escapefjrtist
Searching for Dry Roads
First, thanks to Chooser for putting up with me for two weeks. I can safely say the trip would not have been nearly as much fun doing it solo.
The vital statistics:
Miles run – 5870 for me, add another 700 – 800 for Chooser with his rendezvous with MM2 and the St. Helens gang.
Mileage – average for trip 46.2, with a high of 52 at elevation in the Rockies, low of 39 running across SD at 80 mph and bucking a 20 – 30 mph headwind. No oil additions.
Tickets – None…. but close a couple times……
We had decided to use US2 across the top of the States for the majority of the trip. Started from lower MI and ran the Upper Peninsula for the first nights stop. Day 2 led us to a stop at the Aerostich warehouse in Duluth. What a great place. Looked at all the neat catalog items, tried on a suit, and then ran up the balance up on the M/C. Chooser had to have a sheepskin to help with the upcoming long days in the saddle. Don’t know how convinced he is of it now though…. Met some nice folks while at Aerostich who were doing a Lake Superior ride. They were preparing for a loop next year on 305 Honda’s to relive a youthful past trip. Talk about an adventure!
Departure from Duluth led us to the next day and a half of ND and eastern MT. The only other highlight was in WI, where we hooked up with our first “rabbit” and wicked it up to 80 across the state. The rabbit was eventually slain, but it could easily have been the entire group running with him. (Luck #1) Over nighted at Minot ND after enduring HOT temps across ND. (First fleabag hotel) Next day was much of the same, HOT temps across MT. Was a sweltering 103 in Havre, where we met a HD couple who looked like they had come out of the broiler. Both of us received numerous comments about wearing the protective gear with the temps. I guess some folks don’t get it. :blink:
Day 4 greeted us in Glacier NP. I am still awed every time I visit this beautiful park. Had a good time carving the twisties up the east side from St. Mary. Cloud cover looked very ominous as we trekked into the park and were greeted by light rain. Ended up at the summit of “Going To The Sun” road and used this opportunity to take a few photos and enjoy the mountains. Construction limited the fun factor down the west side. Next pit stop was Sand Point ID. Nice hotel & good food.
Day 5 was the push to Burlington and my final destination of Whidbey Island. All’s well until Newport WA. when, with me leading, we get popped for 19 over. :angry: Talk about a speed trap. The exit from town is up a hill. As I gently accelerate, who comes out of the bushes but deputy dog…We do the license, registration and insurance routine and the deputy tells us to wait. I know we’re popped for good on this one.
Sorry Chooser! Deputy finally comes back, tells us the fine “would have been” $173, tells us to slow down and let us go. Makes a point of thanking us for wearing our helmets. Yep, we’re good citizens here. Must be the mature driver image we project on our touring bikes….(Luck #2) Chooser promptly gets a flat rear tire. Nice slice about ½” long. New Bridgestone with 1000 miles. Two plugs and a can of fix a flat and we limp back into Newport. Locals direct us to the local mc shop to search for a tire. No dice. Owner asks if a 16” will work. I think, only if we stretch it a bit……Great guys though, they know all about FJR’s and make several phone calls to find a tire for us. Nearest one is in Spokane, about 50 miles away. Chooser is throwing latex all over everything including me. Tire won’t hold air, we stop every few miles to air up and finally make it to Allsport in Spokane.
Afternoon brings a new start. Michelin PR on the back and Chooser is in business. We hotfoot it on I90 west with the plan on taking the back way to Seattle. Short pit stop at Grand Coulee Dam and we continue westward. I’m bound and determined to go over WA 20, the cascade highway. Finally get on 20 at Omak and the fun begins. Lots of nice fast sweepers going up the east side, concert in Winthrop, and we make it to the summit. Chooser tells me I blasted past 5 deer grazing on the side of the road.h34r: By this time the sun is getting low, and we’re on full bambi alert. The west slope of the cascades has more nice corners, the new PR is getting a good scrubbin’. Burlington finally shows up at 9:30 PM, 13 ½ hours after we left Sand Point.
Had a great time at WFO, read all about it in the meet section….. Is next year here yet?
Sunday morning we depart eastward. Meet up at the Skagit with 3 guys, Mike and …, (sorry the other names escape me), nursing a bald, threadbare tire back over the mountains. Take WA 2 over the cascades and hit I90 east of Wenatchee. By this time, the afternoon temps are HOT, memories of ND & MT again! We continue eastward and hold up for the night in Missoula.
Monday’s plan is to ride my favorite valley (MT191) from Bozeman to West Yellowstone, spend part of a day in the park and then make nightfall in Gillette. (NOT) Park takes longer than expected and them we hit construction going out the east entrance. Hard packed dirt detour with many small rocks has me thinking about more flat tires… Surviving the dirt trail, we manage to make the next stop in Cody WY. Now this is a happin’ place. The Sturgis influence begins to show up. More bikes than you can stir. Saw a 03 FJR with a trunk at one of the hotels. Anyone we know ? Escape picks the hotel tonight (fleabag #2) complete with peeling paint and junk cars in the parking lot.
