Jumper's Daytona Chronicles
O.K... Sit back and let me tell you a
tale... It started on Friday,3-
1-2002. After much last minute thrashing, I was ready to split for
DAB. Preacher Rick and I were going to ride together. I on S/N 1375
and Rick on his Triumph Trophy (S/N 992 was down at Jamies with the
transmission out and the cases split) Rick shows up at my house about
7:30 and we load up in the cold to head south. We back road it to I-
95 and open 'em up. Rick's hanging with me as we push the speed
limits +. We make it through our second fuel stop and I start to get
the shakes (no not from lack of COFFEE!) .. COLD!!.. We get a room in
Rocky Mount,N.C. and take a snooze.. Oh yeah.. I forgot to mention
that Rick is a road worthy rider... GPS... Electric gloves, suit etc..
I wake up first and head out for a TALL cup of coffee. I come back
with one for Rick and he is stirring . After we 3 S, We load up and
hit the road... Rain is in the forcast... Well.. Smooth riding
through N.C. and as we hit the S.C. border.. Rain.. So.. I pull into
S.O.B. (Pedro's) and put on my bumble bee yellow rain suit. Rick is
already dressed for the rain and ready to roll. We blast through S.C.
and into GA... Stop at a BarB-Q place I know of in Brunswick and dry
out and grab a couple of sandwhiches... Back on the road and into
the "Sunshine" state.. NOT!! still raining... Well.. We are nearing
Daytona and make a fuel stop... I get out of the bumble bee suit
since the rain has let up and it looks like smooth sailing.. Whats
that ringing noise?? Oh yeah.. The phone !! I answer and it's Larry
from Ga. He is at the campsite and wants to know where we are.. I
tell him we are less than an hour away... We gas and go....
Next page please..
We jump back on I-95 and head south,
getting off on LPGA Blvd. to
U.S.92. I pull in to the mini mart just down from the Repo Yard to
get beer... Just in case they were out at the yard. I go inside and
tell the lady that I was down last fall for Biketoberfest and had
asked that they get some Miller Guinue Draft. She says " Your
Jumper!, I have the note up on the wall from last fall!" I say Did
you get my beer? She turns and points to 6 cases of MGD. I am !@#$%^!
impressed!! I ask her why it's not cold.. She says it will be
tomorrow when you come back to get some more! I grab a case and tell
her she's the best and we load up and putt to the Repo Yard. Rick and
I pull into the yard and the only person there is Larry. He is glad
to see us and informs us that the rest of the folks are next door at
Genes Steak House at the bar(NOTICE!! Genes is a very $$$ steak
house , but well worth the money... Great food!)Rick goes about
setting up his tent and I unload 1375. A couple of Xer's wander over
from Genes... Waz, Cappy and Gary from MN. Waz has a "glow" on and is
glad to see us... Cappy is smiling and tells us the rest are still
over next door. Gary offers me the use of a cot so I'm not sleeping
on the cement on the porch (Thanks again Gary, I slept like a king!)I
wander over to Gene's and say Howdy do to the rest of the Xer's..
Bobby, Cliff, H.D. , all from California... Harley and Theresa from
Fla.(Harley's X was down with metal throughout the motor, so.. 502
C.I. Boss Hoss Trike had to make do) Along with Keith (gone southern)
from Ga. ... We had the makings of a good time!!! There were a few
others that escape me right now... We get a fire going and the bottle
of Tequilia is being past around... UT-OH!!!
Next page please...
I got to say... Sure did miss 'Ol
Pancho this trip... BUT!! I sure am
glad he sent along a few bottles of his favorite booze! Well.. Were
all getting pretty well tuned in... Enjoying a few good cigars...
Beer.. Sips of Tequilia... OH MY!!! Did we just get flashed by
Thresea??!! Too late!! She has lost all of her inhabitions and has
gone topless! WWOOOO HOOOOO!! *** We interupt this story to say the
following: What happens on the road... Stays on the road...***
After much frolic and fun , I hit the sack.. road tired and sleepy..
Sunday morning rolls around and it is kinda dreery... Folks are
starting to stir and life starts shaking... I push 1375 over to the
wash pit to give it a much needed bath... Some folks have 3 S and are
heading out for Breakfeast... Waz is still in the sack.... He is
moving a bit slow this morning... HHMM.. I wonder if the Tequilia had
any effect on him... Rick has wandered into town to scope out the
bike week activities... The day is kinda mellow... We hang around the
yard ... A few Xer's wander in... A few bikes are being worked
on...Lo and behold.. Evening is upon us again... Steve and Janet have
shown up on a Yammy Hammy from Ga.... Steve's an X owner and Janet
rides too. ( Janet is a tall good looking number with a killer smile!)
