Gathering of the Clans Rally - June 15-17

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

Airheads Beemer Club event.  Ferguson, NC  June 15-17, the weekend after the RA rally.

High Country Motorcycle Camp is the location.  Just a few miles from The Blueridge Parkway.

This link is kind of weird.  But it has a good map of the area.  I say the link is weird because whenever you try to back up, it takes you to the source page where you got the link...weird.

Bottom line, this is a celebration of Type 247 engines and earlier.

I have my vacation time set.  

[SCJJR65]

That's a great area near Boone to ride, Rob!  I attended the "Gathering" back in June of '97 when I had "Bruno", my '81 R65.  Had a big time, even though I came down with an ear ache over the weekend that made it difficult to wear my helmet.  I didn't do much riding, but had a good time at the tech sessions and just hanging out with the other Airheads.  
Maybe I might try to make it up there this month for the rally!  Hell, it has been ten years!    

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

That would be great, John.  And you have made some sizeable investments in Britta lately, have you not?  

You need to recoup some!

[NC Steve]

Rob, you still coming down for this? John, what about you?
The weather's been a lot cooler this week, which is great, but we've also had some heavy late afternoon/early evening thunderstorms too, so be careful.
Forecast is Friday, 71 w/40% chance of thunderstorms, but Sat. and Sun look great: 83 & 91, respectively, lows mid-60s, partly cloudy both days: ridin' weather!

I'm kinda Father's Day'd up Sunday, but would love to ride over Saturday and meet you guys. Holler if you're heading to the neighborhood!

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

I'm eating right now... yes...   more in a few...

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

Okay!  I feel better!  

I am mostly all packed and ready to leave at around 8ish tomorrow morning.  I am at work right now.  My schedule says I work until 0030.  I can leave earlier if the work goes fast (there are different # of accounts processed on different nights).  But it doesn't look like I will get out early, tonight.

But (according to Google Maps), it is only 9hrs, 10 min from my front door to Ferguson, NC; so I think I will get there with a little light left to set up my tent.

I am leaving Indy, heading east to Dayton, then SE on US 35 down to Charleston, WV.  Then back on the interstate hwy (I77), to US421 east of Winston-Salem.  Then I am only about 40 minutes to the backroads turnoff to this place.


I am excited!  I have a few caches plugged in, but I doubt I will have time for any serious hunting.
I know a couple of people from Boxerworks will probably be there, possibly even Nathan and/or Matt!


On Sunday, I will be in no real hurry to leave.  I only have about 2 hours to travel, over to Johnson City, TN; to hang out with my college friend, Byrd.
I will return home on Monday, possibly through the Cumberland Gap again.  Someone said there is a P-38 in a museum there, somewhere?

Anyway, hope to have fun.

Look for my tent.  It is a green timberline!


Oh yeah, I even was organized enough for this one, to make up some R65.org business cards to leave on my bike and to leave on other R65s!  (card stock is EXPENSIVE!  )

[SCJJR65]

Well, I'm afraid I can't get up there this weekend.  My daughter and I haven't seen each other in over a month, and I'm feeling pretty guilty about it, so I am heading down to Columbia Saturday to see her and then go out to lunch Sunday with her and my son for Father's Day.  Yeah, a Kodak moment....  

Hope you have a blast, Rob!  Take mass quantities of photos for the rest of us poor slobs!  

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

Yeah!  I'll have to make sure I call my daughter from her 'Uncle Byrd's'  

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

Well, I didn't make it.  Here is my story:

Once upon a time there was a guy that rode off on his motorcycle knowing it would not make the trip. Ah well. The replacement parts arrived 1.5 hours after departure...

After working until 2 AM the night before, I departed at 10:30 on Friday morning. For a 9.5 hour trip that didn't seem unreasonable.

Then the plastic ring that had been giving me trouble in my left carb came loose after 300 miles, just before my 2nd gas stop. So I stopped an fueled up, then pulled the bike over and put the ring back in place.

It didn't even last 20 miles. It was 5:30 PM, and I was getting hot and a little tired. I was just north of Charlotte, WV. I still had a long way to go, and I had lost the confidence that I could 'fix' it every 100 miles or so, at least until I got to my destination.

So I got a motel room in a town that had a walmart, and I ended up with some denatured alcohol (thank you, Jean), some nitrile gloves, and some kind of clay adhesive stuff that your knead and activate, and use like JB Weld, kind of.

I decided not to push my luck and go any further away from home, and headed west toward Lexington the next noon (I'm a night owl). I thought it was going to be a nightmare of vibration for sure, what with the two slides so incredibly out of balance, but I guess that is what CV carbs are all about.

The bike ran strong all the way home. I saw 80 a couple of times on the Interstate on the way home Saturday.

I got tired of the interstate about an hour out of Lexington, and turned north. I told the GPS to point me toward home, and I just followed these not quite two-lane roads for quite a while, keeping the arrow pointing toward the NW somewhere.

It was a good day.

Here are the pictures from the carb fix: http://www.pbase.com/tomfarr/attemped_fix

[Ed Miller]

I'm glad your fixes got you home, but it's always a bummer when you have your heart set on a destination and then have to prudently decide to head back.  Next year?

Good luck,

[nhmaf]

So sorry to hear about the thwarted trip, Rob - those darn rings !!!
Well, at least you managed to get back home with great inventiveness
and now that you have replacement parts, maybe we 'll see you at the
BMWMOA rally ?

 

[thrang]

Unlucky Rob, but at least you were able to bodge your way home under your own steam rather than suffering the indignaty of the AA truck.

[Melena]

So sorry, Rob.  But at least you did get a bit of riding out of it at the end.  I sure wouldn't want to be out there trying to ride all day and having to stop every 100 miles to fix something.  Glad you were able to get home okay.

[SCJJR65]

Yeah, Rob, sorry the "clans" didn't get a chance to get together with you!  I admire how you managed to keep your cool and get your bike all the way back home.  If it had been me, I'd have probably ended up having the bike towed to the nearest BMW dealer for repairs!  

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

No, no MOA rally for me.  It is time for Rob to look for a place to call home, so funds are being diverted to a first-months rent and depost fund...