My pics:

Jessie pics:

Steve pics:

The day started out with Brain, Will, Dana, Steve, and I meeting at the world’s worst Wawa. Yup, the Aramingo Wawa. For some reason, the store looked like it was looted but then again, it’s just the status quo for that location. Steve was the only one in this group not riding so he led us in his car to Mike’s cabin in the Pines. Soon Mike & Tom came rolling in. 

The last time this ride happened the camp spot was on LBI but the major complaint was the bug situation. We decided to change up the plans and slab it back to Mikes’s after the beach. We got our camp set up, ourselves geared up, and Mike led us on our route. 

The bikes:
Brian – 2008 Husqvarna TE450
Dana – 2001 Kawasaki KLR250
Mike –  2006 Kawasaki KLX250S
Nate – 2014 Yamaha WR250R
Steve – 1980 Yamaha IT425
Tom – 1987 Honda XL600R
Will – 2017 Honda CRF250L Rally

I’m not going to go into too much detail but I will say this, the route had all you want from a Pines rip… fun two-track that was a little technical but has way too many whoops; wide-open fire roads that get the heart pumping when you hit some deep, loose sand; a blue hole to explore and play at; and many deep ass puddles. There was no one without wet feet this day and you know what? It was perfect. Tom had a bumpy start when his entire pack came loose and lodged itself between his rear wheel and swingarm. Gotta make sure everything is strapped well or those god damn whoops will get you. Will had the fortune of losing his Go-Pro & then finding it but then having the misfortune of losing it again. 

Hours later we came out of the woods and had lunch at Lucille’s Country Kitchen. They were just closing but were kind enough to let six soaked and muddy dirt bikers order some sandwiches and dry out a bit. After lunch, Brian headed back to Philly and the rest of us did one more stretch of off-road on a wide sandy access road before popping out in the most cookie-cutter suburban development. It was some Wrinkle In Time shit. I’m sure we were a sight to see to the families enjoying their nice quiet cul-de-sac life. Especially Steves IT and all of its glorious two-stroke noise and smoke. 

On to LBI! We posted up at a spot near a bar that Steve and Mike are familiar with then found a spot on the beach. When I say the water was perfect, I mean it. Surprisingly it was not cold at all, it was crystal clear, and had a great surf to play around in. Not bad for my last Jersey shore trip in who knows how long. Maybe forever? 

We had our fill of the water and dried off, sort of, for a few drinks at the bar called Hudson House. What a great dive bar. I’ve coined it “Perrys By The Sea” (if you know, you know). We had two rounds then geared back up and got Surf Tacos before riding into the sunset back to Mike’s cabin. Thankfully Steve had the foresight to get a case of Banquets on the way to the cabin so we all relaxed at camp and crushed the case until exhaustion picked us off one by one. 

The next morning, I had a wet helmet because I stupidly forgot to put my shit in my tent and a storm rolled through. Dana and I rolled back to Philly soon after waking. Will stayed back to find his Go-Pro and guess what? He and Steve managed to find it! That’s wild. 

I want to say this trip was bittersweet but it was not bitter in the least. This trip was as close to perfect as you can get and I couldn’t have asked for a better ride with a great group of guys. I look forward to doing rides up north with the squad as well as me riding back south for the bigger rides. The point I’m trying to make is, though you shitheads might not be seeing me every day, you’re still stuck with me for some time yet. 

Day 1 – Missoula to Sula mountain side

• leave Missoula and head south on highway
• camped on the side of a mountain next to a babbling brook
• Sick first day/night

Day 2 – Sula mountain to Ajax Lake

• wake up with light rain
• Coffee on babbling brook
• Pack up and head up the mountain 2-track
• As we continue climbing on dirt roads rain gets worse
• Turns to snow at 7-8k elevation
• Prob 2 hours of 2-track in rain/snow
• Eventually pop out on highway and have freezing 20 min ride into Wisdom MT
• Go to a restaurant and wait out freezing rain for 2 hours
• Drink 100 coffee
• Rain dies and head more off-road 2-track to Ajax Lake
• Ajax Lake sits up 8k elevation in middle of no where at top of a mountain in Big Hole Valley (BHV)
• Road towards top got gnarly
• Super rocky and steep
• XRs barely could make it up but did
• GS1200 was too heavy to make it
• Camped about 30 min hike from the lake
• Was raining almost all day into night
• Freezing at night – prob 34 degrees

