Well after MUCH deliberation, I've finally decided. I don't just want a Pacific Coast, I really NEED a Pacific Coast. I've been riding motorized 2-wheelers for darn close to 40 years and have experienced a WIDE variety of machines but never anything quite like the Pacific Coast. OK, I'm kinda set in my ways but *I* think Harleys are cool but kind of crude, Wings are nice but way too big, sport bikes are fun but give me cramps and cruisers are nice to look at but I don't ride to be watched. The PC seems to be just about perfect for an old fart like me.

I guess I've had PC "fever" now for about 6 months and my supportive spouse has encouraged me to go for it.... something along the lines of "you're not getting any younger and if want one, you better go ahead and do it now".

Soooooo, tomorrow is the big day. After some positive dialog with Jeff Hopkins (who has posted here previously), I'm off to Oklahoma City tomorrow night to check out his '95. Assuming it meets expectations, we'll do the deal and I'll have my sleek black "scooter" (yes, I know all about the scooter thing....I figure if they don't know what it is, I really don't care what THEY think!).

But, here's the adventure part. If this works out, I'm gonna ride that puppy home.... 'bout a thousand miles give or take a few. I've made an 800-mile trip before but this will be a personal record. Since my PC saddle time can be counted in minutes up to this point, I figure I have a lot to learn about them. Based on everything I've read here over the last few weeks, I expect it to be mostly positive. I'm gonna take a southern route thru Oklahoma and Arkansas then angle up thru Mississippi to Tennessee and finally wind up home, in the upper northeast corner on Monday evening. I avoid interstates whenever possible so I'll be seeing the sights. Planning on 3 days. Guess I'll get wet a few times since there hasn't been a 3 day span in the SE without rain since April. Cest la vie.

I'll report back to list on my big adventure later. For now .... wish me luck!

Friday June 13 - The introduction....

Delta Airlines did it again. Guess I should know by now that any Friday evening connection is subject to Murphy's law and I would project the probability for a screw up to exponentially greater on Friday the 13th. I was supposed to meet Jeff at the Oklahoma City airport at 8:52CDT. Unfortunately Delta's bird didn't depart Atlanta until around 9:15CDT. Needless to say I was late; really late! I was pretty anxious that Jeff might have given up on me... but alas, when I finally got off the 727 at OKC a bit after 11:00 there was Jeff patiently(?) waiting. The 35-mile drive down to Lexington, OK gave us some time to get aquainted, talk about the history of the PC and motorcycles in general.

Finally sometime around midnight (at least it was no longer Friday the 13th), I'm introduced to Sam, a big, friendly German Shepherd and to the sleek black Pacific Coast for which I've made this trip. A couple of walk arounds and I'm ready for the test drive. Jeff provides some pointers and I'm off. It's a warm, clear night in south central Oklahoma and we're far enough from big city lights to see lots of stars. Having ridden 4 cylinder bikes for years, the V-twin sound of the PC takes some getting used to. It doesn't make a lot, of course, but with no one on the road but me I can hear the engine, tires and gearbox clearly. Now I know why some of the list members refer to their machines as the "stealthmobile" and yes, the Dunlop OEM tires do whine when leaned over. It doesn't take long to conclude the bike was everything Jeff said it was - I want it! Time to close the deal.

One interesting note, I did draw the attention of the local constable. The policeman in the cruiser didn't pull me over but he did follow me for while. Lexington, having a population of only about 1,500 is apparently not a hot bed of motorcycle activity after midnight and with Oklahoma a helmet-optional state and I guess I looked particularly suspicious in my full-coverage Shoei.

Eventually I find my way back to Jeff's and with a couple of signatures and the exchange of a couple of pieces of paper, the PC becomes mine. In the process of our discussion Jeff has mentioned that he envies my "road trip" and that he might be interested in riding east with me for a while on Saturday. This sounds great to me... what better way to see SE OK than with a native guide. So, I bungee my bag on the pillon and I'm off to the local motel Jeff pointed out on the way in. I'll worry about packing the PC's trunk tomorrow. By this time it's close to 2AM. The last thing I remember is nodding off with the Honda manual on my chest. Next thing I know it's daylight!

