West Texas

[staedtler]

This last weekend my buddy and I headed out to West Texas... Marfa, Ft. Davis, Alpine and Marathon... that was about an 800mi trip...it takes about 6 hrs give or take to get to Marfa from San Antonio (on car is about a couple more )... yes, we were mov'n...

 

The plan was to hook up out there with the brother of a good friend of mine (my buddy with the 748), they took off on thrusday...we did on friday. So the plan was to leave town early, but we never made it out of town until right before noon

 

My bud George took a K1200rs (which i have a test review of.. and he has one if the V11) and myself with the Guzzi or as G calls it...the "iron maiden"

 

Once we all hooked up you'll start hearing "who has the Guzzi?" quite a bit or..the "hey i used to have a V7", etc... i seriously started to feel bad for the other guys i was with, with exception of George everyone else was a Heley dude...yep, that's right, i don't know how but we got invited... go figure how opposite brothers come to be... this guy who organized the trip, Francis, is a Harley Junkie, i mean he is dumping some serious cash on his toy, but hey...he's happy with the whole thing. The thing was that by the end of the trip, after the "who has the Guzzi" over and over, I noticed a look of confussion on him...we were gearing up and saying our goodbyes, and i caught him caressing the headlamp! he's seen the Guzzi before a couple of times, but never interacted with it for a couple of days... I don't think he ever thought of it as something different i guess, i guess he felt like it was a boring bland machine....go figure.

Well when you dump about 30 large on a toy and no one aknowlages it because they're looking at the "boring" bike....i guess it'll make anyone wonder.

but enough of my rant let's get on with the trip....

 

[staedtler]

So... we take off late, off all times i blew a fuse that morning, the problem got solved but took about a couple of hours, we got to an auto parts store and took care of it... by then it was HOT...mid 90's and climbing...once about a couple of hours out of town the road turns empy and we start haul'n ass...

 

 

The Pecos river stop,...

 

 

We swapped bikes there,...it was freak'n melting hot by then...

well, the K1200rs is waay to civilized of a ride, it has a soft plush seat, gas gauge, it tells you what gear you're on, heated this and that which i didn't try , big ass adjustable wind shield, an ohlin suspension, low rumble Staintune and the list goes on and on...a total Pussy ride!!

The only redeming factor was how fast that f@#"r is... it just catapult you like nobody's business, it "glides" on the road, it's like flying a couple of inches from the pavement, no vibration of any kind... it feels almost disconnected from the road, but you point and it holds its line with no fuss, the downside is that you don't feel the speed on that thing...after a bit i glanced at the speedo out of a turn, more like a big sweeper, and i wasdoing 130 ish....shit! let's roll that throtle thingy back shall we?

 

 

see those feet.? that's George after the swap....he's a big guy, like 6' 2" and i guess like 200 pounder, hes an ex racer, his last track weapon of choise was a 996 until he demolished it last year on his last race...here's his review;

 

"my ass is killing me!!" then he dropped to the ground...(i took the pic then)

"hey dude, that's a pretty tight little ride you got there"...thumbs up as he lays on the floor..."i just wish it was twistier out here"....then he goes..."hey, you're right about that wiggle north of 120"...we think it has to do with aerodinamics...who knows...i'm kind of used to it...

 

 

Sanderson, where we swapped back...

 

 

Chicken who??...

[staedtler]

 

So we made it to Marfa, we stayed at 'El Paisano' Hotel, a very fancy vintage place used as headquarters for MGM while filming 'Giant' back then... heck James Dean drank out of the same bar we did,...cool.

 

 

 

you can see the other guys rides, Harley heaven,... chrome anyone?

 

 

That's Francis, our Tour Host...on the phone with a couple that never made it to Marfa, they had a spill on their way after they separated to go to the Guadalupe mts scenic way..., everyone was ok, except for a bruised shoulder on the pillon...their Road King i'm afraid was not, it got towed to El Paso, along with them following behind on an ambulance, they spend the night at the Hospital. They rented a car and caught up with us in Marathon next day. They were fine...

 

 

That's George,...his ass still hurting.. While i was taking this picture, this guy walks in and..."who has the Guzzi?" then he tells me about his V7....

 

 

that's the local Pizza joint,...'Pizza Foundation'... that's the best Pizza i had in TX period...the dudes that run the show are from Boston, (no shit!).

Have you noticed there are two Cayanne Turbos parked there? and i saw more around in Ft Davis and Marathon, and they weren't the same ones...hmmnn?

 

 

After diner we went to the locals hang out to shoot some pool...

 

 

and dance a bit,...those girls sure made George look scronny...

 

Francis challenged the local pool shark, an older lady in her 60's, cigarrette on mouth, carbon fiber pole, calling shots and all... she was bad ass... but Francis is badass too, he made her scratch at the end, and won! he became our hero!

You can't find a nicer guy than him, extroverted, funny, friendly...and on and on...

He's not bad for a Harley guy ...actually he's the only Harley dude that i know of who is cool....we'll see how he thinks about bikes after this trip, is not his fault,...he has never been exposed to anything else, later on the trip he rode the Beemer...i'll elaborate on that.

For a renassaince guy like Francis I'm surprised he fell for the Harley craze, his younger brother rides a 748,... i just don't get it.

