I havn't been to Vashon island yet and thought it would be a great way to spend part of day riding and still get back in time for a BBQ. The temps were in the low 70s there while the rest of Puget sound was getting 80s. Great day for a ride.
It was a short half hour ride from my place to the Fauntleroy ferry terminal near West Seattle . I skipped the Alki Beach cruise on the way over thinking I can always take that path on the return trip. Alki Beach is like a little slice of California Beach (including the bikinis, sand volley ball courts, lots of bikes and other vehicals, great view of Seattle skyscrappers, and did I mention bikinis).
I read that as a motorcycle you skip the line and drive up to the front. It wasn't obvious how you do that when the only way to the front was through oncoming traffic. But as I paused a little confused if I should use the opposite lane near the terminal, a nearby ferry worker stepped into that lane and waved me forward into the lane, pointed me at walk on terminal and stated, "park near that, get off, go in and get your ticket, then wait for the terminal worker who directs loading to tell you what to do." Cool, thats simple and skipping the line makes me think taking the ferry should always be done on a motorcycle.
Once I was directed on, I wondered how much the bike would move while underway. Then a police officer on his Police Special pulled up next to me and I asked him. He chuckeled a little stated that the only time to be concerned was launch and docking on the other side, otherwise just leave it in gear and don't worry. He went on to describe the numerous times that "harley" riders came back to find their bike toppeled over. A very personable guy, a bit young I thought. When did I become that old? It was also concerning that he constantly wore his helmet. Twenty minutes latter and I was riding off the ferry.
Vashone reminds me of a rural town with their spread out neighbor hoods. A mix of houses and 20 acre farms. Nothing seemed too big and it seemed evenly spread across most of the island. Lots of rural roads with very little traffic. A few great views of Mt Ranier (my photo share account expired again sorry, I really wish I could share the photos here). It has a light house, a north and south ferry terminal, and a couple of small village centers (a tighter cluster of buildings with a store or gas station). The prce of gas was near a dollar more per gallon on the island, I filled up before I left and I was glad when I seen this.
I rode around for several hours just explorenig all the dfferent nooks and cranies of the island. At one intersection, it went uphill to a stop sign and I needed to turn a sharp right. I didn't notice the slant to the road also and as I was throttling up and turninig right, the tip point was found and since I was only moving a few inches per second at that point, I throttled down and I put my right foot down (mistake, I should have just applied more throttle). This committed my balance even further, my foot slide on sand on the road, and I did a slow motion drop to the right side that I could not stop. ****! As I got up I then noticed the slant to the road to the right side that I missed. So to lift it I had to lift slightly uphill and then I found the uphill to the intersection became a problem, everytime I cleared the slider, the bike would roll backwards! I am a big guy and no special technique is would normally be needed to get it lifted, but its really hard to pick this bike up with one hand on the break. But I found a good grip, got it up, put it on the kick stand and inspected the damage. The slider did its job, not a scratch on the front. The right hard bag was scratched a little, but not as much as I would have thought especially after sliding a foot down the hill on my first lift attempt. Most of the damage was on the exhaust pipe, a nice healthy scrape. All that time and not a single person drove by. Did I mention how rural the island felt?
I continued my ride, found the lighthouse, found the local burger drive-in (nothing to write about, plain, and unappealing) and headed back to the ferry for my trip home. It was a great four/five hour ride, glad I did it even with the "mistake".
It was a short half hour ride from my place to the Fauntleroy ferry terminal near West Seattle . I skipped the Alki Beach cruise on the way over thinking I can always take that path on the return trip. Alki Beach is like a little slice of California Beach (including the bikinis, sand volley ball courts, lots of bikes and other vehicals, great view of Seattle skyscrappers, and did I mention bikinis).
I read that as a motorcycle you skip the line and drive up to the front. It wasn't obvious how you do that when the only way to the front was through oncoming traffic. But as I paused a little confused if I should use the opposite lane near the terminal, a nearby ferry worker stepped into that lane and waved me forward into the lane, pointed me at walk on terminal and stated, "park near that, get off, go in and get your ticket, then wait for the terminal worker who directs loading to tell you what to do." Cool, thats simple and skipping the line makes me think taking the ferry should always be done on a motorcycle.
Once I was directed on, I wondered how much the bike would move while underway. Then a police officer on his Police Special pulled up next to me and I asked him. He chuckeled a little stated that the only time to be concerned was launch and docking on the other side, otherwise just leave it in gear and don't worry. He went on to describe the numerous times that "harley" riders came back to find their bike toppeled over. A very personable guy, a bit young I thought. When did I become that old? It was also concerning that he constantly wore his helmet. Twenty minutes latter and I was riding off the ferry.
Vashone reminds me of a rural town with their spread out neighbor hoods. A mix of houses and 20 acre farms. Nothing seemed too big and it seemed evenly spread across most of the island. Lots of rural roads with very little traffic. A few great views of Mt Ranier (my photo share account expired again sorry, I really wish I could share the photos here). It has a light house, a north and south ferry terminal, and a couple of small village centers (a tighter cluster of buildings with a store or gas station). The prce of gas was near a dollar more per gallon on the island, I filled up before I left and I was glad when I seen this.
I rode around for several hours just explorenig all the dfferent nooks and cranies of the island. At one intersection, it went uphill to a stop sign and I needed to turn a sharp right. I didn't notice the slant to the road also and as I was throttling up and turninig right, the tip point was found and since I was only moving a few inches per second at that point, I throttled down and I put my right foot down (mistake, I should have just applied more throttle). This committed my balance even further, my foot slide on sand on the road, and I did a slow motion drop to the right side that I could not stop. ****! As I got up I then noticed the slant to the road to the right side that I missed. So to lift it I had to lift slightly uphill and then I found the uphill to the intersection became a problem, everytime I cleared the slider, the bike would roll backwards! I am a big guy and no special technique is would normally be needed to get it lifted, but its really hard to pick this bike up with one hand on the break. But I found a good grip, got it up, put it on the kick stand and inspected the damage. The slider did its job, not a scratch on the front. The right hard bag was scratched a little, but not as much as I would have thought especially after sliding a foot down the hill on my first lift attempt. Most of the damage was on the exhaust pipe, a nice healthy scrape. All that time and not a single person drove by. Did I mention how rural the island felt?
I continued my ride, found the lighthouse, found the local burger drive-in (nothing to write about, plain, and unappealing) and headed back to the ferry for my trip home. It was a great four/five hour ride, glad I did it even with the "mistake".
Last edited by a moderator:
