The next day started out with a story in the parking lot from a bum who claimed he had an all original ‘39 Chief with a sidecar that he would sell real cheap as he needed money, the usual story. So I got straight to the point with him, asked a few very specific questions about the bike that he dreamed up the answer and I promptly blew him off as it was just another big story. It would have sounded real good if I had not went through a similar big story several weeks earlier. He just wanted to bum a few extra dollars and a ride to his next hang out spot.   
    
After this big story I jumped back onto hwy 151 through Madison and Fond du Lac  following quite a bit of Lake Winnebago on the SE side to near Chilton and on into Manitowoc. Talked with some windsurfers in a park on Lake Winnebago, the wind had died out so their windsurfers were dead in the water. They looked bored, I needed a break and a photo shot so another excuse for a lengthy stop. Down the road a ways I met a guy on a ‘95 Kawasaki GPZ at one of the view spots and struck up a conversation, he was so intreged with the ‘38. He had to check it out for ages. The ’38 bought the best out in people, they just loved seeing an old bike being ridden especially with Calif YOM (year of manufacture 1938) plates on it. They just had to talk about anything and that was just fine by me. I had a few appointments along the way but I had plenty of time up my sleeve and time just did not seem to matter. What did matter was just having a great time and taking things as they come and if that means talking for ages, so be it. One executive type guy asked me “So what’s your best advise for taking an old bike on tour” My reply was “take each day as it comes and to have fun no matter what”.   
    
I did notice tons of m/c’s on the road, in fact I have not seen so many m/c’s on the road in any other state. Wis people ride and boy do they have the roads for it. Some BMW guys gave me some statistics (while having lunch in a small town saloon), Wis has the most m/c per head of capita than any other state. I have no idea if it’s true but it sounded good to me. What I do know is that New Zealand has the most m/c’s per head of capita than any other country in the world by far. Anyway enough about statistics, the roads very much reminded me of a lot of my teenage years of m/cling on a Honda 400/4 Super Sport throughout New Zealand including the threat of rain (in a few days ahead). I also had a 741 Army Indian (a gutless 500cc) in New Zealand that was nothing to be proud of to cruise the highways on. I also had a Honda 50 (along with a Honda 400/4) and it would pull the pants off the 741, at least up hill. The 741 did have it on a long steep down hill but probably not by much, 60 mph balls out down a really steep hill and with a huge tail wind.    
    
I pulled into a gas station in Mt Horeb just E of Madison. I noticed right at the  front door of the gas station was a car that had been parked cockeyed what  appeared to be for a few days, one wheel up on the sidewalk and almost into the front door. You had to maneuver around the car in order to get into the front door to pay the cashier. I asked the cashier if someone was learning to park. She said it’s been there for a few days. I asked if it occurred to her that it was probably stolen. Sorry I ever suggested it as she went into overload mode. I payed and left.    
    
From Chilton to Manitowoc (approx 30 mls) I was told not to ride at night due to deers so I cruised into Manitowoc and got a motel right on the lake.  
   
I’m not used to riding in deer country, heard all the stories, seen the result on cars and big rigs and it does not look a pretty sight. Neither was it for a friend Gary from Kokesh Motorcycles in Minneapolis. I saw him a few years back when he was all twisted and broken up from hitting a deer on a m/c (looking back I think it has now improved his looks). I didn’t have to be told twice on this deer issue plus the fact I only had sun glasses to wear which is not ideal for night riding on a grand old 6 volt lighting system. I forgot my clear glasses however I sure see why you guys need glasses. It seems around the 4pm time the bugs and foreign objects come out to play. Never been hit by so many big bugs and flying objects, darn huge things. I promptly learnt never to open my mouth at anytime of day without covering it 1st. Even had a bug enter into my ear area inside my open face helmet. It took a fast stop to let it out as this west coaster is not used to bugs inside his helmet. This deer thing bugged me throughout the whole trip so I made sure I was in the motel around 6pm well before dark.   
   
One of the main purposes of this trip was to spend several days finalising several major components that we had in development for a full reproduction  Indian.   
    
What was rather neat is here I am touring on a 1938 Indian, one of the most basic and simplistic motorcycles in the world yet on the other hand I was working for a few days with techie guys with all their fancy computer CAD programs in a world class atmosphere and with tons of the latest high end manufacturing machines, quite the contrast to say the least. They got just as much of a kick of looking over this most basic motorcycle as I did hanging with them.   
    
