Topic: 13 years ago today we rode

[Jerry Rxman Griffin aka MuthaF'er]

It was a cold day but coming up the road and seeing that F sitting there waiting with around 100lbs of baggage was worth it.
Godzilla v1 is sitting here overlooking me with a big lizard grin on his face waving that piston

Cold day is an understatement.  I remember your photos of icicles hanging off the bikes.  You had a couple of epic rides to keep the ball rolling.  Too bad so many of the photos in the relay threads have photo#$%*et's splooge all over them or are lost.  One of these days I'll get a hold of you so you can unlock the 2011 thread and I'll fix mine.

Reach out. I'm back in CO. Many things to do so adding one to my list won't hurt

[Don R]

 I went back through the Team Central ride threads and sat here smiling and remembering. I also noticed that I mentioned the big bore K1 that my brother bought after the trip and I got running again, then it sat and then I got it running again, then he sold it to me then I got it going again and then I traded it to him for a chevy V8 engine and now I'm struggling to get it going again.

[andy750]

Looking back thats where we met BobbyR for the first time...we saw him again a year later...great guy and very much missed. It was such a great time for riding 

[scottly]

I remember Bobby getting caught in the rain, and the cheap yellow rain gear they bought didn't fare well. Something about the "yellow pants brigade" comes to mind.

[RAFster122s]

Everyone who was able to go to Dolores CO for the get together had a great time and enjoyed themselves. A few stories of adventures and great rides getting there. The number of cabins available for camping just goes up every year, with the price too. I cannot afford one on my own anymore. There are great places to see. It would be great if we could have a couple or have one E of Mississippi to draw folk in Eastern parts of the US and another in the West the next year. It seems a lot of people do not drive or ride far from home or travel distances for trips. They might fly but don't drive long distances.
I don't feel 50-60 miles is much but others feel more than 30 minutes in the car is a lot. I guess I became accustomed to 400-600 mile one way trips visiting family in TZn a few times a year. Now gas prices make travel more expensive.

Would we be able to create another get together and get a dozen or more interested,?

[andy750]

I remember Bobby getting caught in the rain, and the cheap yellow rain gear they bought didn't fare well. Something about the "yellow pants brigade" comes to mind.

Haha thats right I forgot about that 

I re-read our New Engand Ride section (thanks Stev-o for the link) and it amazes me what we accomplished 

[Don R]

 There were many members that went above and beyond to reach the hand-off and then get to next group of riders. You know who you are, we're all proud of you and what we accomplished.
  To think we did that just among our little group is really amazing, it took every link in the chain to get through that many miles.
  It was a missed opportunity that Honda didn't celebrate our accomplishment. A Honda dealer North of Warsaw Missouri (side trip) was surprised that we had already gone so far and gave me a good discount on a Joe Rocket rain suit. He also showed me their first cb750 that was a sandcast displayed in the showroom that belonged to his dad. 

[bender01]

I was just thinking about this the other day. We rode it half way through SC. My Father got on in NH to Maine I think it was. Im still friends with the guys I met but most live 5 hours away,

[Duanob]

OMFG that brings back memories!

ZillaGod in Seattle.
Picking a fight with the wrong Labrador
Taking over Seattle
Kicking back with a beer after all the mayhem.

[bluezboy]

This post brings back a sweet memory for me. I rode Pandora from Atlanta to Hickory, NC to pick up the Z from another rider, sorry I can't remember his name though.
I rode the Blue Ridge Parkway from Cherokee to Asheville and finished the ride on the slab to Hickory on the slab.
      I spent the night there and left the next morning home which unfortunately was the same time Hurricane Sandy was hitting the East coast and it began to show itself with freezing rain when I was back on the Parkway, yikes! I had to leave the parkway eventually because of the cold  and no visibility and hack my way back to Atlanta. I swear there were angels who guarded me all the way that day! Zilla hung out with me for a few weeks, I even took him to see his favorite movie before I delivered him to the next rider. I miss the little guy!

[Bankerdanny]

Saturday, May 14 I rode my '77 550K, which had been sitting for over 20 years when I bought it 2 months earlier, out from Evanston, IL to St. Charles to meet up with Don and his brother and a few other guys at the Portillo's and we headed towards 3 Floyds Brewing in Indiana. My bike started out running great, but as we left St. Charles it got progressively worse. Then it started to rain, hard. Don was having issues with his bike too, his clutch was slipping badly.

We limped across I-80 in the pouring rain at about 45 MPH, the best Don and I could do. We made it to the brewery, with me using an entire tank of fuel for the 30 mile ride. After a beer and meal I managed to make it to my sister's, about 10 miles away. The next weekend, after several hours of trouble shooting and banging my head against the garage wall, I discovered that the power wire to the 1-4 points had vibrated loose and was making an intermittent connection. It took hours to track down and 15 seconds to fix.

Here is my bike freshly washed the weekend I bought in in March 2011 and part of the group at 3 Floyds from the 2011 Relay Rally thread. Clockwise from front left: SconnieBoy (Anders), me, Don, Don's brother Bud, and Blue72Beetle (Andy). Andy rode in the rain to come get Godzilla and then rode all the way back to Indy by himself. He was one of the many heros who kept the rally going. Picture 3 is a wet GZ on the front of my bike at 3 Floyds

[Jerry Rxman Griffin aka MuthaF'er]

Ahhhh, nostalgia. Makes me want to break out the banner and it's supplement. GZ v1.0 is looking down and smiling at his adventures and all the great riders he made friends with. I think the little bastard is an alcoholic haha. 

