Category: Motorcycle Adventure Ride

The Idaho Military Museum

By Joe Berk

Our Idaho exploration continued with a visit to the Idaho Military Museum, which near Boise’s airport.  The Museum is small but intense, with a single large room containing many exhibits, and an outdoor area containing armored vehicles and aircraft.  I think the best way to present this story is with captioned photos.  Have fun reviewing them; I sure had fun taking them.

The view inside the Idaho Military Museum.
A GAU-8/A, which is a 7-barreled, 30mm A-10 cannon. These guns fire 30mm at either 4200 or 2100 shots per minute. I used to be an engineer with Aerojet Ordnance, where we manufactured ammo for this beast.
Both Honeywell and Aerojet manufactured A-10 ammunition. This round was manufactured by Aerojet. Aerojet’s cartridges featured two nylon rotating bands on the projectile.
A water-cooled M1917 .30 06 machine gun. The thick jacket around the barrel contained water that kept the gun cool.
One of several military rifle displays. The Idaho Military Museum has a great military surplus small arms collection. If you enjoy seeing vintage Mosins, Mausers, Springfields, and more, this is where you want to be. I sure had a good time here.
A Nagant revolver. These guns featured a complex approach to sealing the barrel-to-cylinder gap. It’s a brilliant solution to a problem that doesn’t exist..
More military rifles on display. See the round silver disk in the Mauser’s stock? It’s a feature for disassembling the bolt.
The Idaho Military Museum has two large military ship models. This is the USS Ronald Reagan.
The USS New Jersey. The actual New Jersey battleship was recently refurbished at the Philadelphia Naval Yard. If you ever get a chance to tour a US battleship, don’t pass it by. These behemoths are awesome.
A Soviet machine gun. These fire the same 7.62x54R cartridges used in my Mosin-Nagant rifles.
A US M-60 machine gun. These are heavy, but I used to love lugging these around when I was in the Army. Firing them is an experience.
The M-72 Light Anti-Tank Weapon, or LAW. It was our version of a rocket propelled grenade. The Army had to take these out of service, When the telescopic launch tube was extended, it sometimes pulled the warhead off the rocket motor, with the result being an explosion in the tube when the thing was fired.
Yours truly, reflected in one of the Idaho Military Museum exhibits. That’s the M1911 .45 ACP pistol and a Claymore mine. Front Toward Enemy says it all. The bad guys sometimes turned these around, which turned the ambushers into ambushees.
An M1A Abrams Main Battle Tank outside the Idaho Military Museum. These are still in service. They are powered by a turbine engine. The prior US Army tank, the M60 that was in service when I was in the Army, had a 12-cylinder air-cooled diesel engine.
Two military jets on the Idaho Military Museum tarmac:  A Soviet MIG-21 and a Korean War vintage F-86.  When I was based at Kunsan AFB in the mid-1970s, the ROK Air Force was still flying the F-86.

The Idaho Military Museum is located at 4692 West Harvard Street in Boise.  Admission is free.  Plan on spending an hour or two there; it’s a great stop on any Idaho excursion.

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The Yanke Motor Museum

By Joe Berk

Talk about a hidden gem and a great destination:  The Yanke Motor Museum in Boise, Idaho is about as good as it gets.  There’s precious little information on the Internet about it, but trust me, it’s worth seeing. It’s not widely publicized and you can’t just roll up and visit its treasures; admission is by appointment only.  My advice is to make the run to Boise and make the effort to get an appointment.  The Yanke Motor Museum contains a world class automobile, motorcycle, tractor, and musical instrument collection.

A 1924 Packard convertible is one of the first vintage cars you encounter upon entering the Yanke Motor Museum.

As you know from reading this blog, I’m a big fan of car and motorcycle museums, and I never heard of the Yanke Motor Museum.  It’s the only automotive museum in Idaho, and it never appeared on my radar before.  I only came across it because I Googled “motorcycle museums in Boise.”  Some of the Internet services won’t tell you that it’s by appointment only, but that’s the deal.  Further complicating things, some of the GPS programs get the directions wrong.  We used Waze to find the address and it worked.

There is a lot to see at the Yanke Motor Museum.  We were lucky: Sue and I had the place to ourselves.  We made an appointment and new good buddy Tyler (one of the curators) pulled up just as we entered the parking lot.  Tyler was in a silver Subaru WRX, so I liked him right away.  He opened the place just for us, and then he had to walk around turning all the lights on (and he flipped a lot of switches to do that).  The place is huge.

A 1957 Cadillac. This is a beautiful car. I was 6 years old when it rolled off the assembly line.

