Great Roads, Big Rivers, Brown Cow, Little Birds....

I left Milwaukee on Friday morning and was joined by Dan who I had met the day before. It had been a while since my friend Paul had gone back to the UK and I had ridden with anyone, so I enjoyed it.

Here are a couple of shots I grabbed of Dan on the move....

After Dan left to go back home, I went continued heading east and found this picture on a wall in Watertown, Wisconsin. I liked the picture, but no, I didn’t understand it either!....

Frank Lloyd Wright was a very famous American architect and I went to see his summer home and studio called Taliesin, near Spring Green, Wisconsin. Sadly however they only have two tours a day and I had just missed one, so I would have to wait for about three hours for a two hour tour. It was a shame, but I should have checked in advance! I did sneak into the grounds and take one picture of the house....

I saw this when I was riding along. She probably saw nothing wrong with having a dog on her lap as she drove....

This mail box made my smile, so I went back and took a photo of it....

I spent the night at Prairie du Chien near the banks of the Mississippi. A few years ago I went on an organised bike tour across Europe to Austria. On that tour was a guy from Illinois called Mike Nees, who runs Nees Harley-Davidson

We rode from Prairie du Chien south to Dubuque and then north up the west bank of the Mississippi along what are the best bike riding roads I have been on in the US. They were fantastic! We kept as close to the river as possible both heading south and then north again.

Along the way we spotted this car turning off the road we were on. We turned around and went and checked it out – it had driven into a place that serviced and restores cars, so we went and had a look. There were some real treasures at this place which I might add, was in the middle of nowhere! This was the Buick that made us decide to turn around and go have a look....

Another lovely Buick....

A Dodge with its external sun visor that makes the car look angry....

A Dodge Charger....

Inside, they had just started to restore a Model T Ford....

Shortly after, we arrived in Dubuque and did two things here. First we went and found the Fenelon Place Elevator, an inclined railway originally built to transport a Mr J.K. Graves between his place of work and his house, because the journey by road took too long by horse and buggy....

Then we were stuck at a road junction for a while as a huge number of cyclists were completing a week long ride of about 425 miles....




As we rode, we saw these cows. One seems to be saying “Do I look out of place?”....

Mike and I went to the top of a number of Bluffs (aka cliffs) that overlook the big Mississippi River. Here is Mike admiring the view....

One of the Locks and Dams on the river (I had no idea the Mississippi had dams)....

This is where the Wisconsin River (in the middle of the picture) joins the Mississippi (at the bottom)....

Finally for today, we spotted some Hummingbirds, and I managed to get a photo.....

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H-D Museum, James Bond, 5000 Miles and British Bike Night.

Day 37 was a great day. It was full of interesting people and things to see!

The night before I stayed at the Iron Horse hotel which is just a stones throw away from the Harley-Davidson Museum. What a great hotel this is, especially as it caters for motorcyclists like no other hotel I know. The decor is exciting, the rooms are excellent, the food is good and the whole ambiance of the place is brilliant. I cannot recommend it enough!

The front of the hotel....

Covered bike parking!....

There is more on the hotel later in this (long) post and pictures from the bike night held in their car park!

Some time ago, when I was doing the preparation for this tour, I joined a bikers forum on www.motorcycleusa.com It was helpful that I was able to ask questions and get some ideas about my trip. Now that I am on my tour, riding everyday and writing my blog almost every night, I have not been able to find the time to go back to the forum, but one guy, who goes by the handle of Well Enuff and whose real name is Rich, has become an avid reader of my blog and has kept in contact with me. Rich decided to come to Milwaukee to meet me and arranged for another forum member, Dan, to come along to. Rich had to ride a couple of hours to get to Milwaukee, but Dan had a shorter journey of just 4 miles! We met at the hotel and after a chat and looking at maps of the tour, we set off on our planned visit to the Harley-Davidson Museum together....

I liked this sign! In the US, bikers call cars by the rather derogatory name of “cages”, so this is a very appropriate sign....

Here are Rich on the left on his Kawasaki, me in the middle and Dan on the right on his Honda, outside the museum....

