My first US ride report

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Zonkelnut

Race Dog
Joined
Jan 30, 2006
Messages
1,112
Reaction score
5
Location
Gauteng
Bike
Honda XRV 750 Africa Twin
OK. Hope this is good enough for the first one. I did not take lots of pictures. Here are the routes I took. I should say that i enjoyed every hour on the bike. It is such a good ride. Although I am not as bike fit as before, I got into the rhythm quickly. But riding the back roads and visiting the small towns is somewhat crap. The speed changes from 35 miles/hour to 55. It is very slow and only the highways got 65 miles. So it did go slow and I nearly had to spend the entire day on the bike just to do 400 miles. It is not nice but you do see lots of interesting places and I even got to see lots of "deliverance" people. Man they are scary. Even more that 1000 African youths with AK's.

When i picked up my bike the dealer said that it would take me about 2 months to get to 600 miles for the first service. I told him he might be very wrong. Then he smiled and I told him to make the appointment for 4 days after I picked up the bike. He did not and now 4 days later I am standing on 729 miles and when I phoned them, he did not want to book a service as he thought i joked. The average per year is 5000 miles. Weird how much miles we in SA put on our bikes.

So here goes the route.

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Here I stopped at an old closed bridge.

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My panel with mascot (sorry Leo, but it was all I had)

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An old mill with the stone they used for the grain, it is very thick.

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This was at Asheboro. This old dude had to kick-start his Norton

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O I could not stop myself. I have a fetish with the bike culture of Harley's. O something I forgot. I have counted the bikers that did not make an effort to stick out their hands and say hallo as you pass them and got to 5. And each one of them had conditions where it could have been unsafe for them to wave. Even oncoming bikers on the other side of the highway said hallo. I could not believe it. This from HD's and superbike riders. All of them, black and white. The culture here seems to be very sweet between bikers. I even got myself a HD badge. Nope, not converted, but the culture of the HD people here in US are great. And it always looks like they enjoy it. Although they do nothing more than 5000 miles a year, they still enjoy their short outings. I love it.

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Then I found this sweet little place called Troy (N35 21.699 W79 53.936). As I got into the town, they were having a pre-4th of July parade. I got the tail end but did give some nice photos. A girl on a horse just, well, looks for yourself.

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Some of the dirt roads

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OK. Then I did not take lots of pictures. So this one is at Myrtle Beach in South Carolina. This is where I slept the night. I had to buy a cable and lock to lock the bike and also mainly for the wind not to blow the bike over. The wind was bad. It was so strange, in South Carolina the law is you can ride without a helmet. I only saw 1 biker with a helmet between lots. Bikes are very popular in SC.

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At Hard-Rock cafe. my family went with to Myrtle beach.

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Inside the hard-rock cafe.

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The Planet Hollywood.

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Another place that got my attention.

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On the way back.

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OK. This is it. I got really dehydrated in the 97 degrees F. Was very hot and then I stopped at a place called Iron Horse. It is close to where I stay and a bar/pub/pit stop. This place does not sell any food but only beer. No other drinks, just beer. There were a bunch of HD's and 1 Kawa Versys. Inside it was the most ruffians I have ever seen. I felt at home. They stopped selling pizza's (only) as they had problems keeping rat hair off the pizzas. And even sometimes the dead rats. So they decided to stop. Now, because they do not sell food, they can only serve beer to members. Now as a guest of a member you can also have refreshment (beer). But I was alone and so a ZZ-Top old dude signed me in as a guest and I had to buy him a beer. I asked the place how much is the membership (as it is close to my place and I just fell in love with the falling apart, rotten stinking, and dirty little shack. $1. Only 1 dollar.  :D They have to ask something but never did so they decided on a dollar. I love US. All the rules and then bikers make a mockery of a fine law  ;) . Beautiful  :ricky:

Unfortunately I had one to many (risky business with all the cops and they take your lic away when drinking and driving, but I was thirsty) and completely forgot to take photos. I will when I go back first take photos and then have a beer or 2 or 3 ...

OK. This is all for now and my next trip (after my first service) will be to the Tail of the Dragon
(https://www.tailofthedragon.com/).
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I will take lots of pics. It is apparently amazing and not so far from where I stay. So keep tuned in.

Cheers.
 
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