Conroe Riding

[steveusmc]

May be moving from Pensacola over to Conroe area within the next year. Would be looking for a home in Conroe or a little West or N.W. of there. Have grandkids in Conroe...but the areas seems very, very BUSY to me when I'm visiting. Any comments about riding over that way? Good or bad?

Thanks,
Steve

[ShakyJake]

Originally Posted by steveusmc

May be moving from Pensacola over to Conroe area within the next year. Would be looking for a home in Conroe or a little West or N.W. of there. Have grandkids in Conroe...but the areas seems very, very BUSY to me when I'm visiting. Any comments about riding over that way? Good or bad?

Thanks,
Steve

If you are talking about the Conroe, Texas area, it s areally nice area.....much less crowded on the opposite side of Lake Conroe from Houston, my sister and her family live in a nice gated community called Bentwater. I do not know what you are looking for but you can get a really nice place there for a very reasonable price in the high 200's low 300's.

[Hefitz04WG]

From Conroe, head out west on 105 through Navasota toward Brenham. There are many twistie country roads through rolling hills fillede with Bluebonnets in the spring time. There are also a lot of good rides north of Navasota.

When you get settled in, give us another holler to get more specifics.


fitz

[steveusmc]

So.....if you were going to advise someone where to buy a home there......where would it be? In the $200K-$300K range....with a little property.

Semper Fi,
Steve

[ShakyJake]

Originally Posted by steveusmc

So.....if you were going to advise someone where to buy a home there......where would it be? In the $200K-$300K range....with a little property.

Semper Fi,
Steve

The place I was talking about is right on Lake Conroe, Hell they even got a marina. Although it is not my type of community ( I still have to much redneck in me) It is a really nice place. It has been a couple of years since I was down there but there were a lot of nice "little" farms (5 to 10 acres)for decent money...and no HOA fees.

[MikeyB]

I recommend west of Conroe, like around Montgomery. Excellent riding in that area.

MikeyB

[steveusmc]

Shakey Jake....I only wish I could afford a place in Bentwater. Holy smokes....talk about a fine place to live. Maybe if I win the lottery.

Thanks for the info guys. I will check out Montgomery for sure. The real estate website I use for checking out places in Conroe, Spring, and The Woodlands popped up for the Bentwater homes too.......very, very pricey....and very, very nice too.

I have friends who tell me about riding the "Hill Country" between Houston and Austin. Is that the correct area I'm thinking of?

Semper Fi,
Steve

[SAFXDL]

There is nothing but great riding all thru South and South Central Texas.....

[flibuoy]

The "Hill Country" you have heard discussed is basically a couple hours west of Houston/Conroe area. The roads etc are great riding. Even the area 15 minutes west of Conroe begins to be good riding. Weather permits year round riding with due consideration given for our "rainy" days where God pours water on us from a firehose. Roads are VERY slick during rain, particularly if it has been a week or two since the last rain. An unusual practice on the two lanes here in Texas, where speed limit can be 70 at times, but generally 55, is to ease to paved side shoulder where possible, normally marked by a solid white line, and let a faster vehicle pass. This is appreciated and earns a friendly wave "thanks" in the back window after the pass. When coastal area riding you can friction down your throttle and tighten your steering pivot nut too. Flat and straight. Summer calls for checking your ride's freon before heading out when sun is up. IMHO John

[woodwalkertc88]

isnt that the home of the famous"Cut n Shoot"hog chapter?

[bebrewer]

Originally Posted by steveusmc

I have friends who tell me about riding the "Hill Country" between Houston and Austin. Is that the correct area I'm thinking of?

I'd say the best riding in Hill Country is contained within a 150 radius of San Antonio. If you look at the map and draw an imaginary circle starting at San Antonio and going to Austin, Marble Falls and over to Kerrville and back you will have included most of the great rides in central Texas.

You'd definitely like the riding out this way. Lots of well maintained back roads with scenic views that are a blast to ride on the bike. The best road out here, bar none is the stretch of 337 between Medina and Leakey. If you get out here for a house hunting trip, it's worth renting a bike in Houston and riding over.

[steveusmc]

Originally Posted by woodwalkertc88

isnt that the home of the famous"Cut n Shoot"hog chapter?

Should be....Cut & Shoot is just east of Conroe.

[Electra Geezer]

Cut-N-Shoot is in Conroe. I moved to Magnolia last July and I have recently started to check out the local HOG chapters. There are two in the area, Cut-N-Shoot sponsored by Texan H-D in Conroe, and The Woodlands Texas H.O.G. sponsored by The Woodlands H-D.

