The Picture Thread - The Kootenay Hootenanny 2008

[superfunkomatic]

looks like kevin, darren and derek have a second calling - food service! you guys did such a great job serving us all and taking our orders.

[Snakeman]

Here are a few of the pics I took I will post more later

Nice to see this coming off the ferry

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CVVFR (Craig) in a corner

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Nelson

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GPPauls wild tail section

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Mike

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Bikes starting to arrive for the group photo

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CVVFR

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My best attempt at taking a photo while riding

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Look! It's RADARMAN!!!

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[Peto]

That flyby was an awesome video. The bikes sound so fierce.

Broke up my Monday at work quite nicely.

Thanks.

:fing02: :fing02:

Looks like everyone had a hoot!

[superfunkomatic]

here are some of my pics, enjoy -

The 2008 Kootenay Hootenanny Crew

The top of the pass between Kaslo and New Denver, BC

"Will that be regular or premium, sir?"

Payment for a job well done at the pump.

Tyke and Radar

Didit

CVVFR - Hanging on a corner, nice!

Tim and Jalene

Tyke at our stop at New Denver

Didit at our stop at New Denver

Tyke, Didit and Radar relaxing at our reststop

Jalene

BikeorSki4me

The 1000 gallon kettle o' beer, mmmm... beer

The next mod for my bike - a 'hyperdrive system'....

KeithBob and Jalene - Breakfast in bed at the Redfish Grill

Assembling the troops on the morning of the group ride

Cassie working on her MotoGP form and highspeed leaning.

The southern route group waiting on the return ferry at the end of the day.

[Tyke]

Some nice portraits there Mike and looks like you might have some new avatar material. Was the Dalmatian at the gas station in New Denver?

[superfunkomatic]

really good picture of you for sure. now if i could just find $1700 for that lens. maybe next year

yep, the dalmatian was at the gas station at new denver when i came through by myself. it literally checked out each customer to see what was up.

reminded me of my little buddy len back here at home.

Some nice portraits there Mike and looks like you might have some new avatar material. Was the Dalmatian at the gas station in New Denver?

[magellan]

Well, here are a couple of shots from my sad little collection. Sarah and I were doing good to keep the bike upright through the weekend, so we didn't take many pics... :rolleyes:

VFRD Members Plot World Conquest.JPG

On the Ferry.JPG

[KanadianKen]

GLad you guys and gals had good weather - wish I coulda made this one..... Keep the pics coming!

[radar]

I didn't get a lot of pics this time around but here is a few of what I did take.

I can't believe someone hasn't posted a pic of these two little busy body's (honorary VFRD members)

Tony (Didit) took us for a nice ride.

Nelson ferry

I'll add some more after work

[didit]

Radar, you make me laugh. I was wondering if someone was going to put up pics of the 'boys'. Thanks man. (Amachai & Rama).

And a big thanks to everyone who stayed at the house. The respect you showed toward making sure they both stayed inside and entertained was greatly

appreciated (especially your babysitting Rama). It would be a pleasure to host you guys here again, and ya'll are always welcome to hang your hat / helmut, share a meal, do some laundry, rest your bones, drink a beer(s), tell a story, chop some vegetables, adjust some suspension, and so on.

If Colorado happens next year & this works as a jump off / meeting point???

Guess I shouldn't hijack this thread without posting a few more pics too.

Leaving Nelson.JPG Getting ready to return, we had a 6 bike group for most of the way.

Shade seekers.JPG It was nice with the breeze on the ferry, but running around 38 for the afternoon temps.

Happy bunch of riders.JPG No matter the heat, everyone was always in good spirits. Tim was in better spirits afterwards (scotch spirits)

Cassie n Loni.JPG Not so serious discussions.

Bjorn.JPG Bjorn & Tony (Thumper 8) were really enjoying side roads on their KLRs.

New Grand Parking lot.JPG Don't think that one car was planning on going anywhere soon.

