Home from a 14 day 5.5k trip!!

[craigatcsi]

We got home from our 14 day MC Trip from Omaha, NE to Washington / Canada Border to San Diego / Mexican border then east to Vegas then down to I-40 / Route 66 to Ok City then North to Omaha! Around 5.5k'ish miles!! - The heat was the worst! We rode in 104°F thru Portland, but 114°F coming across the desert to & from Vegas! (I'm not sure, but at one point, I'd swear that I saw a man dressed in all red with horns & a pitch fork). I doubt I will ever bike across that desert again!! - MANY thanks to those that invented the Cooling Vests that we bought in San Diego!!

The bike ran flawless and was soooo smooth. My new Bushtec trailer was packed full and I could hardly tell I was pulling it, (except losing 2 - 3 mpg). Gas mileage was HORRIBLE!! I got as low as 27mpg when running above 70mph. The best I got was 35mpg while doing 50ish. This made most of my gas stop ranges between 100 & 120 miles, which was VERY annoying! If I can't get my mileage higher, I think I will be trading this bike for something with better fuel economy before my next long trip.

All of the talk about West Coast drivers being bad - Nonsense!! THEY know how to drive! When I wasn't sure which lane I needed to be in until the last moment, I just signalled and they let me over!! We had no traffic issues until KS & NE, then back to fighing for a lane & slow drivers in the wrong lane!!

As most of our trips go, it was a great trip - but it is wonderful to be home.

craigr

[Guest seuadr]

glad you had fun! sounds like a heck of a trip.

[mini-muffin]

Glad you had a good trip and a safe one. Now for the important thing, do we get any pics?

 

Margaret

[Squidley]

Something to keep in mind about your gas mileage is you WILL get worse mileage no matter what you ride. All my Ventures have got between 38 and 42 mpg under normal conditions. Headwinds will kill you and obviously adding 5 to 700 lbs with trailer passenger and gear doesn't help. Also too fuel all over the country is different, your mileage will vary there.

Sounds like you had a great trip and I'm sure there will be stories for many years of your adventure

[craigatcsi]

As we did heading to the East coast last year, the gas mileage got better the farther from Omaha we got. It must be something about the mixtures.

I tried staying out of OD except when going on a looong downgrade. She seem to lug some if in OD less than 80ish.

To top it off, I was going to sync the carbs before we left, but I lost my Carb Sync tool. I waited til the day before the trip to balance them and can't remember where I put the darn tool! - I know, very stupid.

craigr

[Squidley]

Something you might want to think about if you trailer a lot is a vmax rearend. It will help with pulling the trailer and extra weight. On my 2nd gens I usually never shifted into 5th unless I was over 65 mph.

[craigatcsi]

After spending all of that money on a Bushtec, sadly we will probably only use it once or twice a year. Not really worth modifying the bike for.

On the good side, the trailer was all and more than what the dealer and the Internet said it is! The scary part is that at times, I forgot it was there. I finally adjusted my mirrors so I could see just the corners of it, to remind me.

I made a couple quick 'manuvers' on the trip and it was much more stable than I expected.

craigr

[craigatcsi]

We were talking with friends today about our West Coast trip and my wife realized that between this trip and the one to the East coast last summer, we covered 38 States so far with this bike - in less than one year!!

I kind of wish we would have thought of it earlier in the year so we could have squeezed in a couple more.

It looks like we are going to have to settle for 48 states. I talked with a couple in Washington that rode to Alaska. They told me that it there aren't many paved roads up there and the main hwy up isn't too good.

I just don't want to deal with the roads and I don't want to just ride up there and not be able to cruise around.

Oh well, 48 states is still something to brag about.

We just rolled over the 20k on the bike as we were coming into town from this trip. - Is the bike broke in yet?

20k on a 2007, does that make it a high mileage bike?

craigr

[skzoid]

Well, the couple you talked to in Washington are idiots. Enough said. If you would like some information about Alaska, ask. I hosted a Ride-In for the Venturers in 2007 (and invited members from here also). A Venturer member kept piping in about how bad the roads are. I finally asked him where he got his info. He told me he had just watched a documentary about the building of the Alcan. If I coulda reached through the Internet....

 

Alaska is paved. And so is the road to Alaska. Yes, there is construction. isn't there construction around your city, state and everywhere in between? Somebody organize a ride up here for next summer in late June and I'll host it.

[craigatcsi]

Well it sounds like Alaska may not be off the radar after all.

What is the best time of year to head up there?

We will have to wait a couple of years, this was a VERY expensive year for us. Our daughter got married, our trip to the West Coast, and a couple others. So we thought a one week trip is about all we should take next year.

We still have 3 more summers on our warranty. I want to get all our our states in before the warranty runs out.

craigr

[skzoid]

Depending on where folks come from it can take 3 - 7 days just to get here. Some folks on the 2007 Ride-In took the ferry back to Bellingham, WA. The ferry leaves Haines, AK which is about 700 miles from Anchorage. There is also a ferry from Whittier, AK but you would have to coordinate your connections. The Ride-In I hosted was for 9 days though we rode bsically 6 of those days. On Wednesday (our rest day) soe folks still rode to destinations not on the agenda. There's lots to see and do. I would recommend not coming up until after May 15th just to make sure the weather is warm enough. I am available after the second weekend of June until just before the 4th of July. I have some businesses I run at some summer events.

 

 

Here's a teaser.http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j54/Danlapan/BirdRidgeMay252006003.jpg