Day 3 – Ajax Lake to west side of BHV

• wake up at Ajax Lake and it’s finally nice weather again
• Hike 30 mins up steep shit to the lake
• Coffee at the lake and hang
• Go back to camp and let shit dry in sun
• Pack up then head back into mountain 2-track
• Find a single track to take us up and around the mountain sides
• Colin said the single track was chill and he’d prob be able to do it no prob on the GS1200
• He was wrong. The single track was gnarly and intense. Pretty hard on the XR. Almost undoable on the GS
• Many spots help needed to spot each other
• I took a semi bad spill uphill on rocks, toppled over
• Finally got through it all sweating asses off
• Cool creek crossing at the end
• Adams boots got wet as shit bummer
• More 2-track until a sick camp spot on a bending creek – super sick creek spot

Day 4 – BHV to Centennial Valley

• great weather now compared to that second full day in rain
• My RSD jacket zipper took a shit
• We do more endless super fun 2-track for a couple hours and end up in Dillon MT
• I buy a Wrangler cowboy cut jean jacket and throw out my RSD jacket
• Tried to do 100mph on dirt road. Only hit 95
• Get more beer and get a solid burger
• Head out of town on more endless dirt fire roads for 50 miles into Centennial Valley.
• Camping in the open valley with nice mountain views
• We shoot the gun Colin bought in Dillon.
• Moon was real good

Day 5 – Centennial Valley to Ruby River Creek Griz country

• endless dirt roads
• I hate my tires. Garbage off road. TKC80 front is bullshit offroad. Pushes and slides too much.
• Legit in middle of Griz area now
• Meet cowboy Bill herding ton of cattle
• Hang for a while eat lunch but get eaten by flies instead
• More endless dirt roads – insane views can’t describe it
• Pretty technical riding 2-track
• Find insane camp site on Rosa Creek
• Legit swimming hole on creek
• Colin fishes
• Sleep in fear of Yogi

Day 6 – Ruby River Creek to Meadow Creek Lake

• leave Griz spot and head out
• Really technical but really fun 2-track with even more insane views than before
• Super warm during day. Sweating on the bike
• XR is a champ
• Head into Ennis MT and grab a late lunch and chill
• Head towards Meadow Creek Lake
• The lake is similar to Ajax Lake, as it sit at the very top of a mountain primitive road
• Colin is a nut. The road got insane rocky but he still tried it on the GS. Eventually accepted defeat the trail was insane too steep
• Headed back down and found a sunken valley style camp spot with a nice mountain look out view

Day 7 – Meadow Creek Lake to East Fork Reservoir south of Phillipsburg

• Head into Sherredon. Grab breakfast
• Then head back towards mountains for today’s off road route Colin put together
• Today was fun riding off road trails all through the valley. Felt like the desert
• Lots of miles today. Dusty

Day 8 – Head back to Missoula

• Really cold morning.
• Saw 2 female Moose. Saw a nice Waterfall.
• Ride some highway and get back to Missoula. Tired now.

Day 4 – Lovell, ME to Benton, NH

The sun rose and so did we. Dave had some coffee for us. What a guy! Going to Dave’s was the right move. It’s kinda wild that you can meet total strangers who will take you in and treat you as their own all due to the fact we both enjoy sitting on an engine with wheels and shredding through the woods. Dave gave us all the advice on what to do this morning. He pointed us to Gorham, New Hampshire. It had everything we needed. Food, gas, a powersports stop for Will to get a spare tube, and Walmart for us to stock up on some supplies. Gorham is where the climb for Mt Washington is located. We had intentions to climb it while planning this trip but decided to pass due to the time crunch. We took care of our errands and left Gorham, rounding Mt Washington to its northside via forest roads. This led us balls deep in the White Mountains. These mountains are the biggest mountains I’ve seen in the East. Just awe-inspiring to ride between them. We took a break by a creek to relax. Brian and Jake decided to get in for a dip. Jake got in some trunks while Brian decided to swim in all of his gear. We left the creek and headed deeper into the mountains. It was all dirt from here on out. We started to see amazing vistas and even more amazing homes. The latter would be a very big theme in both New Hampshire but even more so in Vermont. I was very impressed by the Sandwich Flats area. My only complaint was the dust. Being the guy in the back meant a lot of visibility issues but, whatever, I was still having a great time. We took a break at the most idyllic crossroads by a Quaker Meeting House. This spot really stuck with me. I felt like I was in a fairytale or a set from a movie. I could not believe such a perfectly peaceful, summertime spot existed. Leaving the crossroads we came upon the Durgin Covered Bridge. What is it about covered bridges that are so exciting to see and ride through? It must be that chance to experience a small bit of what was. A slice of old Americana.

