Indian and Bad Roads June 6
 

Today was Spokane, Washington to Butte, Montana. Part of the team vectored off to Murray, Idaho, over the original Clancy tracks (now Forest Road 456) which Clancy noted as more bad roads. The other part of the group of adventurists pounded I-90 at 75 mph, except for the several 35-45 mph constructions areas, into Butte, Montana for the night.

The group split at 2:00 PM in Wallace, Idaho. It was in Wallace they found the Oasis Bordello. Now a museum, they pondered and opined what it must have been like in 1913 when Clancy and Allen passed through. Those of a conservative religious slant took one route out of Wallace, and those of another religious belief wandered next 200 miles in wonderment, both groups to later meet in Butte, Montana, described by Clancy 100 years earlier as "the most unattractive city either of us had ever visited."

While in Wallace The Clancy Centenary Ride adventure team were grabbed (enticed?) off their parked motorcycles with an offer of looking at what a local motorcycle themed hotel and bar owner described as a "real adventure Indian." Expecting to possibly possibly a member of an Idaho Native American tribe, the group was mildly surprised to instead discover a pristine 1948 Indian Chief motorcycle. The lack of bluing of the header pipes suggested it may have only been started once or twice, a fact which was confirmed by the art gallery manager where the rare adventure motorcycle was on display.

Below is a picture of this antique gem, in Wallace, Idaho. $30,000.00 to $35,000.00 USD can still purchase one of these adventure models from the 1940's in this condition.

Butte, Montana to Billings, June 7
 

A late start from Butte was caused by one of the group who was vodkaized the night before and deciding to purchase an older motorcycle that was For Sale on the street, a 1982 Honda Goldwing with full Vetter accessories, including tape deck and radio.

Once on the road part of the team took the original Clancy route from Livingston to Gardiner, Montana and the entrance to Yellowstone Park. 100 years earlier Clancy and Allen made the same trip, becoming the first motorcycles to ride to the Park entrance.

When Clancy and Allen made the trip the road was in such horrible condition that they both tried riding their motorcycles between the train rails which ran parallel to the road. This was an ugly choice, banging the unsprung motorcycles and rider.

Below is pictured one of the 2013 Clancy Centenary Ride team giving a sign of what he though of train track riding and being hammered even on a motorcycle with spring suspension - thumbs down:

Longest, Most Perilous Ride Ever, June 8, Billings, Montana
 

June 8 was a layover day for laundry (much needed by one of the team members delegated to ride in the back of the group), submitting magazine articles and photographs some much needed general Internet work to keeps wives and relations happy. One of the team needed an hour and local auto parts shop to glue his motorcycle's broken turn signal together while another dashed off to a local mail drop point to collect some books and DVD's as well as several blown up posters of Clancy and Allen on their trip through the USA.

An evening media event was schedule for local Montana motorcyclists, a free 1 & 1/2 hour multi-media show by Geoff Hill, Gary Walker and myself. The show was titled RIDING THE WORLD - LONGEST, MOST DIFFICULT, AND MOST PERILOUS MOTORCYCLE JOURNEY EVER ATTEMPTED. Initially the event was slated for 20 local motorcyclists but a feature article in the Friday edition of The Billings Gazette, Montana's largest newspaper, alerted 57 attendees, with standing room only for late arrivals to the Saturday night for their wild Montana evening in the western town of Billings. Some rode or drove their motorcycles and sidecar outfits over 500 miles that day to attend, showing what a Montana motorcyclist would do for a free motorcycle event. Wind buffeted and rain soaked attendee Ronnie Weinzapfel, from Munster, Texas, said he had ridden his BMW R75 over 400 miles to attend this day. In the true spirit of hardened riding, Weinzapfel said he will be joining The Clancy Centenary Ride Team for their next four days on the road to Anamosa, Iowa.

Geoff Hill gave an overview of the ride around the world he and Gray Walker had made over the last 10 weeks following Clancy's original route from Dublin, Ireland to Billings, Montana with photographs by Gary Walker showing numerous travel points they had tagged. Richard Livermore had successfully spent hours on June 8 editing the photographs and multi-media show to tailor it specifically for the Billings, Montana attendees.

At the end of the evening show Hill surprised the audience by pulling out of a well travel plastic bag the original boots worn by Clancy on his world tour in 1912-1913. The boots had traveled over the original Clancy route starting from Dublin, Ireland in Hill's pannier and are destined for a presentation at the National Motorcycle Museum in Anamosa, Iowa June 13.

