NC Wild Hogs Ride - Day 4 In The Books
#1
12-30-2017, 05:57 PM
NC Wild Hogs Ride - Day 4 In The Books
Wild Hogs Ride - Day 4 (Friday December 29, 2017)
Dedicated to our riding brothers and sisters up North that are snowed in.
Thank you Lord for a really enjoyable ride and for your blessing of safety.
Sorry this report is a day late and when you read you will understand why! The day was FUN, Enjoyable, Long and Challenging with a curve ball!
The mileage total for the day was 536 which is a good considering we did a lot of two lane highways! Total for the trip is up to 1,429 miles.
Day 4 started at 5am. I woke right up and we were ready and leaving our hotel in Jupiter Florida at 6:30am sharp. It was 62 degrees with some area fog and the promise of higher temps ahead. We jumps on I-95 south for 13 miles to Palm Beach which had the closest Cracker Barrel. We enjoy d a big breakfast and were back on the bikes by 7:30am. We hit the Florida Turnpike south to make time and ran down to the famous Hwy 41, AKA "Tamiami Trail". Now if you are like me I have always thought that 41 was the Alligator Alley. However the locals told me that I-75 across the Everglades was actually the Alley. Oh well I went to ride Hwy 41 and see the Everglades regardless of what it is called! We had 70 degree temps before 11am and saw a high of 73 degrees for the day. The sun was bright the scenery was beautiful. If you want an air boat ride, no problem. There is only about 20 places with probably 60 + total boats and they were busy. You could hear those big block motors roaring out in the glades. At times it sounded like monsters in the weeds coming for you. We saw two dead road kill gators in the 4 to 5 foot range and one smelled really bad! It was no problem at all to see gators sunning on the side of the canal to our right heading west. For the most part the road is straight and there are many LONG passing zones. The speed limit during the day is 60 mph and 45 mph at night. We had a great stop at Everglades City. That is a pretty area with a lot of air boat traffic. The roar is almost deafening! As we road out I felt we had enough of 41 and crossed 41 and ran north on Hwy 29 north.
The next couple of hours was really good riding. We went right smack through the Panther preserve and stayed on Hwy 29 to LaBelle where we had lunch on a picnic table outside the Handy Citgo station! The produce being grown down in this area is incredible. There were school buses that had been converted. The cut the roof of behind the drivers seat and below the windows and made BIG El Camino's. There were several loaded down with what looked like round melons. We stayed on 29 until it deadened at Hwy 27 and made a left heading North. At this point you are in the heart of Orange country! There are groves everywhere, canneries and processing plants and even another Citrus Tower. In case you are wondering the Citrus Towers are 226 feet tall and built in the 50's to allow visitors/tourists to observe miles and miles of orange groves! It was actually VERY popular until Disney came to town!
Our next stop was at beautiful Placid Lake. Again in the heart of the Orange groves, a beautiful lake and a town known as "The Caladium Capital of the World".
We pulled into a shopping complex to switch helmets and gloves and WoW there was the most beautiful large mural on the side of a wall that we had to check out. It was a good tribute to the local cattlemen and while we were there at least six other cars stopped to take pictures!
Well by the time we got to Lake Wales we had seen enough oranges. Reality set in and we needed to get as far north as possible. We set Jacksonville as a destination, reserved a room at Jacksonville Beach near I-295 for easy escape the following morning, set my WAZE app and twists the throttles hoping to be in our hotel room by 7:30pm.
All was going as planned until we prepared to turn onto the I-4 ramp off Hwy 27. My riding buddy Ralph yelled to me on the CB to pull over that he has a problem with the bike. We are on the shoulder of the I-4 on ramp. The bike is running and sounds fine, all looks okay. But he says that when he lets the clutch out that it is making a really bad noise and bucking and jerking like crazy. At this time it is 4:45pm. We punch in the nearest dealer with is Orlando HD. We were 12 minutes away and he made a decision to go for it. We hit I-4 at 40 mph with our flashers on me riding behind him. We were moving steady and I really could not tell what was going on. He said on he Radicon that he thought the compensator or the clutch was going bad. We got over to Hwy192 about five blocks from the dealership and had to stop at a red light. The bike never move again under it's own power. Engine running, in gear, clutch out and no forward movement!
Well we are right in the middle of three lanes of heavy traffic nearing 5pm on the Friday in Orlando just two miles from Mickey Mouse! It is crazy. Ralph looked at me like what do I do? I said we are burning daylight and you need to get on the phone right now to the dealer and see if they can come and pick up your bike. Hats off to Orlando HD. Without hesitation they said they are on the way and we're there in 15 minutes! They loaded the bike, told Ralph they had a room reserved for him and would take him to the hotel after dropping off the bike. After 4 days we parted ways and I continued on to Jacksonville where I had a room I could not cancel and was where I needed to be for the final leg home on Saturday. Ralph's brother lives two hours away and said he would come and pick him up Saturday if it turned out to be a major issue with the bike.
So I braved the totally chaotic packed bumper to bumper traffic on I-4 now being after 6pm and dark! I rolled on over to I-95 and north to the Holiday Inn near Jacksonville. I arrive at 9:30 pm and was BEAT! After 15 hours and 536 miles I was tired. I stood in a hot shower for 30 minutes with the water on my back and shoulders and crashed having eaten a very light lunch and no dinner. Ralph called me to say his hotel was right across the street from the dealership and was $189.00 plus tax which he was not happy about and he had enjoyed a very nice dinner! Thanks buddy!!!!
Stay tuned for day 5 and the saga of Ralph's bike....
Dedicated to our riding brothers and sisters up North that are snowed in.
Thank you Lord for a really enjoyable ride and for your blessing of safety.
Sorry this report is a day late and when you read you will understand why! The day was FUN, Enjoyable, Long and Challenging with a curve ball!
The mileage total for the day was 536 which is a good considering we did a lot of two lane highways! Total for the trip is up to 1,429 miles.
Day 4 started at 5am. I woke right up and we were ready and leaving our hotel in Jupiter Florida at 6:30am sharp. It was 62 degrees with some area fog and the promise of higher temps ahead. We jumps on I-95 south for 13 miles to Palm Beach which had the closest Cracker Barrel. We enjoy d a big breakfast and were back on the bikes by 7:30am. We hit the Florida Turnpike south to make time and ran down to the famous Hwy 41, AKA "Tamiami Trail". Now if you are like me I have always thought that 41 was the Alligator Alley. However the locals told me that I-75 across the Everglades was actually the Alley. Oh well I went to ride Hwy 41 and see the Everglades regardless of what it is called! We had 70 degree temps before 11am and saw a high of 73 degrees for the day. The sun was bright the scenery was beautiful. If you want an air boat ride, no problem. There is only about 20 places with probably 60 + total boats and they were busy. You could hear those big block motors roaring out in the glades. At times it sounded like monsters in the weeds coming for you. We saw two dead road kill gators in the 4 to 5 foot range and one smelled really bad! It was no problem at all to see gators sunning on the side of the canal to our right heading west. For the most part the road is straight and there are many LONG passing zones. The speed limit during the day is 60 mph and 45 mph at night. We had a great stop at Everglades City. That is a pretty area with a lot of air boat traffic. The roar is almost deafening! As we road out I felt we had enough of 41 and crossed 41 and ran north on Hwy 29 north.
The next couple of hours was really good riding. We went right smack through the Panther preserve and stayed on Hwy 29 to LaBelle where we had lunch on a picnic table outside the Handy Citgo station! The produce being grown down in this area is incredible. There were school buses that had been converted. The cut the roof of behind the drivers seat and below the windows and made BIG El Camino's. There were several loaded down with what looked like round melons. We stayed on 29 until it deadened at Hwy 27 and made a left heading North. At this point you are in the heart of Orange country! There are groves everywhere, canneries and processing plants and even another Citrus Tower. In case you are wondering the Citrus Towers are 226 feet tall and built in the 50's to allow visitors/tourists to observe miles and miles of orange groves! It was actually VERY popular until Disney came to town!
Our next stop was at beautiful Placid Lake. Again in the heart of the Orange groves, a beautiful lake and a town known as "The Caladium Capital of the World".
We pulled into a shopping complex to switch helmets and gloves and WoW there was the most beautiful large mural on the side of a wall that we had to check out. It was a good tribute to the local cattlemen and while we were there at least six other cars stopped to take pictures!
Well by the time we got to Lake Wales we had seen enough oranges. Reality set in and we needed to get as far north as possible. We set Jacksonville as a destination, reserved a room at Jacksonville Beach near I-295 for easy escape the following morning, set my WAZE app and twists the throttles hoping to be in our hotel room by 7:30pm.
All was going as planned until we prepared to turn onto the I-4 ramp off Hwy 27. My riding buddy Ralph yelled to me on the CB to pull over that he has a problem with the bike. We are on the shoulder of the I-4 on ramp. The bike is running and sounds fine, all looks okay. But he says that when he lets the clutch out that it is making a really bad noise and bucking and jerking like crazy. At this time it is 4:45pm. We punch in the nearest dealer with is Orlando HD. We were 12 minutes away and he made a decision to go for it. We hit I-4 at 40 mph with our flashers on me riding behind him. We were moving steady and I really could not tell what was going on. He said on he Radicon that he thought the compensator or the clutch was going bad. We got over to Hwy192 about five blocks from the dealership and had to stop at a red light. The bike never move again under it's own power. Engine running, in gear, clutch out and no forward movement!
Well we are right in the middle of three lanes of heavy traffic nearing 5pm on the Friday in Orlando just two miles from Mickey Mouse! It is crazy. Ralph looked at me like what do I do? I said we are burning daylight and you need to get on the phone right now to the dealer and see if they can come and pick up your bike. Hats off to Orlando HD. Without hesitation they said they are on the way and we're there in 15 minutes! They loaded the bike, told Ralph they had a room reserved for him and would take him to the hotel after dropping off the bike. After 4 days we parted ways and I continued on to Jacksonville where I had a room I could not cancel and was where I needed to be for the final leg home on Saturday. Ralph's brother lives two hours away and said he would come and pick him up Saturday if it turned out to be a major issue with the bike.
So I braved the totally chaotic packed bumper to bumper traffic on I-4 now being after 6pm and dark! I rolled on over to I-95 and north to the Holiday Inn near Jacksonville. I arrive at 9:30 pm and was BEAT! After 15 hours and 536 miles I was tired. I stood in a hot shower for 30 minutes with the water on my back and shoulders and crashed having eaten a very light lunch and no dinner. Ralph called me to say his hotel was right across the street from the dealership and was $189.00 plus tax which he was not happy about and he had enjoyed a very nice dinner! Thanks buddy!!!!
Stay tuned for day 5 and the saga of Ralph's bike....
#2
12-30-2017, 06:05 PM
#3
12-30-2017, 06:22 PM
#4
12-30-2017, 06:24 PM
#5
12-30-2017, 06:25 PM
#6
12-30-2017, 06:29 PM
A lot of boats running out of this marina. I think it you would get a better ride out on Hwy 41.
#7
12-30-2017, 06:31 PM
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#8
12-30-2017, 06:36 PM
#9
12-30-2017, 06:38 PM
A shout out to Orlando HD for being so friendly and helpful late on a Friday evening!
Last edited by Cosmic Razorback; 12-30-2017 at 06:39 PM.
