JOURNEY TO THE LIZARD

The Blind Lizard is a high point of the Nobody Ride Schedule. Since the ride is in late June, there is a good possibility that the temperature will be bearable, if not pleasant. On this Lizard Ride June 20, 2010 the weather was fantastic. The early part of our ride (we headed out at 5:20 am.) was a little cool with some ground fog, but as the day progressed the temperature was in the high 70's with a partly cloudy sky.

PICTURED ABOVE: Lizard is coffeed up and ready to get on the road. Last year the Blind Lizard was the longest ride he had ever done. The conditions were tough, but he was tougher, thus he earned his Nobody name "The Lizard". Riding a Yamaha 400 through wind, rain and cold temperatures for 320 miles, without a complaint was impressive.

Flashback Gordon (above left) the driving force behind this ride is ready to organize all the riders and get us on the road.

After riding down State Highway 23 for 15 miles we hooked up with the newest member of the Nobodies, Bonneville. He is the center fellow in the photo. He was riding his 1981 Gold
Wing.

Foreground to background: Bonneville, Flashback, Lizard

We stoped at the restaurant in Banning Junction for our second breakfast. Flashback actually had his first and second breakfast there. We are always hoping to entertain our waitress with our biker savvy. This time we accomplished it with our wit and our ineptitude using cell phones.

Back on the road, ready for whatever comes our way, born to be mild.

Lizard in singing a song and dancing for his "new" ride a 1980's Honda 750. He has found along with some carburetor work singing and dancing for his bike improves it's performance.

We took plenty of breaks on our ride. We are all getting older.......our bladders aren't quite as elastic as they were in our younger days. We also like snacks!

Above: Kickstand and The Blind Lizard

The Blind Lizard is an interesting happening. Bikers just start congregating in a residential area on Nicolette Island in Minneapolis Minnesota. The variety of bikes is amazing. The atmosphere is friendly and fun loving. There is chili, root beer and the lizard pin and t-shirt. This was the 34 year of the Lizard.

There were a lot of Honda Super 6's this year.

I really don't know much about all the different motorcycle makes and models. I just enjoy looking at them and occasionally I am willing to listen and learn about a particular bike. Sad thing is I will usually forget most of what I have heard by the end of the day!

This event draws an interesting crowd. Above you see a photo of a fellow with his home made aerodynamic shell for his bicycle. I think it is also a sauna on wheels.

It is hard to say how many bikes are at the Lizard. My guess is between 250 and 300. Next year a promise to count, but since people are always coming and going the number is rather fluid.

I've been told that every metric bike company has made at least one turbo. Sounds like this was the thing to tryout in the late 70's and early 80"s.
http://www.turbomotorcycles.org/TMIOA/Bikes.html

I would like to have a Moto Guzzi.

What a beautiful bike. Looks fast too. But remember speed kills, especially if one has slow reflexes!

Nice Ride!

The old, new, nice, junky, you name it. The red bike is a Moto Guzzi. http://guzzista.wetpaint.com/page/Moto+Guzzi+-+A+History+Part1

This is the Lizard Pin Lady and her amazing bike.



Next year you will need to ride with us. You may say "It's Father's Day, I can't leave the family". Well if you are a father.....it is your day! If you are a son or daughter, what better gift can you give your dad than a day at the Blind Lizard! If you are a wife......well give the guy a day to himself leaving him at home while you go to the LIZARD.

JOIN US FOR THE BLIND LIZARD

The Nobodies are heading down to the Blind Lizard tomorrow morning. If you are not familiar with this fantastic bike rally; you can check out last years blog entry with many pictures or search the web for more information. There is no official site so you need to just look around. Here is a place to start http://www.diamondscoffeeshoppe.com/2010-06-20-blind-lizard-rally

There is every bike you can imagine. It is free and a very friendly crowd gathers.

People just congregate in a residential area on Nicolette Island!

If you enjoy learning about bikes, this is the place to go as every one is willing to tell you about theirs.

You can even get a ride from the Blind Lizard!

Not only is the Lizard there, but food, Blind Lizard T - Shirt and the very nice commemorative pin. Cash only please!


If you want to ride with the Nobodies meet a the Nobody Museum at 5 am sharp! So far Lizard, Flash Back and myself are going. If you don't know where the Museum is located give me a call ate 626-1970 or email me. Hope you can make it. We will be getting back to Duluth at around 5 - 6 pm. We go rain or shine.

IN SEARCH OF JAWA THE PUTTZ

On Sunday June 13 I decided to spend the day IN SEARCH OF JAWA THE PUTTZ. I headed up Highway 61 towards the Canadian Border. Jawa is the "hermit-like" Nobody who lives in the extreme northern part of Minnesota. He is rather shy, furry, comical and at time can be very dangerous, especially when hungry.

