Lone Star Rally
- Thread starter bigkelk9
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bigkelk9
Well-Known Member
Wish I woulda taken more, took my son who is eleven and daughter who is 13 and other daughter who is 17, so we got in early and got out early by about 8:30 before all the woman got naked and people got stupid drunk… they loved it and it was a first I went without my bike because I slacked it last night and didn’t get it done and first to take kiddos.. I’m usually one of them drunk idiots, life’s changed a bit since I stopped drinking lol.Gr8 pics! Thx for sharing!
SKOGDOG
One of the old ones.
Blacktopper and I went this year too. Sorry to miss you Kel…we spent most all of our time over on Seawall. We’ve been coming to Lone Star for some years now and I think it’s about my favorite Rally, although it lacks the tradition and gravity of Sturgis. There was a shooting this year. First time for that..I have found ppl here are cheerful and very friendly. There is also a strong representation of varied Hispanic groups (I.e. Mexican, Cuban etc.), African-American and other riding clubs that are not as apparent in Sturgis. I noticed people from France, and other countries in Europe as well.
On our way through Houston, we stopped to see an old friend of mine in The Woodlands. When we pulled into the restaurant parking lot, Roger’s bike dumped about a quart of oil on the ground from underneath. We were completely stumped, but knew it was serious. My friend Bob is a rider, and his wrench (John) co-owns J&BCycles, right off I-45 on 242. I think the city is Conroe. Roger rode his bike over there and those guys dropped everything and found that the transmission (Jim’s) backed off a bolt that allowed the oil to dump out of the transmission. They had to remove the outer and inner primaries and replace seals. Good thing Blacktopper’s bike is the new Big Dog with the Harley primary, as they had no access to BD parts. By late afternoon we were whole and on the road. The shop fees were reasonable and overall J&B Cycles is a very honest and professional operation.
Then—-later on Friday MY bike starter motor clutch started to crap out..sometimes it’d start, sometimes not. We pulled it with a stretchy nylon rope (don’t leave home without it). Needless to say I didn’t wander too far…..
But we had a good time at Lone Star, and here are a few pics from the Seawall avenue on the east side of the island.
The first is a pier ‘tourist trap’ pier with restaurants, shops, curio vendors and a Ferris Wheel/rides…fun for families and a good place to sightsee.
Bike parking..,it was a a jungle this year.
I’ve never seen so many vendors a long the Seawall…..and there is a ‘food court ajacent to the live music (all day) stage.
This is a badass truck driven by one of the vendors. Beast of a thing!
Best for last—For over $250/night, you expect a room with an ocean view. We stayed at the Wingate by Windham on Seawall East. When we checked in, they informed us of a $15 charge per vehicle per night….they tacked on $30 to each of our tabs. This fee was not mentioned in the reservation. I pointed out 2 bikes go in one parking slot…nope..they said it’s per vehicle per night. They menaced us by saying if we didn’t pay, our bikes would be towed away. We wound up parking against burned out Denny’s fence, as all spots were taken. Note : no other rooms are available in town..being outraged and walking out in a huff is not an option.
We got to our room—3rd floor of course—elevator is broken….Below is our view in our $250+/night room. There was one cardboard cup and one plastic cup…..zero room cleaning…the damn elevator was out of order. I killed two cockroaches (one crawling up my leg) in the first 10 minutes in the room. The room was shabby, musty and very ‘worn’ in appearance. Roger hung his riding jacket on a hangar and it broke in 3 pieces.
Our ocean view was over burned rubble from a Denny’s restaurant that recently burned down. Smelled bad too.
Before we left I composed a blistering letter and sent it to Wingate Corporate with a request of total reimbursement.
Make reservations at this disgraceful facility at your own peril.
As for me…maybe I’ll start coming down a month early and Stay for regular prices for room and food.
On our way through Houston, we stopped to see an old friend of mine in The Woodlands. When we pulled into the restaurant parking lot, Roger’s bike dumped about a quart of oil on the ground from underneath. We were completely stumped, but knew it was serious. My friend Bob is a rider, and his wrench (John) co-owns J&BCycles, right off I-45 on 242. I think the city is Conroe. Roger rode his bike over there and those guys dropped everything and found that the transmission (Jim’s) backed off a bolt that allowed the oil to dump out of the transmission. They had to remove the outer and inner primaries and replace seals. Good thing Blacktopper’s bike is the new Big Dog with the Harley primary, as they had no access to BD parts. By late afternoon we were whole and on the road. The shop fees were reasonable and overall J&B Cycles is a very honest and professional operation.
Then—-later on Friday MY bike starter motor clutch started to crap out..sometimes it’d start, sometimes not. We pulled it with a stretchy nylon rope (don’t leave home without it). Needless to say I didn’t wander too far…..
But we had a good time at Lone Star, and here are a few pics from the Seawall avenue on the east side of the island.
The first is a pier ‘tourist trap’ pier with restaurants, shops, curio vendors and a Ferris Wheel/rides…fun for families and a good place to sightsee.
Bike parking..,it was a a jungle this year.
I’ve never seen so many vendors a long the Seawall…..and there is a ‘food court ajacent to the live music (all day) stage.
This is a badass truck driven by one of the vendors. Beast of a thing!
Best for last—For over $250/night, you expect a room with an ocean view. We stayed at the Wingate by Windham on Seawall East. When we checked in, they informed us of a $15 charge per vehicle per night….they tacked on $30 to each of our tabs. This fee was not mentioned in the reservation. I pointed out 2 bikes go in one parking slot…nope..they said it’s per vehicle per night. They menaced us by saying if we didn’t pay, our bikes would be towed away. We wound up parking against burned out Denny’s fence, as all spots were taken. Note : no other rooms are available in town..being outraged and walking out in a huff is not an option.
We got to our room—3rd floor of course—elevator is broken….Below is our view in our $250+/night room. There was one cardboard cup and one plastic cup…..zero room cleaning…the damn elevator was out of order. I killed two cockroaches (one crawling up my leg) in the first 10 minutes in the room. The room was shabby, musty and very ‘worn’ in appearance. Roger hung his riding jacket on a hangar and it broke in 3 pieces.
Our ocean view was over burned rubble from a Denny’s restaurant that recently burned down. Smelled bad too.
Before we left I composed a blistering letter and sent it to Wingate Corporate with a request of total reimbursement.
Make reservations at this disgraceful facility at your own peril.
As for me…maybe I’ll start coming down a month early and Stay for regular prices for room and food.
Last edited:
Brian Murphy
Inthewind1
Saturday on the Strand Lone Star Rally Galveston
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bigkelk9
Well-Known Member
Yeah it’s been years since we have even spoke, whatever happened, we would talk all the time… but yeah next time your in this neck of the woods let me know… but yeah lyou be star has became larger then life. Funny, I lived in California when the first Coachella fest happened and it was 15 minutes down the road and not that big of a deal, now it has became the largest music festival in the WORLD every year just as lone star has… but til next time
bigkelk9
Well-Known Member
Well, sounds like y’all had an adventure, yeah, next time just holler at me, I’ll take care of y’all. We are only about 30 minutes from Galveston.. but yeah, prices more then double if not triple for lone star rally… but as stated above, it has became the worlds largest motorcycle rally…