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The FZ6 Pony Express - route & riders & comments
- Thread starter rider1a
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stryken
Vertically Challenged
I get off work at 2:30pm most days so I can take the bag with me to work and go from there to where ever. Only bad thing about the Arch tomorrow is with People getting off work and the Allstar game activity's it will be a little hairy getting around. Tuesday would be out of the question with the President coming in they will have roads blocked off everywhere. Wish I could get out early tomorrow but with no notice it will be difficult to do. I could possibly see if I could get off 1/2 day early on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday and that would get me out of work at 10:00am. Let me know what you think, Monday is OK with me though if you just wanna do that. Beth, whats your scheldule and could fz6nick maybe go with us if we do one of these?
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i am off tomorrow, but will be working every other day. Let's plan for tomorrow afternoon. Where you work?
rider1a, i will not have time to ride all the way into dallas on the tight schedule I am going to be keeping. I was hoping you would be able to meet me somewhere along 75 on the north side or along 30 east of Dallas.
Let me know.
rider1a, i will not have time to ride all the way into dallas on the tight schedule I am going to be keeping. I was hoping you would be able to meet me somewhere along 75 on the north side or along 30 east of Dallas.
Let me know.
stryken
Vertically Challenged
Fenton... I don't mind riding down to Surdyke tomorrow or still going for a ride somewhere if you want. Tomorrow looks mostly dry so just let me know whats good for ya.
rider1a
Junior Member
I can meet you in Canton, Texas. It is located between Longview and Dallas. It is about 30 minutes south of 30.
This is scheduled for this Saturday, correct?
Fred
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no, Sunday. I leave St Louis Saturday night and will meet you sunday afternoon or evening. we are planning on staying sunday night in greenville or somewhere along 30/67 - the route home.
How's this work for you?
rider1a
Junior Member
Ok...I can meet you in Greenville, Texas at the Red Lobster located at 7601 Wesley. Their number is (903) 454-9691. The ride is 250 miles from Austin, so I should arrive somewhere between 11:00 and 1:00 pm on Sunday.
PM me your cell phone.
Thanks,
Fred
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It will likely be later in the afternoon that I arrive, I will be coming in from Springfield, MO Sunday which is about 400 miles. do you text message?
rider1a
Junior Member
If you leave around 4:00 am, you should arrive with plenty of spare time and avoid the blazing heat. Do you have an ETA estimate? Here is a route, that takes about 7 hours and is mainly comprised of speedy highways.
Yes, I do text....however, you might consider contacting a Dallas area rider and leave the bag with them if you're going to arrive late on Sunday. I can meet them in the Dallas metro some other weekend.
Fred
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ELIZABETH
Goofball Extraordinaire
The St. Louis area hand off took place today, after a torrential downpour yesterday postponed plans. (See Stryken's previous "sad face" post.)
View of the arch, over 650 feet tall (see lookout windows at top).
View attachment 19514
Here is Krid80's pretty red bike:
View attachment 19515
The newest member of the forum.
He doesn't say much.
View attachment 19516
The "official" hand off:
View attachment 19517
View of the arch, over 650 feet tall (see lookout windows at top).
View attachment 19514
Here is Krid80's pretty red bike:
View attachment 19515
The newest member of the forum.
He doesn't say much.
View attachment 19516
The "official" hand off:
View attachment 19517
stryken
Vertically Challenged
Well the bag has changed hands again. It is in the possession of Dirk (Krid80) an will be on its way to Texas this weekend. Here are some pictures Taken from an Arch observation area in Ill. We had originaly planned to go to the Arch itself but the traffic and blocked roads because of the upcoming Allstar game made this a better option. Member Elisabeth joined us on our ride, it was very nice meeting you and hope to ride with you again soon.:thumbup:
HAHA.. see Beth posted as I was creating this post...
