THIS BLOG IS DEDICATED TO ALL BIKERS HERE IN THE U.S. AND WORLDWIDE. TO ALL VETERANS; THOSE LIVING AND TO THOSE WHO GAVE THE ULTIMATE SACRIFICE; TO THOSE CURRENTLY SERVING AND TO THOSE IN THE FUTURE, WHO WILL SERVE LONG AFTER WE HAVE GONE, TO PRESERVE THE FREEDOM THAT THOSE IN THE PAST, WE IN THE PRESENT AND THOSE IN THE FUTURE HAVE ENJOYED, ARE ENJOYING AND WILL ENJOY, AS WE RIDE FREE AND ENJOY LIFE ON OUR CHOSEN MODE OF TRANSPORTATION: MOTORCYCLES.

JOHN

NORTH TEXAS BIKERS




REMEMBER: IF YOU WANT TO SEE THE PICTURE BIGGER, JUST CLICK ON THE PICTURE.

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

STEVE SELLS HIS HARLEY 10-1-08

On Tuesday, 9-30-08, Sissy sent me the following pictures of Steve's Harley, that he sold to Tony, who is from Longview Texas, being loaded onto the trailer for the trip Southeast. Steve sold his bike in order to get his 09 Harley Road Glide Screaming Eagle CVO. Steve's bike has been ordered and we all can't wait for it's arrival, none more than Steve. Scroll down for the pic's & commentary from Sissy and REMEMBER: IF YOU WANT TO SEE THE PICTURE BIGGER, JUST CLICK ON THE PICTURE!


Steve sells his bike today. And his new bike doesn't come in until Oct. 27th. Tony in the black shirt is the new owner. Tony owns an oil field business in Longview. He's a member of the Booze Fighters there. He said that if we ride to Longview and call him up, he'll take us all out to some good seafood place there. For Boozefighter's info: http://www.bfmcnatl.com/



This is Tony's riding buddy Jim. Jim is 74 years young and rides daily. I told him that I want to grow up to be like him. Nice guys!


Tony is already talking about the custom changes he will be doing to his new bike. Hope he sends us pictures! Enjoy Tony! Hope we get to ride thru Longview and get to ride with you and Jim.

This will conclude this post. Congrats on buying a great bike, Tony. Congrats on getting your Screaming Eagle ordered, Steve, and thank you Sissy for permission to post your pics & commentary on the blog.

Scroll down for more rides, events & posts and don't forget to click on the "older posts" link at the bottom of EACH page for more good stuff, back to January 08. Until next ride and post, ya'll be careful out there, ride safe, and keep the rubber on the road..................JOHN

Sunday, September 28, 2008

The Four Stars Motorcycle Ranch Ride--9-27-08

Saturday, 9-27-08, we had our monthly weekend Blue Knight meeting here in Wichita Falls. Turnout was low for several reasons. Primary reason, is one of the Knights mother passed away and her funeral was in Bridgeport Texas, which is between 75 -100 miles south of here and quite a few members went down to it. There were several rides going on, one being the Harley Nut & Bolts run that climaxed with the bikes pulling into the city park where FallsFest was being held. I don't know for sure how many bikes showed up this year, but in the past, it is very impressive to watch & listen to the rolling thunder of 100's of bikes coming down the road. Anyway, Russ called and wanted to run down to Four Stars Motorcycle Ranch in Henrietta Tx,to pick up some new highway pegs for his Harley. We met at the Shell Station at Windthorst/US 287 and headed south. Scroll down and check the brief ride out and REMEMBER: IF YOU WANT TO SEE THE PICTURE BIGGER, JUST CLICK ON THE PICTURE!!

I had to fill up Ms Clone with the liquid gold before heading out. Here is Ms Clone at the pumps, while Russ checks out southbound US 287 for signs of Steve, who was coming with us..

