Easy Rider 2008

Spring

2007-01-16T22:59:00.000-08:00

Looks like we can get certified as early as March. Takes about 4 days and is mostly evenings. Plan your holiday now.

Classes

2006-12-12T20:23:00.000-08:00

I have heard that this guy is great and offers group rates. LEt me know your thoughts on timing? Take it together and then buy a bike the same week/weekend.
D

No death during X-mas

2006-12-12T18:46:00.000-08:00

Don't let the dream end during x-mas. Save some money and try to keep the dream alive.
Mister B.

dinero para febrero

2006-11-13T13:10:00.000-08:00

Easy...
How much do you think you could put away for february?? Do you think you would have enough to take this course??

Perhaps we can scrounge enough to buy one bike??? If not the perfect one a practice one...

Zen and the art of.....

2006-11-12T10:12:00.000-08:00

Does that Vancouver course place also offer a motorcyle maintenence couse?? This place in Calgary does. I think this might be a very wise education thing before the trip...but nothing that would hold back the trip...Because if one person is educated in the group than that person could be in charge of maintenence on the trip... Here is the linkhttp://www.safetycouncil.ab.ca/motorcycle.html
explore this site...
misterbrowne...

My Bike

2006-10-29T23:59:00.000-08:00

Here is my current piece of shit of choice. The Honda 750. One of the most reliable bikes on the market or second hand market at least. Introduced in 1969 the Honda CB750/4 was a motorcycle produced by the Honda company in the US and Europe. Honda had been producing smaller utility bikes, winning customers through reliability and value, and sales were good with their famous nicest people ad series. The CB750 broke the mould and was a bike for enthusiasts - technically (if only by a month) the second true modern Superbike behind the Triumph Trident (aka BSA Rocket 3). The CB750 was the first modern four cylinder machine from a mainstream manufacturer and the first production bike to use a disc brake, an electric starter, with four carburetors and overhead camshaft. By comparison the triple cylinder Triumph Trident was an extension of an older engine design in a far better handling frame. The CB750 and Rocket 3/Trident sold well against each other up until 1971, with the CB750 trading on price and reliability, while the Rocket 3/Trident traded on its racing ability. However, as the price of the Honda dropped and the extras increased, the Trident failed to develop as quickly - the Honda was eventually outselling the British bikes by five to one in 1976, the last year of production of the Triumph Trident. Maybe I'll check into these also.
D

Teacher

2006-10-28T19:17:00.000-07:00

Anyon have any thoughts on taking riding lessons? I hear it is both a good idea and saves on insurance.
D

Sun Worship

2006-10-18T20:40:00.000-07:00

You know why people worship the sun? The same reason men love a cock tease. Let me elaborate. If you went to the local meat market every night and batted 100 you soon would soon lose interest, arguably in at least some aspects. However, if you head over to Moe’s tavern and get play only 50% (I heard DG pulls these kinds of odds) then Moe’s and the women at Moe’s deserve a little more attention. Please allow me to finish my original line of thinking. I think that Burning Man and a Mexico Coastal trip is the ultimate hoar house tour for us Canadian’s who get cocked teased by the Sun on a yearly basis. In the very least I can appreciate the sun because as I sit in rainy Van-city I am dreaming of a photonic blowjob. D

Time of Year/Weather & Welcome Darcy

2006-10-04T00:18:00.000-07:00

Darc here,
Punk Rawk mentioned this bike trip when I was in Van over the weekend. Sounds like an interesting trip. Keep me posted on the what and when. My initial thoughts.

Going any later then April would be killer heat wise. When I was at Coachella this year (End of April) it was ~ 101 F. One guy followed us from Vegas to Palm Springs the day before the festival. Easy drive through the Mojave.....but 100+ degrees. It was 112 in Palm Springs in July when we had a heat wave here in San Francisco. Sept / Oct may be the best times weather wise.