10_7 volt Terry\'s R1 exhaust Man this just fits perfect. Very nicely done and sounds great.

Pana on the ferry Don't mind the slight ghosting, just trying to get them all in (note the Hardley riders hiding in the corner)

And one more video just for good measure.

[jfviffer]

Great pictures everyone!! tried to add a few of mine didnt have any luck

Jeff

[Axel_7]

Our view of the ferry trip sorry had to run to see a man about a tire.

A great breakfast north of Kelowna, PS thanks again to DIDIT and wife for being such a great host to all of us.

Radar, Axel, Jfviffer, Tyke, and snakeman just hangin with (Cat M.) The Leo Vince REP. that just happened to be on a cruise thru BC on his 6th gen VFR

[keithbob]

What a great trip! I keep coming back to that line in my head when I try to find how to begin.

Jalene and I had been looking forward to this one for a long time, and then it became my single goal after winding up in the hospital in June. Anyway, the last of the tests went thumbs up and we packed up the bike and headed out on Tuesday the 12th.

We first rode up to Tacoma to visit family on the way north. After that we headed up and over the North Cascades in Washington, where the weather cleared off and we had a wonderful day of sunny riding. While stopped at the rest area at the top of Washington Pass, we ran into a father and his two sons, one of which was on his first big ride. They were headed over toward Glacier NP and were having a great ride so far. We wished them lucked and headed down the pass toward the Methow Valley, where my sister and her family lived for many years. Our lunch stop was at 3-Fingered Jack's, where we could pass along greetings from her to the owner, Mike, good friends of theirs.

After a great lunch, we took off east, and as we were descending down toward Omak, we saw a big column of smoke to our right on the back side of the ridge about two or three miles away. The planes were circling, dropping red fire retardant along the top of the ridge to try to stop it there. Fortunately, the wind was very light and so it looked like they should have gotten it corralled. We never heard any word of it after that, but it was neat to watch those guys get those big planes so close to the ridgetop before releasing. You can see the red chemical in the photo as it leaves the belly of the plane. Wish we could have zoomed in on it.

Air tanker on wildfire

We also had some confused critters on the road. This stupid bull thought he was a squirrel, running back and forth in front of me three or four times as we rolled along behind him. He finally gave up and let me squirt by.

Dang black-and-white deer

We spent that second night in Republic at the Klondike Motel. A great place, clean and inexpensive. We've stayed there a couple of times now and they really like motorcyclists, especially the clean, quiet ones. The next morning, Jalene's Dad, Darrel, met up with us and we all had breakfast together, then the three of us headed for Nelson together. A family ride! Darrel was headed for Nakusp where there was a BMW rally going on. He has put on over 96,000 miles in the last four years, must be nice to be retired. Here's a shot of the three of us and his GS.

Jay's Dad on his world-traveled GS

We got into Nelson about noonish on Thursday and found some lunch after checking into the hotel. Darrel took off northward, and we had a nice nap. Later on, we ran into Didit and CVVFR and others, and ended up down at the Grand for a rockin' time meeting old friends from meets past. At least it seems like I've known people forever, even though I've only spent a few days total with most. It's funny how when you have something in common that is so dear to you, it takes no time at all to connect with a stranger.

I won't waste time repeating the whole story of the meet, I'll just put up some photos here with a few lines to describe them. We took lots, and will get them to Stephane for the Grand Burning of the Photo Disk.

On Friday, Didit led us on a great ride up through the New Denver road (DH5) that myself and many others hold as a favorite. We had a great game chasing each other through there. All agree that the new pavement made for a delicious appetizer for a weekend of fun.

Radar looks for more power

On Friday night some of us escaped the noise of the bar and had a nice dinner at a quiet spot that Didit knew about. Then we got some sleep for our Saturday group ride. In the morning we all met up in front of the Grand Hotel, completely blocking the street for a short time as we got our gear on and fired up. Nobody seemed to mind at all.