I didn’t quite know what to expect because when we entered the main display area (after walking through a collection of musical instruments), I at first saw mostly automobiles.  They were impressive and they were plentiful (see the Packard and drop-dead-gorgeous pink Cadillac above), with the odd motorcycle parked here and there.  There was a Ural and a couple of Harley dressers, so I asked Tyler if there were more motorcycles.  He smiled and pointed me toward another hall.  Wow, were there ever!  In fact, my back started bothering me lugging my boat-anchor Nikon D810 and 24-120 lens around to get the photos you see here, but it was worth it.

A Ural with a sidecar. Good buddy Dan owns one of these.

Before we got to the main motorcycle hall, we saw several more interesting motorcycles and the odd trike or two.  There was a ’37 SS Jag replicar.  It was flanked by a stunning cherry red Harley Servi-Car and a custom flathead Ford trike with Offenhauser heads.

Sweet!
A fire engine red Harley Servi-Car.
A flathead Ford trike. Check out the front brake.
A custom in every sense of the word. The workmanship is stunning.
Offenhauser heads. Offy also made complete 4-cylinder engines.  Think decades of Indy 500 dominance.
One last view of the flattie trike. Even the tires are beautiful.

Susie and I were blown away by the classic cars and the multiple motorcycles we encountered at the Yanke Motor Museum, and we hadn’t even made it to the motorcycle room yet.  In the main hall, classic motocross and other bikes were scattered among the cars and other vehicles.

I once had a friend who thought a Bultaco was a Mexican food item. No kidding.

There was a flatbed truck with a Harley XLCR Cafe Racer, a vintage Indian Chief, and a vintage Harley.

I could have bought a new ’77 XLCR just like this one for $3,000, but I couldn’t justify spending $3,000 for a motorcycle back then. I don’t know who I thought I had to justify it to.
A 1941 Indian Chief. Those fenders!

When we entered the motorcycle room, it was like being a kid in a candy shop.  No, wait, I take that back.  I used to be a kid in a candy shop six or seven decades ago.  This was better.  Just about everything imaginable was there if you are looking for cool motorcycles.  Desert racers, WW II military Harley 45s, modern bikes, custom bikes, vintage Harleys, vintage Indians, scooters, Whizzers, vintage flat track and flathead Harley race bikes, and more.  The Nikon was giving me fits weighing heavily on my lower back, and leaning over to get macro engine shots was getting downright painful, but I didn’t care.  Susie had an Advil, I swallowed it, and the photo safari continued.  I was on a mission.  Anything and everything for our ExNotes readers…that’s our mantra.

In the motorcycle room…check out the Army 45s.
A 1934 74-cubic-inch Harley VLD flathead, another stunning motorcycle.
A Lambretta!
Whizzers! Carlos, take note!
Harley-Davidson flathead flat track racing motorcycles.
Ah, the patina! Check out the steel shoe!
Flathead porn.
An Army 45 in decidedly non-Army colors.

The Yanke Motor Museum also contained some cool military stuff, including Jeeps and a few cannons.  Cannons!

A 1948 US Army Jeep.
A 25mm Hotchkiss cannon.
The same action as a Ruger No. 1. A classic falling block concept.
Another falling block artillery action.
A custom scope mount for direct fire. This thing must be a hoot to shoot. Folks at the Museum reload for it.

I thought it couldn’t possibly get any better, but when I peeked into an adjoining room I spotted several 37mm and 25mm projectiles in various stages of the reloading process.  Imagine that:  Reloading for your own cannons! There’s no doubt about it:  The folks who own and run the Yanke Motor Museum are our kind people.

Ron and Linda Yanke started the Museum.  An extremely successful entrepreneur, Ron is unfortunately no longer with us.  The Yanke family started the business empire with a machine shop.  Ron Yanke expanded the business holdings to sawmills, an air charter service, a firefighting equipment manufacturer, extensive timberland holdings, several real estate companies, a mechanical contracting firm, a manufactured housing company, and a couple of banks.  He was one of three original investors in Micron Technology, the world’s second-largest memory chip manufacturer.

The Yanke Motor Museum is located at 1090 Boeing Street in Boise, Idaho.  If you want to get in, here’s the web address that will get you started.

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Old Idaho State Penitentiary

By Joe Berk

I don’t know what it is about prisons that fascinates us.  Susie and I have been on three prison tours (the Old Idaho State Penitentiary, the topic of this blog, is our third; the earlier two were Alcatraz and the West Virginia State Penitentiary in Moundsville).  It’s not just us; abandoned prison tours are a hot ticket and Hollywood loves to do prison movies.  The Shawshank Redemption was a hugely successful film (I watch it every time it’s on the tube), and Netflix is currently running Orange is the New Black (don’t waste your time on that one).  Google the topic “Why we love prison shows” and the Internet will light up with underlying psychological reasons:  The ultimate loss of control, the inherent brutality of man, surviving after losing everything, etc.  But that’s enough armchair psychology…let’s get on to the topic of this blog:  The Old Idaho State Penitentiary.

