Member Contributer vfrcapn Posted June 7, 2009 Member Contributer Share Posted June 7, 2009 A dead battery meant I had to make a slight detour to Salk Lake City and the WSBK race, which gave me an opportunity to check out the Bonneville Salt Flats. I decided to make the trip out to the World Superbike races in Utah last week and thought I’d try doing up a ride report. I planned to take the long way back home, which is just east of Sacramento, CA. I also did some moto camping for the first time on this trip. Full Size Day 1: to Elk Flat Campground 7200 ft elevation, east of Ely, NV 450 miles Headed out highway 80 through Reno and then picked up highway 50 straight through to Ely and Cave Lake State Park where I camped for the night. Bike is my ’99 VFR, about 55K on the odometer now. I’ve had it since ’01. Rain was tracking me the whole way but I was lucky and only ran in to some slight drizzle a couple times. Interesting “shoe tree” on highway 50 in the middle of no where. Highway 50 just goes on & on & on…. It really is the loneliest road I’ve been on. Campground was very nice, clean with great views. Stayed dry all night also. Day 2: to Salt Lake City, UT 330 miles Unfortunately I woke up to a dead battery, discovered after I had everything packed and ready to go. I ended up bump starting it down the gravel campground road. Not sure what was going on but I backtracked 15 miles to Ely and picked up a battery tender jr. at the Yamaha/Suzuki/Lincoln-Mercury(?!) dealer. I decided to take a more direct route to get to Salt Lake while the bike was still running and headed up NV 93 to 80 and then on in to Salt Lake. 93 is about 80 miles of nothing-ness, I think there were 2 turns in those 80 miles. Rain was still stalking me though. Utah Salt Flats Benefit to this route instead of continuing 50 in to Utah was I got to see the Bonneville salt flats off of 80. Still a lot of water on the flats. I thought of taking a spin on the salt but it was too soft and would have been a mess. Getting in to Salt Lake looked like it was going to be rough but I dodged the rain bullet again. I stayed at the Hampton Inn in downtown Salt Lake for 2 nights. The hotel itself is nice but it’s a sketchy part of town, I wouldn’t recommend it. Day 3: to Tooele, UT Miller Motorsports Park 70 miles round trip I only attended Sunday, the day of the races. There is nothing like standing mid point of the front straight and watching the SBK’s go by at 195 mph. Also discovered the battery problem was probably my hasty wiring up of my iPod charger late on the night before I left. The wiring connection was loose and the iPod would charge only intermittently. I cut it out, charged the battery and didn’t have any more problems. The manufacturers were there showing off their stuff, I’ll spare everyone pictures of the Honda DN01. Honda CB750 Some custom choppers. I think this is actually a custom “Copper”. Nice handiwork. Forgot this guy’s name but was putting on quite a demonstration. Miller Park backdrop: Roland Sands Aprilia Aprilia RSV4 I’ve got an empty spot in my garage just waiting to be filled by a Tuono. :beer: Or one of these… :huh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer vfrcapn Posted June 7, 2009 Author Member Contributer Share Posted June 7, 2009 Day 4: to Jacob Lake Campground, south of Fredonia, Arizona 445 miles It was going to be a longer day so I took UT 15 south for awhile before turning off to 70 and then 72 south. First thing to deal with, plus all the ‘presents’ they leave on the road. 72 had some great sections though, even if it was spitting rain here and there. More of 72. The rain was still stalking me but couldn’t keep up with the VFR. Finally getting in to southern Utah, off of hwy 72 and now on hwy 12. Hwy 12, the rain always seemed to be waiting. But the views are worth it. Grand Staircase Escalante National Park. The road through the upper portion runs along a ridge that is about 2 lanes wide, down either side it’s a long ways down. Red Canyon, UT Finally at camp in AZ. Day 5: to Bonito Campground, Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument, north of Flagstaff 250 miles I planned a shorter day to give me time to visit the Grand Canyon north rim. At 8500 foot elevation though I wasn’t going to be doing much rigorous hiking! The forest leading up to the entrance was hit with a wildfire in ’06. Once inside the park there are endless meadows. Motorcycles are $12 to enter vs. $25 per car. Hwy 67 in the national forest outside the park and inside the Grand Canyon park itself was probably designed by a motorcycle rider. If only the speed limits weren’t so low. Grand Canyon pics Walkway to one of the viewing points. No handrails, it’s a straight drop down 3-4K feet on either side. Some cliffs coming down in to southern AZ on hwy 89 before the Colorado river. The Colorado river crossing on hwy 89. Only 250 miles today but it still took about 10 hours with all the stops. Once down on 89 in southern AZ it was very hot. Day 6: to Las Vegas, NV 365 miles I wanted to see Meteor Crater in AZ which meant slabbing about 30 miles out of my way and then backtracking but it was worth it. I learned this hole in the ground is entirely privately owned and operated. 700 feet down, 4000 feet across. Also got to ride some of ‘historic’ Hwy 66 west of Flagstaff. There wasn’t much out here other than fierce winds and some reproduction signs. Heading to Las Vegas on 93 you get to cross the Hoover dam. They are constructing a new highway and bridge though so you’ll face miles and miles of ‘reduced speed’, construction zones and traffic delays. There is also a security checkpoint all vehicles must pass through before being allowed to cross the dam. From what I saw this consists of a 19 year old Homeland Security employee waving at cars as they pass through. Here’s the dam and new bridge. Pics don’t do justice to how massive this thing is. No camping in Vegas. Enough said, what happens in Vegas… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer vfrcapn Posted June 7, 2009 Author Member Contributer Share Posted June 7, 2009 Day 7: to French Camp Campground, Bishop, CA 320 miles This was one of those days (along with day 6) where the wind beats you up all day long. Massive crosswinds, sudden bursts, etc. I