After a fast ride north from Corvallis to Federal Way, Washington and a night spent at the local Super 8, I headed over to the annual gathering of the North West Union of Pacific Coast Operators and Sport Tourers. Once per year the NW UPCOAST group gets together for a day ride somewhere in the Pacific Northwest. This year’s Ride Around Mount Rainier in One Day (RAMROD) ride started out on a hot Saturday morning. Normally I am lucky to see another Honda Pacific Coast PC800 motorcycle. The only other time that I was in such a large group of PC800s was when Emily and I went on the last day of the 2010 People On Pacific Coasts Optimistically Riding Northward (POPCORN) ride right after I returned from working in Australia, visiting Vanuatu, participating in the Trans-Australia Expedition with Zach, and campervanning across New Zealand with Kristen.
A slick BMW sidecar rig showed up for the ride. The UPCOAST rides generally allow friends of PC800 owners and previous PC800 owners to join in with permission.
Leland Sheppard’s Goldwing made the voyage from California to participate in the ride. Many consider Leland the grand master of the PC800 world thanks to his many informative websites and his database of PC800 bikes and owners. This was the first time that I had the honor of meeting Leland in person.
The briefing got underway with general and specific safety messages. Yes, that is another MMotoparts rack on that red PC800 in the foreground. I’m not the only one with such a rack in the USA!
Last minute details before the ride gets underway.