Headed out West

[twistedcricket]

Obscure references aside, I'll try a Ride Report for my trip out to Portland, OR and back. I'm attempting to post soon after I ride....

I had this trip roughly planned for a few months. I knew I wanted the bike out here and I've ridden 1600 miles before (to NorCal) so the distance and trip wasn't daunting. Just last Monday (06/22) I thought "why don't I attempt a BB1500?" Hrm... ok. I had a witness in Omahell and two in the Portland area. All I had to do was keep all of the receipts (I do that anyway) and make it in 36hrs. Shouldn't be a problem....hopefully

I'll start by saying I don't take too many pictures and I'm a novice with a camera. Be happy it's in focus.

I didn't get much sleep Friday night and I had planned to get up at 3am. There's nothing, I mean NOTHING to see in Nebrasuck along I-80. I thought I'd get an early start and skip the boring part...well, my alarm didn't go off. Instead of 3am it was 5am when I woke up wondering what time it was. Oh well, just a little later than I wanted to start. Not a huge setback. I was already packed and except for the mobile phone everything was already loaded on the bike. (and I didn't get a picture of that either...)

Stopped at the fuel station to top off; I activated my SPOT just before I started the bike.

One picture of NE; just remove the trees and it's the same image repeated over and over;

For 440-ish miles...I'm really glad I had music. Although one of the helmet speakers died...oh well, I still had something to listen to; besides the voices.

Then, Wyoming! I snapped the button too early or misjudgd my speed

Far better scenery than the first 6hrs

Most of NE and WY I rode into a headwind. My mpgs prove it However, I was riding, it wasn't raining and the wind wasn't trying to knock me off the road from the side.

I reserved a cabin at a KOA on the way out. Why a cabin? I have my tent along, but staying in a cabin means I can save some time. It was around 6pm (central time) when I arrived and I was tired. So much so that I took three pictures, unrolled my sleeping bag and passed out.

The double bed (I thought it was comfy, but I could have slept on cement.

bunk beds

a 'desk' to set some things on.

This cabin had electricity. I charged my mobile phone and some batteries. There was a small electric heater in a corner, but I didn't need it. Not bad for $35 IMHO. It was about a mile south of the interstate (Lyman, WY) and a fuel station.

I slept from about 6:30 until I woke up at 11:30 (CST); I couldn't get back to sleep so I got up, went to get cleaned up and loaded the bike. I was on the road shortly after. I realized too late that I didn't have a receipt to show that I was back on the road until a few miles down the interstate. I stopped at a TravelAmerica and bought an energy bar (snickers, tastier than they look). Hopefully that will suffice.

I blasted through UT in the dark. With apologies to residents, that's probably the best way to see it at night. Especially around SLC Since I was heading north on I-15/I-84 I can't imagine that I missed too much.

Idaho! (no really, it's there)

I didn't take any pictures in Idaho. I stopped a few times but mostly I was pushing to get to Portland. I realized (much earlier than Idaho) that I didn't have any thermal liners for my pants, I only brough my mesh jacket (with hi-viz vest) and summer gloves. It got down to 43 deg. I stopped a few times just to warm up. I wasn't horribly worried about making the time. I was going to Portland regardless and if I didn't (or don't) get the BB award, I'm not going to be upset.

OREGON! This sign is barely visible from the road. I stopped a few meters from it and walked back to get the picture.

I was excited. Only 300-ish miles. I had plenty of time. Wait... 65mph on the interstate? wow... I thought Iowa was the last state in the union to up the speed limit to at least 70 Not that it mattered. Traffic was flowing anywhere from 50-90mph (I'll let you guess where traffic picked up to 90; it' rhymes with shortland)

I'll post the next few pictures with limited, or no, commentary. I had been on the road for a while, I had not slept too much and I was really looking forward to arriving in Portland.

A barn;

sweepers;

Along the Columbia River;

Mt Hood (far ahead);

Dam (At The Dalles);

A local forum member, n2osx, met me at a Chevron station as a witness at the end of the ride. I'm grateful that he had the time and was wiling to help me out. I just need to pay him back with a brew this week I don't yet have a picture of the odometer after pulling in the garage here.