started out following my Google map directions and got as far as Pahrump, NV. Then they instructed to follow this road for 15 miles to get to CA hwy 127. Hmph, left my GS at home… Got around that eventually and got on NV hwy 266 over a small pass. Another great road if it wasn’t so blustery and cold. This turns in to CA 168 once you cross the state line, Caltrans has been busy. Great views coming up on the eastern side of the Sierras. Coming in to Big Pine on hwy 395, CA. The campground I planned to stay at wasn’t all that inviting, plus it was at a summit on 395 and rain seemed to be moving in. So I backtracked 20 miles to Bishop and hoteled it again. Day 8: Home, 250 miles The plan was to ride up 395 along the CA border and take one of the passes over to the western side of the Sierra. They’ve all been open for awhile now and were on Thursday when I pulled in to Bishop. Overnight the rain and snow moved in, closing Yosemite pass (120) and the Sonora pass looked likely to close at some point in the day. So I ran up 395 in 50 degree temps and rain to Monitor pass which was amazingly dry. Taking 50 west out of Tahoe though temps dropped to around 40 and it rained most of the way down in to the foothills. It took a week but the rain finally caught up. My ‘stich is about 7 years old but still watertight as far as I can tell. Final tally was about 2510 miles over 8 days, the 70 miles to Tooele from Salt Lake isn't included on my (ancient) gps. Most of the camping gear was new, the 20 year old stuff I had wouldn’t have packed on the bike. It all worked very well, I overpacked of course even though the Givi’s were only half full. Next time I will downsize to the E21 bags I have. I may be heading to the VFRD summit in Colorado this August so I’ll have to work on packing. This was my first trip to UT, AZ and the Grand Canyon and it was definitely a good trip. I also got some video of the RSV4 running and will have to post that, wasn't all that impressed with the sound though. :beer: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vfracer750 Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 Great write up. Thanks for posting! Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer RED RUNNER Posted June 7, 2009 Member Contributer Share Posted June 7, 2009 Great pictures! You really picked a nice route. I was at the races myself. Wonderful track, tremendous facility. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V4 Rosso Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 Very nice pictorial. Looks like you had all of those beautiful sights to yourself, those are realy some lonely roads. The Grand Canyon surely is a must see, stunning views! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer alwaysaware Posted June 7, 2009 Member Contributer Share Posted June 7, 2009 Awesome trip. Thanks for posting. :beer: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 Sweet trip.....the loneliest roads going solo are always my favorites. Instantly there is no mortgage, bills to pay, BS to put up with, politics, traffic, noise...etc. Looks and sounds like you had a nice adventure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 Great post, capn. Curious, though, what tent did you use, and how did you like it for packability, livability. ease of assembly/breakdown, etc.? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer JBAXX Posted June 7, 2009 Member Contributer Share Posted June 7, 2009 I always enjoy reading these ride reports. Pretty ballsy to that many miles solo IMO. Great pics, thanks for taking us along vicariously on your ride. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer vfrcapn Posted June 7, 2009 Author Member Contributer Share Posted June 7, 2009 Great post, capn. Curious, though, what tent did you use, and how did you like it for packability, livability. ease of assembly/breakdown, etc.? Thanks. It is the Kelty Grand Mesa 2. It takes about 5 minutes to put up and packs down very small, I put the tent in a separate dry compression bag and the poles/spikes in their own sleeves. The whole thing weighs about 4 lbs. The poles attach to the tent with clips, not sleeves, makes putting it up much quicker. All the seams are taped for waterproofness, it has good ventilation and a little vestibule area on the front under the rain fly. And it's not insanely expensive like some of the ultralight tents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superfunkomatic Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 Excellent pics and write-up. I traced through most of that route in '06. Utah and the Grand Canyon area (it was on fire as I rode through that day) are just awesome. No pictures do it justice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Dutchy Posted June 7, 2009 Member Contributer Share Posted June 7, 2009 Great trip and great write up! Good to leave the office behind for a while no doubt..... :fing02: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer vfrcapn Posted June 7, 2009 Author Member Contributer Share Posted June 7, 2009 Great trip and great write up!Good to leave the office behind for a while no doubt..... :fing02: The office left me behind a few months ago, that's how I could take off for a week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Tyke Posted June 7, 2009 Member Contributer Share Posted June 7, 2009 Great trip and write up. I'm hoping to hit some of the Utah part, #12 at least, on my way back from the summit meet this August. Thanks. :fing02: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer dr.toto Posted June 7, 2009 Member Contributer Share Posted June 7, 2009 Great report. Not everyone can appreciate the desert, but I can. You were very fortunate that the colors were out in force. Not too long ago, the water was at the top of the towers at Hoover. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toddulu Posted June 12, 2009 Share Posted June 12, 2009 Great ride report. I got a little nostalgic as I've been on most those roads before. I can't agree more about how nice the road going to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon is, and I second that comment about the low speed limits!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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