Wednesday North Central ROMEO Lunch Ride for 3/16/16

[Roadpounder]

I was just looking up when we were here last and the best I could find is almost 1 1/2 years ago. For all the folks flying high we're set up for the Stearman Field Bar & Grill in Benton. The weather looks like it will cooperate and they sounded glad to hear from us. They had a pretty good handle on how many to expect. She said that if I told her 15 that she'd plan on 30. Now I need to get the latch on my trunk fixed so I don't get locked out of the trunk again.

TIME....................1:00pm

Here it is,............. STEARMAN FIELD BAR & GRILL
14789 SW 30TH ST.
BENTON KS. 67017
316-778-1612

Facebook page........https://www.facebook.com/StearmanBarAndGrill/?fref=ts


http://bit.ly/1uLkbOc



3/16/16 The weatherman wasn't as cooperative as I had hoped. Eight of us gathered at Sleep Inn for the trip to Benton and the Stearman Bar and Grill. It was a bit cooler and windier than I was led to believe and most of us were well bundled up against the wind. John Crandell was feeling a little off with a sore back but decided to tough it out. I stayed behind him in case he had a problem and needed someone to hysterically panic. About half way there Terry decided to take a break and we stopped at a Casey's where I picked up a “chew toy”. Jack Links Beef Jerky. At four dollars it can get quite expensive to mess with Sasquatch. By the time we got to Casey's, about four of our contingency had vanished. John was holding up well, and waiting at the entrance of the drive. After all the needs were met we mounted up again and hit the freeway for a few miles before finding the back way into Benton. We arrived to a parking lot roughly half full of cars and trucks. I was hopeful that our group wouldn't put any undue pressure on the staff. Well, as it turned out that wasn't the case. When all was said and done our total number came to eleven. After a little tire kicking I went inside to continue my photo thing and finally settle in for a good lunch. While going snap happy I couldn't resist the temptation to get a picture of the killer fan that looks like it was liberated from a visiting helicopter. The motor on this thing looks like it could lift a draw bridge.

While there a couple of private planes came in for the proverbial $100 hamburger. It's a common pastime for pilots to hop into their planes and fly half way across the state for a quick lunch just for the fun of it. Kind of sounds like some bikers I know. Seeing them flashed me back to my old flying club days in Wisconsin. We'd use any excuse to fly. One of the planes that came was a Beechcraft Travilaire. That was the same type that I got my multi-engine rating in. The other was a Cessna 150. I spent two or three eons in those as an instructor. That flashed me back to many years of having my head in the clouds.

The food and service was first rate and I opted for the mushroom and Swiss burger with the holy grail of fries, sweet potato fries and the obligatory iced tea. Diesel Dave had the Chicken Quesadilla. I'm not big on Mexican food but that didn't look too bad.

All too soon it came time to leave and we started to gather outside. Several if needed to gas up. Dave fired up and he knew where the gas was so I figured I'd better follow him. As we filled up several others rolled into the gas station, but John was nowhere to be found. Several of us expressed some concern for his well being Dave decided to so launch off in search of him. We waited and soon they rolled in and all was well. We set off retracing our steps on the way to Salina. Eventually we found our way to I 135 and jumped onto the fast track. After a quick leg stretcher at the rest stop it was back on the road. We parted ways at 'shilling road and I pressed home to Leo and Fritz who by this time were sure they were being abandoned.

The towns represented were.
Salina
Hutchinson
Denmark
Canton
Culver
Minneaopolis

The bikes attending,
Guzzi
Harley
Honda
Kawasaki
Yamaha

[Richard]

Guys - It's me popping in here to address an issue that I never seem to be able to have time to talk to you about. It's shirts. ROMEO shirts to be exact. Here's the deal....
It seems everybody is trying to get into the shirt business these days. Actually that's fine with me because I've been trying to get out of the shirt business for quite some time now. I just don't know how to do it.
I've had, in the past, over four hundred dollars or more tied up in inventory and believe me, it takes a long time to work thru that amount of shirts. I'm now down to just a couple shirts of each size just to have them available for new members. I don't completely know how to get out of the business entirely so I guess I should just call it cutting back.
Anyway, here's the deal.
I've quit my old supplier for a variety of reasons mostly due to delays and errors, and I've teamed up with a new supplier and
I've arranged for a portion of the proceeds to go to the Kansas Motorcycle Museum in Marquette.
A win..win situation as far as I'm concerned.
The City Sundries Shop in Marquette is now printing shirts on premesis and they can do your shirt as you wait. The prices for the shirts will be the same price as you have been paying for them and they also have the ability to customize with your name and to print up sweatshirts as well as the T's. They can also do other colors if you choose but remember, safety green is the color most closely associated with ROMEO's around here and so I would hope this continues.
This is all new so i'm sure it will have some 'bugs' until we work them out. But you can now go over or call and they'll fix you up.
Now, here's the part that gets tricky........
If you live so far away that you seldom ever get to Marquette, I can always go over and pick one up since I live so close to them, and deliver it to you at the next lunch...so long as you've ordered it and paid for it in advance. As I said...I'm trying to get out of the shirt business meaning...I won't be carrying an inventory around with me.
Here's the City Sundries number in Marquette...785-546-2234. Here's my number...785-822-5137 if you want me to pick 'em up for you.
Let's see how this works out but if you have a better solution, I'm listening! Richard

[roginoz]

I've been thinking of something similar for our South Central group, Richard. It's a hassle trying to haul several sizes of shirts (short and long sleeve) to the rides when most of the time no one needs one. (And I've not been doing it nearly as long as you have...) There's also the lead time in getting new stock. I've identified a local printer; just need to get a jpeg file to them and see if we can make arrangements. I'll steal your idea of offering to pick up prepaid shirts, although it may not be as much of a problem for our group; most of us are in Wichita or close by.

[Richard]

Guys - Marty didn't indicate who had the high mileage today so I thought I would just chime in here with that important information. When someone rides 150 miles in weather like we had Wednesday, it's just downright shameful to not shower some praise. Steve Errebo on his Kawasaki rode 150 miles to take the coveted long distance award. Hey...I didn't even know he had a Kaw.! Not to be shunned for riding 137 miles was Bob Bird of Culver and Bruce Shield of Minneapolis was third with 126. We may not have the smartest guys to be riding these kind of miles in this weather but boy do they have enthusiasm.
In case you may have wondered where in the world I was on such a day...I was having lunch with the South Central bunch at Burrton in the Barn. I was passing out ROMEO stickers and recruiting cards and touting the Sundry Shop in Marquette as a good supplier to get your ROMEO shirt. They do 'em on the spot now you know!
I want to thank Marty again for stepping up and learning the ropes but might suggest that he check the location of the Southern group prior to scheduling a ride this far south. We were further south than the southern group. They were wondering if we had changed areas!