Highlands Hammock, Sebring, Florida

We spent the weekend camping and hiking in the Sebring area.  For the ride down from south Orlando, I take the Orange Blossom Trail.  The road has a great name and no doubt it once travelled through many orange groves, but now you ride through traffic until you get past Kissimmee.  The Orange Blossom Trail passes through Davenport Florida, a town that began as Fort Cummings.  Fort Cummings was a military fort built in the 1800s and its' reason for being built, in what was then the middle of nowhere, was to establish a base to communicate with the Seminole Indians as the second Seminole war came to a close.  Today it is a sleepy little town with a strong country feel.  Many old buildings still exist and as so often happens with time, the roads have widened a bit so the buildings all seem very close to the road.

Just south of Davenport, we turn off the Orange Blossom Trail at Haines City and continue south on Hwy 17.  Hwy 17 doesn't get a lot of traffic and it takes you through many orange groves and a few small towns.  One of those small towns is Dundee. The area that is now Dundee was developed by speculators that saw the potential for citrus crops .  One of those that came to the area with citrus dreams was William Shepard of Minneapolis.  Shepard purchased about 14,000 acres of land . He developed not only the citrus groves, but when the railroad came through, he began developing and selling housing lots. Shepard was a visionary, as the area grow to become a major citrus producer.

South of Dundee, Fort Clinch once stood.  Fort Clinch was abandoned after only a few months, but by the mid 1800s it was resettled by its' first permanent settlers.  The settlers were attracted to the area by the plentiful game and fishing.  By the time William Shepard was developing Dundee, the name of the Fort Clinch area was changed to Frostproof.  Although the area is not exactly frost proof, frosts are rare.  With the catchy name and good soil, grove owners moved into the area.  Now the stretch from Dundee all the way to Sebring is packed full of groves.  This time of year the scent is almost unbelievably good!

It must have taken a tremendous amount of work to clear the land for the groves.  As you can see from the photos, the vegetation in the area without groves is very thick and often swampy.  I think, if left alone, the land would reclaim itself and you'd find very little signs of human habitation in just a few years. 

 

 

This is a foot path through a section of the Highlands Hammock State Park.  Something that cannot be seen from the pictures and that few non Floridians would know is that Florida is a state with hidden dangers.  The ocean is full of fish and sharks that can and do bite, there are salt water crocs, and swamp living alligators, venomous snakes and spiders.  It seems every type of palm has thorns or leaves can stab and cut.  There is a fantastic beauty about it all, but it had to take hardy men and women to settle the land.

 

 

Seconds after I snapped this picture an alligator that I hadn't seen slid quietly into the water just beyond the tree that is to the left of center.  

 

 

The swamp has a beauty of its' own and is nearly silent in the day.  It comes alive in the evening with the sounds of frogs and night birds.  

 

 

One of the neatest sounding night birds is the Limpkin.  It has a cry that sounds like it should have come from the deepest jungle.  In fact, their call was used in the Tarzan movies that were filmed in the area years ago.

 




Swamp

 





More Swamp



Still more swamp



1000 year old tree





This tree is approximately 1000 years old.  Much of the old growth is gone now, but some still stands.


Road through the hammock



This road and the two below cut through the state park.  There are always campers in the park, but the trails and roads get little use.

 

 

 

The deer flies were bad in a few places and I mentioned to my riding buddy, best friend, and wife, Kim that I'd been shooing one away from my head for the last few minutes and that it had bit me and left a red mark.  She didn't show much sympathy.  Then later in the day as we walked the path below, she stepped on a snake and was bitten.  She is so competitive and always has to show me up...

 

Anyway, it was a fantastic weekend with plenty of solitude and beauty.



 

Snake bite alley

The Snake Bite

Kawasaki Vulcan 900 Review

 




Kawasaki Vulcan 900

It can be difficult to write a review on a bike you have researched and finally committed to purchasing. Seems the review is bound to have a bit of bias in it. So with no apologies, here is my view and comments on the Vulcan 900.

I could never have been called a cruiser fan, I like simple bikes, fast bikes, and I like soft core trail riding. Cruisers were just not in my sights. Then one day my Dad bought a cruiser and rode it out to the farm to show it off. I wondered what had ever made him decide to buy a cruiser. I had (still have) a Kawasaki Concours and didn't see the attraction of the cruiser. I think he saw that in my eyes, because he just smiled and offered me his bike. It was sooo nice and sooo easy. (He did that to me with scooters too. Thanks Dad for opening my eyes to so many things)

That nice and easy stayed in my head long after that ride and several years later, with the encouragement of my best friend, riding buddy, and wife we purchased the Vulcan. Now after riding it for 12,000 plus miles, I have to say I like it better with each mile I ride it. Just as no bike is the perfect bike, this one gives and takes in different areas, so read on and we'll talk about the good and the bad of this very nice machine. Is there any bad after 12,000 miles? Not really, but there are things we can talk about so you are better informed if you should be in the market for a cruiser.

