sportrides
Well-known member
All Nevada BBG on a Triumph
By Ted Bosch
Since I didn’t complete the BBG during the TLAE I decided to try it again. My bike collection consisted of mainly sport bikes, so I decided that one had to go to make room for a “Real Long Distance Mount.” I sold the CBR1000rr and that same day bought a 2007 Triumph Tiger 1050 with 14,500 miles on the odometer. A superb touring machine in my twisted mind.
Over the next 2 weeks I prepped the bike. Wiring for heated jacket, GPS, Radar detector, and two 55 watt halogen lights. A new brake light switch, throttle cable, oil change, Corbin seat and I thought I was ready to hit the road. I planned a nice route from Reno to Wendover to Ely to Tonopah to Beatty and back to Reno. Sounds great! Had a witness arranged in Reno.
I told Greg, whom I met at TLAE, about the ride and he wanted to join me on his “new” 100,000+ mile RT-P. Sure, that would be great. He would meet met in Reno the night before.
I chose to make it a couples weekend with my girlfriend by going to Reno 2 days before the ride and spending a little bit of quality time. Great, but I don’t have an appropriate trailer – rented a U-haul trailer. Had to take off the windscreen to get it into the trailer. Drilled holes in the trailer for a place to hook the tie downs. Ok, all is well.
Reno was a busy place with the Rodeo, Blues and Beers festival, and a bowling tournament going on. No worries we had our hotel reservations.
Greg pulled in about 5 pm the day before we were to start the ride. We met Pete Banson (thank you again for being our certified witness) and got our witness forms signed.
Heavy winds were in the forecast for the entire weekend for most of the entire route. In Reno the winds were blowing strong. Up at 0300 to meet Greg at the gas station. Very little sleep the night before (I rarely sleep before a ride). Obtained the gas receipt at 0405 and we were on the road. I-80 east. It was dark, but my lights were working just fine and we were running at a good pace. About 30 miles before our first gas stop my trip computer read 0 miles to go on the tank. This being a new bike to me I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it to the gas stop, but I was carrying 1.5 gallons of petro. A little cold in the morning, but fairly comfortable with the heated grips and Gerbings jacket.
Gas up, a cup of coffee and off to Wendover. No issues with this stop just gas and go. From Reno to Wendover the wind was pretty mild. The leg from Wendover to Ely started the heavy winds with gusts over 50 mph (at least that is what the weather forecast was predicting). Let me tell you the gusts felt like 100 mph! This is where I let Greg take the lead on the RT and he was running at a pace that I couldn’t keep up and feel OK. I didn’t see him again until I was about 15 miles north of Beatty heading south and Greg had already obtained his gas receipt in Beatty and was heading north toward Tonopah. I made my stop in Ely thinking I would see Greg, but no luck with that. Gas and go. Out of Ely is when the winds became quite severe and, like the TLAE, I was concerned I wasn’t going to make the ride. My moving average from Ely to Tonopah was in the 60’s. Here I am fretting about not finishing in time with almost 1,000 miles to go. Been there done that! I just trusted my GPS and as long as my overall average never went below 64 mph I knew I would make the time deadline. It lingered at 64 mph for a long time during and after my stop in Tonopah.
Going over the mountains outside of Ely was quite treacherous in my judgment. I was going along ok and passed a car just to practically get blown off the road at the next crest. The car came up on me and I pulled over to let it pass. Now I was going about 45 – 50 mph for miles on end. The wind gusts were extreme and there was always a strong, constant headwind. The gusts didn’t seem predictable, except they would come from any direction when going in and out of those narrow canyons. Once out of the mountain passes I thought it would improve, but no such luck. Now, it was huge gusts blowing dust all across the road. I was leaned over far just to keep the bike going straight. Arrived in Tonopah and got gas for the next leg to Beatty. Temperature is warm now.
