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START (Spring Tune-up Appalachian Riding Tour) Blairsville, GA April 27 - May 1, 2022


Indy Dave

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Thank you, Dave for putting on another great event. Kathryn and I really enjoyed it. We got home safe around noon Sunday.

 

Also thank you to the group as a whole for being so welcoming to Kathryn. Any 17-year-old would be apprehensive about joining a group of experienced riders having ridden only six months. But she had a great time and is looking forward to the UnRally.

 

My poor attempt at a selfie :outside of Highlands

 

IMG_0583.JPEG.fe4e2e971c2819286ef702a0c1dd998d.JPEGimage.jpeg.f0341f8041498c5ac1ea23114d756ae7.jpeg

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Indy Dave

IMPORTANT: FART DATES ARE SEPT. 14-18 - A WEEK EARLIER THAN NORMAL

Details will be posted in a few weeks

 

** please post your photos in the START Photo Gallery - even if you've posted them in this thread. **

 

Thanks again one and all - great to see and visit with so many old and new ARTer's. Great new folks, along with some 17- 20 (or so) year event veterans and a whole lot of us who look like we've been coming to these for even longer!

You all make these easy to organize, and when we return to previous hotels, they always remember us and are eager to have us back. I've been told by more than one that that is NOT the case with all of the motorcycle groups they've had. Thanks also for pitching in whenever a hand was needed (even @Lowndes found time to pitch in between Final Drive fills :3:). 

 

Big Thanks to @Kenikki for the  Feta    Greek Salad. @Indy Scott for the 2 bottles of Eagle Rare and massive lot of Cigars! (And congrats on the New Grandson!) @Boxflyer for your tireless efforts and selfless giving and sharing and giving and sharing and giving and sharing . . . And the Bumbling BackRoad Riders - who are always busy in the background, and yet say they don't do much, besides making NEW Bumbler stories (including testing a inflatable vest... TWICE in 2 days.... for posterity of course:whistle:  )

 

@BMW_Ken @DaveCinNO@marcopolo@60Aviator@terryofperry@Endobob@twistyguy@Bernie

 

My trip back to Indy included about 15 minutes of combined rain, temps near 80 in KY and back to 60's near home. About 7:30pm Mrs. Indy Dave (after I'd been home for 2 hours) asked if "I was very tired"?  "I am, why?" I asked. "Because normally when you get back from one of these, you're asleep by now"!   Not to worry. She told me this morning that I fell asleep in bed mid-sentence. :rofl: ......   I was soo glad she said mid-sentence . .

 

 

 

 

Edited by Indy Dave
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terryofperry

Just received this email, looks like @Foot may have given the hotel my email or....used my credit card, :3:

Terry

 

Screenshot_20220502-124244_Gmail.thumb.jpg.ce78ab086e8fdc9b221e83b0e3f19d32.jpg

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image.thumb.png.aee83cb3a1675be5a9fc1c9b55d163cc.png

 

I found the end of the roll this morning and thought this pretty much represents my bike at START 22: It isn't pretty but got the job done:

 

image.thumb.png.b0d66dba736de68ca0e6b39b9325e0f6.png

 

 

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Indy Dave
22 hours ago, F16Viper68 said:

@Indy Dave did the bird make it at 2:40?   :)

 

 

 

As far as I can tell the bird made it - didn't feel anything, and I didn't see feathers or evidence in my mirrors. A squirrel on Wolf Pen Gap wasn't so lucky :( (it was on the first pass though, the video was the second).  When this happens, it reminds me of a passage about rabbits from early on  in Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 that has stuck with me since I read it as a Sophomore in high school at Culver Military Academy in 1980 (while I remember the point of the passage,  I had to google the quote):

 

People who claim to know jackrabbits will tell you they are primarily motivated by Fear, Stupidity, and Craziness. But I have spent enough time in jack rabbit country to know that most of them lead pretty dull lives; they are bored with their daily routines: eat, [censored], sleep, hop around a bush now and then....No wonder some of them drift over the line into cheap thrills once in a while; there has to be a powerful adrenalin rush in crouching by the side of a road, waiting for the next set of headlights to come along, then streaking out of the bushes with split-second timing and making it across to the other side just inches in front of the speeding front wheels

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marcopolo

Another great event, with great folks, great weather - and riding - and we owe a lot to our BBR leader, IndyDave.  I knew these events took a lot of effort, but until Dave formed the BBR (Bumbling Backroad Riders), a while back and asked me and a number of others to join, I didn't realize just how much goes into making these ARTs run seamlessly.  Dave does the lion's share of the work, no matter how modest he might be about that.  

