Welcome to the Two Wheeled Texans community! 
Feel free to hang out and lurk as long as you like. However, we would like to encourage you to 
- Joined
- Feb 28, 2003
- Messages
- 51,246
- Reaction score
- 8,254
- Location
- Huntsville
- First Name
- Scott
- Last Name
- Friday
Howdy,
So I roll out of the garage this morning in my mesh jacket and suddenly realize the ride into work is going to be a wee bit on the chilly side :scratch It is the middle of August in the East Texas woods and chilly is not a word often heard this time of year! Yet, as I am riding out of town into the woods, I am definitely chilled. It's exhilarating!! The humidity is next to nothing and the sky is a deep clear blue instead of its' normal hazy greyish color. The clouds stand out in stark contrast to the blue of the sky. That last turn onto the road that takes me back into the woods where our office is located is a real tough one... *cough* *cough*
When I get in the office, I open all the mini blinds in front of my desk so I can watch this incredible day go by from inside. Did I mention it is barely 70 F outside? When Dad walks in and looks at me, he can tell it's killing me 
I don't get much time to worry about it as a nasty job comes in and I am somewhat distracted for the next few hours. Then Dad informs me that I can leave at 3:00pm if we are not busy... He's too cool! Actually, he wishes he could go with me, but his riding days are over after a nasty accident a few years back.
2:50 rolls around and I stroll in to tell him I am history and with that I zip out the door before the phone can ring and I get stuck at the office for the rest of the day. Rather than wasting time heading back into town to go by the house, I turn the opposite way and head for Riverside out FM 980. The feel of the cool dry air on my skin is heavenly, slightly reminiscent of Colorado, without the spectaculr scenery 
I plan on gassing up at Riverside and then heading out onto some dirt/sand/gravel roads East of that area. When I pull up to the pump, I am informed that there is no power and the pumps are down... uh oh. I only have one bar left on the gauge and I am about to head out into the boonies 
Oh well, that's why they call it adventure riding, hehe.
A few miles outside of Riverside, I cutoff onto Old Staley Rd. This is the road that I dragged Squeaky, Snoopster and Scratch down a while back with promises that it was just a short ride in the gravel. Well, there is loose sand and gravel. They hated it 
But it is a nice shortcut between FM 946 and 980. The knobbies I installed on the GS last night feel great on the loose stuff and really boost my confidence in the handling of the bike. I work on my sliding technique for cornering. Soon I drop out onto the end of FM 946 and head South.
FM 946 is really a nice ride. The road winds through some beautiful pastures, woods, and over creeks. There are some very nice homes out here. I guess it is the nice weather, but everything just has a really fresh look to it today. The pastures seem greener, the birds happier, the road grippier... 
It is only a few minutes before I drop out onto US 190 with my reserve light flickering to life 
Dang, where to get gas out here?!
While I am sitting at the stop sign deciding what to do, I spot what looks like an old gas station just up the road a bit, excellent! Hopefully it will be open. I pull up and spot the familiar three diamond pattern normally associated with Diamond Shamrock. Cool. I have no cash, but I do have my DS card. I pull in and fill up after confirming the place is actually open for business Some local kids drive up in a truck and are checking out the bike. I've noticed that as I get older, it is much harder for me to guesstimate the age of younger people in the 14-20 year old range. They all look the same to me 
The kid driving doesn't even sport peach fuzz on his chin, hehe. I head inside to pay for the gas only to find out, "We ain't a Diamond Shamrock..." Uh oh... Fortunately, they take VISA and I am on my way with no hassle.
On my GPS maps it shows that there is something called the Raven Hill Historical Monument located South of US 190 just off FM 946. My curiousity piqued, I decide to see if I can find it. The first road I come to that heads off in the general direction is FM 3018. I head down this until the pavement stops and then keep going on the single lane gravel road. It is loose gravel and ruts. I stand up on the pegs and let the bike flop around under me, trying to get comfortable with the feel of the bike being loose and semi out of control. Suffice it to say I never find the monument. None of the roads are marked or named and all the GPS says is, "Road". I decide to just generally head in a Southerly direction and see what happens.
