"Old Walt" made it from Alberta to Arizona

[VanRiver]

Well, check one off the bucket list! I competed my first long distance ride from Calgary Alberta Canada to Phoenix Arizona on my 1986 Venture Royale named "Walt". I have ridden motorcycles for 38 years now but never had the opportunity or bike that could really go for a long ride....so I finally got permission from the wife to hit the road!!! I was so excited and have been planning this ride for a long time.....I bought new gear, tuned the bike up to the best of my ability, and hit the road just in time for the hottest record breaking stretch in Utah and Arizona's history! Just my luck.....thanks goodness I bought a cooling vest for the trip!

 

Walt performed like a champ over the 3 day 2518 km (1565 miles) trip, which is rather a feat in itself as old Walt was a bike I picked up for a few years back and was deemed as a "Parts Bike" by it's previous owner..and was delivered to me in a partly disassembled condition with boxes of pieces and parts, but a heart of gold, a very colorful past, and a pedigree from Mother Yamaha. After a lot of wrench turning, learning from the members here, and parts from eBay she is now a highway cruising, mile eating machine!

 

Thanks to all for your support and sharing of knowledge over the years here on VentureRider.org that allowed me to bring Walt back from the dead and take her on the journey of a lifetime. (Yes Walt is a her).

 

On that same note I had the incredible experience of bumping into 3 other VentureRider.org forum members at a gas station outside of Page Arizona...They were on an epic journey from the East Coast! Wow, I have so much to learn from these road tested veterans!!!!......a total great bunch of guys and such an honor to meet them!!!!!! I was able to take a quick video of our meeting:

 

 

 

 

Also, here are a few pics of me and Walt on our journey! Now I just have to plan my ride to get her back home to Canada!

 

 

There was a whole bunch of Harley riders at the hotel I stayed at in Fillmore Utah......I was worried that one of them might get jealous or want to "Upgrade" to a Yamaha Venture therefore I thought old Walt would be a highly desirable target..... so I locked her up just in case.......Harleys are a dime a dozen, but a 31 year old Yamaha Venture first Gen, now that is something worth stealing!

 

[RandyR]

Just a few more miles and you can be in Baja

[videoarizona]

Cameron Trading post restaurant used to have very good Indian Fry Bread.....

[uncledj]

Great Post !!!

I haven't seen / heard from Captain Joe for a couple of years....I was wondering what happened to him.

Glad to see he's still kickin' around on the Venture.