Below is a photograph at the beginning of the multi-media show as guests were introduced like well-respected local author and journalist Ed Kemmick (The Big Sky, By and By book published in 2011), Joe Whalen, famous former mayor of Miles City, Montana (a city traveled through by Clancy and Allen in 1913) and globally regarded BMW motorcycle guru Bob Clement (Roberts, Montana). The AV system allowed for the multi-media show images to be viewed on three screens in the conference center at one time, with the soundtrack playing over an high tech audio system, a treat for the audience as well as the presenters.

OIT Applied To German Technology, Bismarck June 9
 

As we left Billings, Montana I saw the large Rocky Mountains fade to small in my rear view mirrors. Ahead of us was nearly 1,000 miles of prairie and rolling hills, a section of Clancy’s ride 100 years earlier he said very little about.

One town Clancy mentioned, Sanders, Montana, we sped through without knowing we had been there. Over the last hundred years the population and buildings had dwindled to nothing more than green grass and a few cows. Our GPS guy said we were there but it was general opinion his GPS had found a cyber ghost town.

What lay ahead of us was 300 miles of boring Interstate 84, a well paved road with a steady vision diet of mile after mile of same-same.

At a short pit-stop Gary Walker applied a technique he had seen me use to make a throttle lock for the Silverwing, making a MacGyver throttle lock for the BMW GS Adventure. He had ridden halfway around the world while having to keep his right hand on the throttle. At speed, if he took his hand off the throttle, it would slam shut with German authority.

He asked for one of my cable ties to close around the handle bar between the rubber throttle grip and plastic it butted up against. The first attempt failed because the cable tie plastic was slippery. We applied two wraps of duct tape and circled the bar resulting in enough stickiness to keep the throttle open when he took his hand off.

I applauded his success in MacGyvering a throttle lock, telling him in was an OIT I had learned for the German BMWs after the company quit making nice screw locks to meet some governmental rule or regulation. When Gary asked, “What’s an OIT?” I replied in my best Native tongue-in-cheek, “Old Indian Trick.”

The two photographs below first show Gary fabricating the OIT/MacGyver throttle lock, and then how Gary utilized the new application at speed on the Interstate, which we drove over until reaching Bismarck, out destination for the night.

Lovin' the ride guys. Keep the story and pics coming.

I told a rider in Minneapolis you were coming through but we don't know where to meet you on some of your itinerary.

Please post where you are whereever possible so riders can meet you. Thanks!


GS3 on TapaTalk

Minneapolis location June 10
 

We're bunking at a private residence on the western outskirts (suburbs) of Minneapolis June 10, out through Minneapolis proper in the AM. No definite touch point in the bowels of Minneapolis planned, other than a duck-and-weave through traffic as we vector south to Madison, WI. Have your friend try to call us in the PM if wanting to join our group of the five on our pass through: 303 868 0662 will be On for messages throughout the day, and if not too wind blown, holder of the phone might even hear it ring in the PM before the little buckeroo goes to sleep :-) We're off the Net through the day, knocking down the next 450 miles.

Road to Cleveland
 

Hey Greg, Geoff & Gary:
Way to go on your Tales & Trails thus far! Sure wish we could be tagging along.

When you can, please give us a preview of where we're headed to from Dearborn. It really isn't all that far to Cleveland. Will we be on some scenic byways along the lake shore (por favor), or will this crossing stick to the main super-highway? :unsure: And which hotel, motel, campground is planned for Cleveland? :helpsmilie:

Appreciate any info & all your cross-country updates! Enjoy The Ride! :thumbup1:

Phil & Karen
Ft Washington, MD

North Dakota and Minnesota Adventures – June 10
 

Clancy did not have much to say about North Dakota, other than he and Allen had passed through it. As we too passed through it I also had not much to say, as most of the road from Bismarck to the border of Minnesota was description less, other than to note mile after mile of nearly flat green fields with a few brown smudges and water spots.


The flat green fields reminded me of a pool table top. As I conjured this at 70 mph I made the gray matter comparison with a pool table I had once seen in a restaurant and bar located in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Not the most upscale bar, the pool table, although green felt, had some brown spots from unknown sources, possibly dirty hands or a dropped slice of pizza. There were wet spots too, those attributable to spilled swill.