What happens is that the gravel stops and the loose sand starts 
Sand is a strange thing on a bike. The trick is to keep the front end of the bike light which requires the prodigious use of the throttle. The slower I go, the more the bike squirms and feels like it is about to toss me into the weeds at any moment. However, if I go fast enough to keep the front end light and the bike feeling less unstable, I start thinking how much more it will hurt if I bin it because I am going faster!! A nasty Catch 22 Having the knobbies on the bike really makes a big difference in the sand because the back end does not want to wash out as bad as it does on the Tourance Dual Sport tires. Here are some shots from one long sandy stretch out in the middle of nowhere:
These purple flowers are all over the place in this area. It also looks like the Forest Service did a burn in the not too distant past. Many of the trees have scorched trunks. After contributing to Nature, I get back on the bike and head off down the sandy path that vanishes into the shady woods at the bottom of the hill.
Somewhere along the line I wind up on Four Notch Road which, believe it or not, is actually where I want to be! 
I never get lost... As I am trucking along at a nice pace, enjoying the sound of the gravel crunching under my tires, I notice a huge metal building that looks very out of place for the surroundings. I swing back around for a closer look to find the training center for the US Olympic Gymnastics team 
I would have never expected to find this out here!!
There isn't a soul about. With the opening ceremonies tomorrow night, I guess they are either already in Greece, or well on their way. I love watching the gymnastics competition. It makes me feel vicariously unpotato like for a fleeting week or two as I veg in my lounging chair in front of the toob. Hefting the GS off the sidestand while on a slight incline snaps my poor potato bod back to reality in an instant! Then once again I am off dusting the woods as I zing through the shadows scanning for deer.
I run Four Notch Road all the way back up to FM 2929 and head back into town. I am actually a little warm because I have my jeans on under my riding pants and I don't have any water with me. So I decide to run by the house, take a break, and then head out for King's Cafe to the bike night. Debbie comes by and gets her bike and then heads off for a quick ride. Despite her bravery in following me down some questionable roads lately, I doubt she wants to try to keep up with me on the nasty stuff, hehe. A few moments after she leaves, I head out again.
For no particular reason, I find myself crusing down FM 1374 towards Stubblefield Lake Road. 1374 is a great ride. It is pretty much nonstop highspeed sweepers for about 25 miles or so until it drops back out onto I-45 at New Waverly. Stubblefield Lake Road goes off into the National Forest and cuts across the Northern end of Lake Conroe. The road is "paved" but the potholes and patches make it worse than most paved roads. As I pass by the campground on the lake, I decide to head back deeper into the woods on the dirt forest roads 216 and 208 rather than following the pavement over to FM 1375. As I am cruising along, I spot a fellow on a small and old enduro style bike. I stop to talk with him and his kid cruises up behind him on a Honda 50 in full dirt mode!! How cool!!?? Dad is taking the kid out riding on the trails and just having a blast. When junior comes to a stop and turns to look at the HUGE GS sitting next to him, his eyes bug out a little I look at him and wistfully think back to when I was his age and how desperately I wanted a minibike, or anything with a motor... well, other than the freaking lawn mower After confirming he is heading in the right direction, Dad takes off with junior in tow. As I pull away, I wonder if the kid realizes just how cool his dad is!?
FR 208 drops me out onto FM 1791, still in the heart of the National Forest. Still wanting to do some more unpaved riding, I head North a few miles to the start of FR 209. I really like this road. The trees come right up to the edge of the gravel and I feel like I am really out in the wilderness. The sun streams down through the overhaing canopy of leaves and flashes in my eyes like a strobe. It makes it hard to see the holes in the road and I tag a few of them pretty good. Thank God for long suspension travel and a plush ride! Somewhere back in here, the road forks and I take the one less travelled.
The less travelled fork gets even narrower and has more loose gravel. It really gives me a chance to practice shifting my weight around while sliding the backend through the corners. There is something intoxicating about laying on the gas and sliding the bike. Maybe that is why Rossi does it so much on his GP bike. Of course, I am not going quite that fast Here is a shot back up into the woods as the sun is getting lower in the Western sky and the shadows grow longer:
A mile or so later and I reach pavement once again on a little county road barely wider than a single lane. This is Taliaferro Rd. It will eventually bring me back out onto FM 1791, but as I am zinging along, I spot another gravel road that I have been meaning to explore, Welch Rd. Well, as they say, no time like the present! It turns out that this is just a long straight road through the woods that drops out onto FM 149 just West of where FM 1791 hits FM 149. As I am cruising along raising the mother of all dust clouds, I spot a Sheriff's Patrol car sitting off the side of the road in the woods :scratch Wonder what he is up too? Moments later, through all the dust, I see his headlights behind me Well, he was facing into the woods, so there is no way he got me on radar, not that it would have mattered, really... 