Tuesday brings a new day after a refreshing night’s sleep….. Heading east again we take WY 14/16 and make way to Gillette and the interstate again. Have fun over Powder River Pass dueling with 3 HD’s going DOWN the east slope. I’m leading the procession with Chooser and the Harleys behind. I notice the lead Harley dresser is running pretty hard down the mountain. THIS CAN’T HAPPEN….I increase the speed 5 mph through each corner. WTF, they’re still there Add 5 more, ahh better now. Chooser later reports heavy grounding / sparks off the lead Harley’s floorboards, and we lose them. :bleh: After all, this IS sport touring. We hook back up with I90 at Buffalo, and make tracks to Gillette and Sturgis.
By the time we encounter the SD border the bikes are thick. Rolling into Sturgis in the middle of bike week, is something everyone has to experience once. There is every shape and size you can imagine. HD’s are mixed with ‘Wings, Beemers, sport bikes and custom choppers. We take in the demo rides section and realize that a quick stop won’t work. Chooser has never seen Rushmore, so we make our way down SD16 to the monument and the requisite photo op. By now we’ve decided to stay at Sturgis an extra day. There are no hotel rooms within 150 miles…Thank you wally world for the $9.00 sleeping bag. The tent that Chooser has lugged across the country finally pays off.
Wednesday we ride demo bikes until we’re silly. I pick a ZX-10 first and quickly realize two important facts. 1st – the bike is insanely fast, 2nd – I am miserable after 10 minutes in the saddle. We both ride the ZZR1200 and come back with big This thing has some stonk… Venturing over to ahamaY, I ride a Road Star Silverado and Chooser rides a Warrior. Silverado :clap: , Warrior Shoot the breeze with the factory reps. They want to know how we like the FJR’s. Talked at length with one of the product planners for the FJR. Won’t tell us what color the ’06 is even though we promise not to cite the source.
Departing Sturgis leads to the boring drone across SD and MN on I90. We get dumped on with rain most of Thursday. Encounter a ‘05 FJR really getting it in the rain. Leaves us in the mist. Only problem is, it’s a trailer (truck) queen in the back of a white Tundra p/u. Truck and cargo turn north on I35 at Albert Lea. Anybody want to fess up? Rain gets so bad we have to call it a night just north of Madison WI. Friday takes us through the Chicago 80/94 mess….and home.
What an adventure. I’m already planning next years trek to Reno :clap: :clap:
The vital statistics:
Miles run – 5870 for me, add another 700 – 800 for Chooser with his rendezvous with MM2 and the St. Helens gang.
Mileage – average for trip 46.2, with a high of 52 at elevation in the Rockies, low of 39 running across SD at 80 mph and bucking a 20 – 30 mph headwind. No oil additions.
Tickets – None…. but close a couple times……
We had decided to use US2 across the top of the States for the majority of the trip. Started from lower MI and ran the Upper Peninsula for the first nights stop. Day 2 led us to a stop at the Aerostich warehouse in Duluth. What a great place. Looked at all the neat catalog items, tried on a suit, and then ran up the balance up on the M/C. Chooser had to have a sheepskin to help with the upcoming long days in the saddle. Don’t know how convinced he is of it now though…. Met some nice folks while at Aerostich who were doing a Lake Superior ride. They were preparing for a loop next year on 305 Honda’s to relive a youthful past trip. Talk about an adventure!
Departure from Duluth led us to the next day and a half of ND and eastern MT. The only other highlight was in WI, where we hooked up with our first “rabbit” and wicked it up to 80 across the state. The rabbit was eventually slain, but it could easily have been the entire group running with him. (Luck #1) Over nighted at Minot ND after enduring HOT temps across ND. (First fleabag hotel) Next day was much of the same, HOT temps across MT. Was a sweltering 103 in Havre, where we met a HD couple who looked like they had come out of the broiler. Both of us received numerous comments about wearing the protective gear with the temps. I guess some folks don’t get it. :blink:
Day 4 greeted us in Glacier NP. I am still awed every time I visit this beautiful park. Had a good time carving the twisties up the east side from St. Mary. Cloud cover looked very ominous as we trekked into the park and were greeted by light rain. Ended up at the summit of “Going To The Sun” road and used this opportunity to take a few photos and enjoy the mountains. Construction limited the fun factor down the west side. Next pit stop was Sand Point ID. Nice hotel & good food.
Day 5 was the push to Burlington and my final destination of Whidbey Island. All’s well until Newport WA. when, with me leading, we get popped for 19 over. :angry: Talk about a speed trap. The exit from town is up a hill. As I gently accelerate, who comes out of the bushes but deputy dog…We do the license, registration and insurance routine and the deputy tells us to wait. I know we’re popped for good on this one.
