The Ride To "Dream Machines of Texas" 7-2-09

Yesterday, 6-1-09, I got an e-mail from Steve asking me if I would ride down to Dallas with him so he could trade in his Honda Valkyrie for a Yamaha Venture. He was working mids and wanted to leave when he got off at around 7:30 a.m. and if I went with him, I could help keep him alert.. So today, Thursday, 6-2-09 I met Steve at the Shell station at US 287/Windthorst Rd at 8:00 a.m. and we set out for Dream Machines of Texas in Farmers Branch Tx. Our route down was US 287 to US 380. East on 380 to I-35E (SB) to Exit 441 at Valley View Lane. We'd make a u-turn under the Interstate and go back North on the service road to Dream Machines of Texas. Scroll down and join us and REMEMBER: IF YOU WANT TO SEE THE PICTURES BIGGER, JUST CLICK ON THE PICTURES.






David was supposed to have gone with us but something came up and he couldn't make it. Here's David with his new fender ornament.. David said it is not a donkey....

Here is Steve and his Valkyrie just before we went left for his final ride on it..

Another of Steve & the Valkyrie at the Shell station at US 287/Windthorst in Wichita Falls Texas. The temperature at this point was upper 70's. There was a light breeze and not a cloud to be seen anywhere.

I had to gas up Ms. Clone for the ride down to Farmers Branch. Farmers Branch is a suburb of Dallas.

Steve on his final ride on his Valkyrie as we head South on US 287

Steve in front as we head South on US 287. See, not a cloud..

As we go through Henrietta Texas, I took this pic of the Four Stars Motorcycle Ranch at US287/TX 148. http://www.fourstarsautoranch.com/

Texas Highway Patrol (DPS) was out and busy today on US 287

We stop in Decatur Texas and Steve puts gas in the Valkyrie for the last time

We go East on US 380 and DPS was busy there too. US 380 between Decatur Texas & Denton Texas is noted for danger because of the rock haulers. DPS has one nabbed here, I assume, for speeding or for rocks and crap coming out of the trailer. I've almost been run over by them and have been pelted by the rocks, is the reason for my assumption.

We get on I-35E and as we go thru Corinth Texas, we pass the American Eagle Harley Davidson Dealership.. http://www.americaneaglehd.com/

Ya just gotta love the almost lunch hour traffic on I-35 as you get close to Dallas...Here we approach our exit, where we loop back under I-35 and go North on the service road.

On the Northbound service road, Steve approaches Dream Machines of Texas..

Before Steve does his paperwork, we walk around the showroom. They had ALL kinds of bikes and because of the volume of sales they do, the bikes were priced right. The salesman said they sell 120 bikes a month

Some of the custom bikes

Here is a Victory.

We went out to the service department where they were servicing Steve's Venture. Here is Steve's new bike

The Dream Machines of Texas business sign

And the Dream Machines of Texas building

They wheel Steve's bike out to the parking lot while he is inside doing the paperwork

Ms. Clone and Steve's Venture

Jason, Steve's salesman, shows Steve some of the goodies on the bike and how to operate them. That Venture is loaded!!

As we get ready to go, Jason takes the Valkyrie to the Service area. The female in the bay area is Brandy, who took care of the paperwork for Steve.

Steve and his Venture as we get ready to head back to Wichita Falls. Oh, did I mention that it was a little over 100 degrees at this point? It was 103 by the time we got home.. For more info on Dream Machines of Texas, check this link: http://www.dreammachinesoftexas.com/. While there, I got to lookin at the bikes and talking to Kerry, one of the salesmen there. They had an 09 Harley Heritage Softail Classic there and I thought they were joking with the price they were asking for it, it was so low. He said they weren't and I am now interested in that bike. Kerry also is with the DALLAS CHOP SHOP and they service V-twins. For more info, see this link: http://www.dallaschopshop.com/

We leave the Dream Machines of Texas and start back North on I-35E. Here is Steve enjoying his bike

Steve on the Venture as we continue North up I-35E. Steve is extremely happy with this bike and couldn't say enough good things about it, especially the power (100 hp) and the smoothness of the ride

Steve as we go North on US 287. This will conclude this post. If you are looking for a bike and are down around the Dallas area, I highly recommend you swing by Dream Machines of Texas, there in Farmers Branch and check out their inventory. Also, stop and talk to Jason, Kerry & Brandy. If you're in the area and need your V-twin serviced, stop by the Dallas Chop Shop there in Carrollton and talk to Kerry about your needs.

