Event reports will be displayed either below the list of questions, or (if it's a link to an external site) in a separate browser window.

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001

Midnight Tour (& Wolfman's 50th)
July 10
Illinois

Well (says BC), it was a great time planning, and I want to thank all who helped and attended to make Wolfman's B-D party a time to remember....... hell we'll at least remember it, he may still be trying to forget.....hee hee. Thanks first to his wife, Patsy, her daughter and their riding friends who helped get Rick there. We had reserved a room for 20 and more than filled it....at least with a hell of a lot of fun. J.R. did a good write up, naming names and describing the run, but for me the fun was all at Gino's. A shot of J.D. greeted Rick shortly after he arrived, accompanied by cards of condolences ....hee hee. Some food had already been ordered so the drinks and munchies were going down quickly.

Bulldog kicked off the party with a great WindyCity VROC wall clock presentation to Rick. Mighty fine there Bulldog, I almost suggested you manufacture and sell these, but Rick having the only one in existence is cool. It all went downhill then.

We all know Rick has the "finest looking bike" in VROC.....at least that's what he announces every run, hey hey, BUT he has been a little slow accessorizing ....so we helped him out. Matching blue, pink and silver, frilly water bottle, grip streamers and of course a nice decorative pink bulb horn should make him stand out in any crowd...from now on......and no one will likely park or mess with his bike either. He did promise to mount these and take pictures for us so I'm sure they will be on his member page update REAL soon,........ if not we'll keep gently reminding him.......hee hee. His Sturgis riding buds then presented him with a "Wolfman" engraved flask, filled with more J.D. Of course he had to check to make sure it was the real thing. Being worried about his libido, a bottle of "Wonder pills" with his picture on the front was also presented.

Having finished chowing, and running Dan, our waiter and fellow Midnight Tour rider ragged, we brought in the flaming B-Day cake, brought by Krugster and his family, with a picture of Rick's bike on top. Now you have to remember, with this many candles, you tend to generate some heat and the local fire department insisted on a fire extinguisher handy.......so we gave Rick his own extinguisher......almost filled it with J.D. too.......hee hee.......but he succeeded in putting out the flames before the building burned down and we all enjoyed some great banana B.D. cake. Just when he thought it was safe to sit down, the entertainment arrived. Now those that have attended or read of some of our WCVROC events, know we encountered the famed Pink feathered Boa dancers on our Starved Rock/JCW run. Well, they couldn't make it but some damn ugly, feather boa flapping biker "thangs" did wiggle and gyrate and one even succeeded in giving Rick a bosom facial. Hee hee. Damn they were "UUUUUGLY" I think he was about ready to leave right about here.

Well, we then finished up here and persuaded Rick to ride over to the Midnight Tour staging area, where he got to meet his namesake "The Wolfman" DJ, and have more grief showered upon him. In the parking lot, Rubberman showed off his new alarm system and then couldn't get the bike running again. Thanks to JR and Rich for helping him out so he could join us later after some electrical repairs.

From there it was bike and people watching and patch and goodies buying until we pulled out for the expressway tour.Rick and Patsy and their riding friends decided to head out early so we bid good-bye's there, and cautioned them about what may be waiting in their driveway

As J.R. said, the ride itself was a disappointment but for a very good cause, compared to some past runs, but the party was good. Sally and I and some other's bailed out to run our own runs before the final destination at the casino and J.R.'s write up shared some of the fun there. Hope everyone had a great time, and hope to see those picture of Wolfman's newly accessorized bike real soon....hee hee.

Again thanks to Patsy, her daughter, and Rick's riding friends for helping planning and getting him there, "Bulldog" and his wife for the clock, " "Kruster" and his family for the cake, "Mustang Sally" for helping gather many of the gag gifts and flask, and all those who joined us for a great time: "J.R", Rich Poole, "Dusty", "Rubberman", his riding bud, "Thumper" and his S.O., "Wrinkles" (the longest rider and mighty fine dancer) and his S.O., "Sarge", "English Andy and Lynn", "Wolfrider", Falke Bruinsma, Dan our great Gino's waiter and fellow Midnight Tour rider, any one else whose name I've forgotten...... and of course, Rick "Wolfman" Jakubas for playing the good sport and putting up with all of our B.S. ...it was a kick.

The ride (says JR) from the Joliet area to Gino's East was pretty uneventful, except for one minor thing. When I was on the Spring Starved Rock ride, I bought a clock/compass at JC Whitney that I mounted to the inside of my windshield, between the gauges. On the way down I-55, I noticed it slipping down my windshield, and before I could get a good grip on it, it was gone, and I watched in my rear-view mirror as it rolled on the pavement and shattered. Luckily, I only paid $12.00 for it.

I got to Gino's at about 5:00, and met Duffy (Jim Lingle?), who was the first one there. Next was BlckChrome and his SO, and Rich. One by one, people filed into the room that was reserved for us. I don't recall all the names, but I know I talked to Mike "Thumper" Berens and his SO, (who will soon be the proud owner of a 1999 VN750), Evan "The Bulldog" Breyn, Wrinkles, Joe "Sarge" Barry, Jeff "Rubberman" Solin, and of course, Rick "Wolfman" Jakubas, the guest of honor, who was showered with lots of gag gifts from many people who obviously appreciate the hard work he has put into our member site. I know I missed a few names, but I'm sure everyone noticed them there!

