Ari Rankum
NAFO Karting Champion, 2012
I knew it was going to be a hard ride, and I wasn't sure what I was trading it for on the other end. I left Pikesville, MD at 0400 on July 24. I was at the Hilton in Reno 40 hours and some 2700 miles later. That was after over 1200 miles on Monday, and over 1400 miles on Tuesday.
So my partying started a couple days earlier than planned. Man, what fun! What great people, as well. Every person I ran into at WFO was a stranger and each impressed in his or her own way. FJR owners are such nice people, I'm starting to feel like I'm not supposed to have an FJR. The technology many have brought to bear on their FJRs is amazing.
Mad props go out to Turbo Dave. I was under the pavillion when he arrived in 100 degree weather. He looked all used up, but looks can be deceiving. As soon as he shut his bike down, off comes his helmet, and out comes this huge, sweaty smile. I think his first words were something like, "Man, these are great machines!". What followed, while he sat there on his bike, refusing to dismount, all covered up in gear, was a 10 minute long oral report that could have been titled "63 Reasons the FJR is the Best Damn Bike Out There". I've never met a more enthusiastic rider than Turbo Dave. I enjoyed talking to him quite a bit. I think he could make a great commercial for Yamaha.
Only one close call in 5990.4 miles. As I was cruising down the highway at 10 over, in the process of going by an SUV towing an enclosed trailer, over he comes. I threw the highbeam and got on the Magnum Blasters as I dove for the left shoulder. He feigned going back, then came all the way over. Boy, I'd love to have asked that dude, WTF?
No performance awards for me, though there should have been many. Nevada, by far, had the most law enforcement running radar among: Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, and West Virginia.
Mechanically, the bike was almost flawless. About 4000 miles into the trip, I went to get something out of my Nelson-Rigg tail bag and, when I removed the rain cover, the left saddle bag popped open. My first thought was, man, that was lucky, I must have improperly locked it and, boy was it lucky it didn't pop open on the road. I went to lock it and the lock came off in my hand. Yes, I had been warned about this. Yes, I bought more blue Loc-Tite right before the trip for the express purpose of making sure this didn't happen. No, I didn't take care of it before I left. I didn't have the right security torx bit with me, so I tightened the screws by hand. I also did not have any duct tape. But I did have bandages. I put a bandage over each set of screws to keep them from backing out again. The locks and screws all made it home safely.
A Big Thank You to all the folks that managed making WFO-5 happen. I had a really fantastic time. How many days until WFO-6???
So my partying started a couple days earlier than planned. Man, what fun! What great people, as well. Every person I ran into at WFO was a stranger and each impressed in his or her own way. FJR owners are such nice people, I'm starting to feel like I'm not supposed to have an FJR. The technology many have brought to bear on their FJRs is amazing.
Mad props go out to Turbo Dave. I was under the pavillion when he arrived in 100 degree weather. He looked all used up, but looks can be deceiving. As soon as he shut his bike down, off comes his helmet, and out comes this huge, sweaty smile. I think his first words were something like, "Man, these are great machines!". What followed, while he sat there on his bike, refusing to dismount, all covered up in gear, was a 10 minute long oral report that could have been titled "63 Reasons the FJR is the Best Damn Bike Out There". I've never met a more enthusiastic rider than Turbo Dave. I enjoyed talking to him quite a bit. I think he could make a great commercial for Yamaha.
Only one close call in 5990.4 miles. As I was cruising down the highway at 10 over, in the process of going by an SUV towing an enclosed trailer, over he comes. I threw the highbeam and got on the Magnum Blasters as I dove for the left shoulder. He feigned going back, then came all the way over. Boy, I'd love to have asked that dude, WTF?
No performance awards for me, though there should have been many. Nevada, by far, had the most law enforcement running radar among: Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, and West Virginia.
Mechanically, the bike was almost flawless. About 4000 miles into the trip, I went to get something out of my Nelson-Rigg tail bag and, when I removed the rain cover, the left saddle bag popped open. My first thought was, man, that was lucky, I must have improperly locked it and, boy was it lucky it didn't pop open on the road. I went to lock it and the lock came off in my hand. Yes, I had been warned about this. Yes, I bought more blue Loc-Tite right before the trip for the express purpose of making sure this didn't happen. No, I didn't take care of it before I left. I didn't have the right security torx bit with me, so I tightened the screws by hand. I also did not have any duct tape. But I did have bandages. I put a bandage over each set of screws to keep them from backing out again. The locks and screws all made it home safely.
A Big Thank You to all the folks that managed making WFO-5 happen. I had a really fantastic time. How many days until WFO-6???
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