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HispanicSlammer

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Blog Entries posted by HispanicSlammer

  1. HispanicSlammer
    Veefalo at Grand Tetons
    I have been planning to do this ride for as long as it has been posted in the major events forum. I had to work though till the last minute, a 12 hour shift 7pm to 7am. I got home and put my stuff away, and laid my head down on the bed for an hour and a half and woke up a little refreshed, enough to ride. I put on my leathers and headed toward Denver. Up hwy 105 at Monument and into Golden I rode my way over to Golden Gate Canyon. Dissapointed that the traffic was so thick I could not really get to the point where I could lean the bike over a bit in the twisties. As soon as I passed one car sombody would pull out and take its place. Geez it was like this all day. On the peak to peak highway I was even less successful, the traffic was murder. I pulled out ran down Left Hand Canyon - and ran into about 200 bicylist cranking petals up the 7% grade, steeper in some places. It took me a good 20 minutes to get to the road at the end I am sure its a good 2 hour ride and a great work out if your a cyclist. I had to negotiate around a few going down too in the twisties.
    At this point I was starting to feel tired so I just rode it at a slow easy pace. On the front range roads I made my way to Stove Prarie road and started to hit some of those sweet curves at the base of the road. As soon as I got the good stuff though more slow cars, oh well I waited and passed as soon as it was safe. Then I turned on the Cache La Poudre and made my way up Cameron Pass. At this point I was dead tired and was passing the slow cars one by one. Miles and miles of cars on this road, weekends on the Cache La Poudre - it gets strangled up with cars.
    I remembered a sneeky turn from years ago that caught me out and I went wide on, it has some long straits then easy sweepers at first then whammo a tight right and your all of a sudden going wide. I remembered where it was and took it easy. I am glad I did cause there were pot holes right at the apex that could really mess you up if you are leaned over.
    I was so tired at this point even a Harley Davidson was outrunning me on the way down the pass. I just stopped and pulled over to take pictures

    Cameron Pass on the way to Waldon Colorado

    Cameron Pass
    I could not find a place to stay at first cause the place I stopped in was full of HD riders comming back from Sturgis, so the lady at the motel told me to go down the road to another place and lucky they had a room. It was cheap too $55 at the round up motel. Its a bit of a dump but the price was right. Cheap on the motel so I walked over to the Antlers Inn and splurged on the Prime Rib, man it was good. Nice place too.

    Full Size
    In the morning I walked over to the Moose Creek Cafe and had breakfast at 6am cause I went to sleep at 6pm the night before, I must have slept 10 hours. Wow one waitress handled 20 people and did it well, I made sure to give her a good tip cause she was excellent. I was surprised to see a bunch of pellets stuck to my bike, then I remembered near Fort Collins I ran through a road that had oiled down the dirt for a few hundred feet, geez a little strech of road and it left pellets all over. SO I tried to wash it off but no quarters for the car wash and no change machine? OK well then on the road then. More to come later
    Ballons in Waldon 7am - 45 degrees out - still cool air perfect balloon weather

    Sheep Mountain Waldon Colorad
  2. HispanicSlammer
    Is that a vfr1200? why yes it is!
    I have been riding by the Black Canyon all summer - right on past it along hwy 50 going to other places, Utah for instance. I could see it from across the canyon winding along the mesa side in all its glory. I just had to get over there and ride it on the veefalo just once this summer its my favorite road of all time - hwy 92 Black Canyon Of The Gunnison. I got up early, my sister was in town with her family and their scout troops up from Santa Fe. They were headed over to Rocky Mountain National Park for a small two night Back Packing Trip. They were camped out in the back yard with 6 kids and 3 adults. She asked me if I wanted to come along - I honestly thought why not but all I have are inappropriate shoes since I tossed my hiking boots cause they were so damned uncomfortable. So I put on my leathers hugged my niece and nephew goodbye and said I would see them in a week when they come back from up north.
    I started up the bike and took off for a day ride up to the Black Canyon. I rolled down hwy 115 and over to Canon City (hate riding through that town) and of course as always I was stopped by all 8 stop lights as usual. I gassed up at the Shell Station and talked to a couple of HD riders gassing up across the median. People were very friendly the whole trip. Then off I went west on hwy 50 over to Poncha Springs. I was sort of winging it - the pass at Monarch had some really dark clouds over it so I said well why not head south to Sagauch then take hwy 9 into Cotchetopa Canyon? Sure why not, so I headed up Poncha Pass and sped up the hwy 285 to the top, passing folks with ease since it was 2 lanes, then once a the top I settled into a nice cruising pace into the San Luis Valley, great views of the Sangre De Christo Range on the left dotting the land scape as far as I could see. Then crossing the little town of Villa Grove I was on the lookout for the inevitable State Trooper, sure enough there he was 2 minutes south of town. I used to take that route on the way to college - 12 times a year it seemed and always there was a state trooper there. My radar detector caught him before I did, good job ole boy! I passed him at the speed limit on the DOT!
    Another half an hour and I was in Sagautch, a nice little village you can miss if you blink - I stopped at the gas station 132 miles since my last fill up and got a drink and popped a couple of Tylenol. I did everything except fill up the gas tank! Oops dumb ass! I talked to a couple of folks while stopped the new bike seems to be a real conversation piece! 3 guys with dreadlocks as hanging down to their knees - must have been in a band or something? Reggae is alive and well in Colorado don't think twice about it. I took off and forgot to secure my helmet strap and had to stop, after just having passed a pickup truck. I was seeing allot of cars and trucks on this road. Last time I rode into Cotchetopa Canyon I was the only vehicle for at least a full half an hour, I was passing by a car truck or RV every minute or so! Early August the height of the vacation season in Colorado!
    Cotechetopa Canyon was great, It always scares me a bit cause I was leading a group of riders on it a few years back and there was a bad accident and a few riders got hurt pretty bad on the way to the ST.N meet in Montrose. So I don't play around on it and give it the respect its due, that and the darned oncoming traffic freaks me out more than it used to. I guess getting run off the road by a blue van does that to you. I am paranoid about people coming into my lane now! I took my new contour HD camera out and slapped the vacuum mount to the rear fender and tried it out.

    http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/videos/491/cotchetopa.mp4
    Its a short video shot in HD and detuned for less resolution if you turn hd off - 4 minutes or so of just the wind and motor. I don't like the mount it shakes too much. I was noticing about half way into the canyon I was flashing on my gas tank. Already at 150 miles I was getting a warning. So I slowed it down and conserved fuel till I could make it the 18 miles to Gunnison. When I got there it took a full 4 gallons so I had another half gallon left at 168 miles. 42 mpg - Tank range is probably around 190 miles on fumes give or take 5 miles. I think I average 40 mpg though.

    Three guys from Indiana On their way to Creede, then Durango and the Million Dollar Highway
    I met these guys at the gas station in Gunnison and talked a little while they had Indiana Plates and were traveling together two cruisers and an Triumph ST. I was not liking the dark clouds over the mesa tops, I had avoided rain so far on this trip and hoped I would make the Black Canyon before it started. NO WAY mother nature said, and as soon as I turned off on hwy 92 I got my first rain drop and thought 'you bitch'! What is it with the Black Canyon and afternoon rain? I was able to do about a 3rd of it before it really started pouring, I turned on the camera again and let it go the whole way. It started to come down heavy about 3/4 into it. The bike handles OK in the rain but I don't like these Dunlops too much not much feedback so I took it easy for the most part.

    http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/videos/491/blackcanyon-rain.mp4
    I stopped in Crawford and had lunch at the Boardwalk, a big plate of smothered burrito that was scrumptious. It was huge though and I could not eat it all. There were more bikes there, a group of ST riders on cruisers, 2 goldwings and a Beemer ST bike with Missouri plates. Most of the guys were from Denver and all sporting gray hair except the cruiser rider. The red GS was really nice some of those Goldwings are really nice. The other one was a typical chromed out job, not so interesting to me too much crap on it, even a metal grate on the back with a cooler strapped to it? Too much crap it seems, some GS owners get carried away with accessories.
    I ate up and took off hoping to get over McClure pass while the rain let up. NOPE it was a wall of water to the north and back south, West looked no better and east was all mountains. I was getting tired too, odd hours at work I was up at 3 am the night before and playing on vfrd. So I stopped in Hotchkiss when I started raining again and asked for a good place to stay. Hotchkiss motel they girl said at the Ace Hardware store. Apparently my HD contour camera is NOT water resistant and water leaked in past the glass. I bought a jewelers screwdriver to take it off and dry it out. Then tightened up on the gasket to make it seal better.
    I spent the night in Hotchkiss - nothing on me but a camera and my leathers and a cell phone. The Slovak fella at the front desk seemed a bit bothered - "just sign it" he says as I was attempting to fill out all the spaces. Some Slovak European TV show blaring on the TV and he was talking to his son? I am guessing he was from Bosnia? I don't know somewhere in Eastern Europe. Gypsy
    The room was clean and a bit sparse but I did not care pulled off my gear and I was asleep in a matter of minutes 4pm in the afternoon, I would not wake up till midnight! Hungry but the whole town was shut down, save the bar. It was a mile from the motel and I did not want to drink and ride so I rode back to the city market I passed, all I had was 10 dollar bills so no soda pop from the machines either. Back to room I had ice water and went back to sleep 2 hours more then up again at 3am. Darned graveyard shift ruined my sleep habits. I watched infomercials and stupid old TV shows from the 70's till I finally fell back asleep. 8am and well rested finally I walked across the street to the "home town cafe" the waitress was really nice, I guess the sign in the middle of town was true "Hotchkiss the nicest people" ! I am betting so all except that grumpy Euro dude in his wife beater back at the motel, even he was OK! people in this town are mostly farmers and outdoors-men. Staunch Republicans too, I read a couple of local papers and well its very much leaning to right. I tend to do that myself now that I am older. Its a conservative town but they drink here, remember the bar was the only thing open at midnight, and well the church is not the biggest building in town so I think its got its share of hootin and hollerin - this is the wild west ya know! "The nicest people" the sign said!
    My plate of bacon and french toast was wonderful it was scarfed down much too fast, that burrito held me over pretty good the night before but boy I was hungry. I dropped off my key and headed back to the Black Canyon hoping it was dry this time!

    Crawford CO 9am in the morning

    Fog Over The Black Canyon a bit cold too

    Fog rolls up hill Up the Black Canyon

    The road disappears around the bend
    Nope it wasn't dry not in the shade and it was freaking cold, 60 wet degrees out and misty out, fog was rolling in from inside the valley and up and over the mesa sides. I was pretty, there were rodents all over the roads too, little critters everywhere sunning themselves cause it was wet and cold and the road was the warmest place. I hoped I would not run anything over. I saw a few who did not run in time and the crows were having at them. So again going slow I cant ride for shit when I am cold either. Wet and cold its twice as slow. So I just stopped allot and took pictures!

    A memorial on the side of the road the Gunnison River below reminding me its not a road to take lightly


    Hwy 92 from across the canyon

    Black Canyon Hwy 92 road is wet from the all night rains

    Green Pastures across the canyon The scenery is incredible here
    I was rounding the big turn about 3/4 of the way into the deepest canyon section and spied something red, sure enough it was another vfr1200! I did a quick U turn and introduced myself to the 4 guys stopped at the overlook. They were all from Midland Texas, 3 brothers and 1 friend on his VFR1200. I talked with them for a good 20 minutes - warned them about the critters and the buckled up road ahead, then shared routes. They were heading up to Independence pass and over McClure on the way, good ride they had in store for their day. Me I was on my way to Creede and back home via hwy 160. The guy with the VFR is a member here but for the life of me I cannot remember his name! I stopped and took a picture with him and the two bikes.

    another vfr1200 dressed up for touring from Midland Texas

    Another vfr1200 with side bags

    Two vfr1200 owners I am awful at remembering names - he says hes a member of vfrd
    It was tuning out to be a great 2 day ride, but coming up on 9am the clouds were already forming up for another hit on the mountains so I scooted off up to hwy 50 and then turned off to Lake City. I stopped there for lunch at the Country Vittles around noon. The young fellow running the place came over and talked to me about the bike, a Texas transplant the whole family works at the restaurant, he rides a Buel which he paid too much for - missed out on the going out of business prices he paid 10k for his. He was giving me warnings about "Slum" the pass just south of town, its got gravel in the turns from all the RVs who cant stay on the pavement in the tight turns. So I ate my Cajun combo grilled cheese sandwich and cup of Gumbo and REAL CANE SUGAR DR PEPPER from the DR Pepper Plant in Dublin Texas. Thats why I stop there!

    Slumgullion Slide and the veefalo

    Red Mountain

    Bristol Head

    Creede Colorado
    The road into Creede was very bumpy all they way down the pass, then it smoothed out a little and it was wet too of course but that did not stop me from riding pass all the RV's and Pickup trucks with campers on them. I rode into Creede about 2pm and there wasn't a place to park, its was packed! Every restaurant was full and so I did not bother and headed for Del Norte to fill up - even then I did not stop, I rode instead into Monte Vista cause Del Norte was packed with traffic too.
    Monte Vista is at the end of the Gun Barrel and strait road that crosses the San Luis Valley north to south strait as a gun barrel! I had forgotten how congested hwy 160 gets and learned soon. A train had crossed the road then stopped right at the side of the road for a good 10 minutes which did not allow for the crossing to stop alarming, the arms were still down holding up traffic. Some cars crossed anyway but me I figured I am in no hurry and waited. Finally the stupid train pulled ahead and the crossing cleared, there was traffic piled up for a mile on both sides! It was bumper to bumper all the way into Alamosa from there, and it took another 20 minutes to get through Alamosa. It seems the town has sprawled out a good 5 miles on either side since I last went through, new restaurants, new wall mart and new everything the place is booming!
    Once out of town I was picking off cars and trucks one at a time then I had La Veta pass all to myself. Its easy sweepers really easy sweepers, you have to go 120 mph to really lean it over, I cruised it at 90 and just enjoyed the mountains. Gassing up again in Walsenburg the way home would have to be interstate 25 from there cause the wet mountains looked..well WET! I had enough of riding twisties in the rain so I just slabbed it home from there. Thats when all hell broke loose 10 miles from home a squall with 50 mph gusts and rain drops as big as grapes hit me just south of town. Oh well at least my gear was now clean from all the bugs!
    Darned good two days of riding!

    Full Size
  3. HispanicSlammer
    Veefalo on hwy 9
    I needed a much deserved ride Monday, and solo so no deciding, or waiting, or compromising just how I wanted to ride. I wanted to just go and go and go all day. So I got up, put on my leathers and headed for this secret road my friend Sfarson took the fast group on during the summer summit. I suppose its no longer a secret but in fact a part of the vfrd lore now that its been an official "summer summit route" but I don't care its a Colorado Paved road I haven't ridden yet so I needed to remedy that.
    I set the radar detector to highway and turned up the volume, added some new mp3 tracks of Sarah McLachlan newest album and turned it down for background music. I love the zumo its so nice to have a listen to music while you track your routes. I got about have way through the album after the first hour and thought well shes put out better music before this! Well it also took a good hour to get past all the usual hwy 24 traffic too, my route would take me up Hoosier Pass, into Breckenridge - past Dillion where the summer summit was and over to Kremmling. I would gas up there a second time since my first fill up along Ute Pass. I was trying a couple of new things this ride, new bike, new HD contour camera, new soft daily contacts, and newly fixed seat!

    Fix for my sore butt scoop out a bucket
    I haven't been too happy with the seat as of late since its pinching off blood flow to my legs and I am getting sore after 100 miles now, so I took a sander to it and scooped out some foam to make a more bucket like shape out of it, then stapled the vinyl seat cover back on. This was the test run to see if I can hack it all the way to Oregon next month, it don't look so pretty anymore but I am happy to say it feels better.

    Pikes Peak from the gas station on Ute Pass
    I gassed up like I mentioned at the Kum and Go station in Kremmling and there were all kinds of bikes out, mostly HD cruisers but a few Beemers too the Veefalo turned a few heads, you can tell who the motorcyclists are! They do double takes when they see it. My recently installed headlight modulator might contribute to that as well. My contact fell out so I stopped into a restaurant called the Moose Lodge to get it back in and felt like I needed to sit down and patronize the place for using their bathroom. I ordered the cheapest thing on the menu since well I am pretty much broke at the moment with only $30 bucks in my pocket, so the special said Grilled cheese - Tortilla soup - Desert $5! Yea that sounds about right! The whole thing was cheap and good very good, cant go wrong with grilled cheese! The soup was good too, and the apple pie hit the spot. Two sisters worked the place like a well oiled machine, one would pick up where the other left off and they teamed up on the lunch crowd like a couple of seasoned pros. It was definitely a local hangout and well that suits me since I cant stand yuppie tourist traps! Good price, good food, great service and well what more could you ask for? Pretty too they were both very pretty!
    So I strapped my new HD camera too my helmet and rode up Gore Pass a couple of times, up and down and of course first time I had the camera pointed too low. So I wont add that to the video stock, this thing makes quick time HD mov files, so I had to figure out how to edit those, so I used the Sony Vegas software I bought a few months back and it worked great. I have to figure out how to upload them here but in the mean time - above is the best one of the day hosted by vimeo. No its not the secret road ~ It was shot late in the day about 3/4 of the way home of my 500 mile ride, I like it best cause it was great hardly any traffic at all and the cars I did have to pass were all lined up in the passing zones with no oncoming traffic it was so nice! I got lucky on that run.

    http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/videos/491/bearcreek.mp4
    Back to the story, I found this road 21mile road its called at Oak Creek Colorado and it heads north west from there up and over a mountain in a nice tight windy road up and down a few mountains, I can see why Steve was reluctant to share it, its sweet! Then it head into more open rolling hills where its like a race track, long straits and sharp to tight sweepers, you can definitely get in trouble speeding on that thing! It took a good half and hour to do it since I stopped to film some of it, and messed that up too. Had it on but did not set it to record properly, This thing needs some getting used too.
    I soon was on hwy 40 and in Steamboat Springs, the furthest away from home I would get on this ride, and pace up Rabbit Ears Pass at 80mph cruising speeds, the veefalo she likes sweepers but these are bit too easy to really be fun with all the traffic, coming down off the pass I chased a sporty Audi 2 seater and the driver made like he wanted to go! So I followed him, hes radar detector kept setting mine off so I was a bit paranoid at first about the radar blips, so I turned it down for the duration. Darned cheap RDetectors set mine off! Anyway he held me off for a good 5 miles and I had fun, till he got behind a row of cars and so I passed the whole bunch at a clip, he did not follow. Back in Kremmling I headed again down hwy 9 to Dillion, where I rode past this l lake I have seen a good number of times, Green mountain reservoir. Its very pretty and I have always thought I should stop and take a picture so I did!

