Stator, The GSR travelling mascot.

[gs58]

I have not posted much about Stator but he has been getting around. On Wednesday we visited the Daytona International Speedway and the Boot Hill Saloon on Main Street, Beach Side, Daytona Beach. We then hit St Augustine, the nation's oldest city, for a couple of tourist shots and a visit to the Tradewinds Lounge, the town's old school watering hole (like Boot Hill is to Daytona). Then Friday while I was attending a function in Charleston, SC we went by Charleston Harbor to let Stator see where in 1861 the first shots of the American Civil War were fired. Today he went with me to my mothers and helped us celebrated her 90th birthday.

There are pictures of all but I am having some trouble getting things to work right on my hosting setup and I have not had time to work it out. Soon, I promise

So here is Stator and my schedule for the next two weeks or so. On Wednesday I will be flying up to Indianapolis to pick up my repaired Yamaha Majesty scooter in Bedford. I will see to it he gets by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for a few photos. By Friday or so Stator and I will I will be heading out to Sturgis, SD for that week of madness during which he will be taken for photo ops to Mt Rushmore, the Black Hills, and Devils Tower at least. We also intend to get in a visit at the Full Throttle Saloon. From Sturgis we will be heading to Clear Lake, IA to observe to spot where the music died (Buddy Holly plane crash site).

At that point I would like to hand off Stator to leedbutcher. Leedbutcher, talk to us. If that doesn't work out I might have the time to do a hand off in Wisconsin.

I had no intention of keeping Stator as long as I have. But since there was no one close to pass him to I decided to give him as much quality ground time as I could. My intent is to expose him (and the followers of this thread) to famous and infamous chunks of Americana that would likely have interest to forum members. I have organized around three types of destination locations.--historical sites, legendary racing venues, and legendary bars.


It's good to see that the little fella is getting out and about, and that there are some exciting trips on the horizon. I look forward to seeing some pictures of the events and historical places when they get posted. This is what I envisaged for Stator - getting out and about and giving those of us who live miles away a bit of an insight into the history, geography and the people of your travels. I don't think that he has to meet everyone straight away as hopefully he will be travelling for years. If there is an opportunity for him to travel to a different country, it should be taken as it means that forum members from different countries may meet each other. If he gets "stuck" in one place for a while because there is no one to pass him on to, then stick him in a box and send him to a place where someone can continue to keep him mobile. I look forward to re-reading these entries in a few years and remembering the people he's met and the places he's been - wonderful stuff!

[Missile99]

No ATTGATT for the bear? Can't he at least have a little leather helmet or something?

The bear is obviously a squid.

I've been trying to catch up on this thread to see where our friend has been. Dpep, since he's visited the beaches of the east coast of Florida, I think he'll enjoy a trip to the Sarasota County beaches on the Gulf without the annoyance of jellyfish. He can certainly be a guest here after September. I'm using the awful riding weather to catch up on some maintenance. Maybe he'll want to be a snowbird (snowbear?) and enjoy some of Florida's perfect wintertime weather. Yes Steve, he'll have another dreaded trip to Flori-duh and get dumbed down. It'll be good for him after spending time in the states with all the smart people.

[dpep]

Update

Stator has been on the move. I apologize for the lack of pictures so far. I have been in non-stop mode for several days running.

On Friday morning we visited the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. On Saturday morning we were in Clear Lake, Iowa and visited the Surf Ballroom where Buddy Holly gave his last concert. We then drove out of town a little ways to visit the site of the plane crash where the music died.

We are now in Sturgis, SD with about half a million or so of our closest friends. More adventures to folllow here.
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[Anthony]

Any chance Stator will make it to VA? maybe through NC or WV?

[Steve]

Yes Steve, he'll have another dreaded trip to Flori-duh and get dumbed down.

My spelling of your state's name has nothing to do with intelligence.

It's all about the BORING riding conditions down there. I consider Flori-duh to be a "destination state".
Pick a destination, get there. Just don't expect to be entertained along the way.

