Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/141063
o e- '" i6' Q. M .... '" Cy~JI! N~w~ DISPLAY ADVERTISING DEADLINE WEDNESDAYAT!5prn . OJ s: UJ / -- <-:<,-,,-, • \ "\ . ..'Yo: C~\ ... . . z UJ ...J ". (.J >(.J . ~ ~ I ..-" (213) 427-74-33 BLITZING THE · CONTINENT Part III • • HOME AGAIN" HOME AGAIN ( The last o] three pa rts) r - - - - - - - - -, b y Jo hn D. Ul ric h Please accept th e enclosed dona- .. t ion for $ ISDT . Send m y I to the 48 th I so uve nir sponsor I st icker to: I I n ame I I address I ci tv state I zip --- ...J Virgin ia sure was swee t , with sweet spri ng sme lls in th e a ir . a nd swee t y o ung ch ic ks o n the streets . N ice ! One: o f Te n nessee 's favo rite even ing p asttirne s is sitt in g on the o ld fro nt p o rch w ith yo ur fa mily an d wat chin g th e frea ks go b y o n th e road. \l' e got th e fe eli n g th ai road wa tc hing was th e m aj or after-work occu p a ti o n of th e total p opul ati on o f some towns. Th e t errible weath er th ai had chased us into D.C. on th e outgo in g run had broken ni cely for our return trip, and we c o uld se e st ars in Tennessee for th e first. time sin ce Arizona. Riding late one night near Knoxville , we p ulled off into a small town. I flipped up my bug en crusted shield for a b e tier look, and a blast of cold air invaded my nice warm Star. One o f my eyegla ss lense s shattered from the temperature ch an ge , an d I had the feeling it was going to be a long ride h ome . The onl y deal that was raun chier than that o ne a t th e time was o u r humor. Lthe jo ke s h ad been going d ownhill sin ce T exas. In Memphis two dudes in a six . cy lin de r '57 Ch evy with n o muffler proudly displayed a foot high "427" d ecal o n th e re ar window, and a sc a r fa ced broad in sisted th e w a y to LA w as. eas t wh en we asked fo r directions. Arkansas saw us totall y flipped o u t b y th e trip. We rode a long as lightning blast ed the horizon , playing a cl ose appro ximati on o f "Jingle Bells" with h om, thrott le, an d kill switch (for backfire effe c ts) . Tired o f that, standing o n the pegs at 8 0 MPH playing MX road rider b ecame th e rag e. And then there was riding th e Suzuki with butt on the sea l , thigh s on th e tank , calves on th e blinker s talks, and bo ots leadin g the h eadlight lik e twin Cadillac fiying ladie s. A co u p le o f 85 0 mil e a day weeks do fun ny th ing s to o n e 's mind. No D ust Bowl, Only a Tornado II Was in Oklahoma that we figured o u t th aI th e Suzuki go t ab o u t 85 0 miles to a quart of CC I oil. That means ':H OO .."i1es per ga llo n , so with a pl astic jug o f th e pink stuff s t ra p pe d on the back , con tin en t c ro ssin g is n o trouble in spi te o f limit ed intern al Ame ric an qvailahilit y of the st u ff. On e o f the jugs we were ca rry ing for tha t reason sprung: a leak. and a litt le f arm gi rl proudly proclaimed a t a ga s s ta tio n tha t my m otorcy cle wa s ' "b leeding " . I was di s app o in ted with O kl ah oma ... th ere wa sn 't any dust bowl. All th e wa y an d I co uld n ' t e ven see th e dus t ho wl. Wh at a rip. In an O kla homa hot el o ne n igh t; I Was ta ki n g a h ot sho we r wh en Kevin b u rs t in y e llin g " Torn ado , torn ad o !" With a fe w c h o ice w ords I to ld hi m to ge l 1 s1 with hi s jo kes , so he tu rne d up 0 the TV . Su re en o ugh . it wa s a torn ado warnin g. Now, I' ve ne ver b e en in a torn ad o b efore thi s, bUI I kept ca lm . I rins ed off the soap , pulled on m y h elme t , an d ra n o u ts ide ...oh mama , I w a s so far from ho me. an d I'd be en ro ading it 10 0 lo n