Sooper Yooper Trip

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#006699" TEXT="#080000" background="0cbfd5a3.jpg"> <div> <FONT SIZE="7" COLOR="#CC0000" FACE="Copperplate Gothic Bold" ><B>Motorides</B></FONT><B>    </B><B> |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" "><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Motorcycle Trips"><U>Motorcycle Trips</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id55.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Street Tracker Project"><U>Street Tracker Project</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id21.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Daily Rider Bike Reviews "><U>Daily Rider Bike Reviews </U></A>   |   <A HREF="id26.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Motocross "><U>Motocross </U></A>   |   <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Links"><U>Links</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id20.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Us"><U>Contact Us</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id44.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Pictures Funny stuff"><U>Pictures Funny stuff</U></A>   |   <B>Sooper Yooper Trip</B>   |   <A HREF="id50.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Vermont Covered Bridges"><U>Vermont Covered Bridges</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id51.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Tiger vs. Bear"><U>Tiger vs. Bear</U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFCC66" TEXT="#080000" background="0ccd2043.jpg"> <div> <IMG SRC="36ba47b0.jpg" border=0 width="164" height="123" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Pine River Motel</div> <div> 102 Lafayette Ave.</div> <div> Cheboygan, Michigan</div> <bR> <div> <I><B><IMG SRC="390b3860.jpg" border=0 width="179" height="134" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><IMG SRC="392afe90.jpg" border=0 width="175" height="233" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></I></div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT><B>BESSIE'S HOMEMADE PASTIES</B><I><B> * * </B></I></div> <div> <B>1108 North State Street</B></div> <div> <B>Saint Ignace Michigan 49781</B></div> <div> <B>Phone 906-643-6487</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>PROGRESSIVE SUSPENSION</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>S&S  CARBURETORS</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>METZELER TIRES</B></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#330099" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I>Sooper Yooper Trip</I></div> <bR> <div> <B> <img src="HTMLobj-811/aniGif.gif" border="0" align="bottom" width="239" height="31">    <img src="HTMLobj-812/aniGif.gif" border="0" align="bottom" width="239" height="31">    <img src="HTMLobj-813/aniGif.gif" border="0" align="bottom" width="239" height="31">  </B></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>SOOPER YOOPER  TRIP  </B></I></div> <div> <I><B> </B></I><FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#CCFF99" FACE="Bazooka" ><I><B>A  Planned  trip  around  all of the great  lakes  turns into  a head gasket  change  and a  fight with a  rooster. </B></I></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>Full story coming soon...</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>  </B></I><FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#999933" FACE="Bazooka" ><I><B>june  2006 </B></I></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>  <IMG SRC="31139eb0.jpg" border=0 width="313" height="235" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">     <IMG SRC="31339eb0.jpg" border=0 width="313" height="235" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">  </B></I></div> <div> Robert was bent on riding his springer on this summer's trip. a new shock purchased on ebay ,fresh top end,new METZELER ME88 tires and a few rafting bags for luggage and he was in business. i would ride the thunderarse. I had installed new fork springs during the winter and hoped that would cure the harsh ride that the arse has developed.</div> <div>  <IMG SRC="325650c0.jpg" border=0 width="357" height="268" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#999933" FACE="Bazooka" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#00FF66" FACE="Bazooka" >pick the person who works graveyard shift</FONT></div> <bR> <div>  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#999900" FACE="Bazooka" > Starting out at Mrs. Murphy's doughnuts (a bit late) we then bee lines across massachusetts and across new york state. our trip plan was to get to michigan, travel up the east coast of michigan, ride across the mackinac bridge then cross back to the canadian side and ride over the top of lake superior. The meal checklist was  whitefish, brats, giant cinnamon  buns, bbq in chicago and most importantly </FONT></div> <div>     <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#00FFCC" FACE="Bazooka" >pasties!!!! </FONT><FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#999900" FACE="Bazooka" > </FONT>a yooper staple.</div> <div> <IMG SRC="32ae7340.jpg" border=0 width="231" height="308" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">   With the exception of robert's brake light becoming stuck on , our trip across Ma. ny,the border,ontario,the border,and staying the night in port huron, michigan that night went fairly smooth. </div> <div> <IMG SRC="3410cc90.jpg" border=0 width="268" height="201" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"> On the thumb of the michigan mitt. point aux barques is the oldest lighthouse on the great lakes. the other claims to fame are the <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#CC3300" FACE="Bazooka" >two hole 'r out house and more black flies per square inch in an outhouse.