MaxMetal Custom Motorcycles

On our first two days out, we needed to cover over 1200 miles. I really prefer to travel the backcountry two lane roads but for fast efficient travel you can’t beat the Interstate system.  (Check out this site for all you could ever want to know about the interstate highway system which celebrated 50 years in 2006) http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/interstate/homepage.cfm   
The temperature was above 100 degrees for a good part of those two days. I’m originally from Nebraska and GT is from Georgia so we’ve traveled from NE to GA many, many times.  For a little different route than we usually take, we stayed south of St. Louis and went up the west side of the Mississippi on I-55. That was a pleasant Sunday morning ride.  When we got to I-70, we found a different pace. Everyone was in much more of a hurry than we were and they didn’t mind letting us know about it.
 Contrast this I-70

  with this  US 63 to US 36
In Columbia, we turned North on 63, and this is the wide open road we found. We took 63 north and then turned west on 36. Wide open 4 lane road all the way to St. Joseph, MO.  We were able to sit back and just ride!  I’ll take the road less traveled. 

I love to see flags flying.  I get teary when I hear “The Star Spangled Banner”.  This is a great country we live in.  GT and I were blessed to see some of its beauty and meet some of its fine citizens as we traveled from Georgia to Idaho. 

Some interesting flag notes we observed as we traveled:  the State of Missouri flies the POW/MIA flag along with the US and Missouri flags and the State of Illinois lowers flags to half-mast when an Illinois soldier is killed in action.  I appreciate that they are recognizing the sacrifices that keep our country free.

Our first shortcut was to go around Chattanooga on GA109 by cutting the corner of Alabama and joining I24 on the other side.  Riding along, I noticed a sign announcing “450 Mile Yard Sale”.  I didn’t think much about that until we got into a traffic jam of yard sales on both sides of the road and bargain hunters putting on their brakes suddenly to turn into choice shopping spots.   That short-cut added about 1 hour to the trip.

Bikers, beware, the phenomena of extended yard sales is sweeping the country.  I saw signs announcing similar events on other great cycling roads - across Kansas on US36 www.ushwy36.com/treasure.htm (Sept 14,15,&16) and across Nebraska on Highway 2 during the last weekend of September.  Saddlebags aren’t sufficient for bringing the bargains home.  I believe this is one reason GT especially enjoys traveling by motorcycle - no room to carry much in the way of bargains, antiques, or souvenirs. 

We got past the yard sales and on toward Tennesse.  One thing we have learned along the way is to not get too irritated if things aren’t as smooth as we planned - like the time we got caught behind a bicycle race on the Blue Ridge Parkway or getting in the middle of a 450 mile yard sale.  Our motto is “Wherever we are - that’s where we’re at.”  Just enjoy the ride!

Loaded up and ready to go, GT checks the map before we start out. 

One question we have been asked since getting home was “How did the big gas tank work out?”  The answer is “It was great!”  We stopped for gas about every 150 miles, but never worried about getting out of range of a fuel stop. At 150 miles, we still had another 100 miles or so of fuel left.  The time saved by fewer gas stops allowed us to cover more miles each day. 

Here, in the Southeast, the distance between gas stations is never more than a few miles and the need for such a tank is not immediately recognized.  The further West we traveled, general appreciation for the tank was expressed in terms of “Awesome!  I love that gas tank.  How much does it hold?”. 

Mathias Schmid, an adventurer who, literally, has ridden his motorcycle around the world,  http://www.globalbiking.com  or http://www.mathiasschmid.ch/
passed us on I-90 somewhere outside of Missoula, MT.  He rode past,  slowed down and rode even with us for a while,  patted the side of his gas tank, pointed at our tank, gave us a big “thumbs up”, then sped on.

Another rider we met, Ken Morton, was on his way from his home in Washington state to St. Louis for the start of the Iron Butt Rally.  11,000 miles in 11 days.  He was impressed with the tank, also.   He was carrying an extra fuel cell in the passenger seat of his Gold Wing.   http://www.ironbuttrally.com/IBR/2007.cfm

G.T. has been asked if he would custom build tanks such as this.  Yes, - just contact him if you are interested.