Soon after this, we got onto Sandwich Notch Road. Holy hell what a ride! It’s not a typical road but a mountain pass that is only open in the summer season. I don’t know how or why but it was full of some great jumps. The whole road was stupid fun. The downhill portion was a little busy with large road repair trucks and other traffic. I would love to go back and do that one again. Technical but not so much that it was scary. Finally, we came out of the mountains and took a lunch break. The rest of the riding for the day was really good but was more road than track like we had earlier. We came upon a small closed ski mountain and had a bit of fun. As we neared the spot we had picked out to camp, the first of many rains began to fall. We got into our rain gear on the side of the road just in the knick of time. On the way to find a camp spot in the White Mountain National Forest, we saw the most high definition rainbow I have ever seen. It was so intense that it appeared tactile. Have you ever seen the end of a rainbow? Never have I until this day. It was wild and in that moment I wasn’t bothered by the rain. The closer we got to its end, the quicker it moved away. There would be no gold on this trip though. The rain stopped as we got onto the forest road that we intended to camp on. We found a large clearing near the road but big enough that we would be hidden from anyone driving up the road. No fire tonight so an early bedtime for all.

Day 5 – Benton, NH to Pittsfield, VT

Two more rainstorms moved in as we slept. It wasn’t raining when we packed but we did have to pack our gear away wet. No bueno. It was a chilly ride into Woodsville, NH. We posted up to get breakfast but realized we would be here for a little while. That 21” tube in Will’s rear decided to give. Pretty great it got us as far as it did and pretty great he got a spare tube in Gorham. Will took to swapping the tube while I laid my rainfly out to dry in the morning sun. I hate a wet tent. We all took the time to do some chain tightening and couldn’t believe how much stretch we were getting. With Will all patched up, we crossed the Connecticut River into Vermont. It was not long before we were on dirt roads. In fact, I’d say 90% of what we rode in Vermont was unpaved. We knew from BDR reports that Vermont was the most technical (rocks and mud) of all the states. It sure did not take us long to find out how true that was. Right off the bat, we hit some ATV trails. Fucking rutt, mud, and rock city. Everyone rode it at their own pace. I was the turtle of the group. I was determined to have a good time without injuring myself as I am quite prone to injury. Brian ended up looping his bike. He was 100% ok. He picked up his Husky and we ripped on. The scenery became rolling, green hills and farmland. After a small break in Corinth, we got back to the technical shit. Will ended up getting stuck in the mud on a long hill climb. It took some work to get him out. The trail became gravel and soon we were swimming on the stone. We probably were riding the dirt, gravel, and rocky roads a little too fast but fuck it. One thing I love about my WR is, while it is not a flashy bike, it always does what I ask of it without giving me any shit.

In the town of Chelsea, we got lunch and enjoyed it out in the middle of a small brook that runs through town. After some more backroads, we came to Vermont’s only floating bridge in Brookfield. It was here that I was inspired to find a swimming hole. A quick search on swimmingholes.org and a check of the map, put us right on track to check out Warren Falls. The rolling hills became the Green Mountains and we crossed a few ridges to get into Warren, another beautiful New England town. We got to the falls and were absolutely blown away at what we found. Crystal clear water, cascading falls, jump spots, natural water slides, etc. Basically a natural water park. We wasted no time jumping off the cliffs. The water was ice cold and beyond refreshing. This spot is easily on my top three swimming holes I’ve been too. Honestly, it might even be my number one. We could see dark clouds rolling in so we left Warren Falls and rode up and over the Lincoln Gap Road. As we came down from the mountain, the rain began to fall. We geared up and rode on, deeper into the Green Mountains. Somehow we managed to escape the storm and found sun in a different valley. With lighting speed, Will led us through forestry roads all the way to Hancock. We stopped to fuel up and eat at a great country store. It was for sale. Both Brian and I started turning the gears. Fuck the city life. Let’s buy this store and retire to the Green Mountains. Live that good life. Later in the trip, I checked the listing. The store was under contract. Bummer. I was able to find a campsite for us outside of Pittsfield. It was a good rip out to the site and what a good site it was. We took our time setting up but another thunderstorm moved in super fast. We all got into our tents just as the rain began to fall. When the storm had moved on, I joined Will by the fire while Jake and Brian had called it a day. Will and I burnt all the wood we had and soon crashed.

