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Recommended routes for gettin’ outa Texas?


sfdownhill

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Gentlemen - I’m going to be flying to Austin TX this weekend, then riding a 5th gen back from Austin to San Diego CA. I have three days and two nights to make the trip and would like to incorporate as much non-slab, fun riding as possible. I don’t mind 400 mile days, or finishing a travel segment a bit after dark. I’m resigned to being stuck on the straight, flat and wide  for a bunch of the hottest, driest portions - there’s no way back to Socal without traversing a desert. I’m pretty familiar with the Cali end of things, but would greatly appreciate any route recommendations for Texas, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, etc.

Thanks!

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Best of luck for your trip :fing02:

 

btw- take a throttle rocker with you, your right wrist will thank you for it... 

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L, you have skills, I know, but you only have three riding days. Not a lot of time to hit many of the states you mention. The SW US is so vast.

 

I do, however, have a few recommendations, having landed in Flagstaff this evening and ridden some new roads I enjoyed:

 

Monday, 168, from 395 out of Big Pine in CA (my way heading east) into NV, twisty, beautiful and empty.

 

Today, AZ Routes 96, 97 and 15. 89A was great too if not for the tourist brigade. Earlier today:

 

 

IMG_3878.JPG

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6 hours ago, mello dude said:

Best of luck for your trip :fing02:

 

btw- take a throttle rocker with you, your right wrist will thank you for it... 

Thanks mello dude! The throttle rocker was still in the drawer...it hadn't even made it onto my checklist until you mentioned it. I usually hop on my own 5th gen at home and enjoy a relaxed wrist courtesy of Throttlemeister. Absent the throttle context, having a relaxed wrist could be open to interpretation...

 

5 hours ago, Samuelx said:

Cool!  Safe travels!

Thanks Samuelx!

 

5 hours ago, Zeta said:

Cool, fresh research material. Thanks!

 

2 hours ago, St. Stephen said:

L, you have skills, I know, but you only have three riding days. Not a lot of time to hit many of the states you mention. The SW US is so vast.

 

I do, however, have a few recommendations, having landed in Flagstaff this evening and ridden some new roads I enjoyed:

 

Monday, 168, from 395 out of Big Pine in CA (my way heading east) into NV, twisty, beautiful and empty.

 

Today, AZ Routes 96, 97 and 15. 89A was great too if not for the tourist brigade. Earlier today:

 

 

IMG_3878.JPG

And I thought you looked good on your 1200...that's a darned handsome Multistrada you've got there, St Stephen. You've got me chuckling - I didn't mean to imply that I'd try to hit all those states in three days. Thanks for the highway/route numbers - looks fun on google maps. Flagstaff does sound great -higher and cooler. Might be able to swing down through Sedona, or follow your lead, reversing your route and landing in Big Pine. Thanks for the suggestions.

You thinking about the Golden State Sierras ride later this year? I'm certainly aiming for it, and I think Duc2V4 is leaning that way too.

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9 hours ago, sfdownhill said:

And I thought you looked good on your 1200...that's a darned handsome Multistrada you've got there, St Stephen. You've got me chuckling - I didn't mean to imply that I'd try to hit all those states in three days. Thanks for the highway/route numbers - looks fun on google maps. Flagstaff does sound great -higher and cooler. Might be able to swing down through Sedona, or follow your lead, reversing your route and landing in Big Pine. Thanks for the suggestions.

You thinking about the Golden State Sierras ride later this year? I'm certainly aiming for it, and I think Duc2V4 is leaning that way too.

 

Haha, no, I guess not all those states. But three 400 mile days barely gets you home on I-10 all the way. 

 

I should also have mentioned it's HOT (107 as I rolled through Vegas Monday, and upper 80's to high 90's yesterday in AZ). And I hear that 191 in eastern AZ is epic, but have not ridden it myself yet. Have a safe trip, don't pass a gas station, and have a blast!

 

Yes, definitely up for the Sierra ride depending on dates. I've become lazy just looking for Brian to post a ride, not very fair to him, but I'll be there if the dates work.