    Green Mountain Reservoir

    Green Mountain Reservoir panoramic
    I did not stop much this trip for pictures, these are about it for pics, but I took all sorts of video. I did one going up and over Loveland pass I will upload next, vimeo only allows one hd upload a week for my account unless I upgrade, that will be next. I ended up catching a pickup truck on the way up and most of the way down the driver was going rather quick, too quick for me to make a safe pass on the top curves, not enough room or long enough sight line for me to attempt it. After watching him go completely over to the oncoming lane passing him would be on the top of my list, no talent driver - doing stupid stuff crossing the double yellow cause he was over cooking the turns not too skilled!
    I did get past him though! HEH

    http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/videos/491/lovelandpass.mp4
    500 miles and some good turns along the way - here is the map

    Full Size
  4. HispanicSlammer
    Spent Last Night working on the bike
    So Baileyrock was kind enough to remove the Ohlins Shock off the Old Girl and send it to me a few weeks back, I had hopes that it would fit since it seemed it mounted the same as the older 5th and 6th Gen bikes. The only concern was clearance and if it needed to be modded for length? To my surprise the OEM shock is the same free length and size as the 5th Gen Ohlins I had on the old girl. It was a simple bolt up job! I only had to remove the slip on to get to the linkage. Boy they beefed up the linkage triangles for the 1200 thats for sure its almost 40% thicker! Thanks BR for doing all that tear down work on the old girl.

    The Ohlins off the Old Girl YES its the same size!!

    Ohlins Install Where to put the remote reservoir?

    This is the only place I could find to mount the reservoir - the hose was a bit long too
    Now for the Farkles, I have always been a fan of heated grips but I did not want to used my Hot Grips controller on this bike - seemed too big and clunky to use (I will offer it free btw in the pay it forward section if anybody wants it). So I found of all things a cruiser website that had a one button 4 position led controller that mounts to the handle bar by replaceing the main clamp. It required me to drill the bar though to thread the wires into there but I found I was into a solid section of the bar where the hollow end is pressed on. so I drilled 3 shallow holes and then made a sort of wire trench with the dremel and fished the wires in there. I put the bars on the clamp and tried to see if it was weakend by the drilling - nope solid still no issues since it was a small hole into solid aluminum.

    Heated Grip controller 4 heat settings marked with an led display on the right handlebar

    Symtec Heat Deamon - Heated grips and controller
    I like the clean look of the new controller and the one button touch on the fly, the led can be turned down too for night time riding so it does not blast you by holding the button longer.
    I have always liked the brake light modulators I had before so I bought a new signal dynamics XP back off brake light modulator. Also I wanted to be seen better in the day (after being ran off the road in my own damn lane!) I thought I would geek it up and get a signal dynamics diamond Headlight modulator too. both purchased at motorycycle superstore.

    Installing Signal Dynamics Headlight Modulator I want to be seen - no more hillbillys not noticing me in my own lane!

    Ran out of wire taps doing it the old fashioned way - good thing is all the wires are in one place on the left side under the fairing
    I found a nice little autcom mount piece for the loose connector that I previously let hang off the seat from the old girl, this secures it better and can be removed from the holder

    Autocom connector secured with a plastic holder now
    I did not take pictures of the brake light install I was well into it before I decided to post this up. I had already installed a signal dynamics led voltmeter too that I did not post either. used the same wires as the headlight tied into the horn. The headlight mod can be controlled by the horn too.
    Source: Veefalo Mods
  5. HispanicSlammer
    Me and the Veefalo ready for the Million Dollar Highway
    So My Buddy Scott from work, better known as LDSRIDER here on the forum, says he is taking vacation to go visit family in Arizona. He really really wanted to ride his C14 down there instead of the usual minivan thing. So he tried is best to convice the wife that its safe to ride alone - but shes not buying it and so he enlists me to ride with him, if just for part of the way. So I agree! I ride a part of the way to Utah and Back. Mexican Hat is our destination. So we get new tires on the Connie - Angel ST Pirrellies that he read about on the COG forum. The COG guys are saying it the best ST tire since well who knows they are always saying that. I read a review about an all day Lemans race where they averaged 130mph for 24hrs on these things! wow thats some serious tire life and good grip too boot? First thing I notice is BOY the Connie has some heafty wheels! We spooned off the Pilot Road 2's and wow the Angels are heavy too. Serious sidewalls! OK heis all set to ride and so am I. I spend the night farkling up my com system and Radar detector since its 4th of July weekend and I am sure the State Pat Trolls are out in force!

    LDSRIDER on his Connie 14 this is his first time on the Million Dollar Highway
    LDS says hes never been on the Million Dollar Highway so guess what thats where I took him. It was a Ho hum ride over to Montrose, it was hot and there where lots of bugs, a good breakfast in Texas Creek settled my stomach and Monarch Pass was good this time around. Finally no more delays! Seems theres always somthing going on on Monarch pass! The pavement was good on the way down but tar snakes on the way up heading west.
    The scenery started to get really awsome right around Ridgeway and the canyons closed in around us. I notice my riding buddy is slowing down a bit, soaking it in or maybe just a bit freaked at the situation, no gaurd rails, tight road and 500 feet strait down? The Million Dollar Highway is no place to play around unless your an idiot, so I take it easy.

    Ouray Colorado
    This trip I am out on a hunt for a new logo picture for the website, trying to recapture the magic of the famous vtec on Molas pass pic, I can never quite top that one. However I tried.

    Molas Pass You old timer members might recognize that shot
    I am gassing up every 150 miles even if I dont need it, the ride past Silverton gets a bit more bumpy so I wait more for Scott. It is a bit busier too so there is no point in carving up too much cause you end up just waiting behind another set of cars and RV's. Durango is our next gas stop and Scott calls to make sure they havent given away our rooms, 170 more miles to go. I switched bikes to see what the C14 was all about, its rather quiet too with that 4 foot bazooka on the side. The big I-4 is revy especially at take off, I feel like I am over reving it to let out the clutch. I am surprised the riding postion feels upright just like my Piggy back home - a dirt bike like riding position its easy to get used too. The seats more plush then the viffer, however the gauges are more - well just more stuff going on there. I could not concentrate on it, so I ignored it. She rolls under you when turning like riding a barrel. I felt like that once before riding an ST1100 5 years ago on a test ride. I think its rather raked out too cause it soaks up bumps like its raked out. Lots of power but surprisingly I felt the VFR was more powerful! I got used to it really quick its an easy bike to ride!

    Trying to recreate a new version of the old logo same place different bike
    Then we switched again and were soon in Cortez and Scott figured out why I did not want to stay overnight there, small and touristy, mostly fast food and bland! No charactor for a SW four corners town. We press on into indian land - I take a short cut over to Aneth and its bumpy as hell! I am slowing down where I cant see the next turn cause the road was very bumpy with a frost heave like depressions on the bottom of each hill, gravel in turns too. I end up following a woman indian driver who knows the road very well. Shes flying for the conditions 70mph in some places and gassing it in and out of the turns. I decided to follow close since she knew every turn and bump, I watched for her brakes light and sure enough a hidden bump was there, or a gravel strewn blind turn, she knew it well. I got a bit concerned when she tried to drop me though by crossing into the oncomming lane in places so I backed off not wanting to force an accident - I was just having fun not racing, I did not want to pass I wanted to follow cause well she knew the road!

    Utah Desert Indian Country near Aneth

    Comming up on Bluff Utah

    The Mexican Hat
    In Mexican Hat Scott and I had a nice steak dinner on the swinging grill and enjoyed the evening in the Utah desert, Scott said he was going to take off early around 5am and so I said farewell, and I slept in. The beds there at the Mexican Hat lodge are very comfy. I always sleep well. Especially after a couple of Wasatch Brewery Polygamy Porters - only availible in UTAH.
    The ride back I took a route to Telluride, its a rolling sweeper road all the way past Rico and so its fast, I averaged 70-80mph mostly and I watched row upon row of car and RV heading home the other way, It was like this for miles all going the other way - me I had my lane almost to myself, passing easily the stragglers in 6th gear since the vfr has so much torque to pass in 6th gear. I dont have to shift down anymore to do that!
    I was getting hungary after a gas stop in Cortez - there was a Dennys right next to the gas station that looked like an old 50's Diner, it was all decked out in stainless steel, but the place was packed with a 15 mintue waiting line so I pressed on. I rode on over to Dolores 15 miles away to see what they had there. Lunch was a treat in I ate at the Ponderosa inn, a small wood paneled homey place with ceramic plates covering the wall as decorations - reminded me of Grandma and her plates hanging on the walls. The Hostes looked like she was in her 70's - here hair was colored flaming red and she wore a peach colored sport suit, and her penciled in eyebrows sort of followed around to the side of her head, I though it looked kind of wierd. I dont think she liked motorcyclist comming in her place but she was a good hostess, she put her initial reaction aside and decided to treat me like all her customers after I sat down and took off all my stuff. The whole mad max leather thing might be a bit scary for a woman of her age? I dont know? At first I was the only one there but when I left I the place was packed, a bunch of bikers stopped in, then a whole family of locals, and then more locals soon it was packed! I guess that shiny beautiful VFR parked outside drew in a few people? Ha I dont know I would like to think so! The Burger was great and the Onion rings were scrump-dilly-umptious.
    The ride was pretty uneventful from there on, the roads near Telluride are in poor condition so I did not ride too fast, passing a couple of ST bikes pulling trailers, they were old bikes I had to pass them twice since I had so many bugs on my visor I just had to stop and clean them. My ass was killing me too, the Stock seat is good for about 300 miles then its a bit hard after that. I might scoop out a bit of foam and make it more bucket like as a future modification, the vynyl is just stapled on and glued in. Hit it with a sander and shape it better maybe soon?
    I did not stop since there was so much traffic north of Telluride I did not want to have to keep passing the same people over and over again. Dallas Divide was spectacular - blue skies and fast sweepers going down to Ridgway CO. It was a nice ride. Monarch pass was sweet too, I love riding up the west side its really really fun if you have clear road. Its 2 lanes so you can pass slower vehicles but they sometimes think they own both lanes so you have to watch out in the corners! I was passing cars like flies. I almost made it clear the way to the top with open road but half way down I caught the steam train. Cars lined up as far as you could see behind semis and Rv's I was in for a slow one down. So I did not want to continue on like that into Salida so I stopped off for some Mexican food in Poncha Springs, cant remember the name "the sunflower" but in spanish I think? Good food and cheap.
    It was getting late and the sun was waning and I remember that the Arkansas river canyon gets critters in the evenings crossing the road so I slowed down, I remember my buddy Craig 7 years ago waxing a young deer at this very time of day and going down on the pavement next to the river. Jumped out from the bushes right into him.
    It was a good couple days ride.
     
    Google Maps
     
     

    Valley Of the Gods

    OH OH .. that would make a nice logo!

    Now we got it! Logo pic for sure - stich in a few more pan shots and ..

    I had to take the new bike up Skyline Drive Canon City

    all stiched up
  6. HispanicSlammer
    I got a pm from Reddog congratulating me about the new bike, and then it turned into a question of just when the hell would be out riding again. Usually Bill and I go out for a day long fathers day ride to the Black Canyon, my favorite road of all time. We usually drag a couple of noobs with us - noobs to the road not to motorcycling so they can see how fantastic it is. At the end you find a new rider - tires freshly scrubbed edge to edge and hand shaking from the all out adrenaline of riding along a 1000 foot deep canyon, jaw dropping scenery, and turns so sweet you can only imagine - (southern boys its allot like the Cherehola, shorter, but the scenery is better). So I invited Sfarson who I knew had ridden it before. He wanted to bring along his regular riding buddy Chorner - I have ridden with him too a few years ago on a couple of rides. I was saying yea bring Chris along, so the conversation shifted from the Black Canyon to the Creede Run, another ride I do annually/semi-annually/hardly at all! So I was like yea sure lets do that instead. So a week goes by - I invite a few more guys, Chris his father gets sick all of a sudden and is not sure he can get away for a 10 hour ride so we switch it up again to a Squaw Pass ride. Final count 8 guys invited but only 3 of us go!
    So I meet up with Reddog in Woodland Park and he is flabbergasted that the bike is not 12 foot tall and a football field long, its actually smaller looking than his VTEC! We eat breakfast and catch up on news a bit. Then off we go to meet Sfarson in Pine Junction at 10am.

    Meet-up in Woodland Park Reddog waiting for me
    Reddog says he hasn't been on a group ride since the Kansas meet, so hes rusty and has only been doing solo rides and 2-up with is lovely wife Analise. The day before in fact he was out riding and Gambling in Central City with her 2 up he said. So hes had more saddle time in the twisties than I on the Veefalo. So he taking it easy on me in the twisties near Deckers and going easy in the tighter ones just north of there, all the way to Horsepower Hill. Thats where I let loose, Bill he just lets me go cause it seems the Veefalo she like these fast sweepers. I am soon going 100+ up the 3 laner - deep sweeping fast turns - 2 lanes you can take up and then fast sweepers at the top, and on down the other side of the mountain. Into the bowl and all out on the long strait of the next mountain. I waited for Reddog on the strait. I was going as fast if not faster on HP hill then ever before and it seemed like I was holding back. Veef she was liking it allot, I mean allot!
    Shes a sweeper hound, not so much the tight stuff - she holds her own but the sweepers are her playground. Then down into Buffalo Creek and Pine, I took off a bit on the tighter turns going up the climb from Pine to Pine junction, a couple thousand foot ascent up the mountain there. I had to pass allot of cars doing it cause they are building new houses in a new development, so much more traffic up it than before. I was thinking more tinder for the tinderbox that is Pine! That place goes up every other summer! Maybe they should have put that in the Brochure! Its a fire place guys get fire insurance!
    I pull into the grocer at Pine Junction at hwy 285 and there is sitting a Mint absolutely mint red 5th gen with 16k on the Odo and sitting in a plastic chair in the shade is 6 foot 2 Steve Farson waiting for us. I mean I haven't seen a 5th gen that nice since I painted the old girl! It was nice, and he looked huge sitting on that thing. Steve says "yes I don't need to go out and buy an exotic 20k Italian bike to get thrills - for 4k I bought this thing and I reach for the keys of the vfr as much if not more than my more expensive bikes. It sounds great handles great and its just a great find" Then he says "When I am riding it I become ONE WITH THE BIKE" . I thought I should relay that story cause every time I met Sfarson for a ride he would be on a brand new exotic Duc, or BMW, or Supermoto, or some such other new fangled bike. Then he would say to me "still riding that vfr eh? how many miles now"? Now he knows first hand why!

    The crossroads at Squaw Pass Road cross roads co 145 and squaw pass road
    Steve Takes the lead and heads strait for North Turkey Creek - a tight little road that heads toward Denver, its gotten a but busy in the last few years so you end up picking your nose as the cages strangle up the twisty parts, so we are hoping the turn onto high drive will be better? We see the turn hit the signal and the cage in front of us goes strait but then a sedan and UPS truck pull right just as we start to make the turn - DAMN IT! 3 turns later we are past them and off onto some nice high mountain access roads, 180 degree switchbacks, tight uphill turns, undulating road and driveways everywhere so we take it easy on there, then down the mountain to Little Cub Creek road to Evergreen. It was an easy pace but fun - the turns are marked 10 and 15mph we were doubling and tripling that but still not insane at all. Fun it was fun.
    Then the high traffic again into Evergreen and over to Squaw Pass, there are about 4 cars in front of us on Squaw pass - all locals who are turning off soon except one idiot in an SUV who took the most lazy pass around a slower cager I had ever seen. He took like what seemed 5 minutes to pass this guy - plenty of room and space to do it. But no he takes his lazy sweet time till another car was coming head on - still not moving over till he is about to get hit - he finally jerks the wheel over hard and back into the lane! Idiot, I am glad Steve decided not to follow him passing the cage. As soon as we could we got around that jerk! It would not be the first time on this ride we encountered idiots.
    The Squaw pass was bumpy as usual, some of you might know it from the Summer Summit it was the Mount Evans loop. This winter did a number on it again and even buckled up the newly paved section from last summer. If ever a road was in need of a complete repave this one is it! Even chip seal would be an improvement!

    Reddog Parry Peak and James Peak loom in the background 16 miles away

    Three Generations Sfarsons 5th gen - the Veefalo - Reddogs Vtec
    We stopped for a break at the cross roads of some dirt road and had a nice view of Parry Peak from there, then tried to set up our cameras later for some video, I messed it all up, the input cable fell out cause I did not use the Pelican box I had it in for so long, then I had the dash cam aiming at the dash and thats it, all you could see was the tops of trees as I rode so there is no video! I did get some good pictures, here are some from Juniper Pass.

    Veefalo

    Juniper Pass on Squaw Pass Road

    Zoomed in a bit Parry Peak again Saint Marys Glacier in there somewhere
    The way down from Squaw pass was fantastic, still bumpy but fun, the turns at the bottom are sweet! I am still not carrying the same corner speeds I did with the old girl but I will be soon enough I was glad to just be smoother on the throttle this time out. I have to get on the gas sooner it seems to make up for the shaft drive lash or whatever its not as instant as the chain on the old girl. But the power is more linear than the 5th gen. Then we headed up to Loveland pass. The guys started to push that pass harder then we had all day, going much faster we encountered 3 vehicles right before the first good turn. Sfarson and Reddog got around 2 than I did and we hit the turn and right way they got past the last car, who for some reason speeded up to hold me off for the next 3 turns. I could see them going up the pass faster and faster getting farther and farther away till finally she pulled over and let me go. By this time I could see Steve just flying up the pass a good half mile ahead. You can see the whole pass in places as it climbs up and he was way way up ahead of me, Bill not far behind but Steve was gone just gone. ONE WITH THE BIKE he says! Yea the back tire was edge to edge to say the least.
    Me I was just glad to be there!