Trip Stats;

avg mpg - 39.52 (damn, I averaged 43 on the trip to Dallas)

fuel - $122.57 (most expensive per gallon, $2.89)

gallons used - 45.56

Miles - 1701 (fuel station to fuel station)

There is a planned ride Tuesday and Thursday of this week with Forum members and a few rides with my SO while I'm out here.

This is something that still amazes me. This bike will sit patiently while you work and do other things and then gladly get out and glide between 3500 and 4500 rpms for HOURS and MILES on end. I never even thought of "oh no, what could break" or "what tools should I bring this time?" I just loaded it up and went. (I did change the oil/filter the night before I left). Wow... just wow.

 

[BikerGeek99]

Good stuff! Thanks for sharing!

 

[Bugnatr]

Nice report, you won't be needing any liners out here this week

 

[Lee B.]

good report. thanks for posting.

NE along I-80 is far more scenic than KS along I-70 after the second time! Going to Estes Park we'd cut up to Lincoln from KC just to get more interesting scenery and to hit Sierra Trading Post in Cheyenne. Then down I-25 a while and over to estes. I do like that western NE almost into WY scenery.

 

[cometman]

Thanks, I enjoyed reading about your trip. I want to go on one now.......

 

[twistedcricket]

Day Two -Bridge of the Gods..

The laptop I'm borrowing is tempting me to throw it out the second story window. I'll do better, but for now, here is a LINK to the pictures. Typing captions (and even this post) is testing my patience.

Note: I uploaded everything from the camera. Some are really out of focus and some are...well, my girlfriend had the camera and was riding. I think she got bored at one point.

Edit: I'll try this again....

It's a clear and sunny day in the PDX area...and the bike was screaming from the garage "Dammit, why am I still in there!?!?" So off we (the SO and I) went to exercise the bike and get some pictures. The SO had the camera...that's my only warning to you.

We headed east on HWY 14 to Bridge of the Gods, crossed over into Oregon and rode the historic Columbia road to the interstate. A stop for lunch at Multnomah (that's one 'spensive burger) and then home to upload pictures.

Ready, set...wtf, no pictures now please.

On a clear day, that sign indicates that you are on WA HWY 14. Trust me

Along the highway the Columbia River;

We found a seldom traveled road and stopped to ... take pictures;

(what a poser bike)

A great view of the river;

We stopped at "Cape Horn" where she hopped off the bike to get a picture...but she..didn't..no..move further away from me...I'm not the scenery;

At least no one can tell it's me....

We stopped to look at Bonneville damn (poser shot);

Back on the road towards "the bridge". I have no scenery near home to compare this to;

Ah, the bridge! (I expected theme music);

Oh, it's a metal deck bridge.... I wasn't warned about that...

Views from the bridge.

On the Oregon side of the river; passing the various falls..

Around some place I'll call "Look at the pretty river from way up on a rock";

Ahh.... Monday 4:55pm traffic...

Heading back towards the house... Mt Hood in the distance;

So far (and it's only the first day!) the weather has been awesome and the scenery is a lot better without the rain The last time I was here it was sunny too...hope this trend continues!!

More later! There's a 250-mile ride Tuesday!!!

 

[Old Michael]

...This is something that still amazes me. This bike will sit patiently while you work and do other things and then gladly get out and glide between 3500 and 4500 rpms for HOURS and MILES on end. I never even thought of "oh no, what could break" or "what tools should I bring this time?" ... Wow... just wow.

I've had those thoughts EXACTLY. Incredible machines they are.

I'm going out and give mine an intimate grope right now!

Thanks for the post and pics cricketman. Have a great week of riding out here.

 

[FJR_pig]

You timed this perfectly. Our weather is supposed to be fantastic all week.

See you Thursday morning.

 

[twistedcricket]

WOOOOOOW. Someone tell me this day in SW Washington state isn't normal. The last two trips I've been on to this area have greeted me either with non-stop rain or cloudy/cold temps. At the risk of a jinx; so far this has been great!