Possible routes on the way to Mexico, Hwy 1 through Cali (along the coast), rip through southern Utah and Mt. Zion park, hit the Grand Canyon, ride through the Mojave........gotta have a couple day stop in Vegas......then the sun and surf of Mexico. Sept is still hurricane season on the west coast of Mexico.

Welcome P

2006-10-01T11:58:00.000-07:00

P has been a great friend of J and mine since the late 90's. His adventure portfolio is rich with such shared items as cliff diving, rockclimbing, snowboarding, Friday at the Cosmopoliton, and Turtle Mnt. Escapades. Paul has some ideas to put to the group but posted them to another string. I think they are important enough to be their own post so I have re-post them here with his welcome.
D.

So, a few Punk Rawk thoughts about the bike trip:

1) Riding Enduros? Relatively inexpensive bikes; can take off road. They're decent on the highway (especially if we're not into making record times to get places) Be good for riding out to the Burning Man and other off-road adventure side treks we may want to do, especially in Mexico where the roads will be more sketchy.

2) Incorporating some surfing into the trip. If we're riding down the west coast, it would be pretty easy to stop off at various surf spots and catch waves for a few hours and then continue on. I've only started surfing and my skills are limited, but hell...we could all be half decent by the time the trip's over!

3) I'm also down with 3 weeks or a month if anybody else can afford that amount of time off. Accommodation would be cheap in Mexico and I'm thinking we could camp a lot in the US.
P.

Mr. Pink

2006-09-28T11:34:00.000-07:00

Okay, I am getting goofy and cheesedicked about going on this ride. Another cheesdick idea: Maybe for the sake of this blogg and the general nefarious nature of road trips we should adopt pseudonyms. Not unlike the Mr. “insert color here” names in Reservoir dogs. Just a cheesdick thougt.

Theme & Mantras

2006-09-27T21:02:00.000-07:00

I am all about some nights of puking and lighting shit on fire. I think that kind of shit is what bonds people together for a lifetime. I also think we should all choose a beverage and make this the groups drink of choice. I don't give a fuck if it is something as girly as a bubble gum martini, something with gin in it (i hate gin), or tequila. When the gang agrees it is a drink stop then we drink gin fizzes till the little fat kid gets angry NO CRYING. That being said, I vote Tequila (straight or with a soda of your choice), Red wine (girly I know, but I love the shit), or whiskey (straight or with soda of choice). Notice I stated soda of choice. Way too lame to be sipping a tequila sunrise and be claiming you are a hardened road warrior.

All this being said, I wouldn't mind getting some hard riding in before we start the drinking. Drive straight to Vegas (non-stop) and then get pissed and crash is fine be me. Drive to Baja as fast as we can and then get over the border and take it slow is also great by me. I find that the old ethanol tends to loosen the resolve after a few days of hard anything. Just my thoughts but in the spirit of J's last post What GOES on the road - STAYS on the ROAD. If Al shanks a greasy gringo I'll dispose of the body and never speak of it again. This trip is about friendship and adventure. Welcome aboard friends.

mono-eeeee-mono

2006-09-26T19:27:00.000-07:00

Since this is a dood-only trek (so far, that's what I've heard anyway) how 'bout a couple nights in Vegas drinking 'til we puke or drinking 'til we light shit on fire? J.

Inspiration

2006-09-19T19:35:00.000-07:00

Okay...I would hate to point out another book but fuck this guy drove a bike through mexico..got captured and tortured in Columbia...escaped into the jungle...hopped on another bike and CONTINUED his journey to patagonia...That's enought to tell me if you can't get on a bike in two years to ride three weeks... we are PUSSIES. Let's all do a post of a picture of a bank statement or a picture of putting some fucking money away( 3 dollars whatever) to make this happen otherwise I might as well go to "bed bath and beyond" buy myself a 900 count sheet set..and curl and die. A.