I did quite a bit of riding based from Milwaukee over the next few days. One trip was headed S to Kenosha, then W to near Janesville, N to I-94 into Manitowoc and then S back to Milwaukee. At East Troy I stopped to make a phone call as I was on another business witch hunt. As I headed back to the ’38 I noticed a police officer in his cruiser parked next to the ’38. The officer sternly advised me that he was going to have to confiscate my m/c, I politely said, “excuse me” and he repeated it once again. I had thoughts going through my mind of what the hell am I going to do without my ’38 here in a foreign state. I then asked “do you mind telling me why” he replied “because I really like this bike and I want it”. “Well in that case you can’t have it” I replied. We talked for quite a while, he owned a Valkyrie and I explained that I wouldn’t hold that against him.    
    
 I left Milwaukee and headed N to Greenbay on I-40. At Greenbay I jumped onto hwy 29 heading W to Shawano then NW on hwy 47 through Menominee Indian Reservation to hwy 45 N into Antigo. I picked up hwy 64 W through Merrill into Medford. The day was overcast and threatening rain most of the time but I only hit about 2 spots where it rained for a short while. Around Shawano I noticed some horse drawn wagons and a horse drawn combine in  a field next to the highway. It caught me totally by surprise as I was thinking of how to keep warm (being from Calif, I start freezing at 70 degrees). I initially thought it was the Budweiser horse stables but once my brain was engaged I figured out it was the Armish at work. And I thought I was working with some antiquated machinery. We just don’t see this sort of thing in our part of the country.    
    
Riding through the Indian reservation I did not know what to expect. It was a gorgeous ride all the way through and would have been the best part of the whole days ride. There were trees lining each side of the road and in some places totally covering the road, nothing less than breathtaking scenery and nice narrow quaint roads with nicely kept townships. I only saw one 45 mph speed sign after leaving the 1st town which was Keshena so I decided to cruise at 45 mph until I saw a sign that said otherwise. The next sign was near the end of the reservation (a long ways away) which read 55 mph. It was such a fantastic ride that I was in no way in a hurry and thoroughly enjoyed what this reservation had to offer. The only thing I was not sure was if my Indian would be accepted by the Indians. I had no need to stop so I didn’t.   
    
I stayed in Medford at the Medford Inn which was a very nice motel. The owner must have had his eye on me most of the time as soon as he saw my Indian not in the parking lot he knocked on the door to see if it had been moved into the room, bingo. He did offer to put it in his garage under lock and key which was real nice of him. He didn’t believe me that it did not leak and that is the truth, it just doesn’t.   
    
The motel owner's brother Scott and wife Suzette owned the saloon next door, “The 8th Street Saloon” and he spotted the Indian in the parking lot earlier and had to check it out and have a yack. His Saloon had an old m/c theme and an early Harley 45 up on the stage. It had many old time pictures on the walls and some were of police depts riding Indians around the late 30’s. Way neat old stuff and great hospitality. The next morning I had to take a photo in front of the saloon, they spotted me and we talked some more, real nice folks.   
    
While watching the weather report that night on the goggle box (TV), it mentioned a big thunderstorm moving in from the west (the way I was heading) and staying for a few days. My thoughts were to high tail it the next day and get into Oskaloosa Iowa (50 mls SE of Des Moines) to a friends place as this is where my trip was to end. The weather was gorgeous and it was hard to believe a thunderstorm was on its way. I thought for sure the weatherman was way wrong but more on this later.   
   
This days ride was going to be a hard pushing day, not much time to muck around as I had decided not to get caught in the upcoming thunderstorm.    
   
I left Medford heading S on hwy 13 to Spencer, then W on hwy 98 just a few miles to 73 S and on down to Neillsville. Near Neillsville picked up hwy 95 W, then 27S to Cataract, 71W just a few miles to Four Corners and then onto 162 SW to Stoddard which is right on the Miss river. Now hwy 162 has to be the best twisty and narrow road that I got to travel on in all of Wis, especially between Bangor to Stoddard, just perfect for the rigid frame ’38 and it took it all in it’s stride. Many corners I was into it fairly hard and I had my doubts about how I would exactly come out of it but wherever I pointed the ’38  that’s where I came out (which is always good news of course). One sure as heck got the great smell of the Wis dairy cattle country. Coons Valley township was the lunch stop (half way between Bangor and Stoddard) at the Rustic Valley Saloon. This is where I met the BMW riders that rattled off all the statistics earlier in the article. The Saloon had an outstanding interior finished off with a beautiful neat old oak bar. The bathroom was full on marble. This was an outstanding lunch stop and these guys were real proud of their saloon.  
   