Gathering for the ride

The Man can talk roads

Jalene, Lisa, and Sarah

Many of us that would never think of riding in anything but the "fast group" decided to relax after four days in the saddle and just go sightseeing with "the Slow Group". Well, it started out that way, but as soon as we got onto the DH1,, sure enough, my throttle hand cranked over, and sure enough, Magellan and Axel 7 were right with us. It was kind of funny that the fast people in the slow group were all two-up. We had a great time blasting onthe DH1, as much as traffic would let us, anyway. We all met up again at the ferry and snaked our way back into Nelson after a great morning of easy fun. Below are a few shots of the ride.

Axel 7 & Tammy

These two were a bunch of fun to be around. Tammy had that camera clicking constantly, twisting around and shooting in all directions. Can't wait to see if she got any of us when we were following them.

Stephane and Jeanne

When we were all posed around the Nelson sign for the group photo, poor Lisa was having trouble with someone's camera. Stephane yelled out "Try spitting in it like a scuba mask". I immediately liked this guy.

The fast slow group

Sure enough, we just couldn't do it.

Cassie on her Beemer

I was really pleased to see her ride all the way from Oregon and back. Cassie, you really looked good on the bike and your riding was solid.

Tim on the "new" VFR

You all need to see how the details are coming along. Lots of fun to look at now, and it feels really good - I want a chance to ride it, Tim!

Tron and Mrs. Tron

Like many I met, I didn't get to talk to them too much, but like many others, they seemed like wonderful folks.

That evening was spent at Mike's Pub having a great dinner and beers, laughing, telling stories, and Superfunkomatic giving the obligatory Host's Speech and a few fun awards. Here's HS getting his, along with a mug full of dough to help with the trip and the VFRD effort. We all appreciated his coming out to the meet, it meant a great deal to all of us stuck our here in the Hinterland, where celebrities fear to tread.

The next morning for breakfast I saw it. A golden yellow jewel that captured my heart. We all know how I am around yellow bikes, and sure enough, I was all wobble-kneed.

My next ride?

It was soon time to say our goodbyes and head for home. We saddled up and headed down the road for Salmo and then the border after one last yell and a fist-bump from Didit. I took a direct hit in the shield from some giant bug and stopped at a gas station to wipe it off, and Jay went in to pee. I rolled over into the shade, and looked down to see a big screw dead-center in the rear tire. Ah, sh#t!! Thumper and Bjorn pulled up on their KLRs just as I saw it, and we dumped our tire repair stuff out together. Tony had a better plug kit, so we used his.

At one point Jalene leans in and says "Is it in yet?" I thought Tony was going to lose it.

As I was struggling to get the hole reamed out big enough, some guy came wandering up and sure enough starts telling me how I ought to be doing it. Now I'm a long way from home and really don't need this right now so I get a little short with him. Finally he says "For a cup of coffee I'll do it for you". Fine, I give him the tool and he sets to work. Turns out the old guy, Jimmy, worked at a tire store for years and knew exactly what he was doing. He plugged it in about 30 seconds and trimmed it all nice. "Give it 20 minutes and inflate it to 2 pounds over normal - go 10 clicks and then forget about it".

Keith struggles with the plug

I wasn't getting it reamed out enough, as it turned out. I was used to the smaller plugs, but I chose to use the big, serious-looking goobers that Thumper had.

Jimmy does the tire

Jimmy also slimed a LOT more glue into the hole than I had been using, which lubed it so it slid in easier.

I gotta tell ya, he was dead right. We went across eastern Washington and the temperature was between 104° and 110° all afternoon until we got to Leavenworth. The tire held perfectly. I shook his hand and thanked him, swallowing my extra-large helping of humble pie. I do need it every now and then. Hey Tony, what brand of plug kit do you have? I want to replace mine with that brand.

Bjorn & Thumper Our two amigos.

Soon enough we were rolling again, slowly at first, and then back up to a normal pace after about 20 miles. It's funny, but this is the first time in 33 years of street riding that I've had a flat while on the road somewhere. I've plugged many tires on other people's bikes, but this is my first in what, 100,000+ miles? Pretty amazing.