g, Th e n e xt d ay an Oklah oma fla tlan d s sign e n tre a te d us to " God Bless A m eric a . R ich ard Ni xon, Spir o A gn ew, and Dew ey Ba r tle tt " . Th at Dew e y dude sounds lik e m y kind o f m an , by di ggie s. A sign n ot to o much farth er al on g p ointed the wa y to Geary , Oklah oma , and Kevin went be rserko. \\'here's Ulric h , Oklahoma ? A bumper s tic ke r in Amarillo asked the la sl person t o leave that city to turn o u t the lights . A r ich ch ic k in the back o f Daddie 's Cad waved, and an indignant Daddie gass ed out of sight. Arnie Wills has be en trying to buy a Suzuki 12 5 MX at Cycle World of Amarill o , but the turkeys keep saying they c an ' t ge t one, [Ho ld on Arne, it s He'll end up with a Penton, h e thinks. A small t own wes t of Amarillo h ad a red brick r oad as the main drag. We didn't s tay to find o u t if it led 10 Dallas, In New Mex ico this time pe ople were usin g- d ewhe ele d railroad ca rs as farm buildin gs near Tucumcari. I twas fre e zin g climbin g o u t o f S anta R osa. Aft er a s to p ' for food at a mountain tru c k stop, we ap p re ci a ted the throttle drag on th e Honda that is e asy to set on or o ff with fingers. It makes warmin g up a cold hike easie r. The last ni ght o u t found us at a gas st ation m odel. It wa s o n ly fitting... we had seen restauran ts in the gas business, an d gas s ta tions in the restauran t business . A m otel in th e gas busines s (o r 'gas station in th e motel bus iness) was co o l. Th e water tasted like it was pre -mix Alk a Selt zer. co ming... Ed.} Earth Hernias Th e last o f t h e " L a nd o f En ch antment" showe d great siROS of vo lcanic hernias in the stomach wall o f th e eart h . In the com b ina tion o f hi gh altitude, elevation gain , and so m e times h eadwinds, th e Honda often needed full throttl e to m aintain cr uising sp ee d with out dropping a cog . while th e S u z u k i d idn 't . However, du e to placement, it was impossibleto h ear the Suzuki hom a t 75 MPH in a headwind, an d that m eans th e rider and the co m p ani o n bike rider. Ari z on a along Interstate 40 ' is a di sgr ac e . Whil e own e d trading p osts e x p lo it an d ste reoty pe Indians terribl y . Conc re te an d wo od re epees a rc featured wh en th e n at ive Americans of Ari z ona lived in h ogan s. Si gns adv e r t ise " Chief , Sittin g' Bu ll T radin g Po st ", wh en Si tting Bull was a S io ux livin g th ousan ds o f mil es awa y from th ere. One sign says a p ost will "N 0 S c aJpu m Pal eface " . H ow w o uld y o u fe el if y ou were an Indian dud e a n d h ad to p a ss th a t kind o f typ ic al hull shit o n th e wa y to work o r sch o ol ? Th e Fren ch intr oduced scalp ing and rnu ti lat io n to th e East ern tr ib es durin g th e Fr en ch an d Indian wars, en cou rag ing its use in c laim ing Fr en ch o ffe red b ou nti e s for British so ld ie rs . A wh it e m an 's a tro cit y ge ts Indian cre d it. S ellin g Indian slu ff is bi g mon ey, b ut n o t for th e Indi an s. An y one sh o p ping for Ind ian products sho uld search o u t th e few Indian o ... ne d a n d o pe ra te d v s to re s in Ari zon a. Th ose wh o don' t will probably. b e rewarded with Japanese o rigin go ods as well as furthering th e expl oitation o f Native American cu lt u re by greedy while turkeys. The stiffer ride o f the Suzuki was quite noticeable on Arizona's "MX roads". The state has the worst roads ' p assin g for In te rs ta tes in the c o un try . Some states pave over a useless s tre tc h of road. Arizona has men throw loose asphalt in the potholes arid lets ca r ti res pack it in . Llh! .