Atlanta to Nashville

[BillInGA]

Originally Posted by Water Warrior

Rider's backrest.

I will be fabricating a luggage rack / back rest to take to place of the back seat for the trip. I don't have the final configuration yet, but I'll either have a backrest as part of the structure or use my luggage as a backrest.

[BillInGA]

Originally Posted by music man

I have been using those exclusively on my bike since I started riding a few years ago, and they are great, and cheap.

I honestly don't know how people ride on long trips without listening to anything but the wind and the sound of an engine for hours on end, that would drive me insane, but hell I don't even go to the store down the road from my house and back without listening to music on my bike. :rawk: :smallrawk:

I would use earplugs / headphones more often, but since my typical ride to work or around town is less than 10 minutes I just don't bother with them. Longer trips are an entirely different issue. More than 20 minutes and I need earplugs at the very least.

[burkbuilds]

Originally Posted by Easy Rider

As long as there aren't any back woods, dead end roads involved in the "escort" !! :shocked:
:biggrin:

P.S. My mother was born in Florida and my great-great grandfather was an original settler in Georgia (Cobb county). Does that take away some points from my "yankee" score ???

:crackup

My wife's family is descended from "Damn yankees", that is, yankees who moved south and stayed here. So, I guess you'll be okay Easy! I grew up here and have lived here my entire life and it is often amazing to me how worked up some people around here get over a war that ended 150 years ago, but some of them still hold a grudge. Some of my older relatives still refer to the US Civil war as the "war of Northern aggression"! Maybe that should tell us something about why the US is not more popular in countries we've gone into to "liberate" the population. Nobody likes an outside country occupying "their" land, even when they lost the war. That seems to be the attitude of a few folks here in the south, they still see the Federal government as an "occupying force" in "our" country.

Anyway, Easy, give me a shout when you are heading through and maybe we can meet somewhere for a meal together.

[zenbutcher]

Originally Posted by BillInGA

I will be fabricating a luggage rack / back rest to take to place of the back seat for the trip. I don't have the final configuration yet, but I'll either have a backrest as part of the structure or use my luggage as a backrest.

Will you pleeeaaaase post some pictures of what you come up with? I want to do something like this myself, but have no experience in metal fabricating. Maybe I'd even buy one from you if you want to make two.

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by BillInGA

Another bonus is that it makes riding in cold weather much more comfortable, cutting down on the blast of cold air hitting me in the chest.

As time goes along, you will no doubt notice that it also cuts down on OTHER things hitting you in the chest. Last week the lead rider on a short ride we took missed a flying turkey by only a few feet. I've bounced birds off my shield before but never anything THAT big.

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by BillInGA

I will be fabricating a luggage rack / back rest

I think there are some plans on here for building one.
That might be a good place to start.

[BillInGA]

Originally Posted by zenbutcher

Will you pleeeaaaase post some pictures of what you come up with? I want to do something like this myself, but have no experience in metal fabricating. Maybe I'd even buy one from you if you want to make two.

Take a look at the How-To section for some ideas. That's what I'm basing my plans on. But, yes, I'll post my own version as well.

[BillInGA]

Originally Posted by Easy Rider

As time goes along, you will no doubt notice that it also cuts down on OTHER things hitting you in the chest. Last week the lead rider on a short ride we took missed a flying turkey by only a few feet. I've bounced birds off my shield before but never anything THAT big.

I'm pretty sure I had a mid-air with a small bird on US-41 south of Murfreesboro. It was a direct crosswind at about 20 mph (the wind, that is. I was doing about 55). I saw something small, dark and fast come at me in my peripheral vision. It bounced off my chest with barely a thud and then disappeared.

[Water Warrior 2]

Originally Posted by zenbutcher

Will you pleeeaaaase post some pictures of what you come up with? I want to do something like this myself, but have no experience in metal fabricating. Maybe I'd even buy one from you if you want to make two.

This is what I did to Lynda's GZ for a backrest. She had no intention of riding 2 up.

[BillInGA]

Originally Posted by Water Warrior

This is what I did to Lynda's GZ for a backrest. She had no intention of riding 2 up.

What did you use for the base?