The Vintage 1000
The Vintage 1000 now in its 6th year is a pre 1981 "vintage only" motorcycle ride that spans a course of 1000 miles of incredibly diverse terrain that mixes some the most extreme trail riding and gorgeous beautifully paved roads that the Appalachian mountains can offer. Adam and Jamie Sheard of the moto repair shop "Speed Deluxe" out of Chattanooga, TN wanted to bring something exclusive to people who eat, sleep and breathe vintage motorcycles of all brands. Something that could push them out of their comfort zones and test their vintage steeds and willful spirits to a crash course of high and low speed endurance riding all while using only traditional paper maps and handlebar mounted roll charts only. No GPS allowed of any kind. Vintage from start to finish just as it were when the bikes we are riding were made. That's something we can surely respect.....and the routes planned by Adam are very interesting and exclusive so using GPS would just take all the fun out of it anyhow. The ride consists of 20 riders in 4 groups all working to fight their way through the daunting days routes to reach camp for a rewarding meal at the end of each night.
We had heard tales of the vintage 1000 for several years now and followed the incredible exploits of the event online but we knew this ride was something that had to be experienced in person to be fully appreciated. So we booked ourselves onto the "Mountain route" covering Tennessee, North Carolina and Georgia. We then set out to build a motorcycle straight from our hearts that was something that 1. We carry a full stock of parts on and 2. Was a bike that could handle all parts of the 1000 mile course including rough terrain and high speed winding mountain roads. Of course our favorite motorcycle is the classic Honda CB750, but the beast like inline 4 Honda 750 motor would have been a bit too much weight to dominate the trail sections. So what's the next best vintage 750 that we knew we loved? Of course a KZ750 twin could have been ideal even though a bit on the heavy side still but finding one is a little more difficult locally so we turned to a motorcycle that almost anyone could find for sale all over the country, a Yamaha XS650. Still we were wanting to achieve that uphill torque that a 750 twin could produce so knowing that, we looked to the online classifieds and found a badly abused yet reasonably priced XS650 needing rebuilt, so that in the process of rebuilding, we could just bore the cylinders to the desired 750cc and roll out. I found a barely running and very cobbled together 1980 XS650 in Tennessee, got it fired up spitting and sputtering and leaking oil out of every gasket just enough to get it through the gears and loaded it up and brought it home for full tear down. Together with my father Chris Vandegriff we stripped the entire bike down to the bare metal frame and using oldbikebarn.com parts replaced, every single seal, o ring, bearing, gasket, chain, pad, etc etc etc etc and on and on until we had the closest thing to a brand new (yet modified) bike straight off the line in 1980. We tore down the motor and started by replacing the cam chain and guides that were badly damaged and worn and bumped the jug and piston size up to the desired 750cc with a set of Heiden Tuning jugs and pistons with new rings. Took the head to local Gasoline alley and formula one legend Tom Hooker for a full valve job and head strip. We then reassembled and opted to try an aftermarket ignition and charging from a third party supplier that unfortunately was later found to be defective and lead us to believe our cam alignment was possibly off, so we tore the head back down took it to our good friends at Hoy Vintage Cycle and they helped us triple check the cam alignment. Put it back in the frame and still having some ignition issues, went back to the stock ignition and charging. After rebuilding the motor and getting all set up back in the frame, we replaced the stock BS34 diaphragm carbs with a set of Mikuni VM34 round slide carbs and changed the jets to a fine tuned mix with a set of slip in baffles achieving actually a pretty solid overall fuel economy (something we later were glad we had on the long stretches between fuel stops). We then went with oldbikebarn.com 14 3/8 extended shocks in the rear to get the desired height we wanted, then progressive fork springs in the front tubes as well as extending the fork tubes up 2 inches. We replaced the clutch pads with a brand new oldbikebarn.com set and then installed an aftermarket oil cooler to help the beefy 750 do its job. We opted to leave the stock charging system after multiple successful tests, one of the only original stock components to remain in the bike. We changed the gearing from a 17-34 combo to 18 in the front 32 in the rear. Which we later were forced due to some pretty extreme clearance issues with the shifter shaft rubbing the chain to bump the front back to the original 17 tooth. We went with a "Tuffside" short cafe style seat which we have been selling on the site for the past year and upgraded the lighting with some led's (one of the only modern modifications that Adam and Jamie allow). The vintage 1000 has guidelines on what types of modifications you can do to the bike and so that is one of the reasons why we kept several elements of the bike very close to stock. The last thing was the exhaust which we found through Ebay half finished and never ran. Basically someone had realized they built these XS650 scrambler pipes wrong then never tried fixing them. So having just shot a great feature on Northbilt Customs inline 4 scrambler with an elaborate exhaust, we took the pieces to them to brainstorm where to start chopping up this XS scrambler exhaust to make it not only mount correctly with the now much wider 750cc Heiden Tuning jug fins but also be able to take the extreme force and vibration we knew the trail sections would demand. Northbilt knocked it out of the park and we coated the pipes and fabbed up a mount for a set of old Honda 350 heat shields then got to test riding. We stacked a couple hundred miles total on the motor and then set out for Tennessee to begin day 1 of the vintage 1000.
