While camping on the Green River in Arkansas with a buddy on a cross-country trek, we discovered how his 180K mile 1981 BMW K100 had a mating call! This was the trip where I brought my 14 year old daughter with me on a motorcycle trip to the South Western U.S. from North Georgia!
My buddy Pete and I went on a number of trips together over the years. We met on the road at one of the Florida Interstate Welcome Centers. Being frugal, I frequently stop at the Welcome Centers to get my free state map (I still love paper maps)! Pete was doing the same and riding his old BMW K-Bike. I have met many of my closest friends on the road with a bike. The love of riding forms an immediate bond in common with others. In contrast that, not all people who ride are my cup of tea! People are still people...
Pete had a high mileage BMW, with a custom made fairing he did in his garage and actually "baked it" in his home oven. He was handy guy and could turn a wrench and was very creative. When we did long 3-6 week rides together camping, his organizational and packing skills were not his strong suit however.
We stopped and had set up camp, it was a hot day of riding and we all jumped into the Green River before nightfall. We cooked at the campsite. Pete always had protein bar and, trail mix he made himself, and other savory snacks in his tank bag. Pete was tall and lean, but ate little things frequently during our rides, even while on the highway he would snack at 85-90 MPH behind his home-made fairing!
We all went to bed tired from the ride. My daughter and I sharing a 2 person tent. Pete had his own. You could hear the water in the river running as we faded into the REM state. It was all very soothing... until my daughter wakes me up and sounds scared. She said she heard some hissing noises by the bikes. I listened carefully and sure enough I heard a high pitched shrill hissing noise and scrambling of something alive by the bikes. I quietly gathered my flashlight and exited the tent into the cool night, it must have been 3 AM. I searched the bike area and saw no one, using a prison camp guard tower search pattern.
Then I heard the noise again, and found with the light beam - that there were 5 large Raccoons on top of Pete's bike. 2 were sitting on top of his large tank bag and casually eating his trail mix. They have opposing thumbs - which puts them on a whole other level of cerebral thought. It also means that they can ride a motorcycle and handle the clutch and front brake just fine! Chickens have trouble with that - no opposing thumbs! All these racing thoughts came to me at once. Another 2 or 3 of the coons were on the passenger seat, or in some state of climbing onto the bike. One was hanging off the luggage rack doing a chin-up. As the lower ones got close to the king and queen of the pack, who enjoying peanuts and granola they were hissing at the climbing ones.
Clearing my head, I realized this was not a problem I had to deal with at 3 AM, but Pete's! I went over to Pete's tent. He had a one man tube tent and had left off his rain fly, so I could see him while standing next to his tent through the mesh and screen. He was sleeping like a log. I said "Pete, get up man!"
No reaction, so I bent down lower and closer to him while looking at him through the screen. I increased the volume on my voice, not a yell, but enough to rouse him. I mimicked the coon's hissing sound. Like a spatting cat. Pete's eyes opened and the first thing he saw was me 3' from his face. He screamed, I froze, my daughter laughed!. I then said, "Pete coons are getting into your trail mix and have set up shop on your bike! They might have even ripped up your tank bag or torn your seat - I can't tell."
Pete got up immediately, after he said some derogatory things I won't repeat! He gathered a 8' long branch and started trying to shooo the coons off of his bike, all they did was hiss at him! Then the lower 3 gave up trying to get to the food and fighting their friends and took up a "point position" on the ground towards Pete, like they were in some Roman Legion formation! They continued to hold their ground while the fat coons on top of his tank continued leisurely eating the trail mix. One of them had discovered the almonds and was deliberately sorting them out of the mix. must have been like caviar to them! Pete tried numerous times and got the same results.
I gave Pete a pat on the back, and said, "Good luck with that!"
My daughter and I, now knowing there was no danger, said good night to Pete as he continued his attempt to move the coons off of his bike with the branch. We then crawled into the tent and went to sleep knowing what all the noise was. Pete had it under control, or he thought he did!
We woke up a little after sunrise, got up and Pete was at the picnic table drinking coffee. The coons were gone. Pete had duck taped his tank bag where the coons had destroyed one of the zippers!
I asked him, "So how did you make out after we went to sleep?"
He replied as he looked up at us with blood shot eyes, "Those damn coons ate all my trail mix, and kept me up all night. They also destroyed my tank bag. Hissed at me for hours. Then they rambled off after the food was gone about 30 minutes ago. They took turns eating and changing positions. Fucking Raccoons are mean man! I used to like 'em!"
My daughter and I laughed hard! "I had no idea the K Bike was a Coon Magnet. That big one loved your almonds!" I said! Pete then started laughing too!
I continued, "It's good we are not in Grizzly Country, or they would have mauled all of us. Pete you got to ditch the food when we are camping man and put it away. It could get serious and someone could get hurt. We are lucky they were only coons." He said he would and he did the rest of the trip.
My daughter and I had fun with Pete, with this!
That summer my daughter, Menoly, rode on the back of my Red Honda ST1100 for 5800 miles from Georgia to Mesa Verde National Park, Four Corners, Moab (Utah), Grand Canyon National Park and Yellowstone National Park. My daughter had been around my motorcycles for years, but when she turned 14 she was big enough for this adventure. She is 31 now, but she still tells her friends about this trip. I have met her new friends and one of the first things out of their mouth is, "So your the one who took her on the motorcycle trip? !!"
I say, "Yes". They then immediately say something like, "That's awesome".
These kinds of bonding moments with your kids involving a motorcycle and travel to cool places create long lasting memories. Menoly and I still ride when we can and she is still an excellent and fun rider!
Below are some pictures of my daughter on that trip. Great memories for both of us....
My daughter was around my many motorcycles even at the age of 10, shown here!
My daughter with my riding buddy, Pete in Arkansas during our cross-country trip! She loves flowers, even to this day.
My daughter at Arches National Park!
My daughter in the Colorado mountains on this trip!
Here she is at Four Corners!
Here she is relaxing in Monument Valley, Utah!
With Pete as we entered Colorado from North Georgia. My daughter rode 5800 miles that summer at the age of 14!
What a trooper, she still loves to ride!
Hiking around Mesa Verde National Park while we camped there!
Mesa Verde National Park at Cliff Palace. I got her in a happier moment!
At the Grand Canyon!
Picture of me during this trip on the over-look when you first enter Mesa Verde National Park. My daughter took this!