Windjammer
Well-known member
I thought it might be fun to share some experiences and thoughts from the NAFO journey....so here goes:
1. The FJR really started to suck gas as the speed limits increased. It's 75 in NE, and I usually keep it around 10 over. At 85 MPH I was draining 5.5 gal in about 165 miles. That's 30 MPG - much lower than the 40 I normally get. Now I understand why you guys who ride fast like extra fuel cells. More on this later.
2. The running temp of the FJR went from 2 bars to 3 (Gen 1) as we approached high altitudes. And now I understand why some of you bitch about heat. There was noticeably more engine heat.
3. The closer we got to Denver, the more people we found driving BELOW the speed limit. It's like some kinda wierd disease out there or somethin'.
4. We didn't see a single FJR on our 1000 mile journey - not one!! - until we pulled up at the hotel in Golden. What are the odds?
5. I kinda liked when Ari touched on "Spidey Sense" in his speech. I don't care if you believe in it or not - I use it ALL THE TIME.
6. The food at dinner on Friday and Saturday was AWESOME :cheff: - all you heard was chewing and the clinking of silverware. Just the rally staff doing their part to put some padding on yer ass for all the riding!!
7. Some damn tasty roads out there in the Rockies, but lots of traffic! If we could have just gotten the CO Highway Patrol to close them to all traffic except FJR's......at least for a certain week of summer!
8. The people who organized this rally worked their asses off and did a kickass job! THANK YOU! B) My pathetic life has kept me so damn busy the FJR only left the garage ONCE this year until the NAFO trip. I really need to quit pissing my life away with responsibilities and get out more often...(sigh).
9. Heading out after the rally, Spidey Sense kicked in during our descent of Thompson Canyon. I just KNEW that girl in the SUV was gonna pull out right in front of us!! Thanks to Spidey Sense, I was on the front brake by the time her SUV entered the intersection. Close call....gave her a little blast of horn to kinda say WTF??? But we escaped unscathed. Thanks Spidey!
10. Heading back home, Eastbound and Down on I-90, we passed The Only Harley In The World Who Wasn't Heading To Sturgis. He was in the right lane of the slab, doing about 75 and we went by at 85 or so. Spidey Sense told me he wasn't gonna take to being outgassed by a Jap bike, but he didn't pursue....until about 5 miles later I notice him on my six, riding staggered behind me. I bumped up to 90 MPH to make sure I wasn't holding him up, but he matched my speed and just stayed on my six. Harley Dude has no helmet, no windshield, riding in a t-shirt. Damn that's a lotta wind beatin' on ya at 90 MPH! :huh: Then we approach a single lane construction zone - I squirt out around a semi but Harley Dude don't have enough time to make it around the semi and gets stuck behind. Several miles later the C-zone ends and the semi with Harley Dude behind it is totally gone from my mirror. I bump back up to 90, thinking I've seen the last of Harley Dude. The dude would have to ride like 110 MPH with no wind protection to catch up, assuming his bike goes that fast. But DAMN!! 10 miles later I'm shocked to find him right back on my six!! And this time he stayed there, never trying to pass, but never more than 50 feet behind. We stayed in formation like that for MILES, which was OK, cuz the 10,000 Harleys heading West to Sturgis wouild actually wave back with him riding behind me. :lol: Then the unthinkable happened. The last 4 bars on my fuel guage were dropping off like every 10 miles, and soon I found myself staring at a single flashing bar - with only 138 miles on the trip meter! I had no choice but to pit for fuel. I signalled and gave Harley Dude a friendly wave as I pulled off onto the exit ramp. He didn't look at me, wave or nuthin' - just rode off into the distance with his bare face in the 90 MPH wind, knowing that he just kicked a Jap bike's ass into the dirt. Don't need no stinkin' helmet, Dont' need no stinkin' windshield, Don't need no stinkin' Sturgis, Don't need no stinkin' pathetic Jap bike. Now I know what it feels like to be a pre-pubescent sophomore in a high school locker room. :blushing: My old Connie, as gutless and top heavy as it was, would NEVER have allowed this to happen to me. 10 minutes and 5.4 gallons later (less than 26MPG if you're keeping track) I hit the road again, but never saw Harley Dude, and didn't try to catch him. My DL is my job, so risking 100+ MPH speeding tickets is simply out of the question for me. As I got closer to home the speed limits went down and my mileage got back up to nearly 40 MPG - I don't know if the plains states have shit gas or if the FJR just sucks up that much at higher speeds. I just know it sucked getting my ass kicked by a Harley. :skull: But I'll get over it.....
11. As we finished the ride home, I pondered the significance and Great Cosmic Meaning of the Great Harley Ass Kicking Incident to my Motorcycling Karma. Was it retribution for all the times I out-rode Harleys on the Concours? Or were the Cosmic Motorcycling Gods punishing me for my lack of seat time this year? After arriving home with no tickets, no bike damage, nothing lost or stolen, and having dodged all the major thunderstorms we saw, I finally realized it happened for one simple reason - without this incident we would have had an absolutely PERFECT trip, and since nothing is perfect, the Great Harley Ass Kicking Incident took place simply to ensure a lack of perfection.
Pride is a small price to pay for such a wonderful journey......
1. The FJR really started to suck gas as the speed limits increased. It's 75 in NE, and I usually keep it around 10 over. At 85 MPH I was draining 5.5 gal in about 165 miles. That's 30 MPG - much lower than the 40 I normally get. Now I understand why you guys who ride fast like extra fuel cells. More on this later.
2. The running temp of the FJR went from 2 bars to 3 (Gen 1) as we approached high altitudes. And now I understand why some of you bitch about heat. There was noticeably more engine heat.
3. The closer we got to Denver, the more people we found driving BELOW the speed limit. It's like some kinda wierd disease out there or somethin'.
4. We didn't see a single FJR on our 1000 mile journey - not one!! - until we pulled up at the hotel in Golden. What are the odds?
5. I kinda liked when Ari touched on "Spidey Sense" in his speech. I don't care if you believe in it or not - I use it ALL THE TIME.
6. The food at dinner on Friday and Saturday was AWESOME :cheff: - all you heard was chewing and the clinking of silverware. Just the rally staff doing their part to put some padding on yer ass for all the riding!!
7. Some damn tasty roads out there in the Rockies, but lots of traffic! If we could have just gotten the CO Highway Patrol to close them to all traffic except FJR's......at least for a certain week of summer!
8. The people who organized this rally worked their asses off and did a kickass job! THANK YOU! B) My pathetic life has kept me so damn busy the FJR only left the garage ONCE this year until the NAFO trip. I really need to quit pissing my life away with responsibilities and get out more often...(sigh).
9. Heading out after the rally, Spidey Sense kicked in during our descent of Thompson Canyon. I just KNEW that girl in the SUV was gonna pull out right in front of us!! Thanks to Spidey Sense, I was on the front brake by the time her SUV entered the intersection. Close call....gave her a little blast of horn to kinda say WTF???
But we escaped unscathed. Thanks Spidey! 10. Heading back home, Eastbound and Down on I-90, we passed The Only Harley In The World Who Wasn't Heading To Sturgis. He was in the right lane of the slab, doing about 75 and we went by at 85 or so.
Spidey Sense told me he wasn't gonna take to being outgassed by a Jap bike, but he didn't pursue....until about 5 miles later I notice him on my six, riding staggered behind me. I bumped up to 90 MPH to make sure I wasn't holding him up, but he matched my speed and just stayed on my six. Harley Dude has no helmet, no windshield, riding in a t-shirt. Damn that's a lotta wind beatin' on ya at 90 MPH! :huh: Then we approach a single lane construction zone - I squirt out around a semi but Harley Dude don't have enough time to make it around the semi and gets stuck behind. Several miles later the C-zone ends and the semi with Harley Dude behind it is totally gone from my mirror. I bump back up to 90, thinking I've seen the last of Harley Dude. The dude would have to ride like 110 MPH with no wind protection to catch up, assuming his bike goes that fast. But DAMN!! 10 miles later I'm shocked to find him right back on my six!! And this time he stayed there, never trying to pass, but never more than 50 feet behind. We stayed in formation like that for MILES, which was OK, cuz the 10,000 Harleys heading West to Sturgis wouild actually wave back with him riding behind me. :lol: Then the unthinkable happened. The last 4 bars on my fuel guage were dropping off like every 10 miles, and soon I found myself staring at a single flashing bar - with only 138 miles on the trip meter! I had no choice but to pit for fuel. I signalled and gave Harley Dude a friendly wave as I pulled off onto the exit ramp. He didn't look at me, wave or nuthin' - just rode off into the distance with his bare face in the 90 MPH wind, knowing that he just kicked a Jap bike's ass into the dirt. Don't need no stinkin' helmet, Dont' need no stinkin' windshield, Don't need no stinkin' Sturgis, Don't need no stinkin' pathetic Jap bike. Now I know what it feels like to be a pre-pubescent sophomore in a high school locker room. :blushing: My old Connie, as gutless and top heavy as it was, would NEVER have allowed this to happen to me. 10 minutes and 5.4 gallons later (less than 26MPG if you're keeping track) I hit the road again, but never saw Harley Dude, and didn't try to catch him. My DL is my job, so risking 100+ MPH speeding tickets is simply out of the question for me. As I got closer to home the speed limits went down and my mileage got back up to nearly 40 MPG - I don't know if the plains states have shit gas or if the FJR just sucks up that much at higher speeds. I just know it sucked getting my ass kicked by a Harley. :skull: But I'll get over it..... 11. As we finished the ride home, I pondered the significance and Great Cosmic Meaning of the Great Harley Ass Kicking Incident to my Motorcycling Karma. Was it retribution for all the times I out-rode Harleys on the Concours? Or were the Cosmic Motorcycling Gods punishing me for my lack of seat time this year? After arriving home with no tickets, no bike damage, nothing lost or stolen, and having dodged all the major thunderstorms we saw, I finally realized it happened for one simple reason - without this incident we would have had an absolutely PERFECT trip, and since nothing is perfect, the Great Harley Ass Kicking Incident took place simply to ensure a lack of perfection.
Pride is a small price to pay for such a wonderful journey......