The entrance to the Old Idaho State Prison. The warden’s office was immediately on the left as you entered.

Idaho (actually, Idaho convicts) built the Old Idaho State Penitentiary in 1870.  The construction was sandstone mined from the hills surrounding Boise.  It held prisoners for 101 years, and during that time, this old prison had its share of escapes, executions, and experiences that make for an interesting tour.  Perhaps the most interesting thing about the Old Idaho State Penitentiary is that the grounds are so beautiful.  It’s more like a botanical garden than a prison.

The landscaping is magnificent. Wandering the grounds, it almost feels like a college campus (with, of course, solitary confinement and Death Row).
Another scene from inside the prison grounds.

One of our fellow tourists asked our guide, Eric Overzet, if the grounds were as nice when prisoners were housed there as they are today.  Eric told us they were.

The first structure we entered was the prison’s multi-purpose building.  It served a number of functions, including being a shirt factory, a shoe shop and then a shoe factory, a bakery, a license plate shop, the laundry, a hobby room, and a loafing room.  It also housed the prison showers.

Inside the prison’s multi-purpose building. The prison showed movies here, too.

The prison’s shoe and bakery outputs were particularly successful after they started selling to the public, and to hear Eric tell it, they made a hell of a product for a very low price.  The Idaho State Penitentiary manufactured shoes that cost a fraction of what store-bought shoes cost, and they lasted much longer.  The shoes were so good the prison worked itself out of the market.  They saturated the Boise shoe market and the business folded.  Other ventures were more successful.   When the prison bakery started selling donuts to the public, word quickly spread that they were the best donuts in town.  The prison produced 4,000 donuts a day.  People lined up outside the prison to buy them.  A lot of donut sales were to police officers (some of whom probably put the guys who made the donuts in prison).

Next we toured the cell blocks.  Things looked bleak.   You wouldn’t want to live in a place like this.

Eric Overzet sharing stories of prison operation and famous prisoners.
The different halls had different kinds of cells. This cell housed four people.

We saw the levers that opened and closed the cell doors. Seeing them was like seeing a scene out of a movie.  As a retired mechanical engineer and all-around gearhead, I enjoyed seeing the mechanism.  Everything operated mechanically; there was no software or any of the other intangible things we would use today.

The locking devices were patented in 1897.  The Pauly Jail Building Company is still in business today.
Levers for opening selected cell doors or all cell doors at the same time.

There are five prison halls in the Idaho State Penitentiary, and several different forms of “special housing” (i.e., solitary confinement).  I couldn’t remember all the ones Eric described, but one stuck in my mind:  A set of underground 4 ft by 4 ft by 4 ft cubes for solitary confinement.  There were hatches at ground level through which a prisoner entered.  It was hot when we were there.  I can’t imagine what it must have been like in those little boxes in Idaho in the summer, nor can I imagine what it must have been like in the freezing winter months.  In 1909, inspectors from the State of Idaho decided these 4 ft cubes were too cruel for human confinement and directed the prison to stop using them.  The prison told the inspectors they agreed, and then they continued to use the little punishment boxes until well into the 1950s.

One of the “dark cells.”
Another set of solitary confinement cells were known as “Siberia.”
One of the “Siberia” cells.
Another set of punishment cells.
No shoes, no shirt, no service, and most definitely, no loafing.

As one might expect, the execution chamber and Death Row are areas that get the most attention.  When the Old Idaho State Prison was in operation, hanging was the only execution method.  Idaho uses lethal injection today, but when good old-fashioned hanging was in vogue the execution chamber was designed around it.  The noose hung from a mount in the ceiling, with the trap directly below it.  I shot these photos from the witness gallery window.

Death Row, coming up.
Idaho uses lethal injection today; there are currently 8 men and 1 woman on Idaho’s Death Row. The modern Idaho State Penitentiary is just south of Boise; the women’s prison is in Pocatello, Idaho.  When the Old Idaho State Penitentiary was in business, both men and women were imprisoned there (separately, of course).
The noose hung from this fixture.
The trap that dropped the condemned to their death.

You may want to go back up to the featured photo at the top of this blog.  Old Tony Grooms (featured in that picture) was a real bad boy.  There were several placards explaining the crimes of occupants in different cells and what they did while in prison.  Old Tony had acid splashed in his eyes and convinced the prison guards he was blind.  The guards figured it out when nurses were in the prison for a medical emergency and they saw Tony following them with his eyes.  I can’t tell that story as well as our guide Eric can; that’s a good reason for you to visit the Old Idaho State Penitentiary.