Day 6 – Pittsfield, VT to Stratton, VT

More rain came through as we slept. It was another chilly, wet morning. We packed up and rode into Pittsfield to warm up at the general store. I fucking love all the general stores in this area. They have a little bit of everything, and this one had the coffee and breakfast sandwiches we required. It was all pavement into Barnard. We gassed up at their general store. The sun was now in full effect and warming us quite nicely. As we left Barnard, it took no time to hit more of Vermont’s technical riding tracks. All the rocks! All the mud! And tons of fun. I even did my first true rock crawling. Just me and three other guys having a blast in the woods of Vermont. I was on cloud nine. The tracks would come out into what seemed like people’s yards but these are all legal roads. I was the guy who would not shut the fuck up in the Bluetooth about all the amazing houses. In my opinion, New England homes are the best homes. As with all of Vermont, these quaint roads led to technical trails again and again. I was far in the back from the crew but as I came down a very steep and loose rocked hill, I heard over the Bluetooth that Brian went down and went down hard. When we got to him he was on his back and holding his hip. I was terrified that he had broken it. Thankfully he had not but he could not stand nor walk. When he came down the hill he rode over a very large piece of bedrock that happened to be wet. That’s all it took to lose it. We stayed in this spot for some time to let him recuperate. Eventually, he was able to get up but needed support to walk and someone to help him swing his leg over the bike. While we were waiting, another storm came in. The rain fell harder just as we got him situated on his bike. Pretty quickly we were outta the woods and onto a main road. This led to the White Rock Recreation Area and back on dirt. By the time we got to Londonderry the rain had stopped and the sun was burning off all evidence of said rain.

We took a lunch break at a grocery store where Brian was able to use a shopping cart as a walker. Use the tools that you got, right? With full stomachs and full tanks, it was time to go. Outside of Londonderry, we had another wipeout. In the words of the great Alex Quinn, Jake ‘…got caught partying’. He decided to grip it and rip it on a dirt road but didn’t realize there was a hard right after a blind hill. He and his DRZ ended up 10 feet in a wooded embankment. Thankfully the only thing that was hurt was his luggage, though it was a struggle to get his bike out of the woods. He got his bike in order and we rode on and on. Mountains, woods, creeks, quaint towns, and villages. It just kept coming and coming. Vermont was my idea of Shangri La. I was in my element. It took us a little longer to get to a camp spot than I would have liked. Admittedly, I got a bit cranky. It was worth the wait and the sore ass. It was a great spot outside of Stratton in the Green Mountain National Forest. A large pad that should give us plenty of sun in the morning to dry off our tents. We set up camp, scavenged for wood, and had a fire. Brian was in good spirits and semi-mobile. The stars were on again tonight and it was just as good of a show as every night has been.

Part 1

Part 3

Part 1: Days 1 – 3

After hearing about Ed and Adam’s planned month in Montana, an extreme FOMO kicked in for me. A couple of days later,  I overheard Young Will say on a Thursday night pocket beer ride that he was doing the newly created North East BDR in August. Boom! FOMO problem solved. I ran joining the ride by Will and he was all for it.

MC trips are like their own sort of fun-virus. They are highly contagious amongst friends and can infect at lightning speeds. Not before long, Jake and Brian G had caught the NEBDR-20 as well. 

The NEBDR is designed to be ridden south to north but Will wanted to do it the opposite way. He was 100% right. The plan was to slab it the first two days and start at the Rangely, Maine portion then head south. 

The Bikes:
Will – 2014 Suzuki DR650
Brian – 2008 Husqvarna TE450
Jake – 2005 Suzuki DRZ400S
Nate – 2014 Yamaha WR250R

Day 1 – Philadelphia, PA to Conway, MA

Will had to work this day so Brian, Jake, and I got off to an early start. Having the whole day gave us the opportunity to ride a better route than the all Interstate route that Will had to do later. We headed north in Jersey and got to great 2 lane roads once we got into New York state. We rolled up into the Hudson Valley and took a pit stop in Poughkeepsie. I found out the hard way that using a Ram Mount for your iPhone on a thumper will break the main camera.

It was decided that any pics I take this trip would have to be selfies. So fair warning.  We took the Taconic Parkway north into Western Massachusetts. The closer we got to Conway the better the roads and towns got. It was here that we hit our first quaint New England towns and covered bridges. Camp tonight was at Jenny’s house. Her and Waldo rolled out a spread for us and had a campfire going. What a great way to start any trip! We sat around the fire waiting for Will’s arrival. Finally, well after the sunset, we heard his 650 roaring up the road. We welcomed Will with leftovers and beer. The night was still kinda young but we all climbed into our tents to get prepared for the long ride tomorrow.