    Loveland Pass

    Loveland Pass Colors were fantastic

    Me and the Veefalo Sfarson grabbed my camera and took a shot
    I took the lead on the way down and was going slow, but smooth I was really proud of how smooth I was riding, it was so nice. I got behind a bicyclist woman who was anything but smooth heading from the top down to Keystone, she was using up the whole lane and I was running out of passing lane before the switchback but I got around her as did the others. She made me nervous I did not want to side swipe her - she was that erratic! shifting around on her seat jerking the handle bars around turns braking mid turn? bah! We had gassed up before Loveland pass in Georgetown since I am not so sure about the tank range on this thing just yet, 3 bars left I thought I better not risk it. If ever there was a Colorado tour guide motorcyclist (besides me) Sfarson is it, he has a story for everything. Love his stories, he even had a story about the gas station in Georgetown, about how some truck came down the pass on I-70 came down the offramp and crossed the road and hit the side of the gas station there - and nobody got hurt!~
    So we intended to grab some Tacos in Breckenridge but the place was closed so instead we ate a some Yuppy steakhouse bar called the Kenosha, stole all the names of the local mountains and passes for the menu items - stupid touristy stuff and the food was outrageously priced just like everything in Breckenridge is. Pricey and not so good - but the company was great and the stories were great so it was a win! Then we hit Hoosier pass which has become a darned favorite of the in and out crowd, its busy with traffic all the time now, nice turns too ruined by way too much traffic. We did not even try to get around them there was so many, it would have been an exorcise in futility.
    Steve Peeled off at Fairlplay and Bill and I continued on to Hartsel, I tried to signal to Bill to see if he wanted to switch bikes - he thought I meant I needed gas cause he turned around and started headed back to Fairplay. I guess my switch hand signal looked more like "I need gas"? So I rode the vtech for 10 miles and he rode the veefalo. I noticed that the riding position was almost exactly the same coming off the veef, but the throttle response was NOT! I guess you get used to power rather quickly. VTEC is always nice and I love the exhaust note, since veef has none with that stock slip-on. very little actually even wide open!
    At Woodland Park I stopped at the gas station and got a drink and some candy and sat in the shade a bit counted the almost endless procession of cars from Woodland park down Ute pass on the way to Colorado Springs. Its crazy how busy that hwy 24 was, matter of fact all the roads all day long were like that. Hwy 285, hwy 24, Hoosier Pass, Evergreen. These near mountain communities are getting overpopulated! The traffic is ridiculous! Thats why I prefer to ride south and on the western slope now, not nearly the traffic!
    So I got back on the bike and headed down Ute pass, I went around some really slow moving cars doing 10 under and look in the mirrors to find some POS Pontiac sunbird or some such small car ALL OVER MY ASS. He would pass as I passed but only instead of smoothly passing he would jerk the wheel and get like 5 feet behind me. So I showed it what 172 hp could do and took off at the first chance I found daylight and then he was 1/4 mile behind me the rest of the way back. Till I got to the twisty part where the traffic bunched up again, and then he was on my ASS again, so I weaved out of his way and tried to let him pass but the asshole would not pass me. So I slowed way down and then he took the bait and took off like a bat out of hell, jerking that car in and out of traffic threading haphazardly in and out and between cars in the turns. I was behind him a good hundred feet following in the wake of that jackass. Till I decided I was coming close to the normal check-spots the State Patrol stop at and slowed down - Sure enough I let him go and turned the next corner to see him get lit up and pulled over by the state patrol! HA HA dumb-ass! He was driving like a complete jerk too! He took the twisty part of the pass tailgating folks 5-3 feet behind till he could jerk his car around them, I was actually afraid for a couple of Harley guys cause it looked like he was going to try to jerk that car around them at inches too. They had on NO GEAR at all! Thats when I ducked in behind them and waited it out - Pontiac was gone in the 2 last turns and I followed the Harley Boys into Manitou Springs they were going rather fast for HD's! Thats when we passed that Pontiac pulled over by the State. The HD boys flipped him off as we went by too! Funny as hell! I would have too but Karma is a bitch!
    google Map
  7. HispanicSlammer
    Two Horsepower next to 172 hp Lunch at the Dogbar in Cuchara CO
    I just got home about 4pm after riding 300 miles of New Mexico and Southern Colorado on my brand spaking new vfr1200f - I am pooped, 300 miles yesterday of slab and no throttle lock I had one sore right hand by the end of the day! I am so stoked about this bike, its hardly become real to me, its like I am stil riding the old girl sometimes but then I roll on the throttle and its so quiet I cant hear it, but boy I can feel it. Gobs and Gobs of power, its a bit intimidating really. I have been given 75% more power to the wheel and its definitly there. 6th gear roll on passes of cages is nothing for this "Buffalo" I havent named it yet but Buffalo Bill is rolling around in my head - not sure about that one! Buffalo Betty?
    I rolled into some back roads near Folsom New Mexico this moring and hit some very bumpy rual roads, it was set way to stiff. I ended up softening the rebound on the forks 6 clicks in the final account, stopping every now and then and clicking off more rebound and then 3/4 turn softer on the shock too. I think I got it just about right. I have yet to get the sag set properly its definitly steering neutral if perhaps a bit slow. She does like to tip over easy but the side to side flick transitions are more effort then the the 5th gen. Its the extra wieght but it is stable in the turns - if not for the Bridgestones, I cant say I like these oem tires. They seem planted but every now and then they get squirrly especially rolling on out of turns in low gear at 5-8k rpm powering out of turns. I havent even come close to the edge yet. I am still learning this bike. Its gonna take a while to get completely comfy it wieght is in a different place the longer wheel base. I suspect it will steer more effortlessly when I get the sag sorted out. No center stand makes that a bit of a chore!
    The first thing I noticed is the pegs are higher up, and in a spot that seems to be just right to for makeing my hip injury ache. It goes away after a 1/2 hour or so but its a bit uncomfy I might need to lower the pegs for now, and they seem to stick out farther just in a differnt position then what I am used to. more sporty then the 5th gen or the vtec for rider postion. However the bars are not as far of a reach for me. She does not like ot run below 80mph it seems as I would naturally seem to be rolling over these Colorado meandering turns at that speed without thinking. You know the easy stuff drop it a bit and round the turns all day long. Oh and the seat is WAY comfy, its all day comfy, I did not start to feel the usual butt fatigue till well into 300 miles! Its narrower too so that helps alot, more supportive then my corbin too! Very happy with the stock seat! I did the Bishops castle ride about 10-15mph slower then I run it on the old girl and it felt very good, I was timid with it at first then I got more aggresive as I rolled into the more open hills with less forest where the Deer hide. Plus the wind was gusting again, this damn southern colorado wind is annoying its pushes me over in turns and just destroys my confidence. But I think after a few more rides I will be back at my usual pace through there. Hike it up in the back perhaps and it will steer a bit quicker. Comming down Cucharra Pass I noticed the quirky nature of a shaft drive. Its definitly not as responsive as a chain drive, but darned close. There is a slight, very slight delay at low gear when first rolling on and when the power kicks in I can only describe it as drive line lash and its a bit jerky so I have to be very smooth on the throttle when In lower gear 1st and 2nd gear are the most noticeable, but 2-6 is much smoother. I am sure its somthing you will have to manage to learn to ride. For me I slowed down in the tight stuff more then usual not used to the tires, or the shaft drive or the different powerband. Oh yes I am glad it has a gear indicator cause it reves out power at a lower rpm so what feels to me like 6th gear is actually 5th or 4th. I has the same thumpy vibration as the older vfr but its at a different harmonic - what I am trying to say is I am used to the vibes of the 5th gen in 6th gear crusing being up into 6-7k rpm at 80mph in 6th gear. The 1200 feels the same in 5th and 4th gear but at 6th gear its cruises 80mph at 4-5k rpm so its just a bit less revy in top gear!
    I think the fly by wire averages out sudden imputs, it will take off if you whack the trottle but it will be smooth and not like the older bikes, where it will reve out very fast, this one just builds more power with less revs so it seems like your not going as fast by the vibrations but the speedo is indicating quite the opposite your hauling with much less twist of the wrist!~ I cant explain it, it seems tame when you whack it but its doing 100mph without feeling like 100mph! The vfr time continum has changed and warped out a bit on this beast. I hope to become much smoother with throttle inputs in the twisties and be more confident in the turns as I learn this bike, towards the end of the day I was feeling like my old self again if not a bit wiser to the bike!

    First MOD! Drilling a hole to install a Powerlet socket to Power my GPS

    Looks like a fish gill it slides right off the front of the bike

    Gswanson - Fabricator GPS vfr1200 stem mount cut - welded - drilled - deburred - painted

    Stonewall Colorado

    Stonewall Sangre De Christo mountains in the background

    Stonewall
    Source: HS's Buffalo Roundup In Oklahoma
  8. HispanicSlammer
    Well I dont know if they are Dutch or not but they are from Pennsylvania for sure, I was minding my own business (making the forum not work as I tried to install my gallery post tool) when I get a pm from CCVFR. From what I have learned most of the orginal settlers of Pennsylvania were actually of German Decent than Dutch and that the phrase "Pennsylvania Dutch" is a misnomer of Duetch meaning German not Dutch.
    Anybody who knows me knows I can not refuse an offer like that to be Colorado's motorcycle ambassador and so I gave him my cell number and invited them to come ride with me
    Google maps
    we met at Denny's near my house if only because it is easy to get to - however I forgot its actually located on an access road called Harrison road and not on Circle drive like I told Curt he figured it out and they were there waiting for me

    The Pennsylvania Crew Tammy Curt Kevin rode in from Pennsylvania for a vacation not expecting me to usurp their riding time

    Still in City Limits - Helen Hunt Falls up a narrow steep twisty road for 5 miles

    Breakfast at the Pantry Restaurant in Green Mountain Falls - sorry Tammy I could have warned you

    Kevin and Bacon - not the movie star Actually I think he was wondering if the 6 foot tall 300lb Mastiff or Saint Bernard sitting at the table just down the way - well if he was going to eat us

    Goldfield CO great view of the south face of Pikes Peak

    My Piggy and a nice RWB Thats Kevin's RWB 25th Anniversary edition VTEC

    Curt and Tammy rode on this horse ST1300 with peg lowering blocks from BLS - I did not know he made lowing blocks for such heavy bikes?

    OK now thats a proper picture Shes a trooper and hes got a VTEC back home

    I would never do this! Bungee swing out over the Royal Gorge

    Royal Gorge Bridge as seen from the east trail overlook

    Taking a nice break at the Royal Gorge
    I rode them all over tarnation finding every bumpy road I could find and twisty within a 100 miles of Pikes Peak which is basically the route I took them - in a big circle around Pikes Peak. I can only ride about 100 miles on my piggy before it becomes a torture device anyway so it was a good ride 9am to about 4pm with lots of stops and breaks along the way. We saw the biggest moth I have ever seen in the general store at the turn off to High Park Road, did the "don't hit the cows roller coaster road ride" on High Park Road, then over to the tourist trap known as the Royal Gorge but I know all the free places to look at it!
    Then I took them up Ridge Road in Canyon City and showed them the Dinosaur foot prints in the shale and of course stopped at the overlook - but I neglected to take pictures! Good day and good riding - great company.
  9. HispanicSlammer
    Garden Of The Gods Pikes Peak
    So I am mostly done, since it seems that this paint job is a never ending time of fixing drips, scratches, redoing messups and well there are plenty of mess ups to fix yet. However the bike is back together and running after a bout with not starting and replacing parts. So I figure I put about 120 man hours into it this winter here is the final accounting
    Replaced fork oil Replaced fork seals Replaced wheels Powdercoated wheels Powdercoated rear swing arm Replaced swing arm axle Replaced all swing arm bearing bushings dust covers Replaced chain sprockets Replaced stator cover, the gasket, fixed oil leak Rewired accessories moved all forward to make more underseat space Fixed busted plastic plastic welded cracks and dedumbo the front signals Replaced exentric hub bearings Replaced wheel bearings dust covers Rebuilt rear brake caliper new bolts, seals, bleeder bibs Painted mirrors Painted frame part of it Painted plastics Took tank to the bare metal and repainted Replaced tank gaskets, vent hoses, fuel hoses, fuel filter Rebuilt Ohlins shock Powdercoated rearsets Powdercoated pegs Powdercoated passenger hangers and pegs Rewired signals Replaced dash lights with LEDs Replaced fuel hoses cleaned and rebuilt thottle bodies and fuel rail new seals on injectors Replaced exahust studs, replaced copper exhaust crush seals, new seals in the down pipes, drilling out broken studs was a bitch thank goodness for carbide drill bits taps! Sanded and refinished stainless Staintune exaust muffler Installed new rear cargo mount from Kanadian Ken the beefy version Cleaned fuel system with seafoam treatment Cleaned fuel injectors Rebuilt seat latch mechanism new spring Replaced ingition key system, helmet, and tank locks thanks Baileyrock for providing the parts New tires New red anodized wheel 85 degree vavle stems from Kurvy Girl New st1300 tank pad (yet to install) New vfrd graphics on the plastics New bolts on the brake calipers Powdercoated chain drive hub New rubber drive chain dampers New copper and steel spacers bushings all over Replaced head cover gaskets Valve check and shim swaps, sanded shims where I had to too for tight vavles Replaced coolant hoses that cracked Drilled and tapped leaky water pump drain hole Replaced coolant Painted mirrors Installed SAE Mount for battery charger Installed steering column powerlet and rear powerlet
  10. HispanicSlammer
    Tank with graphics and white stripe
    So I put the color on today, sanded the color smooth, then applied graphics and shot the clear coat. 2 coats of clear is what the instuctions called for. I had a ton of color left over, so I put it back into the can. It not catalyzed so it should keep for touch ups and whatnot. Well whatnot for sure as in redo! I am going to redo the left fairing and the front fender.
    I was in the shed almost done with the clear coat when all of a sudden a huge gust of wind lifted the left panel off the hook I had hung it on and down she went, still wet and all with clear coat and it scratched up and picked up every bit of dirt and weed known to man! I was quietly screaming in my mask some of the most foul language ever spoken on the face of the earth. Its amazing how well the mask can..well "mask" your screams. I was hot, then I just resigned to the fact that I would probably go broke if I had to do this for a living cause wow its a lot of work!

    paint 002.jpg

    paint 003.jpg

    paint 005.jpg
    I had my spray gun set up at 20psi - twice what the thing said to do to get better atomization but still I ended up with orange peel all over the clear coat. I tried adjusting the gun for less clear and more air but still it came out all orange peel. So now I get to wet sand some and polish with rubbing compound - more work! I sort of anticipated I would get orange peel cause I am a complete novice to this so well there you have it. My paint project had some setbacks and a redo - oh well its all part of being a motorcyclist enthusiast, spent more then I should have on tools, paint, and well next time I will probably just find a pro and have it done. I got paint everywhere in the shed, on the floor. I ran out of mixing cans so I used a plastic cup only to find out the reducer ate right through it and spilled white paint all over the floor of the shed, another episode of foul language in the mask. Lucky I was already done with that color. It dont look so bad for a first timer, I have seen much worse. The tape I masked off the stripes with was automotive paint tape but it came up in places and the line is not perfect. The tank lines are a little off but not too bad, heh eyeball job I suppose I need glasses!
  11. HispanicSlammer
    Ohlins reinstalled, powdercoated pieces installed worked overnight to reassemble the bike
    I spent most the night and last night istalling new bearing on the swingarm and beginning the reinstall of all the parts. I installed the swingarm last night and rebuilt Ohlins shock, put the subframe into position and put in the plastic undertray. I had to make some repairs to the undertray since it had alot of holes drilled in it over the years for various parts. I filled them all in and smoothed it out with my pastic welder. Keep the dirt and rain out.

    My wheels still need shoes! 83° Aluminum Racing Angled Valve Stem Ariete from Kurvygirl.com

    Different Angle
    I installed new LED lights in the dash - all from superbriteled.com there is a thread on it in the forum by veefer800canuke I opted for white for a brighter dash and to save on wattage over bulbs.

    LED Dash Lighting I had to get the correct polarity but they all work by turning a few around.

    knobs and switches Left Lamp turn off switch, HI LO Double Burn switch, Heated Seat, Heated Grips

    Powdercoated swingarm Passenger Hanger and footpegs, powelet panel

    Reoganized accessory wireing moved all the boxes forward and some by the fuse box, moved the accessory fuse box on top of the battery lid, to make more underseat space for tools
    I rewired the whole accessory area, rerouting the wires to the front of the bike better and added a powerlet on the front and side for my Zumo GPS and the side for my heated vest. Rerouted the autocom wires and moved the autocom forward. Changed the battery leads with less leads and changed the switching power from the plate light to a soldier job from the headlight relay wires, less wires to deal with 3inchs vs 2 feet of switching wire. I wired in LED indicator on the dash for my heated grips its blue on the top right, the top left is the voltmeter from signal dynamics, its red in the dash shot above. I added a heattroller for the heated seat I built, I could never quite it right before using resisters either too hot or not hot enough, now it can dial it in just right. I heated seat is great when I get out of work at 7am and there is frost all over the seat, it clears it off in moments and is comfy in minutes.
    So far I have done tons of work
    New Chain New Sprockets New Fork Oil New Fork Seals Rebuilt the Ohlins Shock Powdercoated swingarm, footpegs, rearsets, hub, and passenger hangers Installed new bearings, rubber dampers, and seals in the eccentric hub rewired the accessories added 2 new powerlets repaired plastic damage from a couple of getoffs that resulted in deep scratches, 8 years of roadblast. sanded and sanded and sanded getting ready to paint Primed all the body pieces Sanded off scratches on the Staintune polished and cleaned Repaired a broken header stud replaced and put in new seals on the rear cylinders and headers New Wheels powdercoated installed trick valve stems New bearings on the wheels, swingarm, rearhubs, along with new dustseals New bolts and nuts all over - cleaned up most though Rebuilt the rear brake caliper new seals and polished the pistons, new bolts Bled the rear caliper Bought new graphics for a VFRD inspired paint job - even made my own font to use for the project availible in the site comments forum
  12. HispanicSlammer
    All dressed up and no bike to ride
    Yea you can say I went all crazy, as if Paris Hilton were to suddenly become a serious motorcycle sport tour rider! Scratch that I wont have no usless mexican rat dog yapping away with its head sticking out of the top box, I said serious sport tour rider! Yea I got my overtime sorted and worked some extra hours, and a generous tax refund resulted in some new gear for this year. I retired the old stich, sold it actually to a fellow rider I know from work, he needed gear - I had it - it fit him - cash was exchanged!

