New England FJ goes to Florida

[jamesearthdrum]

Hello folks,
         Thought I would post about my recent excursion to Florida. I work for an event company that sends shows all over the country. Most of the time it is a fly in - set up - take down - fly home, kind of deal with zero time off. This one was not like that. I had a day and a half off, and room on the truck for the FJ. I ride most often, when not commuting, with a coworker of mine who is a cruiser guy, but a decent guy all the same. It was very amusing to see the look on the hotel workers faces as we off loaded the bikes and road them down the service hall to get them out of the building. It was great to actually have transportation when on this job as we were on Disney property and you can't get a decent meal after 10 PM, when we finish for the day, anywhere on property. The first night we rode off to an Irish Pub called Crickerters and Arms. The temps were in the 60's and I was really excited to be riding in Feb.
         On our day off we rode down to a local techs house (Dale) just outside of Orlando, and then headed off to Daytona Beach via Coco beach. After the first hour or so we stopped to gas up and I asked if there were going to be any bends in the road soon and got a resounding "NO". Okay I thought, hey it's February and I'm ridin' the motorcycle. At least most of the roads had speed limits above 55 so we could cover a lot of miles quickly. I did find myself backing off the guys a bit to get some distance when I could see the infrequent bend coming up so I didn't have to slow down halfway through. Once in Daytona we parked on what is the main strip during "Bike WeeK" and went into the famous "Boothill Saloon". It was exactly what you would expect. Lots of stereotypical biker decor, tattooed female bartenders, and live country rock music. We headed out once we realized that the Daytona 500 qualifier had just ended and the track was just up the road.
       After an excellent meal of smoked pork, beans and garlic bread at Dale's we rode over to a blues bar called the Alley. It was amusing to look back at the FJ parked in between a Harley and a custom chopper along the curb. The music that night was excellent as they kept rotating players in and out leading to a wide range of styles.
      The next morning I didn't need to be at work until 3PM so I decided to take a ride. Seeing that the speed limit was 70 on the interstate, I decided to take a short highspeed ride out of Orlando. It was great to get out and open it up, always watchful for the FHP, but it was very cool to know I was cruising at 80 - 85 and could roll on the throttle and drive away from just about anything.
      This may not seem like a very exciting ride to most, but it was sure nice to break up the "no motorcycle riding for 3 months" I experience here in the land of ice and snow. Best part is, the show went so well that they want it back in Florida 2 more times and then in Dallas!!

[Yamifj1200]

Hello folks,
         Thought I would post about my recent excursion to Florida. I work for an event company that sends shows all over the country. Most of the time it is a fly in - set up - take down - fly home, kind of deal with zero time off. This one was not like that. I had a day and a half off, and room on the truck for the FJ. I ride most often, when not commuting, with a coworker of mine who is a cruiser guy, but a decent guy all the same. It was very amusing to see the look on the hotel workers faces as we off loaded the bikes and road them down the service hall to get them out of the building. It was great to actually have transportation when on this job as we were on Disney property and you can't get a decent meal after 10 PM, when we finish for the day, anywhere on property. The first night we rode off to an Irish Pub called Crickerters and Arms. The temps were in the 60's and I was really excited to be riding in Feb.
         On our day off we rode down to a local techs house (Dale) just outside of Orlando, and then headed off to Daytona Beach via Coco beach. After the first hour or so we stopped to gas up and I asked if there were going to be any bends in the road soon and got a resounding "NO". Okay I thought, hey it's February and I'm ridin' the motorcycle. At least most of the roads had speed limits above 55 so we could cover a lot of miles quickly. I did find myself backing off the guys a bit to get some distance when I could see the infrequent bend coming up so I didn't have to slow down halfway through. Once in Daytona we parked on what is the main strip during "Bike WeeK" and went into the famous "Boothill Saloon". It was exactly what you would expect. Lots of stereotypical biker decor, tattooed female bartenders, and live country rock music. We headed out once we realized that the Daytona 500 qualifier had just ended and the track was just up the road.
       After an excellent meal of smoked pork, beans and garlic bread at Dale's we rode over to a blues bar called the Alley. It was amusing to look back at the FJ parked in between a Harley and a custom chopper along the curb. The music that night was excellent as they kept rotating players in and out leading to a wide range of styles.
      The next morning I didn't need to be at work until 3PM so I decided to take a ride. Seeing that the speed limit was 70 on the interstate, I decided to take a short highspeed ride out of Orlando. It was great to get out and open it up, always watchful for the FHP, but it was very cool to know I was cruising at 80 - 85 and could roll on the throttle and drive away from just about anything.
      This may not seem like a very exciting ride to most, but it was sure nice to break up the "no motorcycle riding for 3 months" I experience here in the land of ice and snow. Best part is, the show went so well that they want it back in Florida 2 more times and then in Dallas!!

James sounds like you had a great time. Straight roads are tons better than ice and snow covered roads not matter how you look at it. As far as Bike Week BTDT. We used to go down and ride to the races and all around just to get out and have some fun. Get thee back to one of the rally's lad, we have tons of wood fer fires and its itchen to be burnt up..

Eric M

[CodyNKR]

Hello folks,
         Thought I would post about my recent excursion to Florida. I work for an event company that sends shows all over the country. Most of the time it is a fly in - set up - take down - fly home, kind of deal with zero time off. This one was not like that. I had a day and a half off, and room on the truck for the FJ. I ride most often, when not commuting, with a coworker of mine who is a cruiser guy, but a decent guy all the same. It was very amusing to see the look on the hotel workers faces as we off loaded the bikes and road them down the service hall to get them out of the building. It was great to actually have transportation when on this job as we were on Disney property and you can't get a decent meal after 10 PM, when we finish for the day, anywhere on property. The first night we rode off to an Irish Pub called Crickerters and Arms. The temps were in the 60's and I was really excited to be riding in Feb.
         On our day off we rode down to a local techs house (Dale) just outside of Orlando, and then headed off to Daytona Beach via Coco beach. After the first hour or so we stopped to gas up and I asked if there were going to be any bends in the road soon and got a resounding "NO". Okay I thought, hey it's February and I'm ridin' the motorcycle. At least most of the roads had speed limits above 55 so we could cover a lot of miles quickly. I did find myself backing off the guys a bit to get some distance when I could see the infrequent bend coming up so I didn't have to slow down halfway through. Once in Daytona we parked on what is the main strip during "Bike WeeK" and went into the famous "Boothill Saloon". It was exactly what you would expect. Lots of stereotypical biker decor, tattooed female bartenders, and live country rock music. We headed out once we realized that the Daytona 500 qualifier had just ended and the track was just up the road.
       After an excellent meal of smoked pork, beans and garlic bread at Dale's we rode over to a blues bar called the Alley. It was amusing to look back at the FJ parked in between a Harley and a custom chopper along the curb. The music that night was excellent as they kept rotating players in and out leading to a wide range of styles.
      The next morning I didn't need to be at work until 3PM so I decided to take a ride. Seeing that the speed limit was 70 on the interstate, I decided to take a short highspeed ride out of Orlando. It was great to get out and open it up, always watchful for the FHP, but it was very cool to know I was cruising at 80 - 85 and could roll on the throttle and drive away from just about anything.
      This may not seem like a very exciting ride to most, but it was sure nice to break up the "no motorcycle riding for 3 months" I experience here in the land of ice and snow. Best part is, the show went so well that they want it back in Florida 2 more times and then in Dallas!!

You should have let me know when you are here! I can show you some roads out behind Disney that certainly are not straight!

The SO was over in Daytona and took a pic of an FJ in front of Boot Hill....wonder if that was yours. Yes our winter was nice for riding this year.

Next trip to FL, let me know and the SO and I will show you some of what FL has to offer.

NancyK