[Bankerdanny]

A bit over 2 months later on 7/27 I got a second bite at the apple and headed up to Kalamazoo (near where we now have a house) to meet up with a whole slew of members: Sean Barney, MJ Stone, Ekpent (Eric), Dave the Welder, OldSchoolisCool (Bruce), and a couple more whose names I don't recall. The trip was amazing and Sean, MJ, and I ended up doing the entire Lake Michigan Circle together.

Eric put me up at his place and on Friday 7/28 we headed out northwest to Cyclemore in Interlochen, MI, where we camped on night one. The next day we met up with RatRacer (I don't recall his real name) and Fuzzball (Paul) proceeded north up the lake shore through the tunnel of trees (M119) to Mackinaw City. The Tunnel of Trees was a bit dangerous as Ratracer had a nasty wipe out due to gravel on the road and MJ had to cut a corner short and ended up about 50 feet off the road. But we made it to Mackinaw City and got a great group picture on the south end of the Mackinac Bridge then crossed into the UP and headed to spend the night at Fuzzball's (Paul) place in the UP then the next day rode to RatRacer's in Marquette Mi in the UP (he was a student at Northern Michigan). On day 5, Sean, MJ, and I started south to Wisconsin met up with Old Scrambler (Dennis) near the WI/Michigan border and rode down to his place near Sheboygan. The next day we rode back to Chicago with Sean's bike acting a lot like mine did in May. At my place in Evanston around 10pm we swapped my points plate out and Sean and MJ rode another 3 hours to get back to Kalamazoo. It was an epic ride with amazing scenery. Most of my photos are on my personal computer at our place in Michigan, but I did track down a couple on my phone.

Picture 1 is my bike on the way up to Kalamazoo 7/27/11. I may have overpacked a bit. Picture 2 is (L to R) Sean, me, MJ outside Dennis's garage. Dennis's owned from new K2 (I think) is next to Sean, whose bike is just visible behind him. MJ's bike is a fully dressed CB500 that he literally rode year round, sun, rain, and snow.

[Johnie]

I found pics of the WI GZ ride 13 years ago. In the group pic I see Dennis (old scrambler), Johnie, Trevor (hoodliehoo), ?, Sean, Nick (Tews19). Help me out guys. It was a great day! Dennis showed us some great country, ice cream and his shop. Good company!

[seanbarney41]

I found pics of the WI GZ ride 13 years ago. In the group pic I see Dennis (old scrambler), Johnie, Trevor (hoodliehoo), ?, Sean, ?. Help me out guys. It was a great day! Dennis showed us some great country, ice cream and his shop. Good company!

Yeah, Johnny thats me second from the end.  The guy last from the end is Nick/ Tews13?  can't quite remember his handle

[scottly]

These pics were taken Easter Sunday in Lordsburg, NM, where Shawn, David, and I met Justin, who rode a LOT of miles from Texas to meet us.

[Johnie]

I found pics of the WI GZ ride 13 years ago. In the group pic I see Dennis (old scrambler), Johnie, Trevor (hoodliehoo), ?, Sean, ?. Help me out guys. It was a great day! Dennis showed us some great country, ice cream and his shop. Good company!

Yeah, Johnny thats me second from the end.  The guy last from the end is Nick/ Tews13?  can't quite remember his handle

Your right Sean...Tews19 not been on here since September 2023. Hope he's okay...

[Don R]

 Wow, I was just telling a friend about the night at 3 Floyds not a half hour ago. I could have chosen a better route from Dixon to Portillos but we made it although pretty late, to 3 Floyds but the guys waited with us in line outside in the rain to get back in.

[bluezboy]

I found this photo from 2019 at the Barber Festival where I got to meet a few of our members and reunite with Zilla. Feel free to identify yourselves because my old ass has forgotten names in this, sorry!

[seanbarney41]

Thats Dennis/OldScrambler on your right, seanbarney41 on your left and Jerry Rxmam Griffin far left

[MauiK3]

Fun stuff

[bluezboy]

Thats Dennis/OldScrambler on your right, seanbarney41 on your left and Jerry Rxmam Griffin far left

Thank you man!

[RAFster122s]

It was something we all recall fondly and several friendships via that little act of dragging Godzilla, Lefty and Pimpzilla around the country led to friendships and relationships we still have with some. It is strange what sharing a meal and beverage and good conversation with others of similar interest can provide. It can enrich our lives with relationships that would never have happened otherwise. Life is brief and what matters is others in your life, the little green guy gave us a gift, may we raise a toast to Godzilla and his brothers and the brothers and sisters from another mother we met and maybe got to know a bit...
David

[70CB750]

I found this photo from 2019 at the Barber Festival where I got to meet a few of our members and reunite with Zilla. Feel free to identify yourselves because my old ass has forgotten names in this, sorry!

I have to dig out the picture from 2014 Barber. 

[Johnie]

It was something we all recall fondly and several friendships via that little act of dragging Godzilla, Lefty and Pimpzilla around the country led to friendships and relationships we still have with some. It is strange what sharing a meal and beverage and good conversation with others of similar interest can provide. It can enrich our lives with relationships that would never have happened otherwise. Life is brief and what matters is others in your life, the little green guy gave us a gift, may we raise a toast to Godzilla and his brothers and the brothers and sisters from another mother we met and maybe got to know a bit...
David

Amen David!!! Well said brother...