Beer is flowing and we are back in the party mode... Yep!! Can't keep
a bunch of Xer's down when they get together to play!! We bid
farewell to a couple of other Xer's from California and commence to
wind it back up... Damn the rain!! We will party !!
Next page please...
Well.. Sunday night turns in to be a
repeat of Sat. night... Beer
cigars.. Tequilia... And... RAIN!!! All freaking night... Rain...
Buckets full...I manage to move my cot to where I don't get wet..
Rain... It finally lets up about daybreak and I get up and 3 S... The
rest of the group is moving about and We get a breakfest run
together... Preacher Rick has determined that he is needed back home
at the parish and hits the road back up North. He was kind enough to
leave his tent for use by anyone who needed it... Cappy, Gary and I
head to the Dennys to strap on a feed bag... Waz... Well.. Waz is
still sleeping, catching up on his beauty rest... Bobby, Cliff,and
H.D. are already at the Dennys chowing down... Burp.. That was a good
breakfest.. We head back to camp and start the days activities..
Kinda cool and we stoke the fire... I go inside the abandoned house
and start tearing down the wood paneling to toss on the fire... Waz
graces us with his presence... Bobby is working on Gary's X...
Well... Actually... H.D. is doing the wrenching and Bobby
is "supervising" with a beer in his hand... As a matter of fact..
There was alot of that standing around watching H.D. work while we
all drank beer... Go figure.. Nick shows up and spins a few tales
about his weekend with Brenda ( Brenda, Nicks wife works for a vendor
that happen to be doing the Daytona show) Randy Miller ( a former E-H
Rep, now with Aprillia) stops by and goes over some good old times
with Nick... Funny stories of days gone by when E-H was a going
concern... too bad we lost it... A couple of Fla. Xers pull in...
It's Cigar Mike and Austin... Good to see those guys and Mike always
has a few choice smokes with him.
Next page please...
Lets see... This was Monday...
Right??.. Oh Yeah.. So... We hang
around the Camp and enjoy many beers... Harley and Threasa have split
back to the west coast of Fla... Larry had to head back on Sunday
night... Hoot showed up and hung for a while... His lady friend made
the Pizza run and bought us about 8 pizza's... We scarfed them
down... Have you ever had a Potato pizza?? . Different for sure...
Many brain cells were lost during the week... Tequilia was dranken
again... Monday night was good... Sleep?? Don't mind if I do!...
Tuesday... Get up... Go to I H O P for breakfest with Gary, Cappy,
and my self... Massive feast again!!.. back to camp where the sun was
breaking through... Cool... a little sun.. Another Fla. Xer ... can't
remember his name... Getting the treatment from Bobby... Bike
leaves and is running better... Another satisified customer... Tom,
also from Fla. shows up on his Black X with a "ghost" purple flames
on it... He shows up missing his mufflers.. I ask him what happened..
He says he lost one while going down the road and it rolled into an
alligator swamp... Well.. Being the Florida boy he is, He knows
better than to go messing around in the swamp looking for it , so he
just removed the other muffler... wa-la.. problem solved.. We Xer's
are a smart bunch... Tuesday afternoon is rolling right along and I
am happy... Keith had to bail out back up to Ga. so his co-worker
could come down for his bikeweek trip.... We decide to go out for
Dinner at a Mexican joint near the speed way... I head first to the
shower to clean up.. Only to come back out and find all my X buddies
have left me behind... Rat Bastards!! .. I jump on 1375 and beeline
it to the resteraunt... Missed Happy Hour by 5 minutes!! Thats
O.K.... Waz gave me a beer... Wait!! This happened on Monday night...
Sorry.. I'm lost in a fog about where and when we went out... Tuesday
was the night we went out for Italian... Which.. While I am on that
subject...
Next post please..