    All New Gear Transit suit, Sidi Boots, Held Gloves, Nolan Helmet
    So what does a serious sport touring rider want? I want a fricken leather suit! The textile stuff is nice, but man is it dorky! I want that mad max leather suit that just says "yea I live out here get out of the way"! Ok I have to back up a bit I still opted for a bit of dork - the Aerostich transit suit. It has the dorky visi strip on the back and legs, but its not drap olive and with goofy colors. Its black, traditional leathers black. My old roadcrafter was looking rather orange in the shoulders from taking a pounding from the sun, and a few bumps on the dirt bike, a backwards flip over on the piggy going up a steep ravine I ended up in the scrub weeds on my back and upside down with my leg stuck under the bike. Scared the crap out of my riding buddy cause it looked like the bike fell on me but good boots and the stich well... they are expensive for a reason, they work!
    I wanted the same functionality of the stich, I could live with a little less with regaurds to a two piece instead of a one piece but still I wanted it to be WATERPROOF. If anything experience says "your gonna get stuck in a fricken downpour" I know this! I have ridden in at least 12 of them, 200 miles of a 500 mile ride to the Black Canyon - downpour. Riding BR's brothers bike to Nashville from Robbinsville - downpour. Riding 1-40 in Oklahoma City - downpour. Yea I get rained on alot. This Transit suit is water resistant leather and its got a gore tex liner - its waterproof! All sorts of breaktroughs in leather technology this suit is micro perferated to release water vapor from the body and to cool off, impregnated with a reflective black die that reflects 15% more heat in the hot sun than standard leather (look at the top pic of me in the suit - it is reflecting the light of the flash). Big ass standard rear vent keeps you cool! No underarm zipper though, like the Roadcrafter? Oh well. Its got a front zipper too I suppose !
    Boots I have been using goretex waterproof touring boots for years now, I always wear out the shifter support leather, they pad it with foam and it tears through? Alpinestars waterproof touring boots. After reading about BR and Veefer800canuke breaking legs with boots perhaps I should get some real sport boots! I need waterproof cause - you know. Hey SIDI mades a waterproof sport boot! YEA got those
    Waterproof gloves, got some already - technic gloves but man are they stiff and the liner is too thick I have no feel and no flexlity. The answer Held warm and dry gloves - geez but the price! More overtime!
    top it off with a Nolan flipup (bought last year actually last season) and I am ready for a 2 week adventure out to the south for the Texasmac and beyond, hopfully the ozarks ride too.

    Vertigo Mega (wide sizes) Gore-Tex Boots

    Aerostich Transit suit

    Held Warmn'dry

    Held Warmn'dry

    New Nolan N103
    Oh and a stich silk scarf to keep my neck warm and unharmed by new leather. So how much did Paris spend? $2700 over the last 2 years on gear, recouped $500 for the stich, selling more gear too on ebay. OWCH. Addin a couple of coolmax shirts, patagonia wickable, wickable underwear, wool socks, and a Gerbing heated liner (also last year).
  13. HispanicSlammer
    OMG I am in deep now everytime I take somthing off I find somthing else wrong
    I keep delving into this bike deeper and deeper and finding all sorts of problems, I know my rear brake has been dragging so I decided to get some new parts and rebuild it. It was a mess, the rubber seals were hard as rocks, and the bellows covering the slider pins were torn and the pins were covered in caked on brake dust not sliding at all.

    rear brake rebuild replaced the seals, pads, bleeders, cleaned up and polished the pistons

    One rebuilt rear brake caliper high temp grease on the sliders, new bolts, new pads, new bleeders, new seals.
    I just about got that done and decided to check the swing arm and it was slightly loose when moving side to side and indication that the bearing are shot. So I took it off too, found about 4 inches of caked on oily dirt on the top and side of the swing arm it was just a mess. When I took the axle out I noticed it was in awful shape partially rusted and I think it was the issue since it looked worn where the spacers fit. I run my fingers across the needle bearings and if felt like it was full of grime, the other bearing on the other side seemed fit though. I ordered new bearings, new axle and new spacers cause I am not sure where that play was comming from, along with new dust seals. I have no idea how I am going to get the needle bearings out? Or press in new ones? I dont have the right tools for that.

    Swing arm removed she had a little play in the pivot axle!
    Some good news I got my wheels and hub back from the powder coater and they look great!

    Powdercoated hub it was looking rather dull so I had it done too

    Wheels just back from the powder coater Spectrum Powder Works here in Colorado Springs - loving how they look
    I got bored with getting greasy so I cleaned up and took a nap, I dont have the parts in yet to start putting it back together and I still have to get that darned broken header stud out! I ordered new studs and a carbide drill bit since my bits dont seem to be able to get the job done, I really dont want to take the head off and take it to a machine shop to get that stud out - hopefully that drill bit will do the job! I had to keep my parts orgainized so I put the little washers, seals, bolts, nuts, connectors and what nots into little baggies seperated by what they came off of. I did manage to get the stator back in and put the new stator cover on with a gasket - should not leak I treated it with a thin coat of yamabond 5 and let it dry like it says to do on the tube. Lots of work left to do its takeing nearly all my free time off work, but I enjoy it!

    filling in sratches and holes with poly flex slowly getting the PITA job done of repairing plastics
    RECAP OF WORK DONE AND WORK LEFT TO DO
    fork rebuild - new seals new oil done inspect head bearings - done bought new wheels - stripped and powdercoated - installed new bearings and dust seals done replaced stator cover - reinstalled inspected and tested stator new gaskets repaired oil leak done removed old accessory wires - rework heated seat with a new heat troller, reroute wires in a common conduit. find a better spot for the pc-usb rework the autovox unit installed two powerlets center post for the garmin zumo, and rear kit for my heated vest - wired up a side plug adaptor Yet to do
    repair broken header studs install new header gaskets replace bearings in the ecentric and swing arm pivot axles degrease that unit replace the crappy plastic chain gaurd and hugger reupolster my seat with new leather or leather like matierial replace worn foam in the seat finish repairs to the plastics complete paint stripping on the tank sand and prime the plastics and paint replace the fuel filter since I have the pump removed PAINT THE BIKE GET IT BACK TOGETHER CORRECTLY
  14. HispanicSlammer
    Stator cover Repair - Cleaned up the etched in dirt with a power tool and a wire brush attachment
    I have started a laundry list of items that I need to fix on the bike! First of which was a paint job, but getting motivated to do it has not be a priority as of late. I guess I am more of a plan it type of guy. I have been putting off some pain in the arse repairs for years now. I snapped off an exhaust stud years ago and have not gotten around to fixing it. This year I am going to do it. I finally took off the Stator cover this week to find out where it was leaking oil, found a nice crack in the side of the cover, a small hairline crack. I immediately ordered a new one. It has some road salt damage - it merely looked dirty but on close inspection it was etched right into the pot metal aluminum, looked like dirt but it was not scrubbing off.
    I was thinking I was just going to throw it away with a cracked casing but decided to try this fluxless brazing rod repair I saw at a motorcycle show years ago, I bought it hook line and sinker and paid $50 bucks for the rods. So far I have never been lucky with repairing anything with it. This time though I prepped the cover with a wire brush mounted on a power buffer and went to town cleaning up and scrapping off the etched in dirt. I cleaned it up till is shined! Then I took a die grinder bit and V'd out the crack in the aluminum. At first I thought it was damage from a crash this summer but I think it was from over tightening or miss aligning the case and I cracked it when I tightended the bolts.

    Outer crack repaired grinded away excess flux material and sanded smooth

    flux-less rod brazed inside the crack struck it like a match on the hot aluminum pot metal till it filled the crack under a blue acetylene flame
    I hit it with an aceytelene torch and brased in the flux rod and IT WORKED! I had brazed the inside and the outside and repaired the case! Wow now I have a new one comming and I think I am going to paint this one white when its time to paint. I grinded off the excess and sanded it smooth - left the inside as is.
    Still not motivated to taken on the broken studs though, I had tried getting it out before with no luck, I am afraid to drill and use an easy out since I have heard of eazy outs snapping off. My hardend drill bits did not even make a dent! I now have a drill doctor so I can at least keep then sharp, that thing works too! I might have to take it to a machine shop but boy that would be a nightmare, taking off the head? I might try an eazy out but just not too keen on snapping one of those off. I read somwhere on the forum that there was a new freeze and release product out that works miricles I might try that first!
    SO much work to do, take off the headers, drill away for hours, paint prep all the plastics, use paint remover on the tank then prep it for paint, do the valves again!
    I did already get my taxes back and decided my stich was getting a bit worn, I have no real leather gear at all and I like to do trackdays. I have always thought leather was expensive and my wieght fluctuates too much to spend that much but I took the plunge. I bought a new AEROSTICH TRANSIT SUIT the waterproof gortex leather suit they started selling last year. I also bought some real sport bike boots too waterproof Vertigo Mega (wide sizes) Gore-Tex Boots - I will post a review of both when they come. I looked around in my closet and well there is some old gear I dont use anymore - sombody will use them besides me, another big guy like me needs gear at cheap prices so I put them in the classifieds section and later on ebay if they dont move.

    Aerostich Transit suit

    Vertigo Mega (wide sizes) Gore-Tex Boots
    Lots of work to do!
  15. HispanicSlammer
    Yep, I am keeping her! I ordered a few items to freshen up the old girl for another great season of motorcycle riding.
    2 sets of ebc hh pads for the front
    1 set of honda pads for the rear complete with anti heat transfer asbestos pad
    2 sets of honda fork seals and dust covers
    2 bottles of race tech US1 fork oil, I tried other 5w oil this stuff seems to work better for my race tech valves
    1 D.I.D. 530VM X'ring Chain & Steel Sprocket Kit - HONDA VFR 800F1 98-01
    1 - Front Sprocket Size: 16
    1 - Rear Sprocket Size: 45
    Synthetic brake fluid - to bleed the brakes and clutch lines
    So I have my work cut out for me come January, also going to remove my Ohlins shock to send out for repairs. Repairing the remote preload, and rebuild the seals change the oil, nitrogen charge. I should get some new plastics too and get my tank painted, rebuild the worn out foam on my seat and have it recovered by a professional ulpolstry shop. I need to have my Kanadian Ken 5th gen rack repaired too, its cracked and needs to be reinforced, great little rack!
  16. HispanicSlammer

    What a season!

    By HispanicSlammer,

    The old girl in front of Bent's Old Fort
    Seems I haven't made a blog entry in months, I just haven't done anything bloggable since riding with some guys from work. I take day rides still to places I have gone more times than I have digits on my hands and feet, so it seems redundant to blog about it. However recent changes in the website (this one vfrd) and its members have sent me into a mood of self examination, perhaps doubt, perhaps giddy anticipation, and always cautious about future outcomes. I have always considered vfrd "my baby" ever since it was a silly little Delphi community. I always make changes at the end of the riding season, and every time I do a slew of comments and admonishments of woe are handed to me in nice neatly packaged forum topics. Where's this, where's that, what happened to ......my website! So it always puts me off a bit to think..wait a minute..I thought it was mine! Like a light bulb burned out over my head with the awful truth. Truth is its not anymore, it seems to have a life of its own now.
    Now what really set me off was the "7th Gen Group Buy" - something I was not expecting at all, and well its something I am happy about - I must admit, not that I am expecting it to happen, but it is the idea really that is so strange. The 150 or so members who have come on board to honor me with such a gift is just beyond my reckoning, I have no anchor to lash onto here. So it has become a ride of self doubt, giddiness, and anticipation for the days to come. Doubt ..For all you do..they say, not knowing that vfrd is my salvation from boredom, the one place where I can go and talk about the things I really like to do. Especially this time of year when the shadows are a bit too long mid day and slightest hint of clouds could have you shivering - a winter storm brewing. So this season is over and a winter storm is brewing up a brand new vfr, a brand new vfrd, and perhaps a brand new ride for me? Do I deserve it? - some say so, I don't think so! I just cant help but get choked up at some of the things said about me in that thread, (ie, bayarearider, dutchinterceptor, cornercarver) so I have to close the page and go look at improving the php code on the homepage. It is afteral..my salvation from winter..playing with the website making it better. For all you do they say, if only you knew what it is like to be so afflicted~!
  17. HispanicSlammer
    Skyline Drive Ryan and Jason above Canon City
    I have been riding with a guy from work lately a young fellow who recently purchased a used CBR 600 - that was in need of some work. He was riding it with a race take off front tire and a decent Bridgestone rear. I dont often ride with guys who ride other bikes but Ryan seemed like he had the natural ability to ride well. Which after 3 rides he does. I took him along on my annual 500 mile ride to the Black Canyon a few months back and he did well, keeping in pace with my Buddy LDSRIDER. The two of them kept together and Reddog and I took off ahead waiting up at key places, then riding together in the slab.Its worked well, Ryan came over to my place and we fited a new tire on last month, new chain and set his sag correctly since I rode it I could tell it was set up all wrong. Sombody had dropped the forks in the triple clamps and it made it a bear to turn. Fighting that for 500 miles must have been a PITA so I loosened the clamps and slid the forks back into stock postion. It made a world of difference and the next ride - there he was right behind me in the tight stuff, he never showed me a wheel but he was taking up an awful lot of my rear view mirror this time around. Of course it was raining and there was all kinds of crap on the roads from heavy rains but still much much better! Monday he calls me up - says there are 3 of them going to Bishops Castle for a ride. Right off the bat There is Ryan out of gear and no gloves - appearantly hes not prepared for a day ride, thinking they were just going around town. I guess with Ryan ATGATT has not settled in yet as the mode of transport for bikes. So we take off, tennis shoes and no gloves, long sleeve tee. And of course I take it easy. Its all guys from work I know, Dave (out of work at the moment from Atmel after a layoff) and Jason who works right next to me all night across the tunnel in photo, and Ryan a diffusion tech who works on furnaces and FSI cleaners. Me I work in etch as a work flow coordinator just like Jason is in Photo. We all ride, but I think I take it more seriously then the rest. I come to find out this is the longest ride Jason has ever done! A lousy 250 mile ride! Hes decked out in his Honda Jacket, Shoei Helmet (a nice one), and TENNIS SHOES. Darned squids - I mention to Ryan he might want to grab some work gloves at the Gas station in Florence at least! I think I talked him into getting a Roadcrafter suit from Aerostich, like the one I wear. He likes how easy it is to get on and off and that its also your rain gear!

    Bishops Castle l-r Dave, Ryan, and Jason in white.
    I had to yell Jason about 4 times cause he talks so much he could not hear me - hes always talking, even at work!Yea thats a Hysong behind that CBR 650 V twin Dave rides - sounded great with the carbon fiber Two Brothers can.Dave had to go back home at this point since he had chores to do at home and was supposed to be back at noon, I looked at my clock and it was 11:30! Heh I think your late man! So he left the group and the rest of us carried on. We rode over to Texas Creek to get a burger only to find out it was closed, so I said lets get some Tacos in Cannon City - only to find out the Taco place was closed too! So at last we went to the Mission, a mexican joint and had some lunch. It was alright but not as good as the Taco joint, sad to see it was closed forever! It is different riding with new guys - especially ones who dont ride all the time, and who think that 250 miles is a long ride! It is a different mind set, I felt like I was just getting warmed up, and these guys are just about done! Wrist hurts, butt hurts, yada yada yada, I know Ryan can take it but Dave and Jason - nope! I kept trying to tell the guys to at least wear BOOTS. Me I just had some fun, I took off on the good stuff of course, the twisty parts - I let them know I was going to first, and to ride at thier own pace cause. I would wait on the straits for them when there was no place to lean over - which I did. I had a good time though, just riding slow I can look at scenery too ya know. We had to stop a moment and take it in cause well we were talking too much about work! Ryan was staying way back this time cause he had no darned gear!
    Jason who was on non stop jabber would have to be prodded to put his helmet on cause it was time to go, he crackes me up - like a stream of conscienceness, all the time 24 hr Jason live! He even talked when he had his helmet on and I had my earplugs in, I just nodded yes and reved up the v-4! Funny guy very funny guy. On the last leg home I rode sweep and they gave me a lesson on how to pass, which I wont be taking next term, I think I am going to drop that class! Scary stuff! I dont like-a-da-traffic-a-so-much.I am hoping Dave gets a call back from Atmel and comes back to work - it seems the sales crisis has abated a bit and are hiring back 100 people who got laid off. I am pulling for ya Dave! It is a good thing we can go for a ride and just have some fun for a day.
  18. HispanicSlammer
    The Kansas Crew Lined up in front of Pikes Peak Crystal Creek Reservoir
    It was a year in the planning, planning done by committe of which I was only involved in as the official route guide. In that I really must thank Didit, Radar, and Volsfan for thier work in getting this thing put together - the lions share done by Didit of course. I knew when I stood up and asked the Candians at the Kootenay Hootenany if they would be willing to ride to Colorado for a national meet sombody would jump on it, and Didit sure did! It was a great success and I enjoyed myself! It was really a big deal and thanks go out to the local guys and those few with trusty GPS units who served as ride leaders too. Not one accident, not one lost rider, one ticket though and a group got the sherrif warning but all in all a safe and fun rally in Dillion Colorado.
    My experience started at home in Colorado Springs where I would lead the flat land boys from Kansas Nebraska Oklahoma and Missouri to the top of Pikes Peak and into Dillion. We had some fun the night before at one of my favorite resturants in the Springs - its Craigs favorite place and the owners always treat us well so we thought we would take everybody there for a margarita and mexican food at La Unica in Old Colorado City.

    Waiting for road crews to finish work before heading to the top of Pikes Peak

    Devils Playground Pikes Peak Summit

    Colorado Springs Down Below Pikes Peak Cog Railway tracks in the foreground

    Lee2002 found his way to the summit sign

    Hoosier Pass Summit on the way to Dillion
    I did not take many pictures at the hotel, some members had much better cameras than I took care of that, lining up the bikes and getting shots with wide angle lenses and all. I just took some shots of my group and the ride out afterwards.