Day 1 was pretty fun right away breaking off a group of 20+ riders into four groups of 5 or 6. Each day the groups have the ability to change and swap around members which is a great way to get to spend some time in the saddle with close to all the 20 riders by the end of the trip. Each group has a lead rider and a rider in the rear that carries a special Garmin device for medical support and stalled riders. Aside from the Garmin your phone basically becomes nothing more than a little brick in your pocket as signal becomes quite scarce once you reach the majority of the trails. Something that was honestly sort of refreshing having only to worry about the function of the bike, your roll chart and the road ahead of you and not the buzzing of cell phone notifications for a week. Day 1 got off to a great start, we made our way about 70 miles down to the first bits of rough trail riding that would lead us into North Carolina. Everything was going well and the riders were in good spirits and unfortunately it felt too good to be true and it was. As the XS650 began climbing hills on the trails the motor began to bog down hard, not having enough spark to keep the bike going. This indicated a charging issue so we got pulled over and Adam Sheard and Andrew Duthie helped me troubleshoot the brushes and stator. The brushes looked fine but the stator wasnt testing well. We ended up having to rig another battery to the bike externally to get us out of the rough trails another 30 miles or so. One thing that the ride offers is a support trailer to pick you up in an instance like this, but the trails are so extreme that in many sections cars and especially big Van's with trailers would never make it through. So reaching the main paved mountain roads is key in a situation like the one we found ourselves in that day. The second battery failed and it was on the trailer headed for camp. The other riders pressed on to conquer some pretty wild water crossings and finally make their way to camp. After a long sleepless night going through the bike and then an 8 hour drive all the way from Indianapolis for my father who wanted to see the bike through till the end, he delivered the charging system off his running XS650 and we pressed on and replaced the stator and regulator rectifier into the early morning hours by flashlights and headlamps. After the bike still would not charge, in static testing we then found that a wire had mysteriously grounded somewhere during the trail riding and even installing a whole other stock charging system left us with the same result. Close to 48 hours with little to no sleep, we had to figure out a plan B. So it was back on the trailer headed to camp going into day 2.
Day 2 found us to be started out on quite a rocky start to the trip. The only 40 year old component we opted to leave on the bike chose the first 100 miles of the Vintage 1000 for its final resting place after 40 long years in service on the bike. Our only option was to install a permanent magnet alternator and electronic ignition system which we had secured just in time from "Hugh's Handbilt." This required removing every bit of stock wiring that we could which we hoped would rid us of the original cause of the faulty ground that shorted not only one but two charging systems. As the other riders made their way through the rest of the days course we set up camp next to veteran rider Randy Bennett who had also fallen victim to the road gremlins of the vintage 1000 after sucking a thick plastic bag up in the chain of his 1971 SL350 wrapping it into his counter shaft seal completely destroying the seal and spewing oil out the lower half of the motor. My father and I along with Randy worked into the night on our extensive repairs and around 11pm almost in unison Randy and I both had running bikes again able to press on the rest of the week to finish out the course. Theres truly something about the Vintage 1000 that just comes over you once you start. The energy from the other riders, the comradery and willingness to help and the positive spirit really drives you to never accept defeat and in the case of Randy and I our hard work thankfully paid off.