Sorry Chooser! Deputy finally comes back, tells us the fine “would have been” $173, tells us to slow down and let us go. Makes a point of thanking us for wearing our helmets. Yep, we’re good citizens here. Must be the mature driver image we project on our touring bikes….(Luck #2) Chooser promptly gets a flat rear tire. Nice slice about ½” long. New Bridgestone with 1000 miles. Two plugs and a can of fix a flat and we limp back into Newport. Locals direct us to the local mc shop to search for a tire. No dice. Owner asks if a 16” will work. I think, only if we stretch it a bit……Great guys though, they know all about FJR’s and make several phone calls to find a tire for us. Nearest one is in Spokane, about 50 miles away. Chooser is throwing latex all over everything including me. Tire won’t hold air, we stop every few miles to air up and finally make it to Allsport in Spokane.Afternoon brings a new start. Michelin PR on the back and Chooser is in business. We hotfoot it on I90 west with the plan on taking the back way to Seattle. Short pit stop at Grand Coulee Dam and we continue westward. I’m bound and determined to go over WA 20, the cascade highway. Finally get on 20 at Omak and the fun begins. Lots of nice fast sweepers going up the east side, concert in Winthrop, and we make it to the summit. Chooser tells me I blasted past 5 deer grazing on the side of the road.
h34r: By this time the sun is getting low, and we’re on full bambi alert. The west slope of the cascades has more nice corners, the new PR is getting a good scrubbin’. Burlington finally shows up at 9:30 PM, 13 ½ hours after we left Sand Point.Had a great time at WFO, read all about it in the meet section….. Is next year here yet?
Sunday morning we depart eastward. Meet up at the Skagit with 3 guys, Mike and …, (sorry the other names escape me), nursing a bald, threadbare tire back over the mountains. Take WA 2 over the cascades and hit I90 east of Wenatchee. By this time, the afternoon temps are HOT, memories of ND & MT again! We continue eastward and hold up for the night in Missoula.
Monday’s plan is to ride my favorite valley (MT191) from Bozeman to West Yellowstone, spend part of a day in the park and then make nightfall in Gillette. (NOT) Park takes longer than expected and them we hit construction going out the east entrance. Hard packed dirt detour with many small rocks has me thinking about more flat tires…
Surviving the dirt trail, we manage to make the next stop in Cody WY. Now this is a happin’ place. The Sturgis influence begins to show up. More bikes than you can stir. Saw a 03 FJR with a trunk at one of the hotels. Anyone we know ? Escape picks the hotel tonight (fleabag #2) complete with peeling paint and junk cars in the parking lot.Tuesday brings a new day after a refreshing night’s sleep….. Heading east again we take WY 14/16 and make way to Gillette and the interstate again. Have fun over Powder River Pass dueling with 3 HD’s going DOWN the east slope. I’m leading the procession with Chooser and the Harleys behind. I notice the lead Harley dresser is running pretty hard down the mountain. THIS CAN’T HAPPEN….I increase the speed 5 mph through each corner. WTF, they’re still there
Add 5 more, ahh better now. Chooser later reports heavy grounding / sparks off the lead Harley’s floorboards, and we lose them. :bleh: After all, this IS sport touring. We hook back up with I90 at Buffalo, and make tracks to Gillette and Sturgis.By the time we encounter the SD border the bikes are thick. Rolling into Sturgis in the middle of bike week, is something everyone has to experience once. There is every shape and size you can imagine. HD’s are mixed with ‘Wings, Beemers, sport bikes and custom choppers. We take in the demo rides section and realize that a quick stop won’t work. Chooser has never seen Rushmore, so we make our way down SD16 to the monument and the requisite photo op. By now we’ve decided to stay at Sturgis an extra day. There are no hotel rooms within 150 miles…Thank you wally world for the $9.00 sleeping bag. The tent that Chooser has lugged across the country finally pays off.
Wednesday we ride demo bikes until we’re silly. I pick a ZX-10 first and quickly realize two important facts. 1st – the bike is insanely fast, 2nd – I am miserable after 10 minutes in the saddle.
We both ride the ZZR1200 and come back with big This thing has some stonk… Venturing over to ahamaY, I ride a Road Star Silverado and Chooser rides a Warrior. Silverado :clap: , Warrior Shoot the breeze with the factory reps. They want to know how we like the FJR’s. Talked at length with one of the product planners for the FJR. Won’t tell us what color the ’06 is even though we promise not to cite the source.Departing Sturgis leads to the boring drone across SD and MN on I90. We get dumped on with rain most of Thursday. Encounter a ‘05 FJR really getting it in the rain. Leaves us in the mist. Only problem is, it’s a trailer (truck) queen in the back of a white Tundra p/u. Truck and cargo turn north on I35 at Albert Lea. Anybody want to fess up? Rain gets so bad we have to call it a night just north of Madison WI. Friday takes us through the Chicago 80/94 mess….and home.
What an adventure. I’m already planning next years trek to Reno :clap:
:clap:
