Ravnhaus Rides... again

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ravnhaus
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#11 Unread post by ravnhaus »

The events that pulled me back to motorcycling are vague... at best.
Motorcycles were an intense experience of my distant past, but now had become but a dull memory.
They were always on the background, although I rarely paid much attention.
Bikes are habitually cruising the streets of Austin and the sounds are as natural as a cricket in the summertime or as irritating as the whine of a blue-smoke belching chain saw. The Republic of Texas Rally happens every summer and the town becomes jammed with bare-headed, unshaven, leather-clad boys and their hefty, weathered-faced honeys astride overly loud and heavily chromed hogs. I could hear the distant rumbling from my South Austin home as they cruised Congress on the pilgrimage to Beverly's followed by the strutting and posing on 6th St.
On occasion I would see the ninja boyz pulling wheelies at 80+ mph down MoPac weaving in and out of traffic with total disregard for the simple fact that the only thing that stood between them and eternity was a sleeveless t-shirt, a non-armoured pair of cargo shorts and a set of flip-flops flapping in the slipstream.
My wife's uncle is an old time bike fan. He had the bug since the 40's, was wise in the ways of business, and had acquired a nice collection of motorcycles. I recall a few years back seeing an green retro-looking Triumph among a sea of Harley's and getting a rise out of the Triumph. The bikes were all packed into a converted horse trailer ready for the annual hajj to sacred sands of Sturgis.
I have a older cousin biker... old school and a major cranky codger. Loved old Harley Davidsons, had a '49 something Indian w/sidecar, a red-hot Moto Guzzi, BMW w/sidecar, and more old useless dodo than any man ever need. He had a stroke one day and will never ride again. In his garage scattered in various pieces was an early 80's Shovelhead.
My good friend CH made a deal with him and gathered up anything that looked like a Harley and hauled it home. He spent a month or so getting it put back together and another couple of months working all the bugs out. My cuz had a habit of tinkering to a fault, so the bike had a lot of stuff that was out of whack, incorrect, or just plain a** backward. It was a late model AMF-era Harley after all. The story goes that it was a Mexican Highway Patrol engine that got mounted on a California frame. Various drag racing stuff was added by my power addled cuz. Stock it was not.
CH finally got it in rideable shape and began cruising over to my house on the beast. Being a Harley it leaked a lot of oil, so I had to make a Harley litter box to sit under the engine when it was parked in my driveway. CH lovingly referred to it as the "Hardly Ableson". My wife began spotting oily shoe tread tracks across our cream colored carpet.
Motorcycles were once again in my peripheral environment.
'06 Bonneville T-100

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#12 Unread post by ravnhaus »

After sifting through a fifty year accumulation of photos I finally found a couple of pictures of my beloved '69 Kawasaki TR-90.
We moved to Austin that year and the UT football team won the National Championship. I had the perfect color scheme to drive down the Drag for the celebratory pandemonium that followed.
The VW in the background replaced the Kawasaki and I sold the bike shortly after these pictures were taken. I didn't have another for about fifteen years.

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The day I brought that bike home from the dealer was the highlight of my fifteen year old life!
I had grown a bit by the time this picture was taken.
Last edited by ravnhaus on Fri Jan 05, 2007 2:14 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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#13 Unread post by ravnhaus »

Late winter 2006
I was flipping through the Austin Chronicle one day and I saw an ad for a Royal Enfield. Something clicked inside me and I started to vaguely lust for the bike. I loved the old-school retro look of the bike. It reminded me of some of the bikes I had admired as a kid but could not afford and could not legally ride. If you were under sixteen in Texas at that time you had a limit of about 100 cc's
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I went to the Enfield site and checked them out. When I saw you could have one for about $5000 I though this could be a possibility. I began research them in earnest. Unfortunately, I found out that they were not very reliable bikes, unless you like to wrench on the side of the road with some frequency. This was not what I was looking for in a bike, so I shelved the idea for a time.
A couple of weeks later I was thumbing through another Chronicle and I saw an ad for the Triumph Bonneville Scrambler. I thought, "Wow, just like Steve McQueen used to ride!"

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I did a bit of research and found that the Bonnevilles had a good reputation for being reliable and highly loved by their owners. The seed was planted.
I went to Lone Star Triumph one day to check them out. They had a couple of Scramblers and a Tangerine and Opal T-100. As soon as I saw the Bonneville the Scrambler was forgotten. I preferred the lower pipes and the basic look. I was also attracted to the America and the Speedmaster, but the Bonnie pulled at me. The lust inside began to rise to a fevered pitch.

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I spent many hours at work on the reading the motorcycle forums; the Triumph Rat site in particular.
I decided that the Bonnie was the bike for me. I now just had to convince my wife.
I was sitting at my computer one day as the wife walked in. I just happened to have the Triumph site up and I said to her, "Honey, check this bike out. Ain't it a pretty thing?". She agreed that it was hot looking bike, but she rolled her eyes at the same time.
I continued to bring the subject up from time to time, but continued to meet resistance. She countered with, "What about all those guitars you collected? I though you were into bicycles! You have more of those than you need. So now it is going to be motorcycles?".
I left a picture of a Bonnie on my desktop to keep the idea in the air.
At this time my wife was shopping for a new car. She decided that she wanted a convertible. After a long and arduous search we bought her a bright red Toyota Camry. She was stoked with her ride. It was her pride and joy.
One day she told me no. I could not have a motorcycle. I didn't need one. I would get hurt... blah.. blah.. blah.
I shelved the idea and tried to move on, although I was feeling pretty disappointed. But if she was not behind the idea I would blow it off. It was just a whim after all.
One day she called me from her cell phone. She was out enjoying her convertible. She told me, "Honey, you know... I really love my car... and I so enjoy driving it around. It is like riding a motorcycle."
"I think you should get that Triumph if you really want it. You deserve to have the same enjoyment that I am getting. If you want it... go get it".
I about fell out of my seat.
I went out to the dealership. They still had the Tang & Opal , but he said that they would be getting a Red & Black in about a week. I decided to wait, as I preferred the R&B, although I had yet to see one in person. It was a long wait.

