In Ohio

I have an avatar that I sometimes use on motorcycle websites that I belong to that shows the states I have ridden in.  I have added West Virginia and Ohio to this map:

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I would love to bag those New England states, but that may be a bit of a stretch. 

Today Carolyn followed me and we did a couple of roads listed in the website in yesterdays post.  The first was West Virginia highway 16, and it was a nice road, but not spectacular.....mostly scenic with lots of gentle curves.  On this segment I needed to stop for gas at a little burg in the boonies.  You know you are in the heart of the sticks when there is this sign in the restroom:

One of the benefits of having Carolyn following is that we can have a picnic lunch together.  We found a state park with a picnic area just a few miles off our route:

The second of the recommended roads was Ohio's state route 555, called the "triple nickel".  It was towards the end of the day and it kicked my ass.  It was getting hot, I was getting tired, and the roads was a real challenge.  It was like a roller coaster with lots of blind hill crests and tight curves.  Not being able to see over the crests caused a bit of tension in not knowing which way the road went on the other side.  But I was still having a great time.   Then we came upon this:

I guess he was Amish, or something, but if he had been on the other side of a blind crest I would have had a hard time stopping in time.  After that I was even more careful about bombing over the hills, but we didn't see any more horsey traffic. 

It's kind of dangerous to generalize about the difference in drivers from one part of the country or another, but unlike in Oregon, California and Washington, I have yet to have a driver pull over to let me pass.  They may be going 20 mph below the speed limit, but if you are following, it's your problem.  Needless to say I do a bit of double yellow passing. 

Tomorrow Carolyn and I separate.  I will stop by the AMA museum in Pickerington Ohio and she will visit relatives near Columbus.  We will be staying in different motels, so I will not have access to my computer to update the blog.  Then Wednesday we will meet up at my nephew's house in Greenville. 

Loop out of Summersville

Today I did a 244 mile loop out and back to the motel.  I planned several of the routes on this trip using this website: http://www.motorcycleroads.com/best/?c=124.  This particular loop uses routes numbered 9 and 15.  Tomorrow I will use some of number 10, and we have already done route 3. 

It was supposed to be another hot day, but I still took along my long sleeve riding shirt that I wear under my jacket in cooler weather.  It's a good thing I did because the first half of the loop went through the Monongahela National Forest and I got up to almost 5,000 feet altitude.  It was downright chilly.  The road wasn't particularly curvy, but the scenery was great.  Here is a pic of the typical road appearance: 

After I got up to the top there were some scenic overlooks:

It was even turning a little autumn-like:

Later, when I was back down at around 2,000 feet it began to warm up but was still pleasant.  I came upon this interesting old house:

When I walked around the back to "take a break" I came upon this:

This is a 80's era Honda CX500.  There is an old friend of mine who reads this blog and he and I did many great rides together while he was riding one of these.  Good times, those.

The loop was basically 100 miles north through the scenic part and then 100 mile back through the curvy part.  And the curvy part was great.  I went many miles without coming on a car headed in my direction, so I could get the best out of the curves. 

I got back around 3 pm and found that Carolyn had not visited the Civil War battlefield, so we did that.  The museum was closed for the season, but this sign explains it:

We found a trail and took an opportunity to get in our 6,000 steps for the day on a 2 mile walk:

The trail also had some scenic overlooks:

We walked through hardwood forest and I was drooling over the white oak that I would love to be able to use in my woodworking.

There were also some woods rats in the park.  These are a white-tailed variety that are different from ours in Washington.  Glad to see him in the park and not on the road.  I saw some statistics that showed West Virginia was the worst state for deer strikes, but I haven't seen any on the road yet. 

Tomorrow we head north to Ohio and will ride another on of the recommended roads on the way there. 

Gonna need new boots

Hundreds of miles of twisty roads on a low-powered 500cc motorcycle means lots of shifting.  I'm wearing out the toe on my left boot.  But I'm having a hell of a good time.  Today was another 300 miler, with at least 200 of those miles on great two-lane twisties.  Carolyn followed me when she could, but when it got real tight or there were cars to pass the car was at a disadvantage.

We went through the heart of Appalachia and the coal mining area of West Virginia.  Things are not looking too good there........lots of abandoned mines and equipment along with houses and businesses.  I searched for a place for us to get lunch from 11:45 until 1:30 and could not find a restaurant, even though we passed through numerous small towns.  But the countryside is pretty and the roads are to die for. What does seem to be thriving is the off-road recreation vehicle use.  We saw tons of UTV side-by-sides and quads and even some off road motorcycles on the roads and in the towns.  I talked to one guy who said he comes down from Ohio to ride the trails and they are marked for difficulty in three levels.

The days haven't been without some difficulties.  The weather is unseasonably warm with highs in the upper 80's.  I brought my vented mesh jacket, but left the pants at home, so I am wearing jeans.  At least it isn't raining, which would be worse and rain was predicted for several of the days, but now is not in the forecast.  My Garmin gps continues to send me off into the hinterlands periodically, buy I always manage to find my way eventually, and it is a great help in riding a pre-planned route.

Mark and Jon both reported getting home safe and Jon got the rental bike returned in time.  It was great having them along for the day and the evening of conversation, even if it was a little too heavy on motorcycles for Carolyn's taste.

Tomorrow Carolyn takes a day to rest and catch up with some computer chores and maybe visit a local Civil War site and park.

I've got riding partners!

When we got to my nephew Mark's house in Greenville KY to unload the bike I found out that he and his son Jon planned to ride with me on the first day.  I had invited them along, but when I didn't hear from them after I sent my route I figured they didn't want to do it.  Not so.  In fact, Jon even rented a bike for the ride.  Here is a pic of Mark and I getting ready to ride over to Jon's house in Bowling Green:

When we got to Jon's house we discovered he had rented an Indian Scout.  Quite a mix of bikes for this ride.