    The Scenic Group stops at the summit of Loveland Pass

    Loveland Pass Radars group stops at the overlook - you can see the chairlift from Arapaho Basin Ski Area

    Loveland Pass Punchy Rider scurries to get out of the shot - too late I got ya

    Historic Downtown Central City Opera House Yes that is a no parking area - we did not stay long

    Mount Meeker

    The Chapel on the Rock

    Waiting for somthing to eat at the Peak To Peak diner

    Rocky Mountain National Park from on top Rainbow Corner

    Mt Chiquita Yipsilion Mountain and Fairchild Mountain from Rainbow Corner

    Longs Peak Looms above Mt Wuh

    Me and the Big Piggy Baileyrock was out for the day on my vfr appearantly losing ingition key on some backroad somwhere

    Scenic Overlook

    Takeing a shot of Longs Peak

    Elk on the alpine tundra

    The Lava Cliffs

    Never Summer Mountains

    Our Last stop in Rocky Mountain National Park Trail Ridge Road the highest continuous road in the USA
    Dinner was great, everything except the food that is, people and beer is all I need really. I never foget a face but I will forget your name in 2 seconds flat if you dont repete it to me about a million times. So I learned a few, forgot alot and remember everybodies face! God help me putting together real names with forum names - thats a lost cause there!
    We had some good breakfast, Baileyrock didit Craig and Radar - we hiked up the dillion lake trail to some lodge joint up the road about a mile and were accosted by the waiter for asking for water, Craig pretty much got a smack down for that - in ski bum summer colorado punk style! It was clear this gig was not the waiters main thing! It was funny though and we made sure to let Craig know we thought it was funny. I was glad to have Baileyrock there since he had always been so gracious to me on my trips to Tennesse to go to the Texasmac for the last few years. Baileyrock was haveing a bit of fun with Didit over the last few weeks - egging him on pulling his leg and such, if you know BR you know he is just kidding. Them two together was a hoot - the back and forth half insults and jokes. Guys will be Guys no matter what border you cross.
    The Day before I took out a group and Baileyrock took out my VFR to go ride with Sfarson and the fast group and I guess my key wiggled out and got lost, so that ruined half of thier ride, running around looking for a lost vfr key. It was lucky they made it back to the hotel cause the gas cap was locked. Dutchinterceptor loaned me his bike and I went home and got my spare key. It took forever casue of the weekend traffic and I forgot my wallet on my desk and had to double back to get it. It was not fun untill I got some alone time on a part of Hoosier pass on the way back, I was rather comfortable on that VTEC at that point and let it rip a bit. Not my bike so I kept it sane.
    After the meet I was looking for somthing to do so I hooked up with didit and radar for a couple of days and rode with them down to the western slope on the southern end to go do the Black Canyon and the Million Dollar Highway and back into Telluride. We stopped in Montrose for a couple of nights and based out of there. The silver loop is what its called. We rode over Independence pass and had a fun time trying not to dump it on the loose chip seal, hate that stuff! I took some video but it seemes my battery packe for the helmet cams was comming unhooked and it was skipping parts. That was too bad cause when we started up McClure Pass a fellow on a KTM 990 dirtbike took off in front of us and we gave chase for 20 miles all the way down to Paonia Lake, where he turned off. That dude was fast and he had that thing leaned over as far as I could imagine those dual sport tires could go! 80 Plus in some of the tight sweepers he was holding me off pretty good, he stopped racing us near the lake and was acting like a ride leader by then cause well were all there right there! Pointing at road debris and giving hand signals, boy I wish my camera had caught it on tape! It was a blast and we gave him a salute when he turned off. Then we stopped in Paonia for lunch and then rode my favorite road in Colorado (of all time) hwy 92 into the Black Canyon. Didit said it was the hardest he had to work the whole ride from Canada. I am sure some of the roads he is riding now in California are that way too but hwy 92 is definitly there!

    Radar and Didit at the Golden Burro in Leadville

    Radar poses at the hairpin of Independence Pass

    10am at the top of Independence Pass

    Independence Pass the first switchback

    Mountain Boy Park

    Radar and Didit on the Black Canyon hwy 92

    Radar and Didit starting up Red Mountain Pass on the Million Dollar Highway 550

    Stopped on the way down to Silverton we stopped to let everybody we passed go by so we could do it again

    Lizard Head Pass a bit wet and slippery

    Lizard Head at 50mph

    Riding into the eye of a storm

    Sheep Mountain

    Yellow Mountain Radar

    Radar gets out ahead as I dig for my camera near Telluride
    [vid]109[/vid]
  19. HispanicSlammer
    MT EVANS
    I took a look on the internet for the weather this break, I call it that since I don't get weekends off. Sunday 70% chance of rain, Monday 30% chance, Tuesday 80% chance of rain. Well thats a no brainer go for a ride today or get wet. 30% chance of rain means that your going to get rained on but only for 30% of the day! I stood outside my shed and pondered which bike to take, the XR or the VFR? I wish I had taken the XR now since the VFR would get me a nice fat ticket going up Ute pass. State Pat Troll says I was going 67 in a 40 and that it was 6 points for that! 67! thats walking come on (I say to myself in my mind - since I don't ever argue with cops)! He cuts me a break and writes the speed lower by 2 mph so that the ticket drops by 2 points to a total of 4! Then he tells me if I send it in by mail by the date on the paper its only 2 points. I am thinking well I never once got a blip on the radar detector - and I know it was on, and I know State Pat Troll uses radar I am thinking he might not have had it on! I don't know maybe I should take my chances and go ahead and appear for this one.
    So not even a half an hour into my ride its already cost me $160 for the day and I have yet to gas up. Oh well, I head up Ute pass a slower speed with my tail between my legs and bugged eyed looking for cops around every tree and every corner. I turned north at Woodland Park to head up Deckers road into Pine - my usual route when heading north into the mountains. Boy as soon as I started down the hill into the twisty part the road turned from fun to dangerous. There was gravel in all the turns from heavy rains, then when I rode past Trout Creek I ran into several road crews clearing out debris and land slides from an apparent heavy flash flood. They had dirt piled up in mounds along side the creek like a dike and it was all over the road, bits of trees and other debris piled up along the road side for the next 12 miles almost all the way to Deckers. I could see where half of the mountain had slid onto the road in one place and they had heavy equipment out to clear it out - already done I could see an arroyo that was 12 feet over my head where they had cleared out the part that slid onto the road. It was bad I am amazed the road was still there. On past Deckers the road was in typical shape, lots of gravel in the turns where the dual wheeled yahoos who live around there spread it all over the turn cause they cant seem to keep those pickups on off the shoulder of the turns. Its always like that so I take it really easy there all the time.
    What surprised me was even more road crews were out on Horsepower hill, apparently the creek on the west side of the hill had overflowed over onto the road and it was a river there for a good mile or so, they had piles of washed out trees piled up 10 feet high, trees that were dead from the forest fires of years past. The damage of the Hayman fire continues to takes its toll I see. I did not see clean road until I got to the top and it was clear from there on down to the bowl. I love to blast the bowl, but ripping up horsepower hill was not in the cards today.
    I decided to do a scout run on one of the routes we are doing for the summit meet, Mount Evans, I rode up Shadow mountain road, it was good, not much traffic but a little. I got stuck at the end where it turns from Shadow mountain to Brook Forest Road, I am not sure exactly where it does that but it does. I was thinking it is not an easy turn off to find so my ride leaders better know the route, or have a good gps with them. It is definitely worth the extra 20 minutes to go that way, either that or suffer behind the shuffle of traffic from Connifer to Evergreen. I never ride that route if I don't have too, way too slow for me.

    The westward view from 14,000 feet Mt Evans

    South Pikes Peak is like a ghost silhouette in the rain cloud

    Kenosha Pass from 4000 feet above it and 10 miles away

    Summit Lake 1000 feet down

    The Sawtooth from up close Guenella Pass is just 2 miles strait west of here

    Mt Evans Summit Observatory parking lot you can make out my vfr on the left hand side - never seen this many people out on a Monday before

    A pool of water summit lake and Saint Marys Glacier put into perspective

    Saint Marys Glacier to the north

    Friendly little girl sitting on my rock taking pictures I suddenly feel two little hands grab my shirt - I turn around to see this little girl help herself up on my rock by grabbing hold of me and standing up - I don't blame her I had the best seat in the house

    Mount Evans Road

    A Marmot this one was kind enough to stand still and pose for me as I dug in my pockets for my camera

    Colorado Big Horn Sheep the matriarch stands watch as I snap a photo - I had to give my horn a toot so that they would clear the road

    Squaw Pass Echo Lake you can see it wind its way down the mountain to Idaho Springs

    Sqwaw Pass coming up from Evergreen
    Riding home I had finally caught up to my 30% of rain in Kittridge, I rode down from Kerr Gulch road, another road on our path, again not easy to find from Kittridge its a little goat road for the first mile or so going up the hill its all recycled pavement smashed down with rollers and then its brand new pavement another mile or so up - one of those roads Busy Little Shop would say is a "little leprechaun road" it starts off as then it gets good the further along you go.
  20. HispanicSlammer
    Kootenay National Park Calagary Crew fall in behind me
    It occurs to me I never posted the second half of my trip to Canada from 2008? Sheer tiredness prevented me from finishing it up last year, so many picture so many stories. Stories I can't remember anymore, but I still have the pictures, the wonderful ride pictures from that trip home. If you bear with me I will show you the best of the best pictures, and try to remember the good things that happened on the road.
    It all was part of the Kootenay Hottenanny 2008 in Nelson British Columbia, a wonderful place that reminded me a bit of Colorado, yet it had a very european feel to it and definitly foriegn to me, loonies and all ya know. Still I can understand english rather fluently so it was not that much of a stretch. Sort of like visiting a cousin who lives all they way across the map. You can see somthing familiar in the eyes and ears, the funny walk and yet you know they have different parents. That was Canada to me like visiting cousins, beautiful cousins in fact. I was amazed at the all the pretty people there, everywhere we went pretty people. The few fat ones like me unmistakenly had tags from the USA? Heh - I come expecting biting wind and fuzzy hats and I find a heat wave and beautiful pretty people? Go figure - I like pleasant surprises so I was pleased. It just seemed to be a really laid back place to be, much more easy going and a somewhat slower pace of life, yet not without sophistication at all. Canadians are certainly a complex sort, more than willing to give you an educated opionion about what they think of you or what your doing. It all seems very much like a perpetual small town. Even complete strangers seem to settle into a familiar ease of live and let live. The money thing though is a bit steeper then I was ready for, who would have thought the land of Aspen and the Home of Broncos would have a lower cost of living? There we go with that cousins thing again, you cant help but compare hands and feet, counting toes and fingers and such, it seems to be the natural thing to do.
    [vid]67[/vid]

    Kootenay National Park

    Near the boader Banff National Park
    After the wonderful gathering in Nelson - a large contingent of us gathered together to ride to Calgary, well mostly to Calgary anway, Craig and I would be stopping in Canmore for the night then heading back into the USA the next morning. The ride across British Columbia was fun, the trip across lake was fun too, never been a boat that big before. I am land locked you know, I know mountains but I dont know water.

    Me

    The Moxie Kaslo BC

    Kaslo

    On the Ferry Lake Kootenay

    Kootenay Bay

    Kootenay Bay

    Craig Soaks in the scenery
    I might have some of the pictures out of order, in any case I can vouch that the real thing is much more scenic than what any camera can capture. The pristine lakes against the backdrop of the Rocky Mountains is somthing to behold, It takes your breath away at the incredible beauty of it. The Crew, that is to say the "Calgary Crew" chose me to lead the way, which of course for a guy with a gps is not too difficult but it sure was odd. I did the best I could and passed cars that were annoyingly slow, and they all followed gulping up the miles with ease. I tend to be a bit of an Iron butt so I may have gone on a bit far in places without rest - and yes I heard about it later when we did stop. Hey I was drafted, you cant complain about that now.

    Calgary Crew Fueling up in Creston

    Bicyclist seeking refuge from rain Near Fairmont Hotsprings

    Near Canal Flats
    The day was over and our party of motorcycles disbanded, it was just Craig and I headed back to the USA now, we took a road that Superfunk recommended to us and bypassed Calgary, it was not all that twisty but boy it was scenic.

    Canadian Rockies knife edge rocks

    Banff National Park

    One of the most photographed mountains in Banff Mt Rundle

    The View from the Lodge in Canmore Alberta

    The Worldmark Lodge In Canmore My uncle is a member he let me use his points.

    The Incredible Canadian Rockies at the Seebe Junction of Canada transhighway 1 and Alberta Highway 40

    Craig dusts off his camera for a shot

    Alberta Highway 40 I enjoyed this road more than hwy 93 through the Kootnays there was hardly no traffic at all.

    Hwy 40 Alberta this view topping the crest of the hill took my breath away

    I was going gagga over the view I did not notice the deer on the right side of the road getting ready to cross right in front of us a car flashed me and thats when I snapped out of it and slowed down for them (Cagers helping motorcyclist wow)

    Not very twisty at all but your too busy looking around to care

    Each turn brought more incredible scenes

    Peter Lougheed Provincial Park

    Craig in tow

    look this way somthing cool - look thatway somthing else

    Alberta hwy 40 has got to be one of the prettiest the scenery was spectacular

    Craig takes over lead duty after scurrying off into woods for a rest

    Longview Alberta stopped to stretch our legs
    It did not take long to get out of the mountains and onto the grasslands and farms of southern Alberta, where it seems it was just like Montana, and in return not that much different that the farm land in Colorado, it all seemed to be familiar to me.

    Pastures haybales and the Rockies

    Sharp as a razors edge

    Rockies haybales and pastures this time

    Haybales Rockies and Pastures

    Its hard for a typical American who has never been to Canada not to imagine a snowbound scene, its not much different than Montana really

    hwy 22 seemed to go on forever reading off the Kilometers instead of miles I had no idea just how far left to go.
    We crossed the border into the USA at the Peace Park, the woman did not even ask us to open up the bags it was clear that 911 had subsided in these parts - not that I was all that concerened, but then again we had passports and they had a computer and must have figured out we were not Taliban - no sooner than a bottle of water was downed we were back on the road and riding again. Honestly the stop on the way into Canada was more rigerous.

    Back in the USA Chief Mountain Glacier National Park

    Dupuyer Montana Nothin absolutly nothing open for a drink
    The Second half day of riding in Montana was all plains, all the way into indian country of the Blackfoot Nation, and into Great Falls. The town was dull and we had a fast food dinner, and my riding partner Craig was I think overwhelmed with the trip at this point. He miss judged the sturdyness of his rear tire and was worried he wasnt going to make it home, in need of a new tire. We scoured the internet for a place to change his tire, on my netbook. He looked to no avail and wasnt interested in my plans to find him a tire, so we settled on a parting of ways at this point and I left early in the morning to ride more twisties and he off on his own to get a new tire. Too bad it went this way but I was not about to miss out on Bear Tooth Pass, not a second time. (my first time I could only ride half of it since it was washed out on the Montana side 2 years earlier). I said goodby to Craig and left before sun up to ride as much of Montana and Wyoming as I could in one day.

    Sluce Boxes State Park Montana 5am

    Montana Hwy 427

    Montana Sunrise

    Rosco Montana

    Roscoe Montana I had to pull off and take a moment, after narrowally missing both a deer and a wild turkey in less than a quarter mile up the hill

    Bear Tooth Pass Beckens

    Montana Rockies

    Red Lodge Monatana

    Entering Bear Tooth Pass

    Bear Tooth Pass

    Bear Tooth Pass a popular motorcycle route

    First Leg Bear Tooth Pass completed

    Top of Bear Tooth Pass Wyoming and Yellowstone ahead

    I followed a 929 most of the way up thats him ahead

    One Last Look at Montana

    Montana Side Bear Tooth Pass

    A bumpy and challenging road down Wyoming

    Bear Tooth Pass more motorcycles ahead

    Wyoming vista From Bear Tooth Pass

    Cheif Josheph Highway Wyoming

    View from the summit Chief Josheph Highway

    Entrance to Shell Canyon Big Horn Mountains Wyoming

    Shell Canyon Incredible road here

    Top of Shell Canyon
    I actually ran into Craig again on I-25 in Sheridan, at the gas station the next day. I was still trying to ride more scenery and he was not trusting his new tire he got from Billings so he stayed on the interstate, me interstate? No way I have too many lonely roads yet to ride. Lonely for sure, scenic? well ok my route was not so scenic after doing Beartooth the day before. I spent that night in Ranchester a small ranch community just north of Sheridan, just at the bottom of the hill from an awsome road comming out of the Big Horn Moutains. I stopped at a little dive of a hotel and walked to the liquer store across the road and found it was a bar and grill. It seemed most the town was there for supper. It was steak night and so I shared in the beer and steak night with the local folks and watched the Olympics on the TV with them, I had a great time and a great supper. I wont soon forget the fun and freindly folks of Ranchester Wyoming. Too bad the ride across Wyoming the next day was so forgetable, I cant really recommend any roads south of Casper as I have yet to find anything worth riding. North Wyoming is a hoot though, just watch out for the small towns - they take the speed limits very seriously.

    Medicine Bow Wyoming

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  21. HispanicSlammer
    First you begin by leaving the day before the Fourth of July weekend which in of itself is idiotic, then you forget to check the weather forecast (not that it mattered since It was raining everywhere) then you pick a place to camp that has the worst weather off all. Not a bad plan if your looking to make your riding adventure a joke. I did that and found I was scratching my head wondering "why in the world are all these RV's out and about" I had never seen so much traffic on hwy 50 going to Salida. It was crazy I was able to enjoy a little bit of the road to Texas Creek but "wow its crazy out here to day" Then I stopped for lunch at a Mexican restaurant in Poncha Springs and the waiter said have a happy Forth Of July - DOH no wonder. I had been on this 18 day forced vacation from work and completely lost track of time, I did not even know what day it was or what! I mean I got lost in the fray and just wanted to go visit my sister in Santa Fe since I had nothing better to do than go riding. I thought I would go ride over to Durango but I slapped the whole trip together so off the cuff I did not even leave till noon. I figured I would take my tent and go camping on top of Grand Mesa for the night then head down to Montrose and ride the Million Dollar Highway.
    I have been on the Million Dollar Highway 30 or so times but only twice have I done it going south, this time I was going to do it going south on the vfr. OK good plan so far, except there are all these damn tourist on the road on a Thursday? What gives then I get the news from the waiter OH Yea I haven't looked at a watch or a calendar in ages all I knew was that it was Thursday and I don't have to be back to work till the 8th. OK time to go riding. I noticed the afternoon clouds had rolled in on the mountains by this time and I was in for some rain. All the way up Monarch Pass and back down it rained on me and ruined what ever chance I had to rail the turns. OH well I will be on the Black Canyon soon enough and I could rail the whole way up Hwy 92 on the way to Cedaredge. Yea right.
    I noticed a lot of black clouds when I made it to Gunnison and thought well I cant even pass cars with all this traffic on hwy 50 - a car coming every second it seemed made passing slow movers a real job. I was crawling along behind the rest of the slomos heading west when I noticed the clouds seemed to be darkest right over the Black Canyon. I thought for sure I was gonna get more rain when I made it too hwy 92. So I pulled off and put on my rain gloves. Hwy 50 is all sweepers and at times it fun but mostly its slab, scenic slab but slab. I was ready to lean the bike over for a change since Monarch Pass was a bust and the fast stuff at Texas Creek was congested with RV's . No sooner than 100 yards after the turnoff at hwy 92 did the rain come and it was pouring, and there was a row of RV's heading up the hill too? Oh Jeez no way - I can ride pretty good in the rain and so I took off up the hill and passed the RV's the first opportunity and low and behold the road was clear of traffic after that however any chance or railing would have to be held in check cause the rain was just pouring hard. I still passed everything but at a much more conservative pace than I was going to ride. I couldn't see anything cause the clouds were hanging so low that stopping for pictures was a bust too. Oh well I enjoy riding in the rain sometimes, but boy it was cold my hands were starting to cramp up cause the rain was like ice water.
    It only took about 40 minutes to get past the last good turn on hwy 92 then what do you know the rain slowed to an even drizzle, the road was still wet and it turned to slab again. I road into the bread basket of the western slope and headed for Cedaredge on my way to the Grand Mesa then the sky opened up and really started pounding me. I rode past a nice looking motel and in an instant I scrapped any plans I had to go camping and opted for a dry room with a hot shower.

