TRO

Your Sport Touring Motorbike Fix

J. Parham, National Motorcycle MuseumSep 7, 2023TranscriptCommentShare

Tag along for our FTC disclosure saga here ...

Thank You, Anamosa

Tim Clarke and Matt Berry visit the (now closed) International Motorcycle Museum. Music by Otis McDonald. Download our feed here.

Transcript

As legible as we are intelligible ...

Robin: Hey,

Brian: Brian.

Robin: Hey Robin. Did you ride today?

Brian: I absolutely did. Ride today, rode to work and then I went out and rat racing around town. No reason, just out riding

Robin: just random destinations.

Brian: Yeah. Um, went down to the hood and got gas, you know, and had to avoid the, the, uh, zombie begging for dollars guy. But that's just, that's part of the game, you know, you gotta get in, get out fast, and then take off before they get to

Robin: you. I had some thoughts on my mind and plans for this conversation, but then the day got ahead of me. Of course, I'm an hour late. Sorry about that. Good to see you.

Brian: No worries. Good to see you too.

Robin: Did you ride today? I did not, but Maggie's bike is back. Excellent. And she's gonna talk about being that gal, which is kind of cool. Also kind of not, that's kinda the point, right? Is Hey, how about you not do that? But she's gonna talk a little bit about her experience with the Triumph. That thing has four safety switches on it. I think we talked about that last time. The side stand, the shift pedal, the clutch lever, and the one that is probably the culprit. The radio antenna to the chip set in her mechanical key with a chip in it immobilize her apparently in hot temperatures. The antenna swells up and then fails, and then you're stuck. Nice. I believe this is gonna take more work than I initially allotted for like with the clutch switch. If it were the clutch switch, which by the way, that's what that was, the diagnosis, well, clearly, here's your problem because yours truly broke it, but the dealership. Big thanks to Triumph Boise for basically letting us store our bike there while we figured out what we were gonna do for an entire week. They diagnosed the problem. Let's call that the storage fee, because they refunded us the, uh, cost of the part that we ordered. It's not that clutch cable. I broke the clutch cable. So when you say here's your problem, it's not always the problem. Well, it's a problem. It's definitely a problem, but I'm gonna bypass that. It's just a completed circuit, like a relay circuit. So I'm gonna just get the wires together and let her start her bike in neutral if she should. So desire,

Brian: yeah. Yeah. The one thing is on some bikes, um, that does have an effect on how it runs. I don't know about the triumph at all, but, uh, um, For example, uh, you'll get a d you'll get a different mapping or something in the fuel injection if it thinks the clutch is pulled in, et cetera. So, interesting. I don't know what it is on, like, on, I had a Strom, an early Strom, and all you had, you know, if your clutch, when your clutch slits failed because they all failed, uh, you just, you know, somehow get the wires together and ignore it from then on. Uh, but on a later Strom, it affects the, the mapping and so forth and different gears. So you have to make sure it works.

Robin: Sounds like it should check out the forums, huh? Oh yeah. Wait a minute. You know who should check out the

Brian: forums? Mrs. Dean. Yeah.

Robin: Thank you for saying that. So that's how that is. It was, you know, it was an $800 day. We jumped in the truck, we drove three and a half hours to Boise. We needed an oil change for the truck. So we drove to a Harbor Freight. I bought a front wheel chalk, an adjustable one. A six foot ramp, which was a little short, but that's okay. It's a, it's the kind, you could walk next to the bike up, it folds in on itself. That's pretty cool. So these two items then drove to the Ford dealership to get our trucks oil change, where while they were doing this, I assembled all of these things. Oil truck comes out, plop these in the back, get to the dealership, right as they're starting to bring the bikes in, find the nearest downhill slope to back the truck up against for the six foot ramp. Start it up, try to clutch it up. And actually, big thanks to, I think it was Michael at Triumph Boise, which is a huge dealership. It's not just triumph, they're a whole bunch of things. But he tried to clutch, clutch, walk it up the ramp, thank you so much. Halfway up the bike wasn't having it. So, you know, grabbed the rear luggage rack and gave it a good push and got it set up and then paranoid it, it wasn't, we weren't really prepared, so there was a lot of ratchet strap. Action. Quick anecdote. So one thing I did do last night as a celebration is I had my first three fingers of whiskey in a week and a half because Job well done Bike's back. I got my book in my hand. Have you been reading One Man Caravan?

Brian: Uh, I have not. I have the book and I've been reading what's the other, uh, the

Robin: Perfect Vehicle. Oh, cool. Yeah. Melissa Holbrook Pearson,

Brian: where she talks about one man caravan. So I feel like I should have read

Robin: that first maybe. But then again, you know, potato patada, that's what we say here in Idaho. That's what he, we hear Idahoans say, I'm reading the book and I'm, I don't remember. Let's look this up right now. One man caravan, motorcycle, if you can hear me click. Lacking.

Brian: Whatcha, are you looking up like what motorcycle he was using? Yeah. Wasn't it like a Douglas of some sort? You were right. Brian

Robin: Ringer. Oh, it was a two cylinder. Cool. How many ccs is that machine?

Brian: 1932 Douglas H 32 Mastiff. 750 cc. Yeah. In that era it was, there's the page in the, uh, in the chat there. Oh, nice. 20 horsepower, which at that time was

Robin: a big deal. It got 'em around the world. Come through the desert. There is a point where he puts knot motor oil into it because it's all, he could figure out something viscous. Get me 30 miles, please. Using sign language for the locals, because that's, the locals don't understand their own locals because every family has its own dialect and they're so far away they never see

Brian: each other. Right. So he ended up with like camel fat or something, I don't know what it was. Or some sort of vegetable oil,

Robin: or it was a vegetable oil of some kind. Just viscous enough that this bike could stand it and get him where he was going. You know you're not gonna do that with a modern bike. Travis. Travis' ringing true here from the last episode. So yeah, pretty freaking crazy. I was thinking it was gonna be a lesser cc displacement bike. Next anecdotal chitchat about ride with G P s. So with ride with gps.com, I knew this, but you forget features. You know, you know how to use something for a while and you forget all the features. One thing you can do is you can click on the elevation map, select a section of it, and it will highlight the section of road that you have selected on the actual map. Oh yeah, yeah. Which is useful if you're trying to figure out elevations, updates, revisits announcements, corrections, et cetera. Don Beon, shout out to Don Beron, friend of mine, he's been on the podcast before. Don listened to our last episode. He laughed his butt off when you'd mentioned seeing a stick and thinking it was a python. He thought that was great, and he related to it. He said, I think what's happening there, that's your lizard brain. Mm-hmm. It's you trying to protect yourself because you've got nothing else to do and you know, you all the activity going on or the lack thereof depending, and then you see something you're like, uh, yeah, snake. Yeah. Yeah. He called it and I thought that was pretty fantastic. He just figured it was your lizard brain.

Brian: Totally. I agree with that. And totally a lizard brain moment.

