounds going off while he's calculating everything He finds the way in they take off Before like I started to put on my helmet and I kind of stopped myself and I realized there's nobody around me for miles. I Put my helmet on my seat and at the absolute top of my lungs full volume as loud as I could shout it I screamed As Loud as I could and it felt so good that I did it twice and blew out my voice They're probably a good mile ahead of me now. I get on my bike I stand up and I start gunning it down this road just like hell. Yeah. Hell yeah. Yeah, we're getting out of here Let's we're gonna solve the problem right now. And then I come to a T intersection. I'm alone now I know they heard me. I know they did they told me after the fact cuz I jumped the bike I'm hauling full bazookas all the way up to the freakin T intersection in the dirt and I don't know where they went I have no idea Where they are And I'm sitting here I lift my helmet up again and for a third time this time with a little bit of a Tarzan effect as my Voice was shot, but I let off another special characters spelled various wording right I'm in a state of surrender and then I hear a hey, man. I look over 30 yards away is Greg white. Yeah, man. We're all right here. Oh Ride the bike over and we're back on the BRP nice Having looked at the route again. The trick is this change nothing and do everything Get on the BRP in Maggie Valley. That is the start of the section of the BRP It's actually good true twisty and tight and fun and the speed limits actually feel kind of Hooligan ish. It's a lot of fun to be on the BRP right there and you're not there for long It's like maybe 20 to 30 miles max from Maggie Valley Ride the BRP to 19 Take 19 to the chair a holla ride the entire chair a holla Do the dragon have lunch do the dragon in the opposite direction? Pick up the new section of the foothills Parkway when you get to the end of that Do not try to improvise at all. Just go straight to the hotel and Cumberland Gap Go to the lodging get a pizza get some wine You will be very happy and that's what our tour will do from here on Yeah, deep breath and just chill and see I'm really you know thinking back on designing that route It's like how did we get that one section you were talking?

Brian: It's like how did that happen? I'm not even sure Me neither something hopped on us well Yeah, cuz it was like going along for 41 and then it just kind of went off and then and then back to Cherokee Which that doesn't make any sense. Why would I have done that? Something was weird there.

Robin: But anyway, everybody lived you owe no explanation That section is paved until it's not yeah and you and I checked it and the section that isn't Will never be seen again by this tour. We already have a good thing.

Brian: There's no reason to change it It's proven itself the new section of the foothills Parkway. That's worth the price of admission right there, isn't it? drop-jaw perfection. Yeah for Those listening at home. We're talking about the section. I believe it's from it's from outside of Townsend to where's Valley It's just epic Mountain Road sweeper goodness. It's amazing Brand-new just opened just north of Townsend You hang a right and head head east and it takes you all the way to where's Valley the fun way Special it's really special One thing that I think we'll probably have everybody on here at some point to talk with you directly and I'll just sit back with My arms crossed one thing we did see on the chair.

Robin: Hala was a Mustang had done a full 360 into the guardrail Nice and was hanging off the side. So we had to wait for that the driver and his passenger were fine So at least there's that much things like that happen It's another reason why I think we'll probably pull the tour Back a week to get on these roads just a little bit sooner than the general public Because it gets dumb really fast so I think that like the last week of May first week of June that's right when you want to get out there and Have it to yourself.

Brian: Yeah, I can see that. Yeah. Yeah, and also pay attention to day a week But yeah, there are times it's always gonna be dumb Yeah, I'm gonna get you more talking about day six and seven that was a very long day and you ended up in Middlesbrough I believe right we stay at the Old Mill Inn in Cumberland Gap.

Robin: Shut up a shout out to the Old Mill Inn That is beautiful elegant character charm clean luxurious lavish historic modern it's Perfection nice a will be our first call every time from now on and reasonably priced with good food in walking distance and beds from the food in diagonally awkward stumbling distance very nice

Brian: yeah, and I believe you had talked about there may be Maybe possibly rearranging things so you have like a like almost a short day or a second day somewhere or something like that I know you're not not certain yet. What next year is gonna hold.

