Miami to Ontario Niagara Falls

[STrangr]

Thanks to all the members and their great input, the trip (while having some setbacks) was completed successfully.

Day 0 (i'll explain why) June 12th

We were supposed to leave on Fri June 12th after work. Bike was at the Honda dealer having new tires put on ( pr4 gt ), new windshield installed, an oil change and had the forks rebuilt.
I ended up leaving work late, making it to the dealer minutes before closing. I picked up the bike, freshly washed and ready to go.
I throw on my helmet and just as I am about to leave, my wife calls and reminds me to take the parking decal off of the old windshield. I run back in to the dealer, its not on the windshield and is no where to be found.
After 30 minuted of looking and calling various employees I gave up and left.
I got home, loaded up the bike and grabbed a bite to eat before we take off, and I notice my wife with that look on her face like "we are not really going to leave this late, are we?"
She hasn't slept good the past week and was very tired and it had gotten pretty late. So I reluctantly agreed to leave the next morning.

Day 1 The Launch
June 13th 8:00am
Ft Lauderdale FL

Bike loaded, gear on (ATGATT) We hop on the bike, load the route up on the Garmin, take a pic of the starting mileage on the dash and take off.
11,000 on the dot.
With butterflies in our stomach we head out on I95 north and we officially start our adventure.
about a 150 miles in we decide to pull off one of the rest areas and grab some Dunkin Donuts.
A quick bike and we are back on the road. We need to make up for the late start so we pack on the miles.

About 6:45 pm, we get out of Florida and hit our first border Georgia

We get our pictures and keep pushing.
Crossing Georgia was tough, they were experiencing a heat wave and temps were in the high 90's low 100's.

Stopping frequently and loading up on Gatorade we push to our 2nd border South Carolina arriving at 8:19pm.



We ride on a little more trying to get as close as we can to our next state and decide to call it a night.
Total miles for day one 568.
Not bad.

 

[T_C]

Sorry to hear the start of the story... but hopefully the trip gets better.

Laying on her side, engine still running, back wheel spinning.

I would be looking into this.. the bike has a sensor in the nose cone that should kill the engine once the bike lays over.

 

[STrangr]

Day 2
June 14 2015
Heartbreak in Virginia
Its a beautiful morning we grab breakfast and head out quickly,

We keep rolling, listening to Xm radio and kind of zoning out and before we knew it our 3rd state sneaks up on us at 2:30pm
North Carolina.
Fighting the high temps we keep pushing and try to cover as much ground as possible.
The scenery starts to change, we can see hills and mountains in the distance. A definite sign that we are far from flat ole Florida

I was cruising along enjoying the tunes and didn't notice the border coming up on the GPS, and when I realized it I was doing about 80 mph in the left lane.
We hit our fourth state. Im going pretty fast. Should I attempt to cross over and hit the brakes? I want this state picture but this could be dangerous.My mind was racing.I think about skipping it, I probably should have. I kind of wish I did, but no. I am stubborn.

I check my right and no cars are in my way I cut over (safely) and hit the brakes and was rolling to a stop.

I go to put my feet down and my right foot was not touching the ground. I didn't realize the road was at an angle, and sure enough the bike starts to lean more and more to the right.
Realizing we were in trouble, me and Vani (My wife) jump off the bike, me catching my left shin against something hard and we roll on the grass beside us.
I quickly get up and check on Vani, thankfully she was fine and I look at the ST. Laying on her side, engine still running, back wheel spinning.

OH NO!!!
What the:cus: have I done!!!I quickly hit the engine kill and try to lift her up. No way. Not at that angle. As I stand there trying to figure out how to get out of this mess, I hear the friendly roar of 2 bikes. They pull up next to us and ask if we were ok, then helped us get Astro back up. Yes my ST is named Astro (figure it out)
I survey the damage. At first glance, broken mirror and a few scuff marks. Not too bad.
As I go to pop the mirror casing back in place, I realize one of the clips that attaches it is broken off. Crap!!!
I attempt to rig it as best as I canI look like the hunchback of notre dame in this picture (thanks babe)
It looks pretty solid, I think it will hold.
While extremely disappointed, kicking myself in the *****, I am somewhat relieved that the damage is minimal no one is hurt and we can continue.
But not before getting that damn state picture No Smiles here :cry: Vani is always smiling.

Having gotten our picture, we were off once again.My mind filled with disappointment and questions. Should I abort, will the mirror hold, should I have just skipped it?

We ride on I-77 and right before the town of Wytheville the mirror says goodbye to us and decides it wants no part of this trip.
Ripped off completely, casing, signal, everything. Only thing left was the broken mirror.Just a broken mirror wires dangling in the wind.What now?

I slow down and think, there is no way I will be able to retrieve that.
"That's it. We are done!" I tell Vani.

I glance around and from the corner of my eye I see the friendly Honda Logo. It was a dealership MARK 4 Honda, and right off the exit. I quickly get off praying they are open (didn't occur to me it was Sunday, evening)

As we approach we see they are closed. We saw a few hotels back at the exit so we headed back.
The plan? spend the night, get up early and pray to the motorcycle gods that they have the parts.