This photo of Jawa was taken by a motion activated trail camera. It was taken in late spring of this year. Jawa has his red summer coat already.

Looking for Jawa is like searching for the elusive Big Foot. Where does one start?

Unfortunately Jawa took the radio tracking collar off his neck some time this winter, so flying over the north wood in the vicinity of Ely was not productive.

Motorcycling on out of the way roads started giving me hope, as I was finding signs of a Puttz; candy bar wrappers, bits of bagels, coffee grounds, etc.

On Highway 1, I noticed movement in the woods.

It was a red fox.

Then I spotted a bear back in the brush. That was very encouraging, as Jawa often travels with North American Black Bear.

In a bush 20 feet past the bear I heard a rustling and noticed a red coat.

Upon closer investigation, it appeared to be a Puttz. I was not sure if it was Jawa.

When I opened a bag of potato chips, the Puttz came out with a very friendly grin on his face. It was Jawa!

He quickly ate the bag of chips and downed a 12 pack of cream soda. Puttz's are known for abrupt naps after gorging themselves.

After the nap, Jawa did his famous Puttz pose. He was begging for food!

"Hey Jawa, do you want to go with me to the Vanilla Bean and have a meal?" "It will be my treat!"

"Oh, oh, oh, oh, ya sure you betchya!"

Taking a Puttz out for a meal is expensive, but I love spending time with Jawa.

TOTAL SEAL REPLACEMENT

A web cam feed allowed all the Nobodies around the world to view a total seal replacement yesterday morning at the Nobody Motorcycle Museum.





It was a historic moment, because for the first time in the history of motorcycle mechanics the operation (job) was performed by three Norwegians! Never before have three Norwegians been allowed in the same garage let alone working on the same bike. You see a very unusual phenomena occurs. It is call negative synergy or more correctly known as ninergy. Yes the IQ's of Norwegians decrease as there numbers increase.

Muzzle Loader wanted to make a gun out of the fork. He explained that it would be a cross between a rifle and a cannon. After discharging one 33 ounce ball bearing out of his new weapon, he got back to the job at hand.

It ended up being quite difficult to clean the "gun/cannon" after the experiment. Muzzle Loader and Flash Back Gordon worked hard. In the process of cleaning the fork tube a rather large piece of cloth got stuck. They had to make a tool to get the cloth out. Again never allow several Norwegians to work on a bike together.

The old seals were well seated in the fork slider. It required the making of another tool. Norwegians are generally very creative, but often impractical. It took a long time to make the seal puller, because all three surgeons insisted on having their idea incorporated into the design.

I really believe the three stooges were based on observing a certain nationality interacting with each other. Despite the delays, difficulties and detours the job was completed and Muzzle Loader was able to enjoy his fully functional front forks on a nice afternoon ride.

If for some reason you would like three Norwegians to work on your bike, just give us a call. We have opened up a garage SSS Cycle Repair. The S's stand for Stupid, Stupider and Stupidest.

BLESSING OF THE BIKES 2010

Flash Back Gordon, Lizard and I headed out to the Blessing of the Bikes Sunday May 30.

I was rather busy there, as the Vineyard Church asked me to do some tricks while folks were waiting in line for their food.

I am a humble fellow who usually does not like to put on a cycle show........but I dedicated my show to God.

Folks enjoyed a great meal of BBQ sandwiches from Famous Dave's and other good stuff.

I heard there were over 300 bikes at the blessing this year. The weather was a little touch and go for a while in the afternoon, but we were spared the rain.

A blues band (Ham Bone) played some fine music too.

We also offered folks hot dogs and hamburgers.

There were lots and lots of nice bikes

After the service, good food, music and visiting, folks had an opportunity to receive prayer. I guess the bikes are blessed too, but it really is the bikers that received prayer. Why is it called Blessing of the Bikes? Hmm, I really don't know. Maybe a long time ago people just prayed for the bikes and it evolved into praying for people and the name of the event never changed.

2010 MEMBERSHIP DRIVE

Our slogan for our Membership Drive this year is: "Going Nowhere? You're Heading Our Way!" The Nobodies

Pretzel and I are getting ready to travel through Minnesota, Wisconsin and North and South Dakota looking for new members. If you are interested in joining us on the membership drive please contact me in the next few days. We are leaving some time next week.

We are looking forward to meeting many bikers and having the opportunity to introduce them to the Nobodies. We feel our 2010 slogan speaks volumes.

This year we will be spending a significant portion of our budget exploring the lost art of wandering. The majority of our research will be on the road using trial and error as our main mode of learning.

We will be developing a pamphlet on the dos and don'ts of wandering. We have also decided to dedicate our 2010 Nobody Bike Tour to wandering. Our tentative dates for the tour are July 14 - 21. We will be sharing more specifics in the next couple of weeks.