Robin: He's got a certain sense of humor where I'm sure he laughed to himself thinking about lizard brain and he thought it was a snake. A Wagga Wagga Wagga. You know? He is like, Hey, we got questions.

Brian: Excellent. We love questions here.

Robin: Actual questions from human beings. Are you ready

Brian: for these? I'm ready. And we're going in cold. I have no idea. Here we go. All right. Lay it on. Lay it

Robin: on us. It comes from a long time friend of both you and I. This is the first person I ever felt comfortable riding motorcycles with. He doesn't ride anymore. So this one goes out to Domino Rossi who just bought a convertible and wants to drive the convertible around Lake Michigan. Now, he texted me about this. He kind of wants to do it in a couple days. Days. I think that's not enough time. I, you gotta have at least three days, and that's if you're pushing four or five is nice.

Brian: Yeah, Michigan is big. Wisconsin is big.

Robin: So his question then, after that is, are there any must sees that? I would recommend. Now I linked you to our Better Lake Michigan Circle tour. Yeah, I saw that. That one is more, let's start with some Wisconsin curves. Trick number one is you always wanna be going clockwise around the lake because then the lake is always right next to you. You wanna be in the right lane, the lake is at your right there at your view. You're not looking across traffic at the lake, so you wanna go clockwise as for places to stop, things that you must see. Originally when I wrote this, I was trying to make it as entertaining and roads wise as possible, and then it became the tour that my wife and I have come to enjoy. Believe it or not, it's a good round. The lake cruise.

Brian: Mm-hmm. I'm looking at

Robin: it too. Definitely a lot to see in Door County. Bailey's Harbor, they got rental cabins at Journey's End Motel. Journey's end looks beautiful. And there's Door County Brewing Company and they got local grass fed burgers and chives food truck also. There's little, if any, light pollution, so stargazing is really nice. Breakfast in the morning, go to bearded heart coffee. That's what I would recommend right then and there for what I would call day one. So you said I skipped Milwaukee. My map wants to get twisty where it can through the parks of Wisconsin on the way to north. Right. That's why we skipped Milwaukee. So, okay. I see what you're talking about. Yes, we do. We skip that. Get us to do County Door County is beautiful. You know this is a vacation for him and his lovely wife. I'm sure. So let's get 'em up there. Right

Brian: Back up a little bit. Where the hell is do county? What's the town in Do county that we're talking we're

Robin: targeting? Man, it's been so long. I don't even remember, but I'm pretty sure it's like, it's the peninsula.

Brian: Yeah. Dor county's the peninsula. It's that little, that little uh, little pinky finger, uh, above Green Bay. Got it. Understood.

Robin: I think that's where the tunnel of trees are, which is a lovely thing to go see. It's also where there's this crazy warped, curvy road that just is curvy for no reason, which is wonderful. Right. Even if it's a public road that's frequented by blue hairs who wanna take photos, that's okay. It's a beautiful trip. So that I highly recommend. Excellent. Now after that, Go to Marquette, just go all the way up to Lake Superior and go to Marquette. It is lovely. There's nothing in my article about it, so I don't remember what's good about it, but you should definitely go there after that, you know, follow that, do South and pick the lake back up again. You'll start heading due East over to Mackinac City where you'll find the Mackinac Bridge, which is awesome. It is a big, high angle bridge. If your wife is afraid of heights, you gotta do this. It'll be great. The screaming will sound like operatic singing, and then when you land, and I do perhaps mean land in Mackinac City, that is a great place to stop. Beautiful things to see there. I mean,

Brian: that's what it's for. Yeah. Yeah.

Robin: This would be day five for us if we were doing the big tour. Yeah. It's a simple path along Route two. They call it Big Mac. Go figure. But then you can get pasties. Mm, pasties are delicious. Yeah. Pasty, by the way, if you're, if you don't know, it's a baked pastry, traditional variety of which is particularly associated with the Cornwall in the United Kingdom. It's the original Hot Pocket and it's delicious Mackinaw down through Petski and down to Traverse City. Mm-hmm. Traverse City is beautiful then all the way down to Grand Rapids and once you dip into

Brian: Yeah, you do go through a corner of Indiana and that's, if you stay on 12, you're next to the dunes. It's not, it is not bad, you know, but it's, it's, yeah.

Robin: I suggest avoiding Gary. Yeah.

Brian: Don't go through Gary. Well, it's a different kind of scenic. I mean, you know, it could get real interesting.

Robin: It's a different kind of horrific. Yeah, that too.

Brian: Let's talk about a couple of things and, and then we will. For one, there's a couple of things that some people may want to go see depending on your taste. For example, Oshkosh, Wisconsin, uh, there's also, there's, there's the big, there's a lot of aviation going on there, and there's, and they make Oshkosh trucks. Some people may, you know, want to get a tour. Uh, and obviously Green Bay, you know, if you're into football, that's all. There isn't, you know, you go to Green Bay, it's a stadium and there's like a village around it, and that's it. Um, but if you're into football, even if you're a Bears fan, you know, go, go see the enemy camp, whatever you call it. Um, so that could be something you'd be interested in. Maybe not, maybe, maybe not. I don't know. Sports ball. Go see some sports ball places, uh, if you like that. But yeah, I, yeah. And looking at the map and all the lumpy bits on the map and, and, uh, uh, north, uh, northwest, uh, Michigan seems like a really cool place to kind of linger. Oh, the up. Is that about the upper? Yeah, well, no. Across from the up and the up, definitely. Yes. Obviously the u p is amazing. Um,

Robin: but if you're just going around the lake, maybe not the up a bit of a detour.

Brian: Yeah. You're not gonna get deep into it. You're gonna go through it, but yeah. And stuff, you know, and I, I could see making some detours along this. It would be great. You know, spend a little time.

Robin: These are just pinpoint destinations that you can pick and choose from. But if you start a trip around Lake Michigan, the way this article happened was we just wrote about where we decided to stop. Yeah. This was not planned. It was not definite and so long as we liked the environment we were in, that's what caused us to say, Hey, let's, let's take a night. Let's check this out. Let's enjoy it. Yeah. Let's kick back. And it was worth it every time. Even if it is just kind of a cruise, a sport touring, cruise branding, tr bike. If you're interested in the Better Lake Michigan Circle tour by my own standards, you want article ID 14 4 20. That's cro bike slash question mark. P equals 14 4 20 14. Four 20. Check it out. Uh, we have another question. You good for this? Sure. The next question, I'll try to keep this non m sy, but it comes from John Bernthal. John Bernthal, who oh, let's just say, just happens to be a person who walks large sums of pavement for grandiose amounts of time and would like something lavish and luxurious, uh, on his feet to massage him at every step while he inducts. Hopefully as many writers into our fellow brethren of ridership as he can on any given weekend. Did that come out right?

