Our destiny regarding the next couple of years had just reshaped itself by staying at the Ironhorse Motorcycle Lodge. During our extended stay, we decided that travelling in North America was a lot of fun and we wanted more! The decision to start a tour business began with a need to have a semi-permanent roof over our heads. Hence we initially acquired an RV or motorhome on Ebay. It was not difficult to find a range of motorhomes to replace our concept 'Yellow School bus'. There were plenty for sale and after an initial unsuccessful bid we discovered that many were simply not making their reserve prices suggesting to us that the market was favouring lower prices. With only 23 secs to go we decided to confirm our bid on a 34' Firan Coventry motorhome for the princely sum of $7,500. It was immaculate and powered by a gynormous fuel injected 7.4L Chevy big block gasoline engine (62K mls) and auto transmission with overdrive. In an instant, I had to begin refraining from making derogratory comments about these gas guzzling motels on wheels. We hired a Chevy Impala and drove to Rochester (NY State) near the Canadian border to pick up our new home on wheels and promptly motored south returning to Ironhorse where John and Charlene offered to allow us to park the RV until we return next year in 2013. They were surprised to see us back in a few days with our new home. It was quiet, comfortable and possessed all the modern conveniences for independent living. And the best thing was that everything worked power supply, gas heating, refridgeration and air conditioning.

With some encouragement from Ironhorse owners, we then decided to start a business bringing motorcycle riders from Australia to tour in the USA by renting bikes and riding on some of the best roads in the world. So for the past two weeks we have been busy negotiating with motorcycle rental companies and discovering the wealth of riding networks that exist for us to use in our quest to have fun and at the same time share it with Australian clients. The tours are likely to be flexible allowing for a limited choice in bikes Harley, Honda, Triumph and BMW's, and include accommodation, all travel arrangements, guided riding tours and a few alternatives such as rafting and canoeing. We have been very busy and I can promise to deliver a huge amount of fun for participants.

Living in an RV was not so bad after camping in a tent for 3 ½ months. We had a comfortable bed, air conditioning, hot water on tap and ready power supply on demand. There were maintenance issues that need to be addressed but they could wait until we returned next April. All we needed was an enclosed trailer to house the bikes and we could travel and camp anywhere.

After several weeks of planning our business we departed and headed south. The Ironhorse Motorcycle Lodge left us with nothing but good feelings and a host of friends who were all decent like-minded bikers from all over the USA. This was one of the worlds best kept secrets.

We rode south to spend time at the Barber Vintage Motorsport Museum located near Leeds Alabama. With 5 floors of motorcycles going to back to the humble origins in the 1860's, Barber's was one extraordinary place for motorcycle enthusiasts. With many hundreds of bikes from all over the world, one could spend days reminiscing over past great bike experiences. Some were new and modern, but the vintage models were incredibly well represented especially the British and European models. However there were aspects of American motorsport that I was blissfully unaware of including wooded floor boards, and dirt sprints using Harley Davidson, Indians, Excelsiors etc. and many other more exotic US produced bikes. Many Japanese models were produced exclusively for the American market and not seen in Australia. And I must admit to feeling like I have missed out on a lot of very innovative bikes that appeared during the 1980's and early 90's. The Barber Vintage Motorsport Museum also brags about their extensive collection of Lotus sport cars and a very competitive race track that is used regularly to host vintage motorsport events. We hope to incorporate these into our tours if possible. It is the sort of place where one wanted to stay for days but we had to move on to stay with David and Emy Woodburn (Barnsely Motor Werks). David offered to help with a major service on our BMW's. They had now carried us for more than 22,000 miles and were in need of some attention. It turned out to be straight forward with just routine oil changes, checking spark plugs and tappets with a chance to take a closer look at the details. I had ordered a new front brake line but it was being delivered to Duluth our final destination. David was a good mechanic and although he preferred to work on older models we had an enjoyable few hours giving our bikes some deserved attention. His workshop was full of airheads, Triumphs, BSA's and a Buell which he adored riding. But pride of place went to his old favourite R80GS with the sidecar. It still had all of the original attachments from their trip through Africa. I suspect David was reluctant to remove any pieces as it was a lifetime of dramatic experiences.

He and Emy had been busy on their little pad preparing comfortable accommodation and camping facilities for a weekend in early October. They were generous people who were keen to attract business with the old bikes that many workshops would no longer support. David and Emy also offer a comprehensive range of second-hand and some new parts for airhead BMW's and Triumphs. They will put you up for the night whilst working on your bike. Who offers that sort of service these days?

Our final destination was Duluth, Georgia where we would be staying with my cousin Ross Harding and his wife Karen. Ross has been successfully operating a consultancy in the US for a few years and rides a Harley Davidson Soft Tail. They live in a hellishly opulent resort style suburb and for us staying with them was a finale in our travel adventures through the USA and Canada. It was a totally relaxing finish to our 4 months involving cleaning the bikes and packing our equipment in preparation for our return next year. The flight home was via LA and would take us into the third day before landing in Brisbane due to time lines. It will be good to get home and settle for a while.

Posting a vast number of pics of our trip is soon to come!!