When reading magazine reports on the Vulcan 900, you hear them call this bike a middleweight or sometimes even a light cruiser. Let me tell you that a 660 pound 900cc bike is not light. It may be middle weight, but only because middle weight is a relative term. Just the same the weight is very low and because of this, the bike is easy to move around the garage and it is almost laughably easy to maneuver at walking speeds. It gets moved around less in the wind than my Connie and TU 250 and those wide handlebars make it super easy to roll into and out of the curves.

The fit and finish is quite good, the paint is flawless and the chrome is very pretty. I like plastic and am happy the bike has plastic fenders - no rust - but chrome plastic engine parts strike me as odd. Just the same, Kawasaki has pulled this off very well and the chrome is very nice. It has a belt drive and, again, I was not sure I'd like that feature, but I have become a convert. There is nothing to worry about with a street bike and belt drive, and it never needs oiling and seldom (none so far) needs adjusting. The final little thing that I'd change if I were King, or wealthy enough to buy aftermarket, is the spoke wheels. Not the spokes really as they are pretty and they compliment this type bike. They do run tube type tires though. I prefer the ease of patching a tubeless tire to a tube type.

There is no other bad for me and all these minor things are just that, minor. The windshield does a great job of splitting the wind, in fact it is the best bike I have owned for weather protection. The engine has fantastic torque and chugs up and down the road as easy two up as solo. It makes easy work of the eastern US mountains. This bike is at it's absolute best cruising through the countryside showing off the sights and smells of our rural areas. It is like riding a big old lawn chair. The seating position encourages you to look around and enjoy the world we so often just blast through when we are trying to "get somewhere". The Vulcan is happy at 45 mph and it is happy at highway speeds. I think the big windshield starts to drag a little as speeds climb above 70-75 mph. The bike can travel at these speeds and higher without any problem, but you do see the gas mileage begin to suffer.  The mileage on the open highway is 45 MPG but on last summers' ride to Tennessee and North Carolina the mileage ranged from 48 to 54+ MPG.  The bike has a 5.3 gallon fuel tank.  I run about 190 miles between fillups when riding back and forth to work (mostly turnpike travel)and will usually go 215+ when I get to ride it on the back roads I enjoy most.  When the fuel warning light illuminates, there is still a gallon of fuel in the tank. 

An interesting thing I have noticed with the Vulcan as well as the Concours is that they just keep getting better.  It is as if it takes them 30,000 miles or so to fully break in.  They get smoother and quicker with miles.  With the Vulcan, the mileage has continued to improve with age and even though I have always felt the engine was smooth, it also seems to keep running freer and smoother.  There is very little vibration from the Vulcan. The floorboards and handlebars remain steady all the way up to 70-75 MPH.

My father in-law and I rode to Tennessee and North Carolina last summer and we had intended to trade bikes now and then to give us sore spots in different place than we'd get if we stayed on just one bike. Turned out my father in-law enjoyed the Connie so much and I enjoyed the Vulcan so much that we did not trade at all. After a full week of steady riding neither of us was sore or tired.

It'll never be confused for a dual sport bike, but we have taken the Vulcan down a number of gravel roads as well as paved roads. I think the combination of wide tires and steering geometry make this an easy ride. There is no need to worry as it remains stable in both hard pack dirt and gravel.

I think the Vulcan 900 will be in Kawasaki's lineup for a long time. It doesn't try to be macho, it doesn't try to be a hotrod, it doesn't try to be anything other than a very pleasant to live with bike. The Vulcan will stay in my stable for a long time, it is just sooo easy and sooo nice!

Video Links you might enjoy:
Klausenpass - Teil 1
Klausenpass - Teil 2
Klausenpass - Teil 3




 

The Ghost Town Ride



 

The orange trees are in blossom.  The fragrance is one the most fantastic smells anywhere.  You just want to draw a deep breath, keep breathing in and never let it out.  To ride through central Florida in the spring time is made even more special because of the orange blossoms.

Today’s ride was a real treat.  My idea was to take the ghost town ride I had planned for a few weeks ago.  The cumulus clouds had built until they formed a near overcast, yet there seemed to be plenty of thermal lift. At almost any time you could see countless hawks, turkey vultures, black vultures and an occasional eagle.  There are many other birds in this area as well and I saw turkeys, cranes, herons, storks, and swallow tail kites too.  As I stopped to take pictures in Kenansville, a couple of tiger butterflies floated by bobbing in the slight breeze and disappeared behind the remains of the old post office.

