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Re the Lone Star Motorcycle Museum in Vanderpool, TX
Dr Z...some who have visited this museum say it is only open on weekends. Your itinerary suggests you will be there on a Wednesday.
Now...as I recall, the owners of this museum live in a house about 150 yards from the museum. If you really want to see those vintage bikes (on the Wednesday you will be driving the Holy Trinity) I suggest you contact the owners a couple of weeks in advance of your trip, reveal to them you are a German national visiting here (your only chance to do so) and would appreciate if they could accommodate your Wednesday schedule. I'll be they would, and give you a private tour to boot.
I say that because that's essentially what my son and I did several years ago. The owner's wife met us (her husband was, at the time, in Australia chasing down motorcycle parts) and walked us through the entire place, including the back shop area where there were another 10 or 15 bikes, in pieces, in process of restoration.
The Lizzard
Last edited by LoneStarLizzard; 03-04-2018 at 10:51 AM.
Right!
It says so on their website ... I shouldn't have missed that...
So many thanks for pointing me to both the issue and its solution!
I sent an email and got a response right away "If I'm there I'll open".
So I guess that'll be ok.
And I really would love to see the bikes - my garage is home to a bevel-drive Ducati and a more modern ST2 Ducati as well. (My problem obviously is deciding how to the spent those relatively rare (over here at least) sun-shine weekend days ...).
Time has been flying and I'll be on the plane next Friday
The itinerary is going to be
April 28 - May 11..... Los Alamos & thereabouts
Sat May 12:.....Albuquerque
Sun May 13:....Albuquerque
Mon May 14:....Albuquerque
Tue May 15:.....Go on trip to Colorado
Sat May 26:.....Albuquerque, back from trip to CO
Sun May 27:....Albuquerque - Carlsbad
Mon May 28:....Carlsbad - Big Bend (Chisos Mountain Lodge)
Tue May 29:.....Big Bend - Uvalde
Wed May 30:....Uvalde - Three Sisters - Lonestar Motorcycle Museum - Fredericksburg
Thu May 31:.....Fredericksburg - Galveston
Fri June 1:.......Galveston
Sat June 2:......Galveston / Houston - deliver Corvette to shipper & leave by plane
Once again many thanks for all the good advice!
Am really looking forward to meeting some of you soon!
The Vette is quite fine, but it threw me a last minute issue:
The passenger side window rollers broke into pieces and now the window is but an opening. Ordered the parts this Friday morning UPS NextDay Air, which I understrood to be Saturday delivery. But no, it's Monday...
And Monday is the day my wife lands in ABQ and our road trip starts - da**** :-(
So the schedule had to change:
April 28 - May 14:..... Los Alamos & thereabouts Sat May 12:.....Jefferson Street Meeting ABQ, Lunch Circle-T @ Belen, 4pm Dragway ABQ, back to Los Alamos
Sun May 13:....Los Alamos and Santa Fe
Mon May 14:... Pick-up parts @ UPS Santa Fe, fix car, pick up wife @ ABQ in the evening
Tue May 15:.....Go on trip to Colorado
Sat May 26:.....Albuquerque, back from trip to CO, wife flies home
Sun May 27:....Albuquerque - Carlsbad
Mon May 28:....Carlsbad - Big Bend (Chisos Mountain Lodge)
Tue May 29:.....Big Bend - Uvalde
Wed May 30:....Uvalde - Three Sisters - Lonestar Motorcycle Museum - Fredericksburg
Thu May 31:.....Fredericksburg - Galveston
Fri June 1:.......Galveston
Sat June 2:......Galveston / Houston - deliver Corvette to shipper & leave by plane
IF I COULD GET MY HANDS ON THE PARTS EARLIER THAN MONDAY, THAT WOULD MAKE MY LIFE A LOT EASIER. I COULD FIX THE CAR ASAP.
Parts for one window would be enough, for both would be perfect.
If anyone in the Santa Fe - Albuquerque - Belen area could help me out immediately, that would be great.
I would return the parts as soon as my order gets in on Monday.
I have almost done the trip by now and must say that the day in the hill country was awesome! As was Big Bend and Chisos Mountain and now Galveston (which I substituted for staying in Houston).
I will do some driving up and down the coast and then leave on Saturday morning….
