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Bill Royal, Editor |
May 2002 |
HSTA Websites: Florida HSTA Home Page HSTA National Website
State Co-Director Change Welcome to the Club
The Second Wave Ads Ramblin' Around
Trenton Lunch Ride This and That Rides/Events
Submitted By: John Watts
April 15, 2002,
This is an open letter to all HSTA members, the executive board and anyone else who might read this.
My home in Florida will be sold and I will be “full-timing” it. With a 30’ motor home and a 14’ trailer there is no reason I can’t be at most of our gatherings.
Now to specific members of our August group.
John's new motor home and "mobile garage"
My new style of living required many changes, not the least of which is the insurance to cover “the rig”, my motor home and from this point forward, my mobile garage. My insurance requires the “Bikes”: ST1100 and KR650 be kept in a locked garage so I don’t want to hear anything about trailering to any events. I may have said something to any number of you fine folks about your transports in the past but this is different.
Also and probably most important, Mr. Bill Royal our most accomplished newsletter editor has agreed to also wear the hat of Florida State Co-director. I hope that you support him as best you can.
Looking forward to seeing many of you at Star 2002 for sure and as many other events as possible till the wheels fall off everything.
Ex FL State Co-Director,
John Watts
We would like to extend a hearty and sincere welcome to the following recent new members. Thank you for choosing to join our group. Many long lasting friendships have begun here and we hope your experience will be a satisfying one!
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No new members this month! |
Submitted By: William Robinson
Those of us who spend a good bit of time mounted upon a motorcycle are quite familiar with "the wave." You pass a fellow rider on a Honda, and he gives you the wave of kinship. You pass a fellow rider on a Harley, and he either ignores you or flips you the single digit salute. Standard operating procedure.
Okay, maybe I'm being a bit hard on cruiser types. Some of them actually do wave, even when I'm on my Cagiva Gran Canyon. I always assume they've been riding for all of two weeks, and they'll soon learn better. Still, I wave at just about everyone, from scooter trash to the three people in America who actually bought Hendersons. I figure we're all in this together.
Recently, however, I've discovered what I'm calling "the second wave". It's the wave you give to cage pilots, pedestrians and others littered along the roadside. Why, you ask, would a motorcyclist stoop to wave at those who aren't us? Well, as it turns out, there are lots of good reasons.
I wave at the grandma who could have made a left turn in front of me, but didn't. Likewise the guy shearing the weeds along the county road who might have swerved his multi-bladed DOT tractor onto the roadway to mulch me, just for the hell of it.
I wave at the county mountie who could have busted me for a half dozen reasons, had he not been so focused on his recently acquired Twinkie. And I always give a great big All-American wave to anyone who will let me into traffic. They must be bikers, at least at heart.
Above all, I like to wave at kids. An eight year old boy once waved at me just outside of Micanopy, and when I waved back he leaped into the air, as if he had just learned that his school had burned to the ground. You can't buy feelings like that. Kids are us a few decades ago. When we ride, all the mortgages, high cholesterol, ex-wives, really bad career decisions and gravity afflicted body parts don't seem to matter. We're kids again, waving at our pals. And to them we're heroes, fast and daring, if just for the day.
We do ourselves a favor when we wave at the world. Lord knows, there are enough people out there who wish we would just go away. We need all the friends we can get, both on the road and in the Legislature. If we want the world to be motorcycle friendly, we've got to make the first move.
Anyone who doesn't get a wave? Personally, I never, ever wave at pretty young girls. My wife is usually riding nearby me on her 140 hp missile, and I really don't want to risk pissing her off. Even when she's not around, I'm not prepared for the humiliation of waving and only getting that "isn't that Lisa's dad?" look in return.
And one more bit of advice. Never start waving at bikers on your way to Daytona Bike Week. I hear one guy started and couldn't stop until his rotator cuff was in shreds. It could happen...