Could it be that I saw something I should not have and now he has to eliminate the witness?! I don't wait around to find out. Getting on the gas I am on 149 moments later and then I am gone!
Just before reaching FM 1791, I see a group of cruisers pulled over on the side of the road. I slow to check with them to make sure everything is okay and that they don't need any assistance. They give a friendly wave and I continue on my way as they stare at the GS with odd looks on their faces. It's okay, I'm used to it. I just tell myself it is the bike that they are staring at... So anyway, I pass FM 1791 and get ready to setup for the sweeping right hander right before the little Union Grove Baptist Church when I recall that I have been meaning to follow a little paved road off into the woods just at the entrance to the corner. I slow and head into the woods.
This is a little loop that eventually drops out onto FM 1791 just North of FM 149. Again, once off the main road, there are a lot of really nice homes back in the woods. When I pull up to the stop on FM 1791, I spot the train of crusiers headed my way from FM 149. I pull out and head back to FM 149, waving as I go by. No doubt these folks are wondering how I keep turning up all over the place? At the stop sign I momentarily hesitate to consider running on down FM 149 to Kings. It is getting close to 7:00pm. Fuggidaboudit! I shoot straight ahead on to FM 1097. This was recently paved a year or so back and used to be gravel. Now it is mostly paved, but only a lane and a half wide and very smooth. Just around a really tight corner, it becomes gravel. I found this out in a very exciting way on the VFR some time ago Now it is a favorite alternative to running FM 149 down through the National Forest. About half way down to Montgomery, it is paved again right at the Bethel Cemetery.
A little over a mile beyond the cemetery, there is another little side road I have been meaning to check out. The weather is so nice I can't stand the thought of heading directly to Kings even though 7:00pm is drawing near. There is no FR designation and I don't see a streetsign, but it is paved so I decide to see where it leads. According to the GPS, it should come out somewhere over on FM 149 just North of Montgomery. But then I have arrived at pasture gates where the GPS says a road should be continuing off across a pasture and there is none.
This road does not disappoint. It is narrow, tiwsty and fun. However, there are a lot of BLIND corners and the locals think they have the whole road to themselves. This is not a go fast road, just one for taking in the scenery and nice ride. Sure enough, about five minutes later, I drop out onto FM 149 and get my bearings. 7:00pm, time to head to Kings. But as I am heading towards town, I spot another road I have often wondered about...
According to the GPS, It appears that this road just goes back a ways into the woods and eventually dead ends. As I am cruising along, I see a few kids on the side of the road on their bikes. I pull over next to them. One looks to be about 13 or so and the other two about 8 or 9. They are a little surprised to see me stop but are quickly enthused about talking to me about the bike. Their questions come faster than I can answer them. Kids are so cool. They are so inquisitive and excited about everything. I guess thay have not had that youthful curiousity stamped out of them yet by years of public schooling They assure me that the road does indeed dead end a few miles back, so I turn around after a quick pick and make my way back to FM 149 and get serious about getting on down to Kings before it gets too late.
I arrive to find Beth and Wes Wessel already on the back deck enjoying the incredibly cool evening. We get a pretty good turn out at the cafe. Debbie, Will, Phillip, tracy, Wes, Raul, Kevin, and myself. Kevin arrives on his 1960 BMW R60/2. This is a SWEET looking machine, elegant in its' simplicity, and nicely restored.
The saddle bags seem to be nothing extraordinary, but that is the mother of all tankbags!
Take a close look at that front suspension. Early Telelever? Pretty cool.
That is it for the dash! The odo has rolled over already at 100K and it is now showing 61K miles!! Kevin has had the bike since 1975 and has put 130K of those miles on himself. His story of how he restored it is quite interesting. I'll let you get it out of him though
After dinner and ice cream, we head out about 9:30pm and head for home back up through the woods. Debbie is riding back with me. When we get home, it is so nice and cool that we decide to swap out Deb's front tire with a new one. The old one has about 8500 miles on it and is toast. We get everything done and get set to balance it and realize I am out of weights!! I've changed so many peoples' tires here that I ran out and did not even realize it, hehe. So the bike sits in the garage without a front wheel. She'll get some weights tomorrow and she'll be set for a weekend of riding. The weather is supposed to hold out all weekend 
Wasabi is coming down this weekend with his Vstrom 1000 so we can mount his knobbies and replace his brake pads in preparation for our upcoming trip to North Carolina. Now I have some good roads to take him out on to test out the tires !!