HAHA.. see Beth posted as I was creating this post...
rider1a
Junior Member
Well the bag has changed hands again. It is in the possession of Dirk (Krid80) an will be on its way to Texas this weekend. Here are some pictures Taken from an Arch observation area in Ill. We had originaly planned to go to the Arch itself but the traffic and blocked roads because of the upcoming Allstar game made this a better option. Member Elisabeth joined us on our ride, it was very nice meeting you and hope to ride with you again soon.:thumbup:
HAHA.. see Beth posted as I was creating this post...
You guys did an excellent job! The picture of the arch is really quite good. I have never seen it that close. I wonder what type of alloy they used in it's construction?
I am looking forward to the Texas link-up with Dirk this Sunday. I don't think I can offer the same degree of scenery in my pictures during the middle of a drought with highs every day soaring to 105 degrees but...
I will swing by the hill country near Austin which has some better representative pictures of the Lone Star State.
Safe Trails,
Fred
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here's the route I have made for my weekend jaunt to Texas!
http://tinyurl.com/FZ6STLtoDallas
Anyone along there is WELCOME to join me for however long you wish to ride.
http://tinyurl.com/FZ6STLtoDallas
Anyone along there is WELCOME to join me for however long you wish to ride.
rider1a
Junior Member
here's the route I have made for my weekend jaunt to Texas!
from:festus, mo to:MO-21/MO-47 to:County Rd-214/MO-8 to:springfield, mo to:anna, tx to:greenville, tx to:Texarkana, TX to
Anyone along there is WELCOME to join me for however long you wish to ride.
Likewise here...this is my route
The good news is the temperatures should not exceed 92 on Sunday and there is a also a chance for a bit of a rain from the weather gods which should "cool" things a bit.
The most exciting historical object during the route will be this grain/hog silo....
There is no Tail of the Dragon in this part of Texas.
On the ride, I will be contemplating which charity will be getting my donation.
Cancer Research Foundation
Susan B. Kohmen Foundation (for breast cancer)
Arthritis Foundation
Make a Wish Foundation
Alzheimer's Foundation
Shriner's Hospital
St. Jude's Childrens Hospital
Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation (PBTF) Ride-4-Kids
I am still tempted by PBTF. Here is an example of Michael who according to the web site:
"endured the pain of five brain surgeries and countless days of poking and prodding, trusting strangers who sometimes hurt him in order to help him. He had chemotherapy, whole brain radiation and gamma knife radiation. He has scars on his head from surgery and scars on his tummy from putting in a port and a shunt," says Rita.
Today Michael is 12. He's lost complete hearing in his right ear, and the ability to close his right eye. But what a survivor. He loves chess, mathematics and hanging out with his friends. Last year, he made the math team and has been learning to play the drums".
Safe Trails,
Fred
rider1a
Junior Member
Fellow Riders,
I had not encountered Mr. Murphy's law in quite some. What started as an enthusiastic morning, ready to brace the hot, humid Texas summer with zeal ended with a LOUD crack in the garage. Apparently, my motorcycle storage area is rather tight in space and moving a loaded bike requires some degree of nimbleness. I pushed the bike around the side of my trailer and the clutch side foot-peg was broke off the bike as it caught the rail portion of the metal trailer.
My immediate reaction was one of a modest SSDG^NCddt6y2%%^&**(HGTHJH but I also realized I had to meet a time slot with krid80 or Dirk. Dirk had ridden his trusty, Leo-Vince equipped FZ6 for 500 miles just to reach our agreed destination of Greenville, Texas and now how was I going to make our agreed meeting time of 3:00 pm?
That left the only dreadful choice…the car. I jumped in my car and waved my FZ6 goodbye feeling a sense of remorse since the Pony Express bag had traveled half-way across the US on the saddle of the Fizzer. I turned on the radio and then proceeded to drone down the freeway for hours. I arrived in Greenville with a few minutes to spare. While I was drinking ice-tea, I noticed Dirk pulling into the restaurant parking lot with an older friend riding a Victory cruiser.