Robin: I think I can have it both ways I have an idea about this. We'll talk about it. I will say that days six and seven were Comparatively bad not from the customers point of view. They were still quite happy They didn't know they were just so happy to be riding and tearing ass through all these corners It was you and I that knew this is an experiment Some of it is better than expected Some of it is worse than is tolerable It was a mix in all directions that didn't yeah take away from the experience at all So that let's get that out of the way first. There's no harm. No foul here, right?

Brian: So, okay. So day six from Middlesbrough to Moorhead, how was that route? Some of it was really good. Some of it. It all looks good on the map. That's for sure.

Robin: I Should probably get corrected on this if Travis were around he could correct it all this stuff What I remember of that day was that it does a great job of doing everything we wanted to do on paper until you bring in the real world of Neighborhood living they are packed with slow rollers and houses all kinds of trouble in that regard where while the roads if they were podunk and Particle board trailer housing that they'd be fantastic because they'd be moonshine and roads, right? They weren't but that's a that's a broad sweeping statement That's that's me like picking one bad moment and expanding it like a blanket over the entire thing and that's not how it went The truth is I would say that two-thirds of it was outstanding. Absolutely outstanding I began to take issue with the fact that for seven writers writing seven states seven days We're spending too much time in Kentucky and not really getting Indiana to stretch out the way we might like that has been fixed.

Brian: Yeah, we'll get to that.

Robin: Yeah What do you remember about day six the planning of it and all that stuff?

Brian: Okay. Yeah the day six I wasn't there for day six. I Parachuted in at the end of the day. Yeah, and that was kind of one of the big things is we weren't again, this is the principle we talked about was, you know, we need to go ride him and make sure because They were there were some three-digit state roads, which in Kentucky can mean anything from two actual lanes complete with mustard mayo complete with lines or No lines at all. Nothing. We tried to scout that as best we could online But yeah Some of it as you said some of it can get a little neighborhood II and where you don't want to be too Antisocial so this fall we'll make sure and scout some of that stuff

Robin: There's a section in West Virginia where we do deal with a lot of single lane Like there's there is a road in West Virginia where I don't know how they divided this into two lanes But it's like three point five feet wide oncoming Yeah, however Incredibly fun to ride. There's an open field of view. You can actually maneuver it It's super tight cornering super tight But the pavement is really really smooth I think that combination lends itself very well to Big dumb grits like if you're moving at 30 to 50 miles per hour through very very tight corners, but the pavement is hilariously good That's just goofy. Yeah, I welcome that in a heartbeat.

Brian: I think that Wormwood Road The it was is fishing Worm Ridge Road. That was day seven. Absolutely not.

Robin: That was a cluster or whatever Anyway, well we were warned you took Dale on it He was like I think this might piss people off and then we did it anyway Cuz you and I are you and I I did it anyway, I had a blast I'm kind of glad we did if I'm being on anyway, you and I had a blast But that's gonna get into the conversation here.

Brian: So anyway day six. There was a tire issue a text was sent I ended up throwing like a half-worn tire that I had on this shelf on the back of my bike with my little air pump we changed a tire in the parking lot and I'm glad we did because The the old tire kind of looked it looked worn down, but it wasn't showing cords But we pulled it off and you could like feel how thin the material was We're like, okay. I'm very glad I went to the trouble of bringing this in and also like Changing, you know doing the three tire iron trick to break the beads Changing a tire with three little bitty tire irons in a parking lot, you know It's like yeah, I can't it can be done and here it is being done.

