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.
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.
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.
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:
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.
This September is my high school class 60th reunion. I thought it would be a good opportunity to ride some more East Coast roads that I have not been on yet......mainly in West Virginia and Ohio. . It was a balancing act to figure out how to meet certain criteria for this ride. I wanted to have Carolyn come along and I also didn't want to ride across eastern Colorado and Kansas. We also wanted to visit relatives along the route and see the new crop of babies. I considered several ways of doing the trip, including buying or renting a bike in St. Louis and either selling or shipping one home if I bought it. I also looked into shipping my current ride to St. Louis and back. I really didn't like the cost or inconvenience of of any of the buy/sell/ship options, and nobody rents a motorcycle that I want to ride. I really wanted to ride my own bike, which I like a lot, so I thought about hauling it there and back myself. Problem was, what to haul it with? I could load the bike in the 87 Toyota pickup, but after the problems we had with it when we took Jenny's bike back to San Francisco (https://thegoodroads.blogspot.com/2017/10/final-stage-of-ride-project.html), Carolyn refused to consider it......even though I think I have the problems solved. Our 99 Honda Odyssey van has a trailer hitch already installed, but the poor thing has almost 240,000 miles on it and the extra strain of pulling a trailer might just be too much. Our newest vehicle, a 2013 Honda Accord, has a lot going for it. It is comfortable, gets good mileage, and only has about 70,000 miles on it. But can it tow a trailer? It's only a 4 cylinder engine, and I didn't know if a trailer hitch could even be installed on it. Well, the owner's manual was consulted and shows the car is rated to tow a trailer up to 1,000 pounds with 200 pound hitch weight.
So now the problem was finding a trailer. I wanted it to be as light as possible to make the least about of strain on the car. After searching around, I decided to ask my good buddy Big Mike if he would make me a trailer. Mike has made several trailers already, and he is a great fabricator of metal stuff. He recently acquired the ability to weld aluminum, which was just what I needed.
After the Spring and Summer of texting back and forth with ideas and specifications, Mike came up with a design that looked like it would be perfect. I bought parts he needed and had them shipped to his house up in Blaine, Washington. He bought metal and aluminum from local suppliers up there and began assembly last month. Meanwhile, I ordered a trailer hitch for the car and installed it and the wiring loom on the car.
Carolyn and I did a week long hiking vacation on the Olympic Peninsula around the time of her birthday, and I used the opportunity to ride my bike up to Blaine so that we could do some measurements and fit the trailer to the bike. I also hoped to help him put it together, and maybe even haul my bike home on it. Unfortunately, the day we arrived at his house, he sprained his ankle and couldn't really do much work on the trailer. We tried, and this was the state of construction at that point (note Mike's ankle brace):
So, I rode the bike home and Mike continued working on the trailer after his ankle got better. Last weekend he finished it and sent me these photos:
It has the loading ramp hinged so that it remains on the trailer and is in the raised position in this picture. The tie-down holding it in place will be changed to a different method, yet to be figured out.
This shows the wheel chock and the front tie-down points for the motorcycle.
Annie is checking to make sure the bottom of the motorcycle will clear the hump between the loading ramp and the trailer deck, based on measurements I sent.
This shows how the complete aluminum deck and the channel for the bike's tires are completely coated with a non-skid adhesive tape. It not only looks good, but will provide better footing and keep the aluminum from oxidizing. Those are also the rear tie-down points. Since the only goal for the rear of the bike is to keep the tire from bouncing out of the channel, the tie-down can be minimal.
Mike plans to bring the trailer down this weekend and I am looking forward to the next steps of getting a title and license for it. This may open a whole new chapter for Carolyn and I to take trips where I get a chance to ride and she can visit gardens or friends and relatives, while we also stay together in the evenings.
After a couple of midsummer rides in extremely hot temps I've decided that spring and autumn are the times to take long rides. There is more chance of rain in the spring and fall, as happened two years ago when we tried to ride up into Canada in September, but last May's ride with Jenny and the September ride with Big Mike and Orv had great weather.
So this year I'm making another May ride where I meet Jenny near where we met last year in the foothills of the northern Sierras. I'm at the end of the first day and I'm staying in Klamath Falls, Oregon after riding 395 miles. I rode quite a few miles extra because I wanted to check out a road I hadn't ridden before. It is the Crooked River Highway out of Prineville, OR. It follows along the Crooked River and is truly a crooked (good) road, even if it is not very long.
I attempted to update this blog while on the ride, but the first day, when I posted the above text, did not go well with my portable keyboard and tablet set-up. Maybe because of slow internet at the motel, but whatever is was, I spent at least an hour on those two paragraphs and I decided to write this blog after the trip, rather than during it.