We chatted about his trip and also exchanging some tips on improving the performance of the FZ6. Dirk is a professional Yamaha dealer technician and he suggested some easy ECM mods by simply following his instructions, which are also included in his signature line of this message posts. He claims in addition to the Leo Vince exhaust, it added over 4 hp to his bike without the need for a Power Commander. After taking a few obligatory pictures, we parted ways. Dirk was going to make it to Texarkana before nightfall.
I plan on riding my portion to New Mexico this summer, and will work out the scheduling details soon. I did notice that several members have added some really neat souvenirs, stickers and accessories to the inside of the Pony Express bag including a list of which members have donated to the non-profit of his or her choice. This spirit of camaraderie is quite moving and I am looking forward to having the bag continue it’s journey without Mr. Murphy.
Safe Travels,
Fred Brown
I had not encountered Mr. Murphy's law in quite some. What started as an enthusiastic morning, ready to brace the hot, humid Texas summer with zeal ended with a LOUD crack in the garage. Apparently, my motorcycle storage area is rather tight in space and moving a loaded bike requires some degree of nimbleness. I pushed the bike around the side of my trailer and the clutch side foot-peg was broke off the bike as it caught the rail portion of the metal trailer.
My immediate reaction was one of a modest SSDG^NCddt6y2%%^&**(HGTHJH but I also realized I had to meet a time slot with krid80 or Dirk. Dirk had ridden his trusty, Leo-Vince equipped FZ6 for 500 miles just to reach our agreed destination of Greenville, Texas and now how was I going to make our agreed meeting time of 3:00 pm?
That left the only dreadful choice…the car. I jumped in my car and waved my FZ6 goodbye feeling a sense of remorse since the Pony Express bag had traveled half-way across the US on the saddle of the Fizzer. I turned on the radio and then proceeded to drone down the freeway for hours. I arrived in Greenville with a few minutes to spare. While I was drinking ice-tea, I noticed Dirk pulling into the restaurant parking lot with an older friend riding a Victory cruiser.
We chatted about his trip and also exchanging some tips on improving the performance of the FZ6. Dirk is a professional Yamaha dealer technician and he suggested some easy ECM mods by simply following his instructions, which are also included in his signature line of this message posts. He claims in addition to the Leo Vince exhaust, it added over 4 hp to his bike without the need for a Power Commander. After taking a few obligatory pictures, we parted ways. Dirk was going to make it to Texarkana before nightfall.
I plan on riding my portion to New Mexico this summer, and will work out the scheduling details soon. I did notice that several members have added some really neat souvenirs, stickers and accessories to the inside of the Pony Express bag including a list of which members have donated to the non-profit of his or her choice. This spirit of camaraderie is quite moving and I am looking forward to having the bag continue it’s journey without Mr. Murphy.
Safe Travels,
Fred Brown
MarinaFazer
Wonderbread
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Bummer about the peg but I'm glad you had anextra steed/wagon to get the Pony Express bag!
stryken
Vertically Challenged
Sorry to hear about the mistimed misfortune, how far from your home was the meeting site? If its not to awfully far you could right the bag situation by riding the bag back to the meeting place and re riding it home.:thumbup: If you are like me you are always looking for a good excuse to put a few more miles on the FZ anyway, especially if you have someone to ride with. Good luck on your leg of the trip, Be Safe!!
Edit: Never mind.. I just saw your route, That's to far for a repeat.
Edit: Never mind.. I just saw your route, That's to far for a repeat.
Last edited:
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Thanks for meeting me, Fred. Good looking pics. All in all we rode 655 miles to meet you, then another 130 to Texarkana. From 6pm Saturday when we departed home, to 6pm Sunday, we traveled 785 miles (give or take for odo error).
So today, Monday, we will be riding about 480 miles to get back home. Good weekend for riding, very mild weather.
oh.... and here vvvvvv is that link for tuning.
So today, Monday, we will be riding about 480 miles to get back home. Good weekend for riding, very mild weather.
oh.... and here vvvvvv is that link for tuning.
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now for the break down...
