North Central ROMEO Weely Ride for 9/20/17

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Roadpounder
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North Central ROMEO Weely Ride for 9/20/17

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Here's a place I've wanted to try for a while. Anything with the words "steak house" in the name peaks my interest. Being the second hand vegetarian that I am. Cows, pigs, and chickens eat grass, corn and grain, and I eat cows pigs, and chickens. It sounds like good eats to me.

Fighting through my daily coma we were able to establish a departure plan for the ride. We will be leaving from the Sleep Inn on south 9th at 9:45. After lunch we are planning a ride to Augusta to visit the Twisted Oz motorcycle museum, for those interested.

TIME....................12:00

Here it is.............. True Lies Bar and Grill
607 Oil Hill Rd
El Dorado, KS 67042

(316) 320-9255

Facebook Page............https://www.facebook.com/TrueLiesBar/?fref=ts

Web Page.............

Map site.............http://bit.ly/1uLkbOc

I had to stay pretty low key getting ready for the ride today, since I was leaving Leo at home. It seemed just a little awkward to take him considering the plans for the day. When I did get out Fritz was a little less vocal than usual seemingly aware that he would have some company for the day. I gathered all my treasures that I needed for the ride and set out for the Sleep Inn. Once again that old nagging feeling that I forgot something was gnawing at me. I went through a mental inventory and decided I had everything. Still I couldn't exorcise the demon. Rolling into the Inn I was about the 5th one there. I never got turned around to park the bike and took all the pictures while astride my mount. I did, however, remember to shut the engine off. The usual discussion over the route ensued and somehow I was thrust into the leadership role again. Some folks like to live in the edge. The time rolled around and we were off. Planning on taking K4 through Gypsum and south to Canton I took the lead. Well on the way to Gypsum that old demon worked into my brain and I remembered what I forgot. I came to the shattering realization that I didn't have a red cent in cash on me. My mind immediately began racing as to where I could find an ATM. I was thinking that there might be one at the Casey's in Canton, so I planned on that. Cruising through Gypsum I thought “there's no way a town this small will have an ATM.” Not two blocks later there was an ATM standing out like the Eiffel Tower. I made a panic stop and advised the others what was going on. I took $60 out so it felt like the $2.50 fee didn't hurt so bad. The demon exorcised we pressed on to El Dorado. When we got there I had no clue as to how to get the restaurant. I pulled into a parking lot to check the map I deferred to the high tech option and dug out my computer to find out where we were. While waiting for the little guy in my computer who works the abacus to wake up, Richard threw testosterone to the wind and asked directions. Men don't get lost, we're just on the way. Directions in hand we set out and found our eatery. The parking lot was huge and parking was, shall we say, casual. We entered to find an obvious western theme and lots of room. One of the ROMEOs had been there a few days prior and told them to expect as many as 50. I had told them 25-30. They called me hoping to get a more precise count and I really couldn't shed any light on the situation. I guessed some of the South Central group would show , inflating the numbers some. I told them that could be the case but I couldn't be sure. Their special was beef and noodles over mashed potatoes. It looked good so I opted for that. The food was great and the service and hospitality was super. Bellies full some of us headed off to Augusta for the Twisted Oz motorcycle museum. Several of the group wanted to stop at the Kawasaki shop in El Dorado to check things out, But Jerry Jellison and I pressed on to Augusta. The route seemed pretty straight forward until we ran into the nemesis of all bikers, construction. I started to follow the detour signs until I was thoroughly lost and I turned south until I found what looked like an major thoroughfare and headed west. Pressing on until I was sure I was lost I pulled off into an abandoned restaurant to consult the computer in in effort to find out where we were. While waiting for the confuser to boot up I looked around and off in the distance was a brown building with a sign that looked vaguely familiar. I mentioned to Jerry that it looked like the Twisted Oz logo. A local came walking by and I queried if that was the motorcycle museum. He confirmed my suspicions. We had just stumbled on our destination. We went inside and it was motorcycle nirvana. In the first building I found 2 of the bikes out of my past. There was a 1947 Indian Chief which was the first NEW bike and the last bike my dad owned. They also had a 1944 chief with the lief springer fork. This one was the same blue of my dad's 48. They also had a 1949 Indian Scout. The first of