Day 2 – Conway, MA to Rangeley, ME

The four of us woke with the sunrise. Jenny had made us a killer quiche w/ a pesto spread and Waldo was slinging french press coffee. Not a bad way to start the day. We soon had everything packed and headed out some great winding roads but the fun would not last long. We knew today was going to be a lot of shitty interstate riding. We had to head out east on 2 then 495. This turned into 95 in New Hampshire and Maine. I’ve ridden my WR many times on 95  in Philly but only for short bursts to get around the city. The hours spent on this leg were me getting blown around and beat up. I didn’t realize it was still an 8 lane superhighway this far north but Maine is vacationland, after all, and this is the height of the summer season. We took a much-needed break from the highway and rolled into Ogunquit, Maine. I had found a walk-up spot to get lobster rolls (I was not coming to Maine and not leaving without grabbing one) but did not realize the tourist hellhole Ogunquit was.

The four of us on loud ass dual sports riding through all the families trying to enjoy their picturesque Maine seashore summer vacation was a site to see. We gave up and headed away from the staring eyes and crowded streets. Just outside of town we got what we came for at the Clam Shanty. It was worth it. We made the collective decision that we could not stomach anymore interstate highway. It was 50 more minutes via no-highways than it would have been with. We headed north away from the ocean and into the countryside. The ride got better and the mountains grew taller. We got into the Rangeley Lake area in the early evening. We stopped at an overlook for some killer views then rode on to the camp spot that Jake had found. It was a killer spot on a creek, nestled back off of the road. Unfortunately, being by the water and being this far out in the wild meant too many mosquitos. I came prepared with some 98% Deet spray and Brian had his bug mask. The other guys were up to their own devices. After sunset, we huddled by the fire and got lost in the stars. No moon and all the stars. Better than any show.

Day 3 – Rangeley ME to Lovell, ME

We expected some chill in the morning but not 40 degrees. Everything was dewy too. We sat our tents out in the sun to dry and packed up for the first official day on the NEBDR. We fueled up bodies and bikes in Rangeley proper. Breakfast was by the lake. It was cool to see the seaplanes on the lake. With everything in order, Will led us on. Instantly it was dirt roads. Wide-open, dusty tracks circled the lakes and into the Maine woods. We came upon a bridge that was out but it was easy to do the very small water crossing. The first part of the journey gave us a great mix of dirt and paved backroads. We stopped by Coos Canyon for pics and then tried to find some more falls that were off the track. We found no falls but did find a nice spot by a creek to take a break by. After we rolled on we rode fun roads around so many lakes. eventually, we got to the first technical section of the trip. It was some rocky ATV trails up through the mountains. We were in the woods for a while having a blast but soon came out to a small country store in Waterford called Melbys. They claim to be the “Home of the Buffalo Burger”. We were hungry so it was da round 4 buffalo burgers. While we were eating a dude on an XR650 rolled by and threw us a shaka. He did swing back and talk to us. His name was Dave.  He just got his XR and was wanting to do the BDR. We talked for some time but soon had to be on our way or at least we thought. Will had a flat rear. We first tried patching it but that was a huge fail. Then we threw a 21” tube in his 17” tire. Will didn’t bring a tube so he had to use what we had. The entire time we worked on the tire, Dave hung out with us.

We let Will do his own work and got to know Dave. He was a rad dude who has done some cool shit and been all over the country. By the time Will had his tire holding with the 21” tube, it was getting late. Dave offered to let us camp in his yard. We decided that Dave’s yard would be the perfect camp spot. He then led us on a super-fast, sick ride through some dirt roads that were all around the area. He took us to the Kezar Falls Gorge. If it were only earlier and warmer, we could have taken a dip. Finally, we roasted all over till we got to Dave’s house. We met his lovely wife, Vicky, and enjoyed some beers by the fire with Dave. He had some great stories and we shared some of ours. Soon we were all beat and got to fall asleep to the lullabies of owls hooting and coyotes howling.

Coos Canyon

Maine Dave

Kezar Falls Gorge

Part 2

Part 3

XR650L has turned out to be such a great bike.
Last year trip through British Columbia the XRs did great, but noticed they ran pretty hot. So we asked Colin to install oil coolers on them while he stored them for us.

We chose the Sutton xr650l oil cooler kit. Really nice cooler kit. Honestly one of the cleaner, better packaged kits i’ve seen for any MC. All brackets, lines, a rock guard, everything included.

Temps:

• Previously my bike ran average 230 degrees ripping 70mph highway for endless hours.
• Now it’s running average 210 degrees, same 70mph highway ripping.

Dropping temps 20 degrees is pretty damn good.
So, money well spent imo.

Just did a long ass weekend around Glacier.
Bike was a champ.