Slight improvement in the wind situation. Still concerned about the slow pace and I knew I had over 800 miles to go and there will be very little time to spare. In these conditions I didn’t think the pace could be increased. I was about 15 miles north of Beatty and I saw motorcycle lights coming my way heading north toward Tonopah. It was Greg! He gave me the thumbs up and I continued to Beatty. Got my gas receipt and started back to Tonopah. The wind was blowing from behind me now and I finally got some relief from those prevailing winds and gusts. This was a completed gift and I started having hope that I would finish the ride!
Tonopah to Ely was a much better ride while heading north east. The winds were mostly in my favor and I made up a little ground with my overall average 66 mph – yes! Gas in Ely and up to Wendover. Starting to get dark just about 40 miles south of Wendover. Halogen lights on? Check! Can I see the road good? No! Deer signs (oh, my favorite)? Of course! Did I see any deer? No! Were they in my head? Always! (I need therapy to get over my deer phobia)
Fueled up in Wendover, potty and peanut break. I-80 back to Reno. Pulled out of Wendover with an overall average of 65 mph. I’m on the slab now and I can make time! Oh…what’s that? A deer sign….slow to 60 mph. No deer signs for 20 minutes…..speed up to 75 mph. And what’s that? Deer sign…..slow to 65 mph. This went on and on.
It's Getting cold. Turn on the heated jacket and heated grips. Oh, yes, please keep those halogen lights on you might miss something on the road. But if the lights are on please keep the jacket and grips in low position. Hey, it’s cold when I do that….turn up the heat! I turn up the heat and my reliable jacket isn’t working too well. What is going on? Nope, I don’t’ have a voltmeter. I did the wiring myself for the jacket and it is a simple system that should be reliable. Turn off the grips and the jacket gets a little warmer. Oh, boy, I think this may not be good. All I can think about is recalling the stories of the old Triumph’s and all their electrical problems leaving riders stranded on the side of the road.
Almost to Battle Mountain and it’s close to midnight. Pull in to the station and my card will not work. Try another card and it doesn’t work…this is when it starts to come unglued. Go across the street and the card works and I get my receipt and know I have over 180 miles to Fernley to make the 1,522 miles within 24 hours – forget about making it another 30 miles to Reno. A little over 3 hours to make it and with the pace I run at night when I see deer signs it’s going to be very close. Go to fire up the bike and NOTHING. The lights come on, but it won’t fire. There I am a little over 3 hours to go, have ridden over 1,300 miles, suffered through heavy winds with 180 miles to go and it was “the end” of the ride. My bike was dead! Nobody was around, it was cold, and I was cussing up a storm. Looking for my AAA card for a tow in Battle Mountain – no luck. I’m glad I didn’t find it. Called my girlfriend who was following me on my SPOT link. Vented like an idiot about investing so much in the ride and likely going to miss the BBG again by a poorly thought out plan. Completely lost my cool.
I pulled all of the crap off the bike to get to the battery in order to check the connections. All looked good. The whole time I’m watching the clock and the overall average on the GPS. Both are looking pretty dismal at this time. I messed with the clutch start switch that doesn’t allow the bike to start unless the clutch is pulled in. I read about that problem with these bikes on occasion. Didn’t seem to be a problem there.
The lights come on and seem bright, so why won’t this thing start? I then remembered reading about Triumphs that won’t start when the battery gets down to a certain low level, but the lights will still come on. About this time a truck pulled up hauling dirt bikes and I asked him for a jump. He said he didn’t have any jumper cables. Ok, no help there. He proceeded to pump his gas and I must have looked pretty pathetic to him with tears rolling down my face from exhaustion and anger about not finishing my second BBG in a one month time frame. He suddenly appeared with jumper cables.
The cables were short and he spent what seemed like a great deal of time getting his truck close enough to my bike in order for the cables to reach my battery. When tired and stressed the brain just doesn’t function at an optimal level. Why I didn’t just push my easily maneuverable bike alongside his truck is a question I still can’t answer. He fussed around in that gas station parking lot with his trailer until the cables would reach. A jump was all it took and the bike was running.
I realized he was pretty much in a jack knife position wedged between the store and the gas pump. After I got my bike started he was uttering all kinds of cuss words as his wife was trying to guide him out of his predicament.
