Greenville SC
Fri June 14, 2019
(0 miles)

Seeing signs like this posted around the hotel reinforced the fact that I was actually here, in Greenville, with the shit about to get really real. We had an area off the lobby cordoned off for the IBR group buffet, so I got to work on a cup of coffee and some hot breakfast food while chatting with other riders, familiar and new.

The I-40 rockslide closures were a popular topic of conversation today, as we discussed possible alternative routes for a westward strike across country, should one be needed after the proverbial starter’s gun goes off.

There wasn’t much on Friday’s agenda, besides a free lunch next door at the Michelin company North American HQ. The bike and farkles were all working great on the way down yesterday. Tires were fresh and holding air, and all my other prep had been completed in the comfort of my own garage. Today was a day to simply relax, enjoy the pre-rally atmosphere, tell lies with other riders, and eat!

The lot was perhaps half full this morning, though with the BMR folks sharing the scene, it was hard to tell how many bikes belonged to rally entrants. Dale “Warchild” Wilson, chief technical inspector for the rally, was out and about doing pre-checks on aux fuel solutions for riders who requested it.

Looks like Chris Comly is back for another go on his Harley Sportster. Chris’ rally experiences and last-minute stressful engine rebuild stories are legend, and a great read. The Sportster appeared to be happily marking its territory this morning.

Despite it being a beautiful sunny morning, Ken Andrews was apparently in the house. Rain follows him on his monster long-distance exploits like stink on Pigpen, and his is (in)famous for it. His Road Glide was looking sharp with new aux lighting and fuel added for the rally.

Not looking so good was the Yamaha Super Tenere across the way that was torn down to the guts, with parts, tools and venison packets laid neatly by. Turns out this was Dan Simmonds’ bike, which had an undiagnosed issue preventing it from starting.

Dan Crowley earned some oohs, aahs, and chuckles with his “luxury” umbrella farkle attached to his new Goldwing. With the sun and heat in the South Carolina afternoons, however, I’ll bet Dan had his own laugh at the rest of us sweating away over the next couple days.

Marc, happy to be arriving at the host hotel

My preliminary aux tank inspection went without a hitch, while Ken had to adjust his vent tube position slightly to the center of his rear mudguard. Warchild didn’t like the amount of give in Roy’s aux tank mounting solution and asked him to make it more secure. Roy disappeared on a shuttle to the hardware store and came back bearing a new drill, hacksaw, and some U-bolts of different sizes.

I pitched in to help Roy out with a quick and dirty fix utilizing a large u-bolt sawed into a hook to grab onto his rear grab-rail. A quick hole drilled through an existing plate allowed the bolt to be secured and now the tank didn’t budge, allowing Roy to pass tech inspection.

By now it was midday and time to head over to Michelin for the free lunch and presentation. The talk was pretty light weight, with some background of Michelin’s motorcycle tire history and differences between some of the tire models. There was some good discussion on checking and maintaining proper tire pressure as well.

As has been reported elsewhere, mostly by people NOT in attendance, staff volunteer and all-around shit-stirrer Rob Nye brought up the topic that I think many of us were actually interested in hearing – darksiding, or the use of car tires on motorcycles. Reports of this discussion have been greatly exaggerated – the Michelin rep seemed fairly respectful and understanding of the choice many of us in the room have made to use the longer-lasting tires (though this may have just been Southern courtesy) for the unique type of distance riding that we do.

Of course, he had to toe the company line and state unequivocally that Michelin could not recommend or condone the use of car tires on motorcycles, period. That said, he acknowledged that the company and engineers are very aware of the practice. He recited all the standard design and engineering reasons why it’s not considered a good idea – all of it information that most darksiders have already heard before. He stated that under no circumstances would HE ever ride a bike with a car tire, even after having done some very risk-intense offroad/stunt riding.

That’s where he lost me – I still have yet to hear/read an actual tire “expert” that has actually tried (or will admit trying) riding with a car tire. They base their entire argument on the “cold hard engineering facts”. IMO, at some point, statistics and overwhelming anecdotal evidence need to be considered as near close to substantiated observable fact as the mathematical blueprints and “what-if” scenarios. The tires were designed for one thing, but also work in another scenario that wasn’t necessarily intended – this is, in fact, fact. Nuff said on that. Anyway, I hear the pizza was OK, though I tried to be good and stuck with a plate of salad.

It was a sad yet interesting sight to see this after returning to the hotel parking lot. Dan’s bike was being loaded onto a pickup bed using a fancy hydraulic lift, to be taken to a local Yamaha dealer for further diagnosis. Nobody wanted to see Dan have this much trouble right before the start of his first IBR, after all the impressive LD rides he’d accomplished of late.

More socializing and tire-kicking ensued around the hotel. When we had a decent-size group of folks chatting in the lobby, I decided the time was right for unveiling Marc’s special gift in honor of his farkling choices:

“I may have a TINY TANK, but I have a BIG…”

“…HEART”

Good times! 🙂 With the BMR finishing banquet happening tonight, five of us trusted another restaurant recommendation from the hotel staff and boarded a shuttle to Bubba Annie’s, across town. It wasn’t quite as good as Bacon Bros and a bit louder inside, but the southern style food was decent and service friendly.

I enjoyed the flounder and apple cobbler (alas, my healthy diet is gradually entering suspended animation).