Westward We Go...Then Eastward.....The Southward

[drfood]

Teaser post

The shakedown trip of the 2015 GoldWing and Trailer combination was scheduled to begin Tuesday, November 12, 2024. I spent much of Monday, November 11, 2024 getting the wing and trailer set to leave early Tuesday morning. They say best laid plans don't always go as planned.

Monday was going nicely, until around 1:30 PM when I went to start the GW to move it around to connect the trailer. Key in ignition. Shifter in neutral. Kickstand up. Turn key on. Hit start button. Nothing. Repeat turning off the key and trying again. Screen lights up. Lights come on. Hit ignition. Nothing. One more time. This time nothing at all happened....not screen....no lights....nothing. The previous owner had just put a lithium battery in in June. Never had any issues to this point. Pulled the cover for the battery. Multimeter out. 2.3 volts. Many many 4 letter words poured forth from my mouth. Pulled the battery. Talk about a PAIN to remove. Tested battery again 1.8 volts. We don't own a lithium compatible Battery Tender so no need to try charging. Called BatteriesPlus to see if they had a replacement in stock. Bingo store 3 miles away had one. Got to the store....if a lithium battery has less than 9 volts the warranty is voided. And on top of that the warranty was not transferrable. $200 battery shot. They wouldn't even take it to recycle. We have to find some way to recycle. Purchased an AGM battery. $150 w/3 yr warranty. Drove home uttering more 4 letter words. Installed the battery. Everything worked. Started right up. Put the pieces and parts back together. Finished packing and connecting the trailer.

Tuesday, November 12, 2024


We geared up and headed west. The ultimate goal was Ft. Stockton, TX. The route for the day was 90A to 71 to I-10 to 1604 in San Antonio back to I-10 to Ft. Stockton. First fuel stop was in Stafford at 7-11. 90A to 59 to Loop 10 west of Richmond. Loop 10 back to 90A. Forgot it was harvest season for something. Lots and lots of grain type trucks on 90A all the way to Altair and TX-71. Once we were on I-10 traffic flowed nicely and we were able to keep the speed around 75 mph. My main concern for the first 100 miles was the trailer. How was it riding. Was it swaying. Everyone says when you pull a Bushtec with a GW you hardly know it's there. How true those words are. Second fuel stop at 180ish miles. Loves in Seguin. We took a short break for water and restroom. Of course I forgot to zip the ice chest covered closed. I noticed it flapping in the wind on I-10 about 0.5 miles down the road. Pull off at next exit. Zip up cover. Get back on I-10. Traffic was flowing great until we got to the area where there are K-rails on both sides of the 2 lanes. Traffic came to a quick stop. Pull out phone after 5 minutes of sitting. Waze say accident ahead. 25 minutes later the traffic starts flowing. By this time I knew we would not get to Ft. Stockton until after sunset. Got to 1604 and took the loop around San Antonio. People in Houston complain about highway construction. We ain't got nothing on the folks in San Antone....I think every freeway there is being rebuilt. This trip I was being cheap about eating. We packed food for sandwiches at rest areas. No expensive fast food. Stopped just outside Kerrville for lunch. Nice Harley rider from Casa Grande, AZ spend a few minutes admiring our rig. Next stop Kerrville for fuel stop. Back on I-10 up the Edward's Plateau. Junction. Sonora. Ozona. Fuel stop in Ozona plus a DQ ice cream break. Whoever designed I-10 entrances/exits in Ozona needs to be shot. They are way too short and in my opinion dangerous, especially for motorcycles entering/exiting. On West to Ft. Stockton. By this time it was dusk and Bambi is out. Fortunately none decided to take a stroll on the highway. Arrived at the Hampton Inn Ft. Stockton about 7 PM. We stay at Hilton or Marriott properties because I have a rather large cache of points for using on vacations or weekend adventures. Nice hotel. We had stayed there in 2013 on our first long distance motorcycle adventure heading west. K-Bobs for dinner. Then time for bed. BTW the hotel will allow parking in the covered drive at the entrance as long as you don't block the drive.

Wednesday, November 13, 2024
Plan for the day was US 285 due north to my sister and brother-in-laws in the El Dorado Community near Santa Fe, NM. Kickstand up time was to be 9 AM Central (8 Mountain) and get on the road. Note I said WAS. I will continue this day on my next post.

 

[drfood]

Wednesday, November 13, 2024

As stated in the post above....the plan was to ride up US 285 to Eldorado at Santa Fe which is about 15 miles SE of Santa Fe.

A small preface to this. November 13 is my father's birthday date (he passed a couple of years ago). He was a major shadetree mechanic and attempted to pass knowledge to me when I was willing to accept it.

Back to the story.
The Hampton Inn in Ft. Stockton is a very nice property and I highly recommend it if you're looking for a place to stay. We packed everything in the trailer and everything was on schedule to leave at 9 AM Central (8 AM Mountain). Sitting on the GW, key in ignition turn on press start button. (I know what you're thinking just wait). The engine turns over like it is trying to start. Try 3 times. Nothing, just turns over with no ignition. After 10 minutes or so we Googled "local motorcycle mechanic". Remember the reference to my dad? There was a terrific mobile motorcycle mechanic came to the hotel to assist. He was very familiar with wings as he claims to have seem more of them recently than Harley's. He said he had multiple trikes in his shop that he was working on. Anyway, he pulls the battery cover and checks the battery and connection. Everything tested out perfect. Next....remove the seat and check the relays. The first he tested was the fuel pump relay. Guess what? It was "bad" so he went to the local NAPA store and brought back a new one. Before he plugged it in he found that several wires were damaged and needed to be repaired. Part of the repair he performed was to put heat shrink to give them extra protection. One or more of the wires evidently were the culprit in the relay going bad AND the battery issue I had on Monday. Plug in the new rrelay engine fires right up on first try. The young man charged a very fair price for the service call. If you're interested in his contact info PM me.

Off we go entering US 285 heading to Pecos first. Stopped for fuel at Love's. Did y'all know Love's give a $0.10 discount if you have their app? Fill up with fuel. Averaging about 35 mpg. I'm happy with that. Continuing out of Pecos on 285, oil field truck after oil field truck after oil field truck. I guess drill baby drill is truly the motto of Texas. The trailer "resorts" were quite interesting and they are everywhere.

Rode through Carlsbad. Wow, I did not know Carlsbad had grown that much. Last time we were there, it was not that big.

About 10 miles outside of Roswell NMDOT had closed 1/2 of the highway for construction on a bridge. Once we looked at the fences and the fields it was obvious the bridge had been damaged by the flooding they had a few weeks ago. The barbed wire was chock full of crap. Found a park in Roswell to have a quick lunch from the ice chest. There was a new Maverick gas station across the road that we would fill up. We first experienced Maverick in 2013 on our first motorcycle trip to Utah. Their pump area including the driveway are always clean and free of oil or other liquids. Their restrooms are as good as Buc-cee's (I know that is blasphemy to Texans). Behind the Maverick was an O'Reilly that I wanted to see if they had a relay so we could have a back-up. No relay. Rode on through Roswell. Just like Carlsbad, Roswell is really growing. Stopped at an AutoZone. I don't know why I go to AutoZone stores, the people who work there are complete idiots for the most part. I had the NAPA box and asked the young man to cross-reference and see if he had the relay. His response was....we don't look up NAPA parts because they are crap. Then he asked me how many legs the relay had. I said I don't know. He asked me to get the 1 off the bike so he could look. IDIOT. I walked out of the store shaking my head.

Riding on north stopped at Allsop's in Vaughn to top off the fuel. By this time the sun was setting and it was getting COLD.

The plan was to ride to Cline's Corner and text my sister where we were so they could turn on the heat in the Casita at their house for us. I did it at Vaughn.

Riding northing into the dark. Dang it gets dark in northern NM. Fortunately the moon was getting ready for the Beaver Super Moon so we did have moonlight.

At Cline's Corner and 18 wheeler tried to take us out when he ran the stop sign. We avoided his bad driving.

Finally arrived at my sister and brother-in-law's house about 8 PM. COLD COLD COLD. But the Casita was a toasty 75F.

So you might ask where was out heated gear. We do not own any at this point. So we depended on thermal underwear and sweat shirts.

The end of Day 2. More to come.

 

[drfood]

Days 3 and 4--Santa Fe, NM and surrounding area

My sister and brother-in-law live in an area about 20 minutes from the Santa Fe Plaza on about 2 or 3 acres of land. We woke up sort of refreshed from crazy day 2 and the cold. We enjoy the Casita and I know my sister and BIL love having the ability to host but not have guests under foot. Most of the morning and early afternoon were spent catching up and relaxing. They have done a phenomenal job with landscaping....really it's turning high desert into their own version of the desert. Sitting out on one of 3 patios my phone rang and the caller id was my mother's number. Those of you with 88 yr old parents know that those calls can either be good or bad. I had not told my mother about the trip because I needed the time away as did Jay (his father passed away in our house the Friday of Beryl week and don't get me started on that mess). My sister saw the caller id and we all started wondering...what the heck is going on. I answered on speaker and my mother wanted to ask a question about artificial sweeteners. Well I don't think that was the real reason I think she had a motherly instinct something was up. Everyone had a chance to talk to her and she wished us a good vacation. 10 minutes later my brother texted me and told us to go to the plaza and get on the web cam so she could see us all. The plan for the afternoon was to go into Santa Fe and have a late lunch and do some walking around the plaza. So we killed 3 birds with 1 trip.

The view from their house looking toward Albequerque.


Santa Fe is one of my favorite places just to go and relax and hang out. Crazy rich people can be so crazy. But it's fun to watch them spend their money.

This is a screen shot of the web cam photo of our extended family. My nephew, sister, brother-in-law, husband, and me. My mother loved it.



If anyone is in the market for a classic Camaro, there's 1 for sale in Santa Fe. Supposedly number correct. It was beautiful. $100K is the asking price. If you've got some spare change I can give you the contact info.


From the plaza we went to my sister's favorite Mexican restaurant, Maria's. It was too early to go to The Shed, another trip. I had the Vegetarian tamales....and a margarita (of course).



After the late lunch we went to the NAPA Auto Parts that I had ordered the extra fuel pump relay at. Really nice people. I highly recommend them if you're in the Santa Fe area and need parts.

The rest of Day 2 was spent relaxing and staying warm. It was a full moon so all of my efforts at taking astrophotographs with my new Pixel 8 Pro were washed out. Another time.

The plan for Day 3 was to go up to Santa Fe Ski Basin and play in the snow. It was not open (officially) but you could still roam around. On the way up we stopped at our favorite viewpoint and hiked up to a creek. I keep forgetting how much "fun" being at 11,000 feet can be when exercising. A couple of photos from the day.







From the Ski Basin we went to the New Mexico State Capital. If you've never been you have missed a very interesting building. It's round. It is an art gallery. The House and Senate chambers are open to the public when the capital is open.

There was an exhibition of quilts in the area close to the rotunda. Beautiful is all I can say.

After the capital adventure we headed back to El Dorado. Along the way we had an incredible sunset. This is 100% the way the picture was taken, no enhancements. What a way to end the day.

 

[drfood]

Day 4 & 5--Eastward Ho We Go

The plan for the day was to ride from Santa Fe to El Reno, OK. That was a little over half way to the Joplin area where we were targeting.

I-40 has to be the second most busy interstate in the country. 18-wheeler after 18-wheeler. Jay continued as the pilot of the wing. He loves the way it rides. My only concern of the trip (well not only but main) was the trailer. About Santa Rosa I noticed it was weaving a bit so we pulled off and adjusted the suspension pressure.

The wing had averaged about 35 mpg which was great. We stopped about every 180 miles.

One of the interesting things about NM is the fact they are number 2 to Colorado for Texans spending money on recreational marijuana products. How would I know this...well as an R&D person in the food/beverage industry we know that this industry will eventually contribute a significant $$ to the bottom line of companies. Every major food company has a group working on projects for their library, just waiting for legalization at the Federal level. Anyway, Texans spend more money on recreational marijuana products in Colorado and New Mexico than the citizens of CO, NM, OK, NE, MO, AR combined. As the pillion you get to read all of the billboards, there is a dispensary that is the "last" before the border on I-40. Literally the dispensary backs up to the border with Texas. That particular day there were 4 DPS cars in the first 5 miles after entering Texas. I can only guess that they probably have someone watching traffic and then they pull them over. I know they do this in other locations.

I have always wanted to see Cadillac Ranch. My sister told me it was not worth the effort to get off the freeway. We missed the exit but when I looked at the "ranch" I was so disappointed. There were about 50 cars parked and 4 tour busses. Talk about a tourist trap. Glad we didn't waste the time.

Lunch in Amarillo at the nicest Whataburger we've ever been to. The staff could have stepped right into a Chick-Fil-A. They were extremely friendly and courteous. The restaurant was spotless. 180 degrees different than the 2 that we frequent in Houston.

Continuing east on I-40 into Oklahoma. Boring as heck ride. I know, interstates are boring, but we had limited time for this trip.

El Reno is a suburb of OKC. Stayed at the Fairfield Inn. We had stayed there on a previous trip. I do not recommend the property.

Day 5 was riding to our friends place in KS just outside Joplin.

OKC needs to do a much better job of signage on their freeways. That's all I am going to say about that.

I-40 turns into the turnpike. Thankfully the EZ Tag from Harris County works there. I highly doubt they use the tolls to do highway repair. OK has some of the worst roads in the US.

In Tulsa we stopped at the Greenwood area which was the area which was known as "Black Wall Street" until the crazy racist people looted it and burned it to the ground. I had been wanting to visit and we had the opportunity to go into the museum. If you have any interest in history you need experience the museum. I won't comment further. But if you have any interest here's a link. https://www.tulsahistory.org/exhibit/1921-tulsa-race-massacre/

We made it to our friend Ray's house about 5 PM.

 

[drfood]

Day 6 Kansas and Eureka Springs

We have a friend who lives about 5 miles west of Eureka Springs so the 3 of us took off in Ray's car to visit Sam. It was nice not to be on the motorcycle because we had not ridden the wing on curvy roads like there are in that area.



Had a great visit with Sam. Went to a Thai restaurant. Saw a double rainbow. Drove back to Ray's house. Almost hit a buck. Missed the buck. Made it back to KS safely.

 

[drfood]

Day 7--Southward Ho...Home

Early morning, 34F, pack trailer, check tire pressures, check suspension pressure. The days ride was to be over 600 miles. I had to be back home for work training. Jay had to be back for an appointment.

Nothing out of the ordinary. Nice ride. Long day.

The plan was to stop at the Texas Welcome Center and take a longer break and be to Dallas BEFORE rush hour traffic. Well guess what didn't happen....we both napped longer than planned. We hit Sam Rayburn tollway and US 75 right at 4:30. Solid stop and go. Thank goodness there is an HOV lane. From Sam Rayburn to I-30 we were in solid stop....and creep...and stop traffic. I'm glad I was not the one piloting the Goldwing. Fortunately everyone respected the motorcycle/trailer combination.

Stopped in Ennis at the QT for fuel.
Stopped in Centerville for food and fuel.

The weird part of the day was the traffic on I-45 between Dallas and Houston. It was almost non-existant. WTH!! We've never driven or ridden 45 and not had extremely heavy traffic.

Finally made it home (SW Houston) about 10 PM.

Total mileage-----2330.

Thoughts after the trip

• Why didn't we get a Goldwing before. Both of us think this beats the 2 DL650's hands down. Comfort. Relaxed ride.
• More trips can be made on 3 or 4 day adventures
• The suspension needs some work. We're investigating the Traxxion Dynamics that has been recommended.
• The handlebars need some work. Looking at several options.
• Need to figure a better communication set-up to be able to talk, near the GPS, and listen to music.
• Install a luggage carrier on top of the top case for weekend trips so we don't have to use the trailer.
• Find someone who is selling the garment bag for the inside the lid of the trailer so we can have "good clothes" if we ever need to travel with them.
• Figure a hydration system while riding.
• Look at new helmets, modular.
• FInd a generic key blank that will work for copies of the ignition. So far we have not been successful. I'm not spending $$ for the Honda blank.

Overall this was a great shakedown trip. We already know that September 2025 we will be heading to Las Vegas for a work convention and a 3 week trip surrounding that conference.

Thanks for reading.

 

[humanrace]

Wednesday, November 13, 2024
Plan for the day was US 285 due north to my sister and brother-in-laws in the El Dorado Community near Santa Fe, NM. Kickstand up time was to be 9 AM Central (8 Mountain) and get on the road. Note I said WAS. I will continue this day on my next post.

The most modified item on any good motorcycle ride is the plan. I'm sorry yours got modified in the manner it did.

 

[humanrace]

Finally arrived at my sister and brother-in-law's house about 8 PM. COLD COLD COLD. But the Casita was a toasty 75F.


So you might ask where was out heated gear. We do not own any at this point. So we depended on thermal underwear and sweat shirts.

The end of Day 2. More to come.

I went on a similarly cold ride in June of 1992. Yes, June. I haven't been without a heated vest since then. Heated gear makes a really unpleasant ride tolerable or a tolerable ride pleasant. Nice report. Tip for your trip to Vegas: The Valley of Fire State Park can be ridden through in an afternoon if your convention gets out early one day. It's the most stunning area close to Vegas in my opinion. Take 167 to get there and I-15 to get back if time gets short.

 

[drfood]

The most modified item on any good motorcycle ride is the plan. I'm sorry yours got modified in the manner it did.

Well, I am just glad the young mechanic in Ft. Stockton was able to fix the problem and showed us what to do if it ever happened. I'm just happy we didn't end up with a huge towing bill to Odessa. One crucial thing I learned this trip was to be flexible and let things happen.

 

[drfood]

I went on a similarly cold ride in June of 1992. Yes, June. I haven't been without a heated vest since then. Heated gear makes a really unpleasant ride tolerable or a tolerable ride pleasant. Nice report. Tip for your trip to Vegas: The Valley of Fire State Park can be ridden through in an afternoon if your convention gets out early one day. It's the most stunning area close to Vegas in my opinion. Take 167 to get there and I-15 to get back if time gets short.

Thanks for the suggestion of Valley of Fire. We've wanted to head there in the past, just never taken the time.

One big task I have under taken now is shopping for heated gear.

 

[Tourmeister]

When lithium batteries are cold, you have to put a current draw on them and let them warm up before they will put out enough juice to crank. Not sure if that would have worked for yours. I had a similar issue years ago with the one in my KTM 530 EXC when it got down into the low 20s in Montana and had to kick start it. Only problem with that is my knee is only good for about 3-4 tries. After the 3rd or 4th person tried a few times each, it finally came to life and we were on our way.

I avoid I-45 South of Huntsville like the plague, in a cage or on the bike