fJROB
Well-known member
I am the owner of an independent auto service business, in order to keep my business on the cutting edge I am a member of a business development group.
The group consists of up to 20 other auto shop owners from all over the country.
We share all of our secrets for success with each other as we work to improve our own businesses.
Three times a year we meet in a member’s city and take a tour of their shop, clipboards in hand, telling them what we like and what we don’t.
Our January meeting was scheduled to be in Seattle, Washington.
I like to turn these little business trips into cycletherapy sessions, so I had to prepare for some winter riding.
My first project was to make a heated jacket. So I took my cortech accelerator jacket liner and proceeded to wire it up with instructions found on the internet.
The second project was to add heated grips to my FJR, I ordered up a heated grip kit from dual-star.
Kudos to dual-star! The grip kit arrived 3 days before my departure date.
My ride began on Monday morning January 14th; the FJR was loaded up with my laptop, meeting materials, and enough clothes for 3 days worth of meetings. I departed from Grass Valley at about 8:00 am.
It was great to be on the FJR again. The first sign of winter riding showed up on hwy 99 just after Chico,Ca.
The fog was pretty thick! It never ceases to amaze me, seeing people drive through fog with their lights off!
The fog thinned out and was gone by the time I hit hwy 5. (Yes Interstate 5, boring but efficient)
I had to stop at the first glimpse of snow covered Mt Shasta.
I stopped for lunch in Ashland, Oregon and had a Curry tuna melt. It was excellent! (Sorry no pics)
Before stopping for lunch my toes had been getting cold, so after lunch I put some chemical heated insoles in my boots and all was well! Heated grips, heated jacket, and now heated insoles. Life is good!
It started raining somewhere around Sutherlin, hoping it would stop I waited to put on my rain gear until I stopped for fuel.
My plan was to make it to Portland, but the sun was setting, the rain was getting more intense, and I was having a hard time finding the sweet spot with windshield adjustment and keeping my face shield clear. So I stopped in Salem and began my search for a hotel with a hot tub.
I can’t believe how dependent I had become to my now absent GPS. (It was stolen from a hotel room last September)
I finally found a hotel with a hot tub so I stopped for the night.
The next morning the news was showing frozen roads in Portland and cars on Interstate 5 that had spun out and crashed. So over breakfast I calculated a new route. The plan was to head out to the coast on hwy 22.
Hwy 22 was a really cool little road; I really liked the moss covered trees
My FJR liked the trees too, but she didn’t like the snow on the road!
made it to hwy 101 and the snow disappeared!
It was nice to see dry road for a change!
I continued up 101 through Tillamook.
I stayed on 101 until Aberdeen, Washington and stayed the night there.
From there I went to Seattle. After unloading my bike at the hotel I went to Pike Street Marketplace for a late lunch/early dinner.
I had grilled Salmon for lunch at the market grill.
I spent the rest of the day walking around Seattle. Sidi Evo Tepor’s are not bad as walking shoes! but tennis shoes would have been better!
I stopped to watch an amazingly efficient tow truck operator snatch up a parking offender.
I went into Seattle Yamaha, and look what I saw!
I explained to the Salesman that I preferred the faster color………Blue!
I met the shop dog, his name is Monkey!
They had some cool engines on display
And a top secret project in the works….. It is an FJR based streetfighter! But they would not allow any camera’s into the top secret workshop.
The obligatory Space Needle picture, too bad the cranes were in the way!
The meeting went well! The shop that we visited was the Auburn Tire Factory in Auburn Washington owned by Dan and Mary(wearing the Brown Jacket and red plaid shirt). They have a very nice shop and they were marvelous hosts.
This is our group hard at work in the meeting.
After the three day meeting was over, it was raining, so I started out with my rain suit on and headed south.
My destination for the night was my sister’s house in Lebanon Oregon (240 miles) it rained the entire way, but I still made it to Lebanon in time for dinner.
After a nice Chinese food dinner a good night’s sleep and a hearty breakfast I was ready to hit the Road.
The FJR got to stay the night in the barn!
Just before my departure I got a picture of my generous hosts, Don, Carmen, Andrew, and Julianne.
The Ride home was great; my sister packed a lunch for me so I was able to save a lot of time by eating lunch at a rest stop.
It rained pretty much all of the way through Oregon, with the exception of the mountain passes where it turned to snow!
Thankfully the snowfall was light and it never got beyond slush on the road. I was very thankful for the heated jacket, heated grips, and insoles!
After a little snow at the top of California, the rest of the ride home to Grass Valley was pretty dry and I finally got home and reunited with my family.
This was pretty much my first winter ride and it went very well! I never had to use my tire chains, my gear kept me warm and dry, and of course my FJR performed flawlessly!