Otherwise, wave on. Let them know we're here and we plan to stay. Long may we wave!
| Motorcycle
related items - wanted or for sale, riding buddies or room mates for
events can be placed right here - for free! Just send them to arrive by
the 20th for the next month's publication. Send to Bill Royal, 1515
Blackstone Circle, Sun City Center, FL. 33573 or email to wgr@sprynet.com. For Sale 1989 Honda GB500. Incredible original collector bike with only 2400 miles! Purchased from Honda corporate employee. Multiple award winner, including best street stock in Riding Into History Concours. Runs and handles beautifully. New Avon tires, color matched cafe fairing. May be the best looking bike Honda ever made. $4750. Contact Bill at 904-730-9719, warrior@aol.com 1997 VFR 750
- red, excellent condition, not a scratch
always adult owned / ridden and dealer serviced. heli-bars,
throttlemeister, tank bra, tail cap, carbon fiber pipe, shop manual, will
deliver. $5750 OBO |
1999 ST1100
- black, 24,900 miles. All the fluids have been changed, including the
rear end and radiator. Tires are in good shape. No scratches, dents and
the black paint is in very good condition. Options include brighter bulbs
with h4 adapters, head lite modulator, euro wind deflectors over the
mirrors speed bleeders on the brakes, BMW grips, tour master tank bag and
tail bag. It has the stock windshield and seat.. $ 7700 or best offer.
Mitch at 954 894 9595 or mitch96@pobox.com
Riders to STAR For anyone interested, Eve and I will be riding 2-up, accompanied by Henry Custer so far to STAR 2002. We are planning a leisurely 3 day / 2 overnight trip, entirely no-interstates, departing the Tampa area on Thursday, June 20th. Anyone wishing to join us, please get in touch ASAP, otherwise, we’ll just see you there! Bill Royal (813) 633-8155 or wgr@sprynet.com |
Submitted by: Phil Ridgdill
Thanks to all of you for coming on the April Lunch ride. Thanks to the NE.FL.BMW Club for boosting our numbers quite a bit but from what I heard from various members, every one seemed to enjoy themselves. Of course the Food is very good at the Old Boarding House and the price is right. Having said that, we’ll definitely go there again.
If any of you know of a neat place for us to go for lunch, off the beaten path, no big city bit, we don’t want to get bogged down in red lights & heavy traffic, good place to park, somewhere with good food at a reasonable price, let me know about it. We are always open for any suggestions.
On to something else, I’m thinking about a new HSTA T-Shirt for the Florida Group. I’ve got an idea about the design but I’d like to hear from the members on their ideas. If you have a design in mind, send me an email with the design and lets see what we can come up with. We have a few places here in Jacksonville that would like to have our business, I’m still sorting that out. What do you, HSTA members, think of the idea and what do you think would be a reasonable price, one that you’d be willing to pay for the T-Shirt. Remember the design will indicate that you are a FL member of the HSTA. Even if you don’t have design in mind send me an email and let me know what you think of the idea.
Newsletter; all of you know what a good job Bill Royal has done with our newsletter, he needs some help from all of us. John Watts has retired, to a life of Luxury, (after looking at the size of his MotorHome & Trailer, I’m sure its super luxury) resigned as the FL Co-Director HSTA and Bill Royal has stepped up and VOLUNTEERED to take the slot as FL Co-Director, now you know what I mean, he needs our help. Our newsletter is for you the member of the HSTA and we’d like you to share some of your experiences, motorcycle related of course. We can all write so what Bill & I both would appreciate, write up a story about your last trip, your favorite local ride, send us a photograph to go along with your story, got any rare bikes you’d like to show off, send us a photograph. Anything unusual happen to you on your bike, funny, serious, whatever, know an interesting road, tell us about it mate, we’d like to give it a go also, write it up and send it to us, we can all have a good laugh. Although our newsletter is darn good now, these things would make our newsletter even better.
OK, the VFR VTEC saga, it’s getting better. Now I’ve found the bike is way, way too rich, the computer mapping is off quite a bit. Of course you all know what it takes to sort that out, I plan on having a word with the Honda people first. It runs great as long as your on the throttle, it doesn’t surge like some early oil head BMWs but it will not run smooth at a steady rpm below 4500 in 6th gear. The throttle is so touchy, hit a bump, you immediately know it, take it up to 5000 in 6th gear it gets silky smooth, at 6500 6th gear & up its pulling fair and smooth, take it up higher to where the other valves open up (VTEC) then the motor is in its element. The big problem is you can’t run that hard most of the time. The VTEC comes on at about 7000rpm, I think it would be better to come on at 4000rpm.
I read this recently; it made sense to me. Steve McQueen said, “ Speed has a kind of affinity to me, it’s the time God and I have our little talks.” Mat Oxley had this to say, “ Riding on the road isn’t quite the same, but it’s a few steps down the same road: Slip on your lid, shut down the black visor and get away. Once you’re moving you’ve no choice but to zone in on the road ahead and forget the world around you, so your mind starts working in a different way and things become clearer”.