    Cedaredge Lodge Very friendly owners made me feel at home
    The folks who owned the place came out and greeted me, and couple who transplanted from Florida and really fixed the place up, they built a huge patio added a hot tub and they even invited me to BBQ with them out on the patio for dinner. The rain really started pouring then and when I got to my room I was so soaked I just stood in the warm shower for what seemed like ages warming up. Rain in Colorado is refreshing for about 10 minutes then it just gets freaking cold, especially in the mountains. It usually drops the temperature about 20 degrees from 70F to 50F in an instant. I got out of the shower and vegged out on the bed for a half an hour and went outside to explore the place I figured they gave up on the BBQ with rain so I rode down to the café a mile down the road and had a wonderful pork chop dinner that was on special. If nothing the accommodations and the food was good! Stuffed and still cold I fell asleep before the sun was even down.
    The next morning it looked to be still cloudy out and cold. At least the rain had stopped

    Cedaredge Lodge they insisted I park under the carport

    Cedaredge Lodge a creek ran along the backyard where they had a nice little porch over it with a hot tub

    sit out on the coverd patio
    I just headed back south and forgot about the Grand Mesa, over to Delta and Montrose. Hwy 550 is boring here and boy there was all that traffic again, crossing Montrose was a pill since its always slow going in there. The road takes you to Ouray - its 2 lanes for a bit out of Montrose then it starts to gently wind around farms and into the mountains. I was just about to merge into the one lane when a Porche with Arizona plates stuffs himself in the left lane and cuts me off from merging - the guy driving gives me this smart ass smirk and he takes off since he has a "sports car" I was just cruising since well the road sucks here and I ride "the pace" all the time. As soon as the road started to have curves in it I was not far behind, and he was passing people rather easily, but one section I was passing cars too and was right behind him. He was still in the left lane and passing very slowly so slowly in fact I was running out of room to get back over. So as soon as he started to merge I gunned it and went past him too.
    Then it was on - racing with a Porche I guess - I must have touched a nerve cause the guy was right on my six for the next 10 miles when the passing was easy. Then when in Ouray we were crawling 25mph in town for what seemed like ages I had planned on stopping for pictures however I was embroiled in a passing battle with this Porche now and no way was he going to get around me again to give me another smirk like he did the first time. More childishness I guess on my part but I have to admit it was the most fun I had the whole trip. Up the hill and onto the Million Dollar Highway there were all kinds of cars, RV's and SUV's all over the road. The passing was a snap since the road is bit scary to tourist since the turns are sharp and there is no guard rail - the way down is pretty far and deadly if you screw up. I was passing 2 at a time and hitting the turns at full lean. That is untill I ran up behind a Pickup truck pulling an ATV in a trailer, this guy was so afraid he was driving into the oncomeing lane? He was at least a 1/4 of the way into the oncomming lane the whole time? IN BLIND CURVES? Anybody comming the other way had to jamn it over into the inches of shoulder just to avoid this asshole? I managed to get past him and flip him the bird as I got past, he even came into me a bit as I passed - on a section of dotted line? Mr Porche managed to follow and stay close, all the way up to the first pass, there are 2 tight switchbacks and we both got around the traffic to hit them clean and I was all the way leaned over into the first one, the Porche was 10 feet behind me. I flicked it right to hit the next turn then left and way way over I was scrapping my boot, and the Porche fell behind a bit till I was a good hundred yards ahead in the switchback and as soon as the road straitened he was right behind me again. (wow OK this guy cant drive I guess cause he should have railed those turns!!).
    It was not long before we where starting on the tight switchbacks and loops of Red mountain pass, again in the tighter turns he fell back then where was a long strait and 4 cars and big RV was holding them up. I passed all four cars at once and then had to wait a couple of turns to get around the RV and the Porche just must have gave up there cause as soon as I got around the RV I was gone and never saw that Porche again. Oh well it was fun while it lasted and well I wish I could have seen his face when I got around those last 4 cars right before the tight stuff came up again.
    I had to take it easy after Silverton cause there were Bicyclist on the road, hundreds of them riding to Durango. I was on my way to Durango to have some lunch, a place I know well. I graduated from Fort Lewis College in Durango and lived there for five years, I absolutely love that place. I like to go back and visit even though all my professors have all retired and I don't know anybody there anymore I still love to go there.

    Molas Pass

    Molas Pass

    Molas Pass

    Durango Colorado

    Downtown Durango

    Downtown Durango Oldtymers my favorite lunch stop in Durango

    Panhead Chopper with whitewalls Kick start and green paint

    Durango Circa 1910
    Leaving Durango I headed east on HWY 160 to Pagosa Springs, I never advise anybody go that way for anything and this trip proved it. The traffic out of Durango was strangled up with construction and it did not let up till Bayfield a good 30 minutes of BS traffic. It is always like that I was kicking myself for not heading east and just going to NM strait away and taking hwy 64 across. No I just endured the traffic to Bayfield, then it cleared up a bit but here is where the cops come, cops everywhere. It has always been crawling with cops, two different sheriffs, town cops and state patrol, it crawls with LEO"s what was I thinking? The Pagosa Springs is a nightmare of slow traffic. Its all sprawled out for 10 miles and crawling along at 30 miles per hour it takes forever to get out of that place. I have never liked Pagosa Springs much, first it stinks like Sulfur then the sprawl goes on and on all the way to Durango hwy 160 just sucks, thats all it just sucks. The good thing is I got off hwy 160 here and headed to Chama and out of Colorado. The road is not very challenging or twisty but its much less traffic. I just cruised all the way to Santa Fe on hwy 64, well almost its pretty much a strait shot into Santa Fe once you get to Espanola.
    My sister was waiting at her new house, they were building a fence and they just had a stone patio built, I spent 3 days there and tickle torchured my niece and nephew for days while they were fighting with each other - kids will be kids. I enjoyed it, the bbq's the fireworks. Spending time with sis too.

    The road to Chimayo New Mexico

    The Road to Chimayo

    Santuario De Chimayo

    Santuario De Chimayo
    Well anyway I thought for my ride home I would head to Taos on the back roads at Penasco and then cut across to Angel Fire, Yea right more Sabotage. As soon as the mountains closed in on the road I passed a car and fell in behind an Oklahoman on a V-strom. He was really shaky in the turns and so I backed off a bit and then we got stuck behind traffic. Two cops were coming the other way and flashed up with their lights? I was annoyed at that since we were barely going the speed limit as it was behind this traffic. Then it was clear why - chip seal, one lane traffic for 5 miles and we where stuck in a pile up that was half a mile long. OH I was dying now, 25mph all the way to Agua Fria for another 20 miles?? It was a nightmare, I so so much wished I had not turned north at Penasco and just continued east to Mora instead. The traffic was going so slow I had to feather my clutch to keep from knocking into the car in front of us. V-strom seemed to handle the loose chip better than me. The worse part was when the bike started to over heat, the temp gage started to flash 250f!! for about a minutes but there was no place to pull off, then the road opened up a bit and we were going 35 mph and it cooled back down. I need to replace my radiator cap I suspect it not holding pressure. I have replaced the coolant and the thermostat, its got to be a bad cap.
    Oh man that took forever and it sucked A%^%$. As soon as the road got out of the mountains and onto the valley plains along the lake at Eagles nest folks were getting passed 5 at a time, me and the V-strom - then I passed him too cause he was slow too. he had to get gas anyway and I kept going past the lake, into town and up the hill to Cimmaron Canyon. There was brand new pavement and the turns are great there, I wasn't counting on umpteen million campers in the canyon though and deer ever where. Once again I had to slow down cause people and deer were all around walking on the road side? OHH (*&(*&(*&(&^*&^*&^*&^*&^$#$$()(
    Ok fine then it started raining again when the camp sites where long gone and I was on the high speed sweepers, the brand new pavement was gone and the old tar snakes from hell were there in the rain, time to slow down again after a few slips from the rear tire. No railing that either?
    Out of Cimmaron Canyon the rain stopped and then it started blow wind at 30mph gusts all the way to Raton I was leaned over just to keep the bike strait. This trip was starting to look like a complete bust for what it was. The in Raton the rain came again and still windy - yup as soon as I hit Raton pass into Colorado the rain started pouring again.

    Interstate 70 at Raton it was raining hard on the pass
    I rolled into Colorado in the hard rain all the way down Raton Pass where it stopped in Trinidad and they had more construction going on there - one lane with all the familiar turns off blocked off from the overpass. The interstate is pretty much one large overpass in Trinidad above the town all they across town, and it was being worked on so they diverted the traffic to the other side and there was no place to get off. I was at 180 miles on my tank and calculated I had 2 bars left on the tank, I have made it 240 miles several times with no problems. So I figured I could ride to Walsenburg and fill up there, 25 miles north.
    I rolled past one gas station I don't like at 190 miles, It filthy and I needed to use a bathroom - I don't like dirty filthy bathrooms. Then with about 5 miles to go I ran out of freaking gas! First time ever I had run out of gas on my vfr, 118k miles and now I run out of gas?

    Doh out of gas
    There was a frontage road on the east side so I took off my suit and started hoofing it when a guy on a Yamaha Vstar pulled off and asked me if that was my bike on the side of the road, I told him about running out of gas and he offered to go get some for me if I did not mind waiting, wow on the interstate a motorcyclist named Brandon comes to my rescue! Brandon your a lifesaver man you saved me a 10 mile hike! I gave him some cash and off he went!

    Brandon to the rescue I told you I would make you famous
    He comes back with some gas and the vfr starts right up, I tried to give him some cash for his trouble but he refused it saying "no just help out the next guy" which I do anyway. What comes around goes around folks and this day it was payback. Thanks Brandon I really appreciate your help.
    It was around 6:30 when I rolled into Walsenburg to fill up the rest of the way, the clerk said "oh your the guy who ran out of gas" yup! I decided I needed to get in some twisties no matter what so I pulled off the interstate at Colorado City and headed up the Greenhorn Hwy to Bishops Castle, it was fun for about 5 turns, which I did not rail cause I know of some deer trails there that are always full of deer. Sure enough my caution was warranted I saw a couple of deer feeding on the side of the road the next turn, then down to Lake Isabel I picked up the pace all the way to Bishops Castle at my normal pace, ran the good stuff to Bigalow Divide then wouldn't you know - it started raining on me again! JEBUS I cant catch a break!! I had to slow it down cause the chip seal is all scrapped off and its slick tar patches and tar snakes the rest of the way, in the rain its slick. Oh well - a bad day riding is better than a good day off work. The moral of the story is, I still love to ride no matter what!!

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  22. HispanicSlammer
    This is my first real ride on the XR650r this season, having only ridden it to and from work a few times and once to the movies it has been languishing in the bike shed all winter. I had recently outfitted it with a Turbo City Sequoia Rack and some Tourmaster bags it was ready for some touring. I saw an opportunity to also attach a plate for my mini givi top bag and so I installed a plate last October. I had been having fits with it for the 3 years I have had her, always out of tune, broken subframe, melted plastics, and sub standard tires IMHO. The bike would just start racing at stop lights or when ever I stopped cause I could never get the darned OEM carb dialed in correctly. I switched out needles and slow jets and main jets till I turned blue from playing with the carb so much I finally broke down and bought a Pumper carb from Endelbrock. Good old American made carb made all the difference. It was a snap dialing it in, no jets to replace just a main needle what actually has a real dial you turn to tune it - you just dial it in. It was easy as pie, just a few runs to check for smoothness - a few times pulling the spark plug to look at it for fuel condition and I was set - it runs perfect now! I don't count my self as an expert carb tuner but I dont think a pro could have done better on this one.
    So once more this summer I planned to spend my forced vacation days on a bike, 3 days to the western slope of Colorado down to Silverton and back via mostly dirt roads. I would say I spent probably 65% of the time on backroads and the rest on pavement. I have documented the paved parts many times over so the pictures are of the back roads in this report. I took off late in the day and headed strait into the mountains on Old Stage road a 30 mile dirt road that climbs its way west from Colorado Springs to Cripple Creek. I don't think I saw more than 3 cars on that road - but I did see an unlicensed motorbike - he passed me in a turn when I wasnt expecting it and startled me. He had is green forest service tags but no licence plate - surely a no no that could get him in trouble. I did not even know he was there but being an experienced rider startled did not equal out of control. I just kept my line, slow as it was and watched him power up the hill on past me on his 400. I found him stopped at the top and I just kept going. There are a few trails up there that allow unlicenced motorbikes and atv's but this road is not one of them. This is the sort of thing that puts our rights in jepordy and citizens action commities rail against us then government has to clamp down. Come on people ride where you are supposed to or get your bike set up street legal like I did. Getting passed on that wide open easy paved road proved to be a bad omen for the rest of the trip there was more to come. I know I am not the fastest dirt rider, nor do I care but jeeze would it kill you to try the strait? I dont go that fast in the straits either?

    Ute Trail Part of the Trans American Trail on the way to Salida

    Colligiate Peaks at a place called School Section Spring on the Ute trail - land for sale

    Mt Ouray from across the valley Poncha Springs/Salida

    Mt Ouray and Chipeta Mountain Named after the great Ute indian cheif and his wife

    Sangre DeCristo Range starts here South ute trail winds down the mountain
    It did not take long to get out of the cripple creek area and onto the Ute trail to Salida, it was near 2pm and it was the hottest part of the day, however being at 8k feet it wasn't all that hot up there. I was pretty much alone the whole 40 miles or so of the Ute Trail only seeing one pickup on the way up the pass from Salida - it was expected being so close to town.
    I found a restaurant at the base of Ute Trail and had a good burger there, cant remember the name of the place it was attached to a motel. It was rather sparse for decorations, but the food was good. I had wondered if the girl who served me, if she was the only one there cause I saw nobody else, she must have cooked the meal too? She was nice and so I tipped her good. I could afford to spend money on food since I was camping for free. It was getting to be around 4pm by the time I was finished eating and I was soon on my way to Marshall Pass after gassing up in Poncha Springs. I bought a few powerbars (nasty things they taste awful no more ever again) for breakfast in the morning.

    Sheep Mt and Antora Peak as seen from Marshall Pass

    Windy Peak from Marshall Pass

    Camp site just off Marshall Pass

    I went exploring a deer trail

    Aspen Groves 10k feet elevation
    I found a little road that turned off Marshall Pass and ended about a quarter of a mile into a campsite just off the main road, it looked good to me so I unpacked the camping gear and set up my Kermit camp chair and relaxed in the evening reading and walking around a bit on some narrow deer trail to see the sites. I couldn't see much because the Aspen trees were so thick - I read a little bit then passed out in my sleeping bag. The mosquitoes were not an issue since I brought some OFF but the Bee's mane the Bee's all these damn Bee's buzzing around the tent all night long. I finally put in my earplugs and went back to sleep. They did clue me in on seeing the milky way in all its glory. Nothing like seeing the stars in the high mountains, they are incredible how many and how much brighter they are up there in the night.

    Mt Ouray from the other side the sign says Ouray Creek

    County Rd-14PP Looking North

    County Rd-14PP Approaching Cotchetopa Canyon

    County Rd-KK14 heading into Cathedral
    After Waking up I headed down Marshall Pass into Sargents a strange little village with a gas station at the base of Monarch Pass on Hwy 50 its built right ontop of a flood plane full of marshes - mostly log homes with that old rustic look to it like cabins but not quite all strewn together with dirt streets. I gassed up after 80 miles and only used maybe 2 gallons probably less much less. I was impressed my gas mileage increased with the new carb too. I have a Clark 4.3 gallon tank on it, and usually I only get 150 miles tops per tank I could tell I could top that easy. I worked out the milage on the old carb to 38-42 mpg on a good day, I was getting around 51 mpg on this trip and no issues, starts on the first kick too.
    I spend some time riding the high plains along Cotchetopa Canyon, or rather above it and along side. I like the canyon but it scares me a bit on the vfr since it was the site of an awful crash on a ride I was leading. It is not a road you can take it easy on it demands all your attention and respect. I was soon heading toward Slumgullion pass on some more back roads and into Lake City

    This was a surprize A Harley on a bumpy dirt road
    Harley guy stopped to ask me where he was, I couldn't hear him over his bike cause he was very soft spoken and so I just warned him the road was about to get a bit more technical - and he took off down the road. I had stopped for pictures already and left my keys on the dirt and had to turn back around and go find them, only to run into this guy. Sure enough at the first sign of difficulty the Harley rider had stopped and I rolled on by. I took another hour to get to Lake City for lunch at a place called Southern Vittles - a Texan replant owned the place and he served up Dr Pepper from the fountain from Dublin TX - a real treat cause I am a Dr Pepper drinker since I was a Kid. Pure cane sugar and the original recipe - too bad his fried chicken did not live up to its southern fried claim. I have been to the south and this wasnt nearly as good as what I had in Tennessee. A bit under seasoned and lacking in salt the breading was hard too. Oh well it was decent though and it cured my hunger I left the greasy french fries on the plate. I put on the Stich and headed up Engineer pass for the difficult part of my trip.

