September Midwest Regional Ride is a HUGE Success!
Saturday, September 20, 2003
Text and photos by Joe Nardy
On September 20, 2003 members of the GS Resources from Illinois and Wisconsin joined up for a Regional Ride. The day started out rather chilly, with temps in the low 50’s. We thought we all understood the meeting places and times, but of course we were wrong. We also had a couple guys drop out and some arrive later than expected, but eventually we all hooked up. The Illinois group included the following:
- Adam (AOD) on his ’79 GS550E
- Domino (77gs550) on his ’77 GS550 (DUH!)
- Jim (Jmurphy) on his ’79 GS750E
- Joe (Joe Nardy) on his ’83 GS1100E
- Ryan (first timer) on his ’81 GS550T
- Tony (a friend of Ryan’s) on his very new looking 1200 Sportster
After the Illinois guys met they headed north towards Wisconsin. For those of you not familiar with the geography of these parts, Northern Illinois is mostly a large suburb of Chicago and is very flat. Our neighbor Wisconsin is much more scenic, rural, and actually has some curves. So we were counting on the knowledge of the Wisconsin guys to get us ‘flatlanders’ on some roads where we could use the edges of our tires. We found the Wisconsin guys right where they said they would be. They didn’t even seem too mad that we were an hour or so late. The Wisconsin crew consisted of:
- Dave ( MilwaukeeDavid) on his ’78 GS750E
- Phil (PhilEkins) on his ’82 GS650G
- Gene (Gene Daniels) on his ?? GS1100GK
After friendly chat and mutual GS "compliments" we hit the road. Everyone wore safety gear and rode well in a group, and was a fun ride. The day turned out to be sunny with a bit of wind and cool. The GS’s loved that cool dense air and ran well. We went past a parachuting place and had about 10 skydivers dropping down right over us as we passed by. The colorful parachutes against the blue sky was quite a sight from our saddles.
While taking in some nice roads before we knew it, it was lunch time. Gene directed us to a place called Luke’s where they serve Italian beef and sausage sandwiches. These are Chicago area favorites and if you’ve never had a good beef or sausage sandwich you are missing a real treat. Be sure to try one if you’re ever in our area. After lunch Jim found one of his carbs leaking and decided to head home. We were sorry to see him go and hope he made it home okay. Also, Tony took off to visit some relatives, leaving us with seven riders.
Full as we were, we climbed back on the bikes and rode some more. Our sense of food took us to another tasty place, Culver’s, where we had custard (hint – see accompanying story about eggs in the ice cream) and root beer floats. Again very tasty.
There must have been something about the sweets in our systems because we headed back down the same road we had just taken, only this time we rode it significantly faster than we had earlier. It was a blast! Then, we wound our way to the resort town of Lake Geneva. Just past Lake Geneva, Adam, Domino, Ryan, and I said good-bye to the remaining Wisconsin guys, Dave and Gene.
The remaining Illinois guys had a pretty quick ride back to the flat land. Adam was setting a pretty good pace. He did mention something about a baby shower party tonight (not that he’s a wuss or anything!). We all went our separate ways and headed home. It worked out well. We got home just as it was getting chilly again. I ended up with 260 miles for the day. The Illinois guys should be close to that. I’m not sure what the Wisconsin guys will end up with. Dave still had a way to go and was really enjoying the ride. He may still be riding!
Once again it was fantastic to meet, talk, and ride with fellow GSers. What could be better than a bunch of twenty something Suzuki GS motorcycles riding hard on a beautiful day?
Domino likes his new rubber!
Domino FINALLY got his new tires! These actually have ROUND profiles and no dryrot cracks. It obviously made a difference because his riding was noticeably improved. Way to go Domino!
Ryan doesn’t wear underwear!
Yes, it’s true. He told me so today. Earlier he went out and picked up some bike shorts for bike riding, and based on my advice wore them sans underwear. Today was his first day wearing them. He asked the guy at the bicycle shop to confirm the no underwear thing. Sometime well into the ride he admitted that he was wearing the bicycle shorts……and no underwear! I’m glad that he also said it was the best thing he has ever done to make riding more comfortable. It sure would have been difficult explaining myself otherwise!
Hey! Someone put eggs in my ice cream!
So we stopped at Culver’s for custard. What exactly is custard, I wondered. It looks like ice cream and tastes kinda like ice cream. So what’s the difference? I asked this question out loud and of course one of the Wisconsin guys, Dave, knew the answer. Eggs. Custard has eggs in it. Well, it is always good to learn new things and I thought I would pass this along to everyone so you’ll know if anyone ever asks you. By the way, custard tastes fantastic!
Domino is a kleptomaniac!
Domino starts the quite chilly day off wearing no gloves. Someone mentions it at a gas stop and Jim offers Domino a brand-new pair of gloves. Domino readily accepts the generous offer and later comments on how nice it is to ride with gloves. As mentioned earlier, Jim has a small problem and heads for home. Domino pretends not to notice until a later gas stop. “What happened to Jim?” he asks innocently. Of course Jim is nowhere to be found and Domino has a new pair of gloves! Coincidence? An innocent mistake? I think NOT!
Countersteering – It really works!
During lunch and custard breaks we are talking about riding techniques and several guys are unfamiliar with countersteering. It is explained that if you push on the right handlebar while moving at any significant speed the bike will turn right, and vice-versa, contrary to what you would expect. As expected there are doubters and on the subsequent stretches of riding you can see guys experimenting and of course confirming the physics of countersteering. When we turn up the velocity a bit it is apparent the skill level in the corners is definitely higher. We all ride better when we learn!
For Joe Nardy's link to his photo gallery (at another web site) taken during the rally click here.
