Long BACA Ride

Rode the new bike to Tennessee this past week for a BACA court date. Seems our chapter there had been verbally attacked and threatened by a church group while in court supporting a kiddo who had been molested by her biological father. Yes, the father is a member of this twisted batch of shitbeans and the kiddo was his biological child. I left Kissimmee to ride to Lilburn, Georgia, just northeast of Atlanta, on Wednesday morning, 5:30 A.M. to be exact. Was 41 degrees when I left but dropped to mid-30's as I went north on the Turnpike and into the rural areas. Met my riding buddy Snax in Ocala and went on north to Lilburn, Georgia where we spent the night at my sisters house. Left at 11 Thursday morning under cloudy skies and high 40's temps. Rode to Lebanon, Tennessee and it never warmed much above the low 50's. Spent Thursday night in the hotel and got up and out by 6 A.M. under threatening skies and low 50's temps. Rode to the courthouse and of course it rained on us.

50 bikes escorted the car carrying the family of and our BACA kid to the courthouse. We rode a 2 lane road at 35 mph for around 30 miles. Reason so slow was so many bikes and wet roads. We entered the town square of this little one horse town around 8 A.M. I was in the middle of the pack, right behind the car carrying our BACA kiddo. I first noticed the police presence; around 10 local cops were there to welcome us. It looked like a military drill as we parked our bikes 4 to a parking spot on the square. We held up traffic for 10 minutes as we got situated. Was a great day in court, the kiddo was empowered to be there with her 75 or so friends watching her back so that the “church people” didn’t get within 10 feet of her and the judge ruled that the abusivepieceofshit convicted father won’t get a new trial.

Of interesting note, we all parked our bikes in spots designated “1 Hour Parking”. The parking cop didn’t know what to do after the first hour passed, spent much time on his cell phone. Finally disappeared. No tickets were written. Next, we found a little coffee shop on the square called Reveille Joes, owned and operated by two Iraq war vets. Very nice guys. We bought and ate their entire weekend stock of food but they loved having us there. Next, as I was standing outside the courthouse talking to one young cop, he made the statement that they (the cops) were there “just to make sure everything went smoothly”. I laughed out loud and told him “Funny, that’s why we’re here too.”

After court, I got to hang out with BACA family from all over the southeast. The feeling of family I get from these people is like nothing else I’ve experienced in life. They are wonderful, quirky, freaky, sometimes scary people who will give their lives to empower an abused child.

When I woke Saturday morning, the day we were to head back to Atlanta, it was raining and cold. Temps were in the low 40’s. We were to go to Camp BACA, north of town about 20 miles, for a cookout then hit the road around 1 to get to Atlanta before dark. Well, for various reasons, we didn’t get to camp until around 12:30. The rain was slowly clearing but it was getting colder. I had checked the weather in Chattanooga and Atlanta, both were warmer by a good bit. It was 37 when we left the camp but the rain had stopped. I put on my Frog Toggs pants just to cut the wind as I hate chaps and only had jeans and long handles on. Funny thing I found is that the colder it gets, the faster I ride to get the trip done quicker. I also knew it would be warming as we rode east. Short story is that we made great time to Atlanta where it was in the low 50’s. My sister had a dinner of homemade chili and cheese biscuits waiting as well as a fire in the fireplace. We crashed and got up on Sunday, had another great meal and left around 11 A.M. for the 7 hour ride home.

The weather was absolutely clear and warming the whole way home. By the time I got to my house, it was in the mid 60’s and beautiful, the warmest temps I’d seen in 5 days. I know some of you think my complaining about the temps is funny but it is serious shit with me. I truly truly HATE cold weather. My gear is only good to mid-40’s so this trip was painful at best for a good bit of the time. But…the bottom line is that we empowered a BACA kiddo to go to court and stand up to her abuser. That makes it all worth it.

Oh, and I rode further out of state than I’ve ever gone on the bike as well as riding 1,500 miles in five days on a road trip, another first. The bike was awesome, even after sitting out in the rain all night in 30 degree temps. The bike fired right up in the morning and is, in my opinion, one badass bike.

Thanks for the update.  A great thing you are doing.  Now when the weather gets warmer come on up to the Carolinas.  Maybe Cincinatti on Labor day.

sounds like this was a great ride even though the cold weather and rain wasn't the best , your mission for the kids went as planned

 

Was just looking at the riding I did yesterday. Rode to the east coast to empower one of our BACA kiddos who is being harassed by her abuser...who lives next door and is former local LEO. We empowered this kid and had a ball doing it.

That aside, I rode 227 miles yesterday and loved it. A bit sore this morning so I was looking at miles ridden and work done on it since I bought the scoot 6 weeks ago. I've changed the oil once, and it's due again, flushed and filled all the fluids, clutch, brakes and coolant, replaced the tires front and rear with Michelin Commander II's (best ride ever), new brake pads on the rear and when I added up miles in the last 6 weeks I come up with 4,867. And I'll be running another 600+ miles this weekend to and from our state meeting.

Have a brand new set of Road Burner pipes sitting in the garage, bought a K&N filter and Dynojet jet kit on Ebay yesterday that will all be installed by a buddy. That'll probably be the first and last of my add on's. I do need to do springs and shocks but that will have to wait a bit. A friend did find me a great deal on Ebay for Progressive 412's but the money right now is just maxed out.

i still change pipes cause i am a sucker for the roar of a big v twin ... but i don't mess with carbs or fuel injection any more. they go fast enough for me plain stock ... guess i am getting old

I wouldn't mess with the carb either but it needs to be rejetted because the pipes open the air flow up.

It only increases the air flow when you install the K&N or change the air box and open up the exhaust. You have to open both ends to increase air flow ... least that is what Ray, Stumble, Pops, Marang, Fred, Bruce,AP, Trip, and Doc taught me ... but I have been wrong before ...    
If you change pipes AND increase air flow then you are right .... prolly have to re-jet.

Re jetting can be a little tricky.  I have had several doovers.  On the Tramp I could'nt get the correct jet size so I bought a smaller jet and increased the size of the opening myself using a machinest drill index untill I got the plugs like I wanted them.  Not hard.  Just takes a little time.