It was almost one year in the making. The Idaho VJMC decided to put on our own show and ride. We decided to have a vintage motorcycle ride on Saturday and a show on Sunday. In January, the show still seemed like it was a long way off. We still had a venue to confirm, and many, many more tasks to assign and plan. In February, the show committee was in place, but our venue had changed. Initially the plan was for a public museum to host our event. They were in agreement, and then backed out. We went to Plan B and it’s the one that stuck. Plan B was to hold our event at a private museum, owned by a local family and open only by appointment. Our date also changed by a couple of weeks. We already had fliers with the original date and venue, and had to quickly update fliers and retract the old information. Our new date was Father’s day weekend, but it was also the well established downtown car show. Would our new date still draw participants and spectators?
In March we had our trial run for the Saturday ride. Five of us were present to test our route of about 60 miles from our meeting venue to Swan Falls on the Snake River and back to town for lunch. In planning our ride, we were cognizant of the age of the motorcycles, fuel range and traffic volumes. My plan was to ride the 1980 XS400 , but it had other ideas. I guess she did not want to go that morning, because I tried really hard but when I attempted to accelerate onto the main road, she would not go, misfiring on both cylinders. I unhappily limped her back home, and had to opt for the backup because by now I was running late. My “almost vintage” 1996 YZF 600 fired up and off I went.
Our trial run went really well - although I do not think any of the motorcycles on our trial run were vintage. It was March in Idaho after all and we were lucky it was not snowing. Our destination was Swan Falls Dam on the Snake River. Traffic was light, we had a gas station along the way and the route was scenic and doable on a vintage motorcycle. Check! We parked our bikes and wandered down to the dam with hopes that the visitor’s center was open. To our disappointment, the visitor’s center is only open weekdays or by appointment. We were able to walk on the dam, and peer through the windows at the long ago seized up generator turbines. The mighty Snake River itself and the canyon walls on the decent down were reason enough to make this a perfect destination for our ride.
Fast forward to 2 weeks before the show. The show committee organized a meeting and asked me to attend. I was happy to help any way I could, and come to find out, our ride planner and captain was unsure of his new work schedule so I was elected to lead the ride. I was both surprised and excited as well as a little apprehensive. Luckily I have been on numerous group rides, have loads of riding experience, and knew the route. It was confirmed that we had 21 preregistered participants. We had no idea how many of these would show up for the ride. Would we have 5 bikes or 50 for the ride? There were many questions as this was our very first event. Were we successful in getting the word out? Will there be new riders that are not club members? Who will show up?
We had one last meeting two days before the ride and show just to make sure everything was in place, planned appropriately and we knew what to do once we all arrived. For the ride, we had our wonderful President of our club driving the support vehicle in case of mechanical issues. I was ready to assume my role as ride captain, and Joe was my sweeper at the back. We all knew the route, all we had to do was wait for Saturday to arrive.
As I drove home from our meeting, it started to hit me that this was the weekend. It had arrived and it was show time. and I was wishing we had one more week... Were we really ready for this? Is my motorcycle ready? I was running out of time to prepare. Upon arriving home I fired up the XS400 since she had not been out for a couple weeks. She happily fired right up, so I checked tire pressures, fluid levels, chain condition and cleanliness. I took her out for a quick spin, and reserved Friday evening for washing and polishing.
Saturday morning comes very early for me. I love sleeping in on the weekends, but this weekend there will be none of that. I plan an extra half hour this morning to exercise the dogs, have my coffee and time to tinker with the motorcycle. The morning is a beautiful crisp 49 degrees with no clouds in the sky with an expected high in the low 80’s. I fire up the XS400 in the garage with the door closed, as the exhaust is rather loud and I would like to keep peace with my neighbors. I let her warm up for about five minutes and then roll her out. The steady thump, thump of the little twin is very satisfying, and the subtle vibration is just enough to make my mirrors almost useless. Pulling out of the drive way, I am very excited to be going on a ride with others that share the same passion as me. I dodge manhole covers along the way and smile as this day is turning out to be perfect in every way.
Arriving at our meeting place, there are a handful of motorcycles and some new faces. They were our northern members who travelled over 400 miles down from Spokane, WA and Lewiston, ID to make a weekend out of it. After I parked my motorcycle, I assisted with sign ins. To all of our surprise, more and more unfamiliar motorcycles and new faces were arriving. The excitement was building as this was an amazing turn out. Twenty-seven motorcycles were going on our inaugural ride. The participants ranged from a Yamaha two-stroke to Honda Valkyries, with a Triumph and a couple of Harley’s mixed in. We had in-line fours, 2 strokes, twins, an automatic and everything in between 250 cc’s to 1500 cc’s. A father and son arrived to discover that the exhaust pipe does not make a good foot rest! His son had melted away the bottom of his shoe and dad had a sticky mess to deal with later.
After a quick debrief, it was time to start our engines. I pulled out to assume the leader position. I waited as everyone lined up and we were on our way. The smells that you notice on a motorcycle are always so poignant. This morning we rode through someone’s cigar smoke, fresh cut alfalfa and dairy farms. Our first stop was at the gas station one third of the way along the route. We all lined up along the back parking lot, like the calvary waiting for the charge command. It was the perfect photo opportunity, and we only lost two participants that did not see us. After about ten minutes, it was time to head out to our destination. This was the fun part of the ride. We had only two stop signs and then open road. Our ride took us through the protected birds of prey area where hawks were soaring above us, and sometimes in parallel as they searched for prey. Whistle pigs darted from the sides of the road, sometimes hesitating and turning back, and others just going for it. There were railroad tracks and cattle guards to navigate, and then the nice ninety degree turns. This is when the ride gets exciting. The dark canyon walls of the Snake River are in view, and the Owyhee mountains are closer. After the series of corners, it is time to descend into the canyon. In the back of my mind I am hoping everyone has good solid brakes, or at least a strong transmission to slow them down. The dark canyon wall rises up on the right as we steeply descend, and then take a one hundred and eighty degree turn that gently guides us down to the dam.
At the bottom, we all form up in one area in front of the dam. Today we are in luck as the visitor center is open. We all spent about an hour learning some history on the area, and getting to know each other better. It seems everyone has enjoyed the ride, and I am happy to learn that one long time resident has never been to Swan Falls before. The next stop on our ride is for lunch back in town, where some stay and others continue on the enjoy this glorious day.
On Sunday amoungst all the many duties I was performing, it was very satisfying to over hear how everyone really enjoyed the ride. I was thanked several times for leading and Richard, our route planner did an outstanding job. We had no break downs, and no one was arrested! I wish I could have been a spectator with a camera along the roadside as 27 vintage motorcycles roared by because it is not every day that a gathering this special happens. I am now looking forward to planning for next year’s event and an even bigger turnout.
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| Pre-ride gathering |
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| Melted rubber |
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| The calvary |
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| Swan Falls Dam |
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| Inside the Dam |
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| Honda Automatic |