Robin: That was kind of fun It was taking care of was a balanced out or whatever we but it was fine the bike He was happy with it. Everything worked out this person Did not expect that they were gonna need a new tire because they did have tread There is however a person who's been on the tour before who knew better who ended up needing a tire At the right time that person who I hope hears this that person was like this is not good I need a tire now and they immediately left and met up with us later With a tire that fit their bike an opportunity was the whole game like I mean they they had tread They weren't going to have tread and when they knew they weren't going to they knew that when they didn't have tread They wouldn't have access to a tire. So they were like, okay now is the time now now now now now I think that would have been a good cue for anybody, but it went the way it went and that's fine I will say that for day six We have reverted to a previous version of the Kentucky section And what I remember of that section is that it is well sculpted It's a damn good time and it actually does solve the daybreak scenario here's my idea if they did so much on day five with the Chirajala and the drag both directions and the foothills and 30 miles to lodging that's a 325 mile day. People are exhausted. They're spent. They don't even do this that often It's a new mileage mark for them. There are people out there blogging all the time. Nobody cares. It's true You do you're not the people were referring to who are trying to get out for the first time of the season do something big this section of Kentucky Inspired by one of the customers by the way, Paul who was like maybe you should do a day out You know where it's like super chill.

Brian: Mm-hmm.

Robin: The great thing about what you designed for Kentucky. It shoots up 66 I believe is that We looked at that zoomed out and it looked epic epic epic epic in Practice, it was actually a breath of fresh air in slow grandiose sweepers big turns The kind of turns that don't even require much lean angle. You're just kind of in the countryside You're taking corners, but they're not like if you were gonna have a good time on those corners You got to be going triple digits and it was glorious it was beautiful and I am actually grateful for it because if I remember correctly we do ride that at the beginning of The original what we have definitely reverted to we are reverting to my previous Kentucky ride. It is sick I need to reconfirm a lot of it and might test anything that doesn't have the Juice, I'll probably test new stuff for but I remember it is 80% Can of whoop-ass with an opener like that that just says look take a deep breath. No pressure. Stay alert But get your breath back. We'll take our time and you conquer like a hundred miles Before you know it, you know a hundred miles off of a 250 mile day. That's a short day, which I think is good problem-solved and Day seven after some miscommunication and thorough banter Turning the rally.

Brian: Oh, yeah Turn into it turned into a fecal follies. Yeah. Anyway, go on We now have perfected Indiana by moving it a long distance west. That's a right totally different part of the state You helped me so much.

Robin: Thank you. What is that town where I enter the state?

Brian: You're basically gonna cross the river in Canalton There's basically two towns there Canalton and tell city or close right there close together And I take a right and you take a right we follow the Ridgeline and that's gonna be a little 66.

Robin: Yeah Yep, it's like and then I connect. I don't remember what I connect to something else. I don't remember what 62 145.

Brian: Yeah.

Robin: Well, yeah, so 145 into French Lick pick up 150 Well based.

Brian: Yeah, don't take 145 all the way to French Lick But there's there's kind of a go around the other side of the reservoir you end up in French Lick hang a left on 150 to Scholl's and then take a right on 450 to Bedford amazing 62 66 or may is amazing the southern section of one fair 145 is amazing I gotta say that is a hundred and fifty miles of damn good time.

Robin: It is a really good, right? That's the kind of miles. I want to conquer in Indiana to really lay claim that yes, we do ride, Indiana And yes, Indiana is an absolute blast. It's the perfect grand finale to the entire event. I will say humorously speaking Brian has been receptive to my requests the whole time But what we have discovered a couple interesting things one there's a huge difference between scouting roads and Scouting routes. I need to check this and make sure in the customers view. It's gonna work guys like, you know, Brian's like well Okay, we did this we did that we do this with it and you can hear all these numbers going by Do you remember that? Do you remember doing this? Do you remember doing this? Never has there been a better not argument not fight about like dude. I can't make use of this I have no idea what any of that. I don't remember any of it and We got it out. It was said that like I know how to make an okay omelet. You sit me down I'm gonna figure it out, but Brian Lives in this state knows the roads and runs rallies there that I'm basically just sponging off I'm just stealing his rally routes and turning it into something that people are paying for you know, I'm hoping hey, would you be interested in making the omelet for me and Brian is dealing with a rally. He's dealing with people. He's dealing with conversations and Interactions and getting the food prep for all these people for this vintage GS rally What he hears is this and he's like, yeah sure. I'll help you I'll help you know, which roads to go check out and I'm like, yeah, cool. All right. I said routes. He said roads We don't know that there's a bridge out in our conversation So he takes a bunch of brown eggs and two glasses and he shakes it up into a raw yolk with some shells in it And hands me my glass full of the Brian ringer omelet that I asked for and I have no idea And eventually like I'm getting Tense and there's no reason for me to get tense because I'm looking at the guy who Literally said Robin step back. I'll fix your bike for you before your tour But he's my friend and he helped me and he still helps me Brian. Thanks for helping me figure out, Indiana, man Thank you. That was trip sevens.

Brian: Hey, no problem. Yeah for what we talked about and what you're planning I think the next year is going to be Amazing. I'll play I can make it happen. I've got ideas. Maybe we'll make some special arrangements got all kinds ideas Yeah, now we'll skip the we road fishing worm with Ridge Road And everybody did it and they smiled for the photo. But yeah, you're not doing that again.

Robin: Are you it's like six feet wide No, and semi paved which is worse than unpaved Takeaways from the tour one new tires are mandatory Possibly with proof of receipt Okay, this will never happen again. You best show me a receipt on them They can't have any tread wear at all. Also, I made the point already about the Kentucky route It's still gonna be a constant can of whoop-ass But it's gonna start with a long hundred mile crescendo of mellow to hectic over the course of 250 miles

Brian: And you and you're yeah, you're gonna go completely different You're gonna go more West and in before you go north you're gonna cross the river and at a different point You're not gonna ride on a boat, which I thought that was kind of cool

Robin: But it was Travis says well, we'll just skip that's a pain in the ass. We won't do that I'm like it's bikes on the boat your bikes on a boat, man There are things that you and I will do that.

Brian: Nobody paying money wants to do and we have to know what that is I was leading in Indiana and I had the wrong route loaded and I didn't realize it in time But anyway at some point if it ever if the stars ever line We will have to ride the route that I had planned in Indiana and it does kick ass. I'm in it's over east of Madison, Indiana From Rising Sun, Indiana to Madison, Indiana, and it really does kick ass. It really is on railroads You the worm is optional.

Robin: The sandpit is optional How do you feel about me and Maggie's setting up near Indianapolis for October instead of down in South, Kentucky? What do you think you like this idea for a whole month?

Brian: Yeah, we'll just go ride all month. I won't get anything done.

Robin: Excellent We'll talk more about it. There are things I have to do That are in South, Kentucky, but I think that may be the plan rally recap. There will be zero sensitive information There'll be no mention of negatives except for you and I Communicating like that on our terms. I did notice this you you you said well You're track trained and I wanted to say something no critique here I really appreciate the line art thing you and I have equally effective but very visually contrasting differences in our cornering strategy

Brian: there's a lot of same ingredients and I was I was really interested because I I Had never thought about it and you know, I followed you you followed me a lot But I was I would have a hard time describing what the difference is. I mean, I know what I do is Maybe very different than other people. Maybe we can talk about that, but it would be I'd be very interested And again, I this is a fresh thing. I have no idea what you're seeing. What do you see? That is different?

Robin: They need to hear your voice a little bit more than mine for a second I'll give you my bit. So let's say you're following me Devils Highway of What was it? Yeah, I was April of last year April of this year. Jeez, man. What a freaking year we're having So April of this year, you're following me through Devils Highway in Northeast, Arizona my cornering. What do you see?

Brian: Some things are obvious very smooth No sudden moves at all. Maybe there's a difference here I'm extremely aware of exactly where my tires are and that they're where I want them What I can't really tell is if if you move around the lane a little bit more one of the very common mistakes I see when I follow people is that they cross the yellow line and You and I both are pretty religious about that we never do that

Robin: I mean with an open field of view maybe but it's very I don't feel right about this.