• Was a blast overall
• 6 hr drive was long but wasn’t horrible
• The track is 5 mins from a little town with food / gas / restaurants
• The track itself needs a little help
• Any track maintenance would be appreciated
• Any thought into the overall flow of the track would be appreciated
• Towards the end of the weekend I was feeling frustrated with the track. It’d take such minimal work and it’d be amazing
• The woods enduro course was the best thing there IMO
• Lots of berms and hill climbs in the woods
• The house really does accommodate 20 people no prob
• 3 days is plenty of time there IMO

Two things below I want us to do this Fall as a big group.

More details coming soon…

1 – PA mountain pass weekend trip

• Oct 6th weekend – street bikes
• Take off work Friday. We’re gonna leave Thurs night
• If you can’t take off work Fri, you can just blast out Friday after work and meet us
• Ride out between Harrisburg and State College
• Camp for 2-3 night in different locations
• Maybe camp first night south east of Woodward
• Maybe camp second night on edge of south state college or Port Royal
• Hit as many mountain passes as possible
• Drink and have fun
• Possible Route? Check it out

2 – Pine Barrens camp weekend trip

• Nov 3 weekend – Dirt Bikes
• Truck the dirt bikes to the pine barrens
• Ride to the beach and back all off road
• Camp 1 night at the same renegade spot near LBI
• Hit the awesome little lunch spot
• It’s easy fun riding. Even a 125cc 2-stroke could do it no prob

Thunderfuck Run is back!!! Lets do this. Memorial day weekend (5/26-28)…

-Meet Saturday the 26th at Reanimator Fishtown (5 points location) at 11 for coffee.

-Kickstands up at noon.

-Take Devyn’s most infamous Thunderfuck Run to Steel Steeds Campground. “The best of the Northeast Biker Friendly Campgrounds”. About a 4 hour ride to Milton, PA.

-If you haven’t been to Steel Steeds yet, you’ll love this place. Right on the Susquehanna with plenty of camping space. $10 per person per night. Bar on sight.

-Camp for 2 nights. Swim in the river. Find some roads. Eat in Lewisburg. What-the-fuck-ever we want to do.

-Ride home Memorial Day morning.

• Woke up early, checked out Adams KZ head he picked up from machine shop.
• Rode the IT to the coffee shop Andrew Brooks used to work at. Hung for a while.
• Met at LC to leave for camping. Great to hang and people watch.
• Dilly burger was amazing.
• Dcar didn’t loose anything on 95.
• Andrew Watson and his buddy had rad bmw’s
• Camp fire was great.
• Great laughs
• Guys did weird things in Rodrigo’s tent
• Whiskey was great
• I slept like a baby
• All of Saturday was amazing

Then Sunday morning came

• It was freezing
• It was misting and sprinkling
• The ride home on 95 was one of the coldest miserable hours I’ve spent on a mc
• I got home and took an hour hot shower to raise my body temp
• It was all worth it though

Overall – 20 great hours. 1 shitty hour.

Well her she is.  My 1988 BMW r100gspd (i.e. 80gspd replica). I started digging into her last November, and now hundreds of hours later, she is ready to roll! Beside the Paris Dakar make over, the bike has some serious mechanical upgrades.  Most notably the transmission was rebuilt (including adding a circlip to 5th gear). The OEM driveshalf was switched out to the Emerald Island Co’s serviceable / rebuildable unit.  The front brake was switched out with a Harrison Billet 6 with stainless steel lines.  New TCK80s were mounted and all electric connectors were cleaned and greased.  I also switched over the heated grips from my r80rt.  Lastly the taillight was upgraded to an ultra bright LED version + a lot of heat shrink cable work to tidy up the lines. Lots more info and post to come! But here is a taste for now! #bmw #bmwr100gs #r80gs #r80gspd #r100gspd #r100gs

A post shared by Andrew David Watson (@andrewdavidwatson) on Apr 16, 2018 at 5:25am PDT

Slept in the woods with the #harleydavidson #sportster

A post shared by Devyn Haas (@isolastic_superride) on Apr 16, 2018 at 11:01am PDT

7 a.m. Rain. 40 degrees. One hour to philly.

A post shared by @ graveyardbars on Apr 15, 2018 at 9:31am PDT

Started out Friday at Dimmick Inn in Milford PA. Cool 2nd floor drinking area. I drank too much whiskey Friday night and it ruined the first half of my Saturday ugh.

We saw some cool cars at Churchill Vintage shop where Tom is friends with the people who work there. There was a 1.7 million Aston Martin or something like that. And air-cooled 911s.

Phoenicia NY campground was sweet and walking distance of bars. Pretty much rode around and relaxed.

