I forgot to mention earlier that I met Clem Salvadori today. He ended up leading the group ride today. I don't know if you guys are familiar with him, but one of the books he wrote comes up occasionally on the banner ads on the site here. If you do a search for his name on amazon or half.com or barnes and noble you should find a few motorcycling books he's written. Very nice guy, and full of great info. Hopefully, he'll be receptive to future aggravation from me asking all kinds of questions. He also writes for motorcycle magazines.
a great writer I was a fan of his back in the old Road Rider days, the editor was Roger Hull, Clem was a great feature writer and did bike reviews too! The time frame is '82 to maybe 90. I stayed with Road Rider through the transformation to Motorcycle Consumer News. MCN seemed a little to politically correct for my taste. I wish them well though.