Brian: Well, there's a Buick in the way Yeah, you do what you have to do and you don't speak of it and I do see Like you don't hear that brap until it's pretty late and you have a very clear, you know, this is a street technique You don't hear the you don't hear the throttle come back in until you know until late in the corner the late apex You know and that's that's a that's very much something I do as well I'm not I'm tipping into the throttle a little bit, you know, you don't hear it until you know The field is pretty clear slow in fast out is what I do, too so yeah, the one thing I do that may be different is that I Keep and I use options to change my line quite a bit in the middle of corners and I do that a lot

Robin: That's the one I think twice in an entire So far year of riding that threw me for a loop Created more distance between us was like, okay, let's let's hang back on this. So the thing I saw That made me think about it and kind of watching and I was having a blast an absolute ball Just watching and riding my own ride and thinking through it. You will enter a corner very often middle middle middle Not throughout the entire corner but you would enter middle so that at a speed where you knew if You needed to tighten up for a an early entry you could and you also knew that if you needed to release and go wide You could so you're giving yourself two options to work with Entry speed is very similar. You and I are going in the way we go in but you've set yourself up for a Binary operator, well, you know is a ternary is that three whatever try optional? Yeah Corner approach where you can you could stick the whole middle if you want to kind of bland But you don't have to or you can chop in or you can go wide and deal with whatever My own strategy tends to be to bury in from the outside because I know the limits of the bike I know that if I see loose gravel, I'm still gonna be able to hook in before it So I come in from the outside and I'm already trying to cut deep into The inside from the start and it's just a matter of how hard am I pressing on the knife? That means that I'm always coming from the outside of the corner where you're in the middle and when you make your decision It may end up in right in front of me. Mm-hmm, which is Nobody's business, but yours you don't owe me fuck all this is a you know, you don't owe me that It's your corner. I have no business trying to there's no there's no me looking at you being like Why did you do that? You know, it's like no, it's yours you own it But it did get me once in Indiana where I was like, I'm gonna come out. Oh, he's roy How he's right there and I kind of giggled at myself, you know, I had control. I was just laughing it We definitely arrived at the safest point in the corner with the least amount of remaining Reaction available to us and it worked out just fine The calculations were correct, but boy howdy were they on the nose like they were there down to the wire, correct? I'm like, okay good.

Brian: Yeah, I do I do a lot of correction There's a lot of push push, you know There's a lot of that you probably don't even can't see but there's a lot of correction Mid corner and the thing is I'm looking at the next corner The correction is from memory like I I want to be here here here Like if you were to graph it you would it would look like I don't know what I'm doing I think sometimes well a lot of it.

Robin: Sometimes you have to be this is it's street riding.

Brian: This is Street. This is, Indiana There's everything on the roads. There's all kinds of stuff. This isn't right.

Robin: The surface conditions are not perfect you may need to what I do think is brilliant as seasoned riders to the extent that we can claim it if we enter a corner and We see the debris field The problems the patchwork the loose gravel the yada yada. We actually have gotten good you we're not looking at that We're looking at the not that it's the Miles Davis thing. You know, it's not the notes you play It's the notes you don't play. So if you look at a corner and you see the one Outlet for the smoothest transition through that corner. I mean, maybe it'll involve some adjustment like I'll start tight here But I'm gonna release and kind of go wide into that because it it goes through a rut of smooth That is a way that's a way to corner a good way to corner and you'll see kind of that whole preserve your options thing When I crest a hill I can't see over like a lot of times.

Brian: I'll I'll actually the brake light will come on I'm loading to break just a little bit and you'll see there'll be like I'll swoop up a hill and there'll be Like if you're let's see my speedometer, there'd be a big drop and then once I can see it's on, you know, and I popped over I don't know how many hills in Indiana and Kentucky and Tennessee and North Carolina where there's a tractor on the other side There's two tractors and they're having a conversation. They're stopped and there's big pointy things Or there's cows. I've and and so yeah when you know cresting hills You'll see like a little tap of the brake and but yeah, it's about preserving those options and I hope it works Awesome recap.

