Fly & Ride to SW Missouri to Pick up a Sculpture for my Living Room

[antmanbee]

I'm getting a beautiful 2007 Griso with just 3K (red the fast one) on the 14th of June just outside of Joplin Missouri. It has to go in my living room as there is no more room in the garage.
Thankfully it is a stunning nearly flawless work of art that I will be pleased to spend many hours admiring. Even though I am fond of Picasso I hope to get it home without it looking like one.

My general loose itinerary is to take a couple of days to go to Lexington KY. and visit with my daughter for a day or two and then head to North Carolina and visit a friend from the forum (hint he has NC in his username) for a day and hopefully make a day trip in the area, and then on to Florida where I live.
I hope to do it most of the journey all on back twisty roads, something that is extremely rare in Florida. My skills are waning.
Unfortunately I will be missing the 1 day Cedar Vale get together by a week but I was still hoping to meet some other members along the way. I am open to possibilities as I have a few days of flexibility.
Also any route suggestions would be appreciated.

[twowheeladdict]

Congrats.  Safe travels. 

[oldbike54]

 What kind of a schedule will you be on Mr Bee ?

 Dusty

[antmanbee]

I have 10 days total. I need to return to work on the 24th. I possibly could put in for an extra day or two more.

[oldbike54]

 So you will have a couple of days to play in our area ? Angle down towards Oklahoma , I'll lead you to some nice roads with almost no traffic . Point yourself towards Westville OK , about 90 miles almost straight South , we can head towards the Talimena DR .

 Dusty

 

[lucian]

Congrats ! She's beautiful. Be aware, That  NC  fella may by trying to lure in laborers. 

[delrod]

I'm only thirty minutes away from Carl junction in Pittsburg KS. Let me know if anything comes up that I can help with. Maybe could catch up for a meal and ride with you for a while. Pm me for my cell number

[Ncdan]

Congrats ! She's beautiful. Be aware, That  NC  fella may by trying to lure in laborers. 

Lol Dave, you know darn good and well Im just giving you an excuse to build something else;) at least you won’t have to take a part off your bike for me to use this time, like a TPS😂.  All kidding aside don’t fool with that rack until you have plenty of time on your hands and that won’t be any time soon until after your trip. Besides I may be able to come up there and bring a six pack and assist in the project👍👍👍👍

[exiledrebel]

Small world. I'm pretty sure that's my brother's bike. It has been taken care of pretty well. Enjoy.

[Seventy One]

See if you can work in the Bourbon Trail. I toured Wild Turkey and Buffalo Trace a few years back and would strongly recommend it to anyone.

 https://kybourbontrail.com/plan-your-trip/

The National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green was cool too.

[antmanbee]

Congrats ! She's beautiful. Be aware, That  NC  fella may by trying to lure in laborers. 

I'm pretty gullible. No telling what that NC fella will talk me into?

I'm only thirty minutes away from Carl junction in Pittsburg KS. Let me know if anything comes up that I can help with. Maybe could catch up for a meal and ride with you for a while. Pm me for my cell number

I will contact you to see what we can arrange. Thanks

Small world. I'm pretty sure that's my brother's bike. It has been taken care of pretty well. Enjoy.

If so, it's been a pleasure making this transaction with him. The bike looks really nice and it is going to a good home.

 So you will have a couple of days to play in our area ? Angle down towards Oklahoma , I'll lead you to some nice roads with almost no traffic . Point yourself towards Westville OK , about 90 miles almost straight South , we can head towards the Talimena DR .

 Dusty

I'll look into this. Thanks
I got a lot of map reading and planning to do, or I could just go and wing it

[oldbike54]

 Mr Bee , if you come thru Eastern OK , the Talimena Drive is 54 miles of motorbike heaven .

 Dusty

[Dave Swanson]

Last year I bought  this V11S that was a living room display since new.

[antmanbee]

Last year I bought  this V11S that was a living room display since new.

Dave, that is certainly a worthy living room display, much to my liking.
I could  do a rotating exhibit with this one,



 

[exiledrebel]

I confirmed w/ my brother. You're getting his bike. I was almost positive that was his house in the background of the photos. I think you'll like it. I haven't ridden it, only seen it (it was winter when I visited), but it looks very nice and he's particular about his stuff.

[antmanbee]

exiledrebel, thanks for the endorsement of your brother and the bike. Everything is moving along very smoothly and I am looking forward to the trip.
Looks like I will be meeting up with Dusty and possibly delrod. A good trip is shaping up! The Talimena Drive is on the route plan and I will be taking an extra day to get to Lexington most likely.

[antmanbee]

I had a great first day today! Arrived in Springfield MO on time at the airport and was met by the previous owner.
He was a really nice guy and the bike was excellent and just as described if not better.
The bike is like new with the exception of turn signal stalks that are failing. What a surprise.
Forum member Delrod met me at the owners house near noon and then led me on some fantastic roads. Mostly SR9 in SW Missouri.
Even had a great lunch in Noel I think at a Mexican restaurant that had fresh made on the premises, tortillas.
They cooked me up some special rice and beans and I ate too much.
I took my first pictures in the restaurant parking lot. I was going to do a 'starting the journey' picture but I forgot.
The bike runs well but pops a bit. It pulls from all RPMs very nicely. I even got about 45.4 MPG on the first tank of gas.
I only did about 175 miles today, I got a late start but had a lot of fun.

[oldbike54]

 Sorry I missed this , but Doug is a good one to meet 

 Have fun going to Kentucky .

 Dusty

[antmanbee]

Sorry I missed you too. I hope to meet you another time.
I had a great day with Doug.

[PJPR01]

Awesome...Griso and Norge...always a good combo!  Looks like a beautiful bike...fun ride coming up!

[Ncdan]

Allen, save some rubber for the SMOKIES, you’ll need all you can get:)
See ya in a few!

[antmanbee]

Allen, save some rubber for the SMOKIES, you’ll need all you can get:)
See ya in a few!

The rubber is good, she has a pair of new shoes. I'm a little rusty in the twisties, but I'm certainly getting some practice on the way.
Maybe I'll be able to at least keep you in sight.

[Ncdan]

The rubber is good, she has a pair of new shoes. I'm a little rusty in the twisties, but I'm certainly getting some practice on the way.
Maybe I'll be able to at least keep you in sight.

No worries buddy, I don’t ride hard anymore as I have found one misses too much beautiful scenery.

[antmanbee]

Second day was another excellent day although a bit longer than I like to do. I did a little over 600 miles with the first 350 or so on some more wonderful country roads.
I had been thinking of stopping for the night a little over half way to Lexington but changed my mind as the weather was perfect and it looked like heavy rains the next day.
The last 250 were mostly divided roads and I was traveling at 80 to 85 to keep up with the flow of traffic.
Attached are a few more pictures including the obligatory in front of the motel shot. What's missing is a bunch of tools and parts off the bike scattered all about.
Fuel mileage is around 45 to 47 MPG as actually measured between fill ups.
 




From Sunday morning, the bike got rained on but it softened up all the dead bugs to make cleaning easy.

[oldbike54]

 

 Dusty

[adaven]

Enjoy the ride!