This ride was notable for some strange GPS problems. The first occurred when looking for my motel in Klamath Falls, where my Garmin Zumo led me to a parking lot of a construction equipment company. I ended up using my phone to navigate to the motel and discovered the phone would bluetooth the directions to my helmet intercom, which was pretty convenient. The next day I was planning on spending the night at a camp ground and lodge a few miles from Portola, CA. I entered the address, which was on hwy 70 that I was riding on, into the gps and when I got to what it said was my destination there was nothing. I went further on and stopped at another lodge and asked the desk clerk about the location of the "Dreamcatcher Lodge and Campground". She had never heard of it. So, I used the phone to navigate me back, and when I got to what it said was my destination there was only an un-named jeep trail that I rode down a short ways until it ended. I attempted to call the place, but nobody answered. At a loss for what to do next, I left a message to cancel the reservation and rode back to Portola where I found a motel available for only slightly more money. The owner of the Dreamcatcher Lodge returned my call later and apologized, said I would not be charged, and also acknowledged that others had had problems finding the place using gps. I think what they need is a sign on the highway.
The next day I arranged to meet Jenny at the Auburn, CA library, where I ended up walking the last 100 yards to the library because the gps had led me to a gated driveway nearby. And yes, my gps maps are updated to a 2017 edition. Jenny and I then rode on to Pollack Pines, CA where we stayed for two days before heading further south for more riding out of Sonora, CA.
On our initial meeting we had some problems with getting our helmet intercoms to work. They would pair up okay, but Jenny could not hear me. Eventually they started working somewhat intermittently, but at the beginning of the next day the same problem returned and did not look like it was going to go away. It seemed that the microphone on her intercom was not working. I had a spare controller for it, but not the microphone. It's remarkable how, once you have experienced the ability to talk to other riders, you cannot live without it. Even my riding buddies, who were initially reluctant to get intercoms, now must have them even though it is often difficult to get four of them paired up. So Jenny and I got desperate. The solution was to order another complete unit from Amazon and have it one-day delivered to the next day's motel in Sonora. Naturally, shortly after we did that, her intercom started working and was trouble free for the rest of the day.
I had been planning this ride for weeks during the winter, but as California was experiencing an extremely wet year I became concerned that some of the higher elevation routes I had planned were not going to be snow free by the time of our ride. I made some contingency plans for lower elevation routes and it was a good thing because we came upon this sign;
But I had to see for myself, and sure enough, there was snow:
I asked Jenny to lay in the snow and make a snow angel, but this is as close as she would get.
There had been predictions of thunder showers during the day so we took rain gear along with us, but experienced only a few drops during the ride. However, when we got back to the motel and were having our post-ride beer and snack at a picnic table on the motel grounds, there were some black clouds and thunder and then this (complete with beer belch at end):
This gives you and idea of the size of the hail. We were under an umbrella, so did not get hit with it, and like most hail storms, it was over in minutes. .
A few times my planned route turned out to be an un-paved road. When I am planning the routes I sometimes use Google Maps Satellite view to see if a road is paved our not, but it's a tedious process because I have to zoom in all the way and can only see a small portion of the road. If I see grey pavement with a line down the middle, I know I'm looking at a paved road. A brown road with no line is probably a dirt road. The difficulty is distinguishing between a single lane paved road and a gravel road made with grey gravel. We came on one gravel road that I could have determined was not paved because the gravel was brown, but I had not looked at it. It was pretty smooth so we rode it until we go back on pavement.
Between this and other problems of dead end or flooded roads, I was often working with my gps to figure out an alternate route. Jenny took this picture on her phone because she said this was my typical appearance during this ride:
The best part of the ride was on the morning of our first day riding out of Sonora. We had to leave the motel before 8:30 because there was going to be the annual Mother's Day parade down the main street that our motel was on, followed by a rodeo later. Maybe because of these two events, the roads outside of town were relatively empty, and we had a fantastic morning ride over the following route:
Much of this part of the ride was in a pretty high elevation forest that had been burned over several years before. This sort of destroyed the looks of the forest, but it made the riding better as it was possible to see around curves that would normally have been blocked from view by trees. You can see the road off in the distance in this picture:
This part of the ride made the whole trip worthwhile. It was fantastic!
The whole day's route looked like this:
Notice that section of hwy 49 that I planned to use going to and coming from the lower loop. It turned out hwy 49 was closed somewhere along there. The only alternative was to make a 40 mile detour out to the west both coming and going. This added a lot of miles to an already long day. It was made somewhat shorter by the fact that part of the lower loop turned out to be an impassible (to us} jeep road that had a name that had made me expect it to be paved. I tried to find a different way back, but the only alternative would have been to go through Yosemite valley, and that would have been a nightmare of motor homes and slow going.
On Sunday morning, the 12th of May, Jenny and I headed for home. For her it was a 130 mile ride to San Francisco, and for me it was another two days and 804 miles. My total miles for the ride was 2,724. The weather was perfect, my partner was fun to ride with, and there were a heap of Good Roads.
