Category Archives: Uncategorized

AAUGH!! & GOOD GRIEF LOL

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Dropping the Pan America (Bruce)

So, I have only owned my ’25 Pan America 1250 Special (named Bruce, my wife has the honor of naming all my motorcycles) since mid-October 2025.  As of today, I only have just under 500 miles on the bike.  Yet, I have managed to drop it 3 times thus far (twice today).  All are knuckle head moments from myself and getting used to this bike (which I love but dang, 3 drops already).  For comparison, I used to own a 2005 HD Ultra Classic (Dexter) which I have also dropped 3 times, but in a span of 8 years, not just over 3 months lol).

Bruce – Full Alaska Loadout

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USA Midwest 2023 Day 11 – South Dakota to Minnesota

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September 11th, 2023

Day 11 Overview

Day 11 starts with my departure from Fisher Grove State Park Campground, near Frankfort, South Dakota.  I resumed my eastward trek on US Highway 212 through Watertown, South Dakota.  In Minnesota, I rolled through Appleton, Granite Falls, Willmar, and end the day at Diamond Lake Park near Kandiyohi, Minnesota where I camped for the night.

Total Miles for today was about 245 miles.

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Introducing Wanderlust Trains

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I have created a new YouTube channel named, Wanderlust Trains, that is about, well you guessed it, trains!. The new YouTube channel is a spinoff from my Wanderlust Lyfe channel. I was going to post some of my train videos on the existing channel but decided I want to keep Wanderlust Lyfe dedicated to motorcycles. Sometime in the future, I will start another blog site as well that I can also neglect and post randomly on. 🙂 The new blog site will focus on my trains and likely mostly about my O scale model railroad layout and later HO scale model railroad layout. Both of which I hope to start building by the end of of 2028 or sooner (not to compete with my planned Alaska 2028 motorcycle trip).

In the Meantime…..

In the meantime, I will use this blog site as needed and post existing and new train related videos from time to time to the Wanderlust Train YouTube channel.

And One More Thing…..

In case anyone is confused or has not been a cult follower of mine :), Besides motorcycles I have long been a model railroader (though not as active as I would like) and train enthusiasts since 1978, when I was seven years old (yeah, I’m getting old, do the math lol).

The First Video for the Wanderlust Train YouTube Channel

This is a video with most content stolen from myself from my USA Midwest 2023 Day 8 video that I am working on and as of this post, have not uploaded yet. I think it is legal to steal from yourself lol. 🙂

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Tristan’s First Motorcycle Ride

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November 16, 2025

Today was the day my son, Tristan, had long waited for, hist first “real” ride on a motorcycle.  Tristan’s ride today was really a test ride, confined to our neighborhood with a maximum speed of 30mph but mostly around 20mph.  We also tested mounting and dismounting Bruce with Tristan getting onboard first, then myself seemed to work the best.

So, it was a short ride today. We spent about 20 minutes riding back and forth within our neighborhood, he was thrilled. 

Before I would allow Tristan to ride, I wanted a few getting familiar with Bruce rides myself, and I wanted to configure Bruce to be more passenger friendly by installing the top case with a passenger back rest and the side paniers which I finished installing yesterday, November 15th, 2025.

Tristan’s full motorcycle ride is pending on all his motorcycle riding gear coming in, we are waiting on his riding pants and jacket to be delivered.  We have his helmet, gloves, and boots.

Been a Long Time Coming

Ever since he was old enough to walk or even before he could talk in 2018, he was interested in getting on the motorcycle , Dexter a 2005 Harley-Davidson Ultra Classic, and wanting to ride.

Here is Tristan one years old back in 2019 on Dexter, in our garage in Lake Elsinore, California.

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Veteran’s Day Bruce Break-In Ride 3

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11/11/2025 Veteran’s Day Ride – 103 Miles today 213 miles to go for the 500 Mile Break-In.

Cold Ride today with starting temperature at 25°F a bit past 8am.

 Today’s temperature never exceeded 47°F during the ride (most of day was in the 30’s.  However, I was not cold but layered up like the Michelin man.  I was unable to test my Rev’It Sand H20 pants as they were too long and I returned them to Cycle Gear in Hiram, GA (part of today’s ride).

Read more about the gear I wore and the 3rd Break-In Ride overall.

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Introducing Bruce – 2025 HD Pan America 1250 Special

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As stated in a post yesterday, Dexter was traded in for a new motorcycle on Friday October 17th, 2025 for a new (23 miles at time of purchase) 2025 Harley-Davidson Pan America 1250 Special. Today, October 18th, 2025 DeAndra named the new motorcycle Bruce. She had me fire it up as she walked around the bike and then stated “You can turn Bruce off now”. So, there we we have it, the sacred motorcycle naming ceremony has been completed LOL.
Bruce is the new bike’s name.

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Goodbye To Dexter: 11/25/2017 – 10/17/2025

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Today, October 17, 2025 I traded in Dexter for a new 2025 Harley Davidson Pan America 1250 Special. Originally, I was planning on keeping dexter in addition to the new ’25 Pan AM. But, with limited space available in the garage and the planned shed delayed for several more years, there was no space for 2 motorcycles. Plus, I got a fair offer for Dexter being 20 years old from Atlanta Harley Davidson (and locked in for what feels like forever on the new bike lol).

