Dashbaw
Member
I just found this thread and think it is a good idea to share experiences. Rather than retype my ride home I have copied an email I sent to a friend about my trip home. First, I want to thank AJ and the other organizers for a great rally. Also, thanks to all the other members of the forum that made me feel welcome, it was appreciated.
On the way to the rally, I hit a deer in the Lolo Pass. On a blind corner he/she was just standing in the road with oncoming traffic. I stood the bike up, did an emergency stop but knew I was going to cream the little guy. I braced the bars and aimed for the hindquarters, spun the deer around so hard it hit my side case and left a mark. I found a safe place to stop about a mile up the road and other than deer poop on the right fork, no damage. I could hear it hit plastic hard so it was likely a fatal blow. My ride home was more interesting as I described to my friend.
Hi Gary,
I left Montrose at 3:45 AM on Sunday. I traveled the same way I came and checked out the roads I mentioned. I think this is a good way around Salt Lake City on some twisty roads. I hit a rock, about the size of a football, on the Douglas Pass on 139 hwy. The tire held pressure but I bent the front rim. I decided to push a longer day while I still had an operational bike and ride to Arco Idaho, just over 900 miles. Hwy 139, 191, north of Vernal, hwy 44 around Flaming Gorge were all twisty roads and a good way to get around Salt Lake City.
Next day I left Arco at 5 AM and arrived in Omak WA at 7 PM pacific time. (gain an hour riding) My rear tire was shot after running the Salmon River Valley. From past experience the peeling rubber means maybe 500 miles left. When I reached the Lolo Pass I rode it British Style, sort of like a dirt bike, to keep it on the side of the tire. It was kind of fun actually, you seem to have a heads up view and it is less fatiguing as long as you don't run out of lean angle.
The next morning it was raining, which was good for the rear tire. Left Omak at 5:30 AM and ran the north Cascade route through Washington Pass in the rain. No traffic in the morning. I arrived at the ferry at about 10:45 AM as it is only about 400 miles. The rear tire was really shot. The centre of the tire was down to the steel belt and half of the belts were sticking up or were gone. Due to a marine emergency the ferries were delayed and I did not get to the island until 3:00 PM
Once on the island I was within trailer range so I just wanted to see how far you could ride on the totally destroyed tire. Home is 90 miles north of the ferry. It was raining harder on the island and I rode through the city of Nanaimo to keep my speed down and then followed the scenic route along the ocean. My speed was kept down to 40 to 45 mph and with the rain the tire remained reasonably cool and I arrived home in about three hours.
I changed the tire yesterday and some of the steel cords had broken through on the inside but still held air. One area of the tire was down to the bias casing. This layer is very flexible but seems strong, as long as you don't abuse the tire or hit something sharp, it may last a lot of miles in an emergency, until a part of the casing actually wears through.
I had the Tire Pressure Sensor screen on the dash to watch for any loss of air. I bet I could have traveled another 100 miles or more at a slow speed on a good highway before a failure. Obviously, I would rather not. I will test the thinnest area of casing with a screw driver to see how tough and thick it is. I have a extra front wheel due to hitting a pot hole a few years ago. Green’s in Vancouver do a good job of re-straightening. I will need new bearings and swap the rotors over to the other wheel to get this bike back on the road. I’ll ride the GS until I have time to get parts and make repairs.
Anyway, it was a good trip with hundreds of corners. My trip was 5205 miles with very few straight sections of road on a new rear tire. I will photograph the wear and send it to you when I get the time. During conversations with a few guys at NAFO we talked about a route to the Pacific Northwest on twisty roads. I may write up a post that describes my route so others have a basic travel route up to Washington that they can refine and run some of the twisty roads. The Pacific NW guys likely have lots of other routes that we don’t know about but this one works for me.
David
On the way to the rally, I hit a deer in the Lolo Pass. On a blind corner he/she was just standing in the road with oncoming traffic. I stood the bike up, did an emergency stop but knew I was going to cream the little guy. I braced the bars and aimed for the hindquarters, spun the deer around so hard it hit my side case and left a mark. I found a safe place to stop about a mile up the road and other than deer poop on the right fork, no damage. I could hear it hit plastic hard so it was likely a fatal blow. My ride home was more interesting as I described to my friend.
Hi Gary,
I left Montrose at 3:45 AM on Sunday. I traveled the same way I came and checked out the roads I mentioned. I think this is a good way around Salt Lake City on some twisty roads. I hit a rock, about the size of a football, on the Douglas Pass on 139 hwy. The tire held pressure but I bent the front rim. I decided to push a longer day while I still had an operational bike and ride to Arco Idaho, just over 900 miles. Hwy 139, 191, north of Vernal, hwy 44 around Flaming Gorge were all twisty roads and a good way to get around Salt Lake City.
Next day I left Arco at 5 AM and arrived in Omak WA at 7 PM pacific time. (gain an hour riding) My rear tire was shot after running the Salmon River Valley. From past experience the peeling rubber means maybe 500 miles left. When I reached the Lolo Pass I rode it British Style, sort of like a dirt bike, to keep it on the side of the tire. It was kind of fun actually, you seem to have a heads up view and it is less fatiguing as long as you don't run out of lean angle.
The next morning it was raining, which was good for the rear tire. Left Omak at 5:30 AM and ran the north Cascade route through Washington Pass in the rain. No traffic in the morning. I arrived at the ferry at about 10:45 AM as it is only about 400 miles. The rear tire was really shot. The centre of the tire was down to the steel belt and half of the belts were sticking up or were gone. Due to a marine emergency the ferries were delayed and I did not get to the island until 3:00 PM
Once on the island I was within trailer range so I just wanted to see how far you could ride on the totally destroyed tire. Home is 90 miles north of the ferry. It was raining harder on the island and I rode through the city of Nanaimo to keep my speed down and then followed the scenic route along the ocean. My speed was kept down to 40 to 45 mph and with the rain the tire remained reasonably cool and I arrived home in about three hours.
I changed the tire yesterday and some of the steel cords had broken through on the inside but still held air. One area of the tire was down to the bias casing. This layer is very flexible but seems strong, as long as you don't abuse the tire or hit something sharp, it may last a lot of miles in an emergency, until a part of the casing actually wears through.
I had the Tire Pressure Sensor screen on the dash to watch for any loss of air. I bet I could have traveled another 100 miles or more at a slow speed on a good highway before a failure. Obviously, I would rather not. I will test the thinnest area of casing with a screw driver to see how tough and thick it is. I have a extra front wheel due to hitting a pot hole a few years ago. Green’s in Vancouver do a good job of re-straightening. I will need new bearings and swap the rotors over to the other wheel to get this bike back on the road. I’ll ride the GS until I have time to get parts and make repairs.
Anyway, it was a good trip with hundreds of corners. My trip was 5205 miles with very few straight sections of road on a new rear tire. I will photograph the wear and send it to you when I get the time. During conversations with a few guys at NAFO we talked about a route to the Pacific Northwest on twisty roads. I may write up a post that describes my route so others have a basic travel route up to Washington that they can refine and run some of the twisty roads. The Pacific NW guys likely have lots of other routes that we don’t know about but this one works for me.
David