Ride Safe
Phil Ridgdill
Submitted By: Bill Royal
Did you miss last month’s lunch ride to Trenton? If so you missed out on another great Florida HSTA ride! And this month, we had the additional company of the Northeast Florida BMW riders club which helped swell the attendance ranks of this lunch ride to 42 bikes. I didn’t even bother counting heads, but we certainly filled up the restaurant to full for an hour or so.
As we came up on April 20th, it looked like I was going to be riding up to Trenton alone, but then folks started jumping on the wagon and by the time we left on Saturday morning we had 4 bikes, and picked up another 2 on the way. Now, Trenton is a good ride for us here in Tampa… About 160 miles by the most direct route, a bit longer by freeway. That didn’t deter any of the riders this Saturday however, with one rider, Gerry Stellwagon, joining us riding up from Venice! That added at least another 100 miles to his day’s total. Way to go Gerry! Joining in on the day’s ride was John Watts and his “SO” Pat on their ST1100, Henry Custer on his Helix, Gerry S. on his brand spanking new VFR (only 400 miles on it at day’s start!), and myself, Bill Royal on my ST.
We left promptly at 8:30 AM as planned, freshly fed at the MickeyD’s in Ruskin. We rode a leisurely pace up I75 to the rest area where we pulled in exactly as scheduled to pick up two more bikes—John Baker on his ??? And friends of John’s on a Gold Wing. We stopped only long enough to get together then off we went on our computer generated and published course. It was only minutes later when we were exiting the interstate for the really fun parts of the ride. A short hop west on SR52 and then north onto a fun back road - 16 miles of CR 581. Though not a true “twisty” by any stretch of the imagination, it is a fairly lightly traveled road with more than just a few sharp turns, and there was one or two “twisty signs” along the way. It joins up for a short 1/4 mile or so with CR572 and then continues on up into Brooksville, but along this stretch it’s got some really nice high rolling hills, along with a few esses and could be way fun if you didn’t have to beware of other traffic at all… Once to Brooksville, I had tried to map out a detour around the center of town, mostly ‘cause I hate the one-way street arrangements that make me feel like I’m in a maze when getting through it. We took SR50 (Cortez rd) west and then it bends north before heading west again. We continued on North on Cobb Rd (CR485), then tried to take a road labeled on the map as “Camp Mine Rd”, but only seconds after turning onto it, we came upon a huge chain link fence across the road labeled “Land Fill—Road Closed”! Oh well, so much for the map! No biggie however as Cobb Rd turned out to continue up into US98, which then took us on up to my original expected CR491 where we took a 10 minute rest stop.
The Tampa to Trenton and return routes taken
CR491 is a nice road because it’s lightly traveled, nicely paved and there are few cross roads due to it’s run along the western border of some State Forest that I failed to catch the name of. Once in Lecanto, it’s onto SR44 and then finally up onto US19 where we have successfully evaded most of the dreaded urban blight traffic US19 is noted for. Just another 50 or so miles to our destination. US19 up there is ok, even scenic in places, but it seemed to drone on boringly straight forever. We stopped at a gas station so I could fix my earphones and a couple of the troupe gassed up. We were just a mile from the turn onto the final 10 mile leg up on US129. We arrived at 11:50 A, just 4 minutes late from my predicted arrival time (and that hadn’t included any planned gas stops). There was already a good crowd there, and the BMW’s were in great evidence. Once dismounted, the heat of the day became really noticeable as folks herded under the welcome shade of some large oak trees in the area. Phil Ridgdill and his group from Jacksonville showed up minutes later, followed in another 10 minutes by a second wave that came from the same neck of the state. Everyone milled around and chatted for a bit, kicking tires, some admiring Dana Sawyer’s former bike - a beautiful VFR now ridden by HSTA Florida member John Anderson. Eventually we made our way into “Ye Olde Boarding House” to take over their all you can eat chicken and fish fry buffet. Nobody left this place hungry and at the bargain price of $5.95 everyone wants to go back.