By lunchtime in Creston, a little town in Washington on Hwy 2, we were up to 102°. We had some deli sandwiches and soaked our shirts. We already had the cool-vests on, but as the afternoon wore on, they just got hot and clammy. I think they were still cooling us, but I can't say that we were comfortable in the least. It was a dry heat, and that was about the only thing good about it. Eventually we saw 110° between Wenatchee and Leavenworth.

Combine cutting

While gassing up, we ran into the father-son duo we met up at the crest of the N. Cascades Hwy 5 days earlier! They were coming back west from a wonderful ride into Montana, and the son was just beaming when I asked him about his trip. He'd been riding dirt bikes for years, so was pretty skilled with the motorcycle already, but you could tell he had just discovered a whole new world of riding about to open up to him. I remember when I was 16 and finally got my street license, I went through the very same discovery on my first trip to California. Good for him!

The hot road home

We beat our way across toward the east side of the Cascade Range and Leavenworth, a pretty little Bavarian-themed town. We managed to find a room with a pool just across from Gustav's, a German restaurant with great beer. Choco said he might be there in the evening having dinner on his way back to Duvall, but it sounds like he may have buzzed across the N. Cascades, which would have gotten him out of the heat faster. Maybe we can meet him there sometime - sounds like a good excuse for a ride!

But where was Choco?

Then it was time for the pool and a bed. We were really done in by this day's ride. We got up early and headed for home. It was a cool, windy day, with rain in the Columbia Gorge and cloudy weather all the way down through Oregon. We knew when we were in our home town of Newport as fog hung in the air and the temp was down to 59°.

Jalene and I had great fun on this trip, met many wonderful new friends, and caught up with others not seen in too long. Man, next summer is just too far away!

PS - I'm glad we got home yesterday. 1795 miles total. Right now it's pouring rain and the anemometer reads gusts of 50 mph.

[superfunkomatic]

this is one of the things no man ever wants to hear from his female companion - "is it in yet?"

great post, keith. road reports like this are a surefire way to explain the reason we all love these meets, and, why we love to ride.

At one point Jalene leans in and says "Is it in yet?" I thought Tony was going to lose it.

As I was struggling to get the hole reamed out big enough

[Thumper 8]

I am in Yakima tonight, and I’ll be home tomorrow, after a quick ride through the Cascades on Highway 20 – what a great way to finish off a great week of riding.

Here are a couple more pictures – I will try not to duplicate the efforts of others, and Bjorn obviously took some of these shots.

Jay at our Friday breakfast admiring the reading material:

At Sandon in our search for abandoned mines, we found the graveyard for old Vancouver transit buses:

And Bjorn scared the bejesus out of the tourists:

(I was actually trying to get a picture of the great old cash register!)

AROUND NELSON:

It is a very civilized town – “motorcycle only” parking all over downtown:

You gotta love culture, Nelson-style:

A wee bug:

Bridge over Kootenay Lake

OTHER STUFF:

If I am wearing sunglasses indoors at breakfast, I may be hung over just a wee bit:

Welcome to the amazing Idaho high country – stunning colours:

The KLR’s quietly grazing:

This morning we did the spiral highway just outside of Lewiston, Idaho. Too bad it was raining lightly – still a fun ride though.

OK, so who has the pictures of the Irish cross-dressers?

[Polarbear]

this is one of the things no man ever wants to hear from his female companion - "is it in yet?"

great post, keith. road reports like this are a surefire way to explain the reason we all love these meets, and, why we love to ride.

At one point Jalene leans in and says "Is it in yet?" I thought Tony was going to lose it.

As I was struggling to get the hole reamed out big enough

Jesus Mike!! And I thought you were young and naive!!!!!!!! :fing02: :laugh: :huh: :lurk:

I'll have to change my opinion about you now.....

