The Flags Return to the Bike!

My Electra Glide had an aftermarket receiver system which bolted to the frame, and allowed me to fly two large (3' x 5') flags for runs and such.  When I switched to the Street Glide, I was out of luck. Nobody made an aftermarket setup for flying large flags.  So, each year I'd kick around ideas, as well as look on-line for anything that would allow me to fly flags again.  And I kept coming up empty.

Fast forward to yesterday morning.  A friend of mine forwarded me a run flyer and said "See you there!".  I looked at the flyer...what the...its staging at our Post...on Sunday morning?!?!?  How come I haven't heard anything about this?  So I reached out the Post leadership and guess what?  Nobody knew anything about it!!

Oh boy...

What was the run?  It's a rolling rally for our National Anthem, in response to all the bullshit that's been going on with NFL players and their protesting.  The event is asking for bikes, cars, trucks - all heavily adorned with American flags, to come join us.  The ride will leave our Post, ride past Gillette Stadium, then return to the Post.  It's being organized by a Boston PD officer, and co-supported by the Boston chapter of the American Infidels.  Come to find out they've been doing press releases on this, they've got a local country star singing the Anthem, they were working on having a radio station broadcast from there....yeah; this thing was gonna be big.

So what happened?  How come we didn't know about it?  Well, long story short, it turns out they had cleared it with our bar manager, but she'd neglected to pass the word along to anyone else.  Egads.  Can you imagine the bad impression it would have given everyone if they'd arrived tomorrow morning to find an empty and locked Post?!?

So after a flurry of emails and phone calls to get everyone on board (as well as get an off-cycle delivery from our distributor so that we're stocked up!), it looks like we are good to go.  Post will be open early, staffed to help anyone that needs it, parking lot and yard have been cleaned up, along with a myriad of other logistics - all set to go.  In fact, we even went above all of that; we're gonna throw a cookout for everyone, afterward.

The organizers are aware that they caught us with our pants down (thanks to our bar manager!), but they're more than impressed with how quickly we've gotten everyone on deck and are throwing the welcome mat out for them.

Ok Dave, this is all well and good, but what does it have to do with the title?  Something about flags returning to your bike?

Oh yeah!  Thanks for reminding me.  Well ya see, after all the crazy running around yesterday and this morning, I was like "Dammit...I GOTTA figure something out so I can fly the Flag!!"

And then it hit me...I could use parts of the receiver setup that was on my Electra Glide...

and mount them to one of the detachable back racks...

All I'd need to make it secure was some steel underneath to bolt to.  Hmm...this could actually work!

A quick trip to my local Home Cheapo and I had some flat stock in-hand.  It was go-time!

Some measurements, a mark to cut on...

Let's see...where did I leave that hydraulic cutting shear...
Oh, here it is...

Yep; that shear sure makes short, easy work of cutting steel....

It was when I was drilling out the holes that I discovered that not only did I not have a drill bit that was big enough, I didn't have a drill with a big enough chuck to drive the bit, if I did have one that big!

Damn.  I know!  I'll call Aaron!  (There's a reason he's called "I got a guy", because whenever you need something; Aaron has the solution.

A short (and somewhat wet) ride over there and soon we were in his neighbor John's workshop, drill-pressing a 9/16's bit through my steel (sounds kinky!).

Some dry-fitting on the bike to make sure things would line up properly...

...and a couple of longer-than-stock bolts, also courtesy of John, and I was in business!

Back home (more wet!), some cloth cut as a softening shim to protect the chrome, and things bolted together nicely!

 Viola!  A rack for flying flags!!

TAAAA-DAAAAAA!!!!

I do believe I should be good to go for tomorrow!  Wa-Hoo!!

Ride Hard, Take Chances...And Stand For The National Anthem!!!!!

Happy Birthday, Russ

You missed another good one, Chum.  This year's Labor Day Maine Event was a grand time, even though you and Dana decided to wet us down on Sunday for the ceremony (thanks for the love).  I imagine you guys had some chuckles over that, but we perservered through the raindrops, as you knew we'd do.

We all made sure to visit with you and talk to you a bit, each inour own way.  (I hope my inner ramblings didn't bore you too much.)

Anyway, we still think about you - and miss the hell out of you.

Happy Birthday, Brother.

Overdue Labor Day Maine Event Writeup

You all owe Jerry a thank you.  He sent me a letter (we write back and forth) and in it, he asked about a writeup for this year's Maine Event trip so I promised him I would get it done this week.

Friday greeted us with great weather, and I met up McCarthy and Micheal out on 95.  McCarthy had commented previously about stopping at the state liquor store, so we did, then hit the roads again.  We made decent time (barring one of the longest backups in Wiscasset I've ever seen), and were soon in Rockland making some supply runs.

A very interesting thing happened; a guy drove up with a trailer, started some small talk, then asked if we could give him a hand.  The whole time he was talking to us, I couldn't help but think he looked familiar for some reason.

Anyway, it turned out that he creates horse statues out of driftwood and there was a bit of a gallery/showing/event going on in downtown Rockland and he needed to bring one of his creations to it.  We said sure, and off we went (it was just down the road a little).

He had quite a herd of these things, and man...something about them looked familiar, just as he did.  I couldn't put my finger on it but then he said something and it all clicked.  He said he had another location where he did the same thing (driftwood horses) out in California.  California!  That was it!  I asked him if his other location was up in the Napa Valley and he said yes.  Bingo.  Patty and I had met this guy, 7 years ago when we were out there!  And here he was, on the opposite side of the country, and we happened to bump into him.  Unreal.  (I texted Patty to tell her about it and she, too, thought it was pretty amazing.)

We got him loaded up and then made our way to the Time Out Pub for some grub.  We started out with beers, but Jr switched to mixed drinks so I followed suit and opted for an Angry Balls (Angry Orchard + Fireball whiskey).  The bar had one of those cooling machines like the ones you see with Jagermeister, but this one had Fireball.  She flipped the tap on it and - I'm not kidding - did a full 10-count before closing the tap.  Man, what a drink!  (Jr switched to Angry Balls as well, once he saw that!)

From there we headed off to the Clearing and got set up for the weekend; tents, cooking area, canopies, etc.  Coolers were stocked, friends were arriving, and we settled in for a great night of laughter and revelry.

Saturday also greeted us with great weather and we did a bit of riding.  Tim had thought ahead and looked up some sightseeing things for us to choose from.  Marchall Point Lighthouse was only about a half hour away so we did a nice scenic cruise to check it out.

It was very nice - the light itself was a small stone tower out on the rocks, and the house was back up on land.  Inside the house was a mini museum, displaying lots of granite quarrying tools and implements, as well as buoys and other artifacts from the region's history.  One item which grabbed my attention was an old spinning wheel which had a picture on it of the woman who'd owned it.  Her maiden name was Arey!

I asked the curator if he'd known Russel, but he didn't (nor his children).  However, after describing Russell to the curator, he did say that a number of years ago, some fellows had arrived on motorcycles and come in to the museum.  They'd also seen the picture and had gotten to talking about family lineages, and one of the guys realized that this woman was his great grandmother!  It's fun to think that maybe this was Russell, arriving with the Olean crew.  I didn't think to ask King about it, but I did include that question in my letter I sent to Jerry today.

From there we headed back to the Clearing and settled in for food, campfire, and more laughter.  We played quite a number of one-card games, and I actually managed to win two games in a row.  Wa-Hoo!

The weather was calling for rain on Sunday, and sure enough; overcast and chilly was what we were greeted with when we roused ourselves that morning.  We made the best of things by keeping the campfire going, as well as prepping for the big feast.

Fortunately, the cooks did a fantastic job and had everything done, dished out, and cleanup done before the rain started (the forecast had said noon - Dave Leary predicted 3pm...it started precisely at 3:05, so Dave won that round).

The rain was pretty steady for the rest of the night and it brought everyone under the canopies for the afternoon, as well as for the ceremony that night.  We had some great stories shared about Russell, as well as the event itself, before toasting ourselves, and the whole forest around us, with The Toast.

The party went long into the evening, as it's wont to do.  It got to be almost midnight when it dawned on me that I was going to be up very early for the ride home, so I bid my good nights and headed in to the tent.

The next thing I knew, I was woken by my alarm.  What the hell....I'm on vacation, I should have shut my alarm off!  Wait...I set this last night, on purpose, to make sure I was out on the road in decent time.  And with that, I got my stuff packed up, checked if Jr was riding home with me (he said no), and I was off.

Thankfully the rain had basically moved out and it was just damp and overcast for most of the morning.  I made great time and was home by about 10:30, plenty of time to get laundry done, do some food shopping, and get a nap in.  All in all; not a terrible day, even though it signaled the end of this year's Maine Event.

Pics!!

Packed up and ready, a quick stop at the ATM and then it was off to catch the McCarthy's on the highway.

The requested stop at the state liquor store.  This was the first pass through the aisles.  :-)

 Horse sculptures!

Marshall Point Lighthouse...

The rocks had some really interesting patterns and composition.
These first two pics, the rocks seemed to have disintegrated in spots.

Wild striations through some of the rocks closer to the light tower...

An old anchor...

A memorial to sailors lost at sea...

Front side of the memorial...

Back side...

Memorial bench, there were three of these in the bushes around the memorial.

Storage building for the oil used in the lamp, back in the day.

On our way back from the lighthouse, we saw this old parade float...

It's a whale, jumping up on to the trailer!

The tail was pretty slick; it was a separate section, attached via a hinge and a bunch of springs so that as this thing was rolling down the road, the tail would have bounced up and down, giving the impression of the whale being alive.  Slick!!

A quick stop for food on our way back to the Clearing.  This was a small place on the side of the road, but they offered a full compliment of German food, as well as a quick language lesson on the menus.

My boots!  They have survived yet another year!

Yep, this about says it all.  One at a time, Michael!  (Ok, not really).

That's all, Folks.  It was another really fun year, with awesome people.  Looking forward to doing it again next year!!

Ride Hard, Take Chances

Shayne's Run Eve

I still owe you folks a writeup on this year's Labor Day Maine Event. But that's gonna have to wait.

Tonight is the hectic evening before Shayne's run. What's so hectic about it? Well, in addition to last-minute prepping of food plans, food preparation, parking lot planning, and a myriad of other logistics, the town next to us (Foxboro) holds their annual POW/MIA 24-hr vigil tonight, too.

Why is that important? Their vigil runs 4pm from this afternoon until 4pm tomorrow afternoon. This means they need bodies to stand and be present at the memorial for the duration.

The first year they ran it, they had a lot of difficulty getting coverage for the overnight hours. The Riders heard about the event and stepped up to ensure the vigil was manned straight through the night.

Since then, the Riders have volunteered to cover from 10p through 6a each year. We run double shifts, with some guys taking one hour, others taking two.

So tonight...I'm at the Post. Things have been set for tomorrow, We're as ready as we're gonna be. I'm also kicking time around, waiting for the 10p hour to arrive. The two guys who are starting our coverage ate here. I'll ride over with them to make sure things are set and off to a good start. Then it'll be home for a few hours of sleep, then up, shower and head over to meet Greg at the vigil. We traditionally close out the Riders' coverage by taking the last two hours (4a-6a).

I may get there a bit early because McCarthy is splitting the shift before me, and it'd be fun to share the time with him. My fear, though, is that he'll opt to stay with Greg and I to finish out the overnight. And the poor guy needs some sleep. The current plan is for him to shoot to my house when he's relieved to grab a couple hours of sleep, but we'll see how that goes.

Anyway, I'm rambling as I sometimes do. As you can see, it's a busy night. And tomorrow will be so much more so. But it's so worth it. Tomorrow is to honor the memory of a young Marine who gave his life in defense of ours. And a sacrifice such as that is about as big as it gets.

Stand for the Anthem.
Thank a Vet.
Ride Hard, Take Chances