We enjoyed the Old Idaho State Prison tour.  You can also do a self-guided tour, but we were lucky.  We arrived just as Eric’s tour was about to start.  My advice is to go for the guided tour.  Eric was a magnificent guide and entertaining storyteller, and he knows a lot about the place.  We would not have gotten as much out of the tour just wandering around by ourselves.

The Old Idaho State Penitentiary is in Boise’s Historical District at 2445 Old Penitentiary Road.  Admission is only $8.  The guided tour is another $2, and that’s a hell of a deal.

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Laguna Seca 4: AHRMA Wrap Up

By Joe Gresh

Foggy and cold in the morning. I broke down and bought a burrito from the Flag and Wicket down in the paddock. Everything was soaking wet and I didn’t feel like making food. The Rag and Basket has good burritos and they are nearly the same price as a Quart-o-Grease from McDingies.

The Rag and Moose down in the paddock has good eats for not too much money.

I don’t think they can run in the wet fog but the rider’s meeting is on. We will see if they wait a bit.

The trials sections were mostly tight corners in uneven terrain
This never happened historically but I’m letting it go.

When you’re at the track you’ll need to be somewhat self sufficient as the only place nearby is the Toro restaurant and they close early. There a little food store towards Salinas but before the Toro where you can get stuff. Forget going west to Monterey, it’s sort of touristy and unless you’re going to the Aquarium or cannery row it’s a food desert. It could be that I don’t know where to look.

I think it will be a short day today. The fog is still thick, if a bike went off the course you’d never know it.

Foggy conditions delayed the racing for a bit. AHRMA still managed to run a full slate

I wandered over to the trials sections and they were ok, the fog doesn’t bother trials riders as they only need to see a few feet ahead. There was a triple log obstacle that I saw only one guy on a TY175 clear. Everyone else dabbed. The trials was held down in a little valley and the sections led a short way up the sides. Very tight turns and soft sand caught out many competitors.

Two old codgers on two old bikes. Still flogging. Fulton and Roper.

Back on the track the fog cleared and AHRMA ran 14 more multi-class races. You get your money’s worth for sure.

I’ve decided to let the whole historic thing go. What AHRMA really does is provide sanctioned races for orphan motorcycles, both new and old. Even 160-175 Honda twins.

Sunday the campground empties out and the squirrels take over. You’ll need to keep that tent closed or they’ll rob you blind. I like the Sunday night, it’s quiet and you get to be alone for a few hours.

The wind never let up the entire day and I got sort of tired watching so many races. It was dry and around race 12 I decided to load Godzilla in the truck before the plastic bed liner got slippery with dew.

All in, I’ve been here four days and it’s time to break camp and get back home. I highly recommend attending the AHRMA either as a spectator or a competitor. Just bring plenty of water and any food you might like to eat.

I’ll be back next year. Maybe bring the RD350 to see how it runs at sea level.

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Laguna 2: More Hasty Conclusions From Laguna Seca

By Joe Gresh

Man I slept good last night. The combination of the new cot, air mattress and mummy bag worked to perfection. Add in the cool moist Monterey weather and the loudspeaker’s 8:15 call for a rider’s meeting was the first thing I heard.  I’ve really got this camping thing down. With the added capacity of the Toyota truck I was able to bring along a few luxury items. Like a chair and an ice chest.

These Can Ams had huge cylinder fins.
Can Ams also had a somewhat unusual disc valve with a long intake runner leading to a carb in the back of the engine next to your left foot.
A bike I never knew about, the AMMEX motocross bike.
A 1930s Husqvarna. Not much different than my 2008 version.

Unlike last year, there are no food trucks in the paddock, only the Bear and Shank which has some pretty good food at reasonable (for California) prices. The ice chest frees me of food anxiety, I’ve got plenty for the weekend.

My enduro riding buddy, Gilroy Larry, stopped by with his clean TY250 Yamaha trials bike. We rode over to the trials area but it was more secure than last year.  There’s also a sweet, old-style motocross track where a guy can race his old bike without spending 95% of his time in the air. (Note to Supercross: less hang time and more racing!)

I still have one of these in boxes. It’s a C110 Honda 50. 4-speed with hand clutch and a pushrod engine. When mine ran it did around 45 miles per hour.
Unusual rear wheel on a Mule flat track style bike.
I had one of these also. This is a one-owner, dad’s old bike.
Since we are apolitical here on ExNotes I know Berk will love this Suzuki 100.
A beautiful 500 Tiger for not much money.
It’s a good thing I don’t have $4500 laying around or i’d buy the Triumph.

There are entirely too damn many four-strokes out here. My era of motorcycle racing was dominated by two strokes both on the pavement and in the dirt. Flat track was the only place four-strokes were competitive and that was by favorable rules. To me, a buzzing stroker is the sound of speed.

