Sometimes the best laid plans ...

The concept of taking a journey on one of the old bikes this July seems to be fading away even though I know I will regret letting work and the cares of the world eliminate the trip.  In 2012 I was 'rewarded' with increased responsibilities at work, starting right on July 1st, so I ditched the trip last year and only went on a short three day excursion to Vintage Motorcycle Days (VMD), riding the none-too-healthy R60/2.  It was a mixed blessing. 

I stayed at the Malabar Farm Hostel in Lucas, Ohio as I had for the last few years and I was the only guest for the weekend.  They were installing new beds and I was the first to enjoy them, but it was weird that none of the usual suspects were there to talk to in the evenings and over breakfast.  There was a new 'Innkeeper,' Mark Jordan, who has a real life in theater and was really interesting, and a couple, board members for the hostel, who also got to hear my ramblings.  I also got to observe a portion of the ghost tour, sitting around the campfire outside the house, hearing the stories of local ghostly deeds, described here by another blogger.

This years ride was to include New England: camping on Hero Island in Lake Champlain, near the Canadian border, a day or two in Montreal, then along the lake to Niagara Falls and on to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Track for Vintage Motorcycle Days.  I had arranged to stop and see some friends along the way, and I will try and make that happen in some other way if at all possible.  Anyway, only the VMD part of the trip is still planned. 

I suspect there will be some day trips squeezed in on the spur of the moment.There are so many great roads in this part of the country that I have never explored.

1980 R65 like mine

One of the things I will do is find new homes for a lot of motorcycle parts for bikes I no longer own, get rid of all the Honda bikes and parts and start restoring a 1980 R65 bike that was my first modern BMW (meaning it has electric start).  Another task will be installing an exhaust system and many other little things on my old BMW car.  That will allow me to re-arrange the garage to be a better workspace and place to park our cars and bikes. And pass inspection!

Globe GS-200 wit BMW R60/2

 I may even hang my little Globe GS-200 sidecar from the ceiling while waiting for the grandkids to be big enough to go for a ride in it. This sidecar was made in India, a copy of the Steib LS-200, and came with the old R60/2 when I bought it years ago.  The R60 really doesn't have the power and brakes to use it everyday in traffic, but is really fun on the back roads of the area.  This picture is NOT of my rig, but that of a friend in Kentucky that was easy for me to snatch off the internet as I could not find any photos of mine on the computer. But it looks the same, only nicer!

At the end of the month a special treat will be seeing a friend that worked with us in Haiti in the mid-1980s who subsequently moved to New Zealand.  She will be visiting home, which is Atlanta, so we will take a few days to get reacquainted with her and one of her daughters.

So I will be home most of July - come and visit us!