While waiting for Steve, a Harley with a trailer pulled up to the pumps and Russ rode over to talk with the folks on it. I went over, after filling up the bike, and this is Tonya & David. They are from Flint Michigan and are on the end run from a trip out to the west coast. They are heading , from here, down to Ft. Worth Texas to buy a house and then they are going to move down here where ya can ride almost all year round. Trouble is, they are gonna go from being Yankees to Damn Yankees, like a lot of us. For those of you who have no idea what I am talking about is this: a person from the Northern United States ,(a Yankee), that visits the Southern United States and then goes back up North, is called a YANKEE by the folks down South. A YANKEE who comes to the South and stays, is referred to as a DAMN YANKEE. I am also a transplant from Michigan and enjoy being a DAMN YANKEE. But I have shed blood for Texas and it's way of life and I should be granted citizenship here.. Hey Gov. Rick Perry, can ya help me out with this? I mean after all. I like BBQ and the weather and I voted for our favorite sons (both times) for President.

Here is Russ talking to Tonya & David. They are going to email me some pics from their cross country run and I will do a post for them with the pics when I get them. Ride safe, ya'll and you both are gonna LOVE Texas... Hint: practice saying "ya'll" & "fixin'"....(grin)


Steve showed up and away we went. Here is Steve in front of me and Russ up in the lead slot.


We continue the run South on US287 to Henrietta which is about 20 miles or so south. The movie with Robert Duval, "The Stars fell On Henrietta" is about Henrietta Texas, during the oil boom days. It is a great movie and a must see for all Texans and DAMN YANKEES. I've seen it twice already..


Getting closer to Four Stars Motorcycle Ranch in Henrietta Texas. Four Stars sits by Us287 (south) & Tx Hwy 148.

Getting in a little traffic.


The sign out front of the Motorcycle Ranch. The Motorcycle Ranch is co-located with the Auto-Ranch..click this link for more info: http://www.fourstarsautoranch.com/


They are getting a front entrance at the Motorcycle Ranch...Just a few short months ago, this concrete parking lot, was dirt, gravel & rocks.


Here are Steve & Russ upon our arrival at Four Stars..That's Steve's red Valkyrie.


We go inside and Steve climbed on one the Harley's. I have never seen him on a Harley, stationary or rolling. His preferred ride is the Valkyrie and he goes everywhere on it. But when he got on the Harley and I took the picture, he got that instant, what I call, and forgive my language ya'll, but he got that shit eating grin that everybody gets when riding, sitting on, or standing next to an idling Harley. Cracked me up...


Here is the 105th emblem of the Harley I want..Not necessarily this bike but I want one of the 105th anniversary editions. Something about that copper/black paint scheme.


Some of the bikes out front.


One of the custom paint jobs. I liked the bike but I do not like white walls or fairings..


More of the bikes down the line of bikes for sale


One of the several Screaming Eagles for sale at the dealership.

When we left Four Stars, Russ headed back up US287 to Wichita Falls, with his new highway pegs. He had to get back to install those and he is currently doing some remodeling at his home. Steve & I shot up Tx 148 to US 82 and stopped at the Dairy Queen in Henrietta. This will conclude this post.

I had a great time as always. It wasn't too long ago that I was told, basically, that hell would freeze over before I got another Harley. Ya know what, as I look down that long dark tunnel, into the future, I see flashes of light and I see ice crystals starting to form on the fires of hell..

Scroll down for more rides, events and posts and don't forget to click on the "older posts" link at the bottom of EACH page for more posts, back to January 08. Until next run, ride and post, ya'll be careful out there, ride safe and keep the rubber on the road. ALSO, keep Mike P & family in your prayers, as they go thru the mourning of his mom. The death of a loved one is a very stressful time, and prayers will definitely help.....Thanks...................JOHN


Saturday, September 27, 2008

JANICE RIDES TO DFW AIRPORT 9-26-08

Friday, 9-26-08, Janice had to be at DFW airport by at 10 a.m., to catch a flight to Birmingham Alabama for a family reunion about 50 miles south of Birmingham. So, as she sent her clothes with her parents, who drove to Alabama, I told her I would take her to the DFW airport on the motorcycle (a distance of about 125 miles from here). Rodney & Vicki both rode their Harley's and went with us. This was the 2nd longest ride Janice has been on a motorcycle. Scroll down and see how it went and REMEMBER: IF YOU WANT TO SEE THE PICTURE BIGGER, JUST CLICK ON THE PICTURE!




Rod & Vicki had to gas up prior to leaving Wichita Falls, so here is Janice, Rodney & Vicki at the gas pumps..We met them at 7:30 a.m.