Back to the Tuesday night ... We left
the Repo yard in a group of
about 10-12 Xers and headed to Carriborros... or something like
that... We had left Richard Skotniki (S/N 1376) back at the campsite
to watch over things and to drink beer while we were out... Richard
had flown in from N.M. and is one of the guys that is helping Bobby
with his tune-boy and such... Smart guy this Richard... So.. We are
blasting down U.S.92... Waz, Bobby, Cappy, H.D., Cliff, Stiffwood,
Rick(Harley rider friend of Stiffy's), Gary, Terry (New Fla. Xer that
just bought a shitload of X's!) John ( from Boca Raton) and I... We
arrive in style making noise and burning rubber!.. HA!.. We get
inside for Italian food and enjoy a great meal.. Hey!! Whos phone is
ringing??? Oh.. mine!! I answer... It's Jamie! He says.. I thought
you were going to wait for me to show up from Va... I tell him I'm a
rotton S.O.B. and we're down the road a few miles eating.. He hops on
S/N 256 and rides down to meet, great, and eat.. He arrives and
greetings are eXchanged... Most have finished by now and are heading
out... Jamie and I stay to discuss battle plans... Then it's back to
the yard for refreshments... and cigars... etc..... Fire... Smokes...
Tequilia again!!.. Yawn.. Sleep... Wednesday is a big day for the
ride to all over...
Next page please...
Part 7
Wednesday arrives and the weather is
looking better... It was cold
as !@#$%! last night and I was glad as could be to awaken to Terry
Renyolds walking back up U.S.92 with about a dozen cups of COFFEE!!!
Yeah Terry... Thats what I need!! Most of the crew is up and at 'em
Ready to ride... Nick shows up and will be the "Ride Captian" on this
trip... We load up and head towards the Krispy Kreame to check if any
Xer's are waiting there... We get split up as we go by... Jamie's X
blows a oil pressure switch... Lucky for him , he pulls into the
Mobil station across from the doughnut shop. He has a spare switch
and with Stiffy's help, they start to change it... I wander across
the street to pick up a dozen hot doughnuts and I come across an Xer
out of Indiania... I mention in a loud voice about how nice his bike
is and who makes it... He starts to give me the X pitch and then sees
my patch on the jacket... I interdouce myself and invite him and his
wife and their riding buddy to come along on the run... They accept
and come over to the Mobil station to wait for Jamie and Stiffy to
finish up the chore... My phone rings.. it's Nick.. They are waiting
at U.S.1 and U.S.92... We load up and meet them there and roll out
towards the South to Port Orange, where we go to the friend of
Panheads to get some great deals on leather... And a sip of some
apple jack moonshine!... A few beers later , We head over to ponce
Inlet for Lunch and drinks...We leave there and head North through
Daytona on our way to Flagler beach to a bar Nick knows about calld
Snack Jack's... I got lost on the way up and was late getting
there.... But that's O.K.... I ride an X! We bail out of there as the
afternoon is getting late... North to the crossroad that leads us
back to I-95 South... And .. WIDE open throttle South to DAB.
Next post please...
Geez... I'm long winded!.. So it's
Wednesday night and back at
camp... Fire is still going... The girls that run the Repo Yard are
out of the office and having a few cold ones and chatting with us..
Brenda (Repo Yard) Debbie( aka Tits) are the nicest bunch of Ladies
you could ever want to meet. They really rolled out the welcome mat
for us Xer's. Steve, the owner of the Repo Yard is a great guy for
letting us stay on his property.. Thanks, Steve! Wednesday night is a
good night... We have fun! On to Thursday... It arrives and it looks
like it's a good one! Sunny!! Warming up!! More Xer's roll in...
Roger from Merrit Island stopped bye with his daughter... George
Henderson out of S.C. drove down after working a midnight shift..Jeff
U. and T showed up and set up a table of parts for sale.. Jeff is the
guy that had the patches made up.. Bobby spent a good part of the day
talking to fellow Xer's about the stuff he sells and the services he
offers... Cappy enjoyed the sunshine and Waz worked on his tan..Gary
had a problem earlier in the week with stopped up injectors that got
fixxed... Cliff got back from his road trip to Orlando... I had a few
cocktails... Ken, an Xer out of Tenn. and a close friend to Russ
showed up with a few running buddies... Ken was bearing a gift from
the mountains of Tenn.... yup... that little mason jar full of banana
sunshine... Soon after Russ and his ever so lovely wife Dinah show
up... They show up with a varitiy pack of liquid sunshine.... Man...
SSSMMMMMOOOOOOTTTTHHHH!!!!!! That 'Ol Russ sure takes good care of
his fellow X riders. And Dinah is a real cutie too!!! We hang for a
bit and get caught up with each other...Next thing you know.. It's
off to Pub 44 for a night of wildness!!!
Next page please...