    Start of Engineer Pass the easy part

    Historic landmark at Henson CO

    The cabin had a bit of a draft

    my steed

    This is how rivers are made in Colorado

    The pass begins to narrow a bit still easy at this point

    A look back
    I missed a turn and headed into the wrong direction and the road just ended there, so I had to double back and turn up a steep rocky section and found myself teeth chattering along on a jeep only road, it had a sign that said 4 x 4 recommended past this point and with good reason. This is what my guide book called "moderate" I was behind a few jeeps now and motored on past at twice their speed since the XR was digging in nicely if not teeth chattering its way up the steep embankment. I just kept up the momentum and she powered up just fine. The only serious difficultly was stopping for Jeeps on the way down, they were numerous and it seemed always ended up in the way at the Switchbacks. I had to find a place to get off so they could pass cause the road was steep and narrow at this point. It was more challenging but nothing I could not handle.

    Engineer Pass as soon as I reached the tree line the road got steeper bumpy rocky and much more challenging

    Snapped a picture while waiting for a caravan of jeeps to come down the pass - too narrow to pass safely I had to pull aside

    typical switch back this one was easy - no rocks but steep

    The top of Engineer Pass this was the easy part

    OHH Boy its raining over on this side actually I had a small rain at the bottom of the pass - this is looking north west

    This is directly west of Engineer Pass Telluride is one the other side of that range

    A information marker at the top Engineer Pass

    I made my way across the tops of the mountains
    California Pass turned out to be more of a challenge, the rocks were more numerous there where hoards of ATV's now, each of them with a child on the back it seemed and moving faster then the jeeps but slower then me. It seems I was the fastest guy on the mountain at the moment which I found hard to believe after all I am used to getting passed on the XR. California pass seemed easy compared to Hurricane Pass because this mountain was covered in snow and it was all melting on the road which looked more like a raging creek bed than a road. It unnerved me to be on the rocks as a steady stream of water spewed out of the melting snow at 12,000 feet up. One jeep caught me off gaurd on a paticularly tough switch back, it was all wet with runoff and it was steeper than the others with an 8 inch step - he was in the way so I had to back into the snow drift and darned if my motor stalled. He rolled on by and waved thankfully but I was a bit miffed about the stall and may have been a bit short with the guy. Kickstarting a bike in a tight switchback at a 25% incline at 12.5 k up is not easy. I managed but I was completely out of breath when I made it the half mile to the top.

    California Pass this was tougher than Engineer - melting snow made the road a creek bed in places

    California Pass a bit steeper more rocks and lots of snow melt

    Oh ok down there then there were trails going all over the place

    From where I just came going down Engineer and up California pass proved to be much more challenging

    Xr650 weighed down with camping gear and tools

    California Pass even more challenging now more rocks

    California Pass

    California Pass

    Poughkeepsie Gulch the trail was blocked by a huge snow drift at the top - a completely smashed up car sat there as a warning to all who enter

    Finally at the top this road winded around quite a bit and lots of jeeps made for some interesting encounters
    I looked down to see there was yet another pass and by now I was getting winded because of the lack of air and the increasing difficulty of the road, Hurricane pass turned out to be the most difficult for me, since I was a bit sore in the shoulder from sleeping on the hard ground the night before in an odd way. I was crawling up it now and going down was worse, California Gulch looked easy from above but it was rocky and wet too. I just plowed through it from the top. Going down was hard for me being loaded down there were places where the snow jutted out and cut the trail in half and the edge had a drop off that spelled disaster. I just kept my eyes on the road and tried not to look over, it was a bit scary in places. OK allot scary in places.

    Hurricane Pass much more difficult either that or I was getting tired

    Even the sign was in bad shape

    The view however was worth the trouble

    looking back up at Hurricane pass I had to stop cause my rear brake overheated too much load

    The start of Corkscrew Pass I decided to head to Silverton instead - 3 more mountains to pass - I could see it comming down Hurricane and it looked challenging
    Hurricane Pass was the worse off all but it was short, the ride down was really bumpy and I overheated my rear brake - nothing on the petal I just slammed to the bottom with no stopping power I had to pull off and let it cool off till I got rear brake again. Some guy on a CRX stopped and asked me if I was ok I just waved and he rolled on by me at 3 times my speed - I was back to being a slow ass again. I was not going to try Corkscrew at this point I was pooped after being on the bike for 9 hours. My butt was starting to really hurt too, the widening of the seat and the Sheepskin cover helps but not after 9 hours! I just rolled into Gladstone on the big wide dirt road that seemed like a super highway at this point and soon I was getting blasted by all sorts of pickup trucks and jeeps now. I am no dirt track racer so I don't care if you pass me, I even pull off to make it easy. It was raining hard now and Silverton had nothing I wanted in it, so I headed up the Million dollar highway into Ouray where it was still raining - beautiful as ever Ouray has got to be the most scenic place in Colorado. Now I was getting tired so I decided to find a camping stop somewhere up on Owl Creek Pass cause the rain was every where around me except east of Ridgway where the pass is. I stopped and gassed up - got a sandwitch and some drinks and headed for the mountains again.

    Heading up Owl Creek Pass East of Ridgeway

    Chimney Rock this was my choice for a good place to camp

    Alpine meadow after the rain

    The blooming bush

    This was the view from my camp chair

    Weeping flowers

    more wild flowers
    Camping up there was wonderful not as many bee's or mosquito's as Marshall and it was very scenic, the stars were even brighter up there. I was surprised to see a whole slew of bikes roll on by at twilight, a few GS beemers, a KTM, and a V-stom leading the way in the dark. They stopped and talked to me a little while - but did not want to crowd the camp site, it was wide open as far as I was concerned but I think one of the beemer guys was more interested in a motel. So they left and gave me a beer as a parting gift for pointing them in the right direction. Its great to make friends on the road - even on the back roads.

    I woke up and saw an Elk across the meadow

    Leaving camp Chimney rock in the morning

    This rock is just like the rock in Alberta The rockies are the rockies after all

    The summit of Owl Creek Pass 7am

    Views from the road

    Turret ridge

    Views from the road

    Turret Ridge

    Rock formation at High Mesa

    Looking back to Owl Creek pass at the cross roads

    One last look at Turret ridge

    Cimmaron Ridge at Silver Jack

    Silver Jack Reservoir

    Wild blooms on the side of the road
    It was here off Cimmaron Road I had an encounter with a Ford pickup 4 x 4 - a big one. I was on the road where they had sprayed down Magnesium Chloride and it was still wet and slippery, this asshole passed me in a turn and brushed me in the elbow then gassed it and sprayed me all over with that stuff. This sent me into a rage and for a short moment I was a dirttrack racer - overtaking him and I made sure to spray the hell out of that nice white paint with that Magnesium Crap they had on the road, and I rolled on the power into the rest of the turns and left him in the mud. I had a few moments where I was out of control and a bit scared he might run me down. I did it anyway and well it was childish and stupid but I was pumped after that and could have ridden another 600 miles that day. I turned off on hwy 50 and ran smack into a bicycle tour with what seemed like a 1000 riders. They stretched all the way from Cimmarron Road - to Gunnison and even turned with me up to Almont 45 miles long a least. Big bike tour I guess. I got gas in Gunnison even though I did not need it and headed for Cottonwood pass. Oh boy the tourists were all over the area here, Lake Taylor was full of tourist and fishermen in the creek by the damn.

    Cimmaron State Wildlife Area Cimmaron Road

    Taylor Reservoir

    Taylor Reservoir

    The 3 apostles and Ice Mountain

    Cottonwood Pass looking on the east side of the continental divide

    Cottonwood pass the east side is paved - the west side is hardpacked dirt

    Some fun for a vfr here

    One last look at the western slope

    Across the valley American Flag Mountain stands out in the center

    Cottonwood Pass west side
    I pulled into a gas station in Buena Vista that had a diner in it and had some lunch the waitress was right at eye level when I sat down and I did not take notice till I went to pay that she stood barely 4 feet tall. She was very pretty but boy was she short. She was making fun of me cause I kept asking for odd stuff, I made her work for her tip - and I did tip her well. I think she was surprised how well cause after all it was a truck stop but I was a bit demanding service was good and the food was good.
    Then I found a back way on the map to get to the ute trail again and so I took that way, it was only a mile up the road from the gas station and oops I had forgot to fill up, 80 miles already on the odo, I thought about it and figured out I had plenty to make it to Cannon city anyway.

    Badger Creek off the Ute Trail wildflowers grown on the high plains Agate Mountain to the left
    It started to rain on me at the end of ute trail and I had though of tracing my path back to Cripple creek but the rain looked worse there so I headed down the mountain to Cannon City and boy it was hot there, 95 degrees out hot, I was melting in my stich so I found the nearest Baskin Robbins and had an ice cream in the air condtioning. Then the rain rolled into that place and cooled it off too. Wow the last part home was pavement and uneventful but I could barely sit up cause my butt hurt so much, 500 miles on a dirt bike can be painful
    Day one

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    Day two

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    I am also attaching my gps tracks and a google earth path file so you can view it in 3d if you like.
    d Lakecity_tracks.gpx
    Lakecity_path.kmz
  23. HispanicSlammer
    Radar with his brand new VTEC Sun Honda in Thornton Colorado
    Radar flew into Denver Monday Morning to pick up a Brand new wine colored VTEC he bought from Sun Honda in the Denver Area, he said coming here and buying his new bike saved him 3 Grand Canadian Dollars. He did the math and it was cheaper, much cheaper to guy in the USA. I PM'ed him and told him that I would make the trip up there to Denver to meet up with him and ride a bit the rest of the day. I rolled into the Dealership about 11am and Darren was already done with the paperwork and almost ready to go, they installed a ram mount for him, and they installed the rack for his pack on the back, added a powerlet for his Zumo, put in a brand new Sargent Seat and he was ready to go. I went to high school only a mile down the road so I knew exactly where the place was, back then Sun was just a little place now its huge and operating out of 3 buildings. The only thing I could think of that was wrong was they left on those god awful Metzler M4 tires. The worse OEM tire ever inflicted on a VFR. So we talked a bit and Radar hands me this tube - "here ya go". Thinking it was something related to the Summit meet coming up in the next few months I just took a wild guess and said "The Flaf"? No dummy - he gave me a set of his famous sliders for my bike. Well wow thats a surprise for sure and a I wasn't expecting that! Thanks man - thanks very much!
    Radar says "I hope you have some lunch in mind soon cause I have been up since 4:30 am and I have not eaten yet" I tell him maybe a half an hour up to the Wondervu Café! Then off we went, Zig Zagging the main roads in Arvada till we finally we came up on Coal Creek Canyon and without missing a beat it starts raining, just as soon as the canyon walls closed in and the road started to curve and a cold rain at that. I figure well - New Bike, Crappy tires, we should probably take it easy. So I do that and hes all over me like Olivier Jacque riding his brand new bike in the rain. Hes on my 6 all the up the mountain on the way to Wondervu and then we find out that the Diner is closed on Mondays! OK well then lets Try Nederland, so off we went winding down the hairpin turns at a snails pace cause I hate going down that mountain - always wet or there is gravel in all the turns, but alas I was just a bit too cautious for the conditions cause Radar was all over me again. Then we crossed the railroad tracks at Pinecliff and the road eases up a bit and its much faster here. So I roll it on some. The place I had in mind for lunch in Nederland was also closed, WTF!! It wasn't even a restaurant anymore, it was some kind of art galley now? OH hell - Radar by now is getting desperate and was eyeing the leather on his gloves a bit too much. So we just rode into the town square and hoped something was there. It was - a nice bar and grill at the end of the strip. A pretty European girl came out and waited on us, and we were finally fed for the day. We got out and were putting on our gear when a couple of neo-hippies were talking to everybody, a man and a woman who seemed a bit tore. She was telling jokes. "Why don't blind men jump out of airplanes"? - "cause it scares the shit out of the dog" and "Why was the strawberry crying?" - "Cause its mom was in a jam". The guy being a guy was asking all kinds of questions about the bike, and lots of them, till finally the roar of the V4 mysteriously drowned him out and off we went. Bye bye Hippy dude! Nederland - should be called Nutterland in all honesty!
    At the Grill Radar says "you know you can speed it up a bit". OK well then than more speed it is Captain! So we rolled on out of Nederland down the Peak to Peak hwy and into some tasty sweepers where I am more at home and soon we were leaning it over much more than we were in Coal Creek Canyon - ever mindful of the police I slowed down in the straits. Then the road came to a stop and I pulled off and asked Radar "this way is scenic, that way is twisty, what do you want to do"? He says "twisty" and down the hill we went into The Stain Vrain Canyon - the scene of one of my videos, this time not screaming down it so hard as that but still at a good clip. The pace was allot more challenging now, but not so bad that it was out of hand.

    Gassing up and waiting out a rain storm Lyons Colorado
    From here we headed into the farm country on the way to Stove Prairie road - I took him up to Carter Lake along the foothills and we stayed out of the metro area east of there, then looking north I could tell the place was getting pounded with rain. We made the turn off to Masonville where the road begins and sure enough the road was all wet again, and so it was back to riding like Olivier Jacque in a rain race. Then we encountered a small car in the tight stuff, I signaled to Radar to let the car go on ahead for a bit, but he mistook it for "take the lead" and whoops all of a sudden I was following him now. He was riding it pretty well, the car had found a spot to pull out and let us pass. Stove Prairie is a fun road but a bit contentious with all the wet spots and leaves that had been washed down from the trees and onto the road. Gravel washed onto the corners some and of course those darned cattle grates - in the turns! It was still enjoyable and soon we were at the Rist Canyon turnoff

    Stove Prairie Road

    Rist Canyon Taking a water break - just off Stove Prairie Road

    Top of Rist Canyon

    Radar all decked out for winter let nary a drop of H2O land on this man without being ready for the worse
    I lead the way down Rist Canyon and it was worse than Stove Prairie, that at least was somewhat dry but Rist was all wet and it had mulch all over the place from a recent mowing. Damn so much for Rist Canyon. Then we were in Fort Collins on the outskirts where some crazy old biker on a ratted out 60's era Harley Sportster with missing spokes and a rusted up Shovel head came rolling up behind us. We stopped at a light and he yells out "I am from New York"! I take a look and hes wearing cut off jeans, and flip flops and hes got a beard like Moses himself, wearing these funny goggles he looked ridiculous but he rode that rat bike out here all the way from New York? OK then it seemed like it was ready to fall apart as soon as he used the brake once more. Then he saw his opening and blasted past the both of us. I could just imagine what it was he was saying as he blew on by ....."those pussies"!
    So its 5pm and Radar pulls into the La Quinta, and I am thinking well the sun is going down and I hate riding into Denver in the dark so I thought we should just split a room - get some dinner and then head out in the morning. Radar says sure why not, he gets a room and its all the freaking way on the very back of the hotel - like a mile down the corridor, well its nice so we forgive the hike. We drop off the stuff and head to a steak house down the road, the hostess takes one look at us and then all over again we are trekking past the bar, past the this section, past that section, all the way to the back of the house again? What gives with Fort Collins? - she must of thought "oh no not bikers - I will just stick them in the back"! Either that or the New York guy stopped in and said "if you see two pussies riding red rice burners stick em in da back"!
    OK so I ordered a steak cause Radar was paying - heh sorry man - I got lunch and well he got the sort stick on this one! So he hands me a set of sliders, says mail this for me please. DA OK will do.
    Darren and I stay out in the sun after dinner and watch the sun go down then head in for some sack time, he knowingly hands me a set of earplugs cause apparently he knows I am going to need them? YUP he snores, YUP and I work nights so guess how my night went! I was wide awake till 3am when I finally fell asleep, to wake up at 7am with Radar already eaten - showered, shaved and packed up ready to go! I slept through all that? Well it was good seeing you and have a good ride into South Dakota! Enjoy yourself and be safe. Just like that he was gone, I take a shower and start organizing my stuff when he knocks on the door, forgot his jacket! YES you might need that. I am surprised he didn't have a spare packed away cause he was packed for a nuclear winter it looked like to me, food, gear, thing's! Well dude see ya - again.
    Then it was my turn to head out and I made my way to Loveland on some back roads, boy northern Colorado just sort of melds together, Fort Collins, Loveland, Berthod, Longmont it all melds in together. I decided to do the scenic stuff we missed out on yesterday. So I rolled up the Big Thompson, never been on that road and it was fun, lots of good turns and an interesting canyon, little villages all along the way to Estes Park - but boy does Estes Park top everything!

    Estes Park This place just blows me away every time

    Estes Park from further out and zoomed in

    A Stanley Steamer At the Stanley Hotel

    Stanley Hotel Estes Park redrum redrum
    I thought for a moment to head into Rocky Mountain National park but the slow drivers were already getting on my nerves in the Big Thompson, lucky they have lots of passing zones on that road I would have gotten a bit irritated - 20 mph irritated! So I just rolled south on the Peak to Peak hwy all the way to Central City

    The Chapel on the Rock Mt Meeker

    Work Horses Impressive animals

    Peaceful Valley Sawtooth Mountain off the Peak To Peak Hwy
    I wont describe my lunch at the McDonald's cause its indescribable how awful that place was, never seen a McDonald's that filthy before! Too bad I had already paid! Then after eating I played who can corner faster( a motorcycle or a bicycle) going down Kerr Gulch road in the hairpin turns with 2 riders on the way down, guess who was faster! YUP (yea it was me - don't even). Then up the hill at Kittridge over Parmalee Gulch road where I got stuck behind a dump truck, no way I could pass with a car coming every 5 seconds I just endured it. Then I saw a post office in Indian Hills and remembered Radars Package he wanted mailed, pulled out from behind the dump truck and pulled the package out of my tail bag. I talked with the postman for about a half an hour about motorcycles. 75 miles a day he puts on his Harley riding to and from work. 210 miles per tank 40 mpg - about what I get almost, a bit less. However I am sure it would take me much less time! He looked like a biker too, tattoos mostly military tats but he was at least agreeable for a biker, and even talked to a rice cake like me. Then I headed down Deer Creek road and again played with the bicyclist in the tight stuff. One guy was holding me off for about 3 turns - just because it did not seem safe to pass with the guard rail so close and he was sort of protecting the lane. I waited till there was a strait short just long enough to pass. By the look of it I got the impression he was trying to take me on in those turns pedaling his ass off? HEH OK as soon as I got by .....gone, just gone, gone gone gone.