Once out to the parking lot again, more tire kicking and story swapping as bikes headed out in small groups to head back home. Our group was 2 bikes shorter now as two needed to bug out for a quicker return home. After straightening out a minor technical difficulty with my Laptop/GPS Voice Nav setup, we were off for home too, this time taking a more central route back home, down CR339 to US27 to SR41 which meanders through the Old Florida towns of Williston, Dunnellon and Inverness, and then once again onto back country roads with the northern extension of CR581 to traverse the eastern side of the same state forest we’d gone by on the way up. Along the way, Gerry on his VFR ran up to let me know his thirsty VFR was ready for another fill up (his second of the day). We quickly found a gas station and soon were back on our way down into Brooksville where we stopped for a planned rest stop and water break. It was starting to look a little threatening weather wise at this point, and in fact, as we rejoined the reverse of our morning route the road was puddled and the smell of a fresh rain was in the air. Too bad because the wet pavement demanded more caution and this was some of the more fun parts of the route. We did get spit upon, at one point, enough to force me to pull over to deploy my “computer condom” to protect the delicate electronics perched atop my tank bag. But that must have been the fix, because after that we were free and clear of rain the rest of the way home!
As we approached the end of our route, folks peeled off to their respective home destinations. First John and Gerry to pick up the pace to their further destinations, and then Henry, west to his home and myself east to mine. I pulled into my driveway at 5:36 PM, having put 315.7 miles on the clock in 05:51:31 of moving time. And, with a max speed of 76.9 and an average of 52.8, I got the very best gas mileage I’ve ever gotten on the ST of 53.4 MPG. :-)
My thanks to Phil Ridgdill for setting up these monthly lunch rides, and also to the riders who accompanied me as well as those others who attended. It’s your participation that makes this club run!
Submitted By: Bill Royal
Well, by now you’ve probably figured out that I must be off my rocker having stepped up to succeed John Watts as the State Co-Director. Well, maybe, but I have really been enjoying all the riding around across the state and meeting folks so this just seemed like the perfect opportunity to continue that and maybe stir up a little more interest and/or things to do for the state membership. So, with that in mind here’s my starting plan: I know how many of the lunch rides are just too far away for many of the south central and southern members to make so I thought it might be nice to initiate a monthly ride to a lunch destination catering to those members.
The first ride will be in May to Okeechobee, FL. See the events listing for the details on this ride. Now, there’s nothing special about Okeechobee as a ride destination other than it’s location inside the blue circle on the accompanying map.
This is the target area I will be looking to run lunch rides to in order to accommodate those riders who can’t make the “northern” rides. The locations inside this circle should be no more than a 2.5 hr or 130 mile trip (NON-interstate!) from Naples/Miami north and from Tampa/Orlando/Titusville south. So, no more excuses for a lunch ride being too far. Now you will have an opportunity to meet up with your fellow membership on a monthly basis. All we need is for you to get on the bike and ride! I hope to see a bunch of you at the “inaugural” HSTA South Lunch Ride on May the 12th!
STAR 2002 - Last Call HSTA Mileage Contest It’s not too late! Though the main hotel is filled, there’s still room in the Velda Rose and time to get registered for STAR 2002. Remember, STAR is THE premiere HSTA event of the year, and one where you will get to meet up with riders from all over the country with all kinds of riding styles and abilities. There will be plenty of opportunities to ride, sight-see, or even just relax, but only if you make it there! So, if you’re “on the fence”, do yourself a favor today and register to go—You absolutely won’t regret it. And who knows, with TWO raffle bikes up for grabs this year, you just might come home with a new bike!!! If you want to ride to STAR with company, see the free ads section for more info. I don’t know about you, but I was thrilled to see that there is a mileage contest this year for the HSTA. Now, I know I’m not a dedicated full time rider, but I have been racking up the miles already this year and so I’m hoping to make it to near the top of the list. And even if not, imagine the fun I’ll have trying to get there! So, let’s see what the Florida riders are made of—go ride, and then be sure to get your entry form in so we can document what most of us already well know—that HSTA members RIDE!
Ride/Events are compiled for your convenience from a variety of sources. HSTA Sponsored rides are indicated with the "¨" symbol. If you are considering making any of the rides we suggest you call the contact ahead of time to confirm the ride is still on as listed.