We check in to the Days Inn hoping for the best.
Frustrated and tired we try to get some rest.
Maybe tomorrow will be a better day.

 

[STrangr]

Day 3
June 15, 2015

A Pleasant surprise in Virginia

We wake up bright and early, have Breakfast at the hotel (included) and head to the dealership.
As I walk in, I think to myself "they won't have my part here". It was a small parts department separate from the actual dealership and service and had more apparel then anything else.
I walk up to the salesman, and ask if by some miracle he has a mirror for a 2007 ST-1300.

An ST Hwhat? he replied. (No, that is not a typo that is how he said it.) The most southern accent I have ever heard.

All hope just went bye bye. He starts to look in his computer and says, that is not a popular model round here, we'd have to order it.
Ok, how soon can you have it here? 3 days he said.

I asked if he could have it shipped to a location along my route, "No Sar! We would have to receive it here and then ship it to you."
I would have been in Canada by the time it would arrive.
It wasn't looking good.

Then it hit me.
What about overnight shipping? can you do that?
I reckon we could, he replied. But I'd have to ask Honda.

He makes a call and says "We could have da part for ya round lunchtime"
$250 later the order is placed.

We go back to the hotel and as I park, I see a family parking their bikes. The dad on a Hayabusa, the 2 sons on Dual sport bikes and the mom in a pickup where they load the bikes on to after riding.

I walk up and ask "where y'all from? The southern accent stuck with me, lol.
Ontario, the dad replied.
Where ya headed?
Key west, FL
Exactly the opposite of our route.

we just finished riding "Claw of the Dragon" one of the sons says.
How was it?
Lots of fun, he replied.
That was enough for me, we get the map out, get our gear on and make the best of a bad situation.

It turned out to be a REALLY GREAT ride. Back roads winding through hills and farms with fabulous views. I actually told Vani, I am almost glad this happened or we would have never found out about this place. We would have ridden right past Virginia. Check out the website, http://clawofthedragon.com/overview.html

I really recommend going and I will be returning.


I think you get the picture (pun intended)

So, our 3rd day ends with smiles from ear to ear and reminds us that everything happens for a reason, and what might seem like a catastrophe can turn out to be a blessing if you play your cards right.
We extend our stay at the hotel, have dinner at Bob Evans and call it a night.

 

[STrangr]

DAY 4
Tues June 16, 2015
Tropical storm Bill

Heavy Rains and Flooding as Tropical Rainstorm Bill Tracks Northeast

Tropical Rainstorm Bill will continue to cause heavy rains and flash flooding from Texas to West Virginia this week. Bill is currently located over Dallas this morning. The system will move north into Oklahoma and Missouri the next 48 hours and will produce rainfall over 5 inches in places. A track to the northeast and east will take Bill across the Ohio Valley into the Appalachians of West Virginia. Additional rainfall over 3 inches will cause flash flooding through those areas.


That was the forecast we woke up to.
While the day started nice enough in Virginia, it wouldn't last.
As we get into the mountains of West Virginia (which are beautiful) the weather started turning on us.
We pulled over to get our west Virginia sign and it had started to rain already.
We put on our rain-gear and hoped for the best.

At one point, we went through a mountain and looked up to see a scary rotating black cloud formation up ahead. There was nowhere to go and we had to get through it.
I wish we had taken a picture, this thing was frightening.

It quickly went from light to dark as we got under it, and the temps dropped to 54 degrees.
We passed a toll and the rain really started coming down.


We got out at the first town we saw and ducked into a gas station to wait it out.
Another group of bikers had the same plan. Turns out they were headed to Ontario too.

We grabbed lunch and chatted a bit with the girls who worked there. One of them says " I hope this lets up, we are in a flood zone" GREAT.
she goes on to say "the last time it rained like this, the whole town lost power for a week" That was my cue to giddy on up out of there.

You do not want to be in a flood zone, on a motorcycle, in a town with no power.
We get back on our horse and head on out.
Luckily as we got further north the rain stopped and the skies cleared.

It started getting dark so we started looking for a room. After going to a few locations with no luck, we found a place that had one room left, a stinking smoking room.
Vani got creative trying to get rid of the smell.
She actually brewed coffee and placed the cups on the AC. I went into our toiletry bag and pulled out the Axe body spray, emptied half a bottle.

The AC had no button to control the temperature. It was freezing, so I covered it with a towel.
You do what you gotta do.

 

[STrangr]

Day 5
June 17, 2015
We can almost smell the Falls.

Weather was still iffy on day 5. On again off again rain, but the cooler temps made it much easier to cover miles. No need to stop as often to hydrate.
I had to rig up something to keep the Gps and Xm radio dry a little ghetto but hey it worked.


A quick stop for some lunch and we were back on the road.

By 11:29 am we knock down our 6th state.