Kenansville Post Office

 

Kenansville may best be considered a near ghost town.  It was a late 1800s cattle town on a section of railroad that Henry Flagler built.  When the railroad pulled out, the town struggled to survive.  Today, there is still an abandoned bank and school house.  The school had 100 students in 1920, 29 in 1922, but in 1962 its’ doors closed for 30 years.  It reopened in 1992 but finally closed for good in 2003. 

School House

 

Elvis Presley made several trips to central Florida and Kenansville has a lasting bit of notoriety because of those trips.  Kenansville is the home to the Heartbreak Hotel.  It is said that the name of the hotel was the inspiration to the Elvis song, Heartbreak Hotel.

 

From the Heartbreak Hotel, it is about a 25 mile ride to Yeehaw Junction, a town with another stop over made famous, or infamous, from its’ past.  Yeehaw Junctions’ last remaining establishment is the Desert Inn and Motel.  The Desert Inn and Motel was once the local brothel but now houses a restaurant and motel.  This is a place to stop by and enjoy a cool drink while you take in the unique decorations and history.  On this last visit, there were luncheon tables set outside as well as an outdoor pool table that was getting a workout from the locals.  In the past I have seen chickens scratching around outside, but they were not seen this time.  There is always a steady flow of customers in and out of the Desert Inn.  It is worthy of a stop if you are in the area and one you will remember for quite some time.

 

After leaving Yeehaw Junction, I chugged my way north to see if I could find Lokosee.  Lokosee was a turpentine producing town along the railway and has been abandoned since the railroad closed.  The old town is now grown over but lives on at least in name as the Lokosee ranch.  From Lokosee I continued north looking for Nittaw.

Nittaw Residents

 

 



Roadside Table

I found an old road sign for Nittaw Ln but that is about all that is left of this former saw mill town.  There were a few cattle where the town once stood, so I guess Nittaw is not really a ghost town, its’ inhabitants have just changed.  Further up the road is Illiahaw.  Illiahaw (derived from the Indian word for orange) was another stop on a railway and the last building still standing is the railway substation.  Illiahaw was also a turpentine town, but when the trees were gone, the town went as well.  Today, the railway substation stands on the edge of an orange orchard.  There is also one of the last remaining roadside tables nearby.  For those not old enough to remember them, roadside tables were placed along roads at various intervals to provide travelers a place to rest and picnic.  All this was before interstates and our modern day version of the roadside table, the rest stop.

Illiahaw Railroad Substation

 

The last ghost town stop for the day was Holopaw.  Holopaw was essentially a company owned town for a large sawmill operation.  The town once had 2000 residents but it is mostly gone now.  The railroad pulled out at about the same time the trees played out and now the town is but a few houses and abandoned buildings.  One bright spot for motorcyclists is Holopaw Corvette.  Don’t let the name fool you.  Holopaw Corvette is home to the local URAL and Royal Enfield dealer.  I have to tell you that there could not be a more fitting dealer location for these bikes.  Stop in and check this shop out.

 

Well that is it, the smell of orange blossoms, and the sight of so many birds and cattle, six central Florida ghost towns, and perfect weather.  What a wonderful day on the bike.

 

SUZUKI TU250X RIDE REVIEW

 

I have been asked about the Suzuki TU 250 a number of times since we bought it and thought it is time to write a review on this machine.  The Suzuki TU250 is a great bike.  I didn’t call it a great small bike or a great beginner bike or use any other qualifier.  Taken on its’ own, it is a worthy bike and that may explain why it is popular with riders of varying skill and experience.  Let’s take a look at it.

 

A bike that makes you smile

 

The TU250 doesn’t try to be a sport bike, a cruiser, or a touring bike.  Instead, it tries to be a bike that can carry its’ rider nearly anywhere and do it with grace and dignity.  Where this bike excels is in taking the rider down our secondary and back roads.  It is as if the bike wants you to become a part of the world you are traveling through.  It wants you to experience the smells, to feel the wind and the temperature of the air.  It wants you to look around and enjoy the scenery.  The seat is comfortable and the riding position puts no strain on your neck, back, arms or legs and it keeps your head and eyes up where they belong.

