CROV FALL RUN...Sept. 23rd and 24th.. REPORT & PHOTOS!!!!

[Night Vision]

Please feel free to leave any comments.........

Outstanding!!!!!!! congratulations on the achievement  ;D

[Superfly]

A picture of 12 Visions






A picture 15 minutes later

[h2olawyer]

Thanks for the photos!  Nice to see so many Vs together.  Knew a long time ago I couldn't make it to this ride.  At least now I see a little of what I missed.

H₂O

[Night Vision]

wait a second... two of them are parts bikes!!!!!   :o :o




>>>> signed... Joe King  ;)

[YellowJacket!]

wait a second... two of them are parts bikes!!!!!   :o :o

Ahhh, true visionaries... bring parts bikes along for the ride. ;D

David




>>>> signed... Joe King  ;)

[Ron_McCoy]

 Hey, those aren't parts bikes.  That's two guys working very hard for the last minute thrash award.  Superfly looked like he had it bagged working on his bike at the resort( he came without oil in the bike to let the gasket sealer cure), then Coil showed up with his bike disassembled on the trailer to look like he would take the award,
but Superfly fought back with overheating and timing problems and finally bearing problems to claim the title.
  Thanks to our hosts Craig and Janelle for providing such a beautiful and welcoming event for us to get together with old friends and meet new ones,  Great, great roads and scenery. Also great attractions for those who didn't ride. First sign at a municipal park to welcome the CROV ( I hope someone got a picture ).     Thanks to everyone who helped with the rider and Vision after I tried a little off road "testing" with Visionless's bike.  I still enjoyed the ride the rest of the way. I rode my motorcycle to work today so I'm doing well. The best part though is the friendship and camaraderie with our fellow Visionaries.  ;D ;D ;D

[glennw]

No Dragon Envy here... VinceD did a GPS of the route ....
When he posts it, you will find out Dragons are myth....
hehehehe
GlennW

[Superfly]

Yeah, what a great/crazy weekend.

Glenn showed up at my house at 6:30, and we started the trip up, picking up Visionaries along the way.  We arrived around 3:00, got settled in.  We wanted to go out really quick, so I added oil and fluids to my bike, and a bunch of us went off for the early bird ride.  That was a great ride, great roads, and a truck riding down the street with his brakes on fire.  On the ride, my bike was running hot, and I realized that I had the accidently twingled the engine.  We went back to the lodge, and then all went over to Craigs house to have some of the best food I have had in a long time. 



I went over to craigs house first thing in the morning to use his garage to fix the timing on my bike and check out the carbs before the ride.  I ride back and the bike is riding much better, almost back to normal, but not quite right yet.  We line up for the picture (my bike is on the end because I was tinkering on the bike untill the last second) and then we are off for the ride.  Shortly into the ride I loose most of the power, oil light starts flickering and I realize that I am not going riding anymore.  VinceDee pulls over to make sure everything ok, I tell him I am going back , turn the bike around, (and luckly we just went over a hill), bump start the bike, and limp back to the lodge.  I am in the parking lot, I hear the dreaded metal on metal engine clunk.  At least she got me back to the lodge!  Coil comes back in a few minutes to see if I made it back, and he had a stuck float.  So, it is 11:00am Sat. morning, 380 miles from home and the engine spun a berring... time for a beer.

Here is a picture before the ride on Sunday morning.  Craig let me ride his 83, and we had a great ride.  All in all a great weekend. 


Getting home was fun!  Thanks to Sal for the ride to Bakersfield, and GlennW for trailering my bike back. 

[Coil Coyle]

:o

Glenn, you are bad!                  That's what I like about you!

;D

I'll have photo's of the Purple Ferret Bar's neon sign for you to play with soon.....

[visionless]

I'll have photo's of the Purple Ferret Bar's neon sign for you to play with soon.....

Is that the bar where the Ferret Floggers hang out?

[Coil Coyle]

I'm sure it is, but I'm afraid to go in and find out...

;)

[VinceDee]

Hi all, I thought I'd finally post a ride report for the CROV Fall Run. It took me a while to put this together, hope it's entertaining enough. There's a map of our Saturday loop and some pictures. It was a helluva good time, and multiple thanks to Craig and Janelle for hosting it.

Map of the big Saturday ride (click for larger version):




Friday:

Arrived at about 3pm. There was a map waiting for us at the front desk that showed where Craig's house is and what Saturday's ride will be. Meet and greet until about 4pm. I finally got to meet some of the people behind the online nicknames (although now I have to figure out who belongs to which nicknames!). Coyle trailered down his Vision all the way from Oregon, though it still needed some work to be road worthy. He was hoping to have it ready for the Saturday ride.

Getting to know some of the crew:


Several riders went out for a afternoon loop in the general Volcano area. Encountered a couple of deer, some of us saw a flaming pickup truck (ask Glen, Ron, or Pete about that), and Pete's Vision started having a few problems.

Gassing up for a Friday afternoon ride:


BBQ at Craig's house. Excellent food and beverages, fine company, and lots of stories, jokes, and lively discussion (Ferret Flogging, anyone?). A few more folks arrived during the party.

