The Great Unsponsored Nova Scotia Expedition covered nearly 3000 miles in ten days, through two countries, claiming two islands for the Kingdom in the process.

In that time, we rode seven ships – five were ferries and two were tour boats. We stayed in three ocean front cabins, ranging in price from $85 to $140. We didn’t have a bad meal the entire time, and everyone gained a few pounds, always a measure of success on a motorcycle trip.

The SPOT Satellite Personal Tracker worked nearly flawlessly. Some of the Faithful Fifteen tracked portions of the trip, and a few tracked the whole, entire Expedition. The SPOT will be part of the standard gear from now on, so any of the interested Faithful Fifteen can enjoy tracking the journey’s progress.

Abi’s rear tire was repaired in the Portland BMW shop the next day, along with his rear brake. Those repairs cost more than all our oceanfront cabins combined!

Other than the flat tire on Fireball, a few minor pilot errors with Stormbringer, and a few minor electrical gremlins plaguing Rain Cloud Follows, the bikes were flawless. The worst thing that happened? They came home dirty as hell.

In other, more exciting news, Fiona’s little sit-down on Stormbringer must have pushed her over the edge, making her do something she’d talked about for a year.

Last summer, Fiona and her cousin took the Motorcycle Safety Foundation’s rider course. That’s the first step to becoming a motorcyclist. The next step, which was always put off for one reason or another was taking the written test. The week following the Expedition, she went down to the California DMV, took and passed the written motorcycle test! It’s true! Sleeping Beauty is now an officially licensed motorcyclist! I am so proud of her, and now we get to do my second favorite thing, go motorcycle shopping!

Speaking of motorcycle shopping, Dark Meat Snack’s head has been spinning ever since he rented the Honda ST in California. Visions of a more comfortable, more powerful sport touring motorcycle have been dancing in his head constantly, and recently, he answered those incessant voices.

As of yesterday, he is the proud new owner of a 2008 Kawasaki Concours 14, the ultimate sport touring machine. I’d considered trading Rain Cloud Follows in for one of these awesome machines, but now I won’t have to.

A few days after we returned, I sent Unleaded a copy of The Long Way Round, a DVD adventure featuring Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman riding BMW GS’s around the world. This DVD, along with Neil Peart’s Ghost Rider book, were very inspirational in my Expedition formative years. Neil, Ewan and Charlie all ride BMW’s, but thankfully, not one of them sport a ‘BMW Rider Loyalty Mustache.’ Neither does Keith, and not only because it’s against Air Force regulations.

Unleaded was a great addition to the Expedition, bringing comic relief and his own unbeliveable excitement towards what we were doing. I know I can count on Keith to be on all future Expeditions, or at least the ones he has enough leave for. Planning has already begun for using up all next year’s leave time.

As for me, the end of a long trip is always depressing. I go into a funk for a while after I park Rain Cloud Follows for the last time. Writing ride reports helps, but nothing helps more than planning the next one. August will find us back in Tennessee, then Dark Meat Snack and I will most likely be heading to California, and hopefully bagging the Northernmost Point of the Four Corners Mandate on the way, setting ourselves up for another Baja assault in October. I’ve also got a few more grand ideas – like the Dollar Dollar Tour – kicking around in my head.

For the terminally bored insomniacs out there, some previous yawn-inspiring motorcycling misadventures can be found here, here, and here.

Life is short! Happy Riding!

Author: frenchy

One Response to “The G.U.N.S.E. – Postscript”

1. Unleaded says:

   June 5, 2013 at 8:52 AM

   Damnit I miss this!!! Washington next year brother, plan it!!!

   Reply