Quick note on yesterday. While we did about 380 miles, I was pretty comfortable though about 280. I didn't get as many long rides in before taking off as I would have liked, but the comfort of the Helix is great. Let continue...
I should have expected it, but the day didn't start as planned again. We were shooting for a 7am take off, and missed that by about an hour and a half. Pre-ride checks of all scooters but mine went fine. Old Blue is leaking a little oil around the dipstick (insert juvenile joke here), but the real problem happened when checking the air in the rear tire. Pressure WAS fine. After removing the gauge, air kept spilling out. Pressure NOT so fine. A trip to Autozone and a new valve stem and we are back on the road. A real small fix, but this repair is so much easier to fix while at the hotel instead of along the road somewhere in the middle of nowhere Kansas. The shakedown ride to the starting line has it's benefits.
We know this day is going to be much shorter in mileage. We are going to the Barber. No, most of the crew already has short (or non-existant) hair. We are heading to the Barber Motorsports Museum. One of the mecca's of all things two wheeled.
But first, a selfie taken on the 22 somewhere in Alabama (I really need to get a GoPro or spring for the Sena with a camera):
The roads were great, the air temp was perfect, and all the green surroundings made the Californians happy people.
And then we made it, the Barber:
Lets be real honest here, I'm going to post pictures. Lots and lots of pictures.
But you cant help it, the place is incredible:
Creators note: I would work on some blog formatting, but I'm new to this and it's late. I may revisit this on another day for cleanup.
Some classics
Some just for fun
Some really sharp machines
Some scooters
Some odd-balls
and even a few cars
I took so many pictures my phone battery died.
And then it happened. Well first, before it happened, Mike almost about got thrown out. These guys I'm riding with are like kids in the worlds best candy store. Technically not all the bikes have "no touching" signs. Somewhere on the fourth floor (actually next to a 1929 French Majestic), the security guard got ... antsy. Apparently the eye in the sky has been recording all the extra work needed to get paw prints off the mechanical bits. After promising to behave, or throw Mike in front of the guards bullets, we were allowed to proceed with scouring the museum. Where is a bail bondsman when you need him?
Then it happened. One of the Barber "curators" came through and asked who owned the scooters from California. A conversation was struck and the Cannonball and our pre and post rides was explained. He was really nice and offered to get us onto a group tour the next day. Explaining that we were only in town for this afternoon, he mentioned that "we had come way too far not to see the good stuff." Down we went.
You see, the bottom floor of the Barber is generally off limits without special access. This is where they have a shop to either maintain (all the bikes displayed run) or restore all the motorcycles. They even have a race shop (did I mention the track behind the museum?)
We had this great private tour showing several of the bikes being restored, checked out the race fab, and finally hit the gold. We got to see where they store most of the bikes before the restoration or cleanup gets started. Most people don't get to poke around this part of the collection. We did! One of the best days EVER!
And then it was time to move on. I can't thank the Barber and Jeff enough for showing us these sights and for taking the time to just hang out and have some real conversations about this collection and how it came to be. You can always tell when people have a real passion for what they do. Of course, with a job like his, how can you not be excited to show up to work every day.
We had dinner at a place called Rusty's BBQ (good but I have been BBQ spoiled since moving to Arkansas) and had some conversation with a stranger named Mark who got caught up in our post-Barber enthusiasm and sat down with us. You meet so many different people on these trips.
Here is the final route for today:
G'night folks.
Tomorrow, Savannah, GA
Remember, if you want a real time track of where we are, hit the link to Franks SPOT on the right side of the page.
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