I don’t know the top speed of most of the bikes I have owned, and that includes this one.  It does seem most comfortable cruising in the 45 to 60 MPH range.  At 60 and beyond the wind begins to be too much for my comfort as well, so the bike is comfortable at speeds that match the speeds I most enjoy when riding without a windscreen.  Acceleration and top speed are not the strengths of this bike.  If top speed and acceleration are very important to you, there are better choices in bikes.  The TU250 does have enough acceleration and speed to flow with traffic on the roads it was made to travel.

The TU is so very light and agile that you need only think where you want it to go and you are there.  It is as if it is an extension of your thoughts and wishes.  Curving roads are a blast, yet when the pavement gives way to gravel or dirt, this bike continues on completely at ease with the new surface.  If the going gets bumpy or sandy you can stand on the pegs to keep the bike stable and the ride smooth.  The light weight (326 pounds fully fueled) that makes it so nice to ride also make it a breeze to move around the garage or ride at parking lot speeds.

My wife and I are 5’4” and 5’8” tall and the bike fits us perfectly.  I have read reports of taller riders fitting fine as well.  So the bike is a comfortable and enjoyable travel companion and explorer.  It is also a very good looking bike, at least to most people’s eyes.  It has no beak and it doesn’t where clothing that makes it look like a caricature of a motorcycle.  It is designed on the style that was once known as a “standard” bike, but is now rather rare.  Park the bike and people will walk up to it for a closer look and if you happen to be nearby you can expect them to quiz you about its’ age and if you restored it.  How nice is that!  A bike that can introduce you to the joys of back road riding and also introduce you to new friends!

The TU250 gets great gas mileage.  Ours usually tops 90 MPG and has had a low of 84 MPG.  That coupled with a 3.2 gallon fuel tank and you can expect a 250 mile range with good reserves.

Over the years motorcycles have become specialized.  We can purchase what are essentially street legal race bikes, enormous and comfortable touring bikes, street legal dirt bikes with 10 inches of suspension travel and gigantic cruisers that weigh in excess of 800 pounds.  All these bikes are fantastic at what they were designed to do, but they give much away at the far side of their particular specialty.  Everyone can look at this Suzuki and name a specialty bike that does something better that it can, but there are very few that can deliver as much fun and enjoyment as this bike can.

I have owned many bikes, yet this one is one of my all-time favorites.  Maybe even THE all-time favorite.

Links you might like.
TU250X Review
TU250X Mountain Climb
TU250X Ride
TU 250 in Bryson City, NC video
Yamaha SR400/SR500 Review

No Ghost Stories Today

Took a little ride with my best friend and riding buddy, Kim, today.  We had planned to poke around some nearby ghost towns to take a few pictures and spend some time on the bikes.  The weather had other plans though.  We rode through a strong and gusting crosswind for about twenty miles before deciding it would be better to save the ghost town trip for another day.  We did stop at Lake Cypress for awhile and took a few photos before we turned for home.  You can get an idea of the strength of the wind in some of the pictures.  We had to take care of how we faced the bikes when we stopped, for fear the wind would blow them off their stands.

After taking some pictures and strolling around a bit, we headed back home.  Shortly after we put the bikes away we had some pretty severe weather blow through, a number of trees came down in our area and Orlando had a tornado as well as straight line winds that did a bit of damage.

Still, we managed a few pictures of old Florida that you might enjoy.  We'll save the ghost town tour for another time.

Cypress Lake and Lake Kissimmee

I had a little time this afternoon so took a ride on some of the back roads around our home in central Florida.  Many parts of Florida are still pretty wild and uninhabited and this includes much of central Florida.  In recent times, the area has become well know for its' tourist attractions but much of old Florida still lives and thrives.  It is a beautiful part of the state where many make their living on ranches and hunting and fishing the many lakes and swamps of the area.


I traveled a gravel road through stands of trees and open pastures on my ride to Cypress Lake.




Stand of trees on the ride to Cypress Lake

There is something peaceful about riding a pleasant bike down a gravel road.  The muffled thump of the engine and the soft sound of wheels rolling over the gravel and fine sand can make the ride almost magical.  I stopped often to watch the hawks and eagles soar and at one point stood and watched 12 deer as they grazed.  They kept a watchful eye on me, but continued to feed.  Thinking I could get a picture of them, I shut down the engine and tried to dismount from the bike as slowly and quietly as possible.  While they were not alarmed while I was seated on the bike, they wandered away as soon as I got off the bike.  Too bad as they would have made a great picture.




These fellows didn't mind having their picture taken.

The cattle were happy to pose for me though.  They were inquisitive and inched closer to get a better look at the bike, or maybe the guy riding it.

I have had friends tell me they had ridden through the middle of nowhere, but I actually stopped there and have a picture to prove it!