I didn’t really know what to expect at the Harley-Davidson Museum, but it was one destination I really wanted to go and see on my tour. Overall, I thought it was excellent – a good blend of bikes of all ages, photos, posters, artwork, stories, films and memorabilia. It was all presented very well, although to create an modern environment, the designers had gone for low lighting levels which makes photography somewhat challenging! I did take a lot of pictures are I have included my favourites here. I deliberately haven’t accurately described every bike and every picture, as that would be boring, so with just a few words, here is some of what I saw....

The general layout of the bikes in the year they were made. You are very close to the bikes....

This very early bike has a leather belt drive from the engine and a chain drive from the pedals....

More very early bikes. This was in 1911, just 8 years into the companies life....

Some of the styling in this bike from 1925 is still used in some of the bobbers of today....

A World War 2 military bike....

A very early side car....

It doesn’t look like a racing bike....

A beautiful board track racer and a close up of a similar engine. I imagine this bike was very loud with those short pipes....

My favourite part of the museum, the display of tanks....

His of course is about engines, but some may think otherwise....

A stunning display of engine types....

Rich and Dan in the museum. Like me, they both liked it a lot (even though they ride other makes of bike)....

1957. What a great year this was!.....

A prototype for a V-4. It looks like a big Honda!....

Of course, what display would be complete without one of these....

For the 100th anniversary, they asked all employees to sign this bike. They shipped parts all around the world, people signed them and shipped them back before the bike was re-assembled into a completed signature bike....

Hmmmmn. Not sure about the colour, even with its matching side-car....

Perhaps the most famous bikes in the world..... the original Captain America bikes from the movie Easy Rider....

Bling, anyone?....

A pair of V-Twins fixed together from 1942. Being in a line, one can only try to imagine what this rode like....

This looks suspiciously like an MV Augusta to me....

This was bike number 2,000,000 to be made....

Dan on a racing Harley-Davidson....

Rich on a V-Rod drag bike....

Me on a side-car outfit with a foot clutch. It would take a long time to get used to that....

There was a Evel Knievel display....

Remember his failed rocket bike attempt....

Ouch. Some of his X-rays....

Me being very silly....

I enjoyed the museum. Is it worth going to? Yes, although I had thought it might be bigger. After the museum, we went for lunch which Rich very kindly paid for. With his local knowledge, Dan chose a great place to eat.

When I was in the H-D dealership in Chicago having my bike serviced, I was told about a bar in Milwaukee called the Safe House. It sounded fun, so we went off to find it. The bar has a James Bond, spy theme and is great fun. This is the sign on the entrance door – there is nothing else to indicate what it is....

To gain antry into the bar, you need to either know the password, or find your way in via a secret entrance in the lobby. It is not easy to find and the people already in the bar can watch you trying. Having found the secret entry, it is a hoot watching others try to find it! There are tv screens showing what people trying to find the entrance get up to and it is pretty funny. Apparently, some people don’t find the way in, give up and leave....

I bought Rich and Dan fake moustaches....

In keeping with my aim to take a photograph every time my tour trips over another 1000 miles, here is the 5000 mile photo, taken in central Milwaukee when riding back to the hotel. Rich and Dan were with me, so it is right they are in the picture....

Every Thursday at the Iron Horde Hotel is bike night. I felt very at home as this was British Bike Night!!!!....

A beautiful BSA side-car outfit. I can think of a couple of my Ural-owning readers that will like this....

A lovely Norton....

This is T.C. Christenson who raced a Norton powered drag bike in the seventies. I met him and a tv producer who was making a programme about the rider and his drag bikes....

A BSA in remarkably good condition....

A groovy looking tank on a Triumph....

Just so my scooter riding readers don’t feel left out....

This is Joe, an eccentric looking Triumph rider. He looks British, but is in fact American....

The tv producer I met said that when I get to Los Angeles, he would be able to get me access to something very special. I won’t say what it is in case in doesn’t happen, but I am very excited that it might!!!!! I will of course write about it on my blog if it does come to fruition!

Finally for today, I must thank Rich and Dan for firstly reading about my travels and taking the time to come to Milwaukee to meet me. It was greatly appreciated and you were both very good company!

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