After some pizza, and a slew of group pictures, by our excellent waiter, Dan, who was also supposed to attend the tour, we assembled in the parking lot so some of us could go to top off our tanks. Just as we were about to pull away, Bulldog pulls up to me and asks if I know much about electrical systems on motorcycles (I guess since I mentioned I am an electrician, people must assume I still remember that stuff when I leave work), because Rubberman's bike suddenly killed on him, and it wouldn't restart.

Rich and I hung behind the rest of the group, with Rubberman, to see if we could lend a quick hand. Well, everything seemed to be against the poor guy. He just installed his new alarm system, and after the ride to Gino's, suddenly the bike is giving him problems. We knew he was getting gas to the cylinders, because we could smell it. We checked for spark, and there was none, so we assumed something was killing his ignition coil. He recalled a wire under his seat that he had to cut and splice, but now none of our Kawasaki wrenches would loosen the right bolt that holds his seat on, and of course, every time we asked anyone if they had any tools in their vehicle, they had just taken them out of the car yesterday...

I rode quickly to the gas station, and saw all the VROC guys heading out and going North on River Rd. I think I heard Bulldog yell my name, but I couldn't tell with all the rumbling. I couldn't borrow any tools there, so when I returned to Gino's, Rich took a run to K-Mart for a cheap socket set. Rubberman decided I might as well catch up with the rest, but not before giving me his alpha-numeric pager number so I could let him know where we were. I headed up to Maryville, signed-in, and began my search for a guy in black leather and boots who rides a motorcycle (needle in a haystack). Wouldn't you know it, inside of five minutes, I saw the VROC logo patch on the birthday boy's back. Rick told me where everyone else was, and I was now back with the bunch. The only problem was that I was parked on the other side of the lot, and wouldn't be able to leave with the other VROC'ers. After I paged Rubberman so he would know we were in the vendor area, Bulldog, his SO, and I, did some browsing. About 20 minutes went by, and we decided that he might not have gotten my page, or he was on his way. All of a sudden, I saw three familiar faces in the crowd, and the one showing the most teeth was Rubberman, obviously happy they were able to find his problem, which turned out to not be under his seat.

So then we're all reunited, and we also ran across a few other VROC'ers. I met English Andy, Falke Bruinsma, and a whole slew of other people I'll never remember. I blew the rest of my cash on a t-shirt and patch just before it was time for the ride to start. I said goodbye to everyone, in the event we didn't hook back up at Empress, and got to my bike. That's when I noticed the dew on my seat, and realized that bringing a sweater in my tankbag was a good idea. I was sitting on my bike waiting to be flagged out, when I looked down, and realized I had completely forgotten to top off my tank, and I had 50 miles on the trip meter. I had no idea how long the ride was going to be, so I knew I'd probably have to jump out of the tour at some point to get gas.

I then noticed most of the other VROC'ers leave in front of me. I wanted to jump out of line and join them, but as Bulldog said, "You'll be spending too much of your time trying to keep track of what's going on around you to be concerned with who you're riding near". he was right. It seemed like forever waiting to be flagged on, but it finally happened, and none too soon. My temp gage was getting up there, and I needed some air on my radiator soon. Then it was suddenly my time to go, and wouldn't you know it, I killed it on take-off. I felt like such a dumb-ass. I had the kickstand down, and was sitting back on the bike waiting. I'm sure The Bulldog can tell you what a VN750 does when you try to take off with the kickstand down.

I guess I was a little disappointed, because the ride was less of a tour, and more of a quick tollway ride to the Empress. I still had fun, and I guess it would have been a nightmare routing us through more neighborhoods, or downtown. I especially liked sailing through red lights, and of course, the toll booths! That was interesting that they could arrange that. I guess now the State won't be able to afford to fix the crappy pavement on the tollroads, since over 1,000 bikes got to use them for free...

I think it took almost exactly an hour to get there. We went South on I294, West on I-88, South on I-355, South on I-55, East on I-80, South on Houboldt/Empress Rd, and East on Rt 6 to Empress. During that time, I dealt with quite a few different things. Once we got on the tollroad, the long line started to break up ahead of me, and I wasn't sure I'd be able to keep up with everyone or know if I was going the right way, but then I realized that each turn-off was marked by JPC people with flares (good idea). Then there were the crotch- rocket idiots who have to swerve all over the lane, seemingly not knowing where they wanted to be, and acting like they've never ridden with a group before. And then there was the traffic that occasionally merged with us. Amazingly enough, I pulled into the Empress entrance with a lot of the same people who were positioned around me at the beginning.

After parking, the first VROC'er I saw was Wrinkles, and then I hooked back up with Rubberman, his friend Oliver (?), and Rich. We hit the can first, and then Rubber decided he needed to part with some cash, so we looked around on one of the gambling boats. Rubber and Oliver sat down to play blackjack, and I stood back and watched a little to see if I could learn anything. All of a sudden I started to feel like it was past my bedtime, and I figured I'd look around a bit and try to keep moving, but my eyes were getting heavier. Fortunately my ride home was only about 10 miles, so I hopped on my bike, after putting my VROC cards on some VN750's I saw in the lot, and tried to stay awake for the ride home. I made it just fine, with about 130 miles round trip, and a long story to tell the wife.