~PHOTO LINK IS UP!~ Ohio Fall 2007 KZ Rally

THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO MADE IT TO THE RALLY AND HOPE YOU ALL HAD A GREAT TIME! SEE YOU NEXT YEAR!

!!! UPDATE August 24th !!!

ROUTES ARE NOW UP AND ALL THE OTHER INFO HAS BEEN UPDATED!

That's all folks! Shouldn't be many changes after Sunday, I ran most of it Thursday night and will confirm the rest Sunday and make any changes necessary.

See you there!

Jim


!!! UPDATE AUGUST 22nd !!!

Schedule is up... with photos

Some of the main page FAQ's have changed too due to the route changes I've had to make. Please re-read the main page for any changes that might be of interest to you.

!!! UPDATE AUGUST 21st !!!

Ok, there is new info up on the site as to where the lunch will be, Metamora, Indiana. We will meet back at the motel and decide where and what everyone wants to do but I'm guessing it will be pizza and the parking lot, breakfast nook or someones room... if none of that works then we will decide where everyone wants to go, several nice places in town plus there's always the BW3's.

As for the routes, I have 7 nice covered bridges and one aqueduct bridge route planned. Just need to clean up a few details and then I'll post it. It will be a total of about 170 miles that'll be broke into two legs and plenty of stops. The longest run looks to be about 30 miles before a stop.

Even though I'm going to take one of the Relaxed groups as the number of people wanting to take the Relaxed pace is too large for one group, I have a couple of Spirited routes, one goes to all of the bridges after lunch and the other doesn't go to any bridges but will be very dependent on the riders ability to memorize and follow maps as there are very many roads involved and not a lot of places to pull over to read the map. I can only say that if Tom doesn't make it due to his scheduling conflicts, then the first route is the one the Spirited group will be given for sure. I'll meet with the Spirited riders both the night before and the morning of the Rally.

The maps and info will be up by Thursday barring any problems. I will have all the routes verified as to road conditions this Sunday and hopefully IDOT & ODOT won't mess things up. Now if the weather will just hold together as remnants of Dean or another hurricane might be blowing up from the south. Looks to be an active season for them.

Jim


!!! UPDATE July 30th !!!

Sorry I haven't had any updates in a while but I have been busy trying to get my KZ1000 rebuilt from the frame up for this rally.

I hope to have the routes determined by the first part of the next week. The schedule should be done then too.

If anyone that has signed up needs to make any changes please let me know as the groups will be planned when the schedule is completed.

Only 40 days from today until the rally, anybody that is on the fence about coming to the rally is running out of time to decide! Send me a PM or email if you might be coming so I can set a tentative plan up if you can't say for sure yet.

Thanks to all that have signed up so far!

Jim


The motel information is now up on the site. These are the closest motels to the Rally location and other rally events. Reserve early as there isn't a lot of rooms left available for that weekend.

The Roster is up on the site now! We already have several participants in just a couple of weeks! Hope to see more of you guys sign up to come!

Here's the link to the web site to sign up.!

It will be updated regularly, so check back!

www.stormloader.com/spacesailor/SWOKZ_Main.html

Time to stop wrenchin'em and start ridin'em, so sign up!

Jim

Edited: New info on SWOKZ site.

Post edited by: KZ_Rage, at: 2007/06/13 13:07

Post edited by: KZCSI, at: 2007/10/19 22:36

Post edited by: KZ_Rage, at: 2007/12/30 12:16

Oh and if anyone would like to volunteer to be a group leader that would be great as I'm sure there will be both corner carvers and relaxed rides along with paces in between so I expect there to be any where from 2 to 5 groups.

This could be interesting. However, if it DOES turn into a bigger turn out you may want to consider a more structured event. Southwest Ohio ??? Where abouts??

There are about 7-11 standing covered bridges in the SW.Ohio area and are spread out enough that they make for a great day ride. There is also Rabbit Hatch just over the river in Ky and it is also a great ride and there is a new resturaunt that attracts a boat load of bikers and vintage bikes on the weekends.

Also you said fall. When about were you thinking? Depending on your plans and my racing schedule, i would be able to help you with this event if needed...

Thanks for the reply Breeze and your help would be much appreciated.