Good times.

Forget what’s below… Read above only..

I’m looking forward to this trip. Here’s what were doing if you wanna join:

SATURDAY APRIL 22nd
– Leaving from Reanimator Fishtown @ 4PM. Be there gassed up and ready to go
– Blast 95 to exit 51 / New Hope
– Take back roads to Dilly’s Corner for dinner
– Camp @ Deer Wood Campground in Tohickon Valley Park

SUNDAY APRIL 23rd
– Breakfast at Point Pleasant Deli
– Gathering of the Nortons 10AM to 1PM GOOGLE MAP

Things to know this year:
– Pack your own booze and be ready to hide it if a park ranger comes through camp again this year
– Pack a sleeping bag unless you’re a stone cold cowboy.
– Bring cash
– Make sure your junker isn’t pissing oil and brake fluid

UPDATE: Ricketts Glen State Park was full so we are now camping at Council Cup Campground (212 Ruckle Hill Road, Wapwallopen, PA 18660).

So the season is coming to a close and as most of you know I have been sans motorcycle pretty much all summer. We also haven’t had a camping trip since the Norton meet and the weather isn’t going to hold out much longer. While this is a bit far out for the forecast, the weather is anticipated to be mid to low 60’s during the day and mid 40’s at night which is perfect moto camping weather.

Tentative Plan: Meet at One Shot Coffee at 9am (side street and easier parking than La Colombe). Kickstands up at 10am. Blast 476 to Jim Thorpe. Grab lunch and a beer then get lost on backroads making our way to Ricketts Glen State Park by sundown. Sunday we get up, hit the Brass Pelican for breakfast and get lost going south before hitting the highway back to Philly.

Who’s in?

We met up Saturday morning, grabbed some coffee and hit the road. Ed mapped out an awesome route and the majority of the ride there was nice country roads for the entire afternoon. On one particular long straight farm road Ed called Ben up to the front for a race. I’ll let you ask them who won, I hate to get in the middle of drama.

After checking in we went to a local crab shack for dinner. We sat on the porch over the water and stuffed ourselves with soft shell crab and beers. It was an amazing meal after riding all day. Ed even picked up the beer tab.. then put it right back down and made it damn clear he wasn’t paying it.

After dinner we headed back to the camp site, altered our brains a little further and laughed until we couldn’t breathe listening to Alex. He was on fire and basically performed a stand up routine for a few hours. Way too many jokes to remember but keep doing what your doing Alex.

The next morning some people headed home and the rest of us finished the beers with the first swim of the year in the bay. Even Sam joined us for his first swim ever and was so excited he plowed through a baby on the beach in celebration. Baby was fine.

Well the guys who left early had it right because we thought we had time to make the ride back home before the rain. We were very wrong. About 30 minutes in we got caught in quick down pour without any time to put the rain gear on then spent the next 5 hours riding home in pouring rain. Somewhere in Maryland Ed’s ignition gave up. Luckily Alex wasn’t too far ahead of us in his monster truck, which we lifted Ed’s bike into, and he saved the day.

We made it home safe, had a ton of laughs, and good stories. Even after the longest shittiest stretch of  highway riding in The Perfect Storm type rain.. it was better than terrible.

Yo man,
I’ve been flat out! Here are some pics. The trip was epic.
South from Missoula are some amazing roads, through Stanley and Sun Valley (ID) then through Nevada to some awesome desolation, hot springs etc etc. And a lot of sick roads!

My battery and r/r fried in death valley, chad towed me with a ratchet strap from his bike 10 miles to a town… fixed it up, had 1000 miles on our motors, did a break in oil change, made it another 150 miles to Joshua tree.

I woke up with the worst food poisoning ever- shitting through the eye of a needle for two days. Lost time so couldn’t make it to the border.
Then rode north around LA to the coast via Ventura, CA, up the 1 and 101 through SF all the way to the OR border then through Bend, OR, along the Columbia River Gorge then home along Highway 12 via another hot spring stop.

All in all an epic trip, I’m fucking tired and its been a week since we got home. Shit got real! Also, riding the rearsets for 3500 miles was brutal. Cant wait to see you guys! Probably in December.

Oh and my phone was plugged into my bike when my battery died so it blew up my phone battery – hence the lack of gram for most of the trip I was phoneless!