P.PM

[cassandtim]

Cassie and I made it home relatively safe yesterday afternoon. We ran the gamut of weather conditions on the way home; from 110º heat on Sunday to 50 mph crosswinds and rain in the Columbia River Gorge on Monday.

I'll have to give heaps of credit to Cassie for making it through all of it with a smile on her face (although she was very close to serious heat exhaustion on Monday). She had less than 500 miles under her belt prior to this trip. She added 1400 or so with this adventure and she's now well on her way to becoming a seasoned veteran.

I'm currently working fast and furious prior to my departure for Sportbike Northwest on Thursday so will post up the few pictures I have when I return early next week.

Cheers,

-T

[Polarbear]

Cassie and I made it home relatively safe yesterday afternoon. We ran the gamut of weather conditions on the way home; from 110º heat on Sunday to 50 mph crosswinds and rain in the Columbia River Gorge on Monday.

I'll have to give heaps of credit to Cassie for making it through all of it with a smile on her face (although she was very close to serious heat exhaustion on Monday). She had less than 500 miles under her belt prior to this trip. She added 1400 or so with this adventure and she's now well on her way to becoming a seasoned veteran.

I'm currently working fast and furious prior to my departure for Sportbike Northwest on Thursday so will post up the few pictures I have when I return early next week.

Cheers,

-T

Well, glad you guys made it home safe and sound. I must say that I enjoyed our conversation at breakfast (about whiskey and unions among other topics :fing02: ). Cassie, your riding seemed just fine. Keep it up! Long trips like this one can be a lot of fun, but they can also be very tiring. You are a trooper! :laugh:

Tim, keepus updated on how Honda will deal with your bypass and the warranty work if youdon't mind. I'm curious to see if they'll do the right thing, after you were stranded because of them!!! :huh:

P.PM

[scarygary]

awesome pics!!!

thanks for sharing

[NorthernVFRDave]

Awesome pictures guys, I was just over the mountains in Banff in a rented cage well you guys where out having fun. There are some awesome roads in the west. Not sure if I would have gotten the 500+ pictures if I was on the bike mind you.

[timmythecop]

really looks like a hoot. I especially like the well represented 5th gens.

[superfunkomatic]

really enjoyed riding with you guys this year. and cassie did a fantastic job, nothing like going on a marathon trip to get used to riding. 1400 miles is a long week by anyone's standards.

as for your electrical issue, hopefully you don't have to visit the honda dealer with the aforementioned '2x4' and the threat of reworking the dealership with it. haha.

Cassie and I made it home relatively safe yesterday afternoon. We ran the gamut of weather conditions on the way home; from 110º heat on Sunday to 50 mph crosswinds and rain in the Columbia River Gorge on Monday.

I'll have to give heaps of credit to Cassie for making it through all of it with a smile on her face (although she was very close to serious heat exhaustion on Monday). She had less than 500 miles under her belt prior to this trip. She added 1400 or so with this adventure and she's now well on her way to becoming a seasoned veteran.

I'm currently working fast and furious prior to my departure for Sportbike Northwest on Thursday so will post up the few pictures I have when I return early next week.

Cheers,

-T

[cbar]

Thanks for taking the time to post all the pics...

One day I'll get out to a big meet like this....

:biggrin: :fing02:

[choco]

Ok, I'll admit it, I'm image submission challenged. How do I take my pictures from My Pictures Files in Microsoft and put them here? I See the Image Tag gizmo and it wants me to put in my URL. Would someone please walk me through the process, and please, don't skip the minor details.

Thanks, I've got some great pictures of the Nelson Trip. Really enjoyed it. Looking forward to another meet.

Also, it's nice to see the pictures with the names and bikes as it helps to sort things out. One more meet and I'd have most everybody's name matched with their face. Good people.

By the way, has any one heard from 12-Volt Terry? Hope he made it home without too much difficulty.

[choco]

Didit, that video is awesome! Thanks for arranging it and standing in the middle of the road while we Hootenannigans brushed by you.

I'm going to have to e-mail this one around.