2018 Vintage Yamaha Rally

[aviationfred]

Did that tank bra not work out for you?
Andy

The tank bra works great and looks very good. I had planned to use it, but the Bagster tank bag that I have is too large and interferes with my handle bars. I decided to use my medium magnetic tank bag for the trip.


Fred

[aviationfred]

Photos of bikes that showed up to the Rally.


Fred

[aviationfred]

Saturday was a perfect day for riding. 3 FJ's an XS750 and a Harley Fatboy. We rode through Robbinsville to pick up Cherahola Skyway, We rode that to 360 and rode north, A nice road and a pleasant ride. We connected with US129 and rode it to Deals Gap. I had heard about avoiding The Tail of the Dragon on the weekends, but it was not really that congested. I did get a chuckle when I saw a Harley pulled over by a Tennessee Highway Patrol on the Dragon. My thoughts were..... No way did he get stopped for speeding.....   Once at Deals Gap, we took some more photos and rode Moonshiner 28 back to the Iron Horse. No performance awards handed out and all 5 bikes returned unscathed. The last photo is of myself and my friend Wally. We served together in the Marine Corps 1989-1991.


Fred

[aviationfred]

Photos while riding the Dragon


Frsd

[ZOA NOM]

Wow, FJ's, Secas and Porsches in one thread... I can't even!   

[Tuned forks]

Holy chit, there was a RD 400 Daytona Special?  That musta been a unique ride to the event.  As I was scrolling down the bike pics, I was wondering if any RD 350's or 400's might have  been there. 

Joe

[aviationfred]

Holy chit, there was a RD 400 Daytona Special?  That musta been a unique ride to the event.  As I was scrolling down the bike pics, I was wondering if any RD 350's or 400's might have  been there. 

Joe

I took a photo of the odometer on the Daytona Special.


Fred

[aviationfred]

There was a bike show that was put on by the VJMC (Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Club) during the rally. Congratulations to Chris (crism40) for winning the 900cc and over category with his near flawless 1986 FJ1200.



Fred

[aviationfred]

As always, the Rally has to end. I left after breakfast, Sunday morning to head back to Wichita. No plans for another Iron Butt Ride. A more leisurely 2 day trip was planned. I retraced my path riding through the mountains to Cleveland, TN. What I didn't see on my way in because of the fog was that a river/creek ran along the route almost the entire way. Once back on the interstate, I rode until lunch time and decided to stop at a place that we don't have in Wichita. The always dependable Waffle House.

[aviationfred]

I called it a day at a bit over 500 miles and about 90 miles east of Little Rock Arkansas. Headed out the next morning for the final leg of the trip, a bout of heavy rain going through Little Rock slowed my time up a bit, but the rain gear kept me dry. As I was getting closer to the Arkansas/Oklahoma border, I decided to get an added bonus of some more twisty mountain roads. I exited the interstate in Ozark Arkansas on AR23 and headed north to Fayetteville. This stretch of 23 is known as The Pig Trail. Cap'n Ron, The General, Country Joe and myself were there back in June at the Central FJ Rally. Picked up US412 in Springdale and headed West towards Tulsa Oklahoma. Decided to stop at another restaurant that we don't have in Wichita. A fast food Chicken place called Zaxby's.
I made it back to Wichita shortly after dark for a total round trip of 2485 miles.

[aviationfred]

I rode the bike into work yesterday and on the way home noticed that the handling felt a bit off. Later in the afternoon I got on the bike to run an errand and noticed that it was not rolling well as I backed out of the driveway. This is what I found. Thankfully this happened after I got home from my trip



Fred

[FJmonkey]

Wow Fred, you really got screwed.

[chrism40]

It was a great time at the rally. I enjoyed meeting you and Mario and riding with two other FJs. Three FJs out and about is pretty rare in my part of the world. I spent the next weekend at the Barber Vintage Fest and I had the only FJs that I saw out in the wild. There was a very nice FJ1100 for sale in the swap meet area. I put the 86 in the VJMC show, but there were too many really nice Yamahas, so I didn't win anything.

[aviationfred]

Took me awhile to get the paperwork sent off. My official certs arrived today. A good showing for the Speed Hut GPS Speedometer. My mileage showed 1044 miles and the IBA certified the ride at 1046.

The Mile Eater Club is a classification within the IBA for multiple certified Iron Butt rides.

Fred

[Tuned forks]

How many hours did you actually ride Fred? 

Joe