Minden, NV pre16 ride 2011

Late every summer, a few guys meet in Minden to ride their old motorbikes around for a few days on the quiet backroads just east of the Sierra Nevada mountain range.  The roads are pretty flat, free of traffic and full of good views.  Which are all Good Things for enjoying an early bike on the open roads.  Here are some photos from the 2011 run.

At the Cutthroat Bar in Markleeville.  Our stop on the Thursday ride.

A few friendly faces.   How many can you name?  send your comments in via the link at the bottom of the page. 

 

Greg and his Exclesior.  more pics here.

Wes and his Excelsior

 

Somebody told me that I needed more readers, and they way to get them was to feature young girls and motorcycles in my photos.  So here is one.

 

A nice Indian

At Nevada’s Oldest Thirst Parlor in Genoa.  Since 1853.

 

Overland Stage in 1883

 

1918ish Excelsior

 

When Lane went to bed, somebody rolled his Cyclone into a hotel room for the night.

 

Cushman and Indian.  The Cushman is setup to run well and has enough power and brakes to keep up with the old bikes.  Chuck V. brought it out this year, a toy for an 85(?) year old to play with.

 

 

View from a restaurant in Carson City.  Victorian architecture and lighting.  And yes, that’s a horses ass outside the window.

 

Day three, out in Wellington, NV.  We had a great day’s ride out in the valley, until the big wildfire started.  It closed the road back toward civilization.  Most of the folks waited for the road to open, but I got itchy and put the truck into 4 wheel drive for a 15 mile dirt path up and out of the valley that touched down back in California.  We came across a group on modern HD’s that had just done the route on their bikes, with about 50% of them losing fork seals in the process.  But nobody burned up in the fire, and everybody made it home ok.

 

Buster’s Yale

A shot of the business end of the Yale muffler.

 

Rear fender has some neat details.

MFD by The Consolidated MFG Co.  Toledo, OH.

 

1915 1916 1917 Minnesota plate.

 

 

 

If you are going to adjust the timing in a parking lot, you might as well bring plenty of tools and a chair to sit on.

 

some local color.

 

No apology for featuring yet another shot of that beautiful 1911 Excelsior.