Our Fly, buy, and Ride!

Post by **Bonnie and Clyde** » Mon Oct 25, 2021 3:49 pm

My wife and I decided we wanted a 2 up travel bike. So I started looking for a good bike that wouldn't break the bank but would be a clean and dependable bike. I initially thoughted I wanted a Yamaha Venture Royale. I always seem to be drawn to the strange and unusual. Due to their age and parts availability plus a small fuel tank I started to look at other bikes. I ran across the Kawasaki Voyager. I had never heard about it but was immediately drawn to it. It checked all the boxes. I started a nation wide craigslist search for a clean Voyager. My wife and I have been married 21 years this October. We decided that if we could find a bike that fit the bill we would make a trip out of it. I found a few on craigslist that interested me but they never worked out for one reason or another. During my search for a Voyager and info on them I ran across this website obviously. In the classifieds section there was a clean 1998 Green and Black one with 41K on the clock with every bell and whistle. I sent an email to Chuck who had it listed asking if it was still available. Now in this day and age, I realize its unusual and generally deemed unsafe to deal with people over the internet and phone calls who live in another state. We live in Gardnerville Nevada and Chuck in Martinsville Indiana some 2,400 miles apart. Well after a couple phone calls with Chuck I was sure this was the bike wanted. I asked if he would be willing to pick my wife and I up at the airport and he said that would be no problem! So we agreed on a price and I bought 2 plane tickets to Indianapolis and let Chuck know the arrival date. Chuck and his significant other were the most gracious and accommodating hosts one could hope for. They agreed to pick us up at the airport and insisted we stay with them for the night. We had to wait about a week and half for time off from work to make the trip happen. The departure day finally arrived and we took the cash for the bike and riding jackets and got on a plane.
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Looking at the five day weather window for our ride back home in Mid October, I knew we would most likely ride in wet weather. Looking at temperatures, I decided I would head east on Hwy 70 to Kansas City then south to Hwy 40 and east to home. That would hopefully give us the warmest ride. Landing in Chicago for a layover it was raining but the Italian beef sandwich made us both forget about it.
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Then a quick 30 minute flight into Indianapolis over the Raceway
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I called Chuck once we made our way to the loading zone. He picked us up and we headed to his lovely home. We had a great dinner and talked about the bike and filled out all the paperwork. I was very impressed with the bike and couldn't have been more pleased.

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Post by **Scott-(Altoona, PA)** » Mon Oct 25, 2021 5:39 pm

Cory/Clyde,
The smile on your face in the last pic is how I feel each and every time I mount my Voyager and ride. Even if it's only to the grocery store 1 mile away!

Some measure their riding by the miles (although I don't clock that many miles a year) I measure my riding by the Smiles!
I've even ridden in the snow and the smiles are even bigger (enough that my cheeks hurt).
Nice story and the friendly response and treatments you two received is to the most part expected by this group. Not a bunch of snobs, but just plain and simple friendly folks.

Welcome to the family of the AVA!

Post by **cushman eagle** » Tue Oct 26, 2021 1:10 am

Congratulations on your purchase,trip,and finding the wonderful AVA family

My '99 is the same color,so I like yours

I have had mine for 12 years and 77,670 miles[it had 22,000 when I bought it],and I have never been sorry I got it

Post by **GrandpaDenny** » Tue Oct 26, 2021 1:11 am

Scott-(Altoona, PA) wrote: ↑Mon Oct 25, 2021 5:39 pm Not a bunch of snobs, but just plain and simple friendly folks

Some are plainer than others. some are simpler than others, but all are friendly.

Enjoy, and welcome!!!

Post by **VoyKimmer** » Tue Oct 26, 2021 4:13 am

You did good. Chucks bike was major competition for me at many rally’s. And that’s a very nice bike. And chuck took great care of it and he and Linda are good people. You will be very happy with the bike. Congratulations.

Post by **Bonnie and Clyde** » Wed Oct 27, 2021 3:48 pm

Day one the ride home. Martinsville Indiana to Olathe Kansas Via the St. Louis Arch 500+ miles

We woke up and had coffee and packed the bike. Chuck wanted to get the sale paperwork notarized so we rode into town following him in his truck. Once the paperwork was notarized we thanked Chuck again and said our goodbyes and headed out of town for territories out west! We had 5 days to ride back home. A straight shot is around 2,300 miles. I wanted to avoid the elevation in Colorado due to temps and time of year and hwy 80. We needed to ride about 450-500 miles per day to get home on time for work.

It took about an hour or so to get relaxed and comfortable on the bike. I did not test ride it before loading it and putting my wife on the back but first impressions had me grinning. It was smooth, powerful, comfortable and good brakes. :woohoo:

My wife snapped some pictures along the way towards St. Louis
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About an hour east of St. Louis it started to rain and then rain even harder. So we stopped under an over pass and put our rain suits on. We rode for about 3 hours in pouring rain. It was raining when we got into st. louis so we didn't stop at the arch just rode by and looked.

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I started to get a feel for the fuel gauge after the second tank. The gauge showed empty at about 150-160 miles but there was couple gallons left. So I started to ignore it and shoot for the 200 mile mark on the odometer. Chuck told me the low fuel light worked and when it came on I had about 40 miles before empty. So we rode into Olathe Kansas around 6pm cold tired and hungry. The last tank of the day the low fuel light didn't come on and I did 215 miles. We got a hotel room walked to dinner and talked about the day and the bike. My wife was surprised how comfortable she was on the bike all day. She had no complaints other than the rain. I was impressed with the bike myself. It ran great and everything worked. The cruise control was a wrist saver. The only things I wanted to do was change some ergonomics. I am a little taller than Chuck and I have gorilla long arms for my size. So I bought a yoga mat at Walmart and cut into 3 pieces in the shape of the seat. This raised the seat up so my hips / legs weren't so bent. It has a really low seat. Secondly for my arms/shoulders I widened the bars with the adjustable pivots. Those two changes made a huge difference in all day comfort. So day one done and dusted. No runs no hits and no errors.