Brian: That came out. It came out. Yeah. I, I'm, I'm picking up what you're laying down. Dude wants some nice boots. He can ride in and walk in. Yeah. The,

Robin: the big thing is the walking part. So I've worn over the calf boots on the large sum of pavement and after a while you find yourself walking, like either duck walking or stilt walking or just weird walking because they eat a different part of your leg at some point. Yeah. Comfortable for lunch? Sure. Comfortable for a jog. Maybe not so much. So we did write an entire article about this Ideas 29 7 7 1 tear a bike slash p equals 29 7 7 1. And I'm gonna make that easier for people to feature our promise. But his new kicks motorcycle shoes for every occasion. He wants them to be Gore-Tex. That's the big one. That's the big one. So there is, there are two on this article that point directly to that, uh, the dart wood, G T X. Which is available on Revzilla. It looks like a leather shoe. It's fully armored and it's over the ankle. Okay. Very rigid. So if you do a page search, hit Ctrl F and hit in Goretex Gore dash tex with an X. Then that will point out two shoes. The T C X dart wood, G T X is the one I'm looking at first available on Revzilla. I love their sense of humor about it. They say yes. The names may sound more like a country club and the dart woods's may resemble hikers or perhaps Topsiders, but it's a Gore-Tex smashed together. It's a, it has a leather look and feel sort of a, I want to call it, tell me if you agree with this. It's a Doc Martin mixed with in all stars. Yeah.

Brian: And yeah, those are some specific recommendations. Um, what comes to mind for me, and this may be out of left field for you, is this is a really common question for people who ride like dual sport because you know, if your bike breaks or whatever, or you want, you know, a lot of people will go ride up a trail and then go walk, then go hike a trail. So there's a lot, uh, if you look in the adventure, I hate the word, but you know, if you look in the adventure dual sport world, there are quite a few boots that fit that you just kind of pick the height that works for you. Um, and that, that was the other thing is you're looking for something like a short boot or, you know, the whole, you know, calf high monster Frankenstein thing going on. You know, I suspect, uh, I suspect he could give up a little bike performance to get better

Robin: walking. I rarely recommend anything under the calf, but in the case of being on the range coaching motorcyclists and or anything involving getting your steps in, I recommend over the ankle, but yeah, below the calf. 'cause if you're gonna be on your feet more than you're on the bike, at least you're wearing armor. At least you're wearing something that Yeah. Is bracing your ankle. Right. One

Brian: of the, one of the recommendations I have not sponsored, but give us a call, uh, is Yes, it's a, yeah, it's a web. It's a place called Atomic Moto. So atomic moto.com. And you can actually call them and they will pick up the phone or you can email them, uh, with your dilemma and they will help you. And there are actually quite a few, they call 'em adventure boots that could fit the bill here. Um, and like you mentioned, I think you mentioned the T C X, there's T C X Explorer more of a touring boot, and then there the CD canyons are really good. Um, I. I, my, I really tend to get along with Garney or Garn or however you say it, boots like I can, you know, I can walk all day into things. So there's actually, there's, there's actually, you know, there's several good brands that are all, you know, gore-Tex and then there's uh, there's a CD Adventure mid that kind of, it doesn't go like all the way up the calf, but it's still got a lot of significant protection and it also has a really good soul. Gore-Tex nice. Easy to walk in, stuff like that. So, uh, but yeah, these, these guys, like I said, not sponsored, but hey, give us a call. Um, yeah,

Robin: I like that we're trying to get the sponsors going. I love that. Yeah. Yeah.

Brian: These, these guys are great. Um, tell 'em we said hey. Um, and if you have a dilemma like this and you're looking for a, a Goldilocks boot, they can help you

Robin: out. There is another one we mentioned in the article. 'cause mostly I was just looking for the ones where it was like a definite, this is a good product. I got my camera I can put on. The, uh, let's see here. Gore-Tex. Yeah. The other boot is a little bit more like motorcycle shoes for camping, but if it's for camping, it means it's for walking and hiking, which means it's gonna be a little bit more kush. This one's also a, it is a Gore-Tex boot. Uh, it's the range G T X. It's literally called the range G T X. It's armored. It's uh, got simple adjustments. It's got the one knob at the top that tighten everything down.

Brian: It's a climb. Yeah, it's a climb gt. Yeah, I see it. Okay. Yeah,

Robin: that's, it's very kango, but it's a good shoe. I mean, it's a good motorcycling shoe. It does have a heel, which isn't necessarily a good thing. Usually we don't necessarily want any arch. We want something flat, you know? But I don't know. You want flex. This would do the job, but since you're only riding about 15 to 30 miles, an 20 miles an hour max, really on a range. Yeah. Basically when you're walking to that bike to tell that student they have to go home 'cause they didn't make the cut. These will be comfortable while you do. Alright, so that actually just got us through the intro questions. Thank you Domino. Thank you. John. If

Brian: you'd like us to field your questions, email, podcast@t.bike, that's podcast at t Bike, please send us your questions. We may answer them if you're lucky and if we're lucky.

Robin: So now's a perfectly good time to pass the mic over to an already recorded Tim Clark and newcomer Matt Berry for their segment about Iowa's National Motorcycle Museum, which is slated to close down this weekend. As of this podcast episode's publishing date, this is the final weekend. You can go see the incredibly beautiful bikes at that location. The address of the National Motorcycle Museum is 1 0 2 Chamber Drive Anamosa in Iowa 5 2 2 0 5. Tim, Matt and a few other friends go into detail about all they saw there. Take it away, Tim and Matt.

Tim: So setting the scene, this is Tim Clark and I am with. Three fellows that I rode with today to

Matt: Anamosa, to the National Motorcycle Museum, national Motorcycle Museum. Tim was able to manage to strain together some pretty good roads that got us all the way to Anamosa. So what did you guys think of the museum? Uh, Andy had been there before, but neither Tim nor Aaron had been there. What'd you guys think?

Tim: They had a pretty good selection of bikes.

Matt: Yeah. It's, they really did. It's American Cruiser centric. Yes, for sure. American branded centric. Lots of Indian, lots of Harley.

Tim: You really expect that in, in the middle of aisle.

Matt: They're just on the road from j m P cycles. He does primarily American Cruiser centric accessories. Yep.

Tim: But they did have

Matt: international, they had, and I think the guy who started the museum was part of j p cycle. Oh, that's, that's interesting. My recollection. I'll try and look that up right now while you. Yeah,

Tim: so we had started, the museum is the, was the owner of JP site. So, which passed, I forget his name. He passed away

Matt: a number of years ago. Okay. Yeah. So six years ago I'd say, I dunno if you heard that, but Andy said the guy who started the museum. I believe he started it with his personal collection and he was the owner of j and p Cycle, and then other people started to donate to the collection. I know that it had started in downtown Anamosa at some point, and then as it grew, it moved out to the grocery store that it's in now. Um, and a big part of the reason that this trip was spurred on was that it's closing in three weeks. Yes. It's closing after labor day of 2023. So if you hear this, by the time you hear this, it will be closed already. Yep. Most likely. Um, yeah. So I wanted to go back one more time before it closed and I invited some, I threw it up on Facebook, made an event and said, who wants to go ride motorbikes with me? Yes. And three crazy dudes showed up. So what'd you guys think?