DeAndra and I took Dexter out last week, October 10th, 2025 for what would be the last ride (not counting today’s ride to the dealer). It is a bit bittersweet as I am excited about the new motorcycle and the great flexibility for riding that it offers (which is why I wanted an adventure centric bike for future trips). But man, there was allot of history, mishaps, unplanned adventures lol, and blissful mayhem with Dexter. Not to mention that I truly believe Dexter is in the best shape it has been in for many many years. It was a hard decision and I was feeling surprisingly emotional about it. Wow, I guess I do still have a feel human feelings lol, I will have to work on that :).

Time To Stop Procrastinating

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I think it has been about two years since I have updated anything on this blog or my YouTube channel. Quick update: I did complete my USA Midwest 2023 trip successfully and it was fantastic. Then I began working two jobs again and did so all the way to June 2025. That is my excuse for neglecting this site and riding only about 200 miles since my 2023 Midwest trip to June 2025.

Tail of the Dragon

The weekend of 9/12/2025 – 9/14/2025 I did ride a fantastic weekend trip up in the North Carolina / Tennessee mountains and rode the Tail of the Dragon (and many other roads I think are more fun) with Dexter. A bit sketchy and rusty in the mountains as this was my first real riding of any kind in two years! I did put in about 600 miles on that Saturday alone though and the mojo was returning strong 🙂

Drop on Bell Mountain …Oooops lol

On the way back home in Georgia (I live a bit west of Atlanta) I went up to Bell Mountain and ended up dropping dexter on a stupid steep incline while conducting numerous dumb rider mistakes. It was not very dramatic as I was going slow, too slow and almost stalled on the very very steep climb up the mountain. The bike stopped and there I was perched on the steepest road I have ever been on (to include all of the mountains I been through out west and Colorado). With my rear brake engaged I attempted to throttle up and get moving but, the bike started rolling backward and I basically just bailed (fall over to the right.) Sounds and looked more dramatic than it actually was. I still ended up with a 130 mile tow back home as the drop snapped off my brake lever and there was no way I was going to be able to ride Dexter (just under 1000 pounds) down that ridiculous mountain road. I ordered a new lever and installed it less than a week afterward and have done some light local riding since.

Riding with DeAndra and a slow goodbye to Dexter

Today, 10/10/2025 DeAndra (my wife) and I did a short ride down to Newnan, GA for some lunch at Culvers. This has been the first time we have been able to 2-up ride since we moved from California in 2020. Today will also probably be the last time we can do so on Dexter. On 10/04/2025, I put a deposit down for a 2025 Harley Davidson Pan America and will be trading in Dexter as part of the deal. I am waiting for the motorcycle to be delivered to Atlanta Harley Davidson. If the deal works out as prescribed on 10/04/2025, I should be riding home on the ’25 Pan America (have to wait for DeAndra to name this bike lol) by Saturday 10/18/2025.

There will a be 2.5 year additional pause of any significant motorcycle trips other than to the Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee mountains and some riding local and into eastern Alabama (semi-local). First, I have to learn how to ride the new bike and get comfortable with it. Second, I need to configure, outfit and test the planned add-ons and upgrades. Three, I will be practicing off-pavement riding (nothing crazy, not looking at off road, just off pavement Think gravel roads, forest roads, etc and just being comfortable off road with an adventure bike.

And then……currently planned……Alaska 2028 Motorcycle Trip. OOOOH AAAAAH

Alaska 2028 Motorcycle Trip

As currently planned, would be starting the trip from Georgia on June 23, 2028 and wrap up back in Georgia on August 01, 2028. Will be riding with some camping and some hoteling, to Fairbanks, then Deadhorse via the Dalton Highway, then to Anchorage. My wife and son will be flying up to Anchorage from Atlanta for a week family vacation, then, I resume my motorcycle trip to include a tentative mini sidetrack to Telegraph Creek, BC (weather permitting) and then back to Georgia.

Total planned miles for Alaska 2028 Motorcycle Trip = 11,304

In the Meantime….

I believe I still have a few videos to upload from some of my riding in 2018, All days for the USA Midwest 2023 trip and the more recently the Tail of the Dragon trip. I plan to start posting again soon and once I get rolling again doing that, I will start posting videos. Of course, there will be some goodbye to Dexter and Hello to the yet to be named bike too. And of course, I actually need to start riding some more again lol…

Be back on here soonish……..Peace!!

California Loop 2018 – Day 1 Part 1

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Click Picture Above for Video

Part 1 of Day 1

This video covers a portion of Day 1 from Buttonwillow, CA to Santa Margarita, CA riding on California Highway 58. The scenery was very nice including the California golden rolling hills and a very nice (very freshly paved) winding CA-58 Highway.

California Loop 2018 Motorcycle Trip – Overview

California Loop 2018 is a motorcycle trip I rode from May 26th 2018 to June 4th 2018 (9 months after my motorcycle accident where I broke my leg and six months after I purchased Dexter, my 2005 Harley Davidson Ultra Classic).

This trip was tour of some of the many iconic areas of California (there are so many). Trip started from Lake Elsinore, CA riding Interstate to Buttonwillow, CA where I catch CA Highway 58 to Santa Margarita, CA and jump on US Highway 101 and roll north to Humboldt Redwoods State Park near Weott, CA where I camped for a few days and explored the unpopulated areas of the Lost Coast.

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