All the best to everyone on here and to Wayne and Darrell, who I met in Albuquerque. And a Special Thank You to The Lizzard!
I have almost done the trip by now and must say that the day in the hill country was awesome! As was Big Bend and Chisos Mountain and now Galveston (which I substituted for staying in Houston).
I will do some driving up and down the coast and then leave on Saturday morning….
All the best to everyone on here and to Wayne and Darrell, who I met in Albuquerque. And a Special Thank You to The Lizzard!
Chris
Chris, good to hear you enjoyed the trip. I hope you had time and the opportunity to visit the motorcycle museum.
Chris, it was a pleasure meeting you. I'm sorry time constraints and logistics interfered with plans, but it sounds like it all worked out for you. Safe journey and viel spass !
the Vette is in my garage since this week
All seems to be well and I have welcomed her with an oil change ;-)
Now there'll be a lot of work to get her registered, but then …
Chris
I trust your two motorcycles also made it there.
While my son was stationed in Germany (in the Army) I shipped his Aprilia Tuono (naked liter bike) to him. That following Memorial Day weekend I received a "collect call from Italy." I answered it...my son said, "Hey Dad, some of us took our bikes and rode from Germany to Italy. I'm on the beach in Venice." The following Labor Day weekend, he called again. "Hey Dad, took the bike and I'm on the beach in the Spanish Riviera." After he hung up, I looked at my wife and said, "F@%k it, I'm quitting my job and re-enlisting." I didn't of course, but still, the spectacular rides from Germany to all over continental Europe make living there very attractive.
Glad you enjoyed your time here. Check in if you return and some of us would be happy to escort you to wherever you want to travel.
Spent Saturday criss-crossing the Champagne and went on towards Paris in the evening.
The goal was to drive into Paris very early on Sunday and so I got to Sacre Coeur before sunrise
Driving down Mont Martre things felt ambiguous - was the city just going to sleep or was it slowly waking up?
Being the only car at Trocadero and meeting a bridal couple there…
Continuing on through empty streets to see Notre Dame as I never saw it before (without anyone else around, that is):
Great pictures Chris ! Thanks for sharing. I was in Paris last year so your pictures triggered some good memories, although as crowded as the streets were then (admittedly well after 7 am), it's amazing you got these shots !
Chris, what modifications and alterations did you have to make to be able to get it registered and licensed? I see the obvious rear fog light(s?)/reflectors -certainly jump out at you.
At the rear:
Those are reflectors, luckily no rear fog lights required. They still don't add appeal, though :-(
Turn signals now are an orange bulb inside each backup light and
the outer lights are tail and brake lights only.
At the front:
Sealed beams are a no go, so they got replaced by legal units (those are standard items and easily available,
as they are the same for lots of British and American cars).
Parking lights had to be incorprated into the outer headlights.
Starting in 1979, speedometers with combined US and metric scales were used, so I didnt need to modify the scale.
Had already gotten new EU-legal tires ("E inside a circle"-marking) in the US before I brought her to Germany,
otherwise that would have ben an issue.
Anything non-original could have become a potential issue (e.g. Edelbrock carb) as well as excessive wear,
but I knew there was no risk there for this car.
Beyond that, things like seat belts and breaks had to be checked and certified as being equivalent to what German regulations require,
a fairly standard thing and mostly a matter of course as long as those items are original to the car.
All of this had to be checked and documented by state-certified automotive engineers.
And finally, the question of license plate size had to be settled … now don't get all hysterical about German regulations, I already did ;-) and
yes, there are various prescribed sizes and fonts and yes, it is always sort of a "fight" to get an exception from the rules.
For the rear, only the smallest size (usually meant to be used by 50 cc bikes) fits the recess in the bumper.
So I had to get a state-certified automotive engineer to measure the recess, find the plate that'll fit and to validate that
modifying the bumper to fit the standard size plate would cost in excess of 10% of the value of the car - because then and only then would the
authorities issuing the plate actually give me that small one…
As a side effect, getting the small plate also includes access to the very brief letter-number combinations, so I could get
the last "79" available - "W79". The preceeding "MTK" is an abbreviation of the county name and the "H" at the end designates a historical (i.e. vintage) vehicle.
03-04-2018, 10:50 AM