their vertical twins. I owned one of them. Mine was a basket case and a lot of the important parts were missing. Things like seat, and handle bars. The fenders had been bobbed, and it was pretty much a mess. I never did get it rebuilt. I bought it for $50 and sold it for $500. Everyone I ever talked to who were familiar with the bike said it was a terrible machine. They were horribly under engineered. In the late 40s Indian tried and failed to do what Honda succeeded at in the late 50s. That was to build a bike that would appeal to virtually everyone. There was a Puch “Twingle”. Two cylinders under 1 combustion chamber. They used to be sold through the Sears catalog. I remember paging through the Sears, Montgomery Wards, and J. C. Penny's catalogs as a kid. Drooling over the bikes they had. Breathlessly waiting for my 16th birthday so I could pursue my drivers license, and get a bike. My mother was vehemently against me getting a bike but dad said “How can I tell him he can't have a bike when I have two in the garage”. That pretty much ended the argument. Mom always said that she'd rather see me fly airplanes than ride motorcycles. Well, she got it with both barrels. I did both. Back to the museum. When we got to the other building I saw some of the rarest bikes I've ever seen. And there was another blast from my past. A 1931 Henderson model KJ. The last of the Hendersons. My dad found one as a basket case with 3 engines. All of the engines were from earlier bikes and all had thrown rods through the crank case. He had a friend who had restored one and had an extra engine of the right vintage which he bought. He set the engine up on a stand and fired it up. It sounded like a factory. To say the least it was loose. He had to bore the cylinders .060” oversize to get them to clean up. A friend owned a foundry and he was able to cast some pistons for it. He even had to pour his own crank and rod bearings. Dad said that when he got the engine done the only parts that rub together now that rubbed together originally were gear teeth. He found a guy in Milwaukee who was retired from the MFD. His job was to paint all the pin striping on the fire engines. He agreed to pin stripe dad's Henderson. After about a year he got the bike back on the road. Like most of his hobbies, he rode it until the novelty wore off and then it sat in the garage. The plan was that he would leave those bikes to me when he passed away. But unfortunately someone waved a few bikes in his face and he caved. The bikes vanished in a puff of smoke. Finally at the end of the tour, there it was. The “Holy Grail” of motorcycles. A bike I've been trying to track down for 20 years. The Indian 6. Back in the 60s Herb Ottoway of Wichita amusement park fame, started a project to build a 6 cylinder Indian out of one and a half 4 cylinder engines. For many years all I knew of the bike was a picture post card of it and the short descriptive paragraph on the back. That post card hung on the bulletin board in my dad's office for many years. It was eventually lost in the shuffle when dad retired. After I became internet savvy I started searching for information on the bike. While I lived in Georgia I found information on it and Herb. When I moved to Salina I continued my search. I heard it was in an Indian dealer in Wichita but never got down there to see it. Last year I saw one of the guys from the Twisted Oz museum and got their information. When I got home I looked them up on the web. Lo and behold the Indian 6 was there. I relayed this story to the museum manager and he was kind enough to give me another copy of the post card which now proudly hangs on my fridge awaiting a suitable frame. After a thoroughly enjoyable visit to the museum Jerry and I followed Richard to his house so I could take a peek at his Ural. It started making some untoward noises and he asked me to take a look. I heard some disquieting sounds and we agreed some exploratory surgery is in order. Back home after a long albeit immensely enjoyable day I collapsed in my recliner to enjoy the company of my two furry roomies.

We had 27 riders from Salina, Culver, Hutchenson, Denmark, Hutchenson, Lindsborg, and Canton, with the long distance being Steve Errebo From Denmark at 220 miles.

We were riding Honda, Harley, Yamaha, Suzuki, BMW, Kawasaki, and Moto Guzzi.

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Last edited by Roadpounder on Wed Sep 27, 2017 2:25 am, edited 3 times in total.
beemermark
Posts: 43
Joined: Wed Sep 16, 2015 4:21 pm

Re: North Central ROMEO Weely Ride for 9/20/17

Post by beemermark »


Ride Safe - Ride with a Smile. Mark
Attachments
Two Lies Bar<br />If you wonder what type of music they play here, just check out these album jackets.
Two Lies Bar
If you wonder what type of music they play here, just check out these album jackets.
Ceiling &quot;D&quot; core
Ceiling "D" core
Country Competition
Country Competition
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Spee - D - Service
Spee - D - Service
Service with a smile.
Service with a smile.
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