I believe this was the best morning I've had riding this year! Weather was absolutely perfect!
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Just Ride.
- Thread starter Jim
- Start date
What happened to the right side of the bike? Did you drop it?
Friday, I went to Murfreesboro on a mission (and a good excuse for a motorcycle excursion.) I went to see my friend, Michael Knight. Some of you know him as he's been a member of the Yamaha 650 Society for many years. He was once a Suzuki/Yamaha dealer. A few years ago, he was adjusting the valves on his GSX1100G and dropped a tool down into the engine. He took the engine apart to retrieve the tool. There it sits. I have been threatening to make this trip for a very long time.
I'll spare you all the details. I rode up there and arrived late, so he missed trivia night. Then, I made a mess in his garage and broke a piston ring. I also ate their food and soiled some towels and linens. So, I left him in worse shape than he was in before I showed up.
Since I killed the mission, we did the only sensible thing. We rode motorcycles! Due to stormy weather, we had only Sunday morning to do that. I would have liked to have taken more pictures, but each time I stopped, Mike rode on and guys in pickup trucks stopped to help me. There are a lot of good guys out there. So, this is what I have.
Today, I returned to Coldwater, Mississippi. I made it take eight hours. TN 99 to the Natchez Trace to US 72 to Corinth then MS 2 & 4 to home.
The XS650SH operated flawlessly. Not a hiccup in about 700 miles.
I'll spare you all the details. I rode up there and arrived late, so he missed trivia night. Then, I made a mess in his garage and broke a piston ring. I also ate their food and soiled some towels and linens. So, I left him in worse shape than he was in before I showed up.
Since I killed the mission, we did the only sensible thing. We rode motorcycles! Due to stormy weather, we had only Sunday morning to do that. I would have liked to have taken more pictures, but each time I stopped, Mike rode on and guys in pickup trucks stopped to help me. There are a lot of good guys out there. So, this is what I have.
Today, I returned to Coldwater, Mississippi. I made it take eight hours. TN 99 to the Natchez Trace to US 72 to Corinth then MS 2 & 4 to home.
The XS650SH operated flawlessly. Not a hiccup in about 700 miles.
Looks like you had a great trip Marty, full of adventure! Btw, that’s an interesting and rather rare bike your friend was riding…….have you ever taken it for a spin?
Did I meet Mike in Tennessee and does he have a rather clever play on words on his engine side cover?
Looks like a great trip Marty, some good pictures. Particularly like the country vistas, the old barns, the small town high streets . . .
The right side is in the witness protection program..
Yes. The “Blough Inferior.”
It’s a 1991 Suzuki VX800. I should have taken the opportunity to ride it as we talked about it. I can tell you my legs are a bit long for it. My knees extend beyond the cutouts in the tank. It has a lovely exhaust note.
Took a ride to one of my childhood homes and even saw one of my old neighbors. On the way home I stopped at this covered bridge and it was nice to see it getting repaired. I actually talked on the phone while riding for the first time. Not something I plan on making a habit.
That is a really cool picture for me personally, as it brings back memories. In my younger years, I had occasion to visit East Barnard, VT on a regular basis. As you probably know, that's perhaps 15 miles or so from the bridge in your picture.
Let me know if there's anything in East Barnard that you'd like to see a pic of. I'd be more than happy to do it. Any excuse for a ride works for me. 
The pic of the house is in Groton.
The pic of the house is in Groton.Thanks for the offer! I had family in the area at the time, so I have a number of pictures of the places of interest. Mind you, I am sure things have changed as I was last there maybe 50 years ago!Let me know if there's anything in East Barnard that you'd like to see a pic of. I'd be more than happy to do it. Any excuse for a ride works for me.
50 years ago we would go to QC to visit my dad's family in Thetford Mines.
It may be presumptuous of me, but I assume that your heritage could reside on either side of the border. It seems that the current Canada / US border was much more indistinct in the past. There have obviously been periods of what we'll call "economic migration", where people pursued work opportunities either in the US or Canada and stayed (ex; francophones in the textile industry in New Hampshire). Thetford Mines (site of major asbestos mines) may have been attracting labour from New England. There is certainly lots of evidence of francophone names in Upstate NY, Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire. What has happened to those names always amuses me; they have been anglicized and spelled phonetically yet remain recognizably francophone. This probably stems from a time of less literacy and less bureaucracy.
Both of my grandfathers came from Canada. One from Quebec that came to work in a local woolen mill and the other from Nova Scotia that came to work in the granite industry. I always have to spell my french last name for people. I have the same last name as a very famous mime.
Greetings, M. Marceau! (?)
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Well there is somebody that I don't have to spell it for. 
Best movie with least dialect ever, "Silent Movie"?