Beetle Bikes: 2008 HONDA HOMECOMING

My first real road trip was to the 2008 Honda Homecoming this past July 24 - 26 in Marysville, OH. Every year Honda of America holds an open house celebration for all Honda riders. For the past several years, the VTX line (both 1300cc & 1800cc models) along with the Goldwing line are manufactured at the Marysville Plant. This is actually the last Homecoming that Honda is going to host due to the fact that because of demand, they are going to start manufacturing these models back in Japan at a brand new facility. The factory in Marysville will be converted over to automobile assembly so at least the workers here will still have jobs.

We had a fantastic time dispite the scorching heat on the last day. Honda presented numerous demonstrations including, motorcycle airbags, riders safety, company history seminars and factory tours. I was really disappointed that we all had to check out cameras and cell phones at the door. I guess it is understandable though due to company security. In the tours we got to see the employees assemble engines, weld the frames and gas tanks, assembly and dyno testing of every cycle that comes off the line.

Five of us made the 170 mile trek together from Southeastern MI to Marysville, OH. Left to right: Robert (a.k.a. Diesel); Me (a.k.a. Beetle); Becky (a.k.a. Becky); Mike (a.k.a. Hong Kong Phooey); Joe (a.k.a. EZ Rydar).

Here are some of the bikes we found at our hotel when we got there. It was very surprising how many Goldwing Trikes there were for the celebration. We found ourselves in the definite minority at the event. Seemed to be about 60% Goldwings and 30% VTX. The other 10% were miscellaneous makes and models including some H/D.

One of many unique trailers.

Maximum arse comfort.

Red Clones.

When asked what he carries in this trailer, the owner said "My Ex-wife". I didn't ask to see.

Everyone remember Star Wars? This side car made me think of Luke Skywalker. I should have asked the owner if it has a/c.

One of the many mascots present. This little guy came all the way from Ontario, Canada.

Phooey preparing for the Light Parade. This is the final event on Friday night. Hundreds of bikes took part in this event. It was a real experience and we were treated like celebrities by the local residents.

Some of the thousands at the gathering.

One of the riding demonstrations.

One the way we passed a great local historical site. These old gas pumps date way back. The store was closed but we peeked in through the windows and believe it or not it was stocked with old time goodies.