Robin: Is there anything specific you want to talk about about the rally or any of that? I had a great time It was a good hang good people. Shout out to three-letter John who really brought it all together in a variety ways Yeah, awesome to meet him and awesome, too He's just outgoing as hell.

Brian: He just gets along with everybody. He's you know, he's showing people stuff.

Robin: He's teaching He can't help himself and I see your dumbass question I think it's a great dumbass question and I insist that we build on that.

Brian: All right, here's my dumbass question You keep talking about a sweep rider Travis was your sweep rider and we're talking about future rides where I mean, I will probably be a sweep rider What exactly in the mind of Robin Dean? TRO tour operator extraordinaire exactly what the hell is a sweep rider and what are the duties responsibilities? skills, etc of a sweep rider in your mind the duties and

Robin: responsibilities of a sweep rider Don't take away from their opportunity to have a damn fine time depending on the crowd I invite sweep riders to rubber band it meaning get a good handle on how people ride and Wait for a good number of minutes before you decide to take off so that you too are having a wonderful time However in a perfect situation or the way it's always gone with me The sweep rider is the person who is riding in back They have all of the equipment necessary to administer first aid and or CPR as needed they have the equipment to call in the unconscious $30,000 short-lived helicopter tour from the site of a situation to the Location of a solution because they'll have a spot X. We have a spot X now Thanks to customers on a previous tour you were on that tour They are ready to find a rider who has lost their way and Guide them back to the main line. Now that has not really happened like except for on one occasion Which changed how we do things? What I mean is if a rider is lost away and the sweep rider arrives where they are The sweep rider will then become their guide and lead them back to the pack who will be waiting They're the freebie customer who also does search and rescue first day CPR guiding people to where they should be Solving problems for the lead rider is big you mentioned that yeah, it's huge all the peripheral thinking That's going on up front when it's not just about like hey, you didn't have to follow me No, they paid to follow me. They want to be there and I need to cater to them in a way where I'm hyper aware I'm analyzing what's ahead of me I've got 360 awareness that is processing their actions and that is overwhelming. So when you arrive at a gravel road Below the road you thought you were on because of a mishap with the map planning and you're sitting there trying to figure out what to do and you're starting to lose your mind because you're tired and fatigued and The Sun ain't getting any higher, you know, it's like the Sun's gonna go down at some point We got a place to be these people are here for a vacation. They need chill time They need to decompress and interact with one another to have the right sweep rider Who's gonna be like I know exactly what everybody here needs Step up solve the problem not everything about the lead writer can be a spontaneous solution They're gonna be times when the lead writer has no sense of self has no sense of care anymore Like they're just trying to get wherever they can safely It's easy to lose it. So to have somebody be like hey You're still a badass and I want you to know that I've got you Why don't you take a break and getting back and to have a great writer who's signed up for this tour? Tell me that about getting my phone That I got nothing but gratitude Travis knocked it out of the park. He always does. So it's Tim Clark. Those are the two guys that I know will Be the bottom of the pyramid if they need to be for the most part They're just ants in the backdrop trying to make sure problems are solved. But you know, you wake up to the coffee already made. Oh You're gonna have a good day. Does that answer your question?

Brian: I think it does Yeah, that's kind of kind of what I gathered from the stories and so forth, you know, and this isn't like the old Goldwing Harley trip where you've got a road captain and a road colonel and a and a road sergeant and a I'll eat it I'm a road captain that doesn't mean anything and it's not a thing and the road corporal and the Road privates and I don't know. I don't know how it works 30 hand signals and you strict formations Each one of you carries a letter and then you make a you spell a word.

Robin: Yeah, no Well, I would say we have an episode but we can go big with this one I don't want to talk about Wisco disco. I don't want to hear the sound of my own voice anymore I know that the listeners don't you want to do something fun?

Brian: We had a discussion about the the quick shift on your bike Oh, yeah, did you you you learned I think you went out and you learned something. Is that is that what I see here?

Robin: It's not an analog adjustment So I have to plug in my GS 9-1-1 with the bike on the center stand activate the calibration process Put it in first gear and ride it in first gear for 10 seconds at 2,000 RPMs Shift a second for 10 seconds 2,000 RPMs every gear 10 seconds 2,000 RPMs and it will calibrate itself What I haven't figured out it yet is Don't want to do this calibration after I run it up to where the dogs aren't lining up You taught me this that the dogs on the gears they Ovate at the corners a little bit. And so what used to be a shift assist is now on a cold motor ready to ride Like once it warms up enough to ride I get one pop one pop and it sounds sexy as hell And then after a full day of riding, it's long It sounds horrible that I should probably wait until the engines good and hot before a Calibrate but I don't know what what effect will that have on the low side of it? You know the cold side of the gear dogs

Brian: They're basically these blocks on the back of the gears that mesh together The gears are sitting next to each other and over time, you know, they get just a little rounded on the corners It's almost microscopic if you look at it in your hand coupled with that There's just normal wear of you know, all the shifting components the shift forks and all that stuff Even even like the shift linkage, I don't know if you have shift linkage on that bike, but and things like that So we talked about you know What calibrations like you may need to calibrate the point where it cuts the ignition and you may need to calibrate?

Robin: The delay and how long it cuts the ignition to allow the shift to happen and that might be automated What's weird is that it shows like voltage levels the the readout that you receive in the report after a self calibrates is a per gear Voltage that's what it looked like.

Brian: I don't know might be a resistance value So basically in that process something needs to be recalibrated And yeah, if you are having the most problems when the oil is super hot again, this is a high mileage bike You know hundred and whatever thousand miles on it yeah, go out and get it blazing hot like that ride the hell out of it and then and then run the calibration what it will probably do is Loosen things up. I guess it'd be a good way to put it It will it will increase the time of the ignition cut out a little bit You like you might even not be able to perceive the the difference It'll give it you'll give it time to mesh and it will also Maybe change the engagement point when when that shift starts to move and there's a sensor or switch on there Like I don't know if it's just a switch or if it's like a potential meter where it you know It has a constant resistance value as you move the shift lever I don't know in a nutshell It sounds like it'd be a good idea to to go get the bike good and hot since that's the situation We're starting to have trouble Recalibrate it. It won't cause any problems when the bike is is warm or cool At worst you would have a little bit more of a delay to allow things to mesh and it may not even be something humanly perceptible you might not even notice Millisecond stuff doesn't matter Millisecond stuff. Yeah, if it were like a manual system, you know You have to bend a tab with a switch or move a Screw or something, you know, then it sounds like it does itself. So to give it a chance and see what happens I mean, I have seen instances where there's a sensor inside a transmission that gets dirty over time.

Robin: And so the resistance values Kind of get wonky like it doesn't know what gear it's in I'll just throw a hodgepodge of super clean and brake cleaner and Plexus and just see what happens and hope Yeah, yeah.

Brian: Sure. Yeah, go ahead. Try that. Yeah, there's some fork oil in there, whatever So that may be part of it or maybe part of the recalibration like oh the resistance values have changed So that it knows what gear it's in and so it'll recalibrate to that as well So I'd say give it a give that a shot. I saw that on there.

Robin: I thought it was interesting We've skipped everything that will be the pulp of your next episode I'll be the color commentary in the background instead. What do you think? Do we have an episode of Robin talking at Brian? We have an episode of some sort Yeah, I think next time like I said next time you gotta steer the ship. It's yours I needed to get all this out.

Brian: So yeah, it looks like your weather held up. Okay, like your internet connection, so that's good It's gonna rain again for all night.

Robin: Hey, you know if this state can get a little bit of rain I think they're gonna be okay.

Brian: Yeah, really