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Here’s the route that’s looking like the best compromise:

Austin to Taos (w the ‘avoid highways’ box checked)

Taos to Flagstaff (also avoiding hwys)

Flagstaff to Big Pine

Big Pine to San Diego (maybe via Angeles Crest Highway or Lake Isabella/Kernville)

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Please pardon the black background - my lazy butt copied and pasted this from ‘over there’ (vfrw)

 

H3nry is an awesome dude - picked me up at the Austin airport yesterday, then we had BBQ for lunch (a BBQ meal is mandatory upon entering the state). Officially adopted his 5th gen, which he has dubbed Red Riding Wheels. Finished off with an afternoon of getting my Givi top case rack fitted to the motorcycle. I’m maintaining my forgetful practice of not taking ‘before’ photos. Mounting the rack wasn’t as easy as it should’ve been, for two reasons (1) the Wolf exhaust sits where the ECU normally goes, so the ECU had been relocated above the left passenger rearset, which is where the rack needs a support strut to live. We tried moving the ECU forward, but then (2) Henry had mounted the R/R on the outside of the left passenger peg (to give the R/R max cooling airflow). I can assure you that there wasn’t space for the R/R, the Givi rack strut, and the ECU  to all fit there  -  we tried about six different ways to zip tie/baling wire/chewing gum it together there - but no go. Henry had done a very tidy job of preserving a bit of storage space between the Wolf exhaust and the seat - he’d even fastened a small storage tray there and insulated it from heat and vibration with dense foam matting. This tray became the ECU’s new home, and all the bits lived happily ever after, or at least all the way to California, I hope

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I know the rules; photos or it didn't happen. So this trip didn't happen. If it had, the 200 miles leaving Austin heading northwest on country backroads was awesome, the 400 miles of west Texas after that would have been hot and flat, New Mexico would have been beautiful, and Arizona would have been impressive, with Flagstaff/Sedona/Jerome AZ the highlight leg of the journey.

 

Thanks to everyone who chimed in to help with routing.

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I did something similar when I bought my ST1300 in Utah many years ago, but that's a little shorter trip.  Still, I managed to ride through Death Valley on my way back to So.Cal...

 

P1000078x.thumb.JPG.5d77af9a5a2437db93630d81d987c8e4.JPG

 

(Now, at least, the thread has pics!)

 

Ciao,

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Mello and Dutchy, you guys are good at doing what my grandfather called "giving a guy the square needle". Cracks me up.

JZH, I'm with you: bringing a motorcycle home across engaging country is a most excellent adventure. Utah through Death Valley to California on your ST1300 sounds fascinating; Death Valley is definitely on my to-do list. 

 

I did scrounge a couple photos from Texas last week. Here's the 5th gen dubbed Red Riding Wheels by Henry [he's H3nry on vfrw]. Wolf exhaust, R/R replaced with Mosfet unit located on left passenger rearset, auxiliary fans on right radiator, voltmeter, 8112 miles on her. Michelin PP1 rear tire w 60-70% tread, Dunlop GPA front, 80% tread. Henry had worked the edges of the Dunlop pretty hard during a track day on his GSXR, but the middle of the tire that I'd be traveling on was fat. I had checked my Givi rack and top case onto my flight from San Diego to Austin.

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There was a monstrous biker rally in town, the 'ROT Rally' [Republic Of Texas] made up of about 80,000 mostly Harley riders. Henry was worried there would be too many people carrying helmets through the airport to be able to pick me out, but we ran into each other with no problems. The ROT riders on sport bikes were required to squeeze into shared parking spaces to save room for the Harleys:

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Running a few around-town errands on the VFR - mandatory Cycle Gear and Harbor Freight material and tool acquisition runs - I got my first taste of the VFR running on the hot side [Coolant 209-223F on the freeway, 228-233F in traffic with aux fans on]. I spoke with Henry about it. He said this was normal for this bike and as long as the temps were stable, it would be OK. This 2001 VFR with 8112 miles, no Power Commander, stock catted headers, and Wolf exhaust is noticeably stronger than my other 2001 with 50,000 miles, tuned PCIIIUSB, 98/99 headers and Staintune slipon.