I enjoyed today's ride and meeting Jason, Kerry & Brandy and looking at all the sharp machines at Dream Machines. I look forward to my next trip down there.

Scroll down for more rides, events & posts and don't forget to click on the "older posts" link at the bottom of EACH page for more rides and posts. Check out North Texas Bikers (1) at http://www.jjskewlstuff.blogspot.com/ for rides, events & posts from January 08-November 08. Until next post, ya'll be careful out there, ride safe, keep the rubber on the road & pray for our Troops & Pattie................JOHN

The OKC Incident 6-29-09

This past weekend, 6-26-09/6-28-09, was the National H.O.G. Rally in Oklahoma City. Almost all the folks here with Harley's, with very few exceptions, went up there for the weekend to mingle, party and do what mass groups of Harley folks do when they gather. Unfortunately, all was not fun & games for some of our folks as they were involved in an accident on one of the service roads there. There were scraps, bruises possibly a cracked rib and damaged bikes, but thank God everyone involved survived and made it home. Scroll down for this brief post and REMEMBER: IF YOU WANT TO SEE THE PICTURE BIGGER, JUST CLICK ON THE PICTURE





Most of the regular viewers know some of the involved folks. Sissy is one of the movers & shakers when it comes to biker functions here in the North Texas area. She owns & rides her own Harley and works at Four Stars Motorcycle Ranch in Henrietta Texas. Apparently, what happened was several of the folks were on one of the service roads in Oklahoma City heading to one of the H.O.G. events. Now, if you have ever been on one of OKC's service roads, you know how screwed up they can be with traffic going both directions, vehicle exiting of the highway cutting across both lanes of traffic, stop signs in the middle of nowhere and vision obstructions with trees & signs. As they came around a curve, trees blocked their view of the highway exit ramp & stop sign ahead. Russ, who was lead bike, couldn't stop and frantically signalled to riders behind him. As he slowed down, Sissy hit her brakes and her front wheel locked up in the gravel and the bike went down, throwing Sissy off. Her bike then bounced back up, after hitting on the crash bars and continued forward and hit Russ's bike. Miraculously, he remained upright and he and Linda were okay but his bike was damaged. He saw Sissy sliding across the service road, off her bike. She went all the way across the service road and has major road rash on both arms, bruises, and possibly a cracked rib or two. Steve, her husband, was behind her and witnessed the accident. Needless to say, her Harley was damaged. Above is a pic taken earlier this year of Sissy at the Compassion Run here in Wichita Falls.

Here is a pic of Russ & Linda and his bike taken on a run earlier this year. Although his bike was damaged, he & Linda were not injured. But Russ is blaming himself for the accident. Ya know, sometimes things happen that are non-preventable and not our fault and from what I heard, this was one of those times.

What I would like for all of you to do if pray for Sissy's recovery, that there are no serious problems internally and for Russ. As we all know, he may not have any physical injuries but the blame game can cause some major problems down the road with him if not put in check really quick...But God has answered your prayers before and I am sure he will again now.

Also, pray for Steve. I am sure that image of Sissy going down and tumbling across the road in front of him will be replayed in his mind for a long time. Also, thank God there was no oncoming traffic......

I was supposed to go to Sissy & Steve's and Russ's today to check in with them and get some photo's of the bikes but it's been raining all day and since all I have is the bike, I'm stuck inside until it quits. But I will keep ya'll updated. If you would like, leave Sissy & Russ your comments and I will have them check the site and read them. Thanks...

