Just Ride.

Should this ride thread be just a.... well, thread? Or should there be a dedicated Forum topic?

  • Yes, it's own topic in the Forums

    Votes: 19 90.5%
  • Nah... threads good enough.

    Votes: 2 9.5%

  • Total voters
    21
  • Poll closed .
Your bike looks great on the road. I would imagine that not only did you have a good time but in some part of your journey you passed someone who said holy cpap, did you see that 650 , I had one just like it in school or the service and wish I would of kept it .
In another place, that's true. Down on the Delta, I didn't encounter any traffic or people who would have owned a motorcycle. I got gas in Crenshaw.
Crenshaw_MS_015.jpg

This is what it looks like pointed north on highway 3. I need to explore it more, especially the food. My gas stop was just out of the picture to the right. Ethanol free! I never saw a motorcycle on my 150 mile jaunt. Mostly, I encountered very few cars. As it turns out, riding a motorcycle around here isn't bad at all. There's a lot of variety. Three hour can have me in the Ozarks.
Last stop, on my way home, I picked up some dinner.
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It's a trailer about a mile and a half from my house. Yum!
 
Crenshaw looks like a Hollywood set for Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men". Period architecture that seems to 'holla' Depression - probably just my Aussie perspective although I see that nearly 30% of the population live below the poverty line. I'd grab a bagful of that crayfish though - Mississippi cuisine is legendary even here. Fascinating Marty!
 
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Sunshine is for more test rides right?
Running and riding as well as hoped for so far. Slight drip near that clutch push rod seal.. carbs are close but can't be fully trusted to idle. Adjustments needed.
Side covers are staying on so far.
Very fun XS to corner on. Flys down the highway with ease but with those super sturdy bar end mirrors being small means you better watch the mirrors! But they don't shake or move! Good investment there.
Handlebars are so nice! Instrument's are working well and accurately.
Really having fun riding again :cool:
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QUOTE David Toll,

Crenshaw looks like a Hollywood set for Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men". Period architecture that seems to 'holla' Depression - probably just my Aussie perspective
End QUOTE

There's an awful lot of dying small towns in rural america, the industrialization of ag took away their main reason to exist. We tend to backroad in our travels and see them everywhere. Some find a different way to keep going, but so many just fade away.
 
View attachment 188844
Sunshine is for more test rides right?
Running and riding as well as hoped for so far. Slight drip near that clutch push rod seal.. carbs are close but can't be fully trusted to idle. Adjustments needed.
Side covers are staying on so far.
Very fun XS to corner on. Flys down the highway with ease but with those super sturdy bar end mirrors being small means you better watch the mirrors! But they don't shake or move! Good investment there.
Handlebars are so nice! Instrument's are working well and accurately.
Really having fun riding again :cool:
View attachment 188845
Looks great Randy. Wish the weather would cooperate up here so I could get a good ride in. Right now it’s 20 minutes to 1/2 hour then back home. Still a bit cool and today rain all day.
 
In another place, that's true. Down on the Delta, I didn't encounter any traffic or people who would have owned a motorcycle. I got gas in Crenshaw.
Crenshaw_MS_015.jpg

This is what it looks like pointed north on highway 3. I need to explore it more, especially the food. My gas stop was just out of the picture to the right. Ethanol free! I never saw a motorcycle on my 150 mile jaunt. Mostly, I encountered very few cars. As it turns out, riding a motorcycle around here isn't bad at all. There's a lot of variety. Three hour can have me in the Ozarks.
Last stop, on my way home, I picked up some dinner.
View attachment 188799 It's a trailer about a mile and a half from my house. Yum!

Every time I see a scene like that , I hear Bruce Springsteen’s melancholy song “ My Hometown” playing in my head. As Gary said that scenario plays out over and over again all across America. The small farming towns of my youth have fallen into disrepair. Years ago my wife and I traveled to Cleveland where she’s from, it used to be a manufacturing town. Now the factories are all boarded up and the jobs are gone. It’s all so sad really.


“Now Main Street's whitewashed windows and vacant stores
Seems like there ain't nobody wants to come down here no more
They're closing down the textile mill across the railroad tracks
Foreman says these jobs are going boys and they ain't coming back to your hometown”

 
View attachment 188844
Sunshine is for more test rides right?
Running and riding as well as hoped for so far. Slight drip near that clutch push rod seal.. carbs are close but can't be fully trusted to idle. Adjustments needed.
Side covers are staying on so far.
Very fun XS to corner on. Flys down the highway with ease but with those super sturdy bar end mirrors being small means you better watch the mirrors! But they don't shake or move! Good investment there.
Handlebars are so nice! Instrument's are working well and accurately.
Really having fun riding again :cool:
View attachment 188845

Fearless Flyer rides again! Looking sharp Randy!
 
Finally got the 650 out for a brewery run. Just 31 miles round trip but she ran perfect except for an elusive neutral when stopped.
Stillfire Brewery had an abused KZ400 parked inside. Strangely enough, this is only the 2nd KZ400 I've ever seen besides my own.
Came home to see oil leaking from the cylinder head. Sigh...
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Weather permitting, I'm going to give the XS650 a good shakedown this coming weekend. RON at Vicksburg. It should put about 13 hours on the bike.
Checking in to say hello from Nashville, not too far from ya! Jealous of this ride you've got planned. Always wanted to ride the Trace southward myself. Be safe and if you're ever in the Nashville area stop by and say hey.
 
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