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    Day 1

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  24. HispanicSlammer
    It all started like this... I PM Reddog..."any thoughs on a fathersday ride"? This ride is somthing that Bill and I have been doing for the past 4 years now and this year it was a bit of a Cluster *&&^ to get it going. He writes back that he has things to do and perhaps we can do it on such and such a date, and I write back "no how about such and such", and he writes back "nope cant do that". Then I write back "well what about this weekend?" and he says OK. The of course then I change it cause some guys from work want to ride too, and of course they cant do that day. Reddog comments that usually our ride plans consist of a few grunts and a place to meet, nothing this rediculous, we took of on 3 day rides with less than 4 words!
    Well it all came together for yesterday 4 riders - one of us was new. Reddog Myself LDSRIDER and our newcomber Ryan all met up at the Texas Creek Diner at 8:30am. Well OK thats not quite true, LDSRider, Ryan, and I met at a gas station in Colorado Springs then rode the hour and half to Texas Creek to meet Bill (Reddog). We had a bit of fun on the way. Passing vehicles that is, Ryan got stuck behind a slow mover in the canyon and LDSRider got away for a about a mile or so. I slowed up to let him catch up because the diner was comming up soon and I did not Ryan to miss it. Just as we slowed up we saw a State Pat-troll on the side of the road tucked in behind some trees WHEW just in time I looked at my speedo and it showed the speed limit right on the dot! GOOD THING We waited for Ryan or he would have been waiting on us!

    Texas Creek Cafe the meeting place

    LDSRider - Ryan - and Myself we arrived first
    We had some breakfast at the diner and introduced Ryan to Reddog, he is a fairly new rider on a F4 CBR. He was riding much more mature than most guys his age and well within his limits from what I saw, but he had some difficulties getting around the slow moveing cages. The breakfast was good it was starting to get up to an hour we decided we had a long way to go yet and mapped out our stops, when Ryan would need gas cause he had the smallest gas tank amoung us, and off we went for Monarch Pass.

    Monarch Pass Our First stop at the top of the pass

    Monarch Pass LDSRIDER and Reddog
    Reddog had mentioned that he was a bit rusty at the breakfast diner - only putting on 6k miles in the last year. He said he had slowed down his pace from our usual (yea right ok) - I will believe it when I see it! Reddog says "I dont ride like that anymore"! HEH yea if he slowed down any I guess I have too! We determined that Ryan and Scott (LDS) would ride pace with each other, then Bill and I would rail for a bit and wait somwhere up ahead when there was a stop, or a turn, or when the road just plain got slabby. It worked out well and there was no issues with getting lost, missing turns, or anybody riding over there limits. The Slab was about equal to the twisties, the slab is scenic though, jostling with cars and trucks on the all too few broken dotted lines to get ahead. You know the boring parts! Well I think the Black Canyon would just not be as sweet if it was so easy to get too, you need the build up to really appreciate it for what it is - a great road. Boy was it sweet, the road was clean for the most part and the wind was minimal, no rain and it was warm! You cant ask for better conditions, all day long, and we had at it
    Comming down Monarch Pass we encounted a State Pat-troll who had pulled over a car in the turns on the downhill section? What, I never have seen that before and it soon became appearant why, CONTRUCTION CREWS. A land slide had to be cleared and so we had to wait a good 20 minutes for that to happen. I have only once been stopped by any cop in Colorado in a twisty section, because it is dangerous for cops to stop in areas where they can not be seen, and the twisties usually can not accomidate a parking area. Not only that cars dont usually speed in the twisties so why would they stop there to collect speeding taxes? I read about Deals Gap and well that makes sense, it gotta be a gold mine with all those speeding bikes every weekend. Oh yea the public saftey and all of that too. Monarch Pass? No it does not qualify, the bike to cage ratio is much much less than Deals Gap or Angels Crest Highway. I knew there was somthing comming up down the road, and sure enough the construction sign was just around the next turn.

    Stuck on the pass waiting for crews to clear a land slide
    THE VIDEO
    [vid]94[/vid]
    I got a little carried away with the length of this video, its a long one but it has excerpts from all the best parts of this ride. We were stopping a bit more than usual, what with the extra gas stops for Ryans bike, more riders than usual, and picture stops it was still a very good day so far. I was again very excited to be on my favorite road of all time. (MINE ALL MINE) Heha boy do I love hwy 92.

    The Damn at Blue Mesa the guys take a look

    Black Canyon goes on from here Gunnison River below

    Looks good already Colorado Hwy 92
    There was NO traffic in the Canyon at all, none that we encountered anways except there were a few bicyclist and a chain gang out from the sherrif cleaning up the road. They were not friendly when I waved as we went by nobody waved back and I think I heard the F word. OK well then dont do the crime boys!!! Maybe you would be out on a motorcycle too if you stay out of trouble! I was really enjoying it the more the turns came, and the more miles into it we went, Reddog had somehow managed to shake off the "Rust" he was talking about and was going what I thought was a darned good pace, perhaps a bit slow in the straits is what he ment cause it sure seemed like I was all the way leaned over in the turns! I managed to scrub in my new tire all the way in anyhow. When the rest of our group caught up to us LDSRIDER took off his glove and put out his hand. It was visibly shaking cause he was so darned pumped, a Black Canyon virgin he was - he had the same reaction I did my first time. Positively overwhelmed is the word I am looking for, but loving it.

    Reddog and I waiting for the others at the overlook

    Marrow Point Reservoir

    San Juan Range

    Reddog and Ryan
    We tried to find a new lunch stop this year, another place in Crawford I tried last year but nothing was open besides the Boardwalk Cafe. The same place we always stop, last year the food was a bit lax and dissapointing but they more then made up for it this time. I think I inhaled my burger it was so good! Perhaps the ride was so good that I did not care but it really hit the spot, the company was good too. I caught up on what was going on in the Reddog Household and Scott and Ryan were just as forthcomming. Ryan was looking for a ring finger on the young woman serving us cause she was rather cute. "Cornfed" he said and well she filled out them blue jeans as good as any city girl could! I think she was married to the cook cause he sure was eyeing us, well keeping an eye on Ryan anyway!

    McClure Pass

    McClure Pass
    We took off for Paonia after lunch and were a bit on a tight schedual cause we had dilly dalleyed a bit too much the first half, so we picked up the pace up McClure pass and past Paonia Lake, I love that section too the sweepers there on Hwy 133 at the bottom of the pass are so sweet you can do your best Valintino Rossi imitation and crack a huge smile as the speed and those turns are just right for the sweeper reapers! The ride up to the top of the Pass was sweet too but we all stayed together cause I did not want them to miss the incredible view of the other side. I was surprised they did not feel the same way about it as I did, perhaps it was getting too late and they were tired but I am always amazed by that view from the top of McClure pass.
    We had to endure a bit of slab into Aspen then the weather got worse and colder but for the trip over Independance pass but it was not so bad, I never ride well when I am cold so Reddog started to pull away from me in the tight stuff, I had to gas it a bit in the short strait areas to catch up. I guess my issues with the really tight stuff continue on from the Texasmac, I did not get dropped though just was not so comfortable.

    Independence Pass

    Twin Lakes Reddog and I wait for the others
    It was here that LDSrider said he had noticed his Concours was showing his rear tire pressure low, I KNOW! The bike showed him he had low pressure in his rear tire! It has a pressure sensor in the tires? OK wow - well thats really cool, so we looked and found a screw embedded in one of the treads on his brand new Pilot Road 2! He starts pulling out a kit and its one of those gunked up thead kits, Reddog pulls out some fix a flat - but I had my Stop and go kit with me so we decided to use it. I went to work for about 40 minutes reaming it out like I had practiced, the first plug failed I did not insert it correctly but the second one went in like a charm. Then I pulled out my mini pump and we had him up and running in no time!

    Repairing LDSRIDERS tire he caught a screw somewhere in Aspen
    The ride from here was a lot of slab but at least the traffic was low, going up hwy 285 was a lot of traffic I decided we should wait till the turn off at hwy 24 then pass any cars who turn off as well its wide open there. Then it was the usual easy going riding to Woodland Park but LDS was running late so he picked up the pace and so did I, I took off after Wilkerson Pass cause it felt good and was soon by myself. I decided to pull out and wait for the rest when we came to Lake George and ride in together. Reddog pulled out in Woodland park for home and the rest of us continued down UTE pass - but somehow we had an extra bike with us? I thought for a moment I misscounted but we managed to catch on to an interloper squid guy who was messing with the formation the whole way down, going ahead, merging into us, slowing down, then pulling out? He was annoying me with his in and out routine, we just took it easy on Ute pass cause we all know its patrolled by the State guys alot. I noticed the traffic was really lite for a weekday, it was actually really low and so I decided to take the canyon section at pace and keep my eyes peeled for cops on the sides. I hit the first turn at 80 and the squid thought he would follow, I did my thing and was having fun when I noticed squid guy had overcooked the 4th turn and went way wide so I rolled off right quick so he wouldnt try to continue to keep pace - I was pulling ahead of the guy rather easily but I wasnt expecting him to do that so I thought I should shut it down and just roll into Manitou Springs with the guys. After that he stayed well away from me and the other two of us caught up. The sun was going down and we where back in Colorado Springs. I dont usually school Squids but I was going to ride it anyway like that, cause its not often that the Ute Pass Canyon is free of heavy traffic, so I took a chance the cops were taking a break and ran it. I pulled the bike into the garage and noticed wow I was really really tired! Thats a sign of a great day of riding - when you ride all day long and dont notice how tired you are till you get home!
    The Map

    Full Size
    for some reason google maps does not recognize Indepenance Pass as a road so it routes around it.
  25. HispanicSlammer
    After arriving in Nashville three days of over 500 miles each on the bike had played me out, worn out and sore, I couldnt even muster the energy to go for some Chow. Still stuffed from the pizza I ate 3 hours ago in Erin TN I just sat in Baileyrocks massaging chair. I told him I was having a strange vibration in the front tire when the speed hit 50 mph and so later that night we rolled my bike onto his bike lift and removed the front tire and spun it on a stand to see if it was out of balance. Niether of us could get it to settle in the same place so I figured it must be the chain makeing the vibration. Somehow we ended up checking the runout on the brake discs too - BR is a stickler for getting brake discs into spec with his dial indicator and a few well placed hammer hits on this button out, that button in and soon it was right into line! Baileyrock made sure to make fun of how tight I had all the bolts - prompting me to go out and buy two new torque wrenches when I got home.
    I found out I had an old college friend living around the Nashville area and made arrangements to have breakfast with him the next day. Baileyrock was a good sport and sat with us while we reminised over eggs and toast for a good 45 minutes - it was great seein Keith again and I am glad he survived being in the special forces for 13 years. Good man and that was it we were off to the TMAC together for the second year in a row. The route was very enjoyable and we just lazily rolled up and down those TN hills - occassionally powering up for some great twisties but mostly we just enjoyed the ride.

    Great Falls Road at Rock Island State Park

    The Old Pump house at Rock Island State Park, a natural spring

    Great Falls Factory Rock Island State Park BRs and my bike parked out front

    Great Falls Rock Island State Park
    I took us most of the day to get to Franklin, and BR had finally had enough of my pace and took off on the last leg of Wyha bend road. I have to admit I gained a few pounds since last year and it showed in my riding skill, Wyha bend road kicked my arse. We both passed a KLR about 1/4 of the way up the 42 miles of the road and the dude was on my 6 for a good 5 miles before I finally broke away. Those KLRs can turn a good pace in the tight stuff, well at my pace anyway - BR was long gone at this point. I have been there before - on that road at least 4 times and the tightness of the turns in North Carolina always amaze and surprize me. I finnally seen BR pulled over on the side of the road (changing his oil or somthing waiting for me) and we rolled into the Franklin Hotel together.

    Thursday evening gathering The Usual Suspects Baileyrock seated Theoxmole Nicole Motorhead1977 Marazmus and a couple other women I cant rember all the names

    Wrestler next to Sebspeed

    Phedrusman and Hypertention

    Chev with a big smile on his face

    Vifferluv I think this is what the locals refer to as *all bowed up*

    Redfish Luther is a regular Texasmac attendee

    Oyama I think the question was *is there going to be cheesecake*

    IntAceptor Bob was on of our lead riders

    Trace always follow the Trace Pace

    Kperham well the back of his head anyway and House in the background carrying some whiskyous substance no doubt
    Having been on the road for 4 days I was a bit tired Friday morning when we broke out into groups, having ate too much, drank too much, and slept a bit too little. I think I may have bit off more than I could chew going off with the Chatanooga clan VFR chapter of VFRD - DB05 took off in the lead on roads I could hardley imagine being so close to Franklin and yet so foriegn to me it was like I had never been to TexasMac before. I felt like I did the very first time, excited tired and a in a bit over my head. I just ran a pace I thought I could manage and if I get dropped oh well I get dropped. Yup I got dropped a few times, Jebus it was like Wyha Bend road all over again. However after Sochiro Joined us the pace seemd to smooth out a bit, probably because of the rain, it started raining soon after we stopped and joined up. He took us up some mountains and then onto the Blue Ridge Parkway for a short spell then down into the valley below for somthing to eat.

    Pre Ride Meeting and a moment of silence for Bruce (Texasmac)

    Gathered for the pre ride meeting

    Earthshake asking where are we supposed to park

    Just a few bikes out here

    Group Bike shot

    Baileyrock photo op

    Layers on Layers
    I have to admit I did enjoy it but I felt like I was holding everybody up, and for once I would like to actually stop and look around a bit - take some pictures ya know. This is the third time I have been to the TexasMac and I never really stopped to enjoy it before so I took off on my own for the last leg and stopped at all the great places I had only glanced at in times before.

    Intermediate Group Balsam Grove waiting on Sochiro

    Lunch Stop At Juke Box Junction hwy 281 and Pigon Road

    Smoke Break

    This looks like a good place to stop to get off that stiffling rain gear
    [vid]91[/vid]
    Earthshake cautioned me that hwy 64 into Cashiers was a nightmare of slow traffic he was right be he failed to mention if you pull over and take some pictures you can space it so you get in some good riding in the gaps!

    I split off and headed back on hwy 64 this is one of those *boring* shots from that boring road - ha wow
    Now I have been on hwy 28 between Franklin and Highlands at least 10 times and I never once stopped, well Ok we stopped when Trace *stopped* once but that was it, all this time and I never once stopped at Bridal viel falls! Not this time!

    Bridal Viel Falls who hasnt taken a picture here

    Bridal Viel Falls

    Cullasaja Falls 20 minutes ride from Franklin on hwy 28
    I enjoyed being a tourist so much I decided I would just go out on my own for Saturday too, I borrowed a bit of the route from the day before and headed over to the Blue ridge parkway again, and spend more time looking around and taking pictures. I wasnt waiting on anybody and holding up nobody either, just me and my pace alone all day. It was fun and I just went where ever a bit into South Carolina too.

    Blue Ridge Parkway

    Blue Ridge Parkway

    Blue Ridge Parkway

    Blue Ridge Parkway

    Wild Flowers

    Rhododendron along the roadside

    Blue Ridge Parkway

    Rhododendron everywhere

    Blue Ridge

    Blue Ridge Parkway

    Blue Ridge Parkway
    After comming down from the Blue Ridge Parkway I headed south into South Carolina and found some good roads down there too, Ceasars Head state park in South Carlina at hwy 276 was a real treat. Then a bit of slab and back into North Carolina on hwy 178 I was having a real blast on that one, called Moorfield Memorial Highway my gps said turn on horse pasture road and head west from there at the top, so I started climbing hwy 178 and the turns were delicious and I was really finding a good rythmn and riding the best I had all week, I felt like my old self finally. When I got to this horse pasture road it was a no go, no way it was all rocks and it looked like it was more suited for a jeep so I just headed for hwy 64 and routed myself back over to Franklin via a little zig zagging to hwy 107 and back over the same path the guys showed me the day before. It was called Cullowee Mountain road I think and it changes names a few time where it comes out near Franklin as Walnut Creek road. Fun and it can get tricky as I soon leared cause I ran into Ryanme17 on the side of the road with his bike on the opposite side totalled. I stopped of course and checked to see if everybody was alright - they were waiting for the police to show up. I told Ryan I would go get sombody with a trailer in case he could manage to ride it - I found motorhead at the hotel and together we took Sebs truck and went and got Ryan. Motorhead advised him to let the wrecker take it cause it looked like a complete loss.
    Too bad too cause it was a great meet so far, but he managed to walk away just a bit sore - but he walked away afterall.

    Looking Glass Falls Hwy 276
    I spend the rest of the day eating and drinking with the group and enjoying myself, For sunday I would have to head as far west I possibly could, the rain of the weekend was a bit of a downer but not all bad, however I would fight with it all day by myself across Tennesse, I bascialy headed over the Cherehola in the rain, down hwy 30 to Chatannoga and across the bottom of TN all in the rain! It was miserable for half the day and the rest it was just a bit boring, hwy 64 was a bust for the most part except I was able to sample some wonderful southern fried chicken!

    Cherehola Skyway in the mist

    Joyce Kilmer National Forest

    Platters Buffet Cowan TN
    I took a side trip up to Lynchburg TN - I could smell it before I saw it, the home of Jack Daniels no wonder I could smell mash from 3 miles away. It was the rolling hills and country roads there I found to be very enjoyable. The again back on hwy 64 till I crossed paths with the Natchez Trace, I pulled up onto it for a spell and then turned around again and continued onto Memphis, I think I was on the Natchez for about 50 feet then I turned around - but I was on it!

    Lynchburg Tennesse Town Hall
    I think I will keep Arkansas all to myself, some things are not ment for public - just ment to be enjoyed and rememberd fondly as you remember the good things on your trip. It had no time to stop and I had to get across the entire state in one day and I did but I took a great route I will not soon forget, it just melted away the miles in the most laid back manner - like a stroll into the woods I just rolled across the Ozarks with the wind in my face and a song in my ear all day long till the sun finally went down and I layed my head down and slept like a baby.
    Kansas on the other hand was not so pleasant, right off the bat my bike started surging, I took a wild guess after the 3rd time pulling over and removed my PC2 and the problem went away , then the wind started in on me so bad I had to lean the bike over all day long to stay stait, I made the mistake of rolling across Kansas on hwy 50 which was full of Semi trucks all of them when they passed by they hit we with a blast of air that sent me reeling for a second or two. I think I will call it Kansas airbording! cause it almost tourture, I am sure the boys at Gitmo can find somthing in Kansas to make those Terrorist more compliant, at least on the drive through.
    I knew I was home when I saw this though another TMAC done and gone, and I enjoyed myself thanks vfrd for being so great.

    Old Bent Fort Rocky Ford Colorado
    tmac2009tracks.gdb
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