SkooterG
Purveyor of Crooked Facts
Had a great trip to the north rim of the Grand Canyon this past weekend, though it was not without drama. It did not start out well at all as a phone call at 11pm the night before notified me of the death of a dear friend. Didn't sleep much at all, and I felt the vacuum of his absence all weekend. Godspeed Twowheelnut.
A mix of folks from FJRForum and the AZBeemers group rode up for a one night overnighter to the little visited north rim of the Grand Canyon. Over 20 people were there for the great views and tasty dinner. Great times, and I look forward to doing it again. Unfortunately, I will be back to the area all too soon to retrieve a stranded motorcycle.
Lucky for you dear reader, this report will be light on words, letting the photos doing the talking.
Here's the gaggle heading north on I-17 a short time after leaving our departure point.
My girlfriend Jane on her bad-*** Kawasaki Vulcan 500 and ATGATT in her fancy BMW riding gear. The riding gear is almost worth more than the bike!
Breakfast in Flagstaff at Charly's. Great food, slow service. Here we met up with some folks from far away - Big-D from Lake Havasu, and 3 FJRForum folks from Kali including kahunajawdge.
Heading west on 89a, just a few pics of Jane and the Arizona scenery.
Jane riding 'dirt' by the mushroom rocks in the Marble Canyon/Vermillion Cliffs area.
Climbing up towards the pines at one of my favorite viewpoints.
300 miles or so into our adventure we ended up at Jacob Lake for fuel and lunch. This neat little oasis is at over 8,000 feet of altitude and in the pines - a nice respite from the usual desert landscape. It was still quite hotter than I expected - approximately 90 degrees, but still much cooler than Phoenix.
Beemerdons with friend Donna, FJRobert with his much better half Kiki (back to camera) discussing the finer points of AARP membership.
When we arrived, there was quite the buzz. A BMW K1200LT on a flatbed towtruck. Luckily it was not one of our group.
Can you guess why this fine example of German engineering was on a towtruck?
Yup. Final drive failure. How cliche. The poor owner of this bike and his wife are from Michigan and on a big cross-country ride. Well, the only riding the poor couple will be doing for a while is in the front seat of the tow truck. Somebody said they were going to tow it all the way to Salt Lake City. Holy cow, that's far. I wonder why they didn't go to Vegas
In this photo, check out all the BMW riders in our group nervously gazing at the tragedy unfolding before their eyes. There was a lot of hushed whispering amongst themselves about fine german engineering. Just after this photo was taken, they all joined in a big group hug and sang 'Kumbaya'. Pathetic.
Also note in the photo above - girlfriend Jane's Vulcan 500 cruiser parked in the foreground. Jane was already inside getting something cool to drink. When you look at her bike, NOTE THAT THE REAR TIRE HAS AIR IN IT. No bid deal, right? Well, 30 minutes later when we both came out after lunch that tire was flatter than a pancake.
Note: I will never own, nor let a girlfriend own, a motorcycle with tube tires. :angry2: What a PITA!!! No easy repair here. Couldn't find anything that punctured the tire. Filled with Fix-a-flat, but that didn't hold either. After an hour messing with it, we left her Vulcan at the gas station and rode two-up the remaining 45 miles to the Grand Canyon. Problem to be figured out later. Oh, and not having a centerstand is a huge PITA too. :angry2:
Ahhhh..........great ride to the north rim, shower and cleaned up, flat tire issues temporarily forgotten. Jane at our destination for the night.
Cervezas, margaritas, and good company, and of course outstanding views out on the east patio of the Grand Canyon Lodge.
beemerdons and Donna.
I tried to shut that fool beemerdons up for all of time by pusing him over the edge, but there was just too much mass for me to move.
(Note to Don - the next time you are posing for a 'I'm falling off the edge of the Grand Canyon photo, LOOK SCARED, not happy.)
beemerdons, Donna, Jane, and Big-D.
Awwwwww...........what a cute couple.
Requisite photos of 'THE' reallly big hole in the ground.
And an excellent dinner.
