Everything Else

josehill wrote: That's a whole lot of awesome, recondas!

Thanks!

josehill wrote: A few of those photos bring back some terrific memories from years ago for me.

I understand that, I have some that will last a lifetime. Even the colder days were spectacular. It was 39F/4C and raining when we passed through Butte Montana, and cold enough at the higher elevations in Mt. Rainier NP for the snow to fall and stick to us, the bikes and the roadway (first time I ever had to wipe snow off of the windshield while riding so I could see where I was going).

kshuff wrote: We didn't ride bikes out, but took almost the same route. I'll have to post some pictures also.

I'd love to see some of your photos. I took less than I would have liked - it started to rain in Reno Nevada, and only occasionally stopped through California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana.

dingofarmer wrote: Looks like fun, I can wait to take a long trip at the end of July, quick run to monterey for the motogp race, from denver through salt lake and renno. The trip home will be up the west coast to washington the long way and through boise and then eventually back home. Only 3500 miles or so, but an FJR1300 is only so confortable.

That ought to be a great trip - sounds like you'll be riding a few of the same roads we did. Not that you don't have some great asphalt to ride on near home - the stretch of I-70 in Colorado that passes through Glenwood Canyon is hands down the most beautiful piece of Interstate I've ever been on.

The State of Kansas would like to formally apologize for I-70. But at least I-70 in Colorado makes up for it.

87Porsche wrote: The State of Kansas would like to formally apologize for I-70. But at least I-70 in Colorado makes up for it.

Not this trip, but I've been to some beautiful places in Kansas too (posted a photo of the Tall Grass National Prairie a couple of pages/years back in this thread). Because of the heat in the southeast, we left central North Carolina at 9:30PM Wednesday and rode to Lawrence Kansas the first day. The second day we left Lawrence at 2AM and rode to Salina Utah, so most of the Kansas portion of I-70 went by in the dark.

Hey recondas-
Did you take I-74 through Indiana and meet up with I-39 in Illinois? If so, you went right by Champaign. If you had stopped I would have bought you a beer

Nice trip, recondas. Sadly, my FXSTC (1997) haven't seen much road (other than between home and work) this year. Too busy. I still have fond memories from the long trip last summer; Oslo (Norway) to Åre (Sweden), then over to Trondheim (back in Norway again) and up to Svolvær (Lofoten) in northern Norway, and back home again via the scenic route (Røros in this case).

pierocks wrote: Hey recondas-
Did you take I-74 through Indiana and meet up with I-39 in Illinois? If so, you went right by Champaign. If you had stopped I would have bought you a beer

Thanks for the offer! Went right thru Champaign on the way back. Would have loved to take you up on the beer, but the first few and last few days are always long ones so we can burn off some miles (in places that are easier for us to ride to than the west coast). So that day's ride was around 1,000 miles (Fargo ND to Greensburg IN) - didn't leave much time for a cold one till real late in the day.

Passed pretty close to a number of nekochan locales. Just of the top of my head there'd be 87Porsche in Kansas, nekonoko near San Francisco, SAQ in Washington (did an oil change in Olympia WA, which didn't look to be too far from Renton), and a few others I'm sure I've overlooked.

tingo wrote: Nice trip, recondas. Sadly, my FLSTC (1997) haven't seen much road (other than between home and work) this year. Too busy. I still have fond memories from the long trip last summer; Oslo (Norway) to Åre (Sweden), then over to Trondheim (back in Norway again) and up to Svolvær (Lofoten) in northern Norway, and back home again via the scenic route (Røros in this case).

Norway and Sweden sound like a great ride (I'm envious, a ride across Europe and maybe Australia are on the short end of my bucket list). Your Heritage is a great bike to travel with. I used to travel on an FXSTB (if you'd like to see it I sneaked a couple of photos into my nekochan gallery ).

Very nice Recondas! I'm planning a similar route for a road trip in July, the only difference is I'll be departing & returning from/to New York. Want to see San Fran, Yellowstone, Yosemite, Sequoia, Crater Lake, etc. Will be driving a Nissan Pathfinder. Any recommendations regarding route or attractions?

Very impressed that you packed all that into 11 days - you really covered a lot of ground!