An excellent adventure!  We rode from Toccoa, GA to Sand Point, ID.  That was  5,457 miles round trip.  G.T. believes that I deserve the “Iron Butt” award for riding that distance on a 9″ wide passenger seat.  Actually, the numbness is finally beginning to subside 2 weeks after the ride.

I’ll be showing some of the highlights of our trip over the next few days.  For now - this is a picture taken at the mid-point of our trip. 

GT and Diane at Sturgis-2007

It looks as if South Carolina could change it’s long standing position of not requiring motorcyclist’s to wear a helmet and making helmet use the law.  What do you think?  Is this really necessary?  Click below on the word ‘comment’ and state your thoughts.

G. T. 

The soldier on the left is L. Owen Rolofson, Diane’s great uncle.  The picture was taken in Germany, WWI. 

My coat of armor came today.  This jacket is an engineering marvel!  The Teknic “Sprint”  protective jacket is an all weather package.  It will be replacing a saddlebag full of other gear. The  breakdown:  

1.  The base jacket is abrasion and tear resistant mesh with CE-approved elbow, shoulder, and back armor.  The mesh allows a pretty good air flow. I tried it out in about 87° weather and it was warm but not unwearable. 

2.  There is a 600D Cordura waterproof-windproof overlayer that zips onto the mesh base jacket.  This takes care of the rain gear we always carry.

3.  There is a zip-in quilted inner layer.  With this in place I’m ready for winter weather.  It feels like it will be warmer than the leather jacket I have been wearing.

4.  There is an additional zip-on stand-up collar for extra wind protection.

5.  Various other features - plenty of zipped pockets, snap adjustable sleeves, snap adjustable hem, belt to keep the jacket snug (interchangable between the mesh jacket and the over layer), tabs to hold the liner sleeves in place, a zipper to attach the jacket to your pants, reflective piping, the liner folds into itself for storage, and there is an attachable backpack for storing and carrying whatever items you are not using at the moment.

I’m sure this was designed by an engineer who was also a serious rider.  The designer has thought of everything for versatility and ease of use. 

It will be put to good use when we take our 5000 mile trip to Idaho later this summer.

What is around the next corner? We never really know what will be waiting for us.

Often, on the roads we ride, each bend brings another breath-taking view of mountains, trees, rivers, clouds, flowers, and always the winding road.

On this particular day we were riding up highway 28 from Franklin, NC to Robbinsville.  We had never been this way before and it was new and interesting - a very winding, twisting road. The weather was just right.  The thought had just passed through my mind that this was a really good ride.

Then we rounded the corner. There was a bike down in the middle of the road. The riders were under the bike. Several other people and bikes were scattered across the road. There was no place to go and a very short distance in which to stop. We skidded to a stop inches from impact.

After everyone was able to move to the side of the road, we unpacked the first aid supplies we always carry. The riders were able to bandage up their knees and elbows enough to get back on their bike for the long ride home.

The lesson we learned was the importance of protective gear. One of the riders had no tears in his jeans but when he pulled up his pant leg, we saw that the skin on his knees was gone. So much for the theory that blue jeans are good protection.

We have ordered some all-weather gear with protective armour. The mesh jackets have a zip-on waterproof cover for rain and a zip-in fleece liner for cold weather.  Elbows, shoulders, backbone, knees, and hips are protected with padding.  Just in case…

Because you never really know what is around the next bend in the road. 

When you are looking for a part after hours, and you want to know if MaxMetal supplies it, now you can find out. Check out the newest section of our website. View our Catalogs and What we Sell. You can look at the Tucker Rocky Street Parts & accessories or the Biker’s Choice catalogs.

The prices listed in these catalog are to be used for reference only. The current price will be given upon request or at the time of your order. For pricing questions contact GT@max-metal.com