What was significantly different from the pool table in Phnom Penh and the fields of North Dakota were the several Khmer working ladies that brightened the scenery by leaning over the table trying to make a distant eight ball drop. The pool table like flat green fields of North Dakota had no two-legged dears upon which to focus, and the four-legged North Dakota deer were sleeping deep in the grass as we passed.



The first photograph below shows how the flat green countryside of North Dakota reminded me of a Cambodian pool table in the Walkabout Bar.


One of the things Clancy did note as he traveled was the character of the people he met. In the spirit of that Clancy element and engaging in conversation with local peoples, today one of our team did the same, had a roadside verbal exchange. The second photograph below captured his adventurous roadside moments.


The third photograph shows how beneficial it was for Ronnie Weinzapfel on his BMW R60/6 (converted to a 750 cc’s) to be traveling with our team members on their BMW 1200 Adventure models with their 33 liters of gas and 100 Horse Power of grunt. Weinzapfel’s 1974 BMW was gulping gas while fighting the head winds across North Dakota. His 5.7 gallon gas tank ran dry at just over 160 miles, 300 yards short of a gas station. One BMW 1200 Adventure rider offered to let Weinzapfal suck some gas through a straw out of the Beemer tanker’s gas tank, but Weinzapfal wisely declined. Instead, he asked to be towed to the gas station. The third photograph below shows the 2013 BMW Adventure towing the 1974 BMW, adding a new element to the 1200 Adventure sales pitch: “Can be used as tow truck-like motorcycle.”

Motorcycles in Minneapolis and to Madison –June 11
 

Clancy and Allen noted the lack of motorcycles as they passed through Minneapolis on their way to Eau Claire and then to Madison, Wisconsin. Our ride to Madison started with one less BMW, Ronnie Weinzapfel choosing to wander the countryside towards Anamosa, Iowa on his converted R60/6. While our team missed the 1970’s BMW, it was replaced by a Minneapolis based 1983 Honda GL650I.


Thus far we have had a Kawasaki KLR650 join us, and then the BMW. Now another 1983 Honda. With all the Harley-Davidsons seen on the road from San Francisco to Portland, and now into Madison, I started to wonder why none from The Motor Company had hooked up with us. We have had quite a bit of media play about our ride across the USA and The Clancy Centenary Ride and motorcyclists often recognize us when we stop and chat, but so far none of the Milwaukee iron has joined.


While pondering the lack of American iron in our pack I was reminded of how Clancy had stated he had, as published in MOTORCYCLE ADVENTURER, “established the supremacy of the ’four’ over the ‘twin’ forever, in the eyes of all present” when his Henderson with “14,000 miles in its bones” had beaten a motorcycle dealer on “his well-known twin” in a hill climb challenge up a “35 percent grade” outside of Sacramento.


I concluded it was possible the unnamed twin’s following 100 years later still remembered the whipping Clancy’s well worn Henderson four had given and were staying away from another lesson by German and Japanese models hammering the roads across America. Then I thought that possibly the unnamed dealer was riding an Indian motorcycle, also a well-known twin in the 1913 era.


Either way, the tale was a good one and gave road food for motorhead thinking as we rode into Madison, Wisconsin for the night.


The photograph below is of the Honda that joined us in Minneapolis, Minnesota and rode some miles south towards Eau Claire, piloted by Steve Livermore, brother of my GL650 riding pal Richard Livermore, also in the photograph.

Madison, Wisconsin Madness to Alamosa, Iowa Old Iron – June 12
 

We vectored off the original Clancy route today to tourist through the National Motorcycle Museum in Anamosa, Iowa. The museum had on display the only original 1912 Henderson motorcycle I had discovered through my research for the book about Clancy's ride around the world. Tomorrow we will do a photo shoot and media event around the display with some of the items we are carrying that belonged to Clancy when he rode his 1912 Henderson around the world.

Before reaching the National Motorcycle Museum we made a pit stop to check air pressure in our tires. It was here I discovered the new technology for the BMW 1200 Adventure model was so technologically advanced that checking the tire pressure, and then adding air if needed, required the hose operator and two assistants, as pictured below in the first photograph, picture # 1.

The National Motorcycle Museum was housed in a former Wal*Mart store, with over 400 motorcycles displayed and 1,000’s of bits of motorcycle memorabilia. For the minor fee of $8.00 we could, and did, wander through the displays for hours. It was a visual adventure that included some of the wildest, fastest, and weirdest motorcycles on the planet. How weird or mad? I found the 2001 Kawasaki KLR650 that I had donated to the museum some years ago with which I had circled the globe. It was cosmic madness to stand there and look at it as a display instead of being on top of it or under it when it had fallen over somewhere on the planet.