Well, no more photos as my (proprietary) camera battery went dead. D'oh!
In the morning, several of the group rode out to Cape Royal to soak in the magnificent canyon views from that vantage point. Then it was off to Jacob Lake for fuel and round 2 of tire repair. With a bunch of dirt guys in attendence with their tire irons and tube patch kits, we removed the wheel, and broke the tire bead of Jane's Vulcan. Found the 2" nail, and the two punctures to the tube it caused. Fixed those up, put everything back together, and Voila!!! THAT FREAKING TIRE IS STILL LEAKING AIR!!!! ****. The crowd was dejected. So Jane's Vulcan still sits at the Jacob Lake Chevron station as I write this. She did NOT enjoy the 300 mile return trip on the FJR two-up with no backrest. And lucky me, I'll be making a return trip to Jacob Lake in the next few days as soon as I figure out how to get that P.O.S. Vulcan of hers back here. BTW, I DO blame BMW for all this. She was supposed to take this trip on her new BMW F650GS (with tubeless tires and no final drive!) that was supposed to have arrived 6 weeks ago. But noooo......thanks to those fine, not-so-punctual Germans, the bike arrived the night before the trip - just to tease us, but not enough time for them to even set it up.
If you have never been to the north rim of the Grand Canyon, I highly recommend it. Great times. Great folks.
Edit (8/27/08):
Here are some photos taken of the attempted tire repair Sunday on the way out:
I got to say, even though I love to give crap to the AZ Beemers folks about their bikes, they are a great bunch and I always enjoy sharing the road with them on the many rides we do together. And on Sunday, they really came through big time in trying to repair Jane's flat tire. I couldn't have done it alone. They had the tools, and they had the knowledge and patch kits. Several of them got down and dirty to really help, even though it was a big delay. Too bad it was all for nothing. Still, a HUGE THANKS headed their way.
Also, one last note: One of the finest motorcycling rides is the 45 mils from Jacob Lake to the north rim of the Grand Canyon. It seems nobodyreally has any photos of that stretch, as we were all enjoying it too much. Pine forest, huge meadows, great sweepers, and almost no traffic whatsoever. It was universally acclaimed that 45 miles was worth the whole trip. If you have never done it, put it on your list.
A mix of folks from FJRForum and the AZBeemers group rode up for a one night overnighter to the little visited north rim of the Grand Canyon. Over 20 people were there for the great views and tasty dinner. Great times, and I look forward to doing it again. Unfortunately, I will be back to the area all too soon to retrieve a stranded motorcycle.
Lucky for you dear reader, this report will be light on words, letting the photos doing the talking.
Here's the gaggle heading north on I-17 a short time after leaving our departure point.
My girlfriend Jane on her bad-***
Kawasaki Vulcan 500 and ATGATT in her fancy BMW riding gear. The riding gear is almost worth more than the bike!
Breakfast in Flagstaff at Charly's. Great food, slow service. Here we met up with some folks from far away - Big-D from Lake Havasu, and 3 FJRForum folks from Kali including kahunajawdge.
Heading west on 89a, just a few pics of Jane and the Arizona scenery.
Jane riding 'dirt' by the mushroom rocks in the Marble Canyon/Vermillion Cliffs area.
Climbing up towards the pines at one of my favorite viewpoints.
300 miles or so into our adventure we ended up at Jacob Lake for fuel and lunch. This neat little oasis is at over 8,000 feet of altitude and in the pines - a nice respite from the usual desert landscape. It was still quite hotter than I expected - approximately 90 degrees, but still much cooler than Phoenix.
Beemerdons with friend Donna, FJRobert with his much better half Kiki (back to camera) discussing the finer points of AARP membership.
When we arrived, there was quite the buzz. A BMW K1200LT on a flatbed towtruck. Luckily it was not one of our group.
Can you guess why this fine example of German engineering was on a towtruck?
