Sunday 6-16-2019

First off "Happy Fathers Day All".

I am sitting in my easy chair tonight still on cloud 9.

Our kids live far away. One is over a 1000 miles and the other is 3000 miles in Seattle. I'll be seeing my daughter in Seattle in less than three weeks. Cannot wait.

My wife always tries to make Fathers Day very special. I think it comes from her being an only child and extremely close to her father.

Well she asked if I would like to plan anything special for Fathers Day. The reply was of course YES, that I want to go for a ride. She smiled and said "I'm In". Well I told her I was thinking about a three day solo ride. Of course her attitude changed. I explained that what I want for fathers day is to go and see my father in Arkansas, but I want to ride. I will take Friday off and that gives me three days to make it happen.

So she informs me that the only way I am going is if she goes with me. Game on! She bakes a 5 flavor pound cake which is my dad's favorite. We framed him a copy of our latest motorcycle picture at the Myrtle Beach Rally, a nice card and packed a bag. She did have one request. Her one day record ride has been 660 miles for 9 years now. She wants a new record.

We left our undisclosed bunker just west of the twin cities that tobacco built at 0600 Friday morning. We rolled onto I-40 west bound and had the orange ball from a beautiful sunrise in the rear view mirror. It was a cool 54 degrees and we actually saw the temps drop to 48 west of Asheville through the Gorge which are low for June. We could not have asked for better weather overall. The M8 CVO ran like a Swiss watch and 13 hours later we arrived at our hotel just south of Memphis in Forrest City, Arkansas with a one day total of 700.5 miles. We had a nice dinner, fueled up the bike and got a good nights rest.

Saturday morning we had a 140 mile ride to Hot Springs for a surprise visit to see my dad. My step mom and brother knew we were coming but dad had no idea. We pulled in their drive way at 10:15 am. Dad came to the door, we smiled and said "Happy Fathers Day", gave him a big hug and told him we rode all the way from North Carolina to bring him a cake! Honestly I had never seen my dad cry before, but he was overwhelmed. He asked us not long ago when he was going to see our current bike. Well today's the day and he really loved it. We visited for about an hour then had a really nice lunch. He is 82 and not in the best of health. We knew after about three hours he was very tired and ready for a nap. So I told him we have a very tight schedule which is something he really respects and we said our good byes and pointed the bike back toward NC.

Well the temps started climbing. As we approached Memphis the thermometer showed 91 degrees F with a heat index of 96. Also the wind was brutal at 17 mph. Crossing the Mississippi river bridge was hairy and a white knuckle ride. We stopped between Memphis and Jackson, Tennessee for gas and a butt break. The heat had done a number on my wife. She was ready to call it a day pretty soon. I asked her if she trusted me and of course the answer was yes. I told her we were going to take an hour break, cool off, eat and hydrate. Then we were going to ride on to our planned destination just west of Nashville which was about 170 miles. It worked and amazingly the temps dropped and it was actually one of the best legs of the trip. We stopped in Dickson, Tennessee at 8:20 PM and got a great nights rest.

Rolled out this morning at 0800 central which was a little later than planned. Took our time, stopped at Smokey Mt. HD in Knoxville and took a good break at each fuel stop. Got home today at 6 pm Sunday evening.

Day #1 - 700.5 miles (Wife's New One Day Record)
Day #2 - 521.2 miles
Day #3 - 481.1 miles

Trip Total - 1702.9 miles

Waze was a life saver getting us around construction and accidents. The bike turned 18000 miles on this trip. It saw a lot of 3K + RPM and cruised in the 80 mph range like no tomorrow. After it cooled down I checked the engine and transmission oil levels and they were both spot on. I'm still running the stock tires and they have at least 2 to 3K more miles left before I replace them.

The BMW rally was this weekend in Lebanon, TN and we met some really nice folks all along the trip going to or coming from the rally.

 

Sounds like a great trip! You're going to have to tell me more about that seat cover. Does it help extend the rides ?

 

That sounds like an awesome trip! My highest respect for taking a three day trip for one hour of smile for your father. I'd do it for mine ... if I could. Man, my monitor is getting fuzzy; must need a new one.

Kudos to your Mrs. for issuing a challenge too! Good to make a new record. Great trip, man!

 

Thanks, actually there 2 hours and 45 minutes, but still not long enough.

 

Thank you sir.

Yes this is an actual sheep skin. Don't consider a man made, we cannot duplicate mother nature.

I bought this one almost 7 years ago and it has been on three different bikes. It just lays over the seat, is only held in place by the driver back rest, but does not slide. We will not take a trip without it. It is warm in the winter, cool in the summer and YES it does extend the ride by at least 150 miles. I have zero pressure points with it up to around 500 miles. Get to the 600 miles point and the bottom end starts to feel the ride but it sure does help.

If we hit rain we pull it off and we take it off at night if the bike is outdoors. No problem getting them wet, you just cannot dry it. It has to dry naturally or you will ruin it.

Alaska Leathers

https://alaskaleather.com/collection...pskin-buttpads

 

Cool trip and your father has probably never felt so special on Father's day. Good man!

 

What an awesome trip and story. Visit him while you can.

 

your story gave me goose bumps. Very cool.
your wife is awesome.

 

Outstanding for your gift to your father. Wish my dad was still alive to receive something like this.

 

Out of curiosity where is you avatar picture at?