This article was published in the September 1993 BMW NorCal newsletter.
August 31, 1993
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE BACKROADS TOUR?
Those of you who read last month's newsletter might recall an announcment by Ray Hutchins for a backroads tour, and those of you who attended the August meeting might have noticed our absence!
Six of us started out from Fresno BMW on Saturday morning: Ted (R75/5, "Thane's Folly"), Bill (R100GS), Ricky (R100GS, "Fool Injected"), Bob (R1100RS, "Not yet"), myself (R65LS, "NM") and our leader Ray (what's left of an R80ST, "Moped"). We aimed for the dirt and once-paved gravel roads, and Ray more than lived up to his reputation for excellent tours, leading us on fun, tight logging roads, and eventually off the pavement.
After about 20 miles of bouncing around and occasional peg-standing, we had lunch and headed for gas on a road that couldn't decide if it was paved or gravel. While zooming around me on a right-hand curve, Ray's rear tire slid out to the left. Ray stuck his right foot out and did an admirable job of almost saving it, but the front wheel caught an edge of old pavement, careening him across the road and landing him across an embankment on the right. I hopped off my bike and helpfully started taking pictures while the other guys hauled Moped out. Ray was unhurt aside from a bruised ego, but Moped suffered a broken windscreen and fairing.
With a good story to tell, we got gas in Dinkey Creek and then headed south on a tight, twisty, rocky, sometimes steep dirt road. We spread out somewhat due to dust, but since Bob had been right behind me for most of the dirt, I had a moment of concern when I didn't see him in my mirror. When I joined Ray and Bill at the pavement, Bob still wasn't there. Ted came down about 20 minutes later and reported that Bob had taken a 10mph tumble over the handlebars (apparently his front wheel caught a rock and he lost the front end). Bob thought he'd broken his collarbone in the fall (he had), and the R11 was leaking oil from the valve cover gasket.
Gambling that we had one rideable bike and one person who couldn't ride, Ray and I headed back up on a rescue mission, two-up on my R65. Ray rode my motorcycle twice as fast and ten times as smooth on that road as I had, with a passenger, talking the whole way! Very impressive. We found Ricky and Bob about 7 miles up the road, with a couple in a pickup who'd stopped. Ricky got a crash course in R11 mechanics as he sealed the leaky gasket with Permatex that the pickup driver had. After immobilizing Bob's right arm with duct tape, and lowering the seat, Ray got his first test-ride on an R1100RS on the steep, twisty dirt road with an injured passenger, while Ricky and I followed.
When we reached the pavement, Ricky, Ted and Bill were given the task to relay Moped toward Fresno (3 people, 4 bikes) while Ray rode Bob to a hospital on the R1100RS, with me following. It took over an hour of hot riding to get Bob to Clovis Community Hospital, where we left him in good hands.
Then, get this, I took Ray as a passenger on the R65 back to intercept the relay team. For my first passenger, Ray was excellent and stayed very still as I carefully crept around the corners, since the bike felt completely different. [ note: at the time, Ray weighed 285 pounds, while I was about 110. ] We found Bill at a store along Trimmer Springs Road with two bikes, and waited for the rest of the relay team. They'd had a time of it, passengering each other and testing out different bikes (everyone got to ride in a different way that day, as a passenger or on on someone else's bike!)
We rode back to Fresno in the dark to pick up Bob, and by the time we made it back to a Motel 6, it was 10:30pm. Our intrepid bunch reunited, we enjoyed a well-deserved dinner. The next day, Bob called around to rent a four-wheeled vehicle one-way, to get himself and the wounded R1100RS back to the Bay Area without making a trip back to Fresno. Last I knew, he'd found one, and Bob, Ricky, Ted and Ray were on their way to get it. I left at about 10:00am, and had my own adventure on Clear Creek Road, a dirt road, breaking my shift lever in a deep rut. Since I could still shift, I made it out of there, but not without many harrowing moments on the rutty road.
Though we had to cut the tour short, we got a lot of good riding in and gladly rallied to the aid of another rider. Bob is a superb rider and real nice guy to boot, I hope he joins us again (and may we all wish him a speedy recovery!). Ray joked that no one would want to try a Moped backroads tour again, but I'll be the first to sign up for the next one.
Back to GS rides.