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Eight Days, Eight States, Fall Ride.

Awesome ride! I am glad everything turned out safe, and that overall you guys had a great trip. Thanks for posting up this report.

RxZ(note to self: avoid Kansas)
 
Great report and pics, Id love to do that some day. How did the LC do on fuel? was it able to make it ok from gas to gas? I know there are some long miles between gas out there and also how did the Venture and the LC do with carbs at altitude? Ive had an LC and thinking about a Venture someday. Thanks SZ.
 
CBAT that was a great trip report. Thanks for all the picks. I did a not so good report from my Durango trip just a few days ahead of you. Have you ever seen switch backs like Chama to Tres Peidras on another road?

Everyone has to make this trip. Up from Texas, I think CBAT's route down is also best going up. 104 out of Tucumcari, Las Vegas, Taos, 64 over to Chama. Beautiful ride.

Thanks again CBAT. It's a little easier to describe with pictures! lmao, at myself.
 
Great report and pics, Id love to do that some day. How did the LC do on fuel? was it able to make it ok from gas to gas? I know there are some long miles between gas out there and also how did the Venture and the LC do with carbs at altitude? Ive had an LC and thinking about a Venture someday. Thanks SZ.

Thanks. No problem on the fuel stops. I have a G-tank which adds 2.5 gallons to the stock 4. My range is well over 200 miles. I also have the stage 3 carb setup with K&N cutout filter and jets. Better performance :trust: but it drops the milage to the mid 30's. One tank was over 40 mpg due to mostly downhill and slower riding. The LC could use a sixth gear. We all noticed a drop in performance on the high passes, even the injected bikes but not as much as the old carbs. Mostly notice climbing Monarch Pass because it's a faster road. Going over the pass between Ouray and Silverton and Durango where slower roads so the power loss wasn't as noticable. I will be looking for fuel injection on my next street bike though.
 
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Thanks. No problem on the fuel stops. I have a G-tank which adds 2.5 gallons to the stock 4. My range is well over 200 miles. I also have the stage 3 carb setup with K&N cutout filter and jets. Better performance :trust: but it drops the milage to the mid 30's. One tank was over 40 mpg due to mostly downhill nad slower riding. The LC could use a sixth gear. We all noticed a drop in performance on the high passes, even the injected bikes but not as much as the old carbs. Mostly notice climbing Monarch Pass because it's a faster road. Going over the pass between Ouray and Silverton and Durango where slower roads so the power loss wasn't as noticable. I will be looking for fuel injection on my next street bike though.

Thanks for the reply, I was wondering if it had the G-tank, I couldnt tell from the photos for sure, That kind of trip makes the g-tank well worth the $$. You guys really did it up right. That was a Super Trip. SZ.
 
Re: Day 3; Bella Vista AR to Meade Lake KS

day3map.jpg


The previous evening, after dinner, I rode to mom's house while the rest of the guys went to the local Honda dealer and to Walmart, again. We agreed to top of tanks on the way out of town the next morning. I told mom, "I bet they are going to go ahead and get fuel tonight and set me up to be "that guy" in the morning. Sure enough......

BRUCE DOSN'T UNDERSTAND THAT HE WAS THE PROBLEM. HE HAS A CONTROLL PROBLEM. HE DID NOT WANT ANYONE TO KNOW THE ROUTE. HE WOULD SAY JUST STAY BEHIND HIM AND WE WOULD NOT GET LOST. THEN HE (ALLOWED GARY TO LEAD) AS IF HE WAS GOD AND HE COULD BE GRACIOUS ENOUGH TO LET SOME ONE ELSE HAVE ACCESS TO THE ROUTE. AND HE DOES NOT NOTICE THAT THE NEXT GAS STATION DOWN THE BLOCK HAS GAS FOR 30 CENTS A GALLON CHEAPER
 
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Re: Day 3; Bella Vista AR to Meade Lake KS

BRUCE DOSN'T UNDERSTAND THAT HE WAS THE PROBLEM. HE HAS A CONTROLL PROBLEM. HE DID NOT WANT ANYONE TO KNOW THE ROUTE. HE WOULD SAY JUST STAY BEHIND HIM AND WE WOULD NOT GET LOST. THEN HE (ALLOWED GARY TO LEAD) AS IF HE WAS GOD AND HE COULD BE GRACIOUS ENOUGH TO LET SOME ONE ELSE HAVE ACCESS TO THE ROUTE. AND HE DOES NOT NOTICE THAT THE NEXT GAS STATION DOWN THE BLOCK HAS GAS FOR 30 CENTS A GALLON CHEAPER

Chuck,
I knew this day would come. Can't you just let it go. :giveup: OK, it was all my fault, happy now? Yes I gave your brother the route for his GPS. I'd ridden with you before and figured we wouldn't stay together. And yes I agreed with the rest of the group that Gary would take the lead west from Canon City. And yes I have no idea what you are talking about where gas was 30 cents a gallon cheaper down the street. If it makes you happy, I'll give you the $1.20 next time. Oh, never mind, there isn't going to be a next time.
 
Re: Day 5 Colorado Springs to Montrose, CO

We all rode into Montrose in the dark, found a Mexican food restaurant that was open and enjoyed a very nice meal. After dinner we thanked David for trying to keep things together and wished him a safe ride home. David went to the hotel Chuck had booked and the three that were left found another. Gary, Perry and I would finish the planned ride starting tomorrow.

P.S. I haven't gone into details of the disagreements between all of us because I did not want this to turn into a debate on the merits of any viewpoints. I only mentioned it to show that sometimes group dynamics don't work out as planned. It could happen with any group. I feel like we made every attempt to make it work but in the end we split up. We would talk about it from time to time for the remainder of the ride but the stress was gone. :zen: Tomorrow is another day.

I WAS NOT GOING TO GO INTO MORE ISSUES, BUT BRUCE SEEMS TO THINK HE IS PERFECT. HE BLEW UP WHEN I RODE PAST HIM OUT SIDE OF CANYON CITY. EVERY ONE ELSE KNEW WHAT WAS HAPPENING. THE TWO GUYS THAT HAD CB'S KNEW THAT AS SOON AS WE GOT AROUND A TRUCK I WAS GOING TO COME UP AND GET OVER THE CREST OF THE HILL TO WATCH THE SHOOTERS LAND. BRUCE IS NOT A PERCEPTIVE AD DOES NOT KEEP AWARE OFHIS SURRONDINGS. HE DOES NOT WATCH HIS MIRRORS OR HE WOULD HAVE SEEN DAVID DROPPING WAY BACK WHICH ALLOWED ME TO MOVE OVER IN FRONT OF HIM IN THE LANE NEXT TO BRUCE. WHICH IN NO WAY IMPEDED HIM NOR WAS A DANGER TO HIM. FOR SOME ONE WHO DOSN'T WATCH THE ROAD I CAN SEE HOW THAT COULD BE A PROBLEM. WE HAD RIDDEN WITH BRUCE LOTS OF TIMES BEFORE AND NEVER HAD A PROBLEM. NOW HE SAYS THAT WE DID. JUST ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF THE TYPE OF PERSON HE IS. SO WHEN THE REST OF YOU READ HIS TRIP REPORTS JUST KEEP IN MIND THAT HE IS NOT TELLING THE WHOLE STORY JUST WHAT I CONSIDER A BLURRED VERSION.
 
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You've both said your piece, now let it lie. This is not the place to be hashing out personal issues.
 
Wow! You guys covered some awesome places. Did they ever paint the Historical Marker at the road for the Viet Memorial Church? First time I came by there in '97 is was the Bright White Posts that turned me around to go see what it was about. Last time, '06, the posts and sign were soooooo faded out. Oh yes, the many boxes of Kleenexs in the Center were needed.
After one trip with a bunch of guys, you really quickly learn who and who not matches your agenda. ;-). Such is life. Me, I'm a Lone Wolf. Me and my moto sickle, no music, no radio, no nothing but ear plugs. Heck, mostly no plans. :rider: Never know where I'm gonna be and when I'm gonna pull into a motel for the night. :trust: Now , maybe, if I had some sweetheart of a lady with me, :sun: :lol2: :lol2:

Enjoyed the pictures. Thanks for sharing.
 
Now , maybe, if I had some sweetheart of a lady with me, :sun: :lol2: :lol2:

Enjoyed the pictures. Thanks for sharing.

Well,since you insist, I'd love to ride to Durango with you!
As long as I get to take the train to Silverton, stay the nite and return.

But I must warn you,. I have my own bike, camping equipment and GPS...
So I can lead, follow or get out of the way! :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Sorry, just couldn't help myself posting that! :doh: :lol2:

The scenery out west is gorgeous, enjoyed the ride report. I really want to get back thru Co and Ut again... But I don't think I would go from Tx to Co by way of AR.... too much boring Ks in the middle. But then, the whole middle of the country is fairly boring; still riding is better than caging it. Except when the wind was trying to rip the helmet off my head.

The first dream ride I'm going to take is US 191 from Canada to Mexico, maybe hit a few New England states on the way there.....:rider: :rider: :rider:
Ya'll take care...
mary
 
But I must warn you,. I have my own bike, camping equipment and GPS...
So I can lead, follow or get out of the way! :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

As a gift to myself on my 62nd birthday, I gave up camping and just do cheap motels ;-)

too much boring Ks in the middle.

Actually, Western Kansas is very interesting and hilly leading up into South Dakota. Lots of Pony Express History there.


The first dream ride I'm going to take is US 191 from Canada to Mexico, maybe hit a few New England states on the way there.....:rider: :rider: :rider:

Now that sounds like a ride.
 
Now that sounds like a ride.

Motels are nice, especially if they have lots of hot water, and even more so if they have hottubs or jacuzzis!

To me the difference between a really cheap hotel and one or two steps above is like $10-15. And a whole lot fewer creepy crawley "visitors" in the nice... spider and roaches and stuff like that..... but guys dont' care about stuff like that! :yawn:

Haven't had to chance to get to SD yet. Just have been across Kansas east/west a bunch of times, mostly on I70. I80 sucks, especially the 450 some miles across Nebraska... I do want to get to the Black Hillls... :rider:

Yeah, I hope to have a smaller bike sometime next summer. That would be better than my Deuce for that trip. All my trip have been get from point A to opoint B in a hurry. I want to go slow, see the scenery, and take tons of pics. My brother is supposed to be rebuilding me a 1974 Honda 350, slightly customized. I'll believe it when I have the bill of sale and the registration in my name in my hot little hands! <BG>

Mary
 
Yeah, I probably won't be taking that route again. I'm thinking of following the Rockies up to Bannf, Canada. Once I get to NM I could stay in the mountains pretty much the whole time. There's always spots like the Great Divide Basin though. Next trip to AR I'll probably just stay at Mom's and do day trips from there. I've done that before and it's a good time. Dinner's ready every evening when I pull in. Great roads in every direction. :rider:
 
An interesting route I did in the Summer of '97 was from Glacier Park coming down and crisscrossing the Divide as much as possible to New Mexico and then chilled at the BMW rally at Sipapu for a few days before coming back to Jennings.
Arkansas, what can you say. At times I base at Mena, or Jasper, or Marshal ( my favorite) and Mountain View. Just do day rides and back to a neat motel room with a cafe` right next door. ;-). I think my KLR knew ever mountain gravel road there at times. And my Street bikes knew ever twisty curvy road for sure. :rider:
 
As long as I get to take the train to Silverton, stay the nite and return.
mary

I second the train ride. The ride from Durango to Ouray is awesome but you'll miss some tremendous sights if you don't do the train ride.
 
Best way to ride the train is to go one way and take the bus back to Durango, or vice versa. Saves some time and you can see the highway from the bus. We did this two summers ago and were quite happy.
 
Thanks for sharing that experience, Bruce. Sounds and looks like it was an awesome ride.

BTW, where are you guys firefighters? Wherever it is, you have my respect and gratitude for doing what you do.

Dave
 
Thanks for sharing that experience, Bruce. Sounds and looks like it was an awesome ride.

BTW, where are you guys firefighters? Wherever it is, you have my respect and gratitude for doing what you do.

Dave

Thanks. We've all got 20+ years with Austin Fire/Rescue. BTW: Dont' believe what you may have read about us in the paper. The AAS has a political agenda and they use us to further their agenda repeatedly. It's a great example of one sided reporting in the media.
 
Thanks. We've all got 20+ years with Austin Fire/Rescue. .

My hat is off to you guys. I spent about 8 years in Dive Rescue here in South Louisiana before going back to the oilfield. Black water diving was very interesting. I think my passion was highway crash work though. Dang fires just oo hot. ;-)
 
Looks like it was a good trip. One of my favorite parts of the country is the western slope in Colorado. Sorry to hear about group problems, but such things do happen, and sounds like you didn't let it ruin the trip.

I knew about the USFA memorial in Emmitsburg, but didn't know about the IAFF one in Colorado Springs. It's on my list the next time I'm in Colorado.

I'll have to get the GPS route from you sometime, always looking for good roads, and I'm thinking of a trip to Colorado sometime next year.
 
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