Bikes are warming up on Laguna’s interior roads. You’ll see a full on road racer cruise by the camp if you wake up early.

The same dense air that’s makes it so easy to sleep has Godzilla running fabulously. The grunt is amazing and the smooth, steady beat makes me want to move here rather than tune for my 6000-foot elevation.

Yesterday we had no fog and the picnic table was soaking wet in the morning. This morning diaphanous clots of fog are blowing past like smoke from a fire and the picnic table is bone dry. Listen, I don’t like using diaphanous any more than you like reading it. I guess should have paid more attention in meteorology class.

There was a vintage bike show at the track.  The show had a pretty decent turnout.  Maybe 50 bikes showed up.  I owned several of the models represented.

Nice old flathead Beemer.
The evolution of Maico crankcases Part 1: 1970s.
The evolution of Maico crankcases Part 2: The 1980s.

It’s hard to beat looking at old CanAm motorcycles while out on the track vintage bikes are racing by at full song.

Sent from my iPhone

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The Idaho State Capitol

By Joe Berk

A few years ago we visited California’s Capitol and it was fun.  Getting into it, though, was like getting into an airport.  We had to go through a metal detector, there was a list of prohibited items, and there were police officers scattered throughout the building.  The security precautions were mildly annoying (just like they are at an airport).  That’s why I was surprised when we visited the Idaho Capitol.  We weren’t sure which door to use, so we just walked into the first one we saw, and just like that, we were in.  No metal detectors.  No armed guards.  Just a kicked back, we’re cool kind of atmosphere.  The way it ought to be.

We saw a sign for a movie with a short film about the Capitol (the theatre was next to the gift shop).  When we found it, there was a small group already seated and a nice lady named Bridgette was getting ready to lead them on a guided tour.  Bridgette invited us to join the group, and we did.

We walked down the hall and found ourselves beneath the Capitol dome.  That’s an American flag hanging from it.   The mosaic you see in the lead photo for this blog is directly beneath the Capitol dome.  It’s comprised of approximately 10,000 pieces.

Our first stop was the financial management room.  Bridgette explained it’s where different elements of the Idaho state government made their case for annual funding to a group of four state officials.

Here’s another photo of the Capitol dome taken at a different angle to show more of the US flag.

Bridgette led us to the Governor’s office.  She had to enter the staff’s administration area for permission to bring our group in.  It was an interesting place to see.   Bridgette explained that this was the Governor’s ceremonial office.  The Governor uses it for receiving dignitaries and holding press conferences.  She told us the Governor’s working office is much smaller.

Idaho’s legislature has a House and a Senate, much like the U.S. government.  Unlike the U.S. government, the Idaho Representatives and Senators serve in a part time capacity, and the state Legislature only operates for three months each year.  In Idaho, the state legislators are people with real jobs (farmers, ranchers, folks who operate businesses, teachers, etc.).  They are not career politicians.   I like that.  In fact, there’s a lot I like about Idaho.  Their government is working.  Idaho was clean and friendly everywhere we went.  We were there for a week and we didn’t see a single homeless person, or people begging, or graffiti, or any of the other urban decay prevalent in most California cities.  We could take a lesson or two from Idaho.

Bridgette next took us into the Idaho House chamber.

There are three domes above the Capitol:  The large one easily visible from outside the building (the one seen from inside in the photos above), and two smaller domes.  One of the two smaller domes is above the House, and the other is above the Senate.

We saw interesting statues in the Capitol.  The first is a replica of a statue originally created on the island of Samothrace about 2400 years ago.  France sent the replica to Idaho in 1949 as part of their program to provide a statue to each U.S. state in gratitude for our help liberating Europe in World War II.

Another statue depicted George Washington on a horse.  It was hand carved out of pine in 1869 by Charles Ostner.   The statue was restored and gilded in real gold in 1966.

We enjoyed our visit to the Idaho State Capitol.  There’s no admission fee, it’s welcoming, and we had a good time.  If you’re planning a visit, you might want to allow a couple of hours to see the Capitol.  If you get on one of the guided tours (as we did), you’ll enjoy it even more.

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Boise’s Birds of Prey

By Joe Berk

When Sue and I moved into our home some 40+ years ago, I was setting up my office when I heard a thump.  It sounded like a bird flew into the window, so I looked out and sure enough, there was a rather large red-tailed hawk on my front yard with its wings spread out.  The thing was huge, and I knew that if it had flown into the window, it would have broken glass, but the window was intact.  I’d never seen a red-tailed hawk close up (the thing was only about 10 feet away).  The way its wings were spread out led me to believe it had maybe hit the roof and was now lying there, wounded, in front of me.