Adios,
So I roll out of the garage this morning in my mesh jacket and suddenly realize the ride into work is going to be a wee bit on the chilly side :scratch It is the middle of August in the East Texas woods and chilly is not a word often heard this time of year! Yet, as I am riding out of town into the woods, I am definitely chilled. It's exhilarating!! The humidity is next to nothing and the sky is a deep clear blue instead of its' normal hazy greyish color. The clouds stand out in stark contrast to the blue of the sky. That last turn onto the road that takes me back into the woods where our office is located is a real tough one... *cough* *cough* When I get in the office, I open all the mini blinds in front of my desk so I can watch this incredible day go by from inside. Did I mention it is barely 70 F outside? When Dad walks in and looks at me, he can tell it's killing me I don't get much time to worry about it as a nasty job comes in and I am somewhat distracted for the next few hours. Then Dad informs me that I can leave at 3:00pm if we are not busy... He's too cool! Actually, he wishes he could go with me, but his riding days are over after a nasty accident a few years back. 2:50 rolls around and I stroll in to tell him I am history and with that I zip out the door before the phone can ring and I get stuck at the office for the rest of the day. Rather than wasting time heading back into town to go by the house, I turn the opposite way and head for Riverside out FM 980. The feel of the cool dry air on my skin is heavenly, slightly reminiscent of Colorado, without the spectaculr scenery I plan on gassing up at Riverside and then heading out onto some dirt/sand/gravel roads East of that area. When I pull up to the pump, I am informed that there is no power and the pumps are down... uh oh. I only have one bar left on the gauge and I am about to head out into the boonies Oh well, that's why they call it adventure riding, hehe. A few miles outside of Riverside, I cutoff onto Old Staley Rd. This is the road that I dragged Squeaky, Snoopster and Scratch down a while back with promises that it was just a short ride in the gravel. Well, there is loose sand and gravel. They hated it But it is a nice shortcut between FM 946 and 980. The knobbies I installed on the GS last night feel great on the loose stuff and really boost my confidence in the handling of the bike. I work on my sliding technique for cornering. Soon I drop out onto the end of FM 946 and head South. FM 946 is really a nice ride. The road winds through some beautiful pastures, woods, and over creeks. There are some very nice homes out here. I guess it is the nice weather, but everything just has a really fresh look to it today. The pastures seem greener, the birds happier, the road grippier... It is only a few minutes before I drop out onto US 190 with my reserve light flickering to life Dang, where to get gas out here?! While I am sitting at the stop sign deciding what to do, I spot what looks like an old gas station just up the road a bit, excellent! Hopefully it will be open. I pull up and spot the familiar three diamond pattern normally associated with Diamond Shamrock. Cool. I have no cash, but I do have my DS card. I pull in and fill up after confirming the place is actually open for business Some local kids drive up in a truck and are checking out the bike. I've noticed that as I get older, it is much harder for me to guesstimate the age of younger people in the 14-20 year old range. They all look the same to me The kid driving doesn't even sport peach fuzz on his chin, hehe. I head inside to pay for the gas only to find out, "We ain't a Diamond Shamrock..." Uh oh... Fortunately, they take VISA and I am on my way with no hassle. On my GPS maps it shows that there is something called the Raven Hill Historical Monument located South of US 190 just off FM 946. My curiousity piqued, I decide to see if I can find it. The first road I come to that heads off in the general direction is FM 3018. I head down this until the pavement stops and then keep going on the single lane gravel road. It is loose gravel and ruts. I stand up on the pegs and let the bike flop around under me, trying to get comfortable with the feel of the bike being loose and semi out of control. Suffice it to say I never find the monument. None of the roads are marked or named and all the GPS says is, "Road". I decide to just generally head in a Southerly direction and see what happens. What happens is that the gravel stops and the loose sand starts Sand is a strange thing on a bike. The trick is to keep the front end of the bike light which requires the prodigious use of the throttle. The slower I go, the more the bike squirms and feels like it is about to toss me into the weeds at any moment. However, if I go fast enough to keep the front end light and the bike feeling less unstable, I start thinking how much more it will hurt if I bin it because I am going faster!! A nasty Catch 22 Having the knobbies on the bike really makes a big difference in the sand because the back end does not want to wash out as bad as it does on the Tourance Dual Sport tires. Here are some shots from one long sandy stretch out in the middle of nowhere:These purple flowers are all over the place in this area. It also looks like the Forest Service did a burn in the not too distant past. Many of the trees have scorched trunks. After contributing to Nature, I get back on the bike and head off down the sandy path that vanishes into the shady woods at the bottom of the hill.