Janice standing by Ms Clone.. Temperature was said to be 63 degrees so all I wore was a t-shirt & jeans. The wind chill at 70 mph was a lot lower and I froze my butt off until it warmed up outside.

We left Wichita Falls and our first stop was McDonald's in Decatur Texas for breakfast & coffee. Here is Rodney and Vicki at McDonald's. Vicki just parked and is removing gear.


Here is Janice, eating her last meal on terra firma. Unless the food has gotten better on aircraft, then this was her last GOOD food until she got to Alabama.

Here are me & Rodney at the McDonald's in Decatur Texas.


Here are me & Janice at Terminal (A) at DFW airport. You can tell how thrilled she is to be getting off of one death machine and fixin' to get on one with wings...I laughed when I told her that. She, on the other hand, doesn't like to fly, and did not think it was funny. I, on the other hand, have been on DC-9's, MD-80's, 747's, stretch 8's, c-141's, c-130's, uh-1's (Huey helicopters), HH53's , and puddle jumpers. Flown over the pacific to SEA and back and all over the U.S. And I was an Air Traffic Controller for 8 years..

Took a picture of the Control Tower on the other side of the Terminal, from where I dropped Janice off. I got accepted by the FAA at the same time I got accepted by the police department. I opted for the PD and after a couple of years, decided that picking the PD was a big error. However, they changed maximum age to 30 to become an FAA ATC, and I missed the cut by 4 weeks..


After leaving DFW, Rodney & I went to Joe's Crab Shack in Grapevine Texas to get back with Vicki (she didn't drive onto the airport as traffic is insane & she didn't want to get run over by the idiots there in cars, trucks & buses) The folks there think its the Indy 500. As a matter of fact, Rodney almost got run over by a moron driving a yellow cab. So anyway, we survived and met Vicki & Stacy (her daughter) at Joe's Crab Shack, a seafood restaurant. for more info, click this link: http://www.joescrabshack.com/store_front_location.php?LC=CSGV Here's Vicki & Stacy.


Vicki & Stacy at Joe's Crab Shack, Grapevine Texas


Vicki & Stacy


Rodney, Vicki & Stacy in Grapevine Texas


Rodney, Vicki & Stacy and the bikes in the background, at Joe's Crab shack


Rodney, Vicki & Stacy, out of the sun..These digital camera's are great..Not like the old 35mm SLR camera's that used film and was expense when ya screwed up..You didn't see your pictures back then until you paid for them..


Yet another of Rodney, Vicki & Stacy...


Stacy & Vicki as we await our order of Fish & Chips and calamari (fried squid).


Stacy and our waiter, Rodney..He was a lot of fun to be around.



Me, Rodney & Rodney. I think he was also the bartender and manager..


Me, Rodney & Rodney. We spent a couple hours there and had a great time. If you are in the area, you should really stop & eat there and get with Rodney. He will fix ya up & make your stay there an enjoyable one..


Stacy's husband, Mike , came to our location after Vicki called him and asked him for a name of some decent bail bond people in the area . She told him we had been at a biker bar on Harry Hines , & got into a little jam with the local bikers and now we needed a bailbondsman. He was not happy until Vicki told him where we were really at and he came and met us there. Here is Rodney, Vicki, Stacy & Mike.


The Joe's Crab Shack sign off of Tx 114 by the DFW Airport in Grapevine, Texas

We left Grapevine & headed back home to Wichita Falls. Here we are Northbound on US 287 after gassing up in Decatur Tx


Rodney & Vicki playing catchup as we go thru Decatur Tx


Still heading North on US 287


Being the law biding citizen's that we are, here is proof we were doing the speed limit..


A mirror shot of Vicki & Rodney behind me

Here is Vicki cruising North on US 287 on her Harley


Rodney having a great time as we go north, on his Harley


Another of Rodney as we enter the shade of an overpass..


Vicki & Rodney North on US 287


Last shot of the day as we near Wichita Falls. We had a great time, met some new folks and had many laughs. Janice missed a good time..But she will be back Wednesday.

Scroll down for more rides, events & posts, and don't forget to click on the "older posts" link at the bottom of EACH page for more posts, back to January 08. Until the next ride and post, ya'll be careful out there, ride safe and keep the rubber on the road...........JOHN