Day 3 began with a fresh start and a great bit of roads leading us out of Maggie Valley, NC and further into the mountains. The XS650 scrambler was again running strong and the winding roads were a welcome way to start the day dipping hard into the deep corners. Today would also be the start of some really technical and extreme trail riding covering sections with insanely steep red clay covered hillclimbs mixed with trails that were essentially the washed out dried up beds of creeks. The large rocks were unforgiving and the infamous red clay was not our friend but we powered through every section, often lending help to fellow riders to get through the more extreme parts of the climbs. We ventured out of the trails only to get quite lost looking for gas. Our tanks were all around the 100 mile mark (with the exception of mine which could do closer to 120) and we had all dipped into our reserve fuel bottles. We finally made our way to a 100+ year old gas station called Fergeson Supply that after nourishing our tanks and stomachs lead us onto a road famed for its 290 curves similar to the Deals Gap "tail of the dragon" only this road was named "The Rattler." We followed the twists and turns of the rattler for several miles in order to find our next fun bit of trails where our trail adventures finally took us deep into the Blue Ridge Mountains where we finally came out onto the the famous Blue Ridge Parkway only to take it to the top of Mt. Mitchell which was breathtaking but unfortunately waiting for us with a fun torrential downpour that lasted for the rest of the night until we finally rolled down a steep gravel service road into camp soaked and starved from the days exhausting trail sections but still buzzing from the diverse amount of riding we had experienced throughout the last 12 hours.
Day 4 lead us out of the camp and back onto the Blue Ridge Parkway for some really incredible switchback roads that went on what seemed like forever. We hit a few bumps in the road though with missed turns and stalled bikes and drug our time out trying to find shade while making roadside repairs. The day finally pressed on climbing up the paved hilly switchbacks only to have another breakdown that would go down in the span of the trip as one of the most badass "action movie biker" scenes we had seen throughout the trip. Adam sets the routes so he is always the last rider that trails the last group to make sure no man gets left behind. The only bad thing is, what happens when Adam gets left behind? Well, after beginning the descent down a steep mountain path we realized we hadn't seen Adam in our mirrors in some time. We all pulled off safely to regroup and Adam comes barreling down the downward switchbacks holding his bars with his left hand and holding something up with his right hand that at first glance we all thought was a snake? After firing up our bikes and charging down the path after him we realized he wasnt holding a snake but equally just as Jason Statham bad ass, he was rolling down the mountain holding up his Triumphs rear drive chain! When he got to parts where the road leveled off and he could coast no more we thought, well this is where we are stopping but nope, he jumped off the bike and ran with it until it got to the next downhill section and jumped on and back to riding it out. We finally reached the end of the downward slopes to settle the bike into a field where the support truck could safely retrieve the bike along with another downed rider Josh Moody who's float bowl had seen enough. We said goodbye to Adam and Josh for the day to press on into the night. What we hadn't realized was due to all the breakdowns we were closing in on darkness fast and the trails we had ahead included some of the most intense water crossings of the trip and a several mile long downhill rocky section that was something that a professional hare scrambles champion would have been sweating in their suit over. Yet we had to do it all on vintage street bikes. After making it through an entire creek to reach our part of the trail it lead us to some pretty sketchy rough sections full of deep ruts able to swallow the bikes and rocky dips that proved too much for one of the low centered BMW's we had in the group ridden by David Hunt. After changing some plugs in the BMW we pushed on now into complete darkness into 2 more water crossings and the downhill scrambles challenge we had dreaded all day. One rider even lost his headlight on his CB350 and had to navigate the terrifying terrain with only a flashlight strapped to his forehead . We made it out of the woods and finally found gas only to have it be my turn once again for a breakdown (which would have qualified every rider in our group to have a serious bike malfunction due to the terrain that day). After going through every bit of wiring and swapping plugs a later diagnosis from Andrew Duthie of Nashville motorcycle repair (who we absolutely can't thank enough for all his insight on this trip) found that a relay in the new ignition system had already failed and would not allow the bike to spark. We disconnected the failed relay and it was back to nice bright spark and back on the road.
