Topic: What is your "Best Ride Story"?

[Magilla]

Tell us the best ride story that YOU have.  Don't tell us about a friend of a friend that had a cousin that knew somebody that rode to wherever this one time.  Tell us your story.

Here is mine:

I grew up in a rented apartment in Worcester Mass.  We were poor people living in a depressed neighborhood.  My dad was a jack of all trades and master of none.  He always loved and desired a Harley but they were for rich people, not people like us. Ahh but we all dreamed about owning one.

In the 70s he bought a 450 Honda.  He tore it down, fabricated a hard tail, raked the neck, painted it a wild candy red that would make any bass boat envious and reinstalled the wrinkle black motor.  He did it all by himself and was so proud of it.  We rode all over on that bike.  Him up front in control and me on the back having the best time out with my hero.

Times like that influenced me and when I was 16 I bought my first bike.  It was a CB350.  I wanted a Harley but could not even imagine having the kind of money that would take.  So I  bought what I knew and that was a Honda.  I rode the crap out of that bike, even in the winter.  Remember the kid in high school that rode the bobber to school?  That was me.  Great times.

Fast forward to when I was 22.  My trade school education was paying off and my life long dream of buying a Harley had come true.  Within a few years my brother and my father (both doing much better in life) bought Harley's.  Soon after that the three of us went on a poker run through New England.  We were living the dream.  Three grown in dirt inner city poor white trash guys, out riding the finest roads in NE on our dream bikes. I'm not sure it gets much better than that.

A few years later my dad passed away.  I will forever have the memory of riding bikes together as adults. For me that was my greatest ride.

[Magilla]

I guess no one else has ever had a good day of riding.

[BeSeeingYou]

Years ago (1982) I took a long trip just me and my XS650.  Somewhere in northern California I found this wild blackberry patch beside the road.  I used my helmet for a bucket and filled it with blackberries.  Hanging it upside down on the helmet latch I munched on berries the whole day.

[Retro Rocket]

I didn't get a car license until i was 40, road bikes every day that i could for the previous 24 years, every ride was a good ride, even if it was scary, because i would learn something from each experience.... Any ride is better than a drive....

[ChuckG750f1]

A few years ago I rode from Phoenix to the South Rim at the end of April.  It was in the mid 90s when I left Phoenix in a T-shirt.  On the way up 17 to Flag, as i got up in elevation, I started adding leather.  That road goes pretty high up, over 8,000 ft IIRC.  Well, it started snowing.  Then I got a break in the snow as I decended to Flag.  Headed west on 40 and hit a strong snow squall and now I was really cold.  Got out of the snow when I headed north on 64, but now the temp was dropping with every mile, heading into a stiff headwind and gaining elevation again.  By the time I got to the canyon, I could not hold a coffee cup cause my hands didn't work anymore.  Man that was a great ride, glad I brought all my leather.

[TwoBigCats]

1969. my best friend had just turned 16 and his dad bought him a brand-spanking-new, assembled-it-himself-out-of-the-crate (he was a part time parts guy @ local honda shop) cb160. the first saturday morning that he had it, he came by my house so we could go riding with a friend who rode a yamaha 80.

he picked me up ~7am and we headed off ... me in jeans and a t-shirt, my friends in jeans, sweatshirts and levi jackets.  we cruise around town for a bit, then decide to head over the bay to a town called port costa.  this involved riding near the waterfront, over the carquinez bridge and on the other side of the bay ... all of which, it turned out, was blanketed with to-the-deck fog. a few seconds into the fog and i'm starting to feel the damp on my skin.  an hour later and my skin is blue, lips and teeth are chattering and it's all i can do to hang on to the seat strap. "no, guys, i'm ok ... let's keep going ..."

in < an hour i'm a popsicle stick, so we head back home ... that's when the deep freeze set in.

we decided to grab a bag of burgers & fries at a local place to warm up. problem was, i couldn't hold the food to eat it ... i ended up with coffee and sitting in the sun for an hour or so just to warm up.

(the next year the guy with the yamaha 80 got a cb750, my friend upgraded to a cl450 and i picked up a cl77. my then-best friend and i are still best friends and we still ride together all these years later.)

[kslrr]

I can't pick a "best ride" over the last 38 years.  Here's some high lights:

Late '70's
CB350F Cafe from OC Ca to Yosemite.  Oooo my back!

CB350F Cafe on Santiago Canyon Rd heading into an S-curve marked 40mph doing 60mph with a semi on my tail!  He kept up with me as I thru my bike into a hard left and then a hard right.  I let him pass me when there were 2 lanes after the exit of the curves.  I needed to regain my composure.

2004
My new wife and I on our brand new '04 Harley Sportster Custom heading to Idle Wild (mountains below Palm Springs Ca) to spend the weekend at a bed-and-breakfast for our honeymoon.

Good times then.......and good times still ahead.......

[Don R]

Spring, 1973, I had a new cb500 four my brother and a couple friends decided to ride about 45 from Galesburg Il to Burlington Ia. for a beer. It was warm and we all left with light jackets. Another guy joined us along the way. We stopped for the beer and when we came back out it was dark, damp and 40 degrees. I was trying to keep the rpm down on my bike but it got broke in good that evening on the way home.
 We made some rides to the flat track races at Louisville they were all fun too but they all seem to blend in together. I remember the line of bikes leaving the race, as far as you could see only motorcycles on the interstate. Someone took down a fence and there was a dirt ramp going onto the 4 lane, we all merged in from the shoulder.

[Don R]

Riding with the SOHC tour in Topeka was fun. We arrived late but after introductions and checking out the bikes we had a short ride and lunch. Then we chose a route that kept us together for a few miles, one by one the group got smaller until it was just my brother and me. The next morning we rode south to visit an old air force friend of my brothers and check out his bikes. A storm went north of us and after it passed we followed it all the way home to Illinois. The next leg was to the chicago area and even in the rain it was great meeting a few of the folks from here. We were so cold and wet we got a motel in Munster In. and rode home sunday, being followed by the rain the entire trip.

[tortelvis]

Having just had my first shag with the woman I am still with 20 years later had me in a great mood. Left her place in the wee hours, roads totally deserted with a full moon bright in the night sky. Riding my GSX750EF flat out on the old narrow twisting road by Bournemouth International Airport (I can't help but laugh at that tiltle! If you could see the place...). It all just clicked and I felt like I was in a video game, throwing it through the twistys, weather perfect (this IS England we are talking about LOL), roads empty, no plod to be seen. Magic.

[cb650]

Been a couple.   Road with dad on his "new"cb 650 an me on my cl350 all over northern MI.   
Also several years after we came from MI to CO through the UP. 
Have to include last years relay ride with Jerry and Craig. 
Dads "new" 650 is sitting in the kitchen wondering WTF?