I have been in both H-D stores. I an NOT impressed with the staff at The Woodlands store. Their parts department is staffed by some of the most incompetent people in the state of Texas. Arrogant anus mentality can be used to describe the two services writers the last time I was there service department. I have been the store twice and had the same impression both times. Never going back.

I have only good things to say about the Texan store in Conroe. The staff has a completely different approach, they treat you with respect. They have earned my business and I will continue to patronize their store.

You can check out Cut-N-Shoot @ http://www.cutnshoothog.org/

You can check out The Woodlands H.O.G. @ http://www.woodlandshog.com/

[steveusmc]

Thanks again. I picked up a couple of shirts in Texan HD in Conroe. Nice setup for a relatively smaller dealer. The folks in there were pretty sharp and very helpful even though I wasn't spending a lot of money.

One thing I noticed when I was in the Woodlands store last year and the Conroe dealer just last week is they don't put any prices on the bikes.

Here in Pensacola, the delaer has an information card hanging from each bike.

Basic MSRP, accessories cost (if it's already had some stuff added by the dealer), Prep charge, TOTAL MSRP, how much down, payments for 72 months.

Heck, you know you're most likely going to pay MSRP anyway so why not put that information out there for the customers rather than have to have a salesman right on your ass the whole time and try to remember all the BS he puts out. I think that if someone has the money to afford an $18K plus bike and they are seriously looking, they are probably smart enough to look on their own and then get a salesman when they find something they are interested in. That's the way this guy here works...and it works well.

[thrasher]

Bad Service at Texan HD in Conroe

Had a bad experience with the service department at Texan HD in Conroe last summer.

I was on the road travelling on my way to Canada and had my check engine light come on for a while (15-20 minutes) then it went back off. Then it came back on for a while and then back off again. I didn't know it was possible to retrieve diagnostic codes myself (I do now) so I pulled into Texan HD in Conroe at around 7:30A since they were the closest.

Talked to the parts guy who was just opening the gate as I got there. Friendly guy. Said that the service guys should be in soon and they can have a look at it. Great I thought. So I hung around and talked to the service writer about the problem and told him I was travelling when he came in about 8:30. He looked at the bike, started it (check engine light didn't come on). Said there was nothing wrong with my bike, but said they could look at it if I'd prefer. I said yeah, I'd better. He said he spoke to a mechanic (Josh) when he came in who said there may actually be a problem. Filled out a service order. Asked him how long it would be until someone could look at it. He said they had a backup of work so it would be a little while. My buddies and I waited. Later about 9:30, he said that Josh would look at it in a few minutes. Great, I thought. 10:00 rolls by and I ask again when they would look at it. Service writer tells me that Josh just started a cam job on a bike a few minutes ago, so its going to be quite a while for him. I asked service writer if anyone else could look at it, so he checks and never gives me a response. At 10:30 I ask the service writer again and he tells me that everyone is backed up with work. At that point I finally loose my patience and tell the service writer that he is just jerking me around. They are supposed to give bikers that are travelling a priority, not put them off indefinetly. Could be just the ignorant service writer, but what a bull$hit place. I probably should have escalted the problem, but the owner was not there.

My buddies and I hit the road again, and the check engine light comes on again up somewhere near Centerville, TX. It stays on for quite a while, then off then on for quite a while. I stop on the side of the road finally and call Longhorn HD in Grand Prairie, TX. Spoke to Hector (service writer), told him the problem and ask if they can look at it. He said they were backed up with work, but just bring it in and they'll see what the problem is. I got to Longhorn HD in about 2 hours and spoke to Hector. He went right out and looked at the bike ran it, then rode it back to into the shop. I went in the shop a couple of minutes later to get my phone out of my bag and Greg (mechanic) had already retrieved the code (intermittent rear). While I was standing there, he found the problem (plug wire on the rear wasn't clipped onto the plug securely). All this within 10 minutes. He clipped on the plug wire and said it shouldn't throw any more codes. I told Greg of my experience at Texan HD in Conroe and that I'd wasted over 3 hours there and they hadn't even given me the respect of looking at the problem. His only comment was: "man, they really shouldn't treat people like that." I agreed. I thanked Hector and Greg and told them what excellent service they had. They'll get my business in the future and anyone I can point their way. I'll be damned if I'll spend any money at Texan Harley in Conroe, Texas.

There are some good down to earth dealers out there, but there are some crappy ones too.

thrasher