Day 5 had us riding through beautiful Georgia and put me with a whole new group of riders including Randy Bennett who was leading the group and veteran vintage 1000 rider Chastin Brand in the rear who's purple and red Triumph was still powering through after many amazing campsite fixes. One thing that we realized on day 5 as well was, I felt really bad about holding up the group on day 1 but in retrospect almost every bike out of the 20 riders(with the exception of only a couple) had some kind of issue that warranted serious repair either right there on the side of the road or at camp later that night. The Vintage 1000 will test you and your motorcycle on a level that your average "vintage bike run" could never imagine. The diverse terrain leads you through literally EVERY single riding condition that you could put two wheels and a motor on. Water, mud, gravel, boulders, grass, asphalt and even a bit of sand on their "Coastal route." Adam and Jamie work hard to make sure the routes are just as challenging as they are enjoyable. With that said Day 5 stepped it up to certainly not disappoint on the difficulty level or the enjoyment. However, the only thing that can change the level of enjoyment on a good motorcycle trip is a good amount of rain.....and my God did we get that and hours of it yet again. (The organizers went on to say later that this was the wettest Vintage 1000 they've had in 6 years since its inception). Anyhow, our group was lucky enough to make it up the trek"s last hurrah of intense red clay Georgia hillclimbs in the deep woods trails just before a massive thunderstorm rolled in. We rolled carefully downhill on the slick gravel paths (wet gravel downhill still freaks me out and always will) and made it out of the trails and back onto a paved country road only to find a small barn enclosure (or an old bike barn enclosure if you will, wink wink) to park under and dry off a bit. As we bit down into our packed lunches and wiped the water from our visors we realized the intense clay hillclimbs we had just done still had TWO GROUPS LEFT that needed safely get through them. We pressed on hoping the best for the final 10 riders and made our way back up into Tennessee. Everyone made it back in one piece safely but 3 bikes total made their way onto the trailer for the final leg of Day 5.
We had heard tales of the vintage 1000 for several years now and followed the incredible exploits of the event online but we knew this ride was something that had to be experienced in person to be fully appreciated. So we booked ourselves onto the "Mountain route" covering Tennessee, North Carolina and Georgia. We then set out to build a motorcycle straight from our hearts that was something that 1. We carry a full stock of parts on and 2. Was a bike that could handle all parts of the 1000 mile course including rough terrain and high speed winding mountain roads. Of course our favorite motorcycle is the classic Honda CB750, but the beast like inline 4 Honda 750 motor would have been a bit too much weight to dominate the trail sections. So what's the next best vintage 750 that we knew we loved? Of course a KZ750 twin could have been ideal even though a bit on the heavy side still but finding one is a little more difficult locally so we turned to a motorcycle that almost anyone could find for sale all over the country, a Yamaha XS650. Still we were wanting to achieve that uphill torque that a 750 twin could produce so knowing that, we looked to the online classifieds and found a badly abused yet reasonably priced XS650 needing rebuilt, so that in the process of rebuilding, we could just bore the cylinders to the desired 750cc and roll out. I found a barely running and very cobbled together 1980 XS650 in Tennessee, got it fired up spitting and sputtering and leaking oil out of every gasket just enough to get it through the gears and loaded it up and brought it home for full tear down. Together with my father Chris Vandegriff we stripped the entire bike down to the bare metal frame and using oldbikebarn.com parts replaced, every single seal, o ring, bearing, gasket, chain, pad, etc etc etc etc and on and on until we had the closest thing to a brand new (yet modified) bike straight off the line in 1980. We tore down the motor and started by replacing the cam chain and guides that were badly damaged and worn and bumped the jug and piston size up to the desired 750cc with a set of Heiden Tuning jugs and pistons with new rings. Took the head to local Gasoline alley and formula one legend Tom Hooker for a full valve job and head strip. We then reassembled and opted to try an aftermarket ignition and charging from a third party supplier that unfortunately was later found to be defective and lead us to believe our cam alignment was possibly off, so we tore the head back down took it to our good friends at Hoy Vintage Cycle and they helped us triple check the cam alignment. Put it back in the frame and still having some ignition issues, went back to the stock ignition and charging. After