 

I left Blairsville at 5:00 Sunday morning, for my 600 mile ride back to the D.C. area.  All went well, until the last 40 miles, or so.  I was heading east towards D.C. on I-66.  The road was very wet, with lots of pooled water, and water spray etc.  I was taking it easy, about 60 mph, given the conditions.  Out of nowhere, a car behind me spun out of control, when attempting a lane change, clearly too fast for the conditions.  As the car was spinning, it hit the left of my GSA (on the left side aluminum case).  I was immediately thrown into a high-speed wobble.  Amazingly, I somehow managed to keep the bike upright, and once fully recovered, I slowed down (without being hit a second time), moved over to the right-most lane and headed for the nearest exit.  I pulled off to the side of the exit ramp, and called 9-1-1.  They knew a car had spun out on the interstate, but nobody had told them I was hit.  I spent about 1 ½ hours with paramedics, and State Troopers.  The very first violent oscillation of the handlebars felt like someone was trying to rip my left arm off.  It's hard to describe.  I felt immediate pain, but obviously had more important things to do in the moment.  The good news is I didn't go down.  Paramedics wanted to take me to the hospital, because they could see the range of motion was very limited on that arm.  I declined the offer of a ride to the hospital, and told them I wanted to ride my bike home (the only visible damage was to the side case), and I had just managed to recover from the wobble, and get myself safely out of any further danger.  I don't kid myself that there wasn't some luck involved too.  I would not want to try and replicate that feat.  This morning I saw an orthopaedic surgeon, who examined my shoulder.  X-rays showed no problems with any of the bones, so I'm scheduled for an MRI early next week.  Though he didn't want to speculate on the seriousness of the injury, pending the MRI, I did notice on the invoice I paid that the preliminary diagnosis was listed as "torn rotator cuff". 

 

The car of the young guy (27) who hit me was totalled, and one of the Troopers told me that he will likely be charged.  He did make a point of making his way to my location on the exit ramp to apologize.  

 

P.S., my shoulder hurts like hell.

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Mark,

 

Don't know exactly which emogee to put on your post above.  GREAT JOB keeping the bike up and out of further harm, and fingers crossed on the MRI.

 

I couldn't agree more with your assessment of the work done by Dave and the crew.  As Brad said at the dinner Friday night, this group is unique in the people, the timbre of these events and on this forum all year.  Just amazing. 

 

BTW, what can any of us do to help you and the crew??   

 

Back on topic, VERY CONCERNED about your odeal but GLAD you are OK and its not worse.  Please let us know the results of the MRI.

 

 

Lowndes

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Mark,  not sure if we’ve met in the few ART events I’ve attended in recent years but wanted to send along my thoughts and prayers for your getting back to 100%.  Your incident sure sounded scary but sound like you did an amazing job keeping upright. Congrats on that 😉.  Stay safe and hope to see you at a future event.

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StretchMark

I'd also like to thank Dave and all the planners. Great event. Fun routes too and quite a few new roads for me on the Lake Burton route.

 

Dang Mark....hate to hear about your incident, but as others have said, nice save.

 

Christine took a few pics which I'll add to the other thread....but this one cracked me up, so I'll include it here too:

 

Indy Dave.jpg

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Lone_RT_rider
5 hours ago, wbw6cos said:

I know, right?  He has that effect on board members.  

William, 

 

Speaking of having an effect on board members, I thought this might help with your OCD.  ;)  Let me know how many milliseconds it takes you to break out the spray and cleaning cloth. :5150:

image.thumb.jpeg.823c8841adcd9d2bcbac64aa31b65378.jpeg

 

 

 

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Lone_RT_rider
1 minute ago, wbw6cos said:

Please elaborate.  I am confused.  :5146:

You must be overwhelmed by all the BUGS on the windscreen.  ;) 

love_bugs_2fc2144cbe2d4acf25de8bff9324303b63d1c08c.jpg

 

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Oh, oh, ohhhh.  I thought he was referring to the non-blue nose pieces on the front of his RT. 