I was thrilled to see Saturday morning dawn bright and clear in southern Oklahoma. Since this was the day I would "get to know" the PC, I wanted to it be a good one. It was perfect, a few high scattered clouds, bright sunshine and about 80 degrees by the time we left Lexington around 8:30. I was supposed to call Jeff and wake him but since we had turned in pretty late and I doubted that he was quite as excited about day's activities as was I, I thought I'd let him sleep in a little longer while I sorted thru getting my stuff packed in the PC's "trunk". You veteran PCers already know this, but the capacity of this thing is impressive. I was able to pack into it a couple of complete changes of clothes, an extra pair of shoes, a winter weight coat (yeah right!), my raingear, assorted personal effects, camera, Walkman, cell phone, flashlight, a paper-back book, a roll of duct tape (don't leave home without it!), the two empty softside bags I'd used on the plane (one for clothing, the other for my helmet), and the rolled-up motorcycle cover Jeff had included with the PC. Amazing!

Having packed the PC, I was ready to call Jeff. I guess he was more ready to ride than I thought; no sooner had I picked up the phone than I heard the thunka-thunka of his beautifully maintained Harley FLT outside my door Photo. Time for breakfast and road talk. By 8:30 we were ready to roll. I was pretty pumped Photo and it wasn't just the three cups of coffee I just downed; I was excited about riding the PC. When we rolled out of the parking lot the odometer showed 4,815 miles; that would change significantly over the next couple of days.

Both Jeff and I abhor interstates when on two wheels, so we set out roughly due east toward McAlester on 2-lane blacktop. The PC felt great. Even though the machine weighs close to 600 pounds, it handles extremely well. I suppose it depends on one's reference point but it's a lot more "flickable" than I ever expected. This turned out to be significant since apparently every turtle in Oklahoma had decided to cross the highway on this particular morning. It didn't take long to ascertain that they weren't very adept at dodging us so frequent evasive action was required on our part. I don't know how many of them actually made it across, but I'm happy to say, none failed because of us.

As I said before, the V-twin sounded a little strange to me having ridden in-line fours for several years. I kept thinking, "it's running on only two cylinders". Of course, it WAS running on only two cylinders! The 800 twin it is more torquey than the fours to which I'm more accustomed - maybe a little less top-end horsepower but all-in-all a more tractible engine with plenty of push for touring. Jeff set the pace around 60-65 to give me a chance to get used to the PC. Even though I was well back, I could feel the PC's engine more than hear it over the thump of the Harley. I kept having to glance at the tach to confirm I was in top gear. This really is a QUIET motorcycle. I'm 6'3" and sit pretty tall so I was really interested in wind protection. Turns out the 24" Rifle windscreen works well for me. When I sit up completely straight, I look an inch or two over the top (nice for meeting cars at night); with the slightest bit of slump, I'm down well out of the turbulence and can ride comfortably with no visor at any speed.

Not too far out of Lexington, Jeff led me down a stretch of one lane, intermittently paved road. I thought to myself, this is real pretty but if we're going to ride this all day, we're not going to roll up a lot of miles. Turns out the little side trip to Byars, OK was a chance to ride across the one-lane iron bridge shown in the leader to the movie "Twister". Cool! Definitely worth the detour.

A while later we came upon a nice 1-2 mile straight. Jeff was about a quarter mile ahead of me but even so I heard the rap of the FLT when he turned up the wick. Other than the two of us, there were no turtles or any other living things in sight so it seemed a good time to let the PC stretch its legs. It topped out at 101 with the tall Rifle screen. Not exactly a screamer but way faster than I like to ride. Later I observed that the PC is quite comfortable cruising with relatively light throttle up to about 75 or 80. Guess it's from there up that sheer horsepower starts to make a difference. I've never seen a horsepower curve for the PC800 engine but based on the bike's performance, I would guess that horsepower and torque are fairly flat from around 6,000 rpm up to the 7,500 rpm redline.

One hundred and five miles out we reached McAlester and stopped for coffee. I remarked to Jeff that that was the easiest 100 miles I'd ever ridden and how much I liked the bike. When we were leaving the restaurant two older gentlemen in the parking lot (in separate vehicles) inquired about the PC. No comments on the Harley... Jeff said this happens a lot. One told us about the Indian Chief he used to ride. From the look of him it had been a while but he sure hadn't forgotten.

From McAlester on, we began to see fewer people and structures. I wasn't aware until this point that the entire state of Oklahoma was once designated as Native American land. I also didn't know that my own Native American heritage (1/16 Cherokee) qualifies me for free medical care in OK. Hmmm, maybe I'll retire there. We were traveling through an area identified as the Choctaw Nation and when lunchtime arrived we stopped at a restaurant offering, among other native fare, an Indian Taco - excellent! The young Native American women who served us said the picante sauce wasn't very hot... guess that's another thing that depends on your perspective.