Thanks for coming along!
FJROB
The group consists of up to 20 other auto shop owners from all over the country.
We share all of our secrets for success with each other as we work to improve our own businesses.
Three times a year we meet in a member’s city and take a tour of their shop, clipboards in hand, telling them what we like and what we don’t.
Our January meeting was scheduled to be in Seattle, Washington.
I like to turn these little business trips into cycletherapy sessions, so I had to prepare for some winter riding.
My first project was to make a heated jacket. So I took my cortech accelerator jacket liner and proceeded to wire it up with instructions found on the internet.
The second project was to add heated grips to my FJR, I ordered up a heated grip kit from dual-star.
Kudos to dual-star! The grip kit arrived 3 days before my departure date.
My ride began on Monday morning January 14th; the FJR was loaded up with my laptop, meeting materials, and enough clothes for 3 days worth of meetings. I departed from Grass Valley at about 8:00 am.
It was great to be on the FJR again. The first sign of winter riding showed up on hwy 99 just after Chico,Ca.
The fog was pretty thick! It never ceases to amaze me, seeing people drive through fog with their lights off!
The fog thinned out and was gone by the time I hit hwy 5. (Yes Interstate 5, boring but efficient)
I had to stop at the first glimpse of snow covered Mt Shasta.
I stopped for lunch in Ashland, Oregon and had a Curry tuna melt. It was excellent! (Sorry no pics)
Before stopping for lunch my toes had been getting cold, so after lunch I put some chemical heated insoles in my boots and all was well! Heated grips, heated jacket, and now heated insoles. Life is good!
It started raining somewhere around Sutherlin, hoping it would stop I waited to put on my rain gear until I stopped for fuel.
My plan was to make it to Portland, but the sun was setting, the rain was getting more intense, and I was having a hard time finding the sweet spot with windshield adjustment and keeping my face shield clear. So I stopped in Salem and began my search for a hotel with a hot tub.
I can’t believe how dependent I had become to my now absent GPS. (It was stolen from a hotel room last September)
I finally found a hotel with a hot tub so I stopped for the night.
The next morning the news was showing frozen roads in Portland and cars on Interstate 5 that had spun out and crashed. So over breakfast I calculated a new route. The plan was to head out to the coast on hwy 22.
Hwy 22 was a really cool little road; I really liked the moss covered trees
My FJR liked the trees too, but she didn’t like the snow on the road!
made it to hwy 101 and the snow disappeared!
It was nice to see dry road for a change!
I continued up 101 through Tillamook.
I stayed on 101 until Aberdeen, Washington and stayed the night there.
From there I went to Seattle. After unloading my bike at the hotel I went to Pike Street Marketplace for a late lunch/early dinner.
I had grilled Salmon for lunch at the market grill.
I spent the rest of the day walking around Seattle. Sidi Evo Tepor’s are not bad as walking shoes! but tennis shoes would have been better!
I stopped to watch an amazingly efficient tow truck operator snatch up a parking offender.
I went into Seattle Yamaha, and look what I saw!
I explained to the Salesman that I preferred the faster color………Blue!
I met the shop dog, his name is Monkey!
They had some cool engines on display
And a top secret project in the works….. It is an FJR based streetfighter! But they would not allow any camera’s into the top secret workshop.
The obligatory Space Needle picture, too bad the cranes were in the way!
The meeting went well! The shop that we visited was the Auburn Tire Factory in Auburn Washington owned by Dan and Mary(wearing the Brown Jacket and red plaid shirt). They have a very nice shop and they were marvelous hosts.
This is our group hard at work in the meeting.
After the three day meeting was over, it was raining, so I started out with my rain suit on and headed south.
My destination for the night was my sister’s house in Lebanon Oregon (240 miles) it rained the entire way, but I still made it to Lebanon in time for dinner.
After a nice Chinese food dinner a good night’s sleep and a hearty breakfast I was ready to hit the Road.
The FJR got to stay the night in the barn!
Just before my departure I got a picture of my generous hosts, Don, Carmen, Andrew, and Julianne.
The Ride home was great; my sister packed a lunch for me so I was able to save a lot of time by eating lunch at a rest stop.
It rained pretty much all of the way through Oregon, with the exception of the mountain passes where it turned to snow!
Thankfully the snowfall was light and it never got beyond slush on the road. I was very thankful for the heated jacket, heated grips, and insoles!
After a little snow at the top of California, the rest of the ride home to Grass Valley was pretty dry and I finally got home and reunited with my family.
This was pretty much my first winter ride and it went very well! I never had to use my tire chains, my gear kept me warm and dry, and of course my FJR performed flawlessly!
Thanks for coming along!
FJROB
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