This is a long read but may be worth it. It tells the story of my first road trip on a bike and how I learned what it means to be a biker.

I left last thursday and got back monday. I went from South Jersey to Batavia, NY with some detours along the way.

I had planned to leave at 4:45am. I was ready to go at 4:43 tried to turn on my MP3 player and all the music I tried to load on it days before was not there. I can't do more than 100miles without some tunes. Back in the house to load up music. I finally left at 5:30am.

It was cold, colder than I expected anyway. I froze for the first 2 hours. Basically till the sun was up to warm me. This was just poor planning on my part as I have ridden when the temp was in the lower 30's and not been this cold.

I must interject something about my bike here. I made a highway bar for my bike. You can check it out in this thread. https://www.hdforums.com/forum/showt...rtster+highway

About 50 miles into the trip the left side of the highway bar fell off at 75mph. It fell straight down and skid on the road my foot fell and hit the highway. I looked back and the car behind me hit the brakes and swerved. I hit the gas and kept right on going.

About 40 miles further down the road my right side forward control peg broke. Not completely off but I have female mount pegs and the part that hold the peg horizontal to the ground broke so the peg could fold straight down. I was doing 70mph and once again my foot hit the road.

I was having second thoughts at this point but had to stop in 10 miles for fuel anyway so I kept going. I got to the rest stop and tightened the peg up so it wouldn't move really then fueled up and kept going to my friends house which was a planned stop for breakfast. I still had the right side of the highway bar but was fearful it would fall off also. So I held most of the weight of my leg and used the pegs for balancing. Got there went to Home Depot bought some steel, hose clamps, and a grinder to cut the steel. I made a makeshift splint and fixed it right there in the road in front of his house. I took of the rest of the highway bar and left it with him to get another time.

Back on the road. I went from his place just north of scranton west on RT 6. It was a beautiful day and beautiful ride. I got about 300 miles before my butt was sore. Stopped at a place in Olean, NY for dinner then on the rest of the way to batavia. It was a great day and I learned a lot about myself and my bike. I got in at 8:50 after 440 miles.

I was staying at a friends house there. I got there told him the story and he immediately responded with tomorrow night we are going to build you a new highway bar.

I did some riding in the western NY area and even went to Buffalo for some wings. Anchor Bar wings are good.

Making the highway bar while in NY state. My friend had a nice piece of stainless steel tubing to start with. For pegs he had some pegs I had given him a while back for possible use on his 70's Shovelhead he is building. We went to his friends shop to do the bending, welding, and fitting the bar to the bike. It looks amazing and I will post pics of it after I sand and polish it to a nice shine.

The rest of my stay in Batavia was nice and I headed home with a couple of stops along the way and an over night at my friends house north of Scranton (where I fixed the peg). The rest of the trip was not at eventful as the first part but I saw some beautiful countryside and learned how much I can accomplish when I am not focused on too many things at once. I also learned how good of friends I have.

Fixing your bike on the side of the road by yourself and continuing on was the most freeing experience I have ever had. I recommend you all go give it a try if you haven't yet.

 

Hey ,I live in Batavia, glad to hear you had a nice time once you got here. Lots of good hearted people here ,and in my opinion a great HD dealer "Stan's" .Your trip sounds like a true bikers adventure. Best wishes from upsate.

 

Sounds like a great ride you had. With long rides, you do tend to see things differently.

 

The friends I was visiting live on Bank street. I also have friends that live on Batavia Elba townline road. I did make a visit to Stan's. It was a nice dealer. I was looking for passenger peg mounts that I lost with the highway bar. They didn't have them but were nice about it. I like stans better than the dealer closest to me. Some day I hope to move up there to Batavia.

 

Anchor Bar.... They INVENTED Buffalo Chicken Wings.