I frantically put the seat on, reattached all the bags and was ready for the last leg to Fernley. I left that ‘Angel Sent From Heaven’ to dig out of his situation. I had the utmost confidence that he could get out of that parking lot knowing and I knew I would not be much help to him. After all I was on the clock and had to go!
The GPS calculated that I would arrive in Fernley by 0325 – that would be about 30 minutes to spare. No margin for anything to go wrong. I realized that I had likely fried the battery and maybe the entire charging system. The halogen lights stayed on, but the electrical clothing was out of commission. It was a really cold ride to Fernley. But the bike continued to run…for how long I wasn’t sure.
I knew I could make it the 180 miles to Fernley if the bike continued to run. Arrived in Fernley at 0330 and was very happy that I finished an all Nevada BBG! Not over yet.
I was careful to leave the bike running when I got my gas and receipt as I knew it wouldn’t likely start if I shut it off. All is good, got the last receipt within the time frame. Put on the gloves, checked my zippers all good so far. Pulled in the clutch thinking woo hoo I did it: a BBG with a little bit of drama and heavy winds. Thoughtlessly went to put it in gear and before I could stop my left foot from an almost automatic act I clicked the gear shifter down into first. The bike died immediately. I knew what happened before it happened, but couldn’t stop the act. Sidestand….what’s that? There I was stuck in Fernley, NV having successfully completed a BBG and stranded.
I called a cab, loaded all my “valuables” into the cab and took a $100 ride to my hotel in Reno. It was a nice ride because I got a chance to warm up. Dozed a couple of hours and hopped in the truck and drove to get the bike. Loaded it up and met Pete to sign my end witness form.
We drove home to Visalia. The next week I traded the Triumph for a 2012 V Strom 1000.
What did I learn?
-electrical capacity is limited on all bikes and that had better get figured out before hooking up accessories – well, yes, of course I’ve been told this, but it I am a slow learner!
-never quit until it’s really over
The End
Thank you everybody for reading!
By Ted Bosch
Since I didn’t complete the BBG during the TLAE I decided to try it again. My bike collection consisted of mainly sport bikes, so I decided that one had to go to make room for a “Real Long Distance Mount.” I sold the CBR1000rr and that same day bought a 2007 Triumph Tiger 1050 with 14,500 miles on the odometer. A superb touring machine in my twisted mind.
Over the next 2 weeks I prepped the bike. Wiring for heated jacket, GPS, Radar detector, and two 55 watt halogen lights. A new brake light switch, throttle cable, oil change, Corbin seat and I thought I was ready to hit the road. I planned a nice route from Reno to Wendover to Ely to Tonopah to Beatty and back to Reno. Sounds great! Had a witness arranged in Reno.
I told Greg, whom I met at TLAE, about the ride and he wanted to join me on his “new” 100,000+ mile RT-P. Sure, that would be great. He would meet met in Reno the night before.
I chose to make it a couples weekend with my girlfriend by going to Reno 2 days before the ride and spending a little bit of quality time. Great, but I don’t have an appropriate trailer – rented a U-haul trailer. Had to take off the windscreen to get it into the trailer. Drilled holes in the trailer for a place to hook the tie downs. Ok, all is well.
Reno was a busy place with the Rodeo, Blues and Beers festival, and a bowling tournament going on. No worries we had our hotel reservations.
Greg pulled in about 5 pm the day before we were to start the ride. We met Pete Banson (thank you again for being our certified witness) and got our witness forms signed.
Heavy winds were in the forecast for the entire weekend for most of the entire route. In Reno the winds were blowing strong. Up at 0300 to meet Greg at the gas station. Very little sleep the night before (I rarely sleep before a ride). Obtained the gas receipt at 0405 and we were on the road. I-80 east. It was dark, but my lights were working just fine and we were running at a good pace. About 30 miles before our first gas stop my trip computer read 0 miles to go on the tank. This being a new bike to me I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it to the gas stop, but I was carrying 1.5 gallons of petro. A little cold in the morning, but fairly comfortable with the heated grips and Gerbings jacket.