Our first actual "destination" for the day was coming up soon. When planning my route I had decided to come back through he Quachita National Forest which spans the OK-AK border. What I didn't realize was that there is an alternate section of this route that runs the Talimena Scenic Drive. Had Jeff not been with me, I would have probably taken a more direct route through the National Forest. What a mistake that would have been. This is one of the most beautiful stretches of road I've ever experienced. Although not as long, it's at least as sceanic as the Blue Ridge Parkway and a lot more fun since it doesn't have the 45mph speed limit of the Blue Ridge. After about 10 miles of the Talimena we arrived at an overlook providing a full 270-degree panorama. Almost everyone has seen a photo of China's Great Wall in which the wall is visible across the top of mountain after mountain until it stretches out of sight. The Talimena Drive is like that here; the road cuts the top of the mountain ridges for as far as one can see. Awesome! Jeff said this was his favorite spot in Oklahoma; so far it's mine too. Photo1, Photo2 If you ever get a chance to ride this section of road, don't miss the opportunity. At this point it was about 1:30 and we were 150 miles or so out of Lexington. Jeff decided it was time for him to head back home. I regretted losing his company but had lots more miles to cover. He turned back west and I pointed the PC toward Arkansas.

About 20 miles later and still on the Talimena I rolled in to President Bill's home state. When I stopped at the next overlook, I pulled out my Walkman and popped in a tape of 60's and 70's R&R. Just as I engaged the clutch to get rolling again, Steppenwolf's "Born to be Wild" came up on the tape. I couldn't help but laugh out loud; guess that's what this motorcycling thing is all about.

A few minutes later I dropped down into unremarkable town of Mena, AK and from there followed 270 thru the National Forest into Hot Springs. Which, by the way, is aptly named. The bank thermometers in Hot Springs were showing 96 and 101 respectively. I don't know if it was really that hot or not, but I do know I didn't want to sit still very long. I kept waiting for the PC's cooling fan to come on at the traffic lights but it never did. I was actually a little worried that it wasn't working correctly. Later I realized it just wasn't hot enough (the PC engine, that is - the day was adequately hot). The next 100 miles were the toughest part of Saturday. In addition to the heat, I was feeling the lack of sleep from the night before but still no real rider's fatigue. It was, however, about this point that I decided I'd fabricate some removable hiway pegs for the front "crash" bars when I arrived home.

Arkansas terrain between Hot Springs and Pine Bluff is rolling hills with lots of hardwood forests. Nice country but not nearly so scenic as the Talimena Drive. The PC was still running great and I was cruising 60 - 70 in most places. Occasionally there would be a curvy section to liven things up but the further east I went, the more flat and agricultural the landscape became. I stopped a couple of times to hydrate (dehydration was being effectively accomplished by the warm day) and took an extended break in Pine Bluff... needed to stretch my legs and walk around awhile.

Time to press on. East of Pine Bluff, the land was flat as a tabletop and there were lots of grain and rice farms. There was even a 15-mile section of road that was being resurfaced. The road crews had already removed the top layer of asphalt and the "asphalt eater" had left those long grooves in the underlying pavement (I hate those things!). I slowed way down when I saw this coming up because most bikes will search violently on this type surface. Again the PC pleasantly surprised me. It wandered around a bit but always felt totally under control.

I ended day one in Stuttgart, AK where I looked around for a while for the BMW plant but finally concluded that that must be some other Stuttgart. I did find some grain elevators... actually I didn't have to look for these, they had been visible for about the last 10 or 15 miles across the flat landscape. The other things I found in Stuttgart were a motel with a pool (now that did feel nice!), an adequate meal and comfortable bed. The odometer showed 5,220 ... 405 miles from Lexington with somewhere between 600 and 700 to go. It was still daylight but I figured this was enough for the first day. I would come to regret this decision later. The PC800 had been marvelous all day, the weather had been a bit on the warm side but otherwise beautiful and I had seen some stunningly beautiful country. All in all, it had been a pretty darn good day - in a word, memorable.

Even though there were big frontal disturbances to both the east and west, the weather channel had predicted dry, sunny weather on Sunday for Stuttgart and vicinity. Sure enough, I awoke to another clear day. Needless to say, I was pretty pleased; two straight days of sunshine has been almost unheard of in my part of the country lately. After a jog and a shower, I was ready for another day in the saddle. I don’t what it is about ducks here, but everything in Stuttgart seems to be named duck this, or mallard that... Stuttgart must be the duck hunting capital of the world or something. In fact, I had breakfast at the Mallard Restaurant, which appeared to be the social hub for the local grain farmers. There were about six or seven of them all sitting at different tables. They all seemed to know each other and kept up a pretty lively across-the-room conversation about their tractors, mowers and other farm machinery. I had parked the PC right in front of the glass storefront and after about 30 minutes one of them finally got around to asking me where I was headed. I got the impression not many motorcycle tourers stop in Stuttgart.