rebuilding the motor and getting all set up back in the frame, we replaced the stock BS34 diaphragm carbs with a set of Mikuni VM34 round slide carbs and changed the jets to a fine tuned mix with a set of slip in baffles achieving actually a pretty solid overall fuel economy (something we later were glad we had on the long stretches between fuel stops). We then went with oldbikebarn.com 14 3/8 extended shocks in the rear to get the desired height we wanted, then progressive fork springs in the front tubes as well as extending the fork tubes up 2 inches. We replaced the clutch pads with a brand new oldbikebarn.com set and then installed an aftermarket oil cooler to help the beefy 750 do its job. We opted to leave the stock charging system after multiple successful tests, one of the only original stock components to remain in the bike. We changed the gearing from a 17-34 combo to 18 in the front 32 in the rear. Which we later were forced due to some pretty extreme clearance issues with the shifter shaft rubbing the chain to bump the front back to the original 17 tooth. We went with a "Tuffside" short cafe style seat which we have been selling on the site for the past year and upgraded the lighting with some led's (one of the only modern modifications that Adam and Jamie allow). The vintage 1000 has guidelines on what types of modifications you can do to the bike and so that is one of the reasons why we kept several elements of the bike very close to stock. The last thing was the exhaust which we found through Ebay half finished and never ran. Basically someone had realized they built these XS650 scrambler pipes wrong then never tried fixing them. So having just shot a great feature on Northbilt Customs inline 4 scrambler with an elaborate exhaust, we took the pieces to them to brainstorm where to start chopping up this XS scrambler exhaust to make it not only mount correctly with the now much wider 750cc Heiden Tuning jug fins but also be able to take the extreme force and vibration we knew the trail sections would demand. Northbilt knocked it out of the park and we coated the pipes and fabbed up a mount for a set of old Honda 350 heat shields then got to test riding. We stacked a couple hundred miles total on the motor and then set out for Tennessee to begin day 1 of the vintage 1000.
Day 1 was pretty fun right away breaking off a group of 20+ riders into four groups of 5 or 6. Each day the groups have the ability to change and swap around members which is a great way to get to spend some time in the saddle with close to all the 20 riders by the end of the trip. Each group has a lead rider and a rider in the rear that carries a special Garmin device for medical support and stalled riders. Aside from the Garmin your phone basically becomes nothing more than a little brick in your pocket as signal becomes quite scarce once you reach the majority of the trails. Something that was honestly sort of refreshing having only to worry about the function of the bike, your roll chart and the road ahead of you and not the buzzing of cell phone notifications for a week. Day 1 got off to a great start, we made our way about 70 miles down to the first bits of rough trail riding that would lead us into North Carolina. Everything was going well and the riders were in good spirits and unfortunately it felt too good to be true and it was. As the XS650 began climbing hills on the trails the motor began to bog down hard, not having enough spark to keep the bike going. This indicated a charging issue so we got pulled over and Adam Sheard and Andrew Duthie helped me troubleshoot the brushes and stator. The brushes looked fine but the stator wasnt testing well. We ended up having to rig another battery to the bike externally to get us out of the rough trails another 30 miles or so. One thing that the ride offers is a support trailer to pick you up in an instance like this, but the trails are so extreme that in many sections cars and especially big Van's with trailers would never make it through. So reaching the main paved mountain roads is key in a situation like the one we found ourselves in that day. The second battery failed and it was on the trailer headed for camp. The other riders pressed on to conquer some pretty wild water crossings and finally make their way to camp. After a long sleepless night going through the bike and then an 8 hour drive all the way from Indianapolis for my father who wanted to see the bike through till the end, he delivered the charging system off his running XS650 and we pressed on and replaced the stator and regulator rectifier into the early morning hours by flashlights and headlamps. After the bike still would not charge, in static testing we then found that a wire had mysteriously grounded somewhere during the trail riding and even installing a whole other stock charging system left us with the same result. Close to 48 hours with little to no sleep, we had to figure out a plan B. So it was back on the trailer headed to camp going into day 2.