Gas up, a cup of coffee and off to Wendover. No issues with this stop just gas and go. From Reno to Wendover the wind was pretty mild. The leg from Wendover to Ely started the heavy winds with gusts over 50 mph (at least that is what the weather forecast was predicting). Let me tell you the gusts felt like 100 mph! This is where I let Greg take the lead on the RT and he was running at a pace that I couldn’t keep up and feel OK. I didn’t see him again until I was about 15 miles north of Beatty heading south and Greg had already obtained his gas receipt in Beatty and was heading north toward Tonopah. I made my stop in Ely thinking I would see Greg, but no luck with that. Gas and go. Out of Ely is when the winds became quite severe and, like the TLAE, I was concerned I wasn’t going to make the ride. My moving average from Ely to Tonopah was in the 60’s. Here I am fretting about not finishing in time with almost 1,000 miles to go. Been there done that! I just trusted my GPS and as long as my overall average never went below 64 mph I knew I would make the time deadline. It lingered at 64 mph for a long time during and after my stop in Tonopah.
Going over the mountains outside of Ely was quite treacherous in my judgment. I was going along ok and passed a car just to practically get blown off the road at the next crest. The car came up on me and I pulled over to let it pass. Now I was going about 45 – 50 mph for miles on end. The wind gusts were extreme and there was always a strong, constant headwind. The gusts didn’t seem predictable, except they would come from any direction when going in and out of those narrow canyons. Once out of the mountain passes I thought it would improve, but no such luck. Now, it was huge gusts blowing dust all across the road. I was leaned over far just to keep the bike going straight. Arrived in Tonopah and got gas for the next leg to Beatty. Temperature is warm now.
Slight improvement in the wind situation. Still concerned about the slow pace and I knew I had over 800 miles to go and there will be very little time to spare. In these conditions I didn’t think the pace could be increased. I was about 15 miles north of Beatty and I saw motorcycle lights coming my way heading north toward Tonopah. It was Greg! He gave me the thumbs up and I continued to Beatty. Got my gas receipt and started back to Tonopah. The wind was blowing from behind me now and I finally got some relief from those prevailing winds and gusts. This was a completed gift and I started having hope that I would finish the ride!
Tonopah to Ely was a much better ride while heading north east. The winds were mostly in my favor and I made up a little ground with my overall average 66 mph – yes! Gas in Ely and up to Wendover. Starting to get dark just about 40 miles south of Wendover. Halogen lights on? Check! Can I see the road good? No! Deer signs (oh, my favorite)? Of course! Did I see any deer? No! Were they in my head? Always! (I need therapy to get over my deer phobia)
Fueled up in Wendover, potty and peanut break. I-80 back to Reno. Pulled out of Wendover with an overall average of 65 mph. I’m on the slab now and I can make time! Oh…what’s that? A deer sign….slow to 60 mph. No deer signs for 20 minutes…..speed up to 75 mph. And what’s that? Deer sign…..slow to 65 mph. This went on and on.
It's Getting cold. Turn on the heated jacket and heated grips. Oh, yes, please keep those halogen lights on you might miss something on the road. But if the lights are on please keep the jacket and grips in low position. Hey, it’s cold when I do that….turn up the heat! I turn up the heat and my reliable jacket isn’t working too well. What is going on? Nope, I don’t’ have a voltmeter. I did the wiring myself for the jacket and it is a simple system that should be reliable. Turn off the grips and the jacket gets a little warmer. Oh, boy, I think this may not be good. All I can think about is recalling the stories of the old Triumph’s and all their electrical problems leaving riders stranded on the side of the road.
