Stampede 9, NIMBY

     The Stampede is a cross country race for choppers.  The rules are simple: rigid frames or struts (no rear suspension), no windshields, no fairings, no hard saddlebags, no rubber mounted engines, no chase vehicles and this year the bike can carry no more than 5 gallons of gas and must have a working kick starter.

David Gooden "Grandpaw" (#7) showing how it's done.

     Stampede 9 started at NIMBY in Oakland, California.  NIMBY is a place where artists can have a workspace for projects big and small.  It is billed as the largest do-it-yourself industrial space in the San Francisco Bay Area.  It was a natural choice for place to start Stampede 9.   

      

     The most rigid of the rigid, Aaron "Skip" Lindenstruth's CB-750 (#18) with no front suspension and no rear suspension. 

     Frank Dotson (#17) rode his "62 Panhead that was not only the oldest bike in the Stampede but the oldest bike to ever run the Stampede.

Probably good advise.

Chris De Baer "Beardo" (#35) always rides something interesting.

Last years winner, Paul Corey (#14).

Steff and Sue Brooks' Mayagi built Yamaha SX650's (#23 & 21).

Brandon Fletcher's (#9) copper plated, "Princess Penny".

     

     NIMBY was a good place start Stampede 9.  People arrived from all over the country, renewed old acquaintances, made new friendships, partied, rested from their travels and prepared for the ordeal ahead.  Charlie handed out the route and as the light faded we took this group photo. 

Stampede 9 Results

     There are a few hours left to finish but as of now 17 of the original 38 have arrived in Pinebluff, North Carolina..  The course started in Oakland, Calfornia and followed Highway 80 to Davenport, Iowa.  From Davenport it went through Indianapolis, Indiana and on to Columbus, Ohio.  From Columbus the route dropped down to Highway 50 and headed east through Washington DC and out to Salisbury, Maryland.  Then we headed south through Norfold and Portsmouth and on to Raleigh, North Carolina and then on Highway 1 to the end at Pinebluff. The total mileage was about 3200 miles.

     I'm updating the list below.  Stampede 9 is over and as far as I know this is the finishing order.  I'm really curious about what happened to those who did not finish.  Please let me know what happened if you did not finish.

Here's the list of finishers.

1.     Chris Schreiber         #25  arrived at     10:38 pm   Tuesday        61 hours 38 minutes 
2.      Ray Watson (me)     #16                      11:00 pm                         62:00         
3.     Jay Jacobs                 #26                      5:25 am    Wednesday     68:25   
4.     Pres Merrium            #2                        7:00 am                           71:00 
5.     Speedo                     #36                       11:13 am                          74:13
6.     El Nomad                 #13                       2:50 pm                           77:50 
7.     Paul Corey               #14                       5:20 pm                            80:20
8.     Rob Doughty            #17                      7:16 pm                            82:16 
9.     Frank Dotson           #17                       6:40 am  Thursday           93 hours 40 minutes
10.   Nathan Friesz           #11                       6:42 am                            93:42
11.   "Grampaw", David Gooden     #7         2:38 pm                            101:38
12.   Brandon Fletcher      #9                        3:15 pm                            102:15
13.   Andrew Starons        #33                      3:42 pm                            102:42
        Jason Anderson        #15                      3:42 pm                             102:42
14.   Mike Shultz              #29                      5:20 pm                             104:20
15.   Kurt Stender            #30                       5:37 pm                             104:37
16.   Kemet Periot            #3                        5:15 am   Friday                116 hours 15 minutes
17.   Jessie Silva               #19                      7:50 am                             118:50
18.   John Rogers             #38                       3:48 pm                            126:48
19.   "Truck House", Josh Biemold   #4       7:02 pm                            130:02
20.   Caleb Johnson          #12                      7:00 pm                             130:00
21.   Velardi Gonzales       #1                       7:08 pm                             130:08
22.   Chris De Baer           #35                      7:00 pm                            130:00 

Note: The Stampede left Oakland, California at 0600 Pacific time and the finishing times are given in local time which is the Eastern Time Zone.

My Stampede Bike

Stampede 9 starts Sunday, I'll be there.

Marty Schilber and Paul Arvin, Master Mechanics

     There are new rules for this years Stampede, one of which is that the bike must have a kick starter.  I ordered a kick starter kit from Ledsled Customs of Dayton, Ohio.  My skill level is "shade tree" and time was getting short so I went to see Marty Schilber of Santa Rosa V-twin.

That board looks like it might have been used a couple of times before.

     Marty put the gear drive cams in my Electra Glide and that was 80 thousand miles ago, so he's got the skills.  
     He pulled the transmission and replaced the main shaft with the kicker shaft. Ledsled had drilled the kit for mid pegs, I don't think they had actually done a sporty with mids and a lot of fitting had to be done.                                   

                                                   


 

The kick starter takes up the space where the rear brake master cylinder sits, so it had to be relocated.  Marty said he knew a really good fabricator and recommended Paul Arvin, owner of J.F.R. Chop Shop (Just Fucking Ride, cool name, huh?) in Santa Rosa. 
     Paul, who knew of the Stampede, worked overtime to get the relocation bracket built and the master cylinder plumbed in time.  It works great and looks good.

