R62FJR
Active member
What I did on my summer vacation.
Executive Summary:
This is kind of long so here’s the short version: 27 days total, 18 riding days, 8230 miles including my first SS1000 day. Langley BC across northern US to Cincinnati, OH, leg #2 to San Clemente, CA, return by many twisty CA roads. Zero performance awards (no radar detector), one rear tire (front is finished but made the whole trip). Average air temperature, 310 deg (K), and average travel speed for entire trip – 61.4 mph. FJR performance – flawless, owner performance - needs work. See farkle and clothing review at end of this diatribe.
Pre-trip thrash:
Anticipating a string of hot days and the occasional cool morning (or night), a number of pre-trip purchases and installations kept me busy for a couple of weeks prior to the start of the excursion (purchased the new 2005 ABS bike in April 2006). Thanks to Skyway for timely delivery of his Garmin 2730 XM antenna mount just a few days before the kick off. Among the other farkles installed before the trip (mostly late night installs) was the ESG stator (more later).
Langley, BC – Winthrop, WA:
I did not get an early start, and after an hour wait at customs (always pick the longest line…grrrr), I silence the bike (kill button) at the customs station and discuss all aspects of my life with the overly inquisitive border agent. Three minutes later, punch the starter button…click-click-click. Crap, no battery juice. A push start later, u-turn, and I’m on my way back home. Off comes every piece of fairing to get at the connection from the stator to the rectifier (a couple of quirky electrical issues in the preceding day or two were my only clues). As suspected, one of the shrink-tube protected connectors had not made connection (dim light, dimmer owner during installation). A 2.5 hour delay to button things up and off again. A much shorter wait at the border this time and I was quickly on to Hwy 20 across the Cascades. The late start eliminated much of the traffic but the wind was pretty strong, reducing the enjoyment of one of the best rides in WA. Great dinner in Winthrop at the Wild Duck Inn (??) and back to camp.
Camp setup at Winthrop (20 mph wind from left-right)
Winthrop – Lewiston ID.
Not a real early start on a day that promised to be hot early. A diagonal slice across WA to the SE corner. WA 23 and 231 very enjoyable, high speed sweepers and great visibility. Dropping into the Snake river valley at Lewiston, the temperature rises from bearable to damn-hot. Called it a day early, putting me one full day behind the original schedule.
Lewiston, ID – Bozeman, MT
Hwy 12 – Lolo pass (A+ rating). Left early and enjoyed a great ride over this superb stretch of pavement. Very consistent corners and beautiful scenery make it a must do if you are anywhere in the area. Hwy 200 and 141 are great blasts at medium elevation with little to no traffic. Nice lunch in the only café in Avon, MT where I compare hats with a precocious 1 yr old. A few miles of I15 and route 69 (nice) to I90. Hot, hot, hot ride into a nice A/C hotel in Bozeman, MT.
Yellowstone and Beartooth Pass:
Off early to the main Yellowstone entrance (Hwy 89). As you near Gardiner at the entrance the road drops steadily while following a river. A great optical illusion as the river is running in the opposite direction, seemingly up hill! A passing gravel truck throws out something that whacks me on the top of my left foot (ouch, sacrificed the foot to protect the fairing). I’ve been to YS a few times so it was a short visit and out to the NE entrance. Lots of buffalo and a 50+ train of HD riders (even a few with helmets) on the way to the Beartooth pass.
Mammoth Hot Springs – Yellowstone (90+ deg).
Another 10 miles of gravel just outside the park, and a fairly beat up road to the pass take some of the pleasure out of the ride (still some great sections). Scenery however is spectacular. The road on the east side of the pass is a technical marvel, pasted onto the side of a very steep range. A trip from East-West would be preferable on this road. The heat wave continues and I pack it in at Lovell, WY with the threat of thunderstorms in the air (nothing comes of them except some strong winds).
Lovell, WY – Kanoka, SD.
Up and away before dawn to ride Hwy 14 (A+). Bumpy climb but great high speed sweepers up top. Watch for mid-corner cattle guards and I suspect deer could be a problem here as well. Great road surface and twisties dropping down into Dayton, WY, again, an east-west ride would be the best way to travel this route.
Start of Hwy 14 climb east of Lovell, WY just after dawn. This shot is a 4 picture stitch (greatly shrunk).
Continue on 14 to Ucross, WY where I catch a glimpse of a sign that has the words motorcycle and “missing road” on it but I think nothing of it. A mostly empty road and great 100+ sweeper territory for the first 50 miles ends with a flag-person decked out in Hardly a Davidson logo wear berating me for not reading the sign and avoiding the route. A five mile stretch of dirt/gravel with 2 inches of rain and flooding the previous day looks a bit sketchy but the supposed worst section is immediately in front of us and it doesn’t look too bad. After a number of stories of “many bikes down” (didn’t ask them if they were all HD’s) and general CYA discussion and we’re off following the pilot car…meh…nothing to it. Speaking of HD’s, they are everywhere here, maybe 2-5% of riders (including other makes) are wearing helmets or any sort of protective gear.
Another side trip on Hwy 14 and a quick stop for a picture at Devils Tower (hot, as usual).
Another short jaunt on I90 into SD and off on Hwy 14A in the black hills (are all Hwy 14’s good?). This is a fairly short road (20-30 miles) with a 35 mph limit. Fortunately the traffic was light. A great set of medium speed back and forth twisties. No Mt Rushmore, but some enjoyable roads to I90 and the metropolis of Kanoka, SD. Big plans for tomorrow.
Kanoka, SD – Cincinnati, OH (SS1000 day):
Up at 1:30AM (MDT), fueled and starting witness form complete by 2:20AM. A bit hairy around dawn (micro-nap shocks) but no deer sightings in the first few hours. A stop for breakfast and gas cures the drowsiness. All in all, a steady day with a few extra stops as the GPS routed me diagonally across Iowa into Illinois on some smaller routes. Arrive at brother’s house 18.5 hrs after the start, six states, three time zones, and 1086 miles later (woo-hoo!). To add to the excitement, my credit card comes back as disallowed at the final fuel stop (Shell-grrr – Mastercard reported no problems when I phoned the next day). A bit of excitement getting the last receipt but a good feeling of accomplishment on the day.
Notes:
Of the 1086 miles, at least 900 were past corn fields (ack).
Saw many a dead deer on I90 and other roads. Two live sightings but lots of time to slow.
Don’t always believe GPS instructions (even if Aussie Karen is your guide – brrb.) Faster time preference doesn’t always work when you don’t have avoidance of minor roads turned on.
Any beer tastes great after that day!
Kentucky Roads:
Spent a week with my brother and his family in Cincinnati (great time just hanging). On my next to last day there we finally got a chance (weather, work, etc) to get down to Kentucky for a ride (brother on an R6, also my previous bike model before the FJR). Wow, great ridge rides on 10, 22, 227 for a couple of hundred miles. A short session of bike switch left me bewildered, I couldn’t fathom how I ever toured on my R6. It felt like a skateboard compared to the sit-in feeling on the FJR (took 5 minutes to regain some confidence on it, don’t regret the move at all).
Brother Kevin in Kentucky
Cincinnati – Nashville, TN:
After a week in Cincy, leg #2 to San Clemente, CA begins. A late start and a muggy day through Kentucky horse country. Pleasant roads except for an “over the rise and unexpected 20 mph corner” on SR155 north of Bloomington, KT. Many rubber marks and obvious ditch excursions show that many have been surprised here. I don’t think I missed a sign but who knows. I cross the centerline by a foot or two while dragging the right-side peg, luckily no traffic coming the other way. Very muggy in TN and upper 90’s. The original BT-020 on the rear is getting down to the wear bars.
Nashville, TN – Fort Smith, AK:
Off before sunrise and an I40 blast to Memphis. Hwy 64 across northern Arkansas. The smell of soy bean plants (I think) fills the air just over the border into AK (nice). A stop in Earle, AK for gas leads to a short conversation with a local that consists mainly of pardon, excuse me, pardon….. We come to some agreement that the FJR is a nice bike but we are both bemused by the sounds emanating from each others mouths. Someone really turned up the heaters in the afternoon. North of I40 is a nice loop (Hwy 7/16/23) through the Ozark forest (no, I did not hear banjos). The higher elevation dropped the temperature about 10 degrees (from bake down to slow sizzle) and the pavement and curves were great. 100+ temperatures and a steady south wind ended my day near the border with Oklahoma. Rear Bridgestone = toast.
Oklahoma:
Off at 6:30 to OK City. Arrive just after 9am and peruse yellow pages looking for tire. Local Yam dealers don’t seem to be familiar with FJR’s, finally get one to say they have a OEM Stone in stock, $286+ installation (leave it with us for a couple of hours)…uuuhhhh….no. A one line entry “The Motorcycle Tire Store” is the next call, $153 for an Avon, installation $15. Plug the address into the Garmin and I’m there in 15 minutes. The setting: a 4000 sq ft warehouse (old) with large selection of Avons (one brand only) taking up about 5% of the floor space, a Handy M/C lift, manual Cates tire changer, and a great old static balancer, four chairs, and a boom box. Some great Sooner and Loctite stories as the single proprietor changes the rear on a Harley (owner looking to buy an FJR or ST so lots of discussion). Three hours later out the door with a spanking new Avon rear. Very hot and I need to lean heavily to the left to counteract steady 20-30 mph wind from the South. Call it quits in the blast furnace (103) 60 miles short of the Texas border.
Clinton OK – Pagosa Springs, CO:
Gone an hour before sunrise and across the Texas panhandle. Beautiful sunrise but my pictures sucked. North from Amarillo to NE corner of New Mexico. Beautiful high plains country with ‘see-for-miles” roads. Pass a great housing developments scattered over a few hundred acres where all the houses are 75%+ buried in the earth. Rio Grande Gorge Bridge reminds me how to be afraid of heights.
Riding into welcome rain shower on Hwy 64 in northern NM.
Plenty of road work and a missed turn send me off my planned route, ending up in Pagosa Springs, CO. Temperatures moderated somewhat and lots of thunder storms in the area. Many HD riders heading towards Sturgis, a half dozen with New Zealand license plates (they are mostly two-up, full leathers and helmets).
Four Corners Day:
Wake to huge thunder storm. Nothing goes right early – forget to do up helmet, huge traffic lines for road construction. GPS leads me on a couple of needless circles at city/town waypoints (I’m getting better at ignoring/avoiding these). A quick tourist stop at four corners and a re-route along Hwy 160 instead of some more remote roads, just one of those days where it is best not to push it. Absolutely beautiful red rock cliffs and formations along Hwy 160 (top speed of the trip at 141 a bit hairy with gusty cross winds). Bed down in Tuba City (no beer served on the Navajo reservation, dang) with plans for a dawn visit to the Grand Canyon.
Arizona:
Leave at 5am, arrive at GC about 30 minutes after sunrise. Free entry as there is no one manning the gate. Crappy overcast dampens the view a bit but still pretty amazing.
Twelve picture stitch of the GC at desert view (greatly reduced size):
Nice slow jaunt along the rim (plenty of deer, stared down a couple). Heading south it is apparent that I’m going to get wet. I ride into a black mass of a thunderstorm and get a great view of lightning striking a steel power transmission tower about a mile ahead of me (thunder almost immediately). Dry out with a late breakfast at the Route 66 diner in Williams, AZ. (not corny, lots of old memorabilia).
Continue on Rte 66 SW of Kingman and it becomes apparent that they have had plenty of rain lately. Many washes look well used with excess gravel and sand having been recently cleared from the road. The road is poorly kept and must have been hell to travel on back in the day. The following picture is a view from the top of the pass close to the CA border. Slow and bumpy.
In Oatman, AZ along the same stretch, a burro was standing dead-center of the road, with no intention of moving. Highway 95 in CA was closed due to a flash flood, necessitating a back-track to Hwy 95 in AZ and a trip through hell (heat) to Blythe, CA in the Mojave desert (105 in the shade, but there is no shade on the road).
Blythe, CA to San Clemente, CA:
The Mojave Desert is actually pretty nice if you get through it before 8am. Hwy 74 out of Palm Springs is a classic CA road, switchback city and great pavement. Plenty of bikes out early on this Saturday. The other end of 74 near the coast is also very nice but traffic killed most of the joy. A couple of the days on the beaches of southern CA while visiting a niece were a nice break.
Southern CA:
Learn to lane split, or fry. A late start and maybe some poor route planning (can’t get XM traffic with Canadian subscription) resulted in a two-hour trip through LA. I finally decided that lane “sharing” wasn’t such a bad thing. Gaining confidence doesn’t take too long and most drivers are helpful in providing space for sharing (even a cop pulled to the side to let me slide by). Detoured up Flores Canyon road to Mulholland Hwy and back to Hwy 1 on Decker Canyon road. There is a lot of development just below the infamous section of Mul Hwy and it appeared to me that the Rock Store is no longer there (anyone?). That part of the hwy has very fresh pavement but is pretty tight for a FJR (compared to previous trips on sport bikes). I had heard that Hwy 33 was closed but the Caltrans site mentioned that one lane was open. A local on a Ducati Monster led me out of Ojai, making it a most enjoyable ride (lots of dirt on inside corners however). A road closed sign at Lockwood Valley road forced a detour out to I5 (many cluttered washes here as well). North on I5 dropping into the great central valley, a semi (one of 100,000) goes off into a run off gravel pit in a great shower of dust (impressive stop). Back west on 166/33 and left on Hwy 58 (A+). A great climb on perfect pavement, no traffic, roller coaster whoops and plenty of variety. (East to west is best approach).
Central CA:
An offshore breeze provides clear sunny skies along Hwy 1. Many washouts and poor road repairs slow the pace (NTTAWWT). A rabbit escapes being killed by some unknown force. Running full speed he disappears from view on a certain collision course with the front or back wheel. I cringe but don’t feel any contact. The rear view mirror shows him parked squarely in the path I just traversed, apparently alive (good brakes on those rabbits).
Bridge at Big Creek, south of Big Sur.
I continued up to Santa Cruz and up Hwy 9/35 to Alice’s restaurant. There were plenty of LEO’s for a Wednesday but still an enjoyable ride. Great BBQ chicken sandwich and a good yap session with a few locals (still as popular as ever). Trekked across the bay to Pleasanton to pay a surprise visit to a business associate and then got roasted in a traffic jam in Richmond as the police were doing an accident investigation on a very ugly looking crash. More lane splitting on 101 to a stop in Petaluma.
Northern CA:
Off early but Rte 1 closed for 5 hrs south of Bodega Bay (no explanation why). GPS does a great job of routing on back roads to get around it. Hwy 1 surface sucks to Ross River and then is great the rest of the way. Onshore winds have it pretty much socked in and the coolness is welcome. The Rockport to Leggett stretch is fabulous with new pavement. Riding this section south to north is preferable as you are on the outside of most turns and away from dirt/rocks deposited from the adjacent hills. Hwy 36 (A++). A bit much at the end of a long day but what a road. Great variety of turns and terrain. Roller coaster ride last 40 miles into Red Bluff.
Northern CA 2:
Hwy 299 out of Redding leads to a perfect uphill climb (constant 30mph marked set of curves for a number of miles). I struck it right with a road repair one lane section and had a clear shot without traffic. Continued on 299 and then 150 miles on 96 (also A+ road) back to I5. Plenty of fires and smoke in the area. Made Eugene, OR on I5 and blasted up I5 on the last day to arrive home.
Farkle and Clothing Reviews:
Bluesea Fuse Block: Mounted under passenger seat, professional looks and no problems (switched power block for all farkles).
Garmin 2730 – Excellent. XM radio blanks at tall trees, worse as you get further North. After a couple of days I was much better at entering route data for the next day. The Tourtech locking mount and stem stand worked perfectly).
Etymotic ER6i ear buds: Fabulous but purchase extra foam ear buds and filters.
Audiovox CCS-100 Cruise Control: Indispensable. Even with gel grips and heavy bar ends, the 2005 FJR still transmits a lot of buzz, especially through the right handle bar. Although a bit cold blooded (I suspect in <65 degree temps that the splice connection to the rear tail light was suspect), and occasionally flakey, a must have farkle for long trips.
(Thanks to Skyway for professional looking brackets to compete installations of the above).
Motivation Sliders: They do work (stupid owner forgot to remove disk lock after 3 days off bike). A two hit event occurred on next ride, lock hits caliper, fjr hits ground. Minor scrapes on right bag, minor grind on slider, no other scratches. Embarrassed owner, sheesh.
Cal-Science Medium Windshield: Very good addition. Slightly raised eliminated almost all noise and still allowed a view over the top (5’6” short rider)
ESG Stator: No problems once installation error corrected. I don’t have a volt meter installed but ran an older electric vest for one morning without issue. (Group buy HID’s didn’t make it on time).
Bike Johnny Stator Cover: Not the greatest fit but it appears to have extra Kevlar in the most likely impact area. Not crash tested.
Cox Radiator Guard: Good purchase. Does not limit air flow and does a good job of slowing bugs and rocks.
Mag-Knight tank protector: Starting to peel a bit near the seat at end of trip. Does its job otherwise.
Rich’s Custom Seat: Even after 1000 mi day (gets irritating) I felt fine the next morning. Every day it felt better. A custom seat is a must have for any long trip. (Along with proper gear).
Cortech GX Air Jacket: Highly recommended. Great air flow yet you don’t feel naked. Not crash tested and you’d need to slide on your back to take advantage of the leather and crash padding. Windproof liner works as expected and still room for electric vest underneath. See NewEnough.com for fitting instructions (great service from them also).
Joe Rocket Speedmaster Perforated Leather Pants: I really don’t feel covered without leather pants. These fit great right from the start and the perforated sections work well. Even when it gets really hot and you are sweating, just hang your legs out in the breeze for some evaporative cooling.
Tough-Rhine Miracool Vest: Great combination with the Cortech GX Air jacket. Disappointing in that about 30% of the cells leaked their contents and were inoperative by the end of the trip (I’ll follow up with them).
Camelback (Hydration pack): Generally great but the “mounted on bike” containers seen on many LD bikes are undoubtedly a better solution. Wearing the pack gives me the knife in the back feeling after a few days. Bring your helmet when trying out the bite tubes.
Wicking underwear and socks: Absolutely required to avoid monkey butt, etc. A dash of baby, talcum, or gold bond powder in socks and, gloves, and strategic locations in under garments help reduce the chance of chaffing.
Slick helmet liner (silk): No head itch but does not prevent helmet hair;
I was often hot but never adversely affected by the heat (lots of it) with the above clothing.
Executive Summary:
This is kind of long so here’s the short version: 27 days total, 18 riding days, 8230 miles including my first SS1000 day. Langley BC across northern US to Cincinnati, OH, leg #2 to San Clemente, CA, return by many twisty CA roads. Zero performance awards (no radar detector), one rear tire (front is finished but made the whole trip). Average air temperature, 310 deg (K), and average travel speed for entire trip – 61.4 mph. FJR performance – flawless, owner performance - needs work. See farkle and clothing review at end of this diatribe.
Pre-trip thrash:
Anticipating a string of hot days and the occasional cool morning (or night), a number of pre-trip purchases and installations kept me busy for a couple of weeks prior to the start of the excursion (purchased the new 2005 ABS bike in April 2006). Thanks to Skyway for timely delivery of his Garmin 2730 XM antenna mount just a few days before the kick off. Among the other farkles installed before the trip (mostly late night installs) was the ESG stator (more later).
Langley, BC – Winthrop, WA:
I did not get an early start, and after an hour wait at customs (always pick the longest line…grrrr), I silence the bike (kill button) at the customs station and discuss all aspects of my life with the overly inquisitive border agent. Three minutes later, punch the starter button…click-click-click. Crap, no battery juice. A push start later, u-turn, and I’m on my way back home. Off comes every piece of fairing to get at the connection from the stator to the rectifier (a couple of quirky electrical issues in the preceding day or two were my only clues). As suspected, one of the shrink-tube protected connectors had not made connection (dim light, dimmer owner during installation). A 2.5 hour delay to button things up and off again. A much shorter wait at the border this time and I was quickly on to Hwy 20 across the Cascades. The late start eliminated much of the traffic but the wind was pretty strong, reducing the enjoyment of one of the best rides in WA. Great dinner in Winthrop at the Wild Duck Inn (??) and back to camp.
Camp setup at Winthrop (20 mph wind from left-right)
Winthrop – Lewiston ID.
Not a real early start on a day that promised to be hot early. A diagonal slice across WA to the SE corner. WA 23 and 231 very enjoyable, high speed sweepers and great visibility. Dropping into the Snake river valley at Lewiston, the temperature rises from bearable to damn-hot. Called it a day early, putting me one full day behind the original schedule.
Lewiston, ID – Bozeman, MT
Hwy 12 – Lolo pass (A+ rating). Left early and enjoyed a great ride over this superb stretch of pavement. Very consistent corners and beautiful scenery make it a must do if you are anywhere in the area. Hwy 200 and 141 are great blasts at medium elevation with little to no traffic. Nice lunch in the only café in Avon, MT where I compare hats with a precocious 1 yr old. A few miles of I15 and route 69 (nice) to I90. Hot, hot, hot ride into a nice A/C hotel in Bozeman, MT.
Yellowstone and Beartooth Pass:
Off early to the main Yellowstone entrance (Hwy 89). As you near Gardiner at the entrance the road drops steadily while following a river. A great optical illusion as the river is running in the opposite direction, seemingly up hill! A passing gravel truck throws out something that whacks me on the top of my left foot (ouch, sacrificed the foot to protect the fairing). I’ve been to YS a few times so it was a short visit and out to the NE entrance. Lots of buffalo and a 50+ train of HD riders (even a few with helmets) on the way to the Beartooth pass.
Mammoth Hot Springs – Yellowstone (90+ deg).
Another 10 miles of gravel just outside the park, and a fairly beat up road to the pass take some of the pleasure out of the ride (still some great sections). Scenery however is spectacular. The road on the east side of the pass is a technical marvel, pasted onto the side of a very steep range. A trip from East-West would be preferable on this road. The heat wave continues and I pack it in at Lovell, WY with the threat of thunderstorms in the air (nothing comes of them except some strong winds).
Lovell, WY – Kanoka, SD.
Up and away before dawn to ride Hwy 14 (A+). Bumpy climb but great high speed sweepers up top. Watch for mid-corner cattle guards and I suspect deer could be a problem here as well. Great road surface and twisties dropping down into Dayton, WY, again, an east-west ride would be the best way to travel this route.
Start of Hwy 14 climb east of Lovell, WY just after dawn. This shot is a 4 picture stitch (greatly shrunk).
Continue on 14 to Ucross, WY where I catch a glimpse of a sign that has the words motorcycle and “missing road” on it but I think nothing of it. A mostly empty road and great 100+ sweeper territory for the first 50 miles ends with a flag-person decked out in Hardly a Davidson logo wear berating me for not reading the sign and avoiding the route. A five mile stretch of dirt/gravel with 2 inches of rain and flooding the previous day looks a bit sketchy but the supposed worst section is immediately in front of us and it doesn’t look too bad. After a number of stories of “many bikes down” (didn’t ask them if they were all HD’s) and general CYA discussion and we’re off following the pilot car…meh…nothing to it. Speaking of HD’s, they are everywhere here, maybe 2-5% of riders (including other makes) are wearing helmets or any sort of protective gear.
Another side trip on Hwy 14 and a quick stop for a picture at Devils Tower (hot, as usual).
Another short jaunt on I90 into SD and off on Hwy 14A in the black hills (are all Hwy 14’s good?). This is a fairly short road (20-30 miles) with a 35 mph limit. Fortunately the traffic was light. A great set of medium speed back and forth twisties. No Mt Rushmore, but some enjoyable roads to I90 and the metropolis of Kanoka, SD. Big plans for tomorrow.
Kanoka, SD – Cincinnati, OH (SS1000 day):
Up at 1:30AM (MDT), fueled and starting witness form complete by 2:20AM. A bit hairy around dawn (micro-nap shocks) but no deer sightings in the first few hours. A stop for breakfast and gas cures the drowsiness. All in all, a steady day with a few extra stops as the GPS routed me diagonally across Iowa into Illinois on some smaller routes. Arrive at brother’s house 18.5 hrs after the start, six states, three time zones, and 1086 miles later (woo-hoo!). To add to the excitement, my credit card comes back as disallowed at the final fuel stop (Shell-grrr – Mastercard reported no problems when I phoned the next day). A bit of excitement getting the last receipt but a good feeling of accomplishment on the day.
Notes:
Of the 1086 miles, at least 900 were past corn fields (ack).
Saw many a dead deer on I90 and other roads. Two live sightings but lots of time to slow.
Don’t always believe GPS instructions (even if Aussie Karen is your guide – brrb.) Faster time preference doesn’t always work when you don’t have avoidance of minor roads turned on.
Any beer tastes great after that day!
Kentucky Roads:
Spent a week with my brother and his family in Cincinnati (great time just hanging). On my next to last day there we finally got a chance (weather, work, etc) to get down to Kentucky for a ride (brother on an R6, also my previous bike model before the FJR). Wow, great ridge rides on 10, 22, 227 for a couple of hundred miles. A short session of bike switch left me bewildered, I couldn’t fathom how I ever toured on my R6. It felt like a skateboard compared to the sit-in feeling on the FJR (took 5 minutes to regain some confidence on it, don’t regret the move at all).
Brother Kevin in Kentucky
Cincinnati – Nashville, TN:
After a week in Cincy, leg #2 to San Clemente, CA begins. A late start and a muggy day through Kentucky horse country. Pleasant roads except for an “over the rise and unexpected 20 mph corner” on SR155 north of Bloomington, KT. Many rubber marks and obvious ditch excursions show that many have been surprised here. I don’t think I missed a sign but who knows. I cross the centerline by a foot or two while dragging the right-side peg, luckily no traffic coming the other way. Very muggy in TN and upper 90’s. The original BT-020 on the rear is getting down to the wear bars.
Nashville, TN – Fort Smith, AK:
Off before sunrise and an I40 blast to Memphis. Hwy 64 across northern Arkansas. The smell of soy bean plants (I think) fills the air just over the border into AK (nice). A stop in Earle, AK for gas leads to a short conversation with a local that consists mainly of pardon, excuse me, pardon….. We come to some agreement that the FJR is a nice bike but we are both bemused by the sounds emanating from each others mouths. Someone really turned up the heaters in the afternoon. North of I40 is a nice loop (Hwy 7/16/23) through the Ozark forest (no, I did not hear banjos). The higher elevation dropped the temperature about 10 degrees (from bake down to slow sizzle) and the pavement and curves were great. 100+ temperatures and a steady south wind ended my day near the border with Oklahoma. Rear Bridgestone = toast.
Oklahoma:
Off at 6:30 to OK City. Arrive just after 9am and peruse yellow pages looking for tire. Local Yam dealers don’t seem to be familiar with FJR’s, finally get one to say they have a OEM Stone in stock, $286+ installation (leave it with us for a couple of hours)…uuuhhhh….no. A one line entry “The Motorcycle Tire Store” is the next call, $153 for an Avon, installation $15. Plug the address into the Garmin and I’m there in 15 minutes. The setting: a 4000 sq ft warehouse (old) with large selection of Avons (one brand only) taking up about 5% of the floor space, a Handy M/C lift, manual Cates tire changer, and a great old static balancer, four chairs, and a boom box. Some great Sooner and Loctite stories as the single proprietor changes the rear on a Harley (owner looking to buy an FJR or ST so lots of discussion). Three hours later out the door with a spanking new Avon rear. Very hot and I need to lean heavily to the left to counteract steady 20-30 mph wind from the South. Call it quits in the blast furnace (103) 60 miles short of the Texas border.
Clinton OK – Pagosa Springs, CO:
Gone an hour before sunrise and across the Texas panhandle. Beautiful sunrise but my pictures sucked. North from Amarillo to NE corner of New Mexico. Beautiful high plains country with ‘see-for-miles” roads. Pass a great housing developments scattered over a few hundred acres where all the houses are 75%+ buried in the earth. Rio Grande Gorge Bridge reminds me how to be afraid of heights.
Riding into welcome rain shower on Hwy 64 in northern NM.
Plenty of road work and a missed turn send me off my planned route, ending up in Pagosa Springs, CO. Temperatures moderated somewhat and lots of thunder storms in the area. Many HD riders heading towards Sturgis, a half dozen with New Zealand license plates (they are mostly two-up, full leathers and helmets).
Four Corners Day:
Wake to huge thunder storm. Nothing goes right early – forget to do up helmet, huge traffic lines for road construction. GPS leads me on a couple of needless circles at city/town waypoints (I’m getting better at ignoring/avoiding these). A quick tourist stop at four corners and a re-route along Hwy 160 instead of some more remote roads, just one of those days where it is best not to push it. Absolutely beautiful red rock cliffs and formations along Hwy 160 (top speed of the trip at 141 a bit hairy with gusty cross winds). Bed down in Tuba City (no beer served on the Navajo reservation, dang) with plans for a dawn visit to the Grand Canyon.
Arizona:
Leave at 5am, arrive at GC about 30 minutes after sunrise. Free entry as there is no one manning the gate. Crappy overcast dampens the view a bit but still pretty amazing.
Twelve picture stitch of the GC at desert view (greatly reduced size):
Nice slow jaunt along the rim (plenty of deer, stared down a couple). Heading south it is apparent that I’m going to get wet. I ride into a black mass of a thunderstorm and get a great view of lightning striking a steel power transmission tower about a mile ahead of me (thunder almost immediately). Dry out with a late breakfast at the Route 66 diner in Williams, AZ. (not corny, lots of old memorabilia).
Continue on Rte 66 SW of Kingman and it becomes apparent that they have had plenty of rain lately. Many washes look well used with excess gravel and sand having been recently cleared from the road. The road is poorly kept and must have been hell to travel on back in the day. The following picture is a view from the top of the pass close to the CA border. Slow and bumpy.
In Oatman, AZ along the same stretch, a burro was standing dead-center of the road, with no intention of moving. Highway 95 in CA was closed due to a flash flood, necessitating a back-track to Hwy 95 in AZ and a trip through hell (heat) to Blythe, CA in the Mojave desert (105 in the shade, but there is no shade on the road).
Blythe, CA to San Clemente, CA:
The Mojave Desert is actually pretty nice if you get through it before 8am. Hwy 74 out of Palm Springs is a classic CA road, switchback city and great pavement. Plenty of bikes out early on this Saturday. The other end of 74 near the coast is also very nice but traffic killed most of the joy. A couple of the days on the beaches of southern CA while visiting a niece were a nice break.
Southern CA:
Learn to lane split, or fry. A late start and maybe some poor route planning (can’t get XM traffic with Canadian subscription) resulted in a two-hour trip through LA. I finally decided that lane “sharing” wasn’t such a bad thing. Gaining confidence doesn’t take too long and most drivers are helpful in providing space for sharing (even a cop pulled to the side to let me slide by). Detoured up Flores Canyon road to Mulholland Hwy and back to Hwy 1 on Decker Canyon road. There is a lot of development just below the infamous section of Mul Hwy and it appeared to me that the Rock Store is no longer there (anyone?). That part of the hwy has very fresh pavement but is pretty tight for a FJR (compared to previous trips on sport bikes). I had heard that Hwy 33 was closed but the Caltrans site mentioned that one lane was open. A local on a Ducati Monster led me out of Ojai, making it a most enjoyable ride (lots of dirt on inside corners however). A road closed sign at Lockwood Valley road forced a detour out to I5 (many cluttered washes here as well). North on I5 dropping into the great central valley, a semi (one of 100,000) goes off into a run off gravel pit in a great shower of dust (impressive stop). Back west on 166/33 and left on Hwy 58 (A+). A great climb on perfect pavement, no traffic, roller coaster whoops and plenty of variety. (East to west is best approach).
Central CA:
An offshore breeze provides clear sunny skies along Hwy 1. Many washouts and poor road repairs slow the pace (NTTAWWT). A rabbit escapes being killed by some unknown force. Running full speed he disappears from view on a certain collision course with the front or back wheel. I cringe but don’t feel any contact. The rear view mirror shows him parked squarely in the path I just traversed, apparently alive (good brakes on those rabbits).