Somewhere along the line I wind up on Four Notch Road which, believe it or not, is actually where I want to be! I never get lost... As I am trucking along at a nice pace, enjoying the sound of the gravel crunching under my tires, I notice a huge metal building that looks very out of place for the surroundings. I swing back around for a closer look to find the training center for the US Olympic Gymnastics team I would have never expected to find this out here!!There isn't a soul about. With the opening ceremonies tomorrow night, I guess they are either already in Greece, or well on their way. I love watching the gymnastics competition. It makes me feel vicariously unpotato like for a fleeting week or two as I veg in my lounging chair in front of the toob. Hefting the GS off the sidestand while on a slight incline snaps my poor potato bod back to reality in an instant! Then once again I am off dusting the woods as I zing through the shadows scanning for deer.
I run Four Notch Road all the way back up to FM 2929 and head back into town. I am actually a little warm because I have my jeans on under my riding pants and I don't have any water with me. So I decide to run by the house, take a break, and then head out for King's Cafe to the bike night. Debbie comes by and gets her bike and then heads off for a quick ride. Despite her bravery in following me down some questionable roads lately, I doubt she wants to try to keep up with me on the nasty stuff, hehe. A few moments after she leaves, I head out again. For no particular reason, I find myself crusing down FM 1374 towards Stubblefield Lake Road. 1374 is a great ride. It is pretty much nonstop highspeed sweepers for about 25 miles or so until it drops back out onto I-45 at New Waverly. Stubblefield Lake Road goes off into the National Forest and cuts across the Northern end of Lake Conroe. The road is "paved" but the potholes and patches make it worse than most paved roads. As I pass by the campground on the lake, I decide to head back deeper into the woods on the dirt forest roads 216 and 208 rather than following the pavement over to FM 1375. As I am cruising along, I spot a fellow on a small and old enduro style bike. I stop to talk with him and his kid cruises up behind him on a Honda 50 in full dirt mode!! How cool!!?? Dad is taking the kid out riding on the trails and just having a blast. When junior comes to a stop and turns to look at the HUGE GS sitting next to him, his eyes bug out a little I look at him and wistfully think back to when I was his age and how desperately I wanted a minibike, or anything with a motor... well, other than the freaking lawn mower After confirming he is heading in the right direction, Dad takes off with junior in tow. As I pull away, I wonder if the kid realizes just how cool his dad is!? FR 208 drops me out onto FM 1791, still in the heart of the National Forest. Still wanting to do some more unpaved riding, I head North a few miles to the start of FR 209. I really like this road. The trees come right up to the edge of the gravel and I feel like I am really out in the wilderness. The sun streams down through the overhaing canopy of leaves and flashes in my eyes like a strobe. It makes it hard to see the holes in the road and I tag a few of them pretty good. Thank God for long suspension travel and a plush ride! Somewhere back in here, the road forks and I take the one less travelled. The less travelled fork gets even narrower and has more loose gravel. It really gives me a chance to practice shifting my weight around while sliding the backend through the corners. There is something intoxicating about laying on the gas and sliding the bike. Maybe that is why Rossi does it so much on his GP bike. Of course, I am not going quite that fast Here is a shot back up into the woods as the sun is getting lower in the Western sky and the shadows grow longer: A mile or so later and I reach pavement once again on a little county road barely wider than a single lane. This is Taliaferro Rd. It will eventually bring me back out onto FM 1791, but as I am zinging along, I spot another gravel road that I have been meaning to explore, Welch Rd. Well, as they say, no time like the present! It turns out that this is just a long straight road through the woods that drops out onto FM 149 just West of where FM 1791 hits FM 149. As I am cruising along raising the mother of all dust clouds, I spot a Sheriff's Patrol car sitting off the side of the road in the woods :scratch Wonder what he is up too? Moments later, through all the dust, I see his headlights behind me Well, he was facing into the woods, so there is no way he got me on radar, not that it would have mattered, really... Could it be that I saw something I should not have and now he has to eliminate the witness?! I don't wait around to find out. Getting on the gas I am on 149 moments later and then I am gone! Just before reaching FM 1791, I see a group of cruisers pulled over on the side of the road. I