600 Miles of uneventful OC

**trex88** · June 6th, 2011, 01:19 PM

Sorry for the long post, trying to summarize the whole weekend.

I started out on my motorcycle Friday after I got off work at 1:00pm in Delaware. I had my bugout bag loaded up and on my back, my USP .40 on my hip like usual, and started my long journey back to my house in PA. I found that it's roughly the same amount of time to just head north into PA to the turnpike (and be able to carry) vs. going through Maryland unarmed and hitting Baltimore/DC traffic.

The only stop I made in Delaware was to fuel up at a Sunoco, the one older lady that was working there noticed and started saying something to a girl around my age who was behind the counter in a different language, the girl just looked down at my hip, smiled, shook her head and said to the other lady what I would guess to be "he's fine stop worrying" and I finished my purchase and told her to have a nice day.

My first stop in PA was on the turnpike at one of the service plazas, about 150 miles into my trip. I fueled up then parked the bike and headed in for food. I sat down at a table for a little while enjoying my Burger King and stretching a bit, a few people noticed but not a word was said. As I was getting back onto my bike, the guy that pulled in next to me on my strong side in a Prius says "how many times do you actually need...." (and I'm thinking great, here comes anti-gun fun) ...."to stop for a rest on that bike." I almost started laughing, and explained that I usually only stop at 150-200 miles when I need fuel but it does get quite uncomfortable sometimes going that long without a break. Then we talked a bit about fuel efficiency and then went our separate ways.

When I finally got to Altoona I carried in Giant Eagle, Sheetz, Mcdonalds, Autozone, Advance Auto, a funeral, and a few other random places along my way with absolutely no issues or tactical responses throughout the weekend.

Now the fun part, on my trip home yesterday I had actually broke down outside of the Reading area and made my way to the service plaza around mile marker 289.9. My charging system decided it wasn't going to work anymore.

I called AAA and they dispatched a guy who informed me when he got there that only AAA RV service covered motorcycles, then told me it would be $100 just to put it on a trailer then $4 a mile after that (150 miles remaining in my trip). I kindly refused and started making calls to get someone with a trailer to get me. As I was on the phone I noticed a lady approaching me so I turned to acknowledge her and she held out a business card with a big smile on her face, said "God Bless you" and then walked back to her car and left. I look at the card and it had three quotes from the bible on it along with picture of lightning. That was completely random, and rather ironic considering I was sitting there watching a storm roll in with some nice lightning. I'm still not sure what prompted her to do that, but it was a really nice gesture and actually settled down my mood a bit. So for the next 6 hours I sat there watching all kinds of people passing through, had a pretty good cheesesteak, and started drinking energy drinks to prepare myself for not getting home until 4am and having work at 5am.

Nobody was injured, no children cried, a whole girlscout troop was at the one service station and none of them screamed in fear, and not a single one of the state troopers who had definitely noticed me had approached me or even had any encounter with me other than a simple smile and nod. A great weekend with no problems, just how it should be!

**priell3** · June 6th, 2011, 02:20 PM

Nice story. Educating the masses without speaking a word.

**falcn** · June 7th, 2011, 06:33 AM

What kind of bike?

How did you eventually get home?

**Gangle** · June 7th, 2011, 01:18 PM

Sounds like a nice ride! I OC'd on my bike for a day and felt uncomfortable. Could be 'cause my leg holster had it pointing somewhat upward. It was weird lol. Did OC with my Blackhawk holster and felt much more comfortable with it.

**trex88** · June 7th, 2011, 02:33 PM

Originally Posted by falcn

What kind of bike?

How did you eventually get home?

2002 Triumph Daytona 955i. I waited and waited and waited until my buddy came with his truck and trailer, was a VERY long night...

Originally Posted by PAFirefighter11

Sounds like a nice ride! I OC'd on my bike for a day and felt uncomfortable. Could be 'cause my leg holster had it pointing somewhat upward. It was weird lol. Did OC with my Blackhawk holster and felt much more comfortable with it.

It definitely was a good ride even though I'm a bit sore now. I haven't tried any other holsters on the bike yet, the serpa has been pretty comfortable so I've just stuck with it. The only other carry method I've used on the bike is when my buddy gave me his XD, my Icon vest has crossdraw pockets that work really well for a subcompact if I feel like concealing.

**chivvalry** · June 7th, 2011, 02:55 PM

Sucks you had a breakdown...

I'm looking at a weekend trip across the top of PA on the Grand Army of the Republic highway (US 6) and back across the bottom of PA on various roads. About 870 miles or so of nice twisty back roads... I will have to consider OC instead of CC on that expedition.

'course that's on a Yamaha FJR instead of that nice little crotch rocket you got there... 600 miles of super slab on that thing in a single day would certainly leave you a bit sore.

**trex88** · June 7th, 2011, 03:17 PM

Originally Posted by chivvalry

Sucks you had a breakdown...

I'm looking at a weekend trip across the top of PA on the Grand Army of the Republic highway (US 6) and back across the bottom of PA on various roads. About 870 miles or so of nice twisty back roads... I will have to consider OC instead of CC on that expedition.

'course that's on a Yamaha FJR instead of that nice little crotch rocket you got there... 600 miles of super slab on that thing in a single day would certainly leave you a bit sore.

Sounds like that would be a great trip! I always enjoy riding around in northern PA. The Daytona does kick my ass a bit on longer rides. I never use to have a problem with it, but herniate a couple discs in your back and anything will give you problems. Those FJR's are amazing bikes, I had the opportunity to ride one when I worked at a Yamaha dealership. I also have a Yamaha RS Warrior 1700, but it's parked at the moment to do a few modifications as well as needing some new tires. The more my back bothers me, the more I consider selling/trading for something a bit more comfortable. I'm 22 and I'm already being forced to look into "old man bikes"

(not that there's anything wrong with those, I'm just not ready to be done with rockets)

Edit: And don't act like that FJR is far from a rocket, I know just how fast it goes and how well it handles

**chivvalry** · June 7th, 2011, 03:22 PM

Originally Posted by trex88

Sounds like that would be a great trip! I always enjoy riding around in northern PA. The Daytona does kick my ass a bit on longer rides. I never use to have a problem with it, but herniate a couple discs in your back and anything will give you problems. Those FJR's are amazing bikes, I had the opportunity to ride one when I worked at a Yamaha dealership. I also have a Yamaha RS Warrior 1700, but it's parked at the moment to do a few modifications as well as needing some new tires. The more my back bothers me, the more I consider selling/trading for something a bit more comfortable. I'm 22 and I'm already being forced to look into "old man bikes"

(not that there's anything wrong with those, I'm just not ready to be done with rockets)

LOL, well at 40+ and counting I'm loving my FJR. My Feejer will go plenty fast for me on the straights or the twisties and loves to eat the miles. Those warriors are awesome bikes as well... just not as comfortable and I like the sit up bikes more than the cruisers lay back or rocket lay forward positions.