So based on some postings a ride south of Granbury was finally organized and I met up with Misfire, Tye, TLSDoug at a place on the way into Granbury called Montes Breakfast Burritos. Not wanting to be late and not knowing the area, I got there pretty early but needed the time to warm up from what turned out to be a pretty cold ride there.
It can sometimes be awkward to meet a group of friends that have known each other for a while, but they were all real easy going and cracking jokes from the word go. And though I still felt a little hesitant, I was really looking forward to the day.
After a quick breakfast of some pretty good burritos (gotta try the pirate burrito next time since that's what they all ordered) we headed out to the square to see if anyone else was going to make it. At the square we waited till 11:00 then the four of us headed out when no one else made it. TLSDoug had called a friend of his who had another crappy Yamaha so he could meet us on the way.
Mike turned out to be a really nice guy who had recently picked up an anniv. ed. R1. After spending some time admiring the bikes, we all saddled up and headed back south on Highway 51.
In preparation for the ride, I had dug up all the pieces parts which had mostly survived intact from the '06 and got them setup and tested on the new bike to shoot some video. Below is a link to video footage from the point where Mike joined us and we headed out.
video footage
A quick note for those doing video recording on SD cards... be sure the two cards you grab for the day actually have free space or you're going to be stuck with about 10 minutes of video footage total. All of it before the ride even got good.
Shortly after the video sequence above ends, we came up on a rider that had ridden off into a ditch from a large pack of cruisers that were up ahead of us. We pulled over and helped get the bike back on the road. Luckily no one was hurt and we soon got back on the road and headed on.
That last section of 51 from Paluxy to Hwy 67 really is a great section of road. From there we kept heading south and hit Iredell, Cranfills Gap, and who knows where else. All I really know is that it was great not having to think through and lead a group on a route and TLSDoug set a great pace and picked out some great roads, from sub 20 tight turns to triple digit high speed sweepers.
The FJR really handled well and though the tight transitions really took some extra effort, the bike just loved the sweepers and I finally christened the right peg feeler on one of them. The weather was perfect with temps in the low 70's and the roads were empty, what more could you ask for? How about getting the chance to ride the R1 for about 20 minutes when Mike mentioned how much he was liking the looks and performance of the FJR and then accepted my offer to take the FJR for a spell?
As the day started to come to an end, I realized that I'd need to cut out pretty quickly if I was going to make it home for dinner as planned. So when we hit Hwy 67, on the way back, I said my quick goodbye and headed home.
Though about 140 of them were plain miles getting there and back, it was the best 300 miles I've ridden in a while and a great way to work out some of the dust. Can't wait till I get the chance to hook up the the Squid Squad from Granbury for some more backroad riding or maybe even a track day.
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