.

[Missile99]

My spelling of your state's name has nothing to do with intelligence.


It's all about the BORING riding conditions down there. I consider Flori-duh to be a "destination state".
Pick a destination, get there. Just don't expect to be entertained along the way.

.

I like the spelling you used because, in my opinion, it does pertain to intelligence at least in this part of Florida. Apparently, my perception of people anywhere near me is poor. To me they're mostly dumba**es.

You're absolutely right about the destination part. I crave some good scenery and routes. There are a few nice, peaceful places with farms and open roads but it is so boring. There are only a few 1/2 mile sections of some roads that are even the slightest bit entertaining on a motorcycle. It's all perpendicular roads and stop signs/traffic lights unless you've found the few stretches of fun that end too fast.

So, whenever that bear makes his way down here he'll have some boring roads to ride on. At least with me he won't get dumbed down too much.

[dpep]

The latest

Time for an update. We were back from Sturgis on Sunday and I have been in 'put out fires and pay bills' mode since. Stator had a great time and got to see Rushmore, Devil's Tower, and the Badlands. He also got to be up close and personal with several attractive young ladies at the Full Throttle Saloon including one or two whose clothing consisted of body paint.

My ISP hosting site did not have the space to put up all of the pictures so I have switched over to Dropbox and am in the process of figuring out how I get the pictures there to link into posts. I only took my first shot at it last night and of course failed. Soon, I hope.

I would like to see some more discussion about where Stator should go next. I am scheduled to go to the Cranbrook, BC ride in early September. Then I will be driving an RV up to the Chicago corner of Indiana (Gary area) the last week in September. If I still have Stator by the time I hit Cranbrook and there is no other plan, that is where I will most likely hand him off.

I am however agreeable to shipping Stator to another location if someone has an itinerary for him. In any case what I would like to see is some sort of general plan that has at least the next one or two future stops rather than a hand off with no thought of where he might go next and how. Otherwise he risks getting stuck someplace for a couple of months or more as he has with me.
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[850GT_Rider]

The only plan I had mentioned was to fly him to Ireland with us at the end of the month, and he can tour the UK with members over there. (Isle of Man?) But I fully understand if the collective wants to keep him stateside for a while longer......

[Allie]

Whenever he gets shipped to me (because it doesn't look like there are any players close to me) I can ride him around for a week or two, then ship him out to an interested party without worrying about arranging a handoff. I will say that I will have more time to ride him around than usual next week and the week after, if it happens to work out that way.

[cowboyup3371]

I made the suggestion last month about where he could go.....send him to Allie and then he can come out this way

[dpep]

Allie, PM me with your address and contact information. I will package up Stator this weekend and send him to you.
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[Allie]

Allie, PM me with your address and contact information. I will package up Stator this weekend and send him to you.
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PM sent, Don. A steady diet of muffins during his stay here should have him appropriately hi in the middle and round on both ends for his trip out to Mr. Cowboy's. If anyone in NJ, Eastern PA, or southern NY (including those wackadoozers in NYC) wants to take him from me and be responsible for moving him along let me know and we can set up a meeting, otherwise he's shipping out at the end of August at the latest.

[Anthony]

If my bike was up to standards, I'd love to bring him down to VA. I hopefully will have a running bike by the end of August. If anyone comes near Southwest VA, let me know.

[dpep]

After Stator and I left the Tina Wasserott Southern Indiana ride we stopped off on our way back to Florida in Evansville, IN (my hometown) to visit an old friend. He was not at home when we arrived so we hung around in his yard for awhile to await his return.

Stator made himself comfortable on my new DL650 with specially adapted $14.95 Wal Mart butt pad.







Here is a shot later on of Stator hanging out in my friend's garage.




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[dpep]

A couple of weeks later back in Florida it was Fourth of July and Stator was glad to help fire up the grill.



I will say he is the only guest I ever had who requested honey for his burger.



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