Mar

Hamburg Harley Days 2006 (Part One)

Posted by biznets Published in motorcycles

Germany – Hamburg Harley Days 2006

Touring Mighigan’s Upper Penninsula By Motorcycle

Posted by biznets Published in motorcycles

One of the reasons I ride is for the spirit of facing the road and life with a can-do attitude, and another is for the joy of seeing the landscape unfold. If that’s part of your riding psyche, too, you’ll feel right at home in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, or “The U.P.” as the locals call it. Stretching 310 miles from Sault Ste. Marie near its eastern end to Ironwood near its western border, it’s a wild land separated from the Lower Peninsula by the Mackinac Bridge, and from Detroit (293 miles to the south) by major cultural differences.

I was born and raised in Michigan’s western Lower Peninsula, and can remember in grade school singing the unofficial state song, “Michigan, My Michigan” (to the tune of “Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum”). In the 1970s I used to ride up into the U.P. on vacation. Despite a move to California more than 30 years ago I still return to my hometown, but had not been back to the U.P. since 1975. That’s why I was especially enthused about the opportunity to ride there for a few fall days last October.

On this latest trip I found the U.P. refreshingly unchanged, and rather than my early 1970s Honda CB450 I was now riding an Electra Glide Classic borrowed from Bald Eagle Harley-Davidson in Marquette. I was also accompanied by Brad Kolbus, from Munising, on his Road King; he publishes a rider’s guide to the U.P., seems to know everybody, and knows where to ride and what to see.

Just after we began riding along the Superior lakeshore by Marquette Bay, I immediately pulled Brad over at a vision that seemed right out of a Star Wars movie to ask, “What the heck is that?” It was a huge structure, massive and gray, and hundreds of feet long, a succession of high, close-set concrete archways extending out into the water. Brad informed me that it was the old Lower Harbor Ore Dock, now no longer in use. Railroad cars full of iron ore were shunted onto it, workmen lowered chutes and the ore rattled noisily into the holds of the huge ore carriers that used to dock here.

Next we ride west, where we note signs of the approaching fall season: Pontoon boats up on blocks, firewood neatly stacked on porches and the leaves turning yellow. We reach Big Bay; this little town was the scene of a murder in 1951 that inspired the book Anatomy of a Murder, and the 1959 movie by the same name starring Jimmy Stewart and Lee Remick. We grab lunch at the Thunder Bay Inn, which was the setting for scenes in the classic film. The pub in which we dine was built onto the hotel for the filming.

Though Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario are referred to as “The Great Lakes,” they’re actually great inland seas. In Munising I board a 60-foot observation boat for a cruise along the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. The captain informs us that Superior alone contains enough fresh water to cover the entire continental United States to a depth of 5 feet! It’s cool and blustery this day, and once we clear Grand Island we’re in Lake Superior proper where the waves begin to rock and roll. Most of the patrons abandon the cold, windswept open viewing area on top for the glass-enclosed seating on the main deck, as I consider abandoning my lunch over the side. All along the Pictured Rocks we’re treated to a humorous, running commentary about the rock cliffs that have been eroded by eons of wind, rain and freezing weather, and painted in shades of brown, tan and green by the runoff of the limonite, copper, iron and manganese. We sail past caves, arches and a rock called the Indian’s Head. A wide, filmy waterfall drops like a veil from the striated cliffs.

The next day Brad and I ride from Munising east on M28 along what is called “the Seney Stretch,” 25 straight miles through scrubland full of stunted trees and pines. Thirty-some years ago I had stopped in Seney to commemorate that it was right here, where Highways 28 and 77 intersect, that a young Ernest Hemingway had disembarked the train in 1919. Wounded in World War I, Hemingway had hiked north to fish the Fox River, and would later fictionalize the experience in one of his Nick Adams stories called The Big Two-Hearted River. But wait, the Two Heart is actually well north of here; did Hemingway get it wrong? Nope. Like a true fisherman, he had misnamed the river in an attempt to keep his favorite fishing spot a secret.

We ride eastward on a tree-lined two-lane road, and when we pass the sign for Deer Park I recall camping near it on Muskallonge Lake in the ’70s. My evening was enlivened when five raccoons came snuffling up from the lake, begging on their hind legs. I gave them some bread, and half an hour later was toasting marshmallows over the fire when something tapped me on the shoulder. Startled, I turned around to find a raccoon, and when I turned back another was running off with the toasted marshmallow as two others were hot-footing it into the darkness with the entire bag between them! They don’t wear those little bandit masks for nothing!