Almost to Battle Mountain and it’s close to midnight. Pull in to the station and my card will not work. Try another card and it doesn’t work…this is when it starts to come unglued. Go across the street and the card works and I get my receipt and know I have over 180 miles to Fernley to make the 1,522 miles within 24 hours – forget about making it another 30 miles to Reno. A little over 3 hours to make it and with the pace I run at night when I see deer signs it’s going to be very close. Go to fire up the bike and NOTHING. The lights come on, but it won’t fire. There I am a little over 3 hours to go, have ridden over 1,300 miles, suffered through heavy winds with 180 miles to go and it was “the end” of the ride. My bike was dead! Nobody was around, it was cold, and I was cussing up a storm. Looking for my AAA card for a tow in Battle Mountain – no luck. I’m glad I didn’t find it. Called my girlfriend who was following me on my SPOT link. Vented like an idiot about investing so much in the ride and likely going to miss the BBG again by a poorly thought out plan. Completely lost my cool.
I pulled all of the crap off the bike to get to the battery in order to check the connections. All looked good. The whole time I’m watching the clock and the overall average on the GPS. Both are looking pretty dismal at this time. I messed with the clutch start switch that doesn’t allow the bike to start unless the clutch is pulled in. I read about that problem with these bikes on occasion. Didn’t seem to be a problem there.
The lights come on and seem bright, so why won’t this thing start? I then remembered reading about Triumphs that won’t start when the battery gets down to a certain low level, but the lights will still come on. About this time a truck pulled up hauling dirt bikes and I asked him for a jump. He said he didn’t have any jumper cables. Ok, no help there. He proceeded to pump his gas and I must have looked pretty pathetic to him with tears rolling down my face from exhaustion and anger about not finishing my second BBG in a one month time frame. He suddenly appeared with jumper cables.
The cables were short and he spent what seemed like a great deal of time getting his truck close enough to my bike in order for the cables to reach my battery. When tired and stressed the brain just doesn’t function at an optimal level. Why I didn’t just push my easily maneuverable bike alongside his truck is a question I still can’t answer. He fussed around in that gas station parking lot with his trailer until the cables would reach. A jump was all it took and the bike was running.
I realized he was pretty much in a jack knife position wedged between the store and the gas pump. After I got my bike started he was uttering all kinds of cuss words as his wife was trying to guide him out of his predicament.
I frantically put the seat on, reattached all the bags and was ready for the last leg to Fernley. I left that ‘Angel Sent From Heaven’ to dig out of his situation. I had the utmost confidence that he could get out of that parking lot knowing and I knew I would not be much help to him. After all I was on the clock and had to go!
The GPS calculated that I would arrive in Fernley by 0325 – that would be about 30 minutes to spare. No margin for anything to go wrong. I realized that I had likely fried the battery and maybe the entire charging system. The halogen lights stayed on, but the electrical clothing was out of commission. It was a really cold ride to Fernley. But the bike continued to run…for how long I wasn’t sure.
I knew I could make it the 180 miles to Fernley if the bike continued to run. Arrived in Fernley at 0330 and was very happy that I finished an all Nevada BBG! Not over yet.
I was careful to leave the bike running when I got my gas and receipt as I knew it wouldn’t likely start if I shut it off. All is good, got the last receipt within the time frame. Put on the gloves, checked my zippers all good so far. Pulled in the clutch thinking woo hoo I did it: a BBG with a little bit of drama and heavy winds. Thoughtlessly went to put it in gear and before I could stop my left foot from an almost automatic act I clicked the gear shifter down into first. The bike died immediately. I knew what happened before it happened, but couldn’t stop the act. Sidestand….what’s that? There I was stuck in Fernley, NV having successfully completed a BBG and stranded.
I called a cab, loaded all my “valuables” into the cab and took a $100 ride to my hotel in Reno. It was a nice ride because I got a chance to warm up. Dozed a couple of hours and hopped in the truck and drove to get the bike. Loaded it up and met Pete to sign my end witness form.
We drove home to Visalia. The next week I traded the Triumph for a 2012 V Strom 1000.
What did I learn?
-electrical capacity is limited on all bikes and that had better get figured out before hooking up accessories – well, yes, of course I’ve been told this, but it I am a slow learner!
-never quit until it’s really over
The End
Thank you everybody for reading!