#mototrippin #brohold4eva #douevenbrohold #desert #nevada #mototrip #ridethewest #sendit #steelgrip #suddenwisdom #motorcyclemontana

A photo posted by Number 8 Wire Motorcycles LLC (@number8wiremotorcycles) on May 19, 2016 at 6:03pm PDT

Somewhere near Stanley, Idaho

395 South through the Owen’s River Valley

#weirdwednesday @lad_charrabee and I taking our vintage street bikes where shouldn't… again. #becausehotsprings #advcafe #motocamp #motolife #nevada #austinnevada #getweird #spring #westernasfuck #sendit #kawasaki #Yamaha #kz700 #xs1100 #west #ridethewest #mototrippin #mototrip #braap #herecomesthebraap #itscoolwerefrommontana

A photo posted by Number 8 Wire Motorcycles LLC (@number8wiremotorcycles) on May 18, 2016 at 6:01pm PDT

Check him out on Instagram: number8wiremotorcycles

Ready to roll!! It's been mad but both bikes are rebuilt, running, being broken in for our road trip of the west next Tuesday. We'll be posting pics!! @lad_charrabee #seafoam #sendit #roadtrip #touring #Yamaha #kawasaki #xs1100 #kz700

A photo posted by Number 8 Wire Motorcycles LLC (@number8wiremotorcycles) on Apr 27, 2016 at 6:10pm PDT

Gearing up for the ride next week! The shop will be closed from Tuesday 5/3 – 5/8, open Monday 5/9, Tuesday 5/10 yen closed again until Monday 5/16 !! Thanks for the cooperation and support #Missoula ! #motocamp #motolife #mototrippin #ridethewest #3borders #kz700 #xs1100 #touring #sendit #supporttheindependents #mototripequalssanity

A photo posted by Number 8 Wire Motorcycles LLC (@number8wiremotorcycles) on Apr 28, 2016 at 9:26am PDT

Morning number 1 of the trip! Made it into #Idaho ! Mornings like these are what dreams are made of! #motocamp #motolife #visitidaho #ridethewest #vintage #motorcycles #Kawasaki #yamaha #harleydavidson #sportsterlife #caferacer #getoutside #camping #inthewoods

A photo posted by Number 8 Wire Motorcycles LLC (@number8wiremotorcycles) on May 4, 2016 at 9:19am PDT

Camp for the night. Hot springs off #americasloneliesthighway #Nevada putting in a good show! #sky #dramatic #western #westernasfuck #ridethewest #herecomesthebraap #suddenwisdom #motolife #motocamp #getweird

A photo posted by Number 8 Wire Motorcycles LLC (@number8wiremotorcycles) on May 5, 2016 at 6:41pm PDT

It's that time of year again! The weekly ride is starting up tomorrow! Tuesday evening. Leave the shop at 6:30pm sharp. Ride for an hour or so, finish in town, grab food and a beverage. 6:30PM 525 MICHIGAN AVE 59802 #Montana #motorcyclemontana #groupride #caferacer #bobber #chopper #cruiser #custom #motolife #streettracker #kawasaki #Yamaha #honda #harleydavidson #motoguzzi #suzuki #sendit

A photo posted by Number 8 Wire Motorcycles LLC (@number8wiremotorcycles) on Apr 18, 2016 at 11:52am PDT

#Montana roads don't suck. Make sure to get your ticket to the @rockymtnroll and join me on a beautiful ~200 mile Saturday group ride I'll be leading! July 29th- 31st, Corvallis, mt #motocamp #motolife #rockymtnroll #motorcyclemontana #strangevacation #caferacer #chopper #cruiser #tracker #custom #geoutside #gocamping #ridemotorcycleshavefun #visitmontana

A photo posted by Number 8 Wire Motorcycles LLC (@number8wiremotorcycles) on Apr 13, 2016 at 9:07pm PDT

Start every day with a motorcycle. Or something like that… #motolife #kawasaki #kz700 #kz650 #caferacer #touring #kickonly #aircooledforlife #custom #fresh #simplicity #stripped #builttobebought #forsale dm for deets #supporttheindependents #motorcyclemontana

A photo posted by Number 8 Wire Motorcycles LLC (@number8wiremotorcycles) on Mar 30, 2016 at 9:59am PDT

NEWS FLASH!! The #Kawasaki #kz550 #kz615 #cafetracker #streettracker will be up for sale very soon! Featured on silodrome.com and at @the1moto show right now! Email number8wiremotorcycles@gmail.com for info!! #custom #motorcycle #the1moto #handmade #wiseco @hagonshocksusa @coneeng @seeseemotorcycles #supporttheindependents #bmwmotorrad #honda #flattrack #icon1000 #harleydavidson #portland #soportland #missoula #motorcyclemontana

A photo posted by Number 8 Wire Motorcycles LLC (@number8wiremotorcycles) on Feb 14, 2016 at 12:17pm PST