Bridge at Big Creek, south of Big Sur.
I continued up to Santa Cruz and up Hwy 9/35 to Alice’s restaurant. There were plenty of LEO’s for a Wednesday but still an enjoyable ride. Great BBQ chicken sandwich and a good yap session with a few locals (still as popular as ever). Trekked across the bay to Pleasanton to pay a surprise visit to a business associate and then got roasted in a traffic jam in Richmond as the police were doing an accident investigation on a very ugly looking crash. More lane splitting on 101 to a stop in Petaluma.
Northern CA:
Off early but Rte 1 closed for 5 hrs south of Bodega Bay (no explanation why). GPS does a great job of routing on back roads to get around it. Hwy 1 surface sucks to Ross River and then is great the rest of the way. Onshore winds have it pretty much socked in and the coolness is welcome. The Rockport to Leggett stretch is fabulous with new pavement. Riding this section south to north is preferable as you are on the outside of most turns and away from dirt/rocks deposited from the adjacent hills. Hwy 36 (A++). A bit much at the end of a long day but what a road. Great variety of turns and terrain. Roller coaster ride last 40 miles into Red Bluff.
Northern CA 2:
Hwy 299 out of Redding leads to a perfect uphill climb (constant 30mph marked set of curves for a number of miles). I struck it right with a road repair one lane section and had a clear shot without traffic. Continued on 299 and then 150 miles on 96 (also A+ road) back to I5. Plenty of fires and smoke in the area. Made Eugene, OR on I5 and blasted up I5 on the last day to arrive home.
Farkle and Clothing Reviews:
Bluesea Fuse Block: Mounted under passenger seat, professional looks and no problems (switched power block for all farkles).
Garmin 2730 – Excellent. XM radio blanks at tall trees, worse as you get further North. After a couple of days I was much better at entering route data for the next day. The Tourtech locking mount and stem stand worked perfectly).
Etymotic ER6i ear buds: Fabulous but purchase extra foam ear buds and filters.
Audiovox CCS-100 Cruise Control: Indispensable. Even with gel grips and heavy bar ends, the 2005 FJR still transmits a lot of buzz, especially through the right handle bar. Although a bit cold blooded (I suspect in <65 degree temps that the splice connection to the rear tail light was suspect), and occasionally flakey, a must have farkle for long trips.
(Thanks to Skyway for professional looking brackets to compete installations of the above).
Motivation Sliders: They do work (stupid owner forgot to remove disk lock after 3 days off bike). A two hit event occurred on next ride, lock hits caliper, fjr hits ground. Minor scrapes on right bag, minor grind on slider, no other scratches. Embarrassed owner, sheesh.
Cal-Science Medium Windshield: Very good addition. Slightly raised eliminated almost all noise and still allowed a view over the top (5’6” short rider)
ESG Stator: No problems once installation error corrected. I don’t have a volt meter installed but ran an older electric vest for one morning without issue. (Group buy HID’s didn’t make it on time).
Bike Johnny Stator Cover: Not the greatest fit but it appears to have extra Kevlar in the most likely impact area. Not crash tested.
Cox Radiator Guard: Good purchase. Does not limit air flow and does a good job of slowing bugs and rocks.
Mag-Knight tank protector: Starting to peel a bit near the seat at end of trip. Does its job otherwise.
Rich’s Custom Seat: Even after 1000 mi day (gets irritating) I felt fine the next morning. Every day it felt better. A custom seat is a must have for any long trip. (Along with proper gear).
Cortech GX Air Jacket: Highly recommended. Great air flow yet you don’t feel naked. Not crash tested and you’d need to slide on your back to take advantage of the leather and crash padding. Windproof liner works as expected and still room for electric vest underneath. See NewEnough.com for fitting instructions (great service from them also).
Joe Rocket Speedmaster Perforated Leather Pants: I really don’t feel covered without leather pants. These fit great right from the start and the perforated sections work well. Even when it gets really hot and you are sweating, just hang your legs out in the breeze for some evaporative cooling.
Tough-Rhine Miracool Vest: Great combination with the Cortech GX Air jacket. Disappointing in that about 30% of the cells leaked their contents and were inoperative by the end of the trip (I’ll follow up with them).
Camelback (Hydration pack): Generally great but the “mounted on bike” containers seen on many LD bikes are undoubtedly a better solution. Wearing the pack gives me the knife in the back feeling after a few days. Bring your helmet when trying out the bite tubes.
Wicking underwear and socks: Absolutely required to avoid monkey butt, etc. A dash of baby, talcum, or gold bond powder in socks and, gloves, and strategic locations in under garments help reduce the chance of chaffing.
Slick helmet liner (silk): No head itch but does not prevent helmet hair;
I was often hot but never adversely affected by the heat (lots of it) with the above clothing.