[staedtler]

Next day we headed out to Fort Davis, about 35 mi north of Marfa, so it's the first time we ride with the Harley crowd, which consist of Franci's wife chromed out Vrod, their buddy Mike on a brand new Sporster (what a waste) and Francis limited edition something of other 'special', don't get me wrong this folks are as nice as can be, but they do all that wacky shit like reving up at the same time when leaving a gas station....!? i know...

So here i am,...again stuck behind cruisers doing 60,... George and I just stayed behind out of politeness....

 

 

Ft. Davis, Hotel Limpia, another Vintage place,...oh look! a Porsche Cayenne...

 

 

So we stop there for a while, it's HOT, I'm hangover from the night before and feel like crap, i think i'm getting a cold or something... George is barely awake.

We were talking to a Fire Ranger, just shooting the breeze, and yes, all of the sudden "who has the Guzzi?", later on a couple cross the street and look under the Guzzi, i guess looking for Ohlins or so... You can tell Francis has a awkward smile on his face... no one is noticing all that chrome right next to it....

 

So we take off south to Alpine, about another 30 or so miles... this time the road is surprisingly different, it's twisty, about 10 miles of it.... it was really cool! up and down and engaging turn combos...later that day George and I planned on coming back early next morning and give it a try, since we were stuck behind the group doing...yes, 60. actually they slow down on that stretch of the road

 

 

We finally made it to Alpine, it felt like it took for f#$ing ever!...at a stop sign George said,..."that's it man, no more!" i knew he was going to take off...

well at another light we told them that we were not 'feeling good' and that we were going to go ahead all the way to Marathon (were we'all were spending the next night)...but they said...ok! let's all go then (they were just being nice )

 

well, we didn't make it more than a couple of miles out of the last stop light when i see the road with no incoming traffic but a big semi, and at the same time i see george inching behind the Vrod,...i knew it,...i just see him downshift twice,...and i go F#$CK! not now.... well he just f@#ing took off so fast...i just saw him take the sweeper at the end of the strech, if he had ksliders he would have used them!...

we turn and i barely see him crest the next strech....well, i could not resist, what can i say... i took after.... as son as i passed them i could hear them rev hard...

i said: well, at least we'all get there soon,...tuck down and just hit it! never looked back...G was flying, i eventually catch him, then we started leap frogg'n, it was fun! it was right at dusk, not a car anywhere, just the wind and the tarmac...beautiful! we didn't let up until we got there, it was just about 30 miles, i wish it would have been further away....

 

we got to the Gage, parked, took our helmets off... and were greeted by Brad, the guy who had the spill the day before... we were just saying hi and walking up the steps when i hear Francis rolling in, and i hear him..."G..d Damn'it you guys are crazy!" "i was doing a hundred and i couldn't keep up!" (i was thinking..."Fran, no wonder you couldn't keep up") then he goes on telling Brad about how i kept getting smaller and smaller and then nothing..! "they were just gone! just like that"... at one level i felt good, on the other hand he's going to think we ride like that all the time...which is not true, we only do that when we are deprived of speed that's been bottled up all day, besides it doesn't help that i ride like i stole it to begin with...

 

 

so there we are in order of arrival from left to right...

 

 

guess what i did... if i would have known, the water was freezing cold!!

 

This hotel is Pimp...that night at the bar, again..."who has the guzzi" by then they're just pointing fingers... (seriously) i'm just rising my hand and aknowliging with my eyes... we drank too much, got up late next day and G and I headed back to San Antonio late as usual. The Guys stayed for another night.

 

When we got back in town i could not feel my f@#ing body! i was a wreck...but it was fun...

 

 

 

so there you have it, that's how we spend our weekends on the South West...until next time

[rocker59]

Cool old hotels you stayed in. I'd like to get down to South Texas sometime.

 

[Martin Barrett]

Nice little trip report.

I know how you felt, when you just have to go. You can only take so much of an imposed artifically low limit.

Unfortuneatly I normally have to let rip at some point. Even if it only is hitting the gap and exit ramp of the motorway and then going round the outside of the curve on the exit of the traffic light controlled roundabout and blast down the small stretch of dual carriageway less than 1/2 mile, before braking down hard for roundabout and start of a 40 limit and 1/4 mile of observance before turning into work.

 

By the way "who has the Guzzi" I've got one not too dissimilar. They're great aren't they

[Orson]

Thanks for the pics...

 

I used to live in Odessa so that brings back memories.

 

On hot days...a stop in Balmoreah Springs sure is refreshing!! The water is like 70 degrees but feels like 50!

[Ouiji Veck]

Nice picture tour...I really enjoyed it.

Funny about the HD guys. I have a couple of friends that should be on

a nice big Euro Twin too.They Just can't leave show business behind, I guess...

(I have a couple that should stick to HD too)

The guys that I've rode with for 35yrs are all on Beemers. ..and make 'em go.

They love my LeMans ...and I must confess I put the whip to them now and again.

They'll hear the Mistrals and start riding like we're 25 again

I'm going on a week end trip to Vt. May 5th...

I'll try to remember to take a camera and do a nice post like you did.

There's some REAL nice rds. up there.

[dbdicker]

great time. I'm jealous.

 

Get a new pair of tires before you go out again. That pair look shredded.

[staedtler]

PS: I almost forgot....

 

 

yes, they're everywhere..

[tikkanen]

Thanks for the pics + report, Staedtler! Always nice to read other member's trip reports.

Nice shot of the OCC style Hardly Dangerous - a real trailer queen or was it broken down?

 

Søren