 

Henry and I moved the ECU from under the left side of the rear cowl [It was there to make room for the Wolf Exhaust]. My Givi rack has a critical support arm that needed to go through the space occupied by the ECU. We put the ECU into a small storage tray Henry had engineered into the few cubic centimeters left under the seat by the Wolf installation, and wrapped it in a microfiber cloth to insulate it. Here it is after I removed the cloth because the cloth was blocking airflow and causing extra melting of plastic...way way beyond the expected, standard melting of plastic. I used 3M's gnarly grey doublestick tape to fasten a little plastic patch kit box under the ECU to allow airflow. I find the 3M doublestick tape as important to my kit as duct tape... it looks red in its package because the backing film you remove is red.

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I insist on extremely hot french fries and ECUs

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I was able to travel slab free all the way from Austin until somewhere a bit east of the Arizona/California border.

 

The country roads leaving Austin going through the hill country of Texas were rolling, sweeping, fun, mostly two lane country roads with a posted speed limit of 75mph  and no visible enforcement. Riding at a brisk pace, I got the feeling they put up the speed limit signs because they had to post something, but go on as fast as you want, we don't care.

 

West Texas was 400 miles of flat, a strange combination of not desert, not agricultural, not cattle country. It had some of each, but none of it concentrated enough to call a region. Towns felt like they were barely able to get enough people to live close enough to one another to merit a post office. 104-107F ambient and I was watching the VFR's coolant temps stay stable between 226-229F, noticeably higher than my other 5th gen and the 5th/6th gens of people I know. I suspected the thermostat not opening fully [The thermostat was sourced from an auto parts store and intended for a Mustang], and exchanged emails with Henry about it.

 

12 miles after entering New Mexico I was winding up a lush green valley on a fun river-following road, through Las Vegas New Mexico [Where they are a lot less likely to let what happens there stay there] up to Taos for the night. Day 1 763 miles

 

I was going to to loop north the next day through Durango and Wolf Creek Pass in Colorado, but that route had very large wildfires with possible road closures and almost certain smoky air. I again requested 'avoid highways' on my GPS and set out through New Mexico. Beautiful skies, wide open country, like riding through the scenery in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, or Electric Horseman. Day 2 486 miles

 

Overnighted in Flagstaff AZ, and rode the best route of the trip on just repaved, smooth as glass hwy 89A down a canyon to Sedona. Sedona is everything you hear about beautiful red rock formations, crystals, vortexes, and hippies. Across two valleys and switchbacks up to a quaint little tourist town, Jerome AZ, which is literally perched on the side of a steep mountain, like someone stapled it into place up there. GPS kept me on great backroads, angling southwest to eventually merge with the 10 freeway westbound. Ambient 111F, coolant temps 228-233F on the freeway at a groundspeed of 80-85mph.

 

I stopped off in Hemet CA to see member riprocop and yack about RC, aviation and VFRs. Backing the VFR out of riprocop's driveway, I heard a scraping noise. Investigation revealed a thin aluminum 'fender' was scraping the tire. I'm not sure whether I'm glad I looked at the tire then, only 59 miles from home, or wish I hadn't looked and seen this:

IMG_0334.thumb.JPG.67c677a0b963fc4b6b013ae40b3d7662.JPG

 

I thought at first the thin wimpy aluminum plate had dragged and worn through the tread, but I showed this photo to Henry and he said I spent too much time running too fast on extremely hot pavement - I burned up the tire. I had been lubing the chain every night, and checking pressures/inspecting tires every morning [The tire had NOT looked like this early that morning], but I hadn't carefully checked  the tires during the day, so hadn't noticed anything amiss . Why check the tires at every gas stop? I wasn't doing any serious turning and burning, just blasting straight ahead.

 

So I babied the abused Michelin home the last 59 miles, nice and easy, grateful to feel the lump in my wallet that I know is my AAA card, complete with its 100 miles of flatbed motorcycle transportation privileges. Day 3 494 miles

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Ooooooohhhhh - so you were yanking our chain. 😎  - You scored a most excellent 5th gen and looking good.  - Sounds like you had a great trip!   

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19 minutes ago, sfdownhill said:

 This 2001 VFR with 8112 miles, no Power Commander, stock catted headers, and Wolf exhaust is noticeably stronger than my other 2001 with 50,000 miles, tuned PCIIIUSB, 98/99 headers and Staintune slipon.

 

 

Question on your 50K mile 5th gen - is it a California model?

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59 minutes ago, mello dude said:

Question on your 50K mile 5th gen - is it a California model?