The stories some of these guys tell. The food was DAMN good:


Saturday:

Pete was up early to take his Vision over to Craig's, tear it down, and build it back up in just an hour or so before the ride. Amazing how well some Visionaries know their bikes that they could do that. Apparently, Coyle found the time to get his bike going also.

Getting ready for the big Saturday ride:




Breakfast at the Sierra House for most of us, then we met up at the Pine Acres Resort for the big Saturday ride. 12 Visions and 4 other bikes showed for this ride! Pete was back with his Vision, but still had the tank and seat off mere seconds before everyone else was about to leave. Somehow he made it, though, and the group roared it's way to the intersection at highway 88.

I discovered that this picture was blurry, but it proves we had 12 Visions!:


This is a better picture, but it was right before Pete lined his "V" up as the 12th one:


Yes, that's Pete still screwing around with his bike literally seconds before we all left for the ride:


Shortly after turning right on 88, Pete's "V" finally gave up the ghost as it spun a crankshaft bearing. I stayed with him for a few minutes (in case he needed help) as everyone else went on ahead. He was able to get it bump started, however, and rode back to Craig's house with his hobbled bike.

I didn't see this, but apparently Coyle missed the turn off onto highway 26 (it's easy enough to miss) so wasn't able to continue the ride. Bummer that he came all the way from Oregon and wasn't able to go on the whole ride. Don't you wish we had some better way of keeping track of riders so everyone knows where the main group is?

I have a laptop GPS system on my bike, but even with that technological advantage it was tough to catch up to the main group (they were really hauling!). I later found out that several riders had missed the left turn onto Calaveritas Road, near San Andreas. At least that partially explains why I was having so much trouble catching up to them.

We went into Angels Camp and turned left onto highway 4. A few miles later we were in Murphy's, our first rest stop. Some of us gassed up, while others (Glen, for example) were busy buying out the motorcycle shop across the street. After 10-15 minutes or so, we drove up the road a couple of miles to eat lunch at the Giant Burgers restaurant.

Stopped in Murphy's for a rest and for some to gas up:


Then drove a couple of miles up the road for lunch:


After lunch, we hit the road for the 60 miles that remained until Markleeville (our next pit stop). This portion of the ride was my favorite because there is some seriously beautiful scenery along this part of highway 4, as well as some real tight twisties. I was trying to catch up to the forward group and came flying over a hill when I saw a CHP officer standing on the side of the road and a CHP SUV behind some trees....oops! I let off the gas and hoped they weren't interested in ticketing anyone at the moment. They didn't make a move, so I guess I lucked out on that one.

One more rest stop before Markleeville (or so we thought):


Just after crossing Ebbetts Pass (at the 8050 ft altitude) I came around a right hand corner and suddenly saw a huge dust cloud on the right side of the road, then the sight that every motorcycle rider dreads....a motorcycle laying on it's side on the edge of the road! I recognized the bike right away...it was Ron's. Apparently, Ron took his eyes off the road to adjust his mirror, just as a left hand curve was coming up. His bike drifted onto the right hand gravel shoulder, and that was all she wrote. The Vision drove down a small embankment, hit a rock, then the uphill side of the embankment, and flipped him off the bike. Everyone immediately stopped and began to render aid. Unfortunatley, Ron had been thrown about 15-20 feet off the bike. Fortunately, he hadn't broken or torn anything. He took a few minutes to recover his senses, but all he suffered were bumps and bruises (big ones, but still...). His helmet did it's job perfectly and the zipper was ripped open on his jacket, but those are small prices to pay to be able to walk away from an accident. The Vision was in surprisingly good condition, considering what it had just been through. This particular bike had been modified with standard round motorcycle handlebars, and to no one's surprise, they were now bent. The right mirror was broken off, the right side of the tank was dented, and the muffler was pushed in a bit. After about 20 minutes of fussing with the bike, it fired right up and was ready to ride (albeit with still-bent bars). The amazing thing is, Ron was actually able to ride the bike back at the same speed as everyone else, so this incident ended about as well as it possibly could (it was kind of hilarious to watch Ron drive the bike, though. His having to hold bent bars made him look like Quasimodo, when seen from behind). On a serious note, two things came out of this incident, for me: one, always pay attention. Even one second of looking away and it could all be over; two, always wear protective gear. We ain't like cagers, so when something happens it's almost always going to end up bad. Thank God Ron came out of this with minimal injuries, but it sure reminded me of why we, as motorcyclists, always have to be paranoid.

The Vision proved itself to be a tough bike here, after some restraightening, it fired right up and was ready to go:


I think Ron was just trying to set a new distance record, just to impress us:


As "tough guy" Ron dusts himself off, others start getting his bike ready for the road again:


We fueled up in Markleeville and left in two major groups to head back to Pine Grove. About halfway back the rear group caught up to the forward group so we could come into town with the full contingent. On the way back we encountered a hardheaded Harley rider who didn't seem to understand that his 1000cc motorcycle was being outmatched by a bunch of 550 Yamahas. No worries, we just blasted on by and finished the trip back to Pine Grove.