All of the route credit goes to blufjr. He knows these roads well. If you're bored on a sunny weekend (or weekday) message him for a route idea around the Portland/Vancouver area. I was expecting a great route and this did not disappoint.

The plan to meet at McDs at 08:00 was set. blufjr, ldryder (who happened to be in the area for "work") and I met. Nofreeride joined us a bit later.

At McD's - blufjr, ldryder, nofreeride;

In just a little bit of traffic;

and we're off!

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Now you're probably saying to yourself "pffft, those are twisty roads, those are just sweepers" - so far you're right. However, those were the ONLY roads I would take one hand off the bars to snap pictures. After the first break, the roads were twisty and pissed off. I was doing all I could to keep up and I was doing poorly at that. (I live in NE...twisties are on-ramps)

First break;

We had passed a Goldwing 2-up (nicely) and they pulled in here as we were chatting about the pace. Then we hear a noise and look to see the Goldwing listing a little too much. We all jogged over (to say I ran over would be putting too much emphasis on speed). The rider had the bike up, but had the look of "oh crap, you saw me". It was a nice shiney and new looking white Goldwing. I didn't get any pictures, the rider was embarassed enough.

poser bikes;

Next stop;

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Do you see a cloud in the sky?

Sleep easy there Mt St. Helens...no need to blow up today;

A green valley below;

Off we dashed again. We were in a really nice right-hand-uphill twisty when I heard a scraping noise... ah, other crashbar has a matching "scar" now

Up at Bear Meadow;

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Heading towards Randle, WA for lunch;

A washout area with a "bridge";

As I snapped this I thought "hrm, wonder if this is a smart idea.."

We stopped 8 miles from Randle because blufjr noticed something in the road. It was a Yamaha touring bag (just like the ones that arrive with most FJRs) It was packed with someone (some dude's ) clothing. After commenting on how the underwear was packed :blink: we stowed it in my sidecase and hauled it to town. There were several groups of riders that we met and the last rider of the last group had a wide-open left sidecase.

Bridge leading into Randle, WA;

That rider found us in town. I went out and he thanked us profusely for finding and hauling his bag. He pointed out the scratches on the lid of his sidecase, of this TRIUMPH (I forget which model, it was silver). He shoved the Yamaha bag back in and latched it up. His buddies were waiting (probably upset they had to backtrack that far) and they all launched back down the road. He mentioned something about heading to Laguna Seca...

We had a decent lunch (skipped the plethora of pies for some reason) and headed back. We followed most of the same route back and blufjr left me and nofreeride with good directions for the rest of the route. He had to get back in a hurry for a prior commitment (golf, seriously? ) and kicked on the afterburners.

Nofreeride took NF-90 to NF-23 (?) and then to 14 on into the metro. We didn't complete the entire route, but we did manage a good portion....3 parts of it ON GRAVEL. no joy.

I see no clouds;

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This has been great so far. It's like my ride to CA last year. I truly appreciate this forum and it's gracious members. (um, I should have said people). I post a message about being in an area and I've had great tour-guides, great roads and meet some great people.

the end (for today!)

 

[BikerGeek99]

We had passed a Goldwing 2-up (nicely) and they pulled in here as we were chatting about the pace. Then we hear a noise and look to see the Goldwing listing a little too much. We all jogged over (to say I ran over would be putting too much emphasis on speed). The rider had the bike up, but had the look of "oh crap, you saw me". It was a nice shiney and new looking white Goldwing. I didn't get any pictures, the rider was embarassed enough.

Good on ya for helping out. I had something similar happen back in March. We were in Florida waiting for a table at the Charlie Horse in Ormand Beach. We were outside and I was watching a lil' feller on a Heritage Softail back out of his parking spot. He hit a point where his feet were off the ground. I told Mrs. BG, "Hold my beer." Mrs. BG: "Why?" BG: "I've gotta go help that guy pick up his bike." And, crunch! Down he went. He was pretty embarassed as well.