slow to check with them to make sure everything is okay and that they don't need any assistance. They give a friendly wave and I continue on my way as they stare at the GS with odd looks on their faces. It's okay, I'm used to it. I just tell myself it is the bike that they are staring at... So anyway, I pass FM 1791 and get ready to setup for the sweeping right hander right before the little Union Grove Baptist Church when I recall that I have been meaning to follow a little paved road off into the woods just at the entrance to the corner. I slow and head into the woods. This is a little loop that eventually drops out onto FM 1791 just North of FM 149. Again, once off the main road, there are a lot of really nice homes back in the woods. When I pull up to the stop on FM 1791, I spot the train of crusiers headed my way from FM 149. I pull out and head back to FM 149, waving as I go by. No doubt these folks are wondering how I keep turning up all over the place? At the stop sign I momentarily hesitate to consider running on down FM 149 to Kings. It is getting close to 7:00pm. Fuggidaboudit! I shoot straight ahead on to FM 1097. This was recently paved a year or so back and used to be gravel. Now it is mostly paved, but only a lane and a half wide and very smooth. Just around a really tight corner, it becomes gravel. I found this out in a very exciting way on the VFR some time ago Now it is a favorite alternative to running FM 149 down through the National Forest. About half way down to Montgomery, it is paved again right at the Bethel Cemetery. A little over a mile beyond the cemetery, there is another little side road I have been meaning to check out. The weather is so nice I can't stand the thought of heading directly to Kings even though 7:00pm is drawing near. There is no FR designation and I don't see a streetsign, but it is paved so I decide to see where it leads. According to the GPS, it should come out somewhere over on FM 149 just North of Montgomery. But then I have arrived at pasture gates where the GPS says a road should be continuing off across a pasture and there is none. This road does not disappoint. It is narrow, tiwsty and fun. However, there are a lot of BLIND corners and the locals think they have the whole road to themselves. This is not a go fast road, just one for taking in the scenery and nice ride. Sure enough, about five minutes later, I drop out onto FM 149 and get my bearings. 7:00pm, time to head to Kings. But as I am heading towards town, I spot another road I have often wondered about... According to the GPS, It appears that this road just goes back a ways into the woods and eventually dead ends. As I am cruising along, I see a few kids on the side of the road on their bikes. I pull over next to them. One looks to be about 13 or so and the other two about 8 or 9. They are a little surprised to see me stop but are quickly enthused about talking to me about the bike. Their questions come faster than I can answer them. Kids are so cool. They are so inquisitive and excited about everything. I guess thay have not had that youthful curiousity stamped out of them yet by years of public schooling They assure me that the road does indeed dead end a few miles back, so I turn around after a quick pick and make my way back to FM 149 and get serious about getting on down to Kings before it gets too late. I arrive to find Beth and Wes Wessel already on the back deck enjoying the incredibly cool evening. We get a pretty good turn out at the cafe. Debbie, Will, Phillip, tracy, Wes, Raul, Kevin, and myself. Kevin arrives on his 1960 BMW R60/2. This is a SWEET looking machine, elegant in its' simplicity, and nicely restored.The saddle bags seem to be nothing extraordinary, but that is the mother of all tankbags!
Take a close look at that front suspension. Early Telelever? Pretty cool.
That is it for the dash! The odo has rolled over already at 100K and it is now showing 61K miles!! Kevin has had the bike since 1975 and has put 130K of those miles on himself. His story of how he restored it is quite interesting. I'll let you get it out of him though
After dinner and ice cream, we head out about 9:30pm and head for home back up through the woods. Debbie is riding back with me. When we get home, it is so nice and cool that we decide to swap out Deb's front tire with a new one. The old one has about 8500 miles on it and is toast. We get everything done and get set to balance it and realize I am out of weights!! I've changed so many peoples' tires here that I ran out and did not even realize it, hehe. So the bike sits in the garage without a front wheel. She'll get some weights tomorrow and she'll be set for a weekend of riding. The weather is supposed to hold out all weekend Wasabi is coming down this weekend with his Vstrom 1000 so we can mount his knobbies and replace his brake pads in preparation for our upcoming trip to North Carolina. Now I have some good roads to take him out on to test out the tires !!Adios,
