Trans-America Trail

The Trans-America Trail (TAT) is a trail that goes east to west (not west to east - more on this later), starting in Tennessee and ending in Oregon.

There is a small group of local Buell riders who are going on their dual-purpose bikes in June. Now, I’m a road rider, and in fact only once have owned a dual-purpose bike (we called them enduro bikes in the late 70’s), and only rarely took the bike off road because I needed it to get to school and work and couldn’t afford to have it go down. When I bought the Buell Ulysses, I thought that finally I would have a bike to go down dirt roads and fire roads if needed. Anyhow, with the recent purchase of the BMW RT, I don’t have the money to buy yet another bike, even if I’m going to sell it after the trip, so I’m considering taking the Ulysses on the Trans-America Trail with the Buell boys. I’ve read the ride reports and nearly everybody thinks I’m crazy for considering it since the Ulysses was not designed for that much off-road. I do wish there was a better off-road tire for the Ulysses, but there isn’t. So, I’m going to put a set of Pirelli MT60 tires on the bike if I finally decide to go. I think the thing most people on AdvRider and BadWeatherBiker forums don’t understand is that I’m not all that opposed to going around sections that I don’t think I can handle on the Ulysses and meeting up with the group somewhere for the night. A former colleague at LSI loaned me a book about Emilio Scotto, a man who rode his Honda Goldwing around the world. It took him ten years to do it, and in the book he talks about having to push his bike through some horrendous jungles and muck in Africa and Asia. I really think if he can do that on a Goldwing, a bike designed for 100% street, I can tackle some of the TAT without problems. Crazy? Maybe, but I think Erik Buell would go for it.

Will I go? I’m still unsure. I have some doubts, but I’m always ready for an adventure. One thing the Marine Corps taught me is that my only limit is my mind and what I tell myself I can’t do. I’ll keep you posted, but I am looking forward to the planning that has to be done for this trip.

Oh yeah, a bit about the east to west route. The guy who came up with the route lives in Tennessee, so it makes sense that it is routed to go westward. Both roll maps and regular maps he setup going that direction and on his website, he makes it clear that is how he intends people to ride it, not the other way around. The group plans to pick up the trail in Arkansas and go only as far as Utah. I may or may not go all the way... more to come I’m sure!

New Year's Day Ride Report (Central Texas)

A few of the Buell guys wanted to go on a ride for New Year’s day. Seeing as how the temperatures looked like they would be pretty nice, I started planning. Initially, I started planning a multi-day trip. However, nobody wanted to do a two day ride, so I remapped the route so it was more or less what the BMW club I’m in does occasionally. Actually, I combined a few routes and added some things like going out to Hunt, TX where there is a mini Stonehenge and Easter Island statue. A couple of people agreed as long as it wasn’t too early. So, I set the time for 11 AM.

I'm about two minutes away from the HEB parking lot and I get a call from Ken K., who says "I'm here, but there isn't anybody else here." I tell him I'm two minutes away. As I pull into the parking lot, I'm amazed. When he sent me an email about the trip, I recognized his name, but didn't put two and two together. Turns out Ken is one of the officers in the local BMW club I belong to who purchased a 2007 Buell Lightning Long recently.

We hung around a few minutes more before a guy on a BMW GS comes cruising into the parking lot. After a tour of the parking lot, he stops and to talk with us. I'm not sure if it was more a talk or trash talking about Buell and HD and how he wouldn't own one. Ken and I both told him we also owned BMW bikes too, but somehow I don't think that won him over since we were there with Buells and not BMWs. Whatever... After a few minutes his buddy shows up who he is trying to meet and they get into the guys car. Ken and I look at our watch 11:20, nobody else, “OK, their loss, forget about 'em”. Ken had a dinner engagement, so we decide to shorten the ride a bit from the original course.

The sun is out and things seem great as we ride down RR 12, the sky gets a bit cloudy. As we turn west, and get closer to Blanco, the sun can't be seen. It's cold. I tossed my winter gloves into the Uly topcase along with my fleece, but in the sun it wasn't all that cold, so I didn't put them on. In Blanco, we stop for a bio break and I don my winter gloves and fleece. Ken probably knows these roads better than I do, but both of us have been on these roads quite a bit with the BMW group. When we ride with them, it's pretty tame and I'm keeping up that tradition.

We hit Comfort and decide to go up Old San Antonio Road towards Fredricksburg instead of going through Kerrville and out to Hunt. We stop in Fredricksburg and fuel up. Ken and I compare how much fuel we put in the bikes. He has just adjusted his timing and only puts in 2.? gallons, my Uly is just over 3 gallons (hmm... it's almost time for the 10k service, but I really should be getting better mileage out of the Ulysess). Turns out the way Ken wants to go back is how I planned the trip originally. But as I said, he knows these roads probably better than I do. I tell him to take the lead, but somehow I end up leading again, at least for a little bit. On RR 2721 I think Ken was tired of my 10 MPH over the speed limit pace, as I'm gazing at some cattle off to my right, I see a blazing man on a Buell wizz past me... Ken takes the lead and suddenly, our pace picks up quite a bit. On the turns he really is pushing me. Did I mention that Ken is old enough to be my dad? Yet this guy rides a mean bike? He is really pushing me as we go through the corners. Hell, I had no idea that's how he wanted this ride to go. ;-)

We arrived back at 71 & Hamilton Pool Road and thank each other for the ride and headed home.

Total miles: 194
Total Time: 4 hours

GPS track (actual route)

A New Year, A New Bike (AKA You Did What?)

Having just returned from Florida aboard my 2004 BMW R1150RT, it wouldn’t seem that getting rid of it was in order. And truth be told, I really wasn’t looking to replace it. It is a sweet bike, with lovely curves that BMW has since gotten rid of. The new RT bikes have a much more angular look and are lacking the curves. But a funny thing happened. I was reading the For Sale area of the BMWSportTouring web site, when I stumbled across an ad for a 2009 RT. The price was right and so I asked Teri about it. I think she was reluctant at first, but said it was a good deal. I contacted the guy and got the information, called the bank and got approval from the money people to buy it, then I went looking for a plane to Fort Wayne, IN, where the bike was located. That’s where the realization started kicking in...

They guy was asking about 2 K less than what a bike like that locally was selling in the BMW bike world, that’s huge. But add in plane fare, gas, hotels and the difference between the two starts to shrink. I had to go to the local BMW shop to pick up two o-rings that had developed an issue on my recent trip. So, I asked the sales manager if he had any interest in a trade; he didn’t. I also told him the story about the ‘used’ 09 with 608 miles on it that I was going to buy, but out of kicks asked if they were willing to move on a bike that was nearly identical to the one in Fort Wayne, I was was going to get. Turns out December 30/31st is a great time to buy a bike, and he was willing to work with me on the price. Turns out when everything was said and done, the price difference was within a couple of hundred dollars. I called the guy back in Fort Wayne, explained the deal the local dealership was giving me and apologized. I’m sure he was upset, I would be if I was in his shoes, but it happens in sales.

So, now I have a brand new silver 2009 BMW R1200RT, along with my 2004 BMW R1150RT, and my 2007 Buell Ulysses... anybody want a deal on a 2004 BMW R1150RT with lots of extras? I have listed it, now I need to clean it up and take photos, so I can get it moved out of my shed and into somebody else’s house.