So it's off to Pub 44 for us... Russ
and Dinah head back to their
room to clean up.. The rest of us load up and "ride 'em like we
stole 'em" down to Pub 44. Pub 44 is a non stop party with live
music, drinks, vendors, food, and some crazy sumbitch riding in a
wall of death. Ed (S/N 1984) swore that that was the best show he
ever saw. I didn't make it to that... I did manage to follow this
tall blond out towards the exit..until I saw her boyfriend... I then
turned to the gal that was walking beside her and started a
conversation... Her name was Karen, a bartender from Piqua, Oh. She
happened to mention that she had flown down a few days back and
hadn't been on a "Harley" yet... BING!!! a light goes off in my pea
brain of a head and I ask her if she had ever been on an X.. No.. She
hadn't .. I offered a ride and she accepted... I hollared at Russ as
they were going in that I'd be back later... I was going for a
ride... Karen and I loaded up on 1375 and rode out to New Symerna
Raceway to check out what was going on.. A nice ride and the evening
was looking better! We made our way back to the pub and I offered to
let her come out to the campsite and crash. She showed some interest
and said she needed to check in with her running buddy. We found Lisa
and I extended the same offer to her too... Man.. I was on a roll!
Well... Karen excuses herself to go to the bathroom... lisa goes with
her too... I tell them I'm going to check in with the Xer's and will
meet them back at the bar in a few... Well.. Yep.. You guessed it...
They never came back... I feel so used !! ahahahaha! fugit!! The rest
of the group had split , so I meandered back to camp to find them 3
sheets to the wind and polishing off the moonshine!!! Rat Bastards! I
had a few sips and called it a night... Friday was coming..
Next post please...
Friday is here and I'm wide awake and
feeling great! We get a bunch
of us together to make a downtown T-shirt run... We head to Beach
street and park across the street from the H-D dealership. We grab a
bite at the diner and check out the vendors... Lots of great stuff
for your bike.. If you ride a Harley... I lose everyone and wander up
to a neat wheel display... I like some of the new styles and am
thinking .. Well.. 10:30 a.m. comes and I am walking back to the X ,
figuring I am left behind again... I hear them all pulling out and I
hustle up a bit and catch them up the road a few miles later.. Part
of the group is headed to camp... I follow Jamie and Ed to the demo
rides to check out the latest offerings. We mosy around and check out
the bikes.. i lose Jamie and Ed and wander the site by myself...
After a few hours of this I head back to camp for a cold beer and a
hot shower. I get back to camp and the rest of the group is watching
the Bikini bike wash that Tits was throwing... Kinda nice.. $10.00
gets your bike washed and you get to watch the girls... Later on Dan
Hanlon shows up. The whole week was in turmoil over the happenings up
in Belle Plaine. I wondered what exactly what Dan had up his sleeve..
Well.. He "claims" he had nothing to do with it ... He also claims
that he didn't know Jamie and I were selling parts.. I find that very
odd... Hell.. Damn near anyone who reads these boards knows we have
parts and will do whatever we can to help fellow Xer's out... Much
more than the factory ever did! Go figure... I am a bit leary
about 'Ol Dan...
Next page please...
So.. With Friday night here and a run
to the Bank on tap... A few
head out early and I make it down later. I get to the Bank with Larry
and we check out the scene... Steve from Ga. had made it back minus
his lovely wife, Janet... I check in with the group... Razorbacks are
the headline band... I cruise the main street and bail out back to
camp... I got to hit the road in the morning... Sleep.. Get up
late... Jamie has already torn down his tent and Preacher Ricks tent
Ed is loaded and on the road... Waz for once is up early and Bobby
and crew are breaking down the site. Hoot shows up... Jeff and T show
up ... Later Iron Mike and Marilyn show up ... I pack up and give
Jamie a few extra things to carry in the truck.. S/N 1375 is loaded
and looks like the "Berverly Hillbillies" Jamie cuts out and I tell
him i'll chase him in a few and follow him up the road.. Not.. I end
up hanging around a bit longer and get on the road later.. I say my
good bye's to all in the camp and hit the road North... I-95 is a
great road when you want to make time... I was bored by it and I
ended up stopping overnight in N.C., getting home about noon on
Sunday. I really enjoyed the good times and the fellowship of my
brother and sister Xers. I look forward to seeing them all again..
Soon.. All in all... A great trip!
*** Oh yeah... What goes on on the road... Stays on the road... If
you weren't there... You missed a fun time***
Jumper