     Its good to do business with people who know their stuff and that you can trust to do things right and deliver when they say.  In Marty and Pauls case they did more.
     
     You can contact Marty Schilber at Santa Rosa V-Twin, located at 1240 Petaluma Hill Rd., Santa Rosa, California (707) 523-9696

     You can reach Paul Arvin at J.F.R. Chopper Shop, 40 Maxwell Ct., Santa Rosa, California (707) 548-1839 

Mt. Palomar Ride

     The day after Louis Soto's garage party we all headed for Mt. Palomar. Pete and Bob had been there before as it is one of the most popular motorcycle roads in Southern California. On a weekend there are hundreds of bikes on the mountain and surrounding area. Sport bikes are particularly attracted to the tight increasing radius and hairpin turns. 


     To get to Mt. Palomar, take Hwy 15 south, just south of Temecula take Hwy 76 and go east to Hwy S7, that's where the fun begins. We stopped at Mother's Kitchen Restaurant for some great bike spotting.

A guy named Mike showed up with his very nice Honda CBX.

A Guy named Chris rode this electric
 bike, quiet, kinda spooky.

     We left Mother's and headed up the mountain to a place called The Hideout. We lingered at The Hideout, I had a pulled pork sandwich that was delicious. The beer was cold and the band good. 

          



Chris showed up at The Hideout having ditched the electric (maybe it needed a charge) for this '36 knucklehead. He says he has 125 bikes and I'd bet they are all pretty nice.

Pete and Jennifer at The Hideout

And Bob and Sonja at The Hideout






     We left Mt. Palomar on Hwy 76 past Lake Henshaw and hit Hwy 79 back to Temecula. At around 6,000 ft. Mt. Palomar was a lot cooler than the lower elevations. The ride had just about everything that makes a great day trip and I want to go back. 

Louis Soto's Garage Party

"The man was always working to make sure
everyone was welcomed, fed, entertained and
introduced to others."
                                     Axle

     We rode down to Riverside, California for Louis' 2nd annual,Hell, Hogs and Hoedown. Louis is a great host, there was plenty of food and beer.  


     The party was planned to be at Louis' shop, Louisbuilt Customs, but the landlord nixed that idea, so Louis relocated the event at a friend's guitar shop. 

     My friend and fellow Stampede rider, Bob Marshall and his girlfriend Sonja came to the party. Bob lives in Riverside and is owner of Flying Marshall Land Speed Racing.  
    Bob's land Speed record bike 'ol #2227 runs in the 650 A-G class and is widely favored to set a world speed record in the coming season.

Pete Cushing, also a fellow Stampeder, rode up with Jennifer from San Diego. Pete rode his super cool 1996 Royal Star, the D2T bike.

D2T- Death to Traitors

     

     You might say that Ryan came the farthest, he was returning to Northern California from New York. But when he heard about Louis' Shop Party he decided maybe the best route home was through Riverside.

There were plenty of Dogs, burgers and plenty of beer.

Friends, food and beer, and a good band, about says it all.
    

Sold Last Years Stampede Bike

     I sold the Kawasaki Vulcan 500.  I built the bike for Stampede 8 when the displacement was limited to 550cc's. I really liked this little bike.  It runs like a top and in the 7000+ miles I rode it across the USA it didn't use a drop of oil.  I have been riding it a lot but garage space is the problem.      

     Keenan, the guy who bought it, is a first time rider.  He's taking the rider safety classes.  I think the bike will be perfect for him, it's reliable and handles well, a nearly perfect first bike.  Plus, he and the bike look cool. 

BSA Owners Club International Rally

     The BSA Owners Club was in Petaluma for their international rally.  A good choice, I think, as between the wine country and the coast highways, there are some of the best motorcycle roads in the world. The route the BSA boys chose, for this day, was from Petaluma to the town of Occidental, then over Coleman Valley Rd. to Highway 1 and back through the town of Bodega.











     Marie, Logan and I met our friends Walt and Vanessa at Howard's Cafe for breakfast.  After we finished eating the first riders came into town, followed by probably a hundred more.  

     This is the 51st BSA Owners Club International Rally.  Next year the Rally will be held in Denmark and then in 2016 Italy, 2017 Netherlands, and in 2018 Australia.  The 2019 Rally will be a homecoming of sorts as it well be held in Great Britain.  

     The members of the BSA Owners Club were truly nice folks.  They all seemed to want people to see and enjoy their machines and share their enthusiasm.  And as usual I wish I had taken more photographs. Too soon the riders kicked over their bikes and headed off to Coleman Valley Rd.

Walt, clearly interested in the opinion of a five year old.

Well, It Might Be...

Anyway, nobody said that it wasn't.

California Poppies of the Western Mojave

     Between the City of Lancaster and the Town of Goreman lies a valley north of the San Gabriel mountains and south of the Tehachappi mountains. That valley is called the Antelope Valley and is the west end of the great Mojave Desert.

     And if you go there in early spring, and there is rain at just the right time, and if it is not too cold, and not yet too hot, you will find that the California Poppy has bloomed in all their millions.