Our story

It all started back in the early/mid 2000’s (or the aughts, as Kevin will tell you). At the time, Shami was roommates with Kevin and Becky. Craig got to know them through his roommate, who worked with Becky.

About then, Kevin had found a great deal on an old 1983 Yamaha Vision, the same model as his first motorcycle years earlier. He and Craig rented a trailer and drove down to Virginia to pick up the twin that was to become known as “Blackie”. All the drive was accompanied by the singing of that year’s massive cicada population. It, like Blackie’s Mac exhaust scream, was a memorable sound.

The instant they had unloaded this project into the courtyard outside of Craig’s Red Hook loft, the need was obvious: more motorcycles would have to join it. Craig hadn’t had a bike since moving to Brooklyn from Michigan, but quickly found a great deal on a 1999 Kawasaki ZRX (later christened “The Culprit”). More trips across the eastern half of the USA and Canada brought additional Visions and ZRXs to the mix. Shami soon joined the club with the ubiquitous Suzuki GS500e (later to be known as the “Putt-Putt”). Even though the GS was the smallest in the stable, it was much bigger than the little 2 strokes she had grown up on in Sri Lanka. 

By this point, the four of us, two couples, had been wanting to take an epic motorcycle trip together, so the planning began. But Kevin wanted something more trip ready for riding two-up, the problem was since he was busy down south working on post-Katrina construction, he didn’t have the time. Craig found a nearby, more modern, Triumph Sprint ST with full touring luggage. The Sprint, which having been built at the British Hinckley factory, fit well with Hinckley being Becky’s last name. The two of them grabbed a plate off of one of the other bikes and took her little car through the Lincoln Tunnel and brought it back to the Red Hook courtyard. A few weeks later, Kevin got off a plane at Laguardia, packed up the panniers, and the 2 couples on 3 bikes set the course north. They spent the next 8 days and 2400 miles exploring the twisty roads of New England, New Brunswick, and the amazing Cabot Trail in Nova Scotia. This journey planted a seed of an idea that would sit on the back burner over the next 14 years, cross country moves, 2 weddings, a kid, 3 career changes, and a global pandemic.

The idea, like the dormant cicada, has now come back to life…..