We left Surdyke Motorsports (where I work) right about 6pm Saturday evening and rode to Springfield for the night, right around 200 miles. It was an interesting ride, to be sure! First off, I had never ridden with Terry, my friend and coworker who rides a 2005 Victory Kingpin. Terry likes to go FAST, which is ok with me. We were smooth sailing (read: flying low) until Steeleville, MO where police had a sobriety checkpoint stopping traffic both directions. That traffic held us up for 15 min or so.
We gassed up and ate at the first Rolla exit on I-44 getting about 45 mpg, which is pretty good considering our speed. As the sun fell from the sky, so fell the temperature. Back on I-44 I lasted one exit before making a beeline for Walmart and a warm shirt. I had NOT expected to be cold on a mid July ride to the south! So, a clearance rack thermal long underwear top solved my problems. The 19 year old cashier tried to be all flirty flirt with me too.
"So. Do you actually ride a motorcycle, or do you just wear that coat to look cool?"
"I actually have a motorcycle"
"What kind? Cruiser or 'crotch rocket'?"
"um..... 'crotch rocket'"
"oooo my boyfr.... um... EX-boyfriend had a 250 'crotch rocket' and it was fun. Is yours fast?"
"yes. very fast."
"he let me drive his once"
"well. that sounds like a mistake."
So, I donned my new shirt, headed out to my "very fast 'crotch rocket,'" aimed at Springfield, and rode my 'crotch rocket' very fast.
Friends of mine, Katie and Buddy, let us crash on the couches and so we spent about 8 hours with them.
Sunday morning Terry and I were up and on the bikes shortly after 6am and after a hearty breakfast at Ziggy's, we hit I-44 again. Morning temps were in the high 50's. Chilly! To avoid the Will Rogers Turnpike tolls, we took exit 1 at the MO/KS/OK border and went up into Baxter Springs, KS. Quaint little town, but we weren't stopping. US-69 south was accessed here. Our next stop was in Big Cabin, OK at a truck stop where we fuelled, bathroomed, and I grabbed a Red Bull. We aimed our bikes south with Texas in mind. Our final fuel stop before Texas was in a little place called Stringtown, OK. We spent enough time there to remove the warm clothes, grab a cold drink and fuel up. Terry, who knows no stranger, flirted with the cashier some. Checking GPS, we had 118 miles until Greenville, TX and 2 hours til the rendezvous time. Perfect.
In Texas, people sure are nice. If you wanna go f-f-f-fast, they will pull to the shoulder of the road to allow you by. If only the other 49 were so considerate. One lady, in a Honda Accord, used a narrow, bumpy, gravely shoulder for this and nearly took Terry's leg off with the rock she threw. Still, a nice gesture.
We rolled into Greenville at ten to 3, I listened to a voicemail from rider1a, checked the GPS, and found the checkpoint by 3:20 or so. Poor Fred was in his Nissan due to the aforementioned mishap. After 20-30 minutes of chit-chat, pictures, and talk about CO-mode, Terry and I were getting antsy to make Texarkana. Only 130 miles left on day 2 and we were ready to relax.
We made Texarkana at around 5:30, and had our hotel room by 6pm. It seemed unreal that 24 hours earlier, we were in Festus just leavin. We were 785 miles deep and all of those were with 24 hours. Not an iron butt, but we hadn't even planned on making Texarkana so early.
We unpacked and headed to "On The Border" for some Tex-Mex. Heather, our waitress, made things quite interesting to say the least. She was definately working poor old Terry for a tip.... it worked. Heather had a rhinestone on her upper lip. I, making conversation, asked how bad did that hurt. Imagine our surprise when her reply was "my lip hurt way worse than my other two piercings." So she proceeded to tell us how her left nipple was about a 4 on the pain chart, her right was a 6, and her lip was a 10. She also told us that she wished she could show us, but she couldn't do that at work.
The FUNNIEST part of the whole trip was as she walked away following this conversation, Terry looks at me, mouth open, and says "what the heck just happened?!" LOL So, Terry invites Heather back to the hotel to go swimming and she politely declines. We, do hit the pool before bed, however. We have another long day ahead.