Cabos

2006-09-18T23:03:00.000-07:00

Another dream destination for me is Cabos san Lucas. It is the Southern most city in Mexico and about 35 hours of driving away. About 3000 kms large. I have been told that the whole trip has been done in three days from Van but that this was a marathon. I think I could do it in 2 and I have never ridden a bike for more than an hour. FTW. Love the idea of us ending up in a Mexican shanty drinking $5 a bottle Mezcal and klaxing on the beach.

mo money mo problems

2006-09-18T21:10:00.000-07:00

What are you guys able to put away each month to make this happen? I figure we've got about 22 months to save? Can we plan a budget? A.

Security

2006-09-12T10:14:00.000-07:00

Any Ideas on what kind of ID we are going to need for the states; passports or drivers Licence? Remember the states is thinking of stepping up security in 2007( I Think)

Reference Map

2006-09-12T10:10:00.000-07:00

Here is a Good Reference Map of the US. It's kind of simplistic but you get the point.

Destinations 2

2006-09-12T09:45:00.000-07:00

To comment on destinations I did a little research and found the location of Burning Man festival is in the Northwest corner of Nevada a la the Black Rock Desert. I think this destination would work out really well. If we headed down from Vancouver we could come through oregon, Washington, then into California( San Francisco) the into the desert and then back up into Idaho and Montana. or vice versa.

Destinations

2006-09-03T19:28:00.000-07:00

Anyone have any suggestions as to where we should go? The ideal situation is along some coast somewhere for me but I am flexible. Another idea is the Burning Man. Burning Man is a week-long festival with international draw. It is held annually, ending Labor Day weekend in early September, on the playa of the Black Rock Desert in Nevada. The temporary city (housing 36,500 residents in 2005) is put forth as an experiment in community, radical self expression, and radical self reliance. The culmination of the event is the burning of a large wooden sculpture of a man on Saturday night, the sixth night of the event.

Required Reading

2006-08-30T10:45:00.000-07:00

As a note I know we all want to do this and have been wanting for a long time. I always like to pair what books i'm reading to the goals i have, i reccommend reading about Thor heyerdahl. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thor_Heyerdahl
He wrote two books 1) Kon-tiki and 2) aku-aku. Basically Thor had these theories that polynesians sailed across the pacific in wooden rafts to isolated islands. Anyway to prove this him and four guys set out and tied some logs together and pushed them out to sea. They spend 101 days on the ocean eat fish and learning to catch and eat sharks. Basically These guys could have said "the ocean....some logs...fuck that we'll die" But they didn't die and they did it. If four guys in the sixties can get on a wooden raft in the ocean for 3 months, three guys in the 06's can get a on a bike for 3 weeks. Get inspired, we can do anything A.

cc's

2006-08-25T23:11:00.000-07:00

In relation to the question as to what would be a good "cc" level, the motorbike guru at the junk yard stated that a good bike for a long highway cruise would have 1000 cc's. He stated that anything less than that would be really "pulling" on the highway. He also said that lesser cc's would be good in the city but not practical on the highway. He also said that a good bike could be had for $1500 but to also bank on spending $500 straight up after you buy it for a good tune up of seals, etc. As for the type of bike his take was that any brand such as Honda or Yamaha would be good and as long as they were the older variety there would be not much difficulty getting parts where ever you are.
A.

Members

2006-08-25T01:42:00.000-07:00

The best times I have ever had have been facilitated by great friends. That being said, I think we should be careful who we invite on the trip. This is not to exclude anyone but to guarantee those who come along elite status. By reading this alone, you must be part of the inner circle.
D

Budget

2006-08-22T23:57:00.000-07:00

What does everyone think a reasonable budget is? Of course 1million gives us a great time and 1 peso lesser... but where lies the balance. I think 1500-3000 for a bike and then 1000 for beer/hookers/coke/tatoos. There are alot of cheap bikes right now. Tempting to buy one in the fall but shitty with all the rain coming. A... what did you think about size (cc). Thoughts?
D

The Catalyst

2006-08-22T22:47:00.000-07:00

I will begin by trading in the old bike....A.