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I got the call... finally... drove out, and had a viewing. The bike looked great!
I had to wait another couple of days for them to get it prepared, but finally the message came. It is ready.
I walked in, signed the papers, and took possession. No test ride needed. I had not ridden a bike in twenty-five years, so I figured I would not be able to judge much about it anyway. I wanted it... and now it was mine. I just needed to mount it and start getting some miles under my belt. It would all fall into place.
An hour later I was back in the saddle again. It all came back to me pretty quick. I was a motorcyclist once again!

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The new baby with about ten miles on the odometer.
Last edited by ravnhaus on Mon Jan 08, 2007 2:03 pm, edited 4 times in total.
'06 Bonneville T-100

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#14 Unread post by Wrider »

Nice Triumph! Also, reading through, she's got a Camry convertible? As in Toyota?
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#15 Unread post by ravnhaus »

Wrider wrote:reading through, she's got a Camry convertible? As in Toyota?
Wrider
Yep, the one and only.

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#16 Unread post by Wrider »

Wow... Didn't even know they made em, I just thought they made convertible Solaras... Nice though!
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#17 Unread post by ravnhaus »

Wrider wrote:Wow... Didn't even know they made em, I just thought they made convertible Solaras... Nice though!
Wrider
Let me rephrase that... It's a Toyota Camry Solara convertible.
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#18 Unread post by ravnhaus »

About six months after getting the Bonnie I embarked on the following adventure.

We had originally planned to ride Saturday to an antique motorcycle rally in Luckenbach, but my riding partner showed up so late that we blew it off. The $25 entry fee helped make that decision.
We rode south starting out at about 1:30 PM. We cut through the back roads, passing the Salt Lick BBQ in Driftwood. It was too early to eat so we continued on. We linked up on RR 12 , headed north, and intersected Fitzhugh Rd. We then headed west towards Johnson City.
It was a great fall day with temps in the low 80's. The last time I had been on this road it was 105°, I was out of water, and I was not real sure where I was. The current climate was much appreciated.

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This part of the hill country has not seen much rain in a very long time. The landowners worry constantly about their wells going dry. At this time it is a very undeveloped section of the much sought at "Hill Country Real Estate". It still has that old time country funk. I would imagine it won't stay this way much longer.

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Fitzhugh Road, at least the part in Hays County, is a poorly maintained road by Texas standards. Lot of cracks and bumps along the way. It is a good road to ride slowly and enjoy the view. Traffic is very light. We did see a few bikers.

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We stopped in Johnson City and rested at the local Dairy Queen. Not a lot to this town that I could see, but we didn't really explore it. The LBJ Ranch is not too far from here. We decided to go that way on another trip. We headed south on 281 twelve miles to Blanco.

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We stopped in Blanco for some que at Riley's. I always eat here when I pass through. The brisket is sublime, juicy, and flavorful. The pork ribs weighed 1/2 apiece. They had more meat than most pork chops and were moist and touched with a subtle smoke essence. The beer choice was limited, as you can see. We only had one.

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We left Blanco and picked up an old one lane county road that cuts through the ranch country. It roughly follows the Little Blanco River and crosses the river multiple times. We stopped on one of the crossings to take a picture. My partner turned off his engine. He should have left the engine running. The jacket on the handlebars will soon become a tow rope.

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Two bikes. One will actually start. He loving refers to his ride as the "Hardly Ableson".

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We mounted to leave and he tried to start the bike. No deal. The battery was not too happy. He began jumping on the kick start to no avail. Sweat and cursing began to flow. He tried again and again. He pulled the plugs and put in a new one. No deal. He lamented that we didn't park at the top of the hill. I responded that the photo opportunity was down in the creek bed.
The shadows were beginning to lengthen and the temperature began to drop. The evil deer in the woods began stirring and planning their suicide ambush techniques. It was time to go.

He then commented that he wished we had a rope. His eyes descended the jacket tied to his handlebars.
"Let's see how tough this Bill Blass is" he proposed.

We tied one sleeve to the grab bar at the rear of the Bonnie. He wrapped the other sleeve to his bars. The Bonnie started... as always... and she pulled the ailing shovelhead up the hill effortlessly.
He turned the beast around and set off down the hill. Dropped her into gear, let out the clutch as he slammed all his weight downward, and she roared back to life.

We gathered our gear and set out for home which was about seventy miles away.
We had to fill up at the first station we saw. He left the Harley running while he filled. We then rode non-stop into Austin. He head in the closest direction to his house and I went home.

I talked with him later and he said that he had busted one of his foot pegs kick starting the bike and had to ride home with his foot sliding off every few minutes. To add to the misery the brake cylinder on the handlebar also sprung a leak. His throttle glove became soaked in brake fluid. At least he beat the cold front that soon hit the city.

All in all a fairly successful journey. The BBQ was first rate and the Triumph performed perfectly.
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#19 Unread post by AZRider »

The ride sounded like great fun. The food looked great( Texas BBQ is on of my favorite foods) too bad about the beer. Don't wait so long between entries.
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