04/02/2005
This page marks the exploits of the HondaShadow.net
Texas/Oklahoma run that was the brain child of
Mike (MSkinny) and mapped and lead by Gonzo (myself). We were graced by
the attendance of
Glen (Hawaii 600) during his exploits to explore the many faces of
HondaShadow.net, and Rendell
(sounds like Kendal) known as Dream Foreclosure on our forum came in from
Arkansas and stayed
with MSkinny in Rowlett TX.
Friday night Glen rolled into Plano Tx. and shacked up at a
Best Western. I swung by to offer up a
handshake and some thin mint cookies for him to snack on! Told Glen that Mike
(from this point
referred to as MSkinny), Rendell, Mike (ditto as Ruhk from Coppell), and I were
meeting up with him
to go play some pool, grab a bit and visit for the evening. So we met up at the
Best Western at 8 (I was a
few moments late but caught them going the other direction) and we trained to
the Fox and Hound. There
we got to know each other better and found out that Rendell is really the post
whore of the forum as the
pool cues (posts) always seemed to find their way up his pant leg behind him as
we would take our shots!
L-R - Gonzo, Rendell, MSkinny, and Glen
I have to thank my wife Erin for taking most of the pictures
throughout this page!
Then Ruhk showed up with his wife Sherry (sp) and the girls chatted up as well
as the guys
and we shot pool 2 at a time. We won't be winning any tournaments for sure.
L-R - MSkinny, Gonz, Ruhk, Rendell, and Glen
What a blast we were having. Losts of laughs! Some kick'n
wings and nachos we splayed out for all to enjoy
including our new Harley buddies! Ruhk and I kept running tabs!!
Others posted
earlier that Glen has lots of stories ...and he does. He is collecting more
as he goes... here a couple of Harley blokes
chat it up about Glens
exploits around the states and later they get the grand tour of his cruiser!
Tony shows up later to say hi! Tony is know as ARShadowRider.
Me on left with Mike (Ruhk)
Finally it is bike day!! Here is the group just after we
arrive about 9:15a.m. at the Kohls in Frisco.
The orange Ninja belongs to a friend of mine and she is pretty new to cycles.
Newer than I thought.
Of course we had to get a group shot to start! I will attempt
to list the names and send me an
email or PM on the forum if I get it wrong....
Back L-R - Angela, Ruhk, Dave (my brother), Tony (ARShadowRider)
and his son, MSkinny,
Gonzo, Rich (MSkinny's work bud) on his Wing, and Chance (LastChance) on his
Sabre
Front L-R Dave (TXSpirit?), Jamie from the VTXOA forum, Glen
(Hawaii 600),
and Rendell (Dream Foreclosure)
Tony and his son came out to meet and greet but couldn't swing the trip this weekend.
Before we can leave, Rendell fixes Glen up with his first Ride Bell!!
Time to get on the road. We head out at 10:05 by my watch,
just 5 minutes behind schedule.
No problem. We are meeting up with Slim_Okla and some of his compadres up near
the
Oklahoma border.
We head out going north on 289 with 11 bikes and branch off to
hit some windy roads on FM455. Second set of turns
Angela dumps her Ninja in some weeds. She is not hurt but her bike has some new
cracks in the fairing
and scratches. Hunter her fiancé had just finished painting and restoring this
bike in her favorite color. She got
right back on and got it started after some flooding issues and a little shaken
but good to go. As it turns out
she really hadn't built up any experience on turning roads like this....and that
is mostly what I had mapped out.
We were making slow progress and about 30 minutes behind schedule by the time we
hit FM902. We had gone
through many twisting roads and up into farm country and the old forgotten town
of Farmington. I had to tell
Angela that we really needed to pick up the pace and the worst roads were yet to
come. We both agreed
that she needed to turn at this intersection and catch the highway back home. We
were only about a mile
from Hwy75 and from there is was a straight shot back. She knew where she was.
We look forward to
Angela joining us for more scenic runs in the near future that won't be so
challenging. Now we have 10.
So we kick it into high gear and cruise about 65-70 around
long sweeping curves with nice views
over rolling hills. We go west and north and get up near the border when we stop
at the Fina station
to meet up with Slim and fill our tanks. We are now only 20 minutes behind
schedule. It has only been
about 93 miles at this point.
After filling up, Rendell finds his starter switch is stuck in
the in position and not cranking the bike.
Ruhk breaks it open for him and looks for any signs of smoked wires. At a glance
it looks good.
Time to pull out the switch and look at the contacts. Turns out the switch looks
worn and the plastic
is damaged causing the switch to stick and the contacts weren't touching
the pads.
Slim and his buddy Joe from Ardmore.
After some trimming and bending we have the switch working
though it is still sticking. We
call the Honda shop in Ardmore and cannot get an answer. We decide to head up
there and see if
they have one.
I HAD to get a shot of a Slim and Skinny together as Glen had mentioned it earlier!! LOL
Slim has three bikes in his group which brings us to 12 bikes.
WKenneth from OKC is in with us now,
and Slims friends from Ardmore Joe and his wife Billie on their 97 Virago.
We head across the bridge just down the next
hill with 13 bikes, to cross Lake Texoma and into Oklahoma territory. As traditional, I blare
out my rendition of Rogers and
Hammerstein's Oklahoma! There are 77 counties in Oklahoma and I can recite them
for you in alphabetical order
thanks to Mrs. Warren's 9th grade class! Yeah, schools were tough there! LOL
Erin and I are on the Valkyrie this weekend as my Shadow is
still in pieces I I work through my Indian
fender modifications. She gets to take some action shots as we go! I think Slims
wife got some as well!
Here we turn off of 377 onto 32. Kind of creepy that there is
a white Hearse following us!! I didn't
realize this until I looked at the pictures! Sheesh! Rich was bringing up the
rear on his Ruby Red
Goldwing Interstate, wonder what he was thinking about that Hearse! LOL!!
Time for a page break for all you dial ups!
Gonzo
02' Shadow Spirit "Vicious Cycle"