Post by **Bonnie and Clyde** » Wed Oct 27, 2021 4:08 pm

Day 2 Olathe Kansas to Clayton New Mexico via Dodge City 520 miles

It was spitting rain when we loaded the bike in the morning and it was windy. Looking at the weather they said it wouldn't really rain just be windy all day. So we decided to skip the rain suits to start the day. We headed to Dodge City. I wanted to see it but I knew we wouldn't have much time to walk around. About an hour into the ride We decided we had braved the cold and wind long enough and stopped and put our rain suits on to help stop the wind. The wind blew all day. Didn't rain really just cold and windy. Not many pictures from this day sorry. Dodge City was kind of a disappointment. But we saw it. Boxed checked. Not a whole lot to see in this section of Kansas.

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At the end of the day the last 30 miles heading west into the setting sun towards Clayton New Mexico was a challenge. We made it with my wife helping me block the sun with her hands. Hotel room found and dinner ate we hit the sack.

Post by **Scott-(Altoona, PA)** » Wed Oct 27, 2021 4:15 pm

Next stop you have to get someone to take a picture of Bonnie and Clyde together next to their ride! :corn:

Post by **cushman eagle** » Thu Oct 28, 2021 1:00 am

I used to admire Chuck's/your bike at the rallys where we met,and it was a great looking bike

We even saw/admired it at Springfield this past June

Post by **Bonnie and Clyde** » Thu Oct 28, 2021 7:12 pm

Post by **cranky** » Thu Oct 28, 2021 11:12 pm

.. had a VROC rally (Vulcan Riders and Owners Club - the other arm of Kawasaki...) and
pulled into Eagles Nest Shell at the intersection of 38 and 64 ( was headed back to Taos,
rally HQ) to get gas, pot break actually.... while pumping gas I hear this loud
percolating sound.. couldn't figure it out!! Stoped pumping and it continued!!!

Well, I pulled under an awning and what happened was a quick and nasty hail
storm hit!!!!! Folks were ducking and running!!!!! Had a great time at Taos!!!!!

Post by **Bonnie and Clyde** » Fri Oct 29, 2021 5:05 pm

Post by **Bonnie and Clyde** » Fri Oct 29, 2021 5:18 pm

Day 5 Las Vegas to Home 470 miles

We both had to be at work the following day so we wanted to get home at a reasonable hour. The trip had been a huge success. The transaction with Chuck was smooth and the bike had been flawless. We had a ball riding it home seeing some beautiful country. We got up early for the last day and the push for home. Traffic in Las Vegas was bad and I used the air horn more than once. Once out of the city the wind was howling 40mph. So we tucked our heads and leaned the bike into the wind and rode into Beatty NV. In Beatty the clouds looked dark but we put the rain suits on and kept riding. We rode thru rain and slush for about an hour and we were chilled to the bone when we made into Tonopah with an inch of snow on the shoulder of the roads. Thankfully it had not fully snowed on us and the roads were just wet. Hot coffee and early lunch to warm up in Tonopah. Then we rode into Yerington for our last fuel stop. We made it home safe and thrilled about our new bike and great trip.

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Did I mention it was cold wet and windy all day?

Post by **cushman eagle** » Sat Oct 30, 2021 1:09 am

You posted some treat pictures

Thank you for posting them

I am glad you had a great trip on your new bike. :woohoo:

Post by **Scott-(Altoona, PA)** » Wed Nov 03, 2021 8:25 pm

The pics are great and glad you two made it home safe and sound. It's great that you two got to share the experience of getting to know your new to you bike. If you haven't already you will fall in love with it!

Post by **Nails** » Wed Nov 10, 2021 1:13 am

What a great first ride. Shucks, wish I'd known -- I live about a mile from the Hwy 50 exit on I-25, going from Glorieta to Pecos.

But you did a great job picking roads in New Mexico. On the High Road to Taos (via 76), did you take the 503 cut-off through Cundiyo? I really like zipping through those mud hills.

Ironically, yesterday I drove a car from Los Angeles on I-40.

Post by **Bonnie and Clyde** » Wed Nov 10, 2021 3:10 pm

Nails wrote: ↑Wed Nov 10, 2021 1:13 am What a great first ride. Shucks, wish I'd known -- I live about a mile from the Hwy 50 exit on I-25, going from Glorieta to Pecos.

But you did a great job picking roads in New Mexico. On the High Road to Taos (via 76), did you take the 503 cut-off through Cundiyo? I really like zipping through those mud hills.

Ironically, yesterday I drove a car from Los Angeles on I-40.

Yes we did take the 503 cut-off. pretty good riding that day

Post by **Steverides5** » Tue Nov 30, 2021 10:34 pm

Great story and pictures. Not sure how I missed this story earlier. Good luck with the bike.

Post by **HMB Don** » Tue Jan 25, 2022 8:14 pm

Wonderful story, yes I just found it. Happy to see Chucks bike found a good home.

Now, hoping to meet you at this years AVA Rally in Flagstaff.

Post by **Van Voyager** » Thu Jan 27, 2022 9:14 am

Neat that you took the way less traveled. Enjoyed the pix.

American Voyager Association

Our Fly, buy, and Ride!

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