I guess that by less organized I mean the Rally is not sanctioned, insured, etc. There isn't a true riders group for KZ's like HOG, GRRA, COG, SOC, etc.
Those groups are big and are financed to organize massive nationals and regional meets. Smaller forum based groups usually aren't as organized, heck I'm just offering to put it together as nothing like this ever seems to happen for KZ owners. So by loose I mean no elected officers, no T-shirts, door prizes or dues, just a volunteer Rally.

As far as routes The west side of Hamilton County (Cincinnati)over maybe into Indiana as far as Batesville and maybe down and around through Rabbit Hash. Indiana 229 would be a challenge for any rider who likes the twisties. I welcome any input on routes, The length of the routes and the number of them will be determined by how many riders we get. The route out that way takes you past Metamora which is a pretty busy attraction town for crafts, antiques and food, it was an old canal town with some of the old canal still working and a working steam locomotive is there too. Lots of ideas for the rally as some will just want to ride and others will want to ride and stop to sight see a bit. The trick will be to make it fun for all paces.

As far as a date goes i thought maybe Sept. 8, 15 or 22 would be a good time as the weather here is not too hot or rainy usually in that month. It also avoids the perils of wet leaves on the road for the faster pace crowd. The start and end times might be adjusted to gain the better daylight and to give those who want to ride home that night as much daylight as possible.

I know a lot of the KZR members may not think that they or their bikes are up for a long ride but let me tell you that at the last two rally's I went to there was one fellow who rode his 1980 GS550L for 3 hours on two lane roads for over 150 miles then rode 6 hours in the rally plus rode it back the 150 miles... the bike had just under 97,000 miles on the original engine. He came back two weeks later for 110 miles for another 2 hour rally. His bike made it and he had a blast, he is in his 50's too. I won't even talk about the guy who rode up from North Carolina or the one from Florida. You can make it and you'll be glad you did as these Rally's are addicting from meeting others who love the same kind of bike you do.

I've already started working on the web site and will post the link in the next couple of weeks. The photo is of one with 33 bikes attending, another unofficial Rally.

Jim

All sounds good to me. My racing schedule has me busy in Sept. however, i do have the 8th and the 22nd wide open right now. If you like, i can put together a covered bridge ride for ya (even lead it if ya want).Or, just let me know what ya need and i'll do as much as i can to help out.

If you like, you can e-mail me direct at (twohyper2000@yahoo.com) and let me know what ya need and we can talk in more detail as needed...

I would be interested in your rally ,, I am an hour from Columbus .. Ever think of keeping your starting place a little more central to Ohio KZ Riders Like the columbus area ? To ride all the way to Cinci .. well that is a long ride on a twin ,, anyway My Input ,,, Shoeman

Breeze, I'll be in contact with you soon and yes that would be great if you would take lead on the bridge ride. Getting help on certain days will be a major influence on the date of the ride so the 8th or 22nd seems to be where it is heading for now.

Shoe48, Yeah I know it is located a bit to the south for you but for me to organize and plan the routes it's best. I'm hoping to see more than just local Ohio KZr's make it. The area for the Rally would be about 2hrs from Columbus, 2hrs from Indy, 2hrs from Lexington, 2hrs from Louisville, 1hr from Dayton which should be pretty central for those KZr's but I'm hoping to get some interest from those even farther away.

You make the run up to Hocking Hills? I know Smithgpz put one together years ago that sounded like a good one. I know there are several KZr's in the area so if you guys want to do that again I'd be there for sure! What side of Columbus you on? Would you try to ride down the day of the Rally or come the night before?

I need more input from anyone even just considering it this far out.

Thanks!
Jim

Oops! I just saw your location in your sig line. You do have a further distance to ride to get here that's for sure. Would you be better off to come down the night before? If so PM me and we'll talk about lodging overnight options as I would like to get an idea of what distance riders would like as a motel.

yo shoe im in coshocton bout an hour from ya let me know what ya decide and maybe ill hook up with ya. should be about 2 1/2 hrs down depending on how hard ya ride and how far south it is.

Let see how this all comes together and go from there ,, I have other options to get there is need be ,, My riding hard days are most likly over ,, ... I will stay tuned .. shoeman

I would be interested. Ilive in Hebron, Ky close to the airport. Keep me posted.

About half way finished with the web page and sign up form/database.

I'm pretty sure the date will be the 8th unless there is a lot of interest in the 22nd., now is the time to put your $.02 in if it makes a difference.