Just checking in

[shafty]

Hi Guys,

Just saying hey, from hot and sunny Texas....I'm over here again for their harvest season, we've finished the wheat season, now have 5 or 6 weeks until the corn season kicks in.

Sold my beloved ST1300 (The Orient Express) and my short lived DR before coming here and have just invested in some American Iron - ie a GL1800, built in Maryland, Ohio

Went for a nice spin last weekend, 580 kms around the Texas Panhandle on a charity run, mainly Harley's but also a sprinkle of Jappers

Bloody hot ride, - and the straights make me feel homesick for Kiwi curves, but hey - it's Summer, right??!!

Popped in to look at the new Indians last week - the Chieftan (top of the range) advertised at $US23,000 - in NZ at $NZ34,995 I believe

Anyway, enjoy the pics

Shafty298619298620298621298622298623

[shafty]

A few more photographs...298624298625298626298627298628

[unstuck]

Sounds like you are having a blast dude, good times. Loving the piggy back trucking.:Punk::Punk:

[STJim]

Pete
Is one of the bikes in the second lot of photos missing it's back wheel?

[Tazz]

Pete
Is one of the bikes in the second lot of photos missing it's back wheel?

Thought it was another sinkhole victim at first glance.

[Kartik]

Nice pics.

[merv]

Having fun making us jealous, ya bastard :yes:

[shafty]

Pete
Is one of the bikes in the second lot of photos missing it's back wheel?

No Jim, photo was taken at a Mexican run custom cycle workshop in Amarillo - it's got an airbag set up like the customised US cars from the 50/60/70s they pimp

Crazy huh

298658

[shafty]

Sounds like you are having a blast dude, good times. Loving the piggy back trucking.:Punk::Punk:

Yeah the piggy backing is COOL huh, - quite common but amuses me every time (big kid)

Saw two lots on the weekend, 4 x Volvo sleeper cabs and either a pickup or van on the back of the last one!

[MIXONE]

Is it mainly big trucks with bigger wheels as the average driver's transport ,or a misconception?
And do they make everything bigger in Texas?

[shafty]

Is it mainly big trucks with bigger wheels as the average driver's transport ,or a misconception?
And do they make everything bigger in Texas?

Yeah, in Texas I reckon there are more big ass 'Pick ups' than cars - many are badged 'Texas Edition' - Toyota make their cool V8 Tundras here, a successful marketing ploy

Nissan have a couple of V8s out too, but obviously most are Chevys/Fords/Dodges etc

Plenty of cowboy hats/huge belt buckles and cowboy boots

Being the biggest State besides Alaska, everything is scaled up - worlds largest Dairy Farm near us for example, but it's cos they have 10,000's so acres as their trump card and not a lot of anything else, like rainfall.....

[MIXONE]

I've got a Texan buddy and he is 6'2" and 150+kg so I s'pose he's the norm.

[shafty]

So, with vacation time upon us, we hit the road with intercoms sorted and a phone charger installed....

I'm not goina detail everything but welcome questions from anyone genuinely interested, I'm just
Enjoying soaking everything up - search my previous threads for lotsa detail of US riding

So, after buying my GL1800 from Houston, (Southern US border) we're now almost at the USA's northern border - tonight languishing in Sturgis

[unstuck]

Looks nice and warm anyway, enjoy the ride dude. :2thumbsup

[shafty]

Just back from a decent ride > Dalhart [Northern tip of Texas] > thru the top of Oklahoma > Colorado > Cheyenne (story here!) > South Dakota and a stay in Sturgis > North Dakota (to say I'd done all the Sth to Nth States) > Red Lodge Montana (Stumbled across the Beartooth Rally, cool) > Beartooth Pass to Wyoming (wow) > into And thru Yellowstone (Wife's dream) > out thru Grand Teton Nat Park > Ouray then over the Million Dollar highway - we've done It the other way and incredible > back to Dalhart

Bloody brill - as could be expected the GL1800 performed awesomely, Jude loved it

Highlights:

Yellowstone
Million Dollar Highway
Beartooth Pass
Waving a Dodge past me at 80 mph, who copped a ticket 30 seconds later
Beers in Alamosa
Missing a severe hailstorm in Cheyenne by minutes (arrived to see 10" piles of hail in the gutters!!!)
Surviving cyclonic winds approaching Cheyenne
$80 motel in Sturgis which is $340 a night in a week or so.....

Lowlights:

120 miles plus in a straight line in South Dakota except for TWO slight bends!

Hopefully the pics will tell the rest of the story.....299454299455299456299457

[shafty]

More photographs.....299458299459299460