I was pondering my next step when the hawk lifted one wing and peered down.  It wasn’t wounded at all.  It held another bird in its talons, which were tightly clenched around its neck.  The hawk shook the other bird and it twitched a bit, so it put its wing down again and waited (as did I).  After maybe another minute, the hawk did an instant replay, except this time the bird in its claws was motionless.  The hawk released it and then, with its beak, proceeded to tear into the smaller bird’s body, taking its time and eating the internal organs.  When it finished, it flew off, leaving the dead bird and a scattering of its feathers.   I’ve been fascinated by birds of prey ever since, and I live in a good spot for one so afflicted.  We have a family of red-tailed hawks and another family of great horned owls that nest nearby.  When I ride into Baja, we get great photos of osprey eating sushi in the protected areas near Guerrero Negro.  These birds are amazing, so when I was in Boise and I saw they the World Center for Birds of Prey, I was in.   It’s only $10 for a senior citizen ticket.  I would have paid more.  The photo ops were…well, read on.  You’ll see.

A Peregrine Falcon taking a sip of water.
Not bad for shooting through chicken coop wiring.

The first raptor we saw was a peregrine falcon.  It was the first one I’d ever seen, although I’d heard about them being in our area when I was growing up in New Jersey.  They live in many regions, but I’d never encountered one before.   I’m pleased with the photo; I photographed the bird through its wire cage and the wires blurred and disappeared in the image.

Next up was my old buddy, the red-tailed hawk.  The lighting was much more of a challenge here, as this one was in an indoor cage with bars instead of woven wire.  I had to angle myself to get the camera lens pointed between the bars.

A Red-Tailed Hawk.

We walked a little further and saw a sign for the California condor exhibit.

California Condors are huge birds, as these tracks in the sidewalk indicate. That’s my Buster Brown in the photo for a size comparison.

I had never seen one of these, other than the super cool video Mike Huber posted in one of his blogs.  Mike had a surreal experience.  Boise’s Birds of Prey Center breeds the California condor; they are then released in California’s Pinnacles National Park.  Coming back from near extinction, they now range all over the American Southwest and down into Baja.  When Mike hiked into Pinnacles National park and stopped to eat his lunch, a California condor landed just a few feet away.  Lucky guy, Mike is.

Two California Condors hanging out in Boise, Idaho.
Wow. These birds have a 9 1/2-foot wingspan.
Believe it.  I stayed back.

The Harpy eagle is an unusually photogenic raptor.   They range from southern Mexico to northern Argentina.  Like some of our ExNotes commenters, it started squawking up a storm when I mentioned I watch Fox News.

Who the hell is Sean Hannity?

The Ornate hawk-eagle is another large raptor.   It’s from the tropical regions of Central and South America.  I had never heard of this bird, nor had I ever seen one.  It is beautiful.   It’s another one I photographed through the bars of its cage.

An Ornate Hawk-Eagle, an appropriately named bird if ever there was one.   Because the Birds of Prey Center also takes in injured birds, I thought this one was missing a leg until I processed the photo below.
A great profile photo.

The Birds of Prey Center had a gyrfalcon (also known as the Arctic Falcon) that I think was the most interesting bird there.   While I was photographing it, I tilted my head, and the falcon tilted his head.  I then tilted my head the other way, and the falcon mimicked that, too.  I started doing so repeatedly, and so did the bird.  The only thing missing was the music.  It was really cool.

You looking at me?
I enjoyed interacting with this falcon.

The gyrfalcon lives in the Arctic.  It’s the largest falcon in the world, and it’s perfectly okay living in temperatures that dip below -40 degrees.

Here’s a photo I particularly like.  It’s a great horned owl.  We’ve had a family of these owls nest behind our house in the past, and it was great seeing the baby owl chicks emerge from the nest for a few weeks and then finally fly away.  They are large birds.  One still comes around on patrol, looking for mice and other tasty treats.  It wakes us up sometimes hooting away in the dark. I’ve seen these fly by and they are impressive.  Their flight is absolutely silent.

These birds are amazing. They always make me hungry for potato chips.

While we were in the Birds of Prey center, a handler was there with a barred owl.  It was most impressive.  I asked if I could use my flash and she said the owl wouldn’t mind.

A very cooperative and photogenic Barred Owl.

So there you have it.  If you ever find yourself in Boise, the World Center for Birds of Prey needs to be on your list of places to visit.

A bit more on Boise…if you are spending some time there, I’ve got a good restaurant recommendation.  We were chatting up a couple of young ladies near the Lucky Peak State Park and I asked them:  What’s the best Italian restaurant in Boise?  Their answer was instantaneous:  Luciano’s.  You know what?  They were right.