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Huck’s Road & Track Rally (Formerly Peter’s Road & Track Rally) -May 3-5 - Gassville, Arkansas - You may have heard or read that this event was cancelled, but that information is not correct. Thanks to West Tenn. State Director Keith Huckabey, the former Peter’s Road & Track Rally is resurrected and will run as originally scheduled on the weekend of May 3-5. The whole hotel is reserved for the HSTA and with room rates of $46.50 (tax included!) it’s a bargain not to be missed. This is a HSTA members only event. Registration details at http://mssr.org/rtrally/rtindex.htm¨
Helen 2002 -May 3-5 - Helen, Georgia - Here’s a great southeast rally that ’s been a traditional favorite of many a Florida HSTA member. This year, sponsorship has changed over to our new Southeast Regional Director, Doug Pippin. There'll be a few changes this year with a Friday afternoon/evening weenie roast for participants and a sit-down dinner Saturday night all included in the registration fee. For more information Contact: Doug Pippin - 828-684-8488 or ldpippin5@bellsouth.netEASTOC 2002 - May 10-12 - Canton, NC - This is an ST Owners Club sponsored event. Located in the heart of the NC Mountains, the Blue-Ridge Cycle Campground offers the ideal base for this annual STOC Event. The Blue Ridge Cycle Camp Ground is on highway 276 in the heart of the North Carolina Mountains. Looking at a map, it is below Waynesville, NC and above Brevard, NC on 276 about 4-5 miles North of the Blue Ridge Parkway. The camp ground has 16 small cabins, some with 2 twin beds and some with a queen bed. The cabins are a place to sleep only (now heated), but there are nice bathroom facilities there. There are two rooms in a small trailer with facilities and a queen sized bed. There is plenty of tent space. They have breakfaST and dinner on sight (home cooking at its beST). For more information see: http://eastoc.lusers.net/ or contact -
Dee & Henry Hartsfield, Blue Ridge Cycle Camp Ground, 59 Motorcycle Drive, Canton, NC 28716 828-235-8350
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*NEW RIDE* HSTA Florida South Lunch Ride - Saturday May 12th - Noon, Okeechobee, FL. Join us at The Clock family restaurant, located on US98/441/S Parrot Ave., just .8 miles south of the intersection of SR70 and US98/441. This is a new ride, targeted to give the membership in the south central and southern part of the state an opportunity to make a ride and meet fellow members. It’s no more than 2.5 hrs or 150 miles from Melbourne, Miami, Tampa, Naples or any points in between! Remember, HSTA membership is NOT required, and friends, wives, etc. are always welcome at our lunch rides! Contact: Bill Royal at 813-633-8155 or wgr@sprynet.com¨
HSTA Florida North Lunch Ride - Saturday May 25th - Noon, Astor Park, FL This ride is open to non members so bring whoever; Lads/Lassies, Mates/Birds & Sheilas, Boysan/Josan, Herr/Fraulien, Madam/ Monsieur, Senor/Senorita, Ragal/Horma & anyone else you can think of. If you need any further information, contact Phil Ridgdill at 904 287 9654 or rfoxrdr@earthlink.net¨
And all the rest of the HSTA National schedule...
|
Date |
Event |
Location |
Contact |
| May. 03-05 | Helen 2002 | Helen, Georgia |
Doug Pippin (828) 684-8488 ldpippin1@bellsouth.net |
| May. 03-05 | Huck's Road & Track Rally | Gassville, Arkansas |
Keith Huckabey (901) 848-3155 khuckabey@gombi.com |
| May. 17-19 | TwiStar 2002 | Spring Green, Wisconsin |
John Perkings (608) 280-8204 john@cs.wisc.edu |
| Jun. 07-09 | WeSTAR | Bass Lake, California |
John Button (925) 736-2670 jhbutton@best.com |
| Jun. 23-26 | STAR 2002 | Hot Springs, Arkansas |
Tom Powers (501) 915-9416 Portcall@aol.com |
| Aug. 23-25 | Mail Pouch Fly-by | Marietta, Ohio |
Jon Campbell (513) 932-3341 jcampbell7@cinci.rr.com |
| Sep. 06-08 | Ozark BS Rally | Theodosia, Missouri |
Ed Young (417) 926-3075 magna@fidnet.com |
| Sep. 13-15 | SE-Star | Dillard, Georgia |
Trey Hall (615) 574-9927 strey1100@aol.com |
| Sep. 27-29 | Byway Boogie | Hot Springs Village, Arkansas |
Tom Trieschmann (314) 692-7463 ttriesch@mindspring.com |
| Oct. 04-06 | River City Ride | Corydon, Indiana |
Don Parish (317) 936-5818 mparish@hrtc.net |
| Oct. 11-13 | FOF X | Parkshills, Missouri |
James Radcliff (314) 213-5854 jradcliff@frenchgerleman.com |
| Nov. 01-03 | Texas Hill Country | Kerrville, Texas |
Jim Poulos (817) 268-4620 jamo1935@aol.com |
