Route-66 Sans Guzzi

[pehayes]

I recently led a small, private Route-66 tour.  I posted here about a skid hazard in St. Louis and was roundly chastised for not reporting and showing pics of the tour.  So, here goes.

First, time and finances dictated that we couldn't ride to the start in Chicago or ship our own bikes.  The result was renting Harleys from EagleRider.  Even Regina rode a Heritage Softtail.  While I disdain the culture, I have to admit these were wonderful rides for the particular nature of our tour.  Six speed overdrive, accurate and robust cruise control.  2500 rpm at Interstate speeds.  The onboard GPS leaves something to be desired, but I had my own.

Second, although there were no Guzzi involved, everyone has/had a Guzzi connection.  Obviously, Regina and I ride our own EV's.  My regular riding partner Rick Hoiland has a Police Eldorado.  My Italian guests are founders and leaders of my Falcone Club in Italy.  My brother Vin from Arkansas previously had an EV but traded it to now ride an Indian.  Vin's riding friend Noel Derr from Kansas rides Guzzi Convert at home but a Yamaha on this tour.

Third,  I angsted for months about the seasonal schedule and how weather might effect us.  We had two hours of light rain through St. Louis.  Chicago had snow two days after we started.  Oklahoma had 13 tornadoes two days after we had passed through.  The Mojave Desert had high, thin wispy clouds to keep the temps down.  I'm now sitting at home watching the tornadoes kick up in Texas and Oklahoma.  A relative in Rolla, Missouri says it hasn't stopped raining since the day we passed through.  Seriously dodged a huge salvo of bullets!

So, here are a few pics to pass the time.

Startind out.  Regina and Ricky at Dick's in Joliet, IL.


Me and my new buddy at the Polka Dot.


Regina at the museum in Pontiac, IL


Ricky, Regina, and me with a local, the Great 16th.


Regina and me at the brick covered, Snell Road.


Bob's Gasoline Alley.


Brother Vin on his Indian.  A life inspiration for me.


Yvan and Donna Pfyffer from Italy posing at the Blue Whale.  Falcone riders but had to drive a van on this tour.


The sadly leaking Falcone at the Seaba Station Motorcycle Museum.  Poor baby!


Brother Vin at the F4 display in Weatherford, OK.  This is what Vin flew for his Marine Corps service.


All of us (except Donna) with the crazy Harley in Erick, OK.  Man, that guy has some collection of stuff.


The iconic place to stay in Tucumcari, NM.  Lucky enough to get four rooms.  Had to schedule that one several months in advance!


You might have one of these.  Desperate for a fine bottle of wine after a long, hard day into Albuquerque.  The hotel didn't  have a corkscrew.  The Denny's out front didn't have a corkscrew.  Consulting with dozens of hotel guests, none of whom had a corkscrew.  Ricky put my 'flat tire' kit to good usage!


Yvan and Donna lodging at the Wigwam in Holbrook.  I could only get ONE and that was reserved two months earlier!


Regina and me trying not to follow the current passion of falling into the Grand Canyon.


Hope Regina likes my  new friend from Seligman, AZ.


All done!  Check off from the bucket list.


Patrick Hayes
Fremont CA

[Chuck in Indiana]

Pix, so I guess it really did happen..  
Thanks, Patrick. It brought back many memories.

[Kev m]

Absolutely awesome!

I was lucky enough to ride the mother road back in the 90's with the first guided rolling rally by HOG. That meant 400 or so other riders from around the world who converged each night to hear from award winning author (of, among other things Route 66, The Mother Road) Michael Wallis about the road ahead.

A fantastic experience that I'd repeat in a heartbeat even without all the rockstar treatment and free lunches/parties at Harley dealers along the route.

[oldbike54]

 Great thread Patrick 

 Dusty

[Guzzistajohn]

Spencer is about 20 miles west of my house. I was there Saturday 



[url=https://
This building is near Spencer

[Rick in WNY]

I feel your pain... my California shares her garage with my wifes.... Heritage Softail. That said... I will agree the newer crop of Harleys were obviously built for a trip like that. Hers has the 6-speed, no tach so can't say how fast the motor is turning at highway speeds, but it's just loping along, and on those long highway runs the weight of those bikes is definitely in your favor. 

HD builds "American Cruisers" that are best suited to cruising across the North American continent, but I'd much rather ride my California.

Thing is, my wife is making noises about doing a "Route 66 Ride" sometime in the next year or two. Thanks for the pics, I will have to show them to my wife, got a feeling she'll want to make that trip even more.

[Kev m]

I feel your pain... my California shares her garage with my wifes.... Heritage Softail. That said... I will agree the newer crop of Harleys were obviously built for a trip like that. Hers has the 6-speed, no tach so can't say how fast the motor is turning at highway speeds, but it's just loping along, and on those long highway runs the weight of those bikes is definitely in your favor. 

What year Heritage? Ever since they went CANbus that Tach (if not equipped with an Analog gauge) is part of the selectable data available in the odometer. Not sure when that changed on the Heritage, but it was that way on the rest of the big twins for most of this decade. Even changed on the Sporty in 2014 IIRC.

[Rick in WNY]

Kev, hers is a 2007. Bike had one previous owner when we got it, and my wife is determined to be the last owner.

[Kev m]

Kev, hers is a 2007. Bike had one previous owner when we got it, and my wife is determined to be the last owner.

Ah, yeah, I THINK it was 2011 for the Softails (maybe all of the BTs) to get the CANbus and data in the dash.

