Well I am on the road with my son and granddaughter. We came down through West Virginia zig zagging the Monongahela National Forest then onto the Blue Ridge Parkway.

My bike just stalled out. I am riding the ex cop 75 that I picked up a few years back (finally had time to give it a good going over and figure it was good for a long trip). So I pulled in one of the turn offs and started to check the fuel filter.

The reason for the post...

Along comes Bob asking if we need anything and wanting to make sure we are not “cast”. Bob is a member of the forum from New Zealand and said “I had to stop because it is so rare to see a k broke down”. 

So thank you Bob!

I can not write as well as TWB or some of the other guys but if any of you are interested I will try to write something up as the trip progresses.

Sure is a small world.
I would be very interested in reading about your trip. Many members here have done trips that I have enjoyed as I felt that I was riding with them.

I have been helped innumerous times over my forty seven of riding when in need with a stopped bike far from home. And have helped when I can. It's a great community.

A coupla three or four years back I got a call (or email, can't recall) from a regular forum member who was asking if I had a spare clutch cable as a fellow sometime forum member was travelling through and was stuck at the side of the road on his cafe racer K100 near where I was living at the time. I stopped what I was doing and got over there quick smart, as any of us would do, whacked the cable onto his bike, exchanged a few pleasantries, did the usual walkaround of his bike, got an unsolicited promise of a bottle of single malt in gracious thanks, and said our goodbyes. Satisfied to help a fellow member, or any fellow biker stuck at the roadside in need, no expectation. Then, crickets. No post. Nothing.

I have not forgotten that I owe a certain central NSW forum member a slab of beer when I'm home again. The headlight switch worked a charm.

It works thataway too at times, sadly, for those who do offer genuine assistance without expectation of reward. I do hope he got good use out of my last clutch cable. I will not stop stopping when someone needs a genuine hand.

Definitely interested in hearing of your travels Caveman (and especially so since you get international forum members dropping by to offer aid!).  Should be an interesting ride.

Well at some point I will have to learn how to put up pictures. It will not be tonight.

Back story, I was hoping to go to Australia a few months back, but ran into problems getting my passport. My son that had finished collage last year and moved to Boston had decided it was not what he expected and wanted to make a move. He asked if we could go on a long road trip together. I said sure make a list of ten places in the US you want to see. Then my granddaughter asked if she could go as well, and I said sure, make a list of ten places you would like to see. So this is how it all go started.

As I was getting the bikes ready I figured that with fresh tires going straight into the mid west flat lands the would square them up in a few days we may as well go down though the Appalachian mountains. This is were we ran into Bob.

Just south of Asheville Tennessee we cut off the Blue Ridge Parkway on 151 heading north. I must say that it is about a 6 or 7 mile run down of the parkway but this road is in my top ten pieces of asphalt I’ve ever ridden on. A few more miles up the road is a small country store that we gassed up at. It wasn’t long afterward that my bike started running bad. I was replacing the fuel filter when Bob stopped to check on us.

By the end of the day we made our way down to the famous tail of the dragon, route 129 on the Tennessee , North Carolina border. From there we would start heading west.

Not K bike, but best story.

An American rider with a dual purpose bike was stranded in the middle of nowhere in the north of Newfoundland (Canada). He was in need of a tube for the front wheel.
He posted on the avid rider forum to see if somebody was able to help him.
A Friend in Halifax saw the post and contacted a dealer 300km from where the biker was stranded. They had a spare tube in stock. Then, he contacted one of his friend having a helicopter to see if he was flying in the area the next day.
Long story short, the friend contacted the stranded biker and asked him to be ready to receive a tube at 10am the next day. He didn’t tell him how the parcel will arrive.
At 10am, a chopper landed, the pilot gave the biker the parcel and took off again. This was all free of charge.

Cool story CF.

Can put up a live picture but still haven’t figured out how to post one from my gallery.

How 'bout right side up!

So Caveman where in OZ is that picture taken?
Regards Martin.

Yep it's upside down. It has to be an Ozzy ride.

Yep I think I can see a gum tree behind the caravan.
Regards Martin.

caveman wrote:


How 'bout right side up!

 
2 out of 3 aint bad.

Any how we started west by way of northern Georgia to avoid Chattanooga TN. Slipped back in TN and came across on 64 and stopped at Big Hill Pond State Park. The high light of the day was at night. The kids like the camping thing and at so at some point in in the day I picked up a $1.98 pool float that was my air mattress. Best two bucks I spent so far!