This has been great so far. It's like my ride to CA last year. I truly appreciate this forum and it's gracious members. (um, I should have said people). I post a message about being in an area and I've had great tour-guides, great roads and meet some great people.

I couldn't agree more. When we were on our New England trip, we were offered many suggestions and the Axeman was a durn good tour-guide!

I've gotta get out that way sometime... I'm lovin' it! Keep it coming!!

 

[LDRydr]

Wish I could have spent the day with you guys. I'm off this morning to get a Mud Mtn. Dam for my DamTour chase, then pulling the rear BT021 off to have a new PR2 mounted up tomorrow. So, I may pop over in the cage to meet you in the morning again before your next ride.

 

[jwhite518]

Great stories and pix. Keep 'em coming. Wish I were up there to hang out with you guys. And don't believe LDRyder when he says he was out on business. The guy works from home - it was just an excuse to go for a motorcycle ride.

 

[dcarver]

Great RR. With a little imagination and good reports, a feller can virtually go anywhere on this planet Earth...

The tipped over Wing? No problems, they have roll bars. They go over so far then stop, long before any plastic touches down, unlike our Feejers.

 

[FLOWBACK]

Nice report and great pics. Enjoy your time out there. Look forward to reading about your trip home.

 

[twistedcricket]

Ride To the Coast!

This was the route. Period. Lots of twisties, lots of places to get the throttle wide open and lots of places. :yahoo:

I didn't get pictures of everyone who met at McDs, but LDRyder met up with BluFJR, OCFJR, FJR_pig, SockMonkey, jaffjrae, jobr and me. I'm beginning to wonder about LDRyder, he says he rides, he has all of this stuff on his bike, but...no pics, he didn't go... haha I jest.

After McDs we wound our way through some obscure industrial area. Some were separated from the group. I dropped back because I couldn't see the guy following me. After a bit jaffjrae, fjr_pig and I found each other and let FJR_pig lead us on a quick route to where the others should be.

we waited; FJR_Pig's identity safe from the neenerwebs

https://lh4.ggpht.com/_bfFEn39oVQ0/Sk14a_nrR-I/AAAAAAAACZ0/v7BFuDZW6_0/s800/P1010241.JPG

following the others;

We all found each other and continued the route;

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I've been trying to take pictures of my odometer every 5,000 miles, here's 25,003;

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He's not a loner, he parked closer to the restroom;

I couldn't get pictures in the twisties...they were taking all of my concentration;

Good food at Wanda's in Nahelam (sp?);

Along 101 (I think)

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https://lh5.ggpht.com/_bfFEn39oVQ0/Sk14i92cOnI/AAAAAAAACas/5-yTRmQcr0o/s800/P1010254.JPG/

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heading closer to the water (safely)

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The couple riding these were hard core... all the way from Canada! (yes, a dog goes in the crate on the right)

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I didn't take too many pictures on the route home...it was mostly twisties, then SockMonkey wanted to off-road a bit (no injuries, minor scratches to the FJR)

A great day to get out and ride. These roads are a blast!! I'm jealous that the PDX area riders have this in their backyard!

Thanks!

 

[YukonG]

Nice report.

Thanks.

 

[twistedcricket]

Heading home (I've already arrived safely back at the launch site)

No pictures, except for the "Welcome to Montana" and "Welcome to North Dakota" signs. I know, posts in ride reports are generally useless without them, but here are some points about the ride home.

I chose to go through WA, MT, ND, SD to home.. The ROUTE was a little daunting and, at first glance, crazy. First, I only wanted to be in ND long enough to say I've ridden in the state. Otherwise, to me, there's not much there. Here's the SPOT tracker LINK

I slept in a bit on Saturday. I kinda knew this could pose some problems, later, but eh, I wasn't in a hurry to leave. I had 1,035 miles to the campsite (KOA) in Miles City, MT Saturday night and it was all slab to get there. Why Miles City? It was a little closer to "half-way" than Billings (IMHO).

Did I mention I rode on July 4?