After getting back to Pine Acres we settled down and traded war stories and drank some beers while waiting for everyone to gather for the trip to the Union Hotel, and some much needed dinner. Ron appeared to be a little listless but was in pretty good shape, considering. He kept complaining about a sore rear end, but I noticed that no one was in a big hurry to offer their medical services to examine his ass ;D.

Some of the group telling war stories and gathering to go to dinner:


Ron is enjoying all the attention, but still insists that his butt needs to be examined:


The group finally made their way to the Union Hotel restaurant in Volcano (including Craig and his "lesbian life partner"...they made such a cute couple in their little girly Volkswagen Cabrio, don't you think? Janelle thought they looked hilarious). Some of us bellied up to the bar and drank Moose Drool beer (yes, really) while waiting for the folks at the restaurant to lay out a nice buffet of prime rib, potatoes, veggies, rolls, and cookies. We took over their patio and ate, then made our way back to Pine Acres and broke into smaller groups. It was at this point that I needed to leave, so I'll have to leave whatever happened on the Sunday ride up to someone else to tell.

Aren't they adorable, in their VW Cabrio?:


All in all, it was a super weekend. Tons of thanks to our hosts for setting up this event and hosting it (and putting up with us all). This was my first Riders of Vision run, and I was made to feel welcome by everyone. It's a great, fun, friendly group, and I look forward to future events.

Vince

[h2olawyer]

Wow -

Ron's butt must not have been too bad as I see him sitting on a tailgate after the 'incident'.  Glad it wasn't any worse.

Nice to see some familiar faces in the crowd!  Thanks for the write-up, map & photos, Vince.

H₂O

[VisionMeister]

Hey Vince
Wonderful write-up.
You are officially nominated for CROV scribe.
The map was great. Anyone who blows it up should realize why we don't suffer from "Dragon Envy". By my estimate it is a 225 mile loop.
Sunday we rode Clinton Road to Jackson. Paloma Road to Hwy 26 and Mokulomne Hill for a break, where we met with some interesting riders and bikes including an ex-Vision owner who had recently sold it.
Continued on to West Point via Hwy 26 which is full of wonderful sets of sweepers and good pavement.
Returned to Pine Acres via Pioneer and Hwy 88.
No problems today other than a blown fuse on my red 82 which was quickly diagnosed and replaced.
It's now Wednesday and I am just feeling fully recovered.
Thanks again to all who attended.

[supervision]

  Great report and pictures Vince, gald to meet you

[Lucky]

I offically nominate Ron for title "DirtyVision"  ;D glad your ok!
That's twisty, but still ain't no Dragon....

[visionless]

First off, Ron wrecked the Vision, but it belongs to me.  His didn't make the trip.  Second,  I'm glad you have the Dragon,  I've seen the video,  but I have roads withing 30 minutes that blow the Dragon away.  And guess what?  They're not parking lots. How about a 5000 ft elavation change in less then twelve miles (Sherman Pass) or For those who have been on it, the Lion's Trail, a road you can have high speed coasting racing down.  And guess what I can do both however fast I want and on a bad day see two or three cars.  So you can have the Dragon and I'll keep our numerous roads (too many to name or count). 
      Chris

All in good fun!!!!

[Ron_McCoy]

Thanks for an excellent report Vince.  I have a few corrections and additions I would like to make.  As Visionless stated, it was his Vision I was riding.  I can't take credit for the dent in the tank as it was already there.  Nice tough bike as it handled very well in its modified condition.  Riding with assymetrical bars and ass is a good exercise in bike control, especially with a non functioning rear brake
( it would work, but the adjustment had changed enough that my ankle wouldn't travel far enough to activate it and every time we stopped I forgot to adjust it, something about the assymetrical ass pain made me forget until we were moving again ).  I would like to add that it was a right hand curve and I was all the way through it and on that long straight before I made the mistake of countersteering the bike off the road with the mirror. Actually the bent bars made the bike interesting to ride and I enjoyed the rest of the ride except for the axle hitting the bent muffler on larger bumps and sending a jolt right up through my assymetrical.......you know.
Oh, and I think when you're on a bike it should be Quasimoto.

Ron

[YellowJacket!]

Outstanding writeup vince and the pictures are great, as are the ones everyone else posted too.  Ron, I'm really glad you are ok.
I hope to see you all for the 25th anniversary run!

David

[Ron_McCoy]

Thanks to everyone for your concern.  My injuries consist of a sprained left hand and a highly bruised left gluteous maximus. By Monday morning I was able to use the clutch on my ST 1300 and ride to work.  The hand is almost fully healed and the gluteous is feeling much better too.  The afternoon before the ride my Vision wouldn't downshift approaching a stop sign.  Chris and I took it home and removed the clutch cover and the clutch.  I suspected a broken spring on the shifting pawl, but it was OK.  The shift drum refuses to turn so a complete teardown is in order (43,000 miles).
I have another low mileage engine so I will swap that one in while
rebuilding the original.  The physical injuries pale in relation to being without my trusty Vision. 22 years and the only breakdowns have been two stator replacements.