Day 2 found us to be started out on quite a rocky start to the trip. The only 40 year old component we opted to leave on the bike chose the first 100 miles of the Vintage 1000 for its final resting place after 40 long years in service on the bike. Our only option was to install a permanent magnet alternator and electronic ignition system which we had secured just in time from "Hugh's Handbilt." This required removing every bit of stock wiring that we could which we hoped would rid us of the original cause of the faulty ground that shorted not only one but two charging systems. As the other riders made their way through the rest of the days course we set up camp next to veteran rider Randy Bennett who had also fallen victim to the road gremlins of the vintage 1000 after sucking a thick plastic bag up in the chain of his 1971 SL350 wrapping it into his counter shaft seal completely destroying the seal and spewing oil out the lower half of the motor. My father and I along with Randy worked into the night on our extensive repairs and around 11pm almost in unison Randy and I both had running bikes again able to press on the rest of the week to finish out the course. Theres truly something about the Vintage 1000 that just comes over you once you start. The energy from the other riders, the comradery and willingness to help and the positive spirit really drives you to never accept defeat and in the case of Randy and I our hard work thankfully paid off.
Day 3 began with a fresh start and a great bit of roads leading us out of Maggie Valley, NC and further into the mountains. The XS650 scrambler was again running strong and the winding roads were a welcome way to start the day dipping hard into the deep corners. Today would also be the start of some really technical and extreme trail riding covering sections with insanely steep red clay covered hillclimbs mixed with trails that were essentially the washed out dried up beds of creeks. The large rocks were unforgiving and the infamous red clay was not our friend but we powered through every section, often lending help to fellow riders to get through the more extreme parts of the climbs. We ventured out of the trails only to get quite lost looking for gas. Our tanks were all around the 100 mile mark (with the exception of mine which could do closer to 120) and we had all dipped into our reserve fuel bottles. We finally made our way to a 100+ year old gas station called Fergeson Supply that after nourishing our tanks and stomachs lead us onto a road famed for its 290 curves similar to the Deals Gap "tail of the dragon" only this road was named "The Rattler." We followed the twists and turns of the rattler for several miles in order to find our next fun bit of trails where our trail adventures finally took us deep into the Blue Ridge Mountains where we finally came out onto the the famous Blue Ridge Parkway only to take it to the top of Mt. Mitchell which was breathtaking but unfortunately waiting for us with a fun torrential downpour that lasted for the rest of the night until we finally rolled down a steep gravel service road into camp soaked and starved from the days exhausting trail sections but still buzzing from the diverse amount of riding we had experienced throughout the last 12 hours.
Day 4 lead us out of the camp and back onto the Blue Ridge Parkway for some really incredible switchback roads that went on what seemed like forever. We hit a few bumps in the road though with missed turns and stalled bikes and drug our time out trying to find shade while making roadside repairs. The day finally pressed on climbing up the paved hilly switchbacks only to have another breakdown that would go down in the span of the trip as one of the most badass "action movie biker" scenes we had seen throughout the trip. Adam sets the routes so he is always the last rider that trails the last group to make sure no man gets left behind. The only bad thing is, what happens when Adam gets left behind? Well, after beginning the descent down a steep mountain path we realized we hadn't seen Adam in our mirrors in some time. We all pulled off safely to regroup and Adam comes barreling down the downward switchbacks holding his bars with his left hand and holding something up with his right hand that at first glance we all thought was a snake? After firing up our bikes and charging down the path after him we realized he wasnt holding a snake but equally just as Jason Statham bad ass, he was rolling down the mountain holding up his Triumphs rear drive chain! When he got to parts where the road leveled off and he could coast no more we thought, well this is where we are stopping but nope, he jumped off the bike and ran with it until it got to the next downhill section and jumped on and back to riding it out. We finally reached the end of the downward slopes to settle the bike into a field where the support truck could safely retrieve the bike along with another downed rider Josh Moody who's float bowl had seen enough. We said goodbye to Adam and Josh for the day to press on into the night. What we hadn't realized was due to all the breakdowns we were closing in on darkness fast and the trails we had ahead included some of the most intense water crossings of the trip and a several mile long downhill rocky section that was something that a professional hare scrambles champion would have been sweating in their suit over. Yet we had to do it all on vintage street bikes. After making it through an entire creek to reach our part of the trail it lead us to some pretty sketchy rough sections full of deep ruts able to swallow the bikes and rocky dips that proved too much for one of the low centered BMW's we had in the group ridden by David Hunt. After changing some plugs in the BMW we pushed on now into complete darkness into 2 more water crossings and the downhill scrambles challenge we had dreaded all day. One rider even lost his headlight on his CB350 and had to navigate the terrifying terrain with only a flashlight strapped to his forehead . We made it out of the woods and finally found gas only to have it be my turn once again for a breakdown (which would have qualified every rider in our group to have a serious bike malfunction due to the terrain that day). After going through every bit of wiring and swapping plugs a later diagnosis from Andrew Duthie of Nashville motorcycle repair (who we absolutely can't thank enough for all his insight on this trip) found that a relay in the new ignition system had already failed and would not allow the bike to spark. We disconnected the failed relay and it was back to nice bright spark and back on the road.