Just as I was mounting up, a fellow on a Yamaha Venture with a trailer pulled in. His name was Dean; he was from central Texas and it turns out he was on his way to Asheville, NC to the Honda Hoot. Dean appeared to be about 65 and the Venture pretty much the same. He said it had almost 200K miles on it. I guess under the circumstances they both looked pretty good. After the "Hoot", he was planning on taking a northerly route back home through the Kentucky horse country. He said he routinely rides 700 miles a day. Later I would come to appreciate this comment more fully!

At approximately 7:30AM I rolled the PC back onto highway. It felt great to be back on board. The odometer showed 5,220 miles. Even though I’d ridden a little over 400 miles the day before I felt no fatigue and had no "saddle sores". The PC is great bike! The most direct route home would have been a straight shot for Memphis but I wasn’t too keen on fighting the big city traffic. I elected to cross over into Mississippi and by-pass Memphis all together. I pointed the PC towards Helena, AK where I would cross the big muddy. A little more than an hour later, I shot a photo of the PC underneath the Helena Bridge with the river as a backdrop. Might just put this one on my wall. Photo On the way I stopped to offer help to a couple stranded by their Harley. This was an older shovel head with flames painted on the tank, raked front forks and "ape-hanger" bars. I offered to give one of them a ride to get help but they declined; probably didn’t want to be seen on a scooter!

The Helena bridge (actually it’s the West Helena bridge) is of triangulated iron girder construction. Since it’s not a drawbridge there’s quite a bit of rise to allow river traffic to pass underneath and the crest of the bridge provides a splendid view of the countryside. Everyone knows the Mississippi River has a long and colorful gambling legacy and it appears that the tradition is still flourishing today. Even the big boys (Harrah’s, etc) have casinos here.

I picked up the northbound highway my map called the Natchez Trace Parkway and was expecting yet another scenic drive. Unfortunately I was to be disappointed. This was nothing more than a stretch of two lane road frequently punctuated with intersections and bad drivers. It did however allow me to skirt Memphis. I crossed over into Tennessee on a road so rural there wasn’t even a state line sign and headed due east on Highway 57. This WAS a nice ride with rolling hills and lots of trees. For those of you not familiar with TN geography, it is a very long state. I live in the upper north east corner close to the VA and NC borders. Memphis is approximately 500 miles away. I was still thinking at this point that I would ride to about the middle of the state and spend the night, completing the trip on Monday. I choose a path that maximized scenic routes but meandered around a bit just north of the Mississippi and later Alabama state lines for about 200 miles.

Did you know there is a Moscow, TN? And, although no one I talked to there spoke Russian, I did encounter more questions about the Pacific Coast. While I was having a soda and sort-of loitering around the bike, a teenager in a really old Datsun (not a Nissen, mind you, a Datsun) pulled in for gas. Upon checking out the PC, his remark to me was, "gotcha one of those real bad boys, huh?" I didn’t burst his bubble by telling him the PC is TOURING motorcycle.

Having lived in Tennessee for the last 28 years, I am quite familiar with the Tennessee Valley Authority (the government agency which manages the hydroelectric and flood-control dams on the Tennessee and tributary rivers). One of the larger dams in the TVA system is Pickwick. I’d never seen Pickwick and chose it as my crossing point for the Tennessee river (like the Mississippi you HAVE to cross it somewhere). It was around noon when I arrived there. This is a pretty impressive structure. The Tennessee at this point is about as wide as the Mississippi at Helena and the dam is a major hydo generation facility. Plus, it has locks to allow commercial river traffic to pass through. The road crosses the top of the dam on an elevated trestle; well worth seeing if you’re ever in this part of the country. Photo One interesting note. There are prominent signs posted below the dam advising boaters to avoid the turbulent, high flow areas where water exits the generators. None-the-less there were two fools in a 12-foot, flat-bottom Jon boat trying to fish in this area. They had a small outboard motor on the boat and based on the amount of blue smoke it was generating the little outboard must have been running wide-open just to hold their position. The driver was steering the boat directly into the current and the other guy had a line in the water. Thank you just the same, I’ll take my chances on a motorcycle anytime! BTW, it was while I was slowly driving around the Pickwick site in the 95-degree heat that the PC’s cooling fan came on for the first time. It took me a moment to realize what it was but when I did, I felt relieved that it actually worked.

