Thunder Roads Colorado Magazine Volume 11 Issue 8 | Page 16

Casper Iron Swap and Show By Dave Campbell Photo CI-01.jpg Chilling on my back porch with the cool evening breeze and sipping some Wyoming Whiskey, I am pondering my recent trip to Casper Wyoming. The annual Casper Iron Swap and Show was my destination. Traveling through Wyoming is always a challenge with snow, wind, rain, burning sun, and road constructions being a few of the obstacles that might confront you-- all on the same day. On this run the one that evaded me was the sun and I certainly missed it. The cool spring and unrelenting rain was chilling me to the bone. Then again, part of the fun of making it out to these events is the personal victories one has along the journey. My victory was beating the rain and wind-- and Wyoming wind has a mind of its own. Cruising north on that black four lane ribbon, one moment the wind would be from my right the next from my left and then the next moment it was hitting me straight on. If the wind would just make up its mind I could find a grove and lean in to it, or better yet why doesn’t it just quit? My theory is those big fans they turn on, Wyoming has so many they call them wind farms. But my mind wanders as that Wyoming Whiskey begins to set in. When I got the call from Bobby I marked my calendar and started preparing for the trip. That mark on the calendar said a motorcycle ride to Casper and that was what I planned on doing. A lot of thoughts go through your head when planning spring time rides and most of those thoughts tend to deal with the weather. Part of my preparation was checking my rain gear and helmet. 14 Thunder Roads Magazine® Colorado I also was in need of a tour pack for my Road King. My last trip with camera gear, clothes, and riding gear was a tight fit and left scratch marks on my rear fender. Trips this year would be better. Being a Scotsman at heart I couldn’t see shelling out big bucks for a factory tour pack so I started my search and began compiling the required parts. A 10 inch chopped pack was just the right size along with, a back rest, hinges, latches, luggage rack, and quick disconnect mount were on my shopping list. These projects, of course are never as quick and easy as you think they will be. This time, I learned how to work fiberglass, since the latches did not fit. However, I think it turned out well for my first attempt. The paint job looks good-- well good enough for government work anyway. The trick was mounting it high enough so I could still operate the cop style saddle bag lids I have. I also designed the mount so it is a one-up back rest. This turned my two hour Danny Gray seat into an all day rider. I won’t tell you how much it ended up costing me but it did come in at slightly under the factory model price. May 2016 www.thunderroadscolorado.com