It was a long day......370 miles and almost 12 hours, but the roads were good and the countryside was pretty.  Then, about 20 miles from the motel we hit the really good stuff and it made the whole trip worthwhile just for that one section.  This shot of my GPS gives you and idea of what I mean:

We arrived at the motel pretty tired and I was ready for my post-ride beer:

We had a late dinner and lots to talk about, so the blog is going to be sort of abbreviated today.  I did take this picture of the "plant that ate the South"; Kudzu.  It's an invasive plant that is almost impossible to kill and it taking over large areas.

I can also show a picture of the result of a little problem I created myself when I left the bolts holding the spare tire extended into the rail where the front tire stops.  I did this in an attempt to keep the tire from cocking sideways, but the bolts ended up chewing into the tire:

It's kind of ugly but is not a problem because the cuts aren't deep enough to get to the tire cord.  I rode all day today on it with no problem. 

Tomorrow Mark and Jon ride back to their homes and Carolyn and I continue on my route.  We are going to be in West Virginia and the good stuff. 

The Bike is Ready

Last month I turned 50,000 miles on my bike and did some extra maintenance besides the usual oil and filter change.  I also cleaned the air filter, changed the coolant and the fork oil, and checked the valve adjustment and the front sprocket for wear.  I have checked the valve adjustment three times now and have not needed to change any adjustment shims.  These bikes apparently have a very stable valve actuating system.  This is good news because it means Jenny's bike, with over 30,000 miles and only one valve check, is probably good to go without one.  If you have to pay somebody to do this job, like she would, it will cost over $300.  It's a pretty tedious process.

I estimate the distance I will ride on this trip to be about 2000 miles, and my bike currently has 51,500, so I will not be due for another oil and filter change before I get back home.  What I would be due for, and worried might be over-due for, was a new rear tire.  I had 7,200 on the current one, and I normally get between 8 and 10 thousand miles on a rear tire.  That would be cutting it close, so I decided to mount a new rear tire, which pains me because the current one still has quite a  bit of tread and my normal penny-pinching brain hates to see good rubber go to waste.  So I saved the old take- off with the idea of someday re-mounting it and getting the rest of the wear out of it.  That means I have TWO take-off's sitting around because the same thing happened before my ride with Jenny in the spring.

The problem with saving these tires is that changing a tire can be such a hassle that it isn't worth having to do it more often by using already worn tires.......certainly if you have to pay somebody $50 or so to do it.  However, I've gotten pretty good at changing tires myself, so I think I will eventually decide to use them.

So I'm ready to go with a new rear tire:

 And just for the heck of it, I changed the front also.  It was actually pretty worn on the left side because I do better in most left-hand turns.  This is for two reasons; one is that right hand curves  in the mountains often are blind turns because of an embankment or trees that hide what is around the corner, and secondly because the consequences of running wide and crossing the center line in a right hand curve can be much more serious. 

I have to show you the latest modification to my bike.  I got this from my friend Ross, who I have been riding with for almost 25 years.  He is, I think, 83 years old and he is still riding.  I'm hoping to at least match his record.

We leave on Thursday, the 19th, and the car, bike, and trailer (and me) are ready to go.  Carolyn is doing her normal fantastic job of organizing lodging and visits with family and she has that done too.
Some examples:

The Trailer is Ready to Go

Mike brought the almost finished trailer down and I've been working on some finishing touches over the past week.  I figured a way to hold the loading ramp away from the bike.  The knobs make a wrench unnecessary for loading and unloading:

At Carolyns suggestion, I ordered an additional tire and wheel for a spare and mounted it to the front of the rail:

Yesterday I took the trailer to the highway patrol office to get it inspected and a VIN assigned.  Here is the inspector stamping the VIN on the frame after grinding the brand new paint away.  He was impressed with the design of the trailer and the quality of the paint and steel.  The more I work with the trailer the more I am also impressed with Mike's work......lots of quality touches and good workmanship.

After the inspection I went to the Department of Licensing to get it registered and plated.  A few years ago a voter initiative in Washington set the vehicle registration fees at $30, but since then the state has been adding fees to everything until it has become ridiculous. Check this itemized list of cost for the registration:

Registration filing                  4.50
Title Filing                             5.50
Plate Reflectivity                   2.00  (really!)
Original Issue Plate             10.00
Registration License          187.50  (extra cost because it never needs renewal)
License Plate Technology        .25  (good lord!)
Dept. of Licensing Service      .50  (I thought that is what all these fees were for)
Title Service Fee                  15.00
Registration Service Fee        8.00  (so what's the difference between the first two and these last two?)
Vehicle Title Application     15.00
VIN re-assignment                 5.00

Since these fees keep going up, I figured the life-time registration would pay for itself in a few years.  In addition to these fees, I paid $30 for a three-day trip permit to allow Mike to bring the un-licensed trailer down to my house, and then I paid $8 for a one-trip permit to take it to the highway patrol for inspection. 

Today Carolyn and I loaded the bike up and went for a test drive. 

I also found the tongue weight by using a bathroom scale and determined it was 57 pounds.  This doesn't even cause the back of the car to sag.

The combined weight of the trailer and motorcycle is about 700 pounds, and with the tongue weight of 57 pounds we are well within the specified limits for the car of 1000 pound trailer and 200 pound tongue weight. 

Since we will often be staying in motels, security is a concern.  The bike will be locked to the trailer, and the trailer will be locked to the hitch ball.  The receiver will also be locked to the car's trailer hitch. 

The test drive was very encouraging.  There was no difference in the way the car drove and handled, and only a very slight need for more power on hills.  Carolyn took her turn towing and quickly got used to it so we can share driving duties. 

We are ready to go!