After leaving the saloon I travelled a whole ½ mile to cruise through a park at the other end of town where some folks were getting married. I saw some old folks there so I knew they’d appreciate seeing an old Indian. Next to the park was an antique store with some old tractors and implements out in front of it so I had to stop and have a sniff around like an old dog and check it out. Antique machinery is where I’m at, it all tells a darn good story and even a better story if someone is around that has used it in that era. It was my lucky day, the old gentleman running the store filled me in on the machinery's particulars and he became interested in what I was riding. He stuck his head outside the store to see  the ’38, well he almost had a heart attack. He had to yell to a few others and also get on the blower (phone) to have some other friends stop by and check it out. So much for making miles the next few hours. Ya just gotta hear them there old stories ya know as they are priceless. That’s just part of what this old stuff is all about. New bikes are ok but it’s just different on an old one.    
    
Near Four Corners there was a very unusual area next to the road, at 1st glance it appeared to be a cemetary but it was a small private park with the title “Peace on Earth”. Extremely unusual and rather airy. It was quiet and had some scaled down displays like a boat, castle, house, shrine,  wall  and fence all the way around the parimeter all done in sea shells. I was glad I got to see it but sure as hell a lot happier to high tail it outa there as it had a rather eerie feeling about it and it was pretty darn lonely.    
   
From Stoddard headed S on hwy 35 following the Wis (E) side of the Miss river through De Soto to Prairie du Chien. Down this area I was told that deer’s are not a problem which was a relief. The roads from here become less and less exciting especially after being on hwy 162. I crossed the river at Prairie du Chien into Marquette Iowa. While taking a wrong turn at Marquette I noticed a house and garage that had a Totem pole collection in the yard plus a windmill with a bicycle way up on top of it, old time gas pumps, signs, and a bunch of other oddball stuff painted really oddball colors that you just couldn’t help but notice. I just had to stop and check it out. The old timer came out of his garage along with his sons and grandsons. Another excuse for a yack for a while. From here I headed W on hwy 18, 52 S  a mile or 2 to hwy hwy 13 S to Strawberry Point. This was your typical midwest small town that was rather neat. I couldn’t exactly tell you why but it just felt neat. Took hwy 3 W to Oelwein, from here S on 150 through Independence, Urbana to Vinton. Picked up hwy 218 S, 30 W, 131 SW into Belle Plaine. Hwy 131 was only about a 10 mile stretch but was rough as guts. I was glad to get onto hwy 21 S as it was getting into the late afternoon and the 6v pre sealed beam era lighting is marginal at best. Continued S on hwy 21 to 92 W into Oskaloosa where the trip ended late at night as dinner took far longer than anticipated. It was a long day but extremely enjoyable. The weather was super nice and the storm was the farthest thing from my mind. I do recall the thought going through my mind at one stage that the weather man really screwed up on the night before weather report on TV, how could such a bad storm be around with such gorgeous weather today. I unloaded the saddlebags and my luggage from the Indian, hauled it into my room at the motel and hit the sack.    
    
The next morning I was woken up around 7 pm by very heavy rain hitting the ground outside. I opened up the curtains to see puddles of water on the ground. At this point there was no point to try and save the ’38 from the rain. I knew the external distributor would be soaked and she’s not going to start. My friend Jeff gave me a 6 mile ride to where the Kiwi Indian Freightliner transporter rig was parked. At least this occurred at the end of the trip so it was no big deal and if something like this does happen, you just take it in your stride. I did have packed in my saddlebags an accessory distributor cap rubber cover that weather proofs the distributor in classic cases like this but after the previous days ride it was the furthest thing from my mind.   
    
All in all the bike performed flawlesly, had great weather, met friendly people in a beautiful state. It was the perfect trip. 

   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Madison Wis, historical church.
   
    
   

 Madison Wis, church with statue in front. Reason for this photo is Kiwis (New Zealanders) and sheep seem to go together so I figured it appropriate that maybe I too “am the good shepherd” with sheep.   
   
   
   
   
   
   

General Wis countryside sights, some appropriate to what I was riding...
    
   

...Like the Chief Oshkosh beer silo!
   
   
   
   
   
   
  

   
   
   
   
    
   

NE of Fond Du Lac, Wis. Lake Winnebago in the background with one of the windsurfers on the shore.   
    
   

NE of Fond Du Lac, Wis. Lake Winnebago in the background at one of the scenic overlooks.   
   
   
   
   
   
   

   
   
   
    
   

 Near Brothertown, Wis. Lake Winnebago in the background.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  

   
    
   

Near Shawano, Wis. Armish working the corn fields in their horse drawn corn pickers.
    
   

 Barn with Wis dairy cows...
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

   
    
   

 Good memories at the 8th Street Saloon in Medford Wis..
    
   

 Somewhere Wis, just a neat mural painted on the side of one of the town's buildings.
   
   
   
   
   

   
   
   
   
   
   
   


 "Peace on Earth" park.
   
   

   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  

   

   

 Totem pole collection.
   
   

 Waterfall.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
    
   

'38 Chief In Wisconsin.