REDDOG

WITHOUT MIGUEL !!! My brother flew out last year from Delaware to Colorado for a week of dirt bike and street riding. We had a great time but had a major glitch. I managed to blow up my Yamaha FZ1 ECU 2 days before he flew out (long story). I could not find one in time so I had to borrow a bike so we could do the 4 day Colorado ride we had planned. A good buddy of mine up in Denver had a Ninja 650 he let us use and I returned it with a new set of tires as thanks for the loaner. My brother rode the Ninja and I rode my VFR. We had a blast and decided to something again this year. A few weeks before he came out he called and said “think big” this year. So about a week before he got here we decided on a Colorado to the California coast ride. I had everything ready, the FZ1 and VFR were packed, oil changed, etc. He called and said he was on the way to the airport in Philly, everything was going according to plan. It was about 2pm on Friday and our ride was going to start the next morning. I hopped on the VFR to go fill up the tank and only got a few blocks away when my radar detector started to glitch and die. Been down this road before, I knew I had a charging problem. I get back in the garage and sure enough no charging on the battery. I had mentioned to my brother a few weeks back that I should get a new stator just in case. This would be my third bad stator at 92,000 miles, but I did the math and figured the current one only had about 15K miles on it and I should be fine. The first two lasted around 30-40K miles each. I tear off the ride side and unsolder the yellow wire connections. 0 ohms to ground on all legs…OMG…I am SCREWED, and can’t believe this happened two years in a row right before our big ride. I call everywhere in Colorado, no stock, and I don’t have time to have one shipped from online. I called my brother and he was at the gate ready to board….”Greg, you are not going to believe this”…At first he thought I was joking for sure. Checkmate….maybe… I texted Miguel who just happened to be off that day after a night shift. “Miguel, I might need a really big favor, give me call when you can.” Miguel called about a half hour later and I explained the situation. “Can I borrow your bike?....where ya going?....California..for nine days…..OK, I will go get it ready for you”. My wife just happened to get off early that day and about an hour after discovering the deep fried stator I was in Miguel’s garage with my riding gear. Another miracle when I looked at the tires, he had recently put a new set of PR4s on so the bike was ready to roll! I promised to take good care of the Veefalo and would put a new set of tires on or pay for a new set if these came back with some life. I had ridden the Veffalo a few times when we swapped bikes out on a ride, but never more than an hour or so. He showed me the heated grips (which turned out to be extremely useful) and gave me all his wiring so I could hook up my stuff. I got back and started packing up the Veefalo and got my radar working…I was ready to go! I had to drive up from the Springs to Denver to pick up my brother who got in around 9pm. I made him suffer all the way home until I opened the garage door there sat the Veefalo and the FZ1….WHOOT ! Early the next morning we were off to Salt Lake for the first leg, 552 miles. The 1200 was very comfortable and I was glad for the tires. It absolutely poured the last 120 miles into Salt Lake. We went by the seat of our pants and made no reservations anywhere, just finding hotels each night, which was never a problem. Sunday- Salt Lake to Truckee, CA – 549 miles. We stayed at my high school buddies house, who would join us on his Connie14 later in the week. Monday- Truckee north, then into Red Bluff. We had skipped Lassen Volcanic park and calculated that we actually had enough time to make it from Red Bluff to Eureka that same day. So off we went on the famous route 36, and a 142 miles of corners. I had always thought Colorado was the best…maybe for scenery and some great roads…but nothing like this….it was truly 142 miles corners, elevation changes, and hardly any traffic. Veefalo loved the bigger sweepers but was a bit of handful in the really tight stuff. Fun for sure, just had to muscle it bit more than my sixth gen. But nobody heard me complaining!! I was so happy to be there. We made it into Eureka and got a hotel. Tuesday was Eureka to Yreka. Rt. 299 was also superb climbing away from the coast. Awesome sweepers and great views. We stopped for lunch in Weaverville and then rt. 3 up to Yreka. My buddy met us up there and three of us were off to Ft. Bragg the next morning. We diverted a bit again from the master plan and took Gazelle Callahan road out of Yreka and got on Callahan-Cecilville road. That road was awesome, until we got to Cecilville, then it turned into a Goat Trail shelf road from hell about half way to 96…..all paved but very narrow. We jumped on 96 south to Willow Creek, then 299 back to Eureka and down 101 to the Avenue of the Giants, and then Rt. 1 down to Ft. Bragg. Route 1 down to the coast was very technical and fun, then suddenly you break out to the coast….spectacular….We got a great hotel in Ft. Bragg with rooms overlooking the shoreline. If I did it all over again I would have taken one day completely off the bike and stayed an extra day in Ft. Bragg. I really liked that town. Thursday- Ft. Bragg, Skaggs Springs, Vacaville. Skaggs was awesome, but too short!!! The Veefalo had the most fun on this section and simply devoured the corners. Had both knees down through this section…YEA BABY! Next through the “Valley” and to my buddies other house in Vacaville where we had a great dinner and maybe just a little partying. Friday- Vacaville to Ely, NV. Took 50 into Nevada and just laid down miles across the high desert. Again, fantastic scenery like we had the entire trip. You could see forever and might not have a corner for 20+ miles. Yep, it was time to wick it up…but who would do it first….I noticed my brother dropped back a bit…and then ZOOM as he flew past in the left lane. That FZ1 Two Brothers pipe was screaming its beautiful sound. I start to catch up…110…120…135….145 (Don’t tell Miguel)…The Veefalo was rock solid at speed, but we only stayed there a minute or so…OK, we got that out of our system. Saturday- Ely to Grand Junction. We decided to skip Moab so we would have an easy day back home on Sunday. On Sunday we headed back over Independence pass and back to home to Woodland Park. It was our shortest day and we were home by noon. I had time to give the Veefalo a good wash so I could get it back to Miguel the following day. Those PR4s still had some life left and I really liked the tires. I had 100% confidence and never felt any slips. Total miles in nine days: 3,507 Thanks again Miguel….that was a huge favor!! Next year the plan is for my brother to come the to Summit with us...and then Miguel might have something big planned for us after that.... Notes: The desert gets cold….I ran those heated grips for hours each day.. The Veefalo WILL power wheelie in first gear, as found out when I did a quick highway merge in CA. The FZ1 gas mileage sucks…I was getting a few 44 mpg runs on the Veefalo….and only 36 on the FZ1 Never ever go on a big ride (6th gen) without a spare stator and RR (although my RR has never failed).. Signal Dynamics voltage monitor LED installed Need heated grips...