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The Flying Z

By Joe Berk

Janus Motorcycles issued this press release recently.  “The Flying Z” is a good-looking motorcycle with an interesting story.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
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July 6th, 2024
Goshen, Indiana

This spring, 66 year-old Mark Zweig—a lifelong motorcyclist, Janus Motorcycles partner, and part-time CFO for the firm, commissioned a new one-off bike for himself—a custom-built Janus Halcyon 250 dubbed “The Flying Z.”

Zweig has been a restorer, customizer, and collector of a wide range of motorcycles from the 60s and 70s for many of his years, sometimes having as many as twenty bikes at a time. And while he has always had a soft spot for smaller, lighter weight bikes, an accident in 2016 where he totalled his brand new Triumph Thruxton 1200, combined with a divorce and resulting downsizing, got him to eventually sell all of his larger bikes and narrow down his rides to a small group of small-displacement bikes including a new Janus Halcyon 250 in the year 2000.

“I just don’t ride as much as I used to, and certainly don’t need to go that far or that fast. Our founder, Richard Worsham, has dubbed that kind of riding as ‘rambling.’ Most of my riding is to and from campus (Zweig is the ‘Entrepreneur in-Residence’ at The Sam M Walton College of Business at The University of Arkansas), or on short trips in and around town. The Janus to me represents everything I want in a motorcycle. It’s incredibly beautiful, simple, reliable, ultra lightweight, and fun to ride. That’s why when I decided to have a new bike built for myself—where we could test out some new design ideas—I opted for another Halcyon 250 instead of one of our larger displacement bikes. It’s such a wonderful basic design.”

In fact, this bike is the second of Zweig’s “Flying Z’s.” The first Flying Z was a custom car—a boattailed speedster he built together with his friend and master fabricator, Mike McPherson—featuring a unique handbuilt chassis, hand-formed steel body, rumble seat, sand cast 18” wheels with knockoffs, and a straight-8 Buick engine with triple carbs. “That thing looked like it came from the same era as our Halcyon,” Zweig said.

Janus Motorcycles has made its marque and established a cult like following in the motorcycle world by building unique bikes to customer order, one at a time. Their bikes come in a huge range of colors and styles, with all kinds of options for hand pinstriping, leather seats and bags, and much, much more. But Zweig’s Halcyon Flying Z takes things a step farther and has some unique features not found on any other factory-direct Halcyon 250s.

“Our basic Halcyon 250 looks like a bike that could have come out of the 1920s,” Zweig said. “So I wanted to see what we could do by creating a bike that looked like the natural evolution of that one and that would have been built in the 1930s or 40s,” he added.

“One of the coolest aspects of The Flying Z is its set of uniquely flared and deeply skirted fenders making it more aerodynamic. I have been wanting to see what one of our bikes would look like with some fenders like these for the last couple years, and our master fender builder Brent Lehman, along with the design guidance from our founder and design lead, Richard Worsham, made it happen.”

The bike also has a one-off color scheme, with the frame and most other parts color-matched to the RAL 5024 powder-coated “Cavalry Blue” body work. The large “Janus” script on the tank sides was laid out by the design team and painted by lead pinstriper, Kelly Borden, as well as the cream-colored “Flying Z” script and logo on the bike’s black airbox. It has hand-painted dual silver pinstripes on the tank and fenders, along with silver pinstriped black wheel rims.

The bike also features a sandcast Flying Z fender ornament, based on the original Flying Z hood ornament, created by Zweig’s friend—famed Arkansas sculptor, Eugene Sargent. “Sargent made the fender ornament so it bridges the front fender brace and didn’t require any special mounting hardware,” Zweig said. The bike also features other bespoke polished components.

Topping off the build is a custom engraved fuel cap for its hand formed aluminum tank, replete with a “Flying Z” logo.

“I cannot wait to see the public reaction to the new Janus Flying Z,” Zweig said. “My old Janus draws a crowd every time I park it, and I expect this one will be even more attention-grabbing,” he added with a smile.

For more info, contact Grant Longenbaugh – grant@janusmotorcycles.com

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Idaho’s Lucky Peak State Park

By Joe Berk

I love Idaho and the Boise area, and no story about this part of the country would be complete without mentioning at least one of the motorcycle rides out of town.  A short and easy one is the run along Idaho Highway 21 to Lucky Peak State Park.

It’s easy:  Just grab Interstate 84 east out of Boise and then Highway 21 north.  You’ll be running alongside the Boise River up to Lucky Peak.  It only takes about 10 minutes to get up to Luck Peak State Park if you are in a car or on a motorcycle.  If you’re into bicycling (I am), it’s about a 30-minute ride on the Boise River Greenbelt, a dedicated bike lane that parallels Highway 21 along the river.  The bike lane is protected from traffic by a concrete barrier.  I didn’t have a bicycle on this Boise trip, but I found myself wishing I did.  It looked like a great bicycle ride.

Highway 21’s north and south lanes are separated, and the northbound lanes up to Lucky Peak State Park don’t have good places to pull off and grab photos.  For that reason, most of my on=the-road pictures were taken on our ride back to Boise, including this one of a sign for the Diversion Dam.

You get a great look at the Boise River’s Diversion Dam heading to Lucky Peak, but like I said above, there’s no place to pull off for a photo.  On the way back, you see the sign in the above photo, but you can’t see the Dam from there.   It provides water for Idaho’s agricultural canal system and it also generates electricity.  The company that built it in 1909 took a financial bath on the project, but the dam didn’t give a damn.  It’s well over a hundred years old and it’s been doing its job well the entire time.

The Lucky Peak State Park is a multi-use park.  You can swim in its freshwater beach, there are a couple of boat launch ramps, we met people there for kayaking, you can rent watercraft, you can fish, or you can just hang out and take pictures (which is what we did).

There are two dams in this area.  The first is the Diversion Dam mentioned above; the second is a much larger Army Corps of Engineers Dam that forms Lucky Peak Lake.

The ride back had places along Highway 21 to pull over and grab a photo or two, which is what we did. There’s a lot to see and do in the Boise area and in Idaho, and there’s more coming up here on ExNotes about that.  Stay tuned, my friends.

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Adventure Towards Ayers Rock

By Mike Huber

Ayers Rock was my destination.  This is not an easy destination to reach, especially by car.  It takes dedication, time, and patience. Many people fly to this location and use tourist busses to get around in the park, snap a few photos, and leave.  Not me.  It is cliché, but I feel the journey is more important than the destination.  What you see, hear, and feel along the way allows you to appreciate the destination when you do finally reach it.  This two-week drive to Ayers Rock was one that elevates that cliché phrase to a level I never thought possible.

My original plan was to circle the entire continent of Australia in a month. That was NOT happening so Ayers Rock (Uluru) was a solid turnaround point.  Mind you to even complete this took me one month. The isolation was beyond what I had expected.  I knew going into this that isolation would be the greatest challenge, but what I didn’t grasp was how far I would be pushed mentally during this journey.

To add to the trip, one of my best friends and a fellow paratrooper had been diagnosed with cancer a few years back and I knew his time was coming.  Our texts and calls were becoming more and more infrequent. Fortunately, I am very close with one of his sisters.  When I don’t hear from him within a week I reach out to her to obtain a status.  During one of the most desolate spots on earth I received a text from her to inform me of his passing.

You don’t understand isolation until you receive a text like that in spotty cell phone coverage.  There was no way of replying or reaching out to console and provide support to his loved ones.  This left a more than significant gap in my mind with no way of processing it since I was in the middle of the Outback.  There is no one to rely on for comfort or a crutch to get you by.  There is nothing.  Just nothing. The only consolation I found was hours of alone time to think and process it while focusing on how fortunate I was to have such a close friend, all the while driving for hundreds of miles with, again…nothing.  A few dead kangaroos on the side of the highway with an occasional eagle or dingo chomping on them was the only life I saw through this portion of the drive.

Upon arriving at Uluru I set up camp, which only entailed pulling into a parking spot as I was car camping.  This has been a solid pro to car camping, just minimal to no preparation setting up or pulling down camp. After cooking a quick meal in my “campsite” I thought I had enough in me to drive around Ayers Rock for sunset.

Upon entering the park and seeing Ayers for the first time my eyes welled up.  I am not sure if it was due to this area being such a spiritual place for the Aboriginals or that the drive to reach it was so emotional.  It really doesn’t matter.  To finally lay eyes on this magnificent rock glowing in the golden hour of sunset was a moment that will resonate with me forever.  I was fully present in the moment and felt a sense of calmness.

After a semi-solid night’s sleep in the car, it was time to do a 3-hour hike around the rock and really get to experience this monument of the ancients up close and personal.  Since I had been car camping in some warm climates I purchased some mesh window covers to allow the windows to remain down in the evening without having any bugs, flies, snakes, kangaroos, or dingos enter the vehicle while I was sleeping.  This purchase turned out to be one of my better decisions along this drive.  Uluru is plagued with flies. An unimaginable amount of them.  Starting the hike early in the morning was key to avoid them and as the sun rose over this great rock having the car mesh as a makeshift fly screen for myself on the hike was a lifesaver.

Traveling alone through Australia is an experience that forced me to look at life from a unique perspective that many will never understand or even imagine existed. The month was filled daily with two constants: Change, and being challenged to adapt to the environments. By environments I mean both from the outside world and from the world within me.  Both were deeply felt throughout my long journey to Ayers Rock.

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