Tim: Fun weekend, right? Yeah. I liked it. It was really cool. Um, I wish there were more dirt bikes, but

Matt: that's fine. Yeah. They had some pentance. Yeah. And uh, Pentin six day I saw. Yeah, they had a couple of

Tim: Hokas and the Hoka. Yeah. I

Matt: saw one. Maybe there were more. I think there was at least two hokas.

Tim: Cool. Um, Yeah. Loved all the board trackers.

Matt: Uh, they've got a

Tim: really more

Matt: than I've seen in one place. Yeah. The board track display in this place is really pretty cool. Cool. Pretty, it's, it's a built up corner of a board track where they're coming down off the banking onto the strai. Yeah. And it's built into the corner of the building, so there's. What, 60, 70 feet of board track built up. Um, and there's a half a dozen bikes on it. I think I remember there being more last time. Oh really? I think I remember like a dozen bikes on that. I'd have to look at pictures to check,

Tim: but that's fun.

Matt: But neat old Harley board trackers and Flying Mer or a couple of Flying Merkels and flying Mer Ez. Vincent, was it Vincent Prince? The Black Prince. Black Prince. The one that's fully fared. Yeah. Really

Tim: covered up like almost, almost streamlined

Matt: level of, yeah. Almost very a Honda, uh, what was the Hondas? Almost a big version of a super Cub, the Pacific Coast kind of, it's almost a cross between the Pacific Coast and a Super Cub and just fully covered Yeah, it, yeah, with a big lever for the center stand. Yeah. It had a linkage by where, Your left hand kind of down by your seat would run a lever that ran to a linkage to put the bike on its center stand.

Tim: It's a almost, it's a shame that it's fully fared because I'd love to see what's underneath there.

Matt: I don't pro, probably just a regular Vincent. I think it's very similar to a black shadow. Yeah. Okay. Uh, underneath, but I'm not sure. And which they had a black shadow. Yep. Yeah. Which is a pretty important historical bike. Yes. It's not the black shadow. Yep.

Tim: And then they had the coal-fired steam bicycle. Oh, yep. That thing looks so sketchy.

Matt: There were a handful of things that looked very, I mean Yeah, true. Look at board trackers. Yeah.

Tim: Overall, a lot of those early bike.

Matt: Oh, the, the, uh, motor pacer for bicycle. Yeah, lapping.

Tim: Yeah. Yeah. That thing was, I mean, it was a pretty rough looking example of a Yeah. Motorcycle, but

Matt: it was pretty cool. Huge fuel tank. Yeah. And then it had a roller assembly, so it was used for people trying to set bicycle records or training for bicycling, racing. They would follow this motorcycle very closely to get a draft off of it. Yeah. And it had a little. Appendage off the back of the bike with a roller on it in case they got too close and bumped it just a little bit that it wouldn't put the

Tim: bicyclist down. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't know if those were for like hour records or 24 hour records. I mean, it's, they

Matt: done all sorts of stuff like that. Oh yeah. I have no idea.

Tim: Um, but,

Matt: but they had some really cool restored and replicas. Tim and I spent quite a bit of time looking at the throttle and timing linkages on a, do you remember what year that was? 19 0 9, 19 15. Um, it was either, I think it was in 1912, late aut or very early

Tim: teens. I thought, I thought it was in 1912. It could have been because I remember it being pre-World War I.

Matt: Um, and they, by a lot Indian had straddle on. Mm-hmm. And ignition timing as a twist grip on the right, as a lot of older motorcycles had, but they didn't use cables. They had view joints and bell cranks and just an amazing mechanical contraption. It

Tim: was, it was like a seven or eight step linkage system. Yeah. In order to

Matt: get down there. And it was just, it's a contraption in the best sort of a word. I love.

Tim: I love seeing the details. And like the evolution of those details and like people are clearly trying to figure out how to make it better, how to make

Matt: it work. I meant to point out to you guys, I was looking at some of the early Harleys and I, I noticed this because I had seen it on a bike that was at throttle stop for our cars and coffee in Elkhart Lake a couple of weeks ago, or early Harleys. Had, uh, an exhaust cutout. So it had the, the exhaust pipe that came off, the cylinder went down and there was a muffler mounted because these are essentially bicycle frames, right? Yes. The muffler is mounted kinda under the crank set of the bicycle or the bottom bracket of the bicycle, and it had a pipe that comes down and goes into the muffler, but then for open country running, There's a little lever by the right side of the fuel tank that you can lift up on, and it opens a little flapper and it lets it be a straight pipe instead of having to go through the muffler. Oh, I love the idea. Yeah, and I've seen a guy, there was a guy at Throttle stop in Elkhart who had one there and he started it up and ran and it was. It was an early Harley single, so 1910 ish. Yeah, early 19 hundreds.

Tim: Like I, this is one of those silly things when I had a loud bike, I kind of wish that there was such a thing that they could just hit a, hit a lever, hit a switch, and it'd go quiet for running in town. They make them for cars. Yeah.

Matt: Would be, imagine how many lives you could save.

Tim: Oh my goodness. Yeah. Oh, not just, I could choose to not save them

Matt: too, by making it quiet. Save lives, uns unsafe lives. Yeah. No saves. So what was your favorite? Oh,

Tim: the road dog. The

Matt: road dog. Yes. That was a a heck of a thing. Was a, yeah. Who wants to take a crack at trying to describe that? Oh, I'll start. It was powered by a General Motors 2.5 liter iron, duke four cylinder for the two speed automatic. Yep. Yeah. So it had car tires at both ends. Yep. Probably at least four shocks at each end, I think.

Tim: Yes. Is this the one that was not, uh, there was no like

Matt: cooling. No. I think there, I think it had cooling. It was, it was, as you walked in the front door, it was way on the left wall. It was along the wall is like, how long is it? Point feet long. Something like that. 20 feet long. It's, it's absurd. It's very long linkages from the handlebar up to the. Leading link or trailing link fork. Yes. To steer the thing and it had,

Tim: yeah. Oh yeah. And like the, the front end, the suspension, like pieces were built out of like quarter

Matt: inch steel plate. Ah,

Tim: just the front end. Just like the front. From the fork forward to the ground, had to have been, well, you know,

Matt: two, 300 pounds

Tim: each. Well, yeah, hydraulic

Matt: rams. The kickstands are two hydraulic rams, one mounted on either side of the bike with a hydraulic pump and levers in front of the handlebar. Look up road dog. I think it's R O A D D O G, and you may be able to find it.

Tim: It is kind of one of those, you know, if you had the means and the time. I probably still wouldn't be making such a thing. No,

Matt: it looked unrideable. Yeah. It weighed thousands of pounds. Yeah, it's like literally

Tim: thousands I put. Yeah. Yeah. It's just absurd. Um,

Matt: Now, what is the person who buys that gonna do with it? So as we speak, the museum is still open in a couple of weeks it closes and after it closes, most of the motorcycles and all the memorabilia are going up for auction. Um, most of the bikes are gonna be on Mecu. I know they all had mecu tags on 'em for bikes that were gonna be auctioned. Yeah. Decoration and Well was it looked like a different auction house? Maybe, but I don't know. I know it was gonna be, I know that was gonna be an onsite auction.