Probably the best place to see a lot of Colorado ....great ride.. !

The wait was over and I finally got a few days off to go ride. It started Tuesday night when we met a few riders for dinner who had just come in from Kansas. Poor guys got pounded by a storm and had to ride though rain, hail, and about an inch of hail on the highway! Thankfully it did not last long and they made it safe to Colorado. We planned to meet the next morning for the ride up Pikes Peak. I think it was Lee 2002 who was having a slight battery issue so they were about an hour late meeting at the Pikes Peak entrance gate. The delay actually worked fine because they had paved another mile near the top and the road was closed near the summit. By the time we got near the top we only had to wait a bit before it opened. Pikes Peak Toll Gate The Flatlanders Arrive Up we go! Of course I had to take my dirt bike up... Waiting for the road to open - elevation around 13,000 feet At the top - 14,110 feet Thursday morning at the Dillon Inn - Great Turnout! Had three other riders join my group and off we went. The "fly by" got a bit hosed....the big group got separated and we did not know where Didit would be stationed. All of sudden he was there in a passing lane with the main group passing in the other lane! Small glitch though in a well organized event - WTG Didit and all who helped! I got my group assembled and off we went - first stop Echo Lake on the way to Mt. Evans At the top of Mt. Evans, 14,200 feet Last leg nearing Dillon. I did my best to keep a relaxed pace and we made it back with no mishaps. Great group of guys and new friendships going forward. Reddog

Ah man that sucks! Was it a motorcycle cop? Car or SUV? A few have laser guns now -- might say on your ticket which method. Or maybe you keep buying those $49.99 radar detectors that can barely pick up Ka band which is what they mainly use... :blink:

Great company and a great ride. Enjoyed the write-up and video! It could have been about 10 degrees warmer, but very little wind and great road conditions. That other bike just appeared somewhere around Divide and followed us into Woodland Park.

I rode to Bailey yesterday for lunch, left here around 3pm. Coming back home and after Deckers in the 50mph zone I see a black vehicle in the far distance hauling ass to catch me. No idea where he came from (was not parked at Deckers?) and he closed on me where the speed limit drops down to 35. He got close enough to pace me in the 35 zone. I suspected it was a LEO when I spotted it way back in the distance so I was not speeding when he caught up. He never used his radar. So I was stuck with the LEO right behind me the whole way back. Riding through there at 35 is like getting a root canal. He finally broke off at West Creek. I figure he was running at least 100mph as he caught up and tried to bust me where the speed dropped to 35. Funny thing though is that I was not even speeding 50 zone before I saw something back there. He was after bikes. No way he would have closed like that if he just saw some SUV way in the distance. Good to get out though!

Yep, Devil's Tower in Wyoming. Same one in the movie.

A park ranger told us to head down that road to see them, so we didn't have to ride through the herd to the other side! We were taunting each other to do it, but we all chickened out. They seemed to care less about the cars and one Harley rider came through from the other side and rode past them with no problems. Like you said though, they are huge and we would have been right next to them if we had to ride through. Plus they had all the babies around and you would think the Mom's might be on edge. We stayed back about 50 yards, with some guys leaving their bikes running just in case! They seemed very passive and attacks are probably extremely rare....but no need to ride slowly by them on my loud RED VFR.. The Bad Lands were OK. I am kind of spoiled after seeing Bryce Canyon, Zion, etc. Pretty good though if you have not been further west and south. It was hot though and July is probably not the best time to visit.

My Dad and brother both ride beemers and always attend the BMW International rallies. This years rally was in Gillette, WY, which is only 420 miles from my house in Colorado. A perfect excuse to get together and ride! My Dad has a large trailer that can haul four bikes, so he loads up four beemers (Dads, brother's, brother-in-law's, and local friend of theirs) for the 1800 mile drive from Delaware to Colorado. The other three riders flew into Denver and I picked them up a few days before we started heading north for the rally. All my family live in Delaware, so I don't see them too often being so far away. Also, my Dad is 72 now with some health problems that hamper his riding. He planned the route with some lighter days to suit his needs, which was fine, as we were happy to all be riding together yet another year. The bikes (I probably screwed up BMW names): Dad - R1100 RT Greg (Brother) - R1150 GS Todd (In-Law) - K1200 GT Dave (family friend) - K1100 RS Bill (Reddog!) - VFR 800 Unpacking the bikes.. Pike's Peak from my back yard.. A few local deer showed up at the house to entertain the tourists.. The plan was to ride two days in Colorado, then head north to South Dakota, then west to Rally in Gillette. The first ride was up to Pikes Peak and the Delaware guys really enjoyed it. Of course I took my DRZ 400 instead of the VFR. The VFR does fine, but nothing better than a dirt bike to maximize the fun to the top. Half way up..my brother was stoked.. Greg at the top. He was just at sea level a day ago! Dave on the way down.. Colorado day#2 - Woodland Park to Aspen I rode two-up with my wife, brother Greg on the right.. On the way to the rally we spent a few days near Custer State Park, then west to the rally in Gillette, WY, plus two days riding in NW Wyoming. I will let the pictures describe the rest of the trip. The usual tourist stops; Rushmore, Bad Lands, Devil's Tower, Custer State Park. Then we did a 670 mile day out to NW Wyoming from Gillette...really great riding in that area. Over the Big Horns, Bear Tooth Pass, and Chief Joseph HWY. Simply awesome roads, great corners, scenery, and posted 65 MPH everywhere! (Even in the tight fun sections) We also found courteous drivers who would pull over and let us by in the tight stuff. Reddog..

"That took 20 minutes out of my day and some woman I passed "legally" on a dotted line stopped honked her horn and wagged her finger at me?? " Dang Slammer...everyone is out to get ya!.. :biggrin:

Loved the vertical profile from the Zumo. Impressive elevation change in the first 140 miles.