Anyone headed out?

plan to leave Chicago early Saturday and make a weekend out of it

 

I go every year. its not gonna be at j&p this year but at the fair grounds down the road so im kinda looking forward to see how it is gonna be. hopefully it wont seem as crowded this year. seems to be a lot more vendors gonna be there this year though. pack a rain suit its gonna rain

 

rains out of the forecast should be a nice day. but what do weather men know I get rained on every year

 

i keep seeing 60% chance of early/all day rain in that area on sunday.
not looking forward to a wet ride home

overall i had fun weekend, got there around 1:30 Saturday, it was crowded, but the event space was spread out so it didn't feel overly congested. Ran through all the different tents/manufactures which were nice, this being my first time, i felt like they were there to show their product features, not necessarily to sell their items. For instances, i was under the Progressive suspension tent and there was a customer interested in having shocks purchased and installed, the sales person essentially said i can't install it here (don't have tools/space, etc), you should buy it from J&P and have it shipped to you, which i kind of thought was weird, but whatever.

then i went to tire barn, essentially the same thing, but all the vendors were really nice and upfront. Bought a pair of Shinko's for my street bob, as i'm in line to purchase them they inform me the techs are done doing installs today (apparently at that point it was a 4 hour wait), first come first serve 9AM tomorrow morning, well this kind of sucks. Purchase the tires, tubes etc., they don't have rim strip onsite so i purchase one at the J&P store on my way back to Cedar Rapids where i'm staying.

Sunday morning, allegedly the rain wasn't supposed to come until 9AM, i wake up at 7 and it's already there. Pack my saddlebags and backpack and make the miserable 50 mile trip back to monticello where it rained for 45 miles straight...the last 5 miles i was spared with sunshine as i got off my bike soaked. Hour and a half later bike is ready to go, the Shinko guys want to take a pic for their website with the tires and i'm on the road trying to duck and dive the storms coming through the Midwest.

Everything is smooth, and then i get to Dixon, il. For miles the sky looked dark, almost black like ahead but the pavement was dry, i got 100ft passed the last exit before the toll and see its a downpour ahead, and single lane construction, fml. Pull over and put my jacket one, suit up for it. I made it to the toll, and i was drenched, the kind of drenched where water has now touched every part of my body drenched, and was riding through standing water, pulled over at the toll booth. Waited an hour radar watching and noticed i was hitting the tail end of the cell, got back on, went 20 miles, had to pull over again, standing water and i couldn't see 20 ft in front of me. Waited another hour, got back on the road and drove the rest of the way. Long story short, it rained, but i had a blast and would recommend that if you're in area to stop by next year

 

I rode out on a whim on Saturday. I had a good time just walking around checking out all the vendors' products. I like the fairgrounds venue much better. It was packed a little too tight for my tastes in Anamosa. Does anyone know if the rally will move when the warehouse moves?

 

im thinking once they move you will have to go to Sturgis or to Daytona for an open house. I see why they are moving I guess but I still think its crap. the museum will still be there though. what I thought was really funny was that the museum put out the notice not the company. the fairgrounds was ok I guess but there where vendors that didn't show it looked like. especially after looking over the list again.