I wasn't holding out much hope for scenery, but I was greeted with some great views in ID and MT. Montana probably surprised me the most. The western half, even the slab, has some great vistas, awesome sweepers and wasn't boring at all. As I rode through Deer Lodge all the way to Billings I was treated with some great fireworks. The only downside to the first leg of the trip was Billings. I managed to get there just as the entire population left the various events and hit the freeway to get home. That sucked. Traffic didn't stop, but it crawled.

After Billings I started looking for fuel stops. There aren't many close to the highway and even fewer along I-94. I wasn't panicked.. I thought I'd just pull over and nap until daybreak then call AAA - I found Custer, MT. Population, 184. My reserve fuel was running low and the sign on the highway said there was a fuel station. It was around 1am and the fuel station pumps were self-service and functioning!! After getting the tank bag off I noticed a guy, with a mixed drink in hand, standing behind the bike. I looked a little past him at the "Saloon" sign. Ah, this should be fun...

"where ya headed?" - nice local

"Miles City" - me

"Whoa, that's about 100 miles" - nice local

"yep" - me

"need a drink?" - nice local

"No thanks" - me

"have fun" - nice local

"Thanks, you too!" - me

His ride arrived (his wife, he said) and off he went. THen the rest of the Saloon emptied...most with drinks in hand.

I arrived at the campsite, in the rain, at 2am and set up for the night. I slept until a car alarm was set off at 7am and decided I wasn't getting back to sleep. I broke camp, packed up, showered and hit the road around 9am.

US 12 from Montana into ND is a neat little road. Nothing spectacular. It is considerably neglected in ND though...and, well I wasn't about to spend a lot of time in ND anyway. Passing through Marmarth, a little under the speed limit, I was given an 'escort' by the local Sheriff. All the way to the county line. How nice!

From there I took 85 - now that's a boring road. Then to I-90. After a food/fuel stop in Rapid City I attempted to blast across SD and then home...except for the myriad of two-lane road construction :angry2: :angry2: :angry2:

In Chamerlain, SD at a fuel stop I heard "Is than an FJR?" Whoa... "yes" I spoke with a new owner! He bought a new-to-him '06 after selling his BMW ("one more final drive replacement and..." ) - I think he's a lurker here and extended an invitation to the nuthouse.

I don't have a need to follow that route again, and I'll probably stay on 90 and maybe consider 25 to 80, except that I know what 80 looks like

Aside from not getting much sleep, the ride went very well. Just shy of 1900 miles in two days.

What I'd do differently; (post trip thoughts)

*I stayed at a KOA on the way out and rented one of their "kabins" I think I'd do that again instead of tent camping like I did in Miles City. Less time and less gear to haul.

*I had my GPS, but it was woefully out of date (I know, but I'm not interested in paying $100 just yet). There were fuel stops in more places than it knew about. I stopped three times before I was at half tank because the next "town" was over 100 miles away. I might do a little more research on the route and plan the stops a little better.

*I need a reliable way to take pictures on the road. I probably would have taken more "action" shots if I could click the camera without hassle. I've used a "Gorilla Pod" in the past and that worked well, until the mount broke and my camera fell off somewhere in Napa Valley last May.

*I bought some industrial adhesive-backed "velcro" - that kept the SPOT on the bike very well; although right now I have it covering the battery compartment, I need to fix that soon.

*On the road oil changes....I didn't do it and I wasn't too worried about it. I have just over 4,000 miles. I usually change earlier than that, but I thought I could stop in at a wal-mart in a pinch if I really wanted to.

 

[cota95]

Great Report and trip!

I mount my spot on the brake reservoir with velcro. I also but a velcro strap that my wife fashioned as a 'belt and suspender' approach.

 

[BwanaDik]

Excellent report Paul! I'd forgotten how nice it is on the Oregon coast (when it's not raining!). We may have to re-motivate to go out there later in the summer.

What happened to LDRyder in the June 30 post? He was there in the first pic (with the Soltex's) but mysterously morphed into a blue bike without stripes or Soltex??

A phantom?

Yes, if you've never been across Montana, even on the slab, it can be truely amazing. There's a reason it's called "The Big Sky Country"