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On 5/2/2022 at 1:11 PM, marcopolo said:

Another great event, with great folks, great weather - and riding - and we owe a lot to our BBR leader, IndyDave.  I knew these events took a lot of effort, but until Dave formed the BBR (Bumbling Backroad Riders), a while back and asked me and a number of others to join, I didn't realize just how much goes into making these ARTs run seamlessly.  Dave does the lion's share of the work, no matter how modest he might be about that.  

 

I left Blairsville at 5:00 Sunday morning, for my 600 mile ride back to the D.C. area.  All went well, until the last 40 miles, or so.  I was heading east towards D.C. on I-66.  The road was very wet, with lots of pooled water, and water spray etc.  I was taking it easy, about 60 mph, given the conditions.  Out of nowhere, a car behind me spun out of control, when attempting a lane change, clearly too fast for the conditions.  As the car was spinning, it hit the left of my GSA (on the left side aluminum case).  I was immediately thrown into a high-speed wobble.  Amazingly, I somehow managed to keep the bike upright, and once fully recovered, I slowed down (without being hit a second time), moved over to the right-most lane and headed for the nearest exit.  I pulled off to the side of the exit ramp, and called 9-1-1.  They knew a car had spun out on the interstate, but nobody had told them I was hit.  I spent about 1 ½ hours with paramedics, and State Troopers.  The very first violent oscillation of the handlebars felt like someone was trying to rip my left arm off.  It's hard to describe.  I felt immediate pain, but obviously had more important things to do in the moment.  The good news is I didn't go down.  Paramedics wanted to take me to the hospital, because they could see the range of motion was very limited on that arm.  I declined the offer of a ride to the hospital, and told them I wanted to ride my bike home (the only visible damage was to the side case), and I had just managed to recover from the wobble, and get myself safely out of any further danger.  I don't kid myself that there wasn't some luck involved too.  I would not want to try and replicate that feat.  This morning I saw an orthopaedic surgeon, who examined my shoulder.  X-rays showed no problems with any of the bones, so I'm scheduled for an MRI early next week.  Though he didn't want to speculate on the seriousness of the injury, pending the MRI, I did notice on the invoice I paid that the preliminary diagnosis was listed as "torn rotator cuff". 

 

The car of the young guy (27) who hit me was totalled, and one of the Troopers told me that he will likely be charged.  He did make a point of making his way to my location on the exit ramp to apologize.  

 

P.S., my shoulder hurts like hell.

 

Good to read you didn't go down and were able to control the wobble. Best to a speedy recovery. 

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2 hours ago, Lone_RT_rider said:

You must be overwhelmed by all the BUGS on the windscreen.  ;) 

love_bugs_2fc2144cbe2d4acf25de8bff9324303b63d1c08c.jpg

 

OMG !   That photo made my knees weak !!

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RandyShields
On 5/2/2022 at 4:11 PM, marcopolo said:

P.S., my shoulder hurts like hell.

Mark, I can't imagine how scary that situation would have been.  I am so glad you are just dealing with a bad shoulder injury and not something far worse.  I agree you were very lucky, but I also think that your long-time, intuitive riding skills took over while you were not even aware of what was going on to keep your bike upright and not going down with what could have been a death wobble.  I have been thinking about this all day after reading about it last night.  Our best wishes for a speedy recovery.

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marcopolo

Thanks, Randy.  I must say that I didn't have time to be scared, given I had a rather pressing problem to deal with.  I've certainly had time since to think about it, and there's no question that the outcome could easily have been much worse.  One of the State Troopers who responded was a rider, and one of the paramedics was a rider.  Both were amazed at the outcome, and the fact I didn't go down, especially given the conditions at the time.

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Indy Dave
3 minutes ago, marcopolo said:

Thanks, Randy.  I must say that I didn't have time to be scared, given I had a rather pressing problem to deal with.  I've certainly had time since to think about it, and there's no question that the outcome could easily have been much worse.  One of the State Troopers who responded was a rider, and one of the paramedics was a rider.  Both expressed amazement at the outcome, and the fact I didn't go down.

 

No doubt you were calm, cool and collected throughout (as much as anyone could be) - and kept your wits about you. As is your habit. :thumbsup: I shutter to think what may have transpired if you hadn't been riding solo! 

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marcopolo

When I was being checked out in the ambulance, they did tell me that my blood pressure was 195/77, and that was probably at least 15 minutes after the encounter.  They told me it was pretty common to see that in those sorts of circumstances.

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Indy Dave

A big shout out to the Thursday Pizza Group who contributed the lions share of donations to help offset the Blairsville START Expenses. Many, many folks gave above and beyond their pizza cost - you know who you are and we thank you for that! Others also contributed on Friday. Here's the accounting for START. I had a LOT of stickers left over, so if you want one, let me know. For Fall, I think we'll reduce our sticker quantity order, and starting next year, we may do a single sticker, with both START and FART locations on a single sticker.

 

Again, thanks one and all for your generous support and enthusiasm!

 

268263695_START2020Expenses-Sheet1.thumb.jpg.c8513260ee686f863a33cd12d5f381f6.jpg

 

 

 

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2 hours ago, Rockosmith said:

Dave, I’ll catch up to you in WV  and take care of the START cost overrun!! 😜

 

Rocko I do not want a single board member to bare all the cost, so I will split it with you.  spread the burden :-)

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Rockosmith

Great idea Randy.  We’ll pass the hat!  I really like your Tracer, looking for one myself.

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On 5/2/2022 at 11:46 AM, terryofperry said:

Just received this email, looks like @Foot may have given the hotel my email or....used my credit card, :3:

Terry

 

Screenshot_20220502-124244_Gmail.thumb.jpg.ce78ab086e8fdc9b221e83b0e3f19d32.jpg

Terry that clerk was so turned around he didn't know which way was up. It took 30 minutes to check out. I probably need to check with my credit card company to make sure he did it right.

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1 hour ago, Rockosmith said:

Great idea Randy.  We’ll pass the hat!  I really like your Tracer, looking for one myself.

if you want to discuss the tracer or even take it for a ride ( I live in Lawrenceville, GA) just let me know.  To be honest I really wanted the BMW XR, but just could not fit it into my budget right now.  I purchased the Tracer and added SS brake lines (thanks Chris K) and fully K-tech suspension components and it handled incredibly.  I am very impressed with the Tracer as a street bike. I am sure on the track I will feel the difference, but on the street, the Tracer GT is 85% of the XR at 65% the price.  It is diffidently the BEST VALUE bike I have owned.

 

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I have a great t shirt guy here locally that if we sent artwork he would take orders and ship directly for the price.

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Indy Dave

You guys may have missed the announcement at dinner that we'd have a shirt for FART.

 

Sometime after the UN, I'll post the design and take orders. 👍

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1 hour ago, Indy Dave said:

You guys may have missed the announcement at dinner that we'd have a shirt for FART.

 

Sometime after the UN, I'll post the design and take orders. 👍

 

Awesome, TY

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Indy Dave
1 hour ago, randy said:

if you want to discuss the tracer or even take it for a ride ( I live in Lawrenceville, GA) just let me know.  To be honest I really wanted the BMW XR, but just could not fit it into my budget right now.  I purchased the Tracer and added SS brake lines (thanks Chris K) and fully K-tech suspension components and it handled incredibly.  I am very impressed with the Tracer as a street bike. I am sure on the track I will feel the difference, but on the street, the Tracer GT is 85% of the XR at 65% the price.  It is diffidently the BEST VALUE bike I have owned.

 

 

3 hours ago, Rockosmith said:

.....  I really like your Tracer, looking for one myself.

 

The Tracer has caught the attention of a couple guys in Indy I know, and one of them has it lined up to be his next bike. I'm looking forward to our RtE this Saturday to share Randy's mods and comments.

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60Aviator
10 hours ago, marcopolo said:

When I was being checked out in the ambulance, they did tell me that my blood pressure was 195/77, and that was probably at least 15 minutes after the encounter.  They told me it was pretty common to see that in those sorts of circumstances.

 So both ambulance techs were female? :5146:

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so my Tracer is a 900 GT (not 900)
Mods
for my size and weight, no way any OEM suspension can handle me.  I have full K-Tech (not valving) cartridge inserts in the front forks and a K-Tech rear shock. All with springs set to my weight and riding style (one up, mountains and intermediate track pace)  I removed the front forks and just took the forks to the suspension guy. I did the rear shock removal and installation, i.e no labor costs and it was 2K.  I looked at Ohlins, Wilbers and one other. All were within 200.00 of each other.  


OEM brake lines are rubber.  Installed Speigler SS brake line kit.  MAKE sure to get the correct kit for a 900GT there are subtle differences. It is not hard, but is tedious.  I was lucky and Chris Kinney came over to help me.  In addition I installed speed bleeders in all calipers.

I would do an after market exhaust for the weight savings, but I do not want louder than OEM, and so far my research shows all the aftermarket options seem to be significantly louder.  So for now I have left that for winter 2022.  If/when I do that I will pull the ECU and have it flashed.  There are a number of experience vendor's providing this service.

Really that is it for any mechanical mods.  My goal is fully ready to ride, no bags, 4 gallons of GAS, 465lbs bike.

On this trip I did not really get to explore it's limits, I was riding with my Uncle and Son who were on their 900lbs Harley's  :3:

But Saturday both had headed home, and I was in Tellico Plains heading south on 68 back to Blairsville,  The suspension and brakes were fantastic.  And Sunday morning we ran RBR north to south on a mostly damp road and I got up to speed pretty quickly.  Again I am very impressed with the suspension/brake upgrade.  And the low weight is really noticeable.

on the other hand, I would NOT ride it two up.  To me the frame has more flex than I would want.  But there seems to be a lot of riders on the GT who are two up.  I assume they are a lot shorter and probably thinner than me :-)


As noted above, because I did all the labor, I bought the GT + brake lines + suspension at a cost that was 5-6K cheaper than the BMW XR.    Having come off a S1000R I really wanted the XR, but to be honest, as of right now, for me at this time in my riding life, the GT has turned out to be arguably my best value bike.


 

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Rockosmith
On 5/5/2022 at 4:52 PM, randy said:

if you want to discuss the tracer or even take it for a ride ( I live in Lawrenceville, GA) just let me know.  To be honest I really wanted the BMW XR, but just could not fit it into my budget right now.  I purchased the Tracer and added SS brake lines (thanks Chris K) and fully K-tech suspension components and it handled incredibly.  I am very impressed with the Tracer as a street bike. I am sure on the track I will feel the difference, but on the street, the Tracer GT is 85% of the XR at 65% the price.  It is diffidently the BEST VALUE bike I have owned.

 

Thanks for the offer Randy.  I’ll reach out soon.

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On 5/4/2022 at 2:18 PM, Lowndes said:

Ed, you wouldn't do too well in lovebug territory!!

That is VERY true!!

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Thanks again for sharing your photos in the Blairsville Gallery! Here's a last call for your photos! Please and thank you!!

 

You can post your photos here:

 

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Looks like you guys had a great time!   Hated to miss it but got to live vicariously through you guys!   

 

Great photos !! 

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A few people had asked that I let people know the results of my MRI.  I had posted earlier in this thread that, on my way home from START, my bike was hit by a car that had spun out on I-66.  That sent me into a high-speed wobble, and my upper arm/shoulder was injured by the violent oscillation of the bars.  The upshot is that two of four rotator cuff tendons (including the most important) were completely torn, another partially torn, and one (the least important) was intact.  In addition, my biceps tendon was dislocated, and also partially torn.  I have surgery scheduled for May 26th, and a long recovery afterwards:  physical therapy estimated for 4-6 months, and total recovery time anywhere from 6-12 months.

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Mark, Yikes. Sorry to hear this but better than it could have been (as lame as that sounds).

Hope all goes well and you heal quickly, completely, and better than before. PT is your friend, right?

Best wishes.

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Thanks for the update Mark, and sorry to hear of the damage.  I'll be sending positive vibes, in hopes that your recovery is complete.  

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