Tim: Yeah. Talking about exhaust. I don't want being to interrupt, but there is No, you're good. Doctor Jackal and Mr. Hyde exhaust where you can There is, yes you can. Okay. Make

Matt: the difference sounds So, Andy just looked this up on his wondering at the BMW rally and Dr. Ky, Mr. Hyde exhaust.

Tim: Make songs you wanna hear. That is funny. That's the, uh, it's the cops hit the quiet switch.

Matt: Yep. That's wild. The number one electronically adjustable exhaust system. I wonder how many electronically adjustable exhaust systems there are. One, are you, is, are you number one? Because there's only one I would expect that's very likely the case. What were we thinking? That was a million dollar bike. Do you remember? A hundred thousand

Tim: dollars bike? Oh, it's gotta be like abrupt, superior,

Matt: or that's what it was. The abrupt superiors. Yeah. There were. Which of which

Tim: were They had

Matt: a couple, three or four. Yeah, there was a Vincent Black Shadow. Yeah, a couple of Vincent. Repeat. Repeat rep replied.

Tim: Oh yeah.

Matt: I don't know. There is some neat stuff somebody's gonna get. There's a K L R that's been, that's near and dear to all of our hearts. 'cause it's a K L R. Yes, Tim, or, I don't know why I call you. Tim Aaron rode his brand new K L R to the museum, but there's a K L R that's been around the world on one oil change Apparently. Yeah. Which just goes to show that if A K L R burns enough oil, you don't have to change it very

Tim: often. Adding Oh indeed. Yeah.

Matt: What was your favorite

Tim: bike, Tim? Uh, that's a tough one because I, I was originally just laughing at the foldable

Matt: Indian scooter. A little fold. Yeah, there were a couple of foldable scooters.

Tim: There was crazy. Um, but then there was a Ferrari that was the board tracker style. Okay. With more like a cafe cowling

Matt: on the

Tim: front of it. Okay. That thing was that. It was this tiny little red thing. Yeah. Oh, it was so cute. So I got a picture of it. I thought that thing was

Matt: neat. What was your favorite

Tim: bike, Andy? I. At 900 Yamaha.

Matt: It was only made in 1983. Okay. You see it, uh, it's, it's all by the jack bikes. It's like the seka looking kind of thing. Right, right.

Tim: Yeah. I didn't realize it was only made one year and it was pretty neat. I like the old, is that the one that had the really flat angular? Oh, tank. Cool. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, that's, I didn't know that bike existed, so that was No, you know, 83, that there was a lot of innovation happening around that time. Honda F, that was a one year model. Yeah, they had

Matt: a uh, C B X. Did you see

Tim: that one? Yeah, I saw that. Yeah. Those are kind of common

Matt: actually. They made a lot of those. Well, we saw one in Englehart,

Tim: right? Yeah. Yeah. There's actually quite a bit.

Matt: I was. Oddly drawn this time around, even though it's not really my thing. I was oddly drawn to the drag and land speed stuff. Yeah. They had a couple of, uh, don, uh, Vesco land speed bike that was Twin Triumph motored, if I remember right. I, I don't remember how fast that one went. That's right. And then there was another streamliner that was fuel based, I believe, that went a hundred and. 80 or 178 or something like that on a single 1300 motor. They had the world's fastest sidecar. Yeah,

Tim: that was pretty cool.

Matt: That's awesome. That was a turbocharged high Aboa powered. Oh yeah. I missed that. It was right where the land speed, the two land speed bikes were with the mm-hmm. It was right off the nose cone of the one that was at knee level.

Tim: Oh, okay.

Matt: And it, you walked up to the left side of it and it just looked like a drag bike. And then you, like Aaron walked up to it and I was looking at it and he walked up to it and he is looking at it and he. Steps a little closer and you can see over the top and you, oh, it's a sidecar. Mm-hmm. Yeah. It was pretty wild. Yeah, that was super cool. I don't know why I was so drawn to that stuff. They had one drag bike that was twin four cylinder, two stroke Yamaha. Yeah. I think snowmobile engine powered, and it had two of. And I must've made

Tim: a hell of a noise. Oh my God. Yeah. Yeah. And you're sitting right on top of that thing. Yeah,

Matt: yeah. Yeah. And they had a, a top fuel bike, uh, that had gone 6 0 6 I think

Tim: at Indy that Yes, yes. It was 6 0

Matt: 6. Yeah. And it's interesting, you know, you look at the drag bikes and it's all in the pursuit of speed. The, this Yamaha snowmobile engine powered two stroke. You can see the water necks on the engine. Yeah, but there was nothing connected to 'em. Yeah, that's It didn't have a cooling system. That's the one I thought you were talking about. Yeah. Yeah. It didn't have a cooling system because drag bikes really don't need cooling systems. Yeah. You fire it up, you warm it up enough to do the burnout and make the pass and shut it back down,

Tim: and then you rebuild it. Yes.

Matt: Hopefully it survived,

Tim: but yeah, it. I liked the, the hill climber that had the steel band around the rear wheel with angle iron. Oh, with angle iron and holes sticking out. I'm just like, oh, that would just hurt so bad to get caught up in that thing.

Matt: Oh my goodness. Yeah. And that bike was probably what, 30 zero?

Tim: Yeah. Yeah. It was an old Indian, wasn't it? I think it was,

Matt: I think so. Indian or Harley. Yeah. You know, battle of the American Bikes. Yep. Um, there's a lot of that in this museum. 'cause

Tim: that's, that's what it was back then. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. Some nice examples of like British bikes. A few BMWs. Yeah. Um, yeah, but

Matt: I, the, I noticed the, just down from the steel band rear tire, there was one. Tire chains, but the, the links that went across the tire were scoops like a sand tire in steel. Oh,

Tim: yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Is that the one that the, they were roller chain across the tire? No,

Matt: this one was. So there were several bikes that had tire chains that were radially, that were roller chain across the tire. And the roller chain is what gave the traction. Yeah. Yeah. But this one had steel scoops that went across the tire, so it was like a sand paddle tire, but they were a removable.

Tim: Scoop. Yeah. Oh, fun. And chain chain on each side of the tire. Radially going

Matt: around it like snow chains for your car,

Tim: like snow chains. Yeah, totally. Um,

Matt: anybody from the Colorado or the Rockies

Tim: will know exactly what we're talking about. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Or someone that uses their tractor to plow their driveway in the winter.

Matt: Yeah. Or someone that uses a truck to plow a frozen lake or, yeah. That was neat. There was, uh, another hill climb bike that was, I don't know what the frame was, but it was, uh, Kawasaki H 2 7 52. Stroke triple, yes. Yeah. Built into a hill climb bike. So it had, at the time that it was built, probably late eighties, early nineties, it had. Modern dirt bike front end grafted to it, and twin shocks and an extended swing arm. And I'll bet you that was a heck of a ride.