</FONT> Robert and I knew the trip was going to be a good one when only on day one and we got to see these rare things.</div> <div>  <IMG SRC="3434af80.jpg" border=0 width="330" height="248" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">     <IMG SRC="345e4300.jpg" border=0 width="228" height="304" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"> <FONT SIZE="6" COLOR="#999900" FACE="Bazooka" ><B>2 hole'r</B></FONT></div> <div> <IMG SRC="349f7b90.jpg" border=0 width="247" height="185" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">  this is an operating restroom. choose your partner carefully.</div> <bR> <div>  <IMG SRC="34be22d0.jpg" border=0 width="226" height="301" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"> <IMG SRC="34de02a0.jpg" border=0 width="224" height="298" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"> <IMG SRC="35403280.jpg" border=0 width="259" height="296" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div>   Pointe aux barques has had much of the lighthouse restored. Restoration is still being performed. Very interesting historical artifacts . </div> <div>   The ride from port huron to the top of the thumb is mostly flat and fairly straight. Occasional glimpses of lake huron. rte 25 has a dentist office as often as georgia has waffle houses.    </div> <div>   We then headed north towards the Mackinac bridge .  We rolled through Bay City. S-A-T-u-R-d-A-y.... Michigan trucks have more wheels than Kerry has Botox shots. Check it out..</div> <div> .<IMG SRC="36143f20.jpg" border=0 width="323" height="242" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">    <IMG SRC="36341f10.jpg" border=0 width="321" height="241" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"> .</div> <div>  I haven't been able to figure out the reason for  trucks to need so many wheels. It is either the load or the road construction. </div> <div>   This part of Michigan is the Sugar Beet region. S-a-t-u-r... </div> <div>  We arrived in Cheboygan (not to be confused with Sheboygan). Robert and I drank quart can Labatt's ay'.</div> <div> <IMG SRC="36745f40.jpg" border=0 width="325" height="244" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">   then we removed our luggage as heavy rain was on the way. The Ebay shock was proving to be as good as the price would indicate. The roads up until this point had been fine and both Robert and I felt the effects of bad suspension on our backs. I had installed a low mileage used back shock and replaced the front fork springs and fluid in hopes of curing the harsh ride.  I was 0 for 2. <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#66CC66" FACE="Bazooka" >I later found the "low mileage" back shock fluid resembled very high mileage coffee. </FONT></div> <div>   <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#999900" FACE="Bazooka" >My bike was in  affect a 97 yzf100 H (H for hardtail). I decided to keep going and ride standing up the next 3000 miles. NO problem.</FONT></div> <div>   Robert took plug readings and tried to cure his stuck brake light. </div> <div>  The  <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#009900" FACE="Broadview" >Pine River Motel</FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#009900" FACE="Bazooka" > </FONT> kitty corner  off Rte. 23 as you approach downtown Cheboygan is a clean comfortable motel. The owner is very friendly and will look up Harley repair shops across the U.P. and Canada if your bike blows a headgasket in their parking lot in the morning.</div> <div>  <IMG SRC="36949f70.jpg" border=0 width="329" height="247" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">     <IMG SRC="36f4cf90.jpg" border=0 width="332" height="249" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"> </div> <div>  We could smell the pasties at this point. We could not let a little thing like engine problems slow us down. Above right , Robert seems depressed... </div> <div>   As we warmed our bikes up in the morning a puff of smoke came out of one of the Softails jugs. AS Robert revved the engine it backfired a bit and another puff came out.</div> <div>   We then got in the mechanic mode and busted out the tools. I drove down into town and got the single wrench  we needed at an auto parts store. the guy at the store didn't seem to want to help me at all. I could only guess he would rather be Shaboygan.  We tightened the head bolts and viola good enough. No smoke, let's keep going and let the problem eat away at us as the day carries on. Riding with the potential of catastrophic engine failure ads to the adventure. Besides it wasn't my engine so I didn't care. That is how riding partners need to think . Look out for numero uno, survival of the fittest, kill or be killed .  I don't mind looking in my mirrors once in a while but hey sometimes I get busy watching birds and stuff.</div> <div>   Oh also Robert was realizing that buying cheap NO NAME shocks on ebay wasn't a good idea. <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#990033" FACE="Bazooka" >Let that be a lesson to everyone ,you get what you pay for .especially when it comes to suspension.  </FONT> We would later hear these words of wisdom from someone who is more into Harley's than even Robert. </div> <div>               <IMG SRC="39461c90.jpg" border=0 width="609" height="457" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <IMG SRC="39673160.jpg" border=0 width="371" height="278" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#CC3300" FACE="Bazooka" >   <IMG SRC="39a70140.jpg" border=0 width="368" height="276" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></FONT></div> <div> Paul ,Blue and their pet Robert                            YOOOOOOPEEEEEEEEEEEEEE</div> <div> <B>CASTLE  ROCK . A MUST SEE ON YOUR TRIP TO THE U.P.</B></div> <div> <B>          <IMG SRC="39e0ac80.jpg" border=0 width="266" height="200" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">  <IMG SRC="3a00bc80.jpg" border=0 width="267" height="200" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> Flowers on Castle rock . I was told the name of them by a nice lady  but I have forgotten them. The souvenir shop has great U.P. souvenirs. Funny shirts and bumpa stickas. A free gift for anybody who climbs the rock. The nice people there told us we needed to turn around and go back to St. Ignace and get Pasties at the best Pastie place on the U.P..</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="3a41fd70.jpg" border=0 width="287" height="215" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#009900" FACE="Bazooka" ><IMG SRC="3a6abe40.jpg" border=0 width="171" height="228" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"> <IMG SRC="3a822da0.jpg" border=0 width="290" height="218" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></FONT></div> <div>  GOOD  PASTIES  MMMMMMMM.  I had the vegetable/potato and vegetable beef.</div> <div>  Taking pictures of your lunch makes you look a bit strange but the people at Bessies recognized I hadn't ever eaten a Pastie before. It looks a bit like Meat pie that I have eaten in Australia and England and at home growing up. Not so, It is totally different. A pastie is a Pastie. Or as Jima says   <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#33CC33" FACE="Bazooka" >PASHTIE .</FONT> I've only had pasties once but I have to say these are the best. Robert is from Chicagoland and has been to the U.P. to kill animals quite often. I believe he agreed that these were the best PASHTIES he ever had also.</div> <div>  With busting stomachs we headed North on 123 to Whitefish point to see the Shipwreck museum.</div> <div> <IMG SRC="3aafd510.jpg" border=0 width="253" height="337" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"> <IMG SRC="3acfe520.jpg" border=0 width="254" height="338" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"> <IMG SRC="3aefc500.jpg" border=0 width="252" height="336" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div>   Whitefish Point was commisioned By Abraham Lincoln. The Shipwreck museum is well done .the stories and the models of the ships that have sunk in Lake Superior really tell the history of the shipping industry and the people of this area. </div> <div>   <IMG SRC="3b0136e0.jpg" border=0 width="275" height="366" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">  <IMG SRC="3b2c8560.jpg" border=0 width="456" height="342" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div>    <IMG SRC="3b445f40.jpg" border=0 width="325" height="244" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"> <IMG SRC="3b645f40.jpg" border=0 width="325" height="244" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <IMG SRC="3c377f40.jpg" border=0 width="375" height="500" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"> <IMG SRC="3c577f40.jpg" border=0 width="375" height="500" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Good Stories (although sad)</div> <bR> <div>  A couple of the many models at the museum. I wonder If Gordon Lightfoot came here?  There is a great Edmund Fitzgerald display. Man, That ship was huge. It really gives you an idea how bad the weather can get up here.</div> <div>      <IMG SRC="3c937e90.jpg" border=0 width="311" height="233" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">          <IMG SRC="3cb3bec0.jpg" border=0 width="315" height="236" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <IMG SRC="3cd1fd70.jpg" border=0 width="287" height="215" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"> Robert puts in his order for Pasties.</div> <div> <IMG SRC="3cf71150.jpg" border=0 width="369" height="277" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"> Right after taking this picture the fun stops. Our luck had run out. Robert's Softtail makes that familiar "pop" sound we heard back in cheboygan. So much for shadetree bushmechanic approach to living.</div> <div>   We get going down the road back to....well the middle of nowhere. This is the U.P.! Luckily it starts raining, now we are having fun. 35 miles per hour and no idea where to go. I stop at the intersection of rt 123 and I think 221. We needed to get Roberts bike to where we could fix it or have somebody fix it. Robert took out his cell phone with almost no battery left. We had two phone numbers 1 for a shop in Sault StE. Marie Canada and the other for <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#FF0066" FACE="Bazooka" >NORTH & SOUTH CYCLES</FONT>. We decided <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#FF0066" FACE="Bazooka" >NORTH & SOUTH </FONT>was closer. Robert doubted we would have service on his cell. (Tom from <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#FF0066" FACE="Bazooka" >North & South </FONT>later explained it is so flat because we are sourrounded by water the signals carry very well). As the cell began to go dead, Tom (or TAZ as he is known) told us to meet him at a roadside gas station a few miles up the road. He would bring a bike trailer. .</div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>