On the next day we stopped in Memphis to visit aunt, sister, and daughter, Rosebud. She is going into her senior year at Memphis State U. Even though nobody has the Gulf Of Mexico on there “list” we decided to head that way. Basically 61 and 1 south through Mississippi planing to stop Great River Road SP but when we got there it had been damaged by flooding and was closed. So another 30 miles down the road to Greenville MS for a hotel for the night.

Well the kids have not figured out that a late start makes for a long hot day. They said I should wake them up but that is not my style (all my kids got an alarm clock when they started kindergarten, figuring they would be getting up the rest of there life so may as well get used to it) I figured they needed the sleep. So when the kickstands did finally come up at 10:45AM we headed for the slab to make up some time.

So the slab it was at least to get below New Orleans. I55 south to I10 east to I330 south to 90 to 1 them the slow ride down the canal to make our way to Grand Isle State Park LA.

Dam I tryed to put in a photo and keep writing a report but I am to dumb to do it!

Now I got two of the same and they are right side up! Getting closer.
As I was saying the Gulf was not on any of their list but here we are.
And here is camp.[url=https://servimg.com/view/19956959/13][url=https://servimg.com/view/19956959/13][/url][/url]
Now how do I just put in one picture instead of “insert all” and make them small enough to not make it a pain in the but to wait for it to up load.

Nah nah nah you're not dumb, I think we're probably in the same boat. Sometimes I tell myself I'm dumb when I struggle through some task with the net, then my son will help me through it in a matter of seconds. It's not so much dumb as I'm just not very experienced with computers. I could make an effort to improve but half the time I couldn't give a rat's arse and just keep rolling along in rooky mode. Please keep up the updates and taking photos, it's a very interesting part of America you're traveling through, especially for someone who's never been there.

Thanks for the reports caveman! I hate technology most of the time. Every time I add a pic in here I have to go back and read the instructions again. It's not that we are dumb we just weren't brought up with it like the kids were. I agree with Daveyson I could care less about the stuff most of the time. The Louisiana coast is a very interesting area. I was stationed in Shreveport La for 3years and did a lot of riding in that state. Is a nice place with some very nice people. It is really cool that  your family wanted to do  the ride! 

Enjoy and be safe! Keep the reports coming.

Bill

We went back out route 1 to 24, 311, 90, 14, then 330. This is were we took our first ferry ride.


(I may have figured out the picture thing)
We then road 82, a wonderful view of the seemingly endless marsh. Another ferry and onto Port Arthur TX. were we got a room for the night due to threatening weather.

Thanks for the update and photo, caveman! You're definitely challenging yamaguzzi in the load-bearing category.

As I look at my notes I’m over a week behind.
Dixie (my granddaughter) and Forest (my son) want to spend another day on the Gulf coast so south we head on 124. We stopped at a camping supply store and I upgraded my kit, a new tent that I fit in and a fancy air mattress. Then the free ferry trip.

And then down to Galveston Island State Park.


Still not got the picture thing!
Anyway I’m trying to teach my son to be older but Dixie is trying to teach me to be younger. She grabbed a pair of swimming shorts for me so I could swim with her. My legs have not bin seen in public since 1983. She had me in the water for hours.

I'm enjoying your trip. That must be an Australian Beach, careful she don't fall off

Rick,
Are you sure you just have a laugh as I struggle to post a proper picture? BTW I love your signature line.

As we leave the Gulf coast and head into the central Texas heat I have been talking with a truck driver friend of mine that has a delivery of 100 to 150 year old olive trees in Austin TX today. Since the Hill Country of TX is our next destination and at day 12 of our trip the first place that is on the “list”. But first I want to meet up with my buddy. 

I met Dan when I went to Ohio on a Friday to meet up with the people’s convoy to spend a long weekend with them to see what it was all about. The trucker group had started in California and were heading to DC to protest some of the COVID mandates. I was amazed by the number of people that lined the highway and overpasses in support of the group.

Eventually we got to Hagerstown MD were the group was going to stay for a bit. That long weekend turned into over a month for me. One of the most moving thing was taking a flag that a ww2 vet widow had gave them in OKLAHOMA and asked if they would take it down Pennsylvania Av. It had been in a drawer for over 60 years!

Any how Dan and I came close so we got the chance to meet up at McKinney Falls State park TX.
The park rangers let him bring the truck into the park after I told them he led convoys in Iraq for six years and is also a former Mayor of Elk City OK.

Before we started I pulled the transmission on both bikes to check the clutch and lube input splines as well as drive splines, swing arm bearings, all fluids, and of course check and lube all cables. This is not what they looked like when we left.
Their was no sign of frayed or damaged ends but the one on Forest bike snapped. Thankfully there was a hardwear close by that had 1/16” cable but no ends. A couple of granny knots and a clamp got us back on the road. By the end of the day we were camping in the TX Hills Country.