[Rick in WNY]

Somewhere around then, yes.

I know hers has a level of tech we're both very comfortable with. It has the key-fob based electronic key as it's security system. It's nice for her in that she keeps the fob in her riding jacket and when she walks up to the bike, it unlocks, when she walks away, it locks up. Simple, non-invasive, and effective, but the best part by far is that the module is just that, an add-on module. So if we were in the middle of nowhere and the security system completely locked her out for some reason, I could start turning wrenches and dig down to the module and disconnect it to get her bike running again. The caveat being that if I did that, there is no way to secure the bike until that is fixed. But I prefer that to the ones that are fully integrated into the computer and cannot be turned off, ever!

It has fuel injection, so she can just walk up, throw a leg over, start it up and go ride. It has the 96B engine which by 07 HD had all the bugs worked out of the Twin Cam so that motor is rock solid. It's also pre-catalytic converters, so less heat, fewer restrictions, and doesn't have the overheating issues the last version of the Twin Cams had.

The biggest thing in it's favor though, is the stability. There is NO drama with that bike. None. It does exactly what you tell it to do, no more, no less. It's big, it's heavy, but handles like a good milling machine, solid and precise. That is a big part of what my wife likes about it, that it is so easy to control because there's not a twitchy bolt on it anywhere.

All told, it's about as simple a machine as HD ever built, and it simply just keeps on chugging along, and my wife absolutely loves her baby.

[Tom H]

 It has the 96B engine which by 07 HD had all the bugs worked out of the Twin Cam so that motor is rock solid. It's also pre-catalytic converters, so less heat, fewer restrictions, and doesn't have the overheating issues the last version of the Twin Cams had.

Got a question on the bugs out of the Twin Cam's. I have the '07 Dyna Street Bob. I have heard that ALL Twin Cam engines have an issue with the cam chain tensioner blocks at 30K miles or something like that. True of false?? I hate to tear the cam area apart if I don't need to.

Thanks,
Tom

[Kev m]

Somewhere around then, yes.

I know hers has a level of tech we're both very comfortable with. It has the key-fob based electronic key as it's security system. It's nice for her in that she keeps the fob in her riding jacket and when she walks up to the bike, it unlocks, when she walks away, it locks up. Simple, non-invasive, and effective, but the best part by far is that the module is just that, an add-on module. So if we were in the middle of nowhere and the security system completely locked her out for some reason, I could start turning wrenches and dig down to the module and disconnect it to get her bike running again. The caveat being that if I did that, there is no way to secure the bike until that is fixed. But I prefer that to the ones that are fully integrated into the computer and cannot be turned off, ever!

It has fuel injection, so she can just walk up, throw a leg over, start it up and go ride. It has the 96B engine which by 07 HD had all the bugs worked out of the Twin Cam so that motor is rock solid. It's also pre-catalytic converters, so less heat, fewer restrictions, and doesn't have the overheating issues the last version of the Twin Cams had.

The biggest thing in it's favor though, is the stability. There is NO drama with that bike. None. It does exactly what you tell it to do, no more, no less. It's big, it's heavy, but handles like a good milling machine, solid and precise. That is a big part of what my wife likes about it, that it is so easy to control because there's not a twitchy bolt on it anywhere.

All told, it's about as simple a machine as HD ever built, and it simply just keeps on chugging along, and my wife absolutely loves her baby.

You can also program a bypass code into the instrument cluster in case the battery in the security module ever fails.

[Kev m]

Got a question on the bugs out of the Twin Cam's. I have the '07 Dyna Street Bob. I have heard that ALL Twin Cam engines have an issue with the cam chain tensioner blocks at 30K miles or something like that. True of false?? I hate to tear the cam area apart if I don't need to.

Thanks,
Tom

False.

All the spring loaded chain tensioners will fail, probably between 20-50k.

But starting in 06 for the Dyna (and 07 for the rest of the BTs) they went to hydro-mechanical tensioners that last MUCH MUCH longer, most people won't check before 50k...some before 75-100k.

[Rick in WNY]

False.

All the spring loaded chain tensioners will fail, probably between 20-50k.

But starting in 06 for the Dyna (and 07 for the rest of the BTs) they went to hydro-mechanical tensioners that last MUCH MUCH longer, most people won't check before 50k...some before 75-100k.

Absolutely correct, Kev. Wife's 07 has the hydraulic tensioner... and zero worries.

[Tom H]

My bike is hydraulic, so it should be fine. I read too much about the rubbing blocks having issues I guess.

Thanks guys!
Tom

[John Ulrich]

Nice pictures Patrick!

I was out on the RT66 Fun Run last weekend in western AZ.....only in Corvettes.  The road from Kingman to Oatman AZ is the most spectacular of all the "road".  Tuesday I left again eastbound to MN. 

600 photo's

https://photos.app.goo.gl/fAzm1pgeisF5NnPu7

[Tom]

   Pat.

[pehayes]

The road from Kingman to Oatman AZ is the most spectacular of all the "road".  Tuesday I left again eastbound to MN. 

Now you have to imagine doing it in a late 20's car, on a dirt road, with two crying kids in the back seat after three weeks or more.  And after you finish that Kingman/Oatman stretch you are confronted by 150 miles of the Mojave Desert.  UGH!

Patrick Hayes
Fremont CA

[Kev m]

I seem to remember hearing that in the 20's cars loaded with migrants couldn't drive straight up the road to Oatman as they weren't geared low enough. So people would pay locals to drive thm up backwards since gearing was lower on reverse.