Pennsylvania Back Roads Motorcycle Ride: Huff’s Church, Oil and Chip, and a Boat I Can’t Find

Not every Pennsylvania back roads motorcycle ride goes anywhere in particular, and honestly those are sometimes the best kind. This one had me pulling off at Huff’s Church kind of on a whim, going on a bit about gas mileage, and revisiting a mystery that’s been bugging me for years. No big destination, no real plan. Just a bike, some back roads, and whatever happens to catch your eye along the way.

Stopping Off at Huff’s Church

So I pulled into the village of Huff’s Church and parked near the graveyard. I had this vague memory of stopping up at the top of this hill at some point and thinking the view was great, but standing there looking around, I genuinely could not figure out what I was thinking. The road is right there. You really can’t see much. Memory’s a funny thing.

The old stones are what got me, though. Some of them are knocked over. A few are broken. Some are so weathered that you’re basically squinting at them trying to make out a date, and you might catch something like “Died 1880” if you look hard enough. I’ve been going down a bit of a rabbit hole on TikTok watching people restore old gravestones, where they epoxy them back together, clean them up, and make them look like new. It’s genuinely cool to watch. But it always makes me wonder who’s going to do that for the ones nobody knows about anymore. Their families are long gone. There’s probably no living person who even knows that stone is out there, let alone that it needs fixing.

The church itself looks like it grew over time, which is pretty common. There’s what appears to be a newer memorial church across the street, and then a much smaller, older building tucked back behind where I parked. My guess is that smaller one is the original chapel. I’ve rolled through on Sundays before and the parking lot is packed, so whatever they’re doing, people are showing up.

The Boat on the Hill Near Herford (Seriously, Does Anyone Know Where This Is?)

Alright, here’s the thing that’s been driving me nuts for years.

A while back I was riding out to Blackman Cycle Center and my GPS kept dropping signal in this area. I got turned around, wound up on some road I didn’t know, and as I was going through, I glanced up a hillside through the trees. There was a structure up at the top of that hill, a building or a deck or a cabin or something, and it was shaped like the bow of a boat. It was cool looking. I wanted to stop and take a picture right then but there was nowhere to pull over, so I figured I’d find it again later.

That was years ago. I’ve poked down what feels like every side road between Herford and Bear Creek looking for that thing. Nothing. If you know what I’m talking about, where it is, what it even is, please leave a comment. I would really like to find this thing.

The Old Furnace and a Painted Rock

There’s an old stone furnace somewhere in this area too. Not a home heating furnace, but the old industrial kind you find around rural Pennsylvania with a stone marker nearby. I believe it’s gone now, just the marker left. When I stopped there once I found a painted rock near it, which was a cool little surprise.

The painted rock thing is simple: someone paints a rock, leaves it for a stranger to find, and on the bottom there’s usually something about a local rock club or group. The idea is you find it, enjoy it, and leave a rock somewhere for the next person. I’ve only ever found that one, and I’ll be honest, I didn’t leave anything in its place. Probably explains why I haven’t found another one since.

Ninja 400 vs. MT-09: When the Gas Light Comes On Too Soon

I’ve been putting a lot more miles on the Ninja lately than the MT-09, and the difference in fuel range is pretty hard to ignore. The MT-09 starts flashing its warning light around 115 miles. Push it to reserve and maybe you squeeze 125 out of a tank. The Ninja is getting close to 200 miles.

Now, they’re not the same kind of bike. The MT-09 is a higher performance machine and you expect it to use more fuel. That’s not the part that bugs me. It’s more that the tank is small, so you’re stopping more often than you’d want to. If the tank held more, I’d be totally fine with whatever it burns. As it is, I was already watching my fuel on the way into Huff’s Church on what wasn’t even a very long ride. A bigger tank would go a long way.

Oil and Chip Roads: What Every Motorcycle Rider in Pennsylvania Should Know

If you ride motorcycles and haven’t hit a freshly oil and chipped road yet, consider yourself lucky so far.

The process goes like this: they lay tar down on the road, throw stone chips on top, and roll over it to press everything together. It’s a cheap way to resurface a road, and they use it a lot here in Pennsylvania. The catch is that until everything fully cures, which can take several days, and longer in summer when the sun keeps that tar warm and pliable, the surface is not stable. The stone chips are basically floating on top of the tar. If you hit that on a motorcycle and your front tire starts drifting, it is a very unsettling feeling and not something you want to be dealing with at any kind of speed.

I came through the Hereford once where it felt like every road I turned onto had just been freshly done. Get off one oil and chip road, go two tenths of a mile, and you’re on another one. I’ve even seen it used to patch potholes and pipe repair strips on otherwise normal roads, which is somehow worse because you don’t expect it. Fresh oil and chip in a patch is not fun to hit mid-corner.

Oil and chip season is coming up here in Pennsylvania, which basically means spring through summer. If you’re out riding back roads and you see road work signs, slow down and be ready for it. And if you do hit a fresh section, don’t grab the brakes hard. Stay smooth, stay calm, and ride it out.

One More Stop at Martin Moto

After filling up I figured I’d swing by Martin Moto on the way home, not because I need anything, just to see what’s sitting on the floor. That’s sort of the whole point of a ride like this one. No destination, just following whatever looks interesting, whether it’s a graveyard, a painted rock, or a dealership you happen to pass on the way home. That’s kind of what Pennsylvania back roads motorcycle riding is all about.

If you know what that boat-shaped building near Herford is, drop it in the comments. And if you’ve got a fresh oil and chip story from somewhere out on the Pennsylvania back roads, I’d love to hear that too.

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