Monday morning, Terry wakes me up with revelry at 5:50am (thanks) and after a hot breakfast and fueling we are on the road by 7.
Interstate 30 in Arkansas is shaded. It was nearly 80 in Texarkana at 7am when we left, but just outside of Little Rock we had to stop to add gear. It had dropped about 10 degrees and the shade made it feel even colder. I also saw lightning in the distance so I wanted to check my Sprint Touch Pro, or as Terry called it my "magic box," and radar confirmed a small batch of storms ahead. I put rain covers on my saddlebags, my thermal shirt on, and off we went.
We got wet in Little Rock. It rained very hard for about 15 minutes and then stopped. By our next fuel stop after hitting US-67N, I was almost dry. At this fuel stop, it was 185 miles to Poplar Bluff, MO and Terry decided he wanted to not get gas until then. So off we went at a slower than normal pace. We did stop one time before Poplar Bluff, but only to rehydrate and sugar up.
At 1:45pm we rolled in to a BP in Poplar Bluff. Riding very easy, Terry achieved 45mpg on the Victory, and I got 52mpg, my best ever. We spent over an hour in Poplar Bluff just relaxing, talking to curious bystanders and having some gas station goodies. We were 122 miles from home, so we were good on fuel and the end was in sight.
US-67 led us home and 1280 miles from where we began, we also ended our journey. We arrived at Terry's house 47 hours from when we left. Even while spending 13 hours in Texarkana and 8 in Springfield, MO, we averaged 27.25mph. If you take out our night stops, we averaged 49.5mph which is right on our goal of 50mph. This speed does not factor in fuel stops, food stops etc and is usually a good figure to use while calculating travel time.
After leaving Terry's house, I went and played softball. My team won both games in the double header.
Last night, my bed sure felt soft. I slept like a BABY.
We left Surdyke Motorsports (where I work) right about 6pm Saturday evening and rode to Springfield for the night, right around 200 miles. It was an interesting ride, to be sure! First off, I had never ridden with Terry, my friend and coworker who rides a 2005 Victory Kingpin. Terry likes to go FAST, which is ok with me. We were smooth sailing (read: flying low) until Steeleville, MO where police had a sobriety checkpoint stopping traffic both directions. That traffic held us up for 15 min or so.
We gassed up and ate at the first Rolla exit on I-44 getting about 45 mpg, which is pretty good considering our speed. As the sun fell from the sky, so fell the temperature. Back on I-44 I lasted one exit before making a beeline for Walmart and a warm shirt. I had NOT expected to be cold on a mid July ride to the south! So, a clearance rack thermal long underwear top solved my problems. The 19 year old cashier tried to be all flirty flirt with me too.
"So. Do you actually ride a motorcycle, or do you just wear that coat to look cool?"
"I actually have a motorcycle"
"What kind? Cruiser or 'crotch rocket'?"
"um..... 'crotch rocket'"
"oooo my boyfr.... um... EX-boyfriend had a 250 'crotch rocket' and it was fun. Is yours fast?"
"yes. very fast."
"he let me drive his once"
"well. that sounds like a mistake."
So, I donned my new shirt, headed out to my "very fast 'crotch rocket,'" aimed at Springfield, and rode my 'crotch rocket' very fast.
Friends of mine, Katie and Buddy, let us crash on the couches and so we spent about 8 hours with them.
Sunday morning Terry and I were up and on the bikes shortly after 6am and after a hearty breakfast at Ziggy's, we hit I-44 again. Morning temps were in the high 50's. Chilly! To avoid the Will Rogers Turnpike tolls, we took exit 1 at the MO/KS/OK border and went up into Baxter Springs, KS. Quaint little town, but we weren't stopping. US-69 south was accessed here. Our next stop was in Big Cabin, OK at a truck stop where we fuelled, bathroomed, and I grabbed a Red Bull. We aimed our bikes south with Texas in mind. Our final fuel stop before Texas was in a little place called Stringtown, OK. We spent enough time there to remove the warm clothes, grab a cold drink and fuel up. Terry, who knows no stranger, flirted with the cashier some. Checking GPS, we had 118 miles until Greenville, TX and 2 hours til the rendezvous time. Perfect.
