Triumphrat

ruger · 08-15-2009, 03:29 PM

In early August, 2009 I sat at a computer in my hotel on Kauai and asked the Twins Talk forum if there was anyone on that island who could steer me to a rental agency or just to go for a ride. I was answered by surfdogx, a.k.a. Joe "Surfdog" Abramo, a realtor on Kauai and all-around fun guy. Here is a link to my Photobucket album of the ride:

http://s119.photobucket.com/albums/o...view=slideshow

And here's one picture as a teaser:

Sorry for the incomplete and chopped captions and titles.
Please see below for a better report. Thanks.

Catenaccio · 08-15-2009, 06:28 PM

Beautiful pics of an incredible land. Thanks for sharing.

ruger · 08-16-2009, 12:27 AM

I'm going to repost this trip with bigger pics and captions which won't be chopped up like a retread on US-80.

I'm Ruger, a mild-mannered musician from Los Angeles.

I put out the call through this forum whilst on vacation on Kauai last week. (8/2009). surfdogx answered and we met up at a nice east-side beach which looked sorta like this one:

surfdogx turns out to be the fun-loving, hard-riding Joe 'Surfdog' Abramo. See his pages at http://www.napaliprop.com/

Here's Joe with his lovely T-100:

Joe showed me around, going fast on some twisty roads, some straight ones, some sandy ones, gravel ones and some dirt ones. He goes fast on all kinds of roads and does it well.
I forgot to mention that I was on a rented Harley Fat Boy:

Not my usual ride (2008 Black) but I did actually fall for it in a big way. It also fell for me in the soft sand but we won't dwell on that.
Continues...

ruger · 08-16-2009, 12:33 AM

So anyway, Joe lives on Kawai and has built a great house, a successful RE biz, and has fun things like an old Falcon, a BSA, and a wonderful wife - NOT in that order! Geez!

We toured the North Shore with the Surfdog on his BSA:

He showed me many beaches and bays. My fave is Hanalei Bay:

Continues...

ruger · 08-16-2009, 12:37 AM

In Hawaii you get 6 letters and a hyphen so Joe used a very tall hyphen on his Bonnie's plate:

Some pics from the ride:

ruger · 08-16-2009, 12:44 AM

Joe knows everyone on the Island it seems. If he doesn't, he soon fixes that. We met a nice rider and her sister from Calif who was happy to talk about motos:

The following day I had to have the Fat Boy back by 10am so I took a nice ride in sun and rain along the western side to Waimea Canyon which is where I then took my family on bicycles later in the week:

Lots of fun! I enjoyed riding the HD quite a bit.

This was our back yard for 9 days. Hard to leave!

Continues...

ruger · 08-16-2009, 12:56 AM

So, many thanks to Joe Surfdog and to the TriumphRat list for making a great trip even better than I'd have thought possible. I wish we'd known that FlatFourOne was there at that very same time.

Here are a few more shots.
Aloha!
-Ruger

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...I/100_1639.jpg

propforward · 08-16-2009, 08:02 AM

Excellent report and pics Ruger!

ruger · 08-16-2009, 07:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by propforward

Excellent report and pics Ruger!

Thanks Prop! I have been enjoying your trips as well.

A word about reaching out through the forum here: As someone who almost exclusively rides alone, it took a real leap for me to ask for a riding partner - even just for a short day trip - on this Kauai vacation. I even came very close to telling Joe (surfdogx) that I'd changed my plans. Well, luckily I took the chance of meeting someone new and committing some time and ended up having the time of my riding life. Joe's a blast.
Moral of the story--- Even the Lone Wolf rider needs to leave the comfort zone and take a chance once in a while.
This forum Rocks!

propforward · 08-16-2009, 09:49 PM

It's true - it's a lot of fun exploring solo, but riding with a few others brings some additional enjoyment and positive differences to the ride - good for you for hooking up with Surfdog - this opportunity to meet and ride with new people is one of the best aspects of the forum.