East Coast Gathering V. There where some questions about the numbering. It's actually the 7th gathering, the first being October 02. The first 2 years we had 2 per year, spring & fall. Since then we have only had the spring gathering, so I dropped the 2 fall ones and it became V to represent the 5 spring gatherings starting in April 03.
Official results, as far as folks that signed my sheet. I suspect some didn't as my count put the attendees at a higher number.
62 V-Stroms at Ironhorse. One V-Strom owner present but rode a Yamaha.
Plus 10 wifes & girlfriends. I think the wifes & girlfriend number was higher also.
Farthest traveled: Close between Mark from Iowa & Gerhard from Ontario and Sylvain from Quebec. All a tad over 1000 miles.
Attendance by home:
Ontario 3
Quebec 1
Alabama 5
Connecticut 1
DC 1
Florida 3
Georgia 7
Illinois 2
Iowa 1
Kentucky 1
Maryland 2
Massachusetts 3
Maine 1
Michigan 1
North Carolina 13
Pennsylvania 1
Rhode Island 1
South Carolina 8
Tennessee 9
Virginia 7
West Virginia 1
Wisconsin 2
Fairly even split between wees & vees.
Weather, fantastic. Lows a little low at 32-37F. Highs in the lower 70s. Friday a bit cloudy & windy. The best weather we have had in awhile.
I always forget one item when traveling. This time it was my camera. So the rest of you step up and post some pics please!
Most roads where in excellent condition & traffic was on the light side, except at the gap. Bunch of new tar snakes in Georgia & some gravel in corners as well.
Bunch of interesting things going on around the area. Most noted by me was the 40 something Ferrari group, which included an F50, doing the gap on Friday. Lots of old road type 2-strokes running around the area.
Two off road events, that I heard of, with no major personnel injuries, which is very good, & probably one bike total. I'll leave it at that and the two involved can tell their stories if they desire.
Every year this event just seems to get better & better. This year there were no scheduled rides & I didn't hear anybody complaining as all just seemed to get together in small groups and RIDE!
Ironhorse just gets better & better. Food great as always. More rooms will be available next year as well, for those that do not wish to camp.
Camp grounds where actually starting to get full. Could maybe squeeze in about a dozen more.
You yellow guys need to get it together, only 2 present!
Dates for next year are 15-18 May, 2008.---------------------------------
Personel notes.
SV-Strom ran perfect. Suspension is very close for solo & two-up. For two-up I just had to crank the Wilbers about half way up on the pre-load. The front was a bit rough to start with but after 600 miles of twisties & bumps it dialed right in. I removed the PCIII prior to the trip & tuned the stock setup with the Yosh over the weekend. I have it pretty close, 37.3 MPG for the weekend and 2nd gear power wheelies going up the long hills.
I really like the new Battlewings. Havn't had them in the wet, but everything they did in the dry was spot on. I love the slipper clutch, this should be standard in the Stroms.
Thanks to Garry, who did most of the work. Dick for putting the Alaska night presentation together, which was very good. Those who put on the presentation. Eric from Twisted Throttle for suppling some door prises & being present for the 2nd year. Ironhorse personnel for being great hosts. Our good buddy Sylvain from the great white North for bring that great Maple Syrup again this year. And all attendees for making it a very enjoyable event.
See y'all next year.