Tim: Yeah. Yeah. I didn't see the really exaggerated long swing arms that I'm seeing. Yeah. Being run today, you know?

Robin: Very cool. Okay, I gotta say thank you to Matt Berry for spearheading that segment. That was really well done. Thank you very much. And again, Iowa's National Motorcycle Museum is closing down as you hear this. The address is 1 0 2 Chamber Drive in Anamosa, Iowa, 5 2 2 0 5. So please go check it out while you get a chance. Take photos. Remember, history is the future is our history is the future.

Brian: Brian's tiny tasty tool tips. They're tiny, they're tasty, they're tips, they're about tools.

Robin: One or two per episode. I don't even work on commission. I, I work for donuts.

Brian: All right. Uh, if you've got a, a reasonably modern bike, you probably have a hex in like a, a female hex in the front axle where you have to turn the axle to get the wheel off. Hopefully you don't have to get the wheel off while you're out on the road. Um, So thing one to remember is make sure you have something with you to turn that with or, you know, you could be just standing there hoping, uh, with your cell phone. Um, one easy way to, there is a tool they sell in, in motorcycle shops. It's got several hex sizes on it, so you can jam it in there and then grab the other end with a wrench and, and, and get your axle out. Um, but the thing you really wanna do is go rummage around a few good hardware stores and look for metric coupling nuts. And basically it's a nut that's like three times as wide as a normal nut. And then what you're looking for is one that, yeah, Robin's showing me the, the official tool that fits a bunch of 'em so you can get a coupling nut that is. Uh, say 14 millimeter or 19 or whatever it is on your axle that stick it in there and then stick a wrench on the outside and you can, and then you can address any, uh, issues with your

Robin: front wheel. For those of you on the cheap, if finding the perfect tool roll, let's say you have a more than one bike in your flock, so you have a multi bike flock and any given time you might have a different toolkit that is specific to that bike that you wanna take with you anywhere you go. One thing you can use for your toolkit is a cheap toiletry bag that has a lot of organized pockets, and it's not technically a toilet bag if all you're using it for is a thing that organizes things, right? So this one I got on the cheap and it has all these pockets, different size, and I've got all my wrenches, my expanders, my reducers. I built this one specific to the Beamer. That way I probably have what somebody else might need, but I've got torques Alan. This is the doozy right here is I've got the leatherman wave extension kit. So the leatherman wave. Yeah, that's pretty cool. Oh look, it's got 75 Swiss army nights. Your geek go hiking, whatever. But if you get the extension kit, you've got a bajillion things that come with. Then I've got my tool, my tire repair, all of my sockets, the one that you saw that has the multi-head, all of my extenders and my wrenches, and a set of channel locks along with Travis's recommended. Yeah, adjustable wrench. So I've got all that stuff in. What a toiletry bag. 'cause it's got lots of clearer see-through pockets. It's still a bit of a pain. 'cause you gotta pull everything out to figure out which one's supposed to fit. Then you realize it's not hex after all. It's a, yeah, it's not an Allen after. Oh no, it's, dang it. It's a Torx.

Brian: We could do like a whole hour hunk on how to carry tools and bags.

Robin: Yeah, I, I love that. The leatherman wave extensions were the best. That was one of the best purchases I've bought. Because it's got like, it's like all half, uh, half bits, like it's a Torx, but you're looking at a fraction. It's the shape of an eye, but it's got the bit in there. That's just good enough to make the turn and make the titan all right. It's kind of punishing you right there. It's like saying, look, this thing fits and it's compact and lightweight, but you did this to yourself, so you deal with it. Don't, don't mess your noise up. Did we do a reheated rehash last time? We did. Let's do it again this time anyhow, and then we'll get into the tales from playing at that gal. All right, sounds good. Lemme get back to the 10 Commandments, the Brian Ringer, 10 Commandments of how to lead an insanely fun sports touring motorcycle ride brought to you by our website. That's t r bike. Do you wake up in the morning and read them to yourself in the bathroom mirror? Uh, no. That

Brian: would be, that would be

Robin: weird. Oh, and yeah, I, I, yeah. I would be, I, I don't, I,

Brian: all right. We're on commandment four, uh, of our tasty leftovers served hot and crusty. Um, yeah. Number one was thou shall stay the hell away from each other. Number two is thou shalt pass and be passed, which helps you with number one. Number three is about communication. The number of hand signals shall be only three, and three shall be the number of hand signals. And number four,

Robin: thou shalt leave no writer behind. So if you're following

Brian: the above rules, you'll quickly have riders spread out over a mile or more. It's important for the ride leader to strategically regroup and count headlights at stop signs, turns, and towns so everyone knows where they are. That's just leadership 1 0 1, right? But this command also applies. This commandment also applies to everyone. All riders are casually sort of responsible for the rider behind them. Don't stare at your mirrors, but a couple times a mile. Take a glance and make sure you can see the following rider's headlight and maybe slow way down on a straight and wait a bit if you're really getting away from 'em. If the following rider doesn't reappear after a decent interval, stop somewhere safe. Wait a bit. I usually give this a minute or two. Then turn around and go see if they need help. Uh, that's enough time for someone to stop and put on a sweatshirt or make an undergarment adjustment. Uh, if there is some real problem and everybody follows this protocol, pretty soon you'll have everyone gathered around and maybe just, maybe one of you remembered to bring a tire patch kit. The no right or left behind policy is also why it's important for anyone leaving the right to tell others beforehand. If you're gonna peel off at the interstate, make sure the rest of 'em aren't wondering where you went and dredging the ditches. Uh, a simple warning ahead of time and a jolly farewell wave are usually all you need. What's your modification here? Ra, ra? What do you tell people? Well, when you're, when you, what do you tell people when you meet them the first time and you're about to go ride fast? Motorcycles.

Robin: I gotta be very careful how I word this. I. First, I cover all ground from before this particular commandment, as you call it. Our system follows this to the letter there is for our commercial tours, especially multi-state, multi destination tours at tier ODA bike, at Tiera bike, the 7, 7, 7 tours. One of them there is a sub clause and that's, look, you're responsible, right? For any scenarios. Once we deal with whatever is to be dealt with, you know, once we make sure you're still one piece, I'm C P R certified and first aid certified, so is the sweep. But assuming that you just low side and maybe your boots scuffed up, but your bike ain't going anywhere, we will confirm that your tow truck has arrived and then you are on your own. That is it. We are going to continue our ride. So that is a thing. That's not a modification, that's an add-on. Like I said, sub clause, the one modification I'll make isn't suggested. At the very least, the worst version of what Brian has written and outlined in this is still many, many times better than even a fraction of an idea of doing this many times better than zero. And that is that you can use a system that is the buddy check. You have one person up front who is gone nuclear hot, they get to a stop sign and it's time to turn. They wait for one person. And when that one person in the rear view acknowledges that, they see them, they continue, and that person stops. Then they see a person repeat the cycle. They continue, the person behind them stops. In my opinion, that's just too much accordion. Yeah, it's too spread out. But it is workable. And if you have the most trusted riders who understand this philosophy, if you end up getting the stop sign and you way too long, you know it's time to double back and then you can cover ground. I don't think it's the best way, but it is significantly better than not having any way at all. So communication is key. Everyone understanding one another. Yeah. But I like the way you do it where it's just like, you know, I wanna see one or two people behind me. I wanna go quick and when I have my fun, Hey, I'm captain commercial here. I'm upfront doing my thing. But yeah, I will make sure that, okay, this is the chance for me to slow down and check. Yeah.

