Myrtle Beach Spring Rally 2011

Saturday - May 14, 2011
This was to be our first day of the event, but we had a few things to do before heading out on our venture.  Lisa and I met with friends and went to breakfast.  After breakfast, we went to a Gun and Knife show in Jacksonville, NC.  After we finished looking around, we went home and packed up the Ridleys.  Lisa and I both ride 2003 Autoglide Classics.  We headed for Myrtle Beach about 1430.  It normally takes us about 4 hours to get to where we stay because we stop a few times.  About 5 miles from our house the sentry at the entrance made Lisa pull over to get out her ID.  It is current threat condition Bravo at Marine Corps Base (MCB), Camp Lejeune.  We got through that process just fine, but it put Lisa on edge.  Little did she know, this ride was going to get even more interesting.  About 5 miles later, Lisa notices what appeared to be a long branch on the road.  Since we were riding in a staggered position and she was in the lead, she didn’t want to swerve into my part of the lane.  As she got closer she realized it was not a branch, it was about a 6’ long black snake.  She went right over the top of the snake.  Both ends of the snake raised above the ground as she went over it.  That was it, nothing else happened, but it sure gave her a good scare.  Being the trooper she is, Lisa just kept on riding.  This is the part that actually scared me.  About 3 miles later, a female deer running at full speed came out of the trees.  It was so close to Lisa and I started to brake.  No, she did not hit it, but I doubt she could have been any closer.  In fact, it scared her so much that she twisted the throttle to accelerate.  The doe went by in a flash and Lisa kept on riding.  About 6 or 7 miles later we stopped at a gas station to fill up the Ridleys and remove our riding gloves.  Gloves are required aboard MCB, Camp Lejeune.   Lisa let a sigh of relief and mentioned that she had enough wild life adventure for the day.  We discussed the events and noted that the rest of the ride was though more populated and traveled areas.  About 40 – 50 miles later my Ridley started making a grinding noise.  At this point I considered turning around to go home and get my Ultra Classic.  I only gave it a few seconds of thought because the Ridley is much better in Bike Week traffic.  This is where I probably made a bad decision.  We made it to our destination about 1900 without any other issues.

We stayed at the Plantation Resort in Surfside Beach, SC.  We have stayed there several times.  In fact, the last time I remember Ridley being at the event we stayed at this same resort.  It is fairly close to several places that we like to go.  When we stay there we typically go to the Sun Down bar because we can walk there.  It is a bit of a hike because it is about 1.5 miles one way, but it beats that alternative.

Sunday - May 15, 2011
First thing, I got up and removed the cover from my transmission.  I wanted to see if I could tell where the noise was coming from.  The belt was a little worn, but I couldn’t see anything that appeared that it would make the grinding sound.  I removed the drive pulley, lubricated it and put it back on.  I also lubricated the cam buttons on the driven pulley.  We did some riding, had a nice meal and enjoyed a relaxing day.  Not too many people had arrived for the event yet and we heard that they were not allowing vendors to set up until Monday.

Monday - May 16, 2011
The noise on my motorcycle was really starting to bother me.  Lisa and I got on her bike and went to the Harley dealer to look for a wheel vender, HHI.  That is the vendor she bought her wheels from the year before.  When she bought the wheels, they took some measurements from her motorcycle and sent us the wheels in the mail.  I was the one that got to put them on her motorcycle.  That ended up being a nightmare.  We initially got the wrong rear pully, wrong spacers for both front and rear and we went back and forth with HHI trying to get this straightened out.  We even sent them the original wheels and spacers so they could make their own measurements.  We took the wheels on and off her motorcycle several times before it was good enough to ride.  The front wheel was still not centered, so we wanted HHI to look at it for themselves.  Initially, HHI tried to tell me that the fender was warped and it just looked like the wheel was off center.  I had to push this issue for several minutes before HHI agreed to take some actual measurements.  Yes, the wheel was off .300 of an inch.  HHI did come up with some caliper shims and we centered the wheel.  After we finished, I asked the HHI representative if I could bring my Ridley by to put in on their lift and see what was making the noise.  The HHI representative we were working with called himself the Burnout Champ.  According to him, he has only lost one burn out contest in his life.  He did seem like a real biker and he agreed to let me use the lift.  I got my Ridley, put it on the lift, removed the transmission cover, started it up and the noise was coming from the jack shaft assembly.  I remembered Keith Wells telling me that he had replaced the bearings in his jackshaft, but he had to use a press to do it.  I called Keith and confirmed this fact.  Now since I was in Myrtle Beach, I decided that even though the jackshaft was making noise I was going to go ahead and ride it.  That evening Lisa and I went to a bar out on 501 towards Conway.  I drank soda, since I was driving and she was riding on back.  Here Ridley was at the resort.  The next  morning, about 0030 is when things went downhill.  We were on an on ramp to 501 and something broke.  The motor was running and I could rev up the motor, but the bike was slowing down.  I coasted to the side of the road and we discussed what we were going to do.  I pushed my Ridley about ¾ of a mile to the nearest hotel.  I entered and pleaded with them to let me park my disabled Ridley in their lighted parking lot until I could find a way to get it on a trailer.  They agreed and we called a cab to take us back to the resort.  I had previously loaned my motorcycle trailer to a friend to use for the week.  Luckily, he was also coming to Myrtle Beach.  I called him to let him know that he would be hauling my Ridley back as well.