Day 5 had us riding through beautiful Georgia and put me with a whole new group of riders including Randy Bennett who was leading the group and veteran vintage 1000 rider Chastin Brand in the rear who's purple and red Triumph was still powering through after many amazing campsite fixes. One thing that we realized on day 5 as well was, I felt really bad about holding up the group on day 1 but in retrospect almost every bike out of the 20 riders(with the exception of only a couple) had some kind of issue that warranted serious repair either right there on the side of the road or at camp later that night. The Vintage 1000 will test you and your motorcycle on a level that your average "vintage bike run" could never imagine. The diverse terrain leads you through literally EVERY single riding condition that you could put two wheels and a motor on. Water, mud, gravel, boulders, grass, asphalt and even a bit of sand on their "Coastal route." Adam and Jamie work hard to make sure the routes are just as challenging as they are enjoyable. With that said Day 5 stepped it up to certainly not disappoint on the difficulty level or the enjoyment. However, the only thing that can change the level of enjoyment on a good motorcycle trip is a good amount of rain.....and my God did we get that and hours of it yet again. (The organizers went on to say later that this was the wettest Vintage 1000 they've had in 6 years since its inception). Anyhow, our group was lucky enough to make it up the trek"s last hurrah of intense red clay Georgia hillclimbs in the deep woods trails just before a massive thunderstorm rolled in. We rolled carefully downhill on the slick gravel paths (wet gravel downhill still freaks me out and always will) and made it out of the trails and back onto a paved country road only to find a small barn enclosure (or an old bike barn enclosure if you will, wink wink) to park under and dry off a bit. As we bit down into our packed lunches and wiped the water from our visors we realized the intense clay hillclimbs we had just done still had TWO GROUPS LEFT that needed safely get through them. We pressed on hoping the best for the final 10 riders and made our way back up into Tennessee. Everyone made it back in one piece safely but 3 bikes total made their way onto the trailer for the final leg of Day 5.
In the end the XS650 that had fought us tooth and nail in the start triumphantly made it across the finish line and back to Chattanooga. It was an extra satisfying feeling crossing the finish line alongside Randy who if not for extreme patience and sheer determination would not have been able to continue on. Randy and his brother Rick (who rebuilt his Penton 100 motor the day before the ride) also rode all the way from Old bike barn's home state of Ohio completing an extra 1000 miles on their trip to Chattanooga and back home. So 2000 miles total! Something that should be noted was not an easy task on small displacement vintage motorcycles in extreme terrain. I think its that sort of spirit that Rick and Randy personified so proudly that was really truly carried equally across the entire lot of all 20 riders. There is simply something inside you that is just inherently different than any other motorcycle rider if you want to conquer the Vintage 1000. For some of the younger riders on the trip they might have not even known it was there until the extreme circumstances of the ride awakened that fire inside of them and then there are the veterans who found that spirit years ago and will hold onto it until the day that they ride that long mountain path into the sky. Whichever type of rider you are and whether you think you have it in you or not, the Vintage 1000 will bring it out of you and you'll be undoubtedly be stronger for it in the end.
If you would like more info on upcoming rides and you have a pre 1981 motorcycle and the drive to give it a go please visit http://speeddeluxe.com or the @vintage1thousand Instagram for more details .
Photos and words by - Mike Vandegriff
If you would like more info on upcoming rides and you have a pre 1981 motorcycle and the drive to give it a go please visit http://speeddeluxe.com or the @vintage1thousand Instagram for more details .
Photos and words by - Mike Vandegriff