In Texas, people sure are nice. If you wanna go f-f-f-fast, they will pull to the shoulder of the road to allow you by. If only the other 49 were so considerate. One lady, in a Honda Accord, used a narrow, bumpy, gravely shoulder for this and nearly took Terry's leg off with the rock she threw. Still, a nice gesture.
We rolled into Greenville at ten to 3, I listened to a voicemail from rider1a, checked the GPS, and found the checkpoint by 3:20 or so. Poor Fred was in his Nissan due to the aforementioned mishap. After 20-30 minutes of chit-chat, pictures, and talk about CO-mode, Terry and I were getting antsy to make Texarkana. Only 130 miles left on day 2 and we were ready to relax.
We made Texarkana at around 5:30, and had our hotel room by 6pm. It seemed unreal that 24 hours earlier, we were in Festus just leavin. We were 785 miles deep and all of those were with 24 hours. Not an iron butt, but we hadn't even planned on making Texarkana so early.
We unpacked and headed to "On The Border" for some Tex-Mex. Heather, our waitress, made things quite interesting to say the least. She was definately working poor old Terry for a tip.... it worked. Heather had a rhinestone on her upper lip. I, making conversation, asked how bad did that hurt. Imagine our surprise when her reply was "my lip hurt way worse than my other two piercings." So she proceeded to tell us how her left nipple was about a 4 on the pain chart, her right was a 6, and her lip was a 10. She also told us that she wished she could show us, but she couldn't do that at work.
The FUNNIEST part of the whole trip was as she walked away following this conversation, Terry looks at me, mouth open, and says "what the heck just happened?!" LOL So, Terry invites Heather back to the hotel to go swimming and she politely declines. We, do hit the pool before bed, however. We have another long day ahead.
Monday morning, Terry wakes me up with revelry at 5:50am (thanks) and after a hot breakfast and fueling we are on the road by 7.
Interstate 30 in Arkansas is shaded. It was nearly 80 in Texarkana at 7am when we left, but just outside of Little Rock we had to stop to add gear. It had dropped about 10 degrees and the shade made it feel even colder. I also saw lightning in the distance so I wanted to check my Sprint Touch Pro, or as Terry called it my "magic box," and radar confirmed a small batch of storms ahead. I put rain covers on my saddlebags, my thermal shirt on, and off we went.
We got wet in Little Rock. It rained very hard for about 15 minutes and then stopped. By our next fuel stop after hitting US-67N, I was almost dry. At this fuel stop, it was 185 miles to Poplar Bluff, MO and Terry decided he wanted to not get gas until then. So off we went at a slower than normal pace. We did stop one time before Poplar Bluff, but only to rehydrate and sugar up.
At 1:45pm we rolled in to a BP in Poplar Bluff. Riding very easy, Terry achieved 45mpg on the Victory, and I got 52mpg, my best ever. We spent over an hour in Poplar Bluff just relaxing, talking to curious bystanders and having some gas station goodies. We were 122 miles from home, so we were good on fuel and the end was in sight.
US-67 led us home and 1280 miles from where we began, we also ended our journey. We arrived at Terry's house 47 hours from when we left. Even while spending 13 hours in Texarkana and 8 in Springfield, MO, we averaged 27.25mph. If you take out our night stops, we averaged 49.5mph which is right on our goal of 50mph. This speed does not factor in fuel stops, food stops etc and is usually a good figure to use while calculating travel time.
After leaving Terry's house, I went and played softball. My team won both games in the double header.
Last night, my bed sure felt soft. I slept like a BABY.
ELIZABETH
Goofball Extraordinaire
So, Fred, what's up with the Pony Express Bag? Do you have plans yet to take it to New Mexico?
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