Brian: Yeah. And, and the thing you mentioned, uh, I, it, it is, I think it really is a good idea to bunch up and just get a glance. 'cause commandment eight, we'll get there in, I don't know how many months, but we'll get there in a while. Uh, whereas thou shuttle observe the state of they flock. And if, if you are leading the ride, you need to get a look at 'em once in a while and, and look and see if anybody's, uh, you know, look and see if anybody's mad. Look to see if anybody's having, you know, trouble,

Robin: a thousand yard stair, a

Brian: thousand yard stair. If they're laying down in the tank, you know, then, then you can address it before it turns into something. And again, this is for the guy, you know, someone who's leading the way, doing the planning,

Robin: and so forth. If you're wondering what the thousand yard stare looks like as an analogy, when you are talking to somebody who you're concerned about, does it look like they're looking at the back of your head through your eyes? That is a very real thing.

Brian: Yeah. Have some water. You wanna share some peanuts, you know, have a little chat. Take a whiz, you know, whatever it takes. All right. Call Uncle

Robin: Fester from episode two. Hey Brian. Hey Robin. Have you been that guy? I have been that guy. We've all been that guy. We've all ridden with that guy. Let's talk about that gal. That gals

Brian: are pretty rare,

Robin: but it happens. Our own. Maggie Dean author for the site. Regular writer, sport touring aficionado. Experienced trek writer, M Ss F instructor. What of a human being, the loveliest part of the dean family household. She had her first that gal, and she'd like to talk about it. One second.

Maggie: Hello? How are you?

Brian: I'm good. How are you Maggie? It's been, I haven't seen you in a long time and uh, I know I talked to, yeah, we had a, we had a brief, stressful conversation. I, well, you sounded stressed and that's what you're here to talk about, I guess. But,

Robin: uh,

Maggie: yes. So we had a wonderful beginning of the trip in retrospect. Let me actually, let me pedal back. The bike has had starting problems. We took it to the shop in 2022, paid a fair amount of money, a thousand bucks to have them check out what's the issue, isolate, figure out why we're having problems starting the bike. Sometimes we could start it, but we would go through this round of things, take off the seat, put back on the seat, tighten up the connections on the battery, double check that it was a neutral, make sure the size stand was down, if it's a neutral or up, actually all these things and. They thought it was an issue with the cam tensioner, so they just

Brian: did that, which makes no sense to me. But yeah, anyway,

Maggie: yeah, they thought it was that. They also did some other maintenance, switched out my spark plugs. I think they looked at the throttle bodies since they were, you know, taking apart things. They, they did some of that stuff. So since then, whenever I go riding with Robin, he always has a little mini jumpstarter in case it happened again. 'cause it happens before when we were out riding. Well, for the most part it's been starting every once in a while we'd have to try a few things, but it was starting so I, I thought the problem was mostly figured out the morning that we were going out on the trip. Robin actually had a problem starting the bike. I wasn't aware of that until later on in the day, but he did get it started. And that was another thing we thought, oh, it's the key. You have to turn it like five times, then turn it to park and then turn it back.

Brian: So you're, you're starting to get into like voodoo and magic here. Yeah. Very scientific. Yeah.

Maggie: But once we had started the trip, we made a couple of stops, no problems. It was running really well. I was feeling good on the bike, considering I hadn't ridden in probably three or four months. Wow. So what day was it? It was Monday. Monday was a great day. Tuesday we went and had breakfast. The bikes were parked initially in the shade, but it was sunny by the time we were done. And it was around, I wanna say noon maybe. And the bike wouldn't start. We're in Boise. It was a hundred degree day, not in the shade. And this is where I'm that guy. Robin carries my tools. I don't carry my own tools. He's got his

Brian: tools. He is got more luggage space. Yeah.

Maggie: Yeah. Well, I mean, I have luggage space, but I've always relied on him and let him do that for me. So he has tools. So in part one of the issues is because I'm not writing as much as he is, I'm not thinking about the bike and what kind of maintenance I need to keep track of. And also I wasn't really confirming that the start issue was actually identified. All of that came together. I've done some Googling on the Goss on in different forums because it's a common problem with Yeah. Uh, triumphs. There's been all kinds of folks with several different issues and it just so happens that, uh, even though I don't consider my bike a new bike, it's a 2016, but it's got an immobilizer, so you can't steal it. It's got the neutral safety switch. It's got a clutch switch. It's got,

Brian: there's a sideand switch and yeah,

Maggie: sideand switch. The neutral switch and the clutch switch plus the immobilizer.

Brian: Yeah. And yeah, the anti-theft stuff I is like on, uh, European bikes is required, is required in Europe, so that's why they have 'em. But like a Suzuki sent to the US doesn't, you know, that kind of thing.

Maggie: Well, this bike was sold in the US it was not,

Brian: yeah. But for some reason triumphs come with the immobilizers and stuff like that. I've, I've, I've run across that kind of thing before where the Yeah, where the, the, you know, it has an alarm and the alarm dies. Anyway, go on. Yeah. So there you, yeah,

Maggie: yeah. Or if it doesn't pick up the chip the right way. 'cause Yeah. My key's chipped then it's not, yeah, it's not letting anything happen. So the basics of what happened is you turn the key, you'll hear the fuel pump prime. And then, you know, the, the bike will start. It would not prime. We were not hearing it. Prime. Yeah. And they had been sitting in the sun. And so that was, I, I found that a couple people had that problem. They noticed that if the bike was in the sun or it was hot, they were having that problem. Whereas a cooler bike, it would start up for them. Other people, it was E C U issue. Some guy, uh, who's got a YouTube channel. So if the battery doesn't have enough juice to start, it's programmed into the E C U and Triumph won't say what is enough voltage? So this guy actually had to take his bike and he's a guy that es on his own stuff. He's got a channel to dedicated to, but he had to bring it hi his bike into a dealer and they had to re, they had to change the ECU U or something or reset it or something like that. And I'm like, well, that's not nice.

Brian: That sounds expensive. Yeah.