Pictured as # 2 below is the entrance to the museum where a very nice lady warmly greeted us with a “Welcome to The National Motorcycle Museum,” much the same as a greeter would at the former Wal*Mart. I thought I heard her add, “the world’s largest candy store for the true motorcycle motorhead.”

Wandering through the racing section I found a 1930’s Indian race motorcycle that looked much the same as my own 1936 Indian Sport Scout racer, even wearing the same color paint. Picture # 3 shows what we used to throw around dirt tracks and ride with on the high banking of Daytona International Raceway. Mine, on a good day with a tail wind while drafting some of the faster guys, might have reached 98 mph. With no rear suspension and the pistons vibrating the handlebars at least an inch up and down, the Indian racer had an adventure just trying to stay on it.

This Indian racing machine was so nearly a match to my own that it too leaked oil from the same part of the engine. Picture # 4 shows how it, and mine, seldom required draining the oil for an oil change – we merely added oil as needed.

enjoying the centenary ride
 

Thanks for the continued updates, Greg and everyone.
I don't know how I managed to not get to this museum with all the times I've been through Iowa.

I'm still planning to connect with this centenary ride for a bit later in the week, maybe after this storm passes NYC.

Anamosa, Iowa to Janesville, Wisconsin: Henderson Motorcycle Day – June 13
 

Our day started with Geoff Hill and me displaying a poster at the National Motorcycle Museum of Carl Stearns Clancy and Robert Allen taken in San Francisco, California on June 2, 1913 with their Henderson motorcycles. Both Hill and I are working on book projects that incorporate aspects of the 1912 Henderson motorcycle that Clancy had ridden around the world. Picture # 1 below is of Hill and me with the poster, and resting next to us on the cement block are the boots Clancy had worn as he circled the globe 100 years earlier.

Photograph # 2 below is of the only original 1912 Henderson I have found in a global search over a period of 19 years. Atop the glass case that housed the Henderson are the Clancy boots and a pith helmet he wore on the African leg of his global ride. Also hanging from the top of the case are two pennants Hill had carried to me from The Clancy Centenary Ride founders Feargal O’Neill and Joe Walsh, all of which we presented to the National Motorcycle Museum.

Photograph # 3 is John Parham, president of the National Motorcycle Museum, holding my book MOTORCYCLE ADVENTURER. The book has given rise to The Clancy Centenary Ride, a plus for media exposure of Carl Stearns Clancy’s incredible ride around the world 100 years earlier. The book was also a positive contributor to the various spin-offs from the 2013 event, like our meeting John Parham, one of the great contributors to our motorcycle adventuring world. On the downside, all of us who have forsaken jobs, significant others and personal financial responsibilities can be jealously accused of having too much fun and adventure as we followed the original Clancy trail across the USA with the side trip to the National Motorcycle Museum.

To cap our Henderson day, a new member joined our Clancy Centenary Ride Team, Tim Henderson. Using his 2004 Moto Guzzi “California Touring” model, Henderson showed us some secrets of the Iowa countryside following a route recommended by John Parham. Pictured in # 4 below is Tim Henderson who led the too-much-fun-team through Iowa to Wisconsin on our Henderson Day.

Janesville, Wisconsin to Chicago, Illinois: Indian Guide Needed Today – June 14
 

Clancy’s route 100 years earlier took him through Beloit, Wisconsin, where he spent a week visiting his brother. From Beloit to Chicago our team knew he went through Rockford and Elgin because he complained about the poor road conditions, signpost foolishness and heavy traffic. However, with the multitude of roads and pavement in 2013 it was difficult to follow what would have been his route in 1913.

Geoff Hill, engaged in a unique form of Irish scholarly research for his tome covering our leg of The Clancy Centenary Ride, noted that even Tonto, the Lone Ranger’s Indian guide, would have had his tracking skills tested in 2013. Photo # 1 below is Hill, looking for Clancy’s Goodyear tire tracks under a rock Hill hoped had not been moved in 100 years.

Gary Walker is pictured in photograph # 2 below holding a rental electronic gizmo that allowed him and Hill on their BMW 1200 Adventure models to pass through toll booths, of which there have been many, without stopping. The application of some form of Motorbiking Irish Economic Theory concluded the money saved by renting the devices could be applied to the swill bill at the end of the day, a fine sample of how Ireland has been weathering their economic woes of the last years.