Lake Superior is cold, gray and whitecapped on this blustery day, and when the rain begins I huddle into my electric gear and crank the thermostat to “weld.” The Classic’s fairing and lowers keep the worst of the weather off me, and Gordon Lightfoot’s haunting dirge “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” plays through the stereo on our ride to The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum on Whitefish Point. The song recounts the sea disaster that occurred on November 10, 1975, when the ore carrier sank in a storm with all 29 men, just 17 miles northwest of here. In the Museum’s boathouse I meet Tom Farnquist, executive director of the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society. Speculation is that the SS Edmund Fitzgerald was too close to Caribou Island some 40 miles northeast of here, where 35-foot seas in 45 feet of water allowed the carrier to strike bottom, which damaged her hull and caused her to take on water. She eventually broke in two and sank in 535 feet of water off Whitefish Point. Farnquist has dived on the wreck and personally helped recover the ship’s bell, which now comprises the centerpiece of the museum.

Dinner was at the Antlers Restaurant in Sault Ste. Marie, which was packed this Friday night. Yeah, it’s a Yooper place all right, with trophy heads and stuffed wildlife arranged along the walls and among the rafters. Suddenly, a siren sounds, lights flash and we ask the waitress what the heck’s going on. “Oh, they do that every time they open a new keg,” she explains.

In the morning we cross the street from our motel for a view of the famous Soo Locks. Unfortunately, at this particular moment there’s not a ship in sight. The International Bridge looms in the distance with Canada just across the way.

It’s about a 55-mile freeway ride south to the Mackinac Bridge, then we turn westward on Highway 2 through low scrubland with Lake Michigan on our left. In Blaney Park Brad introduces me to Steve Zellar, who puts on an annual motorcycle event called The Blaney Park Rendezvous. He gives us a tour of his expansive campground that accommodated 3,000 riders last year; his 2010 rally will be held June 18-20.

The thumb-shaped Garden Peninsula hangs down into Lake Michigan, and is home to Fayette Historic State Park. Fayette was established in 1867 as an iron-smelting operation with huge furnaces, an extensive dock and homes; about 500 people lived and worked here. When the charcoal iron market declined, the operation was discontinued in 1891 and Fayette was abandoned. Today, it has been left as an arrested ruin, a gift from the past with its unpainted foreman’s houses, the old hotel and castlelike stone remains of the smelter on picturesque Snail Shell Harbor.

We stop in Nahma at the Nahma Inn, a bed & breakfast with 14 charming rooms and a full bar and restaurant. Brad introduces me to owners Charley and Laurie Macintosh (he seems to know everybody) who are planning a bike event there in the near future. Next door is the old general store, which was abandoned in the ’50s with some of its merchandise still intact. Its owner, a gentleman named Pat, gives us a tour of its time-capsule interior.

Brad leads us up H13 north into Alger County, and this fall Sunday afternoon we enjoy the turning leaves as the Harley feels surprisingly nimble following the road’s hills and gentle curves. Every few miles a trail or two-tracks leads off into the yellow woods, where muddy dirt bikes and ATVs disappear; we long to follow them into the forest.

From there it’s west where we visit Da Yoopers Tourist Trap near Ishpeming. As an ex-Michigander it was just as corny as I’d hoped, with life-sized dioramas of a Jeep driven by a deer with a hunter tied across the hood, of deer playing cards, the place full of Yooper bumper stickers and souvenirs. Out front is “Gus,” the world’s largest running/working chain saw (it’s in The Guinness Book of Records), and “Big Ernie,” the largest working rifle.

The ghost town of Fayette serves as a symbol for much of the U.P. that, unfortunately, is suffering economically.

Along the roads are abandoned homes and factories. Tourism is now the main economic driver in the area, and there is much about the U.P. to love. To me, the true charm of the place-with its pines and cedars, maples and birches, hidden lakes and bays, and rustic cabins-is how the whole thing comes together. On this fall Sunday we rumble along backroads to The Up North Lodge near Gwinn. The sunlight dapples the red-and-yellow maple leaves, and there’s a cool dampness in the air from a recent passing shower. We tromp inside as the fragrance of wood smoke wafts from the stone fireplace. Many patrons turn to nod and greet us. Burgers and pollock, ribs, whitefish and smelt populate the menu, and a football game illuminates the big screen. This welcoming, rustic friendliness confirms that this truly is still Michigan…my Michigan.

— Bill Stermer

Harley Fest: Sturgis, SD

Posted by biznets Published in motorcycles

In Sturgis, South Dakota it’s all about motorcycles… And every August, motorheads the world over converge in this one town to celebrate the hog.

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21

Mar

Motorcycle Boots

Posted by biznets Published in motorcycles

We don’t know much, but we know that, at least, is not true. It’s evident from early photos that riders wore whatever they felt to be practical at the time. Since no riding “uniform” was defined in those early days (and no authority existed to make such recommendations), it was a case of anything goes, where footwear was concerned.
Before long, however, common sense led motorcyclists to realize that an awful lot of potentially preventable foot injuries were happening, due to a lack of adequate shielding and protection of those vulnerable tootsies.
Naturally enough, first impulses were not to re-invent the wheel, but to look at already available forms of foot protection—like those worn by cowboys and jockeys, and like those with a reliable reputation of serving explorers, adventurers, outdoorsmen, and engineers. Twentieth century engineer boots, as a matter of fact, had themselves evolved from footwear that had been around for centuries, defending the digits, feet, calves and thighs of surveyors, soldiers, and, yes, engineers, from brutal elements as well as injury from attacking objects or organisms.
These readymade footwear solutions served riders well for a time; but there’s always that restless yearning for something better—something customized to better perform its vital duty. Something “just for motorcyclists”.
So, over the years, the equation developed:
Engineer boots + Various minor adjustments = Traditional “motorcycle boot”
According to www.onlyriders.com , stovepipe legs on bikers’ boots became standard in the 1930s and ’40’s. “These were so popular and practical that militaries across the globe adopted this style of “riding boot” for motorcycle soldiers. Buckles around the instep and at the top served to keep these boots securely fastened, but they also gave motorcycle boots the unique character that appealed to the general population.”
This character, in fact, defines the boot most often associated with Marlon Brando and the Bad Boy Bikers of the ‘50’s—and probably the one the Cheers sang about in their unforgettable 1955 hit:
“He wore black denim trousers and motorcycle boots
And a black leather jacket with an eagle on the back.
He had a hopped-up ’cycle that took off like a gun;
That fool was the terror of Highway 101.”
Still later, in the ’60s, sources agree, the round-toed engineer boots gave way to harness boots, which typically have square toes and cosmetic accoutrements like leather straps and rings. Some riders in search of really serious protection (and a seriously rugged look, to boot) even began opting for logger boots with steel toes and their “heavy, robust design.”
Jeremy Granger, Marketing Director for Ridge Footwear, defines the traditional biker boot as a heavy, all-leather black boot, eight inches tall or more—a slip-on design with a big sole that can be resoled.
“Traditional motorcycle boot-makers used a heavy leather because they wanted the protection it offered; and they used a taller shank to prevent the wearer’s pants from riding up above the boot top when they were riding.”
Granger points to currently available traditional biker styles that are still big and heavy, with buckles, but explains the change in biker demographics that makes these styles less practical and popular today.
“In the early ’90’s, Harley-Davidson’s image went from the Bad Boy Biker bike to, suddenly, the bike that everybody wanted to have. Superstars, attorneys, doctors, and average working people wanted to ride Harleys, and got rid of their Hondas and Yamahas in order to do so.
“From our standpoint in the footwear business, and as avid bikers, we started noticing that the biker profile was changing. Bike events at places like Sturgis, Daytona, and Myrtle Beach became more prevalent. People were riding or driving to these events, then walking a lot of territory as they visited a lot of different vendors and activities.”
More and more riders were taking day trips to social get-together motorcycle events and walking all the festivities, Granger noted, and thus their footwear needs were changing.
“The days of the traditional biker boot are becoming extinct,” said Granger. “You see very few hard core bikers any more. Most of the guys that ride bikes as recreation are wearing coats and ties during the week—or they’re out working on a construction site or something, and on the weekend they turn into a biker. My Dad is one of those, he’s had multiple Boss Hosses, and he comes to work in an office all week long and he doesn’t look like a biker, but he’s been riding a bike his whole life.”
To effectively monitor these demographic changes, Ridge execs did some research at the rallies and festivals they attended, paying special attention to what riders were wearing on their feet.
“We saw people riding in tennis shoes; we saw people in the coastal regions riding in flipflops. I don’t recommend that,” commented Granger.
The priority of all these riders, however, was clearly comfort. So, responsively, three years ago Ridge Footwear began developing motorcycle boots “that carried the characteristics necessary in a riding boot, but are comfortable enough to allow people to walk an event all day and not wear them out lugging around a big, heavy, bulky boot that probably doesn’t fit that well, anyway.”
Ridge’s solution was a line of boots that “feel like tennis shoes, but deliver needed protection and support. They’re lightweight, comfortable, and more.”
They added inside zippers and waterproof riding boots—creating what Granger called “a lazy man’s boot.” Now, he reflects, nearly all their top-sellers are zipper designs.
Overall, today’s motorcycle boots boast superior materials that provide better insulation, moisture wicking and waterproof membranes to keep feet dry, and synthetic rubber soles that are exceptionally oil-resistant.

What Qualities Should a Motorcycle Boot Have?
When you’re shopping for a riding boot, what should you look for? The Internet is brimming with expert advice on the subject; here’s the Cliff’s Notes version:
*Soles should be durable and slip-resistant, especially on oil-slick pavement. You want something that won’t slide out from under you when you put your feet down at a stop.
Resoleable boots, says Granger, come with an extremely bulky durable welted Goodyear outsole that makes the boot heavy and somewhat stiff, although admittedly this is the most serviceable outsole available. “There’s a fine line between the comfort you want and durability that you need. At Ridge, we are using more of the lighter weight one-piece soles, which consist of a comfortable EVA or polyurethane midsole, permanently bonded to a sturdy carbon rubber outsole. These are not resoleable; when they’re worn out, you throw the boot away.”
He points out that from a practical standpoint, it’s hard to find cobblers nowadays, even if you prefer to have boots or shoes resoled.
*Ankle support is essential. In the early days of motorcycle boots, they were straight-up leather slip-on boots, like cowboy boots you slide on and off. “The problem was,” says Granger, “There was no support there. That’s why lace-ups are important; they give you a nice tight fit. With the zipper boots, you can enjoy both—the great fit and custom support of the lace-up style, with the ease of zipping in and out of it without re-lacing it each time.”
*Protection for toes and ankles. Although steel toed boots immediately leap to mind, many of today’s hard leather toe caps can protect without the weight and bulk of steel toes. Even the most skilled and careful rider can wind up laying a bike down. A good boot can spare clothing, skin, and flesh from the worst of flying debris, burns, and rough impacts.
*Adhesion: Boots need to stay on your feet to do their job. The advent of the side-zipper boot has virtually ended the long argument between lace-up and slip-on advocates. Slip-ons can just as easily slip off under stress—when you’d rather they didn’t. On the other hand, laces can come untied and get hung up in moving parts, creating a serious hazard. Today, most lace-ups are designed to be easily tucked safely inside once they’re tied—and the tight custom fit and support lacing provides can be maintained easily without relacing if the boot also comes with an inside zipper for quick and easy off and on.
*Weather resistance: Is waterproof necessary? Some people need waterproof leather boots; others who don’t plan to ride in the rain don’t need or want that protection—or the extra weight that comes with it. These folks are usually happier with a boot with breathable nylon, for instance, notes Granger, so that it’s more comfortable for walking around.

Of Special Interest to Women
The women’s motorcycle industry is booming—many more women are taking up riding than ever before, and the Internet features an abundance of web sites that focus on the special needs of female bikers.
The boom is fueled in part by the ease of customizations that make motorcycles easier to manage for women with slighter, smaller frames. Bikes can be lowered closer to the ground, handlebars can be extended further, etc.
Granger reports that within the last seven or eight years, many women’s biker boot styles have begun to appear, too. “Many of them have a traditional look, but they’re modified with bigger heels and attractive cosmetic features like chrome buckles. The designs focus on style rather than function, however,” he observes. “My mother, for instance, rides as a passenger with my dad, and she sometimes wears a slip-on style that doesn’t even have a backstrap behind her heel.
“I would imagine that as more women start riding on their own, they will start wearing more functional boots rather than thin, stylish boots, because now they’re in a position where they have to put their feet down at every stop, and they have to know that their feet are nice and steady on the pegs and on the floorboards. They’ll also want to be confident that they’re wearing something they can shift with.”
The fashion-focused boots currently available to women aren’t always slip-proof on oily surfaces, and the popular boxy toe styles may not even fit under a shifter, he points out, predicting a move toward functionality and away from fashion for serious women riders.

The bottom line is—wear what works best for you and your riding style; but be careful when weighing those options. As all good Boss Hoss riders do, be sure to put safety first!
(Thanks to Ridge Footwear for their input into this story—and the products that have already won over a number of Boss Hoss riders. Check them out at www.Ridgeoutdoors.com ; and don’t miss owner Rob Granger’s profile on page ___!)

Hamburg Harley Days 2006 (Part One)

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Touring Mighigan’s Upper Penninsula By Motorcycle

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