Yup. Final drive failure. How cliche. The poor owner of this bike and his wife are from Michigan and on a big cross-country ride. Well, the only riding the poor couple will be doing for a while is in the front seat of the tow truck. Somebody said they were going to tow it all the way to Salt Lake City. Holy cow, that's far. I wonder why they didn't go to Vegas
In this photo, check out all the BMW riders in our group nervously gazing at the tragedy unfolding before their eyes. There was a lot of hushed whispering amongst themselves about fine german engineering. Just after this photo was taken, they all joined in a big group hug and sang 'Kumbaya'. Pathetic.
Also note in the photo above - girlfriend Jane's Vulcan 500 cruiser parked in the foreground. Jane was already inside getting something cool to drink. When you look at her bike, NOTE THAT THE REAR TIRE HAS AIR IN IT. No bid deal, right? Well, 30 minutes later when we both came out after lunch that tire was flatter than a pancake.
Note: I will never own, nor let a girlfriend own, a motorcycle with tube tires. :angry2: What a PITA!!! No easy repair here. Couldn't find anything that punctured the tire. Filled with Fix-a-flat, but that didn't hold either. After an hour messing with it, we left her Vulcan at the gas station and rode two-up the remaining 45 miles to the Grand Canyon. Problem to be figured out later. Oh, and not having a centerstand is a huge PITA too. :angry2:
Ahhhh..........great ride to the north rim, shower and cleaned up, flat tire issues temporarily forgotten. Jane at our destination for the night.
Cervezas, margaritas, and good company, and of course outstanding views out on the east patio of the Grand Canyon Lodge.
beemerdons and Donna.
I tried to shut that fool beemerdons up for all of time by pusing him over the edge, but there was just too much mass for me to move.
(Note to Don - the next time you are posing for a 'I'm falling off the edge of the Grand Canyon photo, LOOK SCARED, not happy.)
beemerdons, Donna, Jane, and Big-D.
Awwwwww...........what a cute couple.
Requisite photos of 'THE' reallly big hole in the ground.
And an excellent dinner.
Well, no more photos as my (proprietary) camera battery went dead. D'oh!
In the morning, several of the group rode out to Cape Royal to soak in the magnificent canyon views from that vantage point. Then it was off to Jacob Lake for fuel and round 2 of tire repair. With a bunch of dirt guys in attendence with their tire irons and tube patch kits, we removed the wheel, and broke the tire bead of Jane's Vulcan. Found the 2" nail, and the two punctures to the tube it caused. Fixed those up, put everything back together, and Voila!!! THAT FREAKING TIRE IS STILL LEAKING AIR!!!! ****. The crowd was dejected. So Jane's Vulcan still sits at the Jacob Lake Chevron station as I write this. She did NOT enjoy the 300 mile return trip on the FJR two-up with no backrest. And lucky me, I'll be making a return trip to Jacob Lake in the next few days as soon as I figure out how to get that P.O.S. Vulcan of hers back here. BTW, I DO blame BMW for all this. She was supposed to take this trip on her new BMW F650GS (with tubeless tires and no final drive!) that was supposed to have arrived 6 weeks ago. But noooo......thanks to those fine, not-so-punctual Germans, the bike arrived the night before the trip - just to tease us, but not enough time for them to even set it up.
If you have never been to the north rim of the Grand Canyon, I highly recommend it. Great times. Great folks.
Edit (8/27/08):
Here are some photos taken of the attempted tire repair Sunday on the way out:
I got to say, even though I love to give crap to the AZ Beemers folks about their bikes, they are a great bunch and I always enjoy sharing the road with them on the many rides we do together. And on Sunday, they really came through big time in trying to repair Jane's flat tire. I couldn't have done it alone. They had the tools, and they had the knowledge and patch kits. Several of them got down and dirty to really help, even though it was a big delay. Too bad it was all for nothing. Still, a HUGE THANKS headed their way.
Also, one last note: One of the finest motorcycling rides is the 45 mils from Jacob Lake to the north rim of the Grand Canyon. It seems nobodyreally has any photos of that stretch, as we were all enjoying it too much. Pine forest, huge meadows, great sweepers, and almost no traffic whatsoever. It was universally acclaimed that 45 miles was worth the whole trip. If you have never done it, put it on your list.
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