 

Yep, the 50k miler is a CA VFR. De-evapped, de-PAIRed, PIpercross air filter, PCIIIUSB, 98/99 headers, Staintune slipon, all tuned up to 99 snarling horsepower

 

 

36 minutes ago, Hammerdrill said:

Clearly , you were stunting and wheely-Ing the whole way. Sharp aluminum would never do such damage. 

 

I only wheelied here and there...maybe the front brake was dragging a little?

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2 hours ago, sfdownhill said:

 

12 miles after entering New Mexico I was winding up a lush green valley on a fun river-following road, through Las Vegas New Mexico [Where they are a lot less likely to let what happens there stay there] up to Taos for the night. Day 1 763 miles

 

I was going to to loop north the next day through Durango and Wolf Creek Pass in Colorado, but that route had very large wildfires with possible road closures and almost certain smoky air. I again requested 'avoid highways' on my GPS and set out through New Mexico. Beautiful skies, wide open country, like riding through the scenery in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, or Electric Horseman. Day 2 486 miles

 

 

Hey, you said only 400 miles/day! I would have recommended northern Montana as a route if I knew.  😎

 

Durango was smokey a week ago but all was fine once you got up and out of town:

 

 

IMG_3899.JPG

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2 minutes ago, St. Stephen said:

 

Hey, you said only 400 miles/day! I would have recommended northern Montana as a route if I knew.  😎

 

Durango was smokey a week ago but all was fine once you got up and out of town:

 

 

IMG_3899.JPG

 

Thanks for providing solid intel...you do fine recon. From New Mexico, 100+ miles south of Durango, I could see four or five giant columns of smoke billowing high into the atmosphere. The smoke was rising so hot and so fast that it condensed at 20,000-30,000 feet like thunderclouds.

 

I'll be back in CO the first week of July and am hoping the fires are out so I can follow in your footsteps.

 

**Completely off topic, but I'm watching MotoGP qualifying and did anyone SEE HOW FAR Marquez slid on his knee and how many twists of the bars it took him to get the front tire back under him????!!!! UNbelieveable

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And yes to Montana, St. Stephen! It's definitely on the menu. When do you want to go?

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1 hour ago, sfdownhill said:

 

Yep, the 50k miler is a CA VFR. De-evapped, de-PAIRed, PIpercross air filter, PCIIIUSB, 98/99 headers, Staintune slipon, all tuned up to 99 snarling horsepower

 

2 cent tidbit, for some reason, my 5th gen is also a CA model, and I didnt realize it until 4 weeks after purchase.(You wouldnt think a CA model would be in Ohio!) Anyhoo, I thought there was no difference until I rode marriedmans 49 state bike, and holy shit, 7k to top is much stronger. So the intel on that is .. we find out via VFRcapt is that the 49 state cams have a 1 mm taller lobe lift. So I have been cursed at some point to grab 49 state cams and add to mine, although my free time is scarce... I'm in the "just ride it" mode for now. (I did pick up a 49 state ECU.)

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1 hour ago, sfdownhill said:

I'll be back in CO the first week of July and am hoping the fires are out so I can follow in your footsteps.

 

**Completely off topic, but I'm watching MotoGP qualifying and did anyone SEE HOW FAR Marquez slid on his knee and how many twists of the bars it took him to get the front tire back under him????!!!! UNbelieveable

 

Geez yes, the end of FP4! How long can that front tire point in the wrong direction? At 70 degrees lean? The entire corner apparently.  In five or 10 years all riders will have "pucks" on their legs from hip to ankle! And elbows of course.

 

FYI, except for a nice ride south from Montrose the next day I did not run 550, because of the fires. One lane for quite a while heading north out of Durango, so I did 160E to 149N (epic) to 50W. Yes, I'm up for a Montana ride, never been there except for a car ride on the interstate.

 

Did you hit this gas station? 

 

IMG_3946.JPG

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Hahaha, I've been there! 

 

Been looking on the map for it for about 10 years now, as I thought it was on 395, but now that I see the route it is all coming back to me.

 

Lance, nice purchase and nice long ride!

 

Just got back form two track weekends, renting an Africa Twin, and did Reno to Gold Lake off road with the wife on the back. Then went to Tahoe to round out the week.

 

Looking forward to another ride with the Bay Area VFR guys......last one Jeff and I were on our own..........

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