The Middle of Nowhere

After leaving the middle of Nowhere I stopped by a stand of trees dripping with Spanish moss.  I had just fired the bike back up to head further along my journey when another bike slowly made its' way past me.  The rider only went about one hundred yards beyond me when he turned around and came back for a little chat and a better look at my bike.  As he pulled up and shut down his bike he asked how old my bike was and how much work the restoration was.  He was surprised to learn the bike is only a few years old.  (It is a Suzuki TU250X)  As you can see the bike does have an older look about it.  It is a smallish single cylinder with the look of bikes we used to call standards.  It has a natural riding position that makes it ideal for back road riding, whether the roads are paved, gravel, sand, or cow pasture.

I'll write a rider report on the bike at sometime in the future.  I have to admit it is one of my favorite bikes.

As you can see from the pictures the sun was getting low, but I had time to ride down to Lake Kissimmee before it got too dark and I needed to head home.  The sun was just a few minutes away from setting when I snapped a shot of the lake.  One nice thing about the back roads is you feel you have them to yourself, yet when you do bump into other folks, they always seem friendly and unhurried.  This is one of the best reasons to travel the roads less traveled.






Lake Kissimmee

 As I headed home from Lake Kissimmee, the air was cooling and the light began to turn everything that beautiful golden color that fades so fast, yet is the highlight of the day.  The evening air carried the wonderful scents of the pastures and trees.  The temperature of the air varied as I road from pasture land to wooded areas.  At first the pasture lands being the warmest, but as the sun slowly sank below the horizon, the pastures cooled and the wooded areas held their warmth.

 

 

 

 

After stopping to take these last two pictures I turned toward home and made no more stops.  There is something very nice about riding at night, the sights, the smells, and temperature changes that just keep getting stronger, but as pleasant as it is to ride at night the dangers do go up a bit.  The worry of animals and other objects on the road can make the ride less fun than it would otherwise be.  Tonight, I made it home just as the first stars began to blink and twinkle into view.  It was the perfect end to a perfect ride.

Florida's Green Swamp Area

My Green Swamp ride leaves from the Kissimmee area and heads west on a road my Florida Gazetteer calls 531.  531 generally parallels the more heavily traveled 17/92 and in fact eventually dead ends on 17/92.  I chugged south on 17/92 a few miles to another road with two names, Ronald Reagan / Deen Still Rd.  Deen Still has a bit of traffic on it until you cross west of 27.  From this point on, you be in the country enjoying the great scenery rural Florida has to offer and will see but a few cars.  The road winds around as it follows a low creek area through small cattle ranches and scrub brush.  There is a very nice loop you can make by turning north on Brown Shinn Rd.  Brown Shinn will drop you off on Route 33.  This day, I chose to continue on Deen Still all the way to Rock Ridge Rd.  Rock Ridge is poorly named as you are travelling the low country with real no ridge in sight.  It is a swamp ridge, that is it once was the higher sand areas that skirted the worst of the wet and was often used as trails by the native people and animals.  Turn north on Rock Ridge and you will enjoy some very nice riding with very few cars or houses anywhere to be seen. 

The land is wooded with open pasture and you can expect to see deer and turkey as well as the many other birds Florida is so well known for.  Alligators are everywhere in this part of Florida, all water must be treated as if there are alligators present, mainly because they are.  You can also see them sunning themselves on the roads soaking up a little warmth.

 

 

 

Rock Ridge will meet up with Rt. 33.  I turned north on 33 until reaching Lake Erie Rd - must have been named by an expat. Ohioan.Lake Erie Rd is a nice meander through the Green swamp and there is a nice loop at the end of it you'll want to take.  The loop is named Bay Lake Loop and it takes you through more wooded swamp land.


From the Bay Lake Loop, I took 565 north to Hwy 50.  West on 50 then a few hundred yards you turn north again on a small road that my map has as unnamed.  Unnamed travels more country lowland through a small area that was at one time the town of Tuscannoga.  There are sections of this road that can be flooded during heavy rains, but are dry most of the time.  Unnamed ends at Rt 469.  I took 469 to Town Center and continued on Hwy 48 west to spend the afternoon wandering Dade Battlefield Historic State Park.

This area is full of history and sites of old battle fields.  From the park it would be easy to continue west reaching the Gulf coast in a remote area near Homosassa, but I had only a little time left in the day so retraced my travels back home.

I have some nice photos of this ride, I have digitally misplaced them and will post them as soon as I recover them.

Well it seems I have lost the photos for good.  I'll ride this ride again one day and post a better report.  The roads are great motorcycle roads and deserve a better write up.