Pressing eastward on a highway correctly marked as a scenic route, riding began to get more difficult. Even though it was only around 3 PM, I had logged nearly 400 miles already and I was hot, a little tired and I finally realized, a lot dehydrated. When I stopped for something to drink around Pulaski, I spotted a picnic table in the shade of a large tree. It was just more than I could stand; I just had to stretch out on that table. I only slept about 30 minutes but afterwards I felt like a new man. When I climbed aboard the PC it actually felt good again. Less than an hour later brought me to the town of Lynchburg made famous by a Mr. Jack Daniels. I made a photo by the sign but didn’t take time out for a guided tour. I understand they don’t give away samples anyway. Photo

While I was mounting up after making the picture in Lynchburg four motorcycles passed by. Each bike had an adult driver and a kid on the back. I think all the passengers were girls... must have been a father - daughter thing. At any rate, what caught my attention was a young girl of about 8 or 9 whose dad must have instructed her spread motorcycle goodwill by waving to everyone they met. She didn’t miss a single car, truck, pedestrian or porch-sitter for the 5 or 6 miles I followed them. I bet her arm was tired!

From Lynchburg on, I began a long, gradual climb up onto the Cumberland Plateau. There are several pretty nice overlooks in this section and in general the rural landscape is nice. When I stopped for dinner in McMinnville I had rolled approximately 500 miles. I was actually beginning to look for a motel to spend the night when I realized that I was within striking distance of home. This was not my original plan, of course, but I had begun to have a continuous toothache, which is most unusual for me. Seeing my dentist as early as possible on Monday morning was sounding pretty appealing. (This turned out to be an abscessed wisdom tooth. Some would doubt my wisdom anyway for riding a motorcycle a thousand miles.) I felt pretty good after eating and decided that if I could clear Knoxville before dark, I’d have no trouble making the last 90 miles of familiar road home. It was here that I second-guessed my decision the night before to stop at 400 miles. Had I ridden on until dark on Saturday, I'd be almost home now. None-the-less, I pressed on.

Unfortunately in order to meet my goal of getting through Knoxville before dark, I would have to ride some interstate. I pulled onto I-40 East at Crossville and ramped the PC up to traffic flow. This section of I-40 is very hilly. The 18-wheelers slow to 55 or so on the ups and will often top 80 on the downs. It’s a pain to ride a motorcycle (or for that matter, drive a car) with them. I dialed the PC up to around 75 and began to really cover ground. It seemed quite content to cruise at 75-80 with a fairly light throttle and I had no trouble holding speed on the long grades. I breezed by the trucks like they were parked. At 9:00PM as I filled up with gas just east of Knoxville, night fell on east Tennessee.

With 580 miles behind me and 90 more to go, it was time for a mega-dose of caffeine and some warmer clothing. Considering it had been 95 earlier in the day in west TN, it seemed a little strange digging around in the PC’s trunk for a flannel shirt and jacket. Evenings in the mountains of eastern TN tend to be cool even in the summertime and the warmer clothes sure felt good. I rolled out of the service station about 9:30 and headed for home. I’m not really found of night riding but this last leg of the trip wasn’t too bad. I took the old 11W route which is two, three and four lanes but not limited access. The best thing about this road is that all the trucks and thru traffic are over on I-81 a few miles to the south.

Finally, I rolled the PC into my garage at 11:25PM with 5,890 miles on the odometer. My entire family (including the dog) came down to greet me and to ooh and ah over the PC (and me too, I guess). It was good to be home. I had been on the road almost 15 hours (one hour time change) and had covered 670 miles... an all-time personal record for me. Even so I wasn’t overly physically tired and had no sore spots. I was, to quote Bob Seeger, "strung out from the road" and very ready to be home; but, I don’t believe I was significantly more fatigued than I would have been after a similar distance by car.

The entire two-day trip from Lexington, OK to Kingsport, TN was 1,075 miles. I was able to cover the distance without a single drop of rain and only killed 1 small turtle and 7.6 million bugs. I didn’t track my fuel mileage for the entire trip but did so on a couple of tanks. The best tank was exactly 50 mpg (on the Talimena Drive) and the worst was around 44.

It was a great trip - The PC is a FANTASTIC bike and I did "enjoy the ride". I’d do it again in a heartbeat.

Jim Randall
jrandall@tricon.net