Photograph # 3 shows my 1983 Honda CX650 and Hill’s 2013 BMW Adventure resting during a pit stop. My 30 year-old 674 cc Honda, at 478 lbs. and 67 horsepower, has been staying with the 1200 cc Bavarian 580 lbs. pulled by 110 horsepower. The Honda is less fuel efficient, with mileage ranging from 35 mpg to 50 mpg, depending upon speed. Compared to Clancy’s 1912 Henderson, which had only 7 horsepower (and no front brake), it’s easy to see how we can knock down long miles in an easy day that took Clancy a week to ride 100 years earlier.

Photo # 4 supports Clancy’s complaint about the poor highway signage. To see a sign for an oasis, as pictured here, on the concrete highway slab through the lush green of the middle of America had us shaking our helmets in wonderment. Clancy would have seen an oasis or two as he passed through Algeria or Tunis but we doubted there was one here, ever. Like the modern day elasticity of the word “adventure” we felt that an “oasis” near Chicago, Illinois was also a wide stretch of the word.

June 15 is a layover or rest day in Chicago. Some of us will be working while (hopefully) other members of our team will be either shopping for new underwear or at least doing a load of laundry. I will leave unwritten which of our team members place a priority on the bill for swill.

Chicago, Illinois: Adventurers in Chicago – June 15
 

Clancy told the tale of how he had stopped to help two “twin riders,” likely Harley-Davidson or Indian owners. In, as he said, “silent amusement,” he listened to them expound about their “exciting adventures upon the tremendous 200-mile tour upstate.” I suspect he did not rain on their parade by telling them he had been looping the globe for the last nine months, a journey that had taken him nearly 17,000 miles.

He spent a couple of days in Chicago while the Henderson factory branch on Michigan Avenue displayed his service-scarred machine in the showroom window. Today there is no vestige of that Henderson showroom on Michigan Avenue.

Clancy was ferried around town in a sidecar and noted the “40 miles of boulevards for local motorists,” which today is likely 4,000 miles. He spent an evening with the Chicago Motorcycle Club. Upon leaving Chicago he said he “couldn’t find any ‘Great White Way’ in Chicago, nor any of the characteristics that make New York the greatest city in the world.”

While not spending time with Chicago Motorcycle Club in Chicago, I was honored to be the guest speaker Saturday night at The Adventurers Club of Chicago, a private membership club founded in 1911. I invited Geoff Hill and Gary Walker along to give them a peek inside this exclusive club. Since they had seen my presentation “RIDING THE WORLD - LONGEST, MOST DIFFICULT, AND MOST PERILOUS MOTORCYCLE JOURNEY EVER ATTEMPTED” before in Billings, Montana, they agreed to be my shills for the evening by laughing, cheering and clapping when prompted by my touching my right index finger to the right side of my nose.

While at the Club I spent time researching the Club archives for history on motorcycle adventurists. I was pleased to find that Slim Williams had been a member of the club. Photograph is # 1 below caught me doing research in the Club library, in the presence of a lion, albeit it skinned.

In 1939 Williams, along with John Logan, set out from Fairbanks, Alaska to ride two BSA motorcycles from Alaska to the Lower 48, an adventure that took them six-and-one-half months and proved that it could be done. I found Williams’ photograph on a wall in the library, photograph #2 below.

I had researched the Williams and Logan adventure for my book, ALASKA BY MOTORCYCLE and featured their feat in a film about motorcycling to Alaska. Hanging in the Adventurers Club of Chicago was a flag commemorating that 1939 adventure, shown in photograph # 3 below. It brought back memories of researching a real adventure ride 20-30 years ago before the motorcycling community was badging everything from guided motorcycle tours to buying a branded model of motorcycle an “adventure.”

The Club humbled me at the end of the evening by presenting me with a Certificate thanking me for exemplifying the Clubs motto “To provide a hearth and home for those who have left the beaten path and made for adventure.” To carry forth the Club’s recognition, our Clancy Centenary Ride Team will return to the roads of America June 16 as we work our way east towards The Clancy Centenary Ride final destination of Penn Station in New York City.

It's fantastic that the trip is going so well Sunchaser. Really enjoying the updates - keep them coming!

It's great to see that Clancy is getting a bit of well deserved fame at last.

And please pass on my best wishes to the guys. :thumbup1: