Honda Homecoming Rally - 2005

Heading for Homecoming


Honda of America puts on a pretty good show every year and invites the public to inspect their motorcycle factory near Marysville, Ohio. The open house is only part of the event. The whole area puts out the welcome mat for thousands of pilgrims who come to see the birthplace of Gold Wing and VTX motorcycles.

The nearby town of Marysville closes off downtown streets and makes space available for vendors, bands, a light parade, and other events.

About 20 miles to the west, Bellefontaine hosts another large vendor area where you can find almost any accessory for a Honda and lots of stuff for other makes as well.

As usual, my attendance was a last minute decision. I had been following a bulletin board thread on the internet about a get-together on Friday and decided that was plenty of reason to run 150 miles down the road.

Luckily for me, the first hotel I called had a room available and the price was right. The Fairfield Inn was at exit 91 off I-70, just west of Columbus. That put me about 20 miles south of Marysville. A little off the beaten path, but considering there were 16,000 visitors at last year's Homecoming, finding a hotel anywhere in the area at the last minute is a little iffy.

Since Marysville is so close to home, I have managed to sneak down there for the last 3 years. I always head down I-75 to Findley where I take 15 east to 68. Route 68 runs almost straight the whole way to Bellefontaine. It is a quick route but boring. Along the way you encounter elevation changes of maybe 15 feet total. The highway is a tribute to the efforts of lumberjacks. There are few places on earth with a greater fondness for telephone poles. One redeeming feature of the road is the neat lawns that line the west side of the road. I passed lot after lot of freshly mowed lawn with the accompanying green aroma. Several scenes were repeated as I noticed thin old men wearing thin, sun-bleached shirts, atop lawn tractors, their backs slightly bent from decades of tending the land.

The east side of the road contains fewer houses but more corn fields. This section of road is so boring the non-domesticated animals run, leap, mosey, slither, and otherwise fling themselves in front of traffic to escape the monotony. The poor sad cattle watch in envy from their enclosures.

The upside is 68 leads directly south to civilization and a motorcycle rally. Like Elwood and Jake, I was on a mission. I hit 33 and headed straight to the factory. There were thousands of bikes in the lot and just as I pulled in, a space opened next to the demonstation pad. No, not protesters, riding demonstations. There was a guy doing donuts on a dirt bike and he was just finishing up his act. As I got my stuff put away, the "Ride Like a Pro" guy was starting his program. He was doing his confidence course and has added some pretty good dialogue through his mobile P.A. system if you listen closely. But I was on a mission.

I headed directly for the registration desk where I signed up to win a brand new Gold Wing. I was confident this year would be my year. My confidence was only equaled by the ten thousand or so other seekers of the holy grail. Still, the odds favored me since this is the third time I have entered to win. So I deposited my ticket in the drum, picked up a few freebies and confidently strode out into the sunshine to await the anouncement.

With a whole day to kill until they called my name, I headed to downtown Marysville. I had a secondary mission. I wanted a cradle for my GPS.

I dodged around a barricade and located an empty space on the street which was reserved for motorcycles only. After carefully shoehorning my 800 pound bike into a slot, I set out in search of the elusive E-Trex GPS holder.

I ran into Bill Morph who makes/sells mike-mutes. He and his family were enjoying the sunny weather and answering questions about the product line.

After surveying the vendor area and inspecting the ribs and chicken stand, I notice a few more displays on the next block. There I located the object of my search. After about 15 minutes of labor and $40.00 lighter, my GPS was installed. No more dangling from the strap wrapped around the clutch reservoir. It may be cheap, but it's nice to know how far the next town is when you're travelling and low on fuel.

While making the transaction, Polecat from the gl1800riders board wandered up. He too was in the market for some RAM mounts. When I was done with my install I found Polecat about a block away, poking at his clutch mounts with some odd tools. I dug around in my trunk and found the right size hex wrench and assisted with his install by giving helpful suggestions.
Partway through this exercise, RRIXX showed up and announced he was off to the same vendor, Cycle Gadgets, for some similar gear.

There was some talk of riding up to the Bellefontaine vendor area before the 4:00 dinner at Tumbleweeds. Time slipped away and we left Marysville with just enough time to make it to the restaurant on time. Along the way, I took the lead out of town and headed for the closest freeway access. Polecat and RRIXX turned off at a downtown intersection and headed for a different access. I caught them again on Route 33 but I'm still not sure if they thought I was lost or were just trying to shake me. Either way, we arrived at Tumbleweeds intact and were greeted by about twenty other riders from the gl1800riders board.

Dinner at the Tumbleweeds

With the precise skills of surgeons, a dinner was sheduled at the Tumbleweed Restaurant by CJS, Polecat and RRIXX. A gregarious lot, the dinner was open to anybody who showed up. Someone had tipped off the waitstaff and an area was hollowed out in the middle of the dining room to accomodate our little group.

I took a seat accross from Tourit and Alabama Ironbutt and his wife who had recently experienced a flash of minor celebrity. To my right was Natalie and her beau from Milwaukee. Others in attendance included Iwing, Hedoman, Bash, Mrgl02, Toyo and his bride, and a bunch of others. I think I'm the only one without an AKA. Not an original thinker, I guess.

The dinner was a great success. Lots of old aquaintances renewed, new aquaintances made, war stories spun and re-spun, time/distance records remarked upon and the usual touring rider conversations. When it was all over, the entire readership of gl1800riders.com was invited to Natalie and Chuck's wedding next August. Details to follow. All in all the festivities resulted in a good time for everyone. I'm pretty sure there was no damage to any of the facilities and no other guests were harmed or insulted during our stay.

Outside in the parking lot there was time for more conversation and pictures before the riders headed off in different directions. Hedoman and CJS invited me to stop by the Drury for a pop but I didn't make it. Polecat and RRIXX were headed for Dayton for the night, I think. Being the "King and Princess of CatsCade" you never know.

In a matter of minutes the parking lot emptied of Gold Wings and another get-together was history. This is the third time I have made an effort to meet up with members of the bulletin board, and each time I am impressed with the cross section of Americana represented. At each event, more people show up whose names or nicknames I have seen on the internet. More often than not, the people look different than I had expected (in a good way, mostly). I hope more who follow the BBS posts will take the time to stop by future meetings.

See you on the road.