Me and two other Miniacs hit the backroads of Kansas this morning, time to get our Minis out and give them a good run. The goal was a little place called Volland, Kansas......there is nothing there anymore, just the remains of an old country store started by a couple of brothers in 1913, out in the flinthills of Kansas....what made them different was their abiding interest in motorcycles!
Read all about it here.... http://thevollandstore.com/then-the-kratzer-brothers-mercantile/ (http://thevollandstore.com/then-the-kratzer-brothers-mercantile/)
There will be an exhibition of vintage motocycles there soon, but I wanted to go see the place before all the crowds came, so early this morning we hit the roads - heading west on 24 hiway to Lawrence, then 40 hiway to Topeka, from there a short jump on 70 till we met up with Hiway 4.......do you know how hard it is to find curvy hilly roads in Kansas - home of the "grid"? ;D
Everything was going well, we were cruising along about 20 miles from nowhere where we rounded a corner and I noticed the car behind me flashing it's lights....I slowed down and he pulled up to me saying "You've got a flat tire"
We pulled into a gravel driveway and assessed our situation - spare? Yep, but no air in it. Jack? nope. Right lug nuts? Nope Tools? nope.....
Hmmmm........
A quick scrounge found a scissors jack, but no socket the right size, so we decided we'd head back down the road about 4 miles where we saw a small engine repair shop to see if we could air up the spare and borrow a socket. Turns out they also could repair tires, so after pumping up the spare and borrowing a socket, we drove the 4 miles back, mounted the spare, then drove back to the shop to have it fixed. They found about 1" of a slim pocket knife blade in the tire and patched it up, it was then we discovered we'd left the tools AND the lug nuts back in the other car.......
So while my tire is being fixed the other two jumped in their car and zipped back to the spot to get the lug nuts. Once we were all back in the same location it all went together again - $10 to the store owner and we were on our way again. One more trip to pick up the car we'd left in the driveway and we headed out again, to gas up in the tiny town of Eskridge. Next up was the town of Alma and from there we were headed to Volland but one of our party decided they'd had enough fun for one day, so we turned for home.
All in all a fun day, we did close to 300 miles and other than the flat, all the cars ran perfectly.
BTW....check out my new lic plate! ;D
No tools :-[ Looks like an adventurous trip.
First flat tire I've had in 20 years......but yeah, we weren't prepared. No boy scouts here.......
But - a couple of McGyvers - we managed to get 'er done!
Must be good karma from previous good deeds. Good job and good times.
No comments on my "Kansas" plate?
Hey, if they are letting you get away with having that custom plate ... Woot! 71.gif
I don't know if they'll "let me get away with it", but I ran Buzz on British plates for two years thru 6 or 7 states and no one ever gave it a second glance......so we'll see. But I do carry the real Kansas plate with me...the numbers are the same of course.
I just noticed the KS on your Euro plate.....I love it. How did you make that?
Europlates.com will make it to whatever standards you like......about $35.
I have thought of doing the same with my oregon plates but decided to just build a us license plate light adaptor so a us plate would fit. I figure my car was sold here new so would never have had a long plate anyway. But they do look good/proper I like it.
The thing is, it's pretty hard to speed in these cars so unless you do something stupid the popo don't seem t pay any attention.....I had a cop follow me in Buzz on his British plates for about 5 miles......nuttin.
Not saying some zealous cop won't stop me for it but I carry the Ks plate with me at all times, and if need be I can tape it to the back window if I get hassled for not having it on.
Looks like you had yourselves an adventure! Nice to see some Minis running together.
I drove Emma, my '88 Mini, to the local Cars & Coffee yesterday morning. I got there at 5:50am and joined the hundreds of cars lined up to go through the gates. which I found open at 6:30am. So much for getting there early. My car was one of 3 (!) classic Minis there this month. And I met a new Mini owner who had just purchased his car 3 months ago, so great to find another local Mini enthusiast. I just ran with my car's original British plates - never had an issue using them.
Our next big event is a show and shine at the local Coffee Roasterie - in fact that's the name - The Roasterie.
I expect there to be about 6 or 7 classics there....it's sold out, 50 spaces for new MINIs and as many classics as want to come. It's always a big deal and has grown significantly every year - it's also a benefit for Harvesters and the local Pet Rescue. We raise a pretty good chunk of change for them both every year at this event.
http://forums.kcminiclub.com/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=3624 (http://forums.kcminiclub.com/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=3624)
https://www.theroasterie.com/ (https://www.theroasterie.com/)
Love the roasterie! Went there last time we were in KC. I love their coffee infused vodka, Dizzy-Three!
in regards to the plates, I just keep mine in the car in case they ask. if they bitch, I stick it in the window and drive off.
Yep, I keep the Kansas plate in the car, but I've never been asked about it......................yet! ;D
Oh, and today I bought this!