Scroll down for more rides, events & posts and don't forget to click on the "older posts" link at the bottom of EACH page for more rides and posts. Check out North Texas Bikers (1) at http://www.jjskewlstuff.blogspot.com/ for rides, events & posts from January 08-November 08. Until next post, ya'll be careful out there, ride safe, keep the rubber on the road & pray for our Troops & Pattie................JOHN

UPDATE: 6-29-09 3:00 p.m. ..Just talked to Sissy and she went to the hospital yesterday when they got in from OKC. She has anywhere from 2-5 broken ribs. Sissy had a BAD motorcycle accident in 2007 and broke a lot of ribs then. They (the docs) are not sure which are new broken ribs and which are the previously broken ones. Either way, she says she is doing okay and plans to go back to work at Four Stars Motorcycle Ranch tomorrow. Steve stayed home today to be with her. I told you she was dedicated!!! I also talked to Russ and he said he is doing ok and he appreciates your prayers for all concerned, as do all of us, their friends.........JOHN

The HOT Saturday Ride to Throckmorton Texas 6-27-09

Today, Saturday, 6-27-09, we were supposed to have a quick ride down to Windthorst Texas for breakfast at Granny K's Restaurant and then be back home before it got hot. Apparently, we got our wires crossed and ended up quite a bit farther South than Windthorst. Windthorst is 24.88 miles from here and about a 27 minute ride. We ended up,instead, in Throckmorton Texas, at the Cow Country Cafe, which is 82.89 miles and 1 hr 30 minutes from here. Scroll down and check the ride out and REMEMBER: IF YOU WANT TO SEE THE PICTURES BIGGER, JUST CLICK ON THE PICTURES.











We met at the Wal-Mart on SW PKWY here in Wichita Falls at 8:15 a.m. and went KSU at 8:45 a.m. after making sure no one else was going to show up. Those on this quickly put together ride were: Ken, Bud, Steve & me (John). Here is Ken as we headed down TX 79, which should of been our first clue that we were on the wrong road for Windthorst. I just figured we were going via a different route..

Here is Bud on his VTX

Here is Ken on his new Gold Wing

Here is Steve on his Valkyrie. He is fixin to possibly trade it in on an 06 Yamaha Venture.

Here is Steve as we come upon Archer City. Our second clue should of been when we went straight thru the intersection, where, if going to Windthorst, we should've turned left.

It was well on the other side of Archer City that it dawned on me that when we were discussing where to ride to, that when it was mentioned that we were going to the Country Cafe in Windthorst, that the Cafe's name was right but we had the wrong city. Instead of Granny K's in Windthorst, we were heading to Throckmorton and there was no way we were gonna get back before being fried alive.. Here are Bud & Ken bringing up the rear..

Here is Steve as we reach the outskirts of Throckmorton..

Bud & Ken are still with us..

We arrive at the Cow Country Cafe in Throckmorton. Left to right: Steve, Bud & Ken

We get a customer to take this pic of the four of us: Steve, me, Bud & Ken

Steve inside the Country Cafe

Bud inside the Country Cafe

Ken inside the Country Cafe

We finish eating, gas up and then went over by this HUGE Steer sculpture on the corner

Here is Ken in front of the Steer. As I got to looking, the thought hit me.....

The sculpture's artist certainly payed attention to detail, leaving nothing to the imagination..(Click on the pic to see what I mean)

Bud, Steve & Ken in front of the anatomically correct sculpture..

We left Wichita Falls with the temp in the low 80's. Two and a half hours later, we leave Throckmorton for Wichita Falls and the temp is 100 and climbing. Here are Steve leading followed by Bud & Ken with me at the back

We head North towards Seymour Texas and start a 15 mile stretch of road construction with loose gravel everywhere..

We get a variety of scenery going this route. The mesquite trees are alive & well here in Texas

It is really hot riding over that asphalt

We do get to ride thru some dips & curves on our way North

I was burning up and had the guys stop at the DQ in Holliday Texas for a drink break. Here we park the bikes and head inside for about a 30-45 minute cool down and re hydration break

One of the 10 zillion DQ's in Texas. Naturally, the only city in the entire state of Texas without a DQ, is our fabulous city of Wichita Falls.

Last shot of the ride is of Bud as we ride East on US 82 towards home. I got home maybe 10 minutes later and it was 104 degrees. I went to the store with Janice a short time after that and the car was saying it was 107 out.. But, we still had a good time and it really feels good to be in the wind again. I look forward to our next ride.

Scroll down for more rides, events & posts and don't forget to click on the "older posts" link at the bottom of EACH page for more rides and posts. Check out North Texas Bikers (1) at http://www.jjskewlstuff.blogspot.com/ for rides, events & posts from January 08-November 08. Until next post, ya'll be careful out there, ride safe, keep the rubber on the road & pray for our Troops & Pattie................JOHN