Maggie: Not cool. Now we do have the dealer tool. Which I'm going to carry on my bike from now on. Also, I have the Hanes manual and I had only read bits and pieces when we were doing specific things. Like when we changed my coolant out last winter. I had not really read the whole thing through and I've picked up some knowledge from Robin when he tells me about stuff. But I know how to change the oil. I know how to grease up my chain. But anything beyond that I haven't done and I haven't been great about, especially with a start issue. Definitely the things to start with, obviously. Is there voltage, you know, on the battery, is the battery dead? So I'm like, okay, I'm gonna carry the dealer tool. I'm gonna carry a voltage meter, I'm gonna carry like all this stuff. And the battery was replaced last year as well also, so I didn't think that was the issue. You'd flip it on and you'd see the lights, the horn was working. So those are some of the things that were a problem. So anyway, to round out the, that guy story, after almost two hours, everything we tried, we could not get it to start. And so finally I called a tow truck and we had to find someone who knows how to tow bikes. The person that came out seemed to know how to do bikes. Yeah. Who did it correctly. And he towed it to a Triumph dealership in Boise. The only Triumph dealership in Boise. Yeah. There's

Brian: there's not a lot. Yeah.

Maggie: They're, they're a great shop. They got great guys there. They did a diagnostic. Now, initially I was told, no, you can't bring the bike here. We, we, we don't have space for it. We've got a three month out schedule, but we were desperate. So we towed it out there anyway, and they spent a half hour on the diagnostic. They said, oh, it's your clutch. It's your clutch safety switch, which we had broken when we were trying to replace it. We've had a couple conversations since then and I said, no, no, no. It wasn't broken when we were trying to start the bike, we broke it after the bike wouldn't start.

Brian: Yeah, I mean that, like I told Robin, that's a problem. Yes. But it's probably not the only problem or the problem. And um, but yeah, it makes sense. They would kind of focus on that. They don't know what the history was.

Maggie: Yeah, I told them what the history was, but I can't expect that they remember every conversation and all the details of the conversation. So yeah, once they had the bike, I asked again, are, you know, are you sure it wasn't an E C U issue? I sure it wasn't a chip issue. And by the way, I lost my spare key. So I only have this one key and yeah, I forgot we, I made a desperate phone call to you. As a person that knows bikes really well and has taken apart your bike.

Brian: Yeah. And put it back together. That was, that was my, yeah, that was my, that guy. But anyway. Yeah, you, yeah. Yeah. I remember you, you used a, you used phone a friend and, um, I don't think I was really that helpful. I, I, it was like, like you could tell it was a stressful moment. Like, it's hot, you got places to be, you know, you're far from your home base, you know, and I was like, man, I wish we could, uh, you're 1800 miles away from me. And, and so I did what I could. But yeah, I don't think it, I don't know if it helped much. It

Maggie: did. Moral of the story was I had to get on the back of the bike with Robin. Most people would not be able to do that. So that was the only saving grace is we didn't have to stay in town. Yeah. So that's my, that guy story. Yeah, that

Brian: gal, that gal, that gal story. Yeah. Well it's,

Maggie: it's that guy is the, is the moniker, right? It's the title. I don't think it has to

Brian: be, it's kind of, yeah. Maybe it's a genderless. Uh, well we were talking about how there's like, um, you know, there, there's, we've got a hundred that guy stories and we've been that guy, but we don't have any of that gal stories. So, and, and now we have one. Uh, and and it's still ongoing. You're still working on, I think you're basically still trying to know for sure what's going on and, and so you can trust the spike. So Yeah. From, yeah. So that's, that's still ongoing. We don't have, maybe, maybe you'll be able to report on that someday.

Maggie: I will come back for a part two once we have, uh, once we've

Robin: done some stuff. Yeah. Here's

Brian: what it is, this thing. I'm holding a loft. It's done

Maggie: well, it was awesome to catch up with

Brian: you. Good to see you again, Maggie. Thanks a lot.

Robin: Kinda like that girl. Yeah, she seems all right. That's been a hell of an episode. Brian, get us outta here.

Brian: Well, that's our episode for this round. Tune in next time for more discussion on all things specific to sport touring or universal to motorcycling as a whole. For radio T r o, I'm Brian

Robin: Ringer. And I'm Robin Dean.

The Gist

Our hosts discuss motorbike adventures worthy of Homer's Odyssey. Peppered with mechanical mishaps and astute geographic observations (including an enlightening anecdote about Oshkosh, Wisconsin), the journey features everything from shenanigans around Lake Michigan to ordering online through Atomic Moto. There are plenty of opportunities to side-eye dodgy elevation maps while fumbling with onboard cameras.

At the National Motorcycle Museum, we observe complex motorbike anatomy in the form of cafe cowlings, throttle stops and essentials underneath. You might even start picking up on cryptic dialogues reminiscent of modernist poetry. Remember folks, "history is the future is our history is the future."

Meanwhile in Maggie land, turning keys initiates fuel pump priming (who knew?). That's assuming the electromagnetic chip in said key is able to communicate with the immobilizer antenna that's stuffed into her Triumph's airbox. Ah, British engineering.

Guest Interview

The National Motorcycle Museum was a non-profit museum in Anamosa, Iowa. It was founded in 1989 by motorcycle builders, racers and riders. The museum's collection included more than 300 motorcycles, vintage signs, artwork, collectibles and memorabilia.

The museum also had thousands of photos, postcards and posters. It was open for more than 30 years. In January, the museum announced that it was going to shut down due to financial reasons. It closed permanently on September 5, 2023.

Some of its holdings will be auctioned to pay bills. Their average customer rating was 4.8/5 from 985 reviews. We're sad to see it go.

Kit We're "Blatantly Pushing You To Buy"

TCX Dartwood GTX Mens Motorbike Boots 12 D(M) US Black

TCX Dartwood GTX Mens Motorbike Boots 12 D(M) US Black

The Dartwood Gore-Tex shoes combine maximum riding and walking comfort with high levels of certified protection. The Dartwood Gore-Tex shoes are both waterproof and breathable, owing to the Gore-Tex Extended Comfort membrane. The upper is made of full-grain leather and safety is guaranteed by reinfo More ...

LEATHERMAN, Wave+, 18-in-1 Full-Size, Versatile Multi-tool for DIY, Home, Garden, Outdoors or Everyday Carry (EDC), Stainless Steel

LEATHERMAN, Wave+, 18-in-1 Full-Size, Versatile Multi-tool for DIY, Home, Garden, Outdoors or Everyday Carry (EDC), Stainless Steel

A Leatherman for Everyone: For the last 40 years, Leatherman has been empowering millions to conquer the expected and unexpected, transforming everyday challenges into triumphant moments. Engineered to Withstand: From our Portland, Oregon factory and backed by our 25-year warranty, our multi-tools a More ...

LEATHERMAN, Bit Kit, 21 Double-Ended Screwdriver Bits for Multi-Tools

LEATHERMAN, Bit Kit, 21 Double-Ended Screwdriver Bits for Multi-Tools

Ready for anything: With nearly four dozen bit types in the Leatherman Bit Kit, you'll be prepared for almost any job whether youre on the road, at camp or in your garage. Fit more functionality: Leatherman's flat bit design means all the performance of a standard hex bit in half the size; With twen More ...

Did We Miss Sump'm?

Sixty percent of the time, we're right every time. What would you add to the conversation and why? Your input is invited. Leave a comment!

Share Link ...

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *