An 'out of the box' Ride-Report to Minny

[Top_Speed1]

A very casual Ride-Report...

My MOA 2014 (St.Paul MN) Venture started out Weds, July 23rd with a 2 day ride-in (and out) plan. I live in central NY (State) so my trek in went thru Canada crossing into/at Peace Bridge (Buffalo) and exiting oh-Canada at Sarnia/Port Huron.



1st stop... well, when in Canada, do as the Canadians do, eh!

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It was beautiful day, sun coming up is my favorite time... to make time!

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582 miles later, it was beer 30. Nothing special; Quality Inn, Gaylord MI.

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Day 2 (Thursday) Getting ready to cross the Mackinac Bridge (some riders simply call it "the high-bridge").

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Morning views were awesome, Lake Huron to the right w Mackinac Isl, the top of Lake Michigan on the Left.

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Roads around the top of Lake Michigan were... well, just roads. Smooth enough but no challenging stuff here.

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Coming thru Wisconsin, I stop in Thorpe for fuel and I see a small pack of riders. One approaches me as I'm filling up and says "hey, you're Top Speed aren't you?" We exchange pleasantries and I find out his name is Rick (white shirt) and he's from Vermont.

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Rob and Pablo (with back to me). Both from Canada, eh! ...So we all rode into Minny together as a bunch of outlaws and misfits

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Once in Minneapolis, we all split our own (hotel) ways, only to be meeting up and hanging throughout the whole Rally! ...little did we know at his young point in time!

I had a mini-suite room, located in Egan MN, just about 8 miles south of the Fair Grounds. Very easy commute in/out of the Rally ea day. I never even sat in the livving room area or turned on the flat screen. Kinda a waste of an upgrade.

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Checking in at the Registration Tent (entrance to the Rally). Not sure who's red bike is parked on the side-walk, but pretty much anything goes here ...I'm thinking at this point.

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I first venture down to the beer garden area. A place us fellow K16 guys had pre-arranged for a meeting place. Well, nobody was here yet but I decided to start the lubrication process.

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Beer garden area, home for 3 straight days. What punishment!

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Our daily BS tire kicking area, we always upgraded our parking, trying to get all together. Not as easy as it sounds with over 5,000 others wanting real-estate also.

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Some Rally street views, bikes were literally everywhere on streets after streets. Camping also for many right there as it was included in the Rally costs...

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[Top_Speed1]

Friday nite. We ask some locals on dinning options. We didn't want anymore fair food, burgers/fries were just not hitting the spot. Tavern on the Grand was the chosen spot. Well, it's Friday and the official Minny State fish is the Walleye afterall. This place was only a few miles away and said to be the No. 1 Walleye hotspot around...


(L-R) Rob, Pablo, (me) KJ and Rick

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A local posed for me...

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The next morning I decided to sight-see Minny. I had to get this in before I went to the Rally, cuz you know, we drink like wanna-B Rockstars but not while driving.

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Being a HUGE Vikings fan (yes, I live in NY) I had to visit the new Billion dollar Stadium site. I've been to the Metrodome for games before but this new home sucks up twice the real-estate! Impressive, I can't wait for 2016!

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And a visit to the Twins Baseball Stadium (new a couple of years ago).

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And a visit to the UofM Stadium where the Vikings will play the next 2 years while their new Stadium is being constructed.

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Got to the Rally site mid-afternoon, only for... guess what? ...happy hour! (go figure).

Rick from VT., Bob from NJ., KJ from NY

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I had to seek out fellow Purple Nation Peepers...

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I find this sweet and showroom clean '14 FJR... but nobody home!

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Coming back to "our spot" I find Rick holding down the fort, keeping the main bearings properly lubricated also.

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As night fell we had to take in some entertainment on the main stage

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[Top_Speed1]

Saturday.
It was to be our last day here

and the State Fair grounds was just an excellent choice to hold this event. Hats off to the organizers, well planned and carried out (everything). Not sure what could have been done to better this place and event.

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Great vintage stuff as well..

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Sat pre-evening maybe around 6pm, our group wandered down to the Coliseum for the closing ceremonies. BMW and MOA had more give-aways than you could ever imagine; from a 2 week Moraccian bike tour to the brand new R-nineT bike that was to be the grand prize.

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After the ceremonies, I find a few "Exclusive" guys out in front of the coliseum. I tell 'em where us other K16 guys are... they make their way there (along with his buddy Carlos).

Matt from NJ.

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Food porn is now on the main agenda. Matt explains that he and Carlos have fell in love with "The Good Earth Restaurant" a couple miles up the road. I ask if it's all homemade from scratch and he say's "YES, most definitely!" ...I'm sold, and along with my other new buddies...

(L-R) Matt, Carlos, Pablo | Rick, Bob, Rob and KJ

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For you food porn followers (u know, no pic and it didn't happen) lol. Well, from Matt's suggestion I had the Meat Loaf. Awesome!!!!

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After dinner, we all said our goodbye's. We already had connection with phone numbers and all agreed we should ride to another event and meet up. Great guys and I'm willing to do this with them in a heartbeat!


Sunday
Ride home day (2 days of rain to be exact) Sucked, but everything else was premo with the trip so I'm happy happy

Elmer's in Escanaba (along Lake Michigan) a rainy lunch stop and a famous "Big E" burger...

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Report this image Hope to see 'da boys' (not to be confused with Pablo's either) again soon!

Everybody ride smart, ride safe!!

-KJ

 

[Redfish Hunter]

Good Stuff.

I don't mind admitting that Damned Expensive BMW looks great in the pics. I can certainly see why you like it.

Looks like you had a great time and made some new friends. All that while enjoying your motorcycle, what could be better?

 

[Bugnatr]

Thanks KJ. looks like a great time was had by all.

 

[Mihalis fjr]

Very nice ride report and pictures!!

Thank you!

 

[TomInPA]

Good T.R. I've made that trip through the U.P as well and agree the roads are nothing special, but the countryside and light seems different that far north.

 

[bgross]

Looks like a great time.

Seeing that lone FJR photo got me thinking. (Using that word very loosely)

My brother in law has two Teutonic trophies (R12C & R12RT) so maybe he'll be interested in a road trip next year. Do you know where the MOA will be held in 2015?

Edit: duh, Google! https://www.bmwmoa.org/forum/showthread.php?71613-Billings-chamber-announces-BMW-motorcycle-rally-in-July-2015

 

[Top_Speed1]

Thanks guys!. I did find and seek FJR's btw.... This rider was from Minny, but not a forum member (yet!). I filled him in on all the good technical stuff he's missing out on. I'm sure he's knocking at the forum door....

Everybody was just happy-happy and nobody cared what anyone else (brand wise) was riding. It was really cool to have that easy of going atmosphere. One things for sure, it doesn't matter what brand of motorcycle you like or drive, BEER is just common to all! ...and at only a $1.50 for domestics, the Rally was very, very kind to us.

 

[Tanker]

Thanks for the ride report KJ.

Great to see you had a good time up in my neck-of-the-woods. The state fairgrounds is a decent venue for something like that.

 

[beemerdons]

Very Nice Ride Report KJ, Thank You!

 

[Geezer]

Nice report. It sounds like you had a lot of fun, as expected. As you were enjoying all of those beers I kept thinking about how expensive they must be, but then you tell us they were only 1.50 each. Very nice.

 

[hppants]

Well done - that meat loaf looked mighty tasty.

I hope to get a change to ride the K16GT one day. I took a 20 mile demo ride on the GTL, and it was nice, but way too portly for my taste.