Tuesday - May 17, 2011
Two up on Lisa’s Ridley.  That is what we decided to do for the rest of the week.  My friend with my trailer initially offered to load my Ultra Classic, but he changed his mind after actually looking at it.  That is probably a good thing.  We just went for a ride, had a nice meal and relaxed a little.  We were waiting for Wednesday to start the real motorcycle activities because my friend had never been to bike week.

Wednesday - May 18, 2011
Happy birthday to Brent Rowse, the author of this article and creator of the Ridley Owners Club.  Out friends Mike and Tracy Jones were arriving at Myrtle Beach with the trailer.  They arrived at about 1400, we unloaded his Kawasaki Vulcan 900 and headed out to pick up my Ridley, aka “The Riddler”.  When we got to the hotel The Riddler was just fine.  We put it on the trailer without any issues.  Then we made arrangements to take the trailer to a lot because the resort did not allow trailers on site.  That was a little bit of a hassle, but it all worked out.  That evening we took the Jones to the Gulf Stream in Garden City, SC.  Go there for supper at about 1900.  The view of the sunset is something you will remember.

We all had amazing food and you will not regret it if you go there.  After dinner the four of us packed into the Jones’ truck and went to Suck Bang Blow.  Yes, we saw some burnouts and several other interesting events before the night was over. 

The Jones have now been to a biker bar during bike week.  They will probably never be the same.

Thursday - May 19, 2011
We went to some vendors and rode around a little before meeting up with some Ridley owners at Grahms’ Golf Carts at 1200.  The Ridleys that showed up were:
Theresa Regan – Ridley with springer front end.

Lola and Norman Christ – They had just come from Renegade/HHI and had a set of brand new wheels.  Luckily, I looked and pointed out that neither the front or rear wheel was centered.  They went back and HHI did center with wheels for them.  If you have someone change the wheels on your Ridley, be sure to make them center them.

A woman named Joe showed up with two gentlemen.  Unfortunately, I do not remember their names.  She was riding a brand new blacked out ’08.

April and Mike McKay – We have met them before at an event in Myrtle Beach.

Brent and Lisa Rowse

Mike and Tracy Jones

Went to River City Café in Garden City for lunch.  It was a short, nice ride and everyone got a chance to chat at lunch.  We all decided that we were going to get together in the Fall and go for a ride.  Lisa and I agreed to plan the event for the Fall rally.  After lunch we started to head out to the Broken Spoke.  I turned to Lisa and we discussed my going home to get the Ultra Classic.  We can ride two up on her Ridley, but the motorcycle is really set up for her.  She has 2” pull back risers on her handle bars and the Gunslinger seat with also pushes one forward a little bit.  It makes her motorcycle very comfortable for her and very uncomfortable for me.  Since she doesn’t give rides, I drive when we ride two up.  We decided that I would go home to get the Ultra Classic.  It is much better for riding two up.  That is what we bought it for.  I left about 1500.   I went, non-stop at the speed limit plus at least 5 all the way home.  I got home at 1815.  At this point I decided to stay the night at home and ride the Ultra Classic back to Myrtle the next morning. 

Friday - May 20, 2011
Happy Anniversary to Brent and Lisa Rowse.  You don’t know this and many won’t believe it, but my Ultra Classic is cursed.  Almost every time I ride it, I get wet.  I tried to break the curse by getting a trunk pet, but Hawk was not able to break the curse.

According to the weather man, the rest of the week was supposed to be sunny and dry.  The weather man hasn’t ever met the Ultra Classic.  I got rained on three different times on my way back to Mrytle.  When I got to Myrtle, we called our friends Mike and Tracy.  They had hooked up with the Southern Cruisers Riding Club.  Three of their members decided to come to bike week.  That night Tracy Jones agree to be our DD.  All 7 of us packed into the Jones’ truck.  Yes, you can legally ride in the bed of a truck in South Carolina.  Later that night Lisa ended up becoming friends with Willie, one of the Southern Cruisers.

Saturday - May 21, 2011
We went to several vendor sites, Jammin’ Leather, Harley Davidson, Sunk Bang Blow and then we went to the Rat Hole.  I personally like the motorcycle rodeo at the Rat Hole.  I recommend it to everyone.  One year, I even competed on the Riddler.  If it hadn’t failed me, it would have competed again this year.  None of my friends seemed to enjoy the motorcycle rodeo.  They all left and Lisa and I stayed for most of the afternoon.  We eventually went back to the room and met up with the Jones.

Sunday - May 22, 2011
Happy Birthday to Lisa Rowse, the wife of the author of this article.  We got all of our stuff out of the room, put all the luggage in the Jones truck and loaded up the motorcycles.  As always, something has to go wrong.  One of the lights on the motorcycle trailer was broken by the highway peg on Mikes Kawasaki.  Oh well, easy fix.  I have already ordered the parts.  We made it home without any other issues.  All in all, a very good bike week and many memories….