I've driven around the USA a bit...

My picks of what I experienced in no order were...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryce_Canyon_National_Park

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteor_Crater

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navajo_Nation at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monument_Valley

I remember a gas station/burger king in monument valley that was also a museum to the wind talkers of the second world war, where coded messages to the US pacific fleet were inter mixed with news of the reservations births, deaths and marriages, recipes for snake, etc all transmitted in the native american language... Oh they made a movie about that too... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_Talkers

I thought the Grand Canyon was a let down for some reason... maybe I wasn't in the right mood that day.

R.

PymbleSoftware wrote: I thought the Grand Canyon was a let down for some reason... maybe I wasn't in the right mood that day.

Perhaps it was the weather or lighting, too. I had to be dragged to the Grand Canyon on my cross country trip. I figured that I had seen it hundreds of times on tv and in photographs, so why should I go out of my way to see a crack in the dirt? I arrived at the canyon just before sunset, and I was totally unprepared for the scale, the depth, and the range of colors. Almost a sensory overload.

Strangely enough, despite all that, I don't have any particular desire to go back. Maybe I'm afraid that the second time wouldn't be like the first, and I want to keep the memories of the first time undiminished.

I've been puttering around on a 1997 Kawasaki EX500* / GPz500 (?) since 2001. I've just put 19,000 miles on it as I spend too much time in cars, and the longest trip I've made (Boston <-> Philadelphia) wouldn't count as a grocery run to what recondas has been doing...


* Yes, Kawasaki Marketing would like to call it a Ninja 500R, but it's a Universal Japanese Motorcycle stickers notwithstanding - and it's not like those stickers magically added 20 horsepower or anything.

josehill wrote:

PymbleSoftware wrote: I thought the Grand Canyon was a let down for some reason... maybe I wasn't in the right mood that day.

Perhaps it was the weather or lighting, too. I had to be dragged to the Grand Canyon on my cross country trip. I figured that I had seen it hundreds of times on tv and in photographs, so why should I go out of my way to see a crack in the dirt? I arrived at the canyon just before sunset, and I was totally unprepared for the scale, the depth, and the range of colors. Almost a sensory overload.

Strangely enough, despite all that, I don't have any particular desire to go back. Maybe I'm afraid that the second time wouldn't be like the first, and I want to keep the memories of the first time undiminished.

It was a hazy day, in the middle of the day and maybe I had seen enough impressive things already and I'd hyped it up in my own mind but it left me flat.

When I was kid I used to ride Japanese dirt bikes a lot. I rode about 2 miles to the school bus stop through paddocks and crop fields. Films like http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Way_Round inspire me to do an epic trip from time to time but life and the retarded 3rd-world socialist police state in which I live soon gets in the way.

Being alone in the middle of nowhere with nothing in any direction for seemingly forever does seem like pure freedom for the moment... I can appreciate in my own mind what Recondas'es trip would have been like.

R.

I-70 through the hills is amazing and I'm in total agreement. My friend from WA got in a bad wreck yester day and is alive but pretty broken and so now the trip is in limbo, not sure if Im going to still head out for the race or try something different.

ajerimez wrote: Very nice Recondas! I'm planning a similar route for a road trip in July, the only difference is I'll be departing & returning from/to New York. Want to see San Fran, Yellowstone, Yosemite, Sequoia, Crater Lake, etc. Will be driving a Nissan Pathfinder. Any recommendations regarding route or attractions?

I'd suggest making a north-to-south loop (or south-to-north if you prefer). If you went north first I'd catch the Bad Lands, Devil's Tower, Yellowstone, Glacier NP, Mt. Rainier, Olympic NP and Crater Lake, then take 101 south (and as much of Hwy 1 in California as you have time for) as you move south. After you get to San Francisco you could catch Yosemite and Sequoia/Kings Canyon, then hit Death Valley on your way through Vegas/Hoover Dam. From there it's a short run to the Grand Canyon. If you don't have time for both the North and South Rims of the GC, my personal recommendation would be the North Rim (be sure to stay at at least one night at the North Rim Lodge or one of the cabins they have there). Which ever rim you pick, I'd recommend a drive up US 89 through the Painted Desert/Vermilion Cliffs (on