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Gurock

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 13, 2011
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Location
Chicago, IL
I had to go from Chicago to San Diego to take my dad to the horse races and for a few days to Vegas again at Labor Day. As usual pop thought I'd be flying, but I decided to ride. This is a series of posts that I put on another forum describing my trip from planning to it’s end.

Seeing how the Burgman has gone the way of things, and I just bought the FJR, I decided to take the FJR. I have an appointment on Tuesday morning with a place called Alligator Bob's. He is a custom seat maker near me, who will take apart my seat and rebuild it with special padding material to my dimensions. On Thursday I have an appointment with Yamaha for the recall, oil change and they will do the Heli-Bar triple clamp and extenders to make the bars more comfortable for long rides. I put a mount on the luggage rack for my Givi trunk, a Cortech 14 liter tank bag, and I'm putting together supplies to pack bags. I want to take much of the usual equipment for me. IPad, IPod, GPS, rain suit, good riding jacket, Kevlar jeans and riding pants, changes of clothes with some cold layers, warm and cold gloves, Shark Helmet, riding boots and limited stuff for San Diego and Vegas.

I'm considering a different route for the way there then I ever took before. This time. I want to take I 90 to the Badlands. I want to go through the Badlands then go by way of Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Idaho and I 15 in to San Diego.

This time I wrote an email to AAA in advance and they sent me a road map for every state west of the Mississippi and their trip-tik planning book. It still doesn't tell too much. Nothing is the same as good advice from people who've been there. I'm hopping to be able to leave a week from Tuesday, (August 30, 2011), and need to be in San Diego no later then Sunday morning. That gives me Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday for travel. AAA says my route is 2,700 miles and they're probably right. I'm thinking of riding the daylights out of Tuesday and trying to get 850 under my belt so that I'd then have four days left for 1,850 miles, which is very reasonable compared to five days for 2,700 miles.

I've finished my second day. The first day I got delayed a little leaving and didn't get out of Chicago until almost nine in the morning. Then when I got a little beyond Madison, WI it started to rain. I put on my rain gear and kept going through the rain which kept up till near eight at night when I was getting into the beginning of South Dakota. I still made it to Murdo, SD that day, but it was very late at night, by then. Today I didn't get going till about nine thirty, because of how late I finished the first day. I drove to and through the Badlands National Park, which was magnificent, went through Wall, SD. In Wall, SD I saw the funniest thing. They had a giant Harley store, so I thought I'd stop there to see if I could buy a Ram mount. The 5,000 sq ft store was filled with Harley clothes and the Harleys out in front. I asked the sales girl if I could see their parts department and she showed me a shelf in the back with a few quarts of oil and told me that was it.

Any way I did Mt Rushmore and Crazy Horse. Rushmore sucked, a lot of walking to see a mountain with faces. Crazy Horse was kind of cool, because they are working on it.

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I took US 16 into Wyoming through the Dakota mountains and it was also strange, cool mountains and great roads, but first I had to panic stop to avoid a couple of deer. The FJR has great brakes and will stop faster then a car without sliding out, thank god. Then a little after the adrenaline was wearing down, I'm going along about 70 and an elk is standing in the middle of my side of the road. I went into a panic stop and the elk charged horns down at my bike. I missed him by not more then a foot or two.

I went on into Wyoming taking US 16 to I 90 and 90 west to Sheridan and stopped at a Motel 6. First on US 16 and then on I 90 there was about 45 MPH winds and then out near Gillette when I was going about 90 MPH another herd of deer came out onto I 90. After I saw my life flash before my eyes again and waiting for my pants to dry, haha, I slowed down to about 65. Tomorrow I'm planning to take Alt US 14 through the mountains and to cut through Yellowstone and Grand Teton, if time permits, then ride into the evening to look for a motel. Friday and Saturday are up in the air except I need to be in San Diego by no later then about ten at night on Saturday. Great pictures in the Badlands and some good riding. It was sunny and 95 in the Badlands. Many suicidal Harleys with riders wearing expensive Harley clothes, but no helmet or gear. They were laughing at me with my helmet and mesh jacket on the "Japanese" bike, but I could get a mile in front of them while they were still hoping their bike would start.

Anyway all in all it's a great trip, just hope I don't hit a bear tomorrow. My question is, can't we exterminate the deer and elk? At Crazy Horse the guide said that SD had imported hundreds of elk into that area thinking the tourists would like them. One of the typical ideas that politicians come up with. If I'm going to die hitting a creature on the highway, maybe it can be a politician.

Today I made it through Wyoming, by way of I 90 to US 14 and Alt 14 to Yellowstone. Alt 14 is one of the most beautiful roads I’ve ever taken, but at one point on Alt 14 I was driving through a cloud and couldn’t see more then 20 feet in front of me. I had to slow down to next to nothing and hope I wouldn’t get rear ended. When I made the top of the mountain I broke through the clouds and the sun shined the rest of the day. Through Yellowstone and Grand Teton to Jackson Hole and on to Idaho Falls. It was beautiful in Yellowstone and Grand Teton, in fact the whole way through to Jackson Hole was spectacular and great riding. [/img][/img][/img][/img][/img][/img]

My mistake was that in Jackson Hole it was getting near dark and I stopped to eat and talk to my dad on the cell phone. By the time I was ready to leave Jackson Hole it was dark and I didn’t understand just how scary Rte 89 at night out of Jackson Hole was. Someone said to me that a road could give you a sense of foreboding. That was it. I was sure that I was going to die. Then there was a warning part way through that a steep section was torn out of the highway and replaced with gravel somewhere up the road.

In addition to that the grades were steep with sharp steep curves and warning signs with pictures of bear and lions on them (not just deer).

It turned out that there were warning signs where the road turned to gravel and generator driven lights that lit the road like daylight. So in the end the worst thing about that ride was my own fear and that it got colder then my gear would protect me for as I moved out towards and into Idaho and spent the night at a Motel 6 in Idaho Falls.

I did Idaho Falls to Las Vegas today by way of interstates to US 93 in Twin Falls, ID. US 93 to US 6 in Ely, NV. US 6 to NV 318 to US 93 to Vegas. A few good roads, a couple 130 mile stretches between gas, never would have taken the Burgman through so many gas risks.

I saw a lady at two different gas stops, riding through the desert dressed like Evil Kneivel, in a white leather outfit with red, and blue stars and stripes, riding a Triumph sport bike. I tried to ask her what that was all about, but I think she got irritated thinking I was hitting on her.

Tomorrow on to San Diego.

BTW no misadventures with deer or elk today, but a near miss to a coyote. I also discovered that the FJR will take off like a Saturn 5 when you misjudge oncoming distance at 80 MPH, just downshift to 4th and give it a lot of gas. I think I finished that pass faster then Wile E Coyote on an Acme Rocket. I know the speedometer hit 130 MPH before I laid off the gas.

I made it to San Diego today. I 15 from Vegas with a side trip to La Jolla to look at the beach before I went to my brother and to the parking storage for the bike and on to see dad. I think that I 15 might have been the most dangerous part of the trip. They drive like maniacs. California lane splitting in traffic jams saves time but still scares me.[/img][/img]

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I made it back to Vegas with dad and spent about five days hanging out. By some miracle, I left $800.00 ahead.. At dinner time of the following Friday I left to drive pop home and Saturday morning it's off to the airport, so the parking lot can take me to the bike and my ride home.

I was thinking of I 15 to Utah and then through the mountains and southern Colorado, Cortez, Durango, Silverton, Montrose and to the east. It's a spectacular route that I've done before.

No new states involved and I have to try not to bust up a foot in St Louis this time. My last trip across the US like this in May and June on my Burgman I crossed the country without incident going by way of US 50 in Colorado and Montrose, Silverton, Durango into Utah. I went home through Utah and Colorado taking I 70 through Kansas and Missouri all having a great time and safely. The small glitch came when I was riding home on the last day. I left Glenwood Springs, CO early in the morning and took I 70 to the mountains taking CO 134 to US 40 and back down to I 70 again. I got stubborn and decided that I could do an Iron Butt type ride from Glenwood Springs to Chicago only leaving Denver at 8:00 that evening. It all went well till it was about 7:00 the next morning and I was in St Louis. I stopped for breakfast at a truck stop and went the wrong way for the highway entrance on the frontage road. In a few hundred yards I noticed my mistake and turned into a parking lot to turn around and go the right way on the frontage road. As I completed the turn around in the lot I accelerated a little hard and didn’t notice that some fool had dropped a bunch of sand on the ground. Needless to say my back wheel spun out and I put my right foot down hard to keep the bike from going down. I was nursing the twisted ankle and bruised foot for a month. Anyway enough of that thought.

My dad and brother dropped me at the airport and the parking lot came and took me to the bike on Saturday morning. I spent a couple hours at the beaches in La Jolla up to Oceanside.

Then I headed east to and on I 15. I planned to have late dinner with a friend in Vegas and head up to Mesquite or St George for the night. There is something about plans. When I got a little past Barstow the sky opened to a blinding, terrible downpour. This is in the middle of the Mojave desert. I put my rain suit on under a bridge and kept going. In a terrible downpour your not safe on the shoulder. The cars and trucks don't see much and they could run you right over. I think your safer trying to keep moving with flashers on, so I did.

My luck was that this is when the hail began. It was big hail about half golf ball size. It took over an hour to get to Baker. By then I was black and blue all over from the hail that had fallen off and on. Hail really hurts when it hits you on a bike going twenty five or thirty. I ended up in Vegas at eleven that night and exhausted. I stayed over in my buddy and his wife's house.

I was so sore and tired on Sunday morning that I ended up going to brunch with my buddy and his wife and didn't leave Vegas till two in the afternoon. When I got to Mesquite around four it started to rain and they were predicting hail. So I rented a cheap room at the Virgin River Casino watched Sunday night football and slept till seven in the morning. That morning I got up determined to make the most of Utah.

I did kind of make the most of today I was out of Mesquite feeling good before eight. I drove up to Cedar City got off ate breakfast and did Utah 14 to US 89 to Utah 12. Beautiful roads. I stopped in Escalante and had Mad Max the motorcycle repair guy change my oil and rear tire. That burnt about two hours, but I finished the Devil's Staircase and Capitol Reef before dark. I had to skip Lake Powell and catch I 70 since it was getting dark and I'd already seen too many cows in the road. BTW, I met a Harley couple from Seattle in Capitol Reef that told me the wife had wrecked her Sportster hitting a deer. Killed the deer, wrecked the bike, but luckily she escaped with just bruises. I ended up taking I 70 to Grand Junction where there is a reasonable motel and tomorrow will be a new day.

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I ended up doing Grand Junction, CO to North Platte, NE on Tuesday. I took I 70 to Colorado 131 which winds north towards Steamboat and through some of Colorado's best mountain roads. I'd done that before, but this time when I stopped at 131 and 134 for gas, the station owner, who I was offering a bounty to on elk and deer he hunted, told me that I should take US 40 north to CO 9 and go north through Medicine Bow and to I 80 in Laramie, Wyoming. I tried it and was a little disappointed in the roads. Too much flat, but a small spectacular section in Medicine Bow that I'd never seen before.

Either way I ended up in Laramie about 6:00 bought gas, coffee and warmed up a little before taking off on I 80 east towards Nebraska. There's nothing spectacular about that ride, it's largely flat and open through the rest of Wyoming and western Nebraska. As it got late and cold it started to rain and I was especially scared as I had read a story on this forum before I left Chicago about a member who seemed very well liked and respected who had died on I 80 in Nebraska on a rainy night in a hydroplane accident. I thought that he was an experienced rider who probably was more skilled than I am and it scared me a lot. I also remembered the incident in St Louis on my last trip. So I stopped in North Platte, NE. I'd stopped there before on another trip across and knew that the Super 8 was very friendly to motorcycles. I was right and the clerk gave me a Jacuzzi room and stories about her adventures on a boyfriend's Harley ending in a crash that damaged her knee and hip so she shouldn't ride any more.

After trying to get less sore in the Jacuzzi and sleep I got a reasonable start the next day and took I 80 through the uneventful and unremarkable country of Nebraska and Iowa. The sun went down when I was near Des Moines, IA and I didn't count on how cold it would get. It got down to 35 degrees and I wasn’t in warm enough gear. I was frozen when I got to the Illinois border, at Davenport, IA (Quad Cities), so I did something out of character and stopped in the quad cities at another Super 8 for the night and drove the last three hours home Thursday morning. I Went to work Thursday and took Friday off to recuperate. I'm sure that I got people mad at work by not showing up on Friday, but that's life

By the end of the trip I’d logged about 6,000 miles and gotten to ride through some fabulous places and riding. It was just a shame that I wasn’t use to the FJR and couldn’t really do some of what the bike could do on the great mountain roads.

Well I still ned to learn about posting pictures. It's late and another night I'll need to work on it. SORRY!

 
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Yep, they did! Great report! :clapping: :clapping:

Are the pictures that came thru the same as the ones in the original post?

I too have been on nearly all of those roads. Thanks for reminding me!

 
They are more or less the same pictures. I worked on loading them later and didn't look at exact matching, but they represent my picture collection from that trip fairly well. It did kind of ruin the report that I didn't know how to integrate them in the first time around. On the other hand you guys who have done those roads know what a great route it is. The only bad parts were the slab through Nebraska, Iowa and into Chicago on the way home and the slab between Chicago and toward the west part of Wisconsin on the way out.

The Badlands, Wyoming into the mountains, Idaho, Nevada, California, Utah and Colorado all have roads that are amazing. No matter how many times I have done those roads it's never enough. On my spring trip where I did southern Colorado on a different bike there was a point going between Montrose, Co and Durango, Co where I passed a line of cars using the wrong side of the double yellow line. I didn't see that the first car in the line was a county cop. As soon as I passed him his flashers came on. I pulled to the side at the least dangerous spot i could find and listened to him bitch me out about how stupid I was to be making that move and then he let me go. It did slow my zest to take that incredible road real fast on the other hand it didn't ruin my day with a ticket. There are just certain places that when you ride them it's a little like you died and went to heaven. One of those spots is Colorado 131 from Wolcott to Colorado 134 into Kremerling. Those two roads tend to be empty of traffic and having nothing but mountains and turns for many miles with some of the most beautiful mountains I've ever seen. Another is Alt US 14 going towards Yellowstone into 14. IN Utah I love UT 12 through Escalante and the Devil's Staricase or UT 14 from Cedar City till it ends.

 
...On my spring trip where I did southern Colorado on a different bike there was a point going between Montrose, Co and Durango, Co where I passed a line of cars using the wrong side of the double yellow line...
hmmm, can't say that's ever happened to me. ;)

Right, Trooper Fenwick??

:lol:

 
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One of the more local wonderful riding spots is that section of road from Bixby, MO on highways "D", "P" and Rte 32. Anoother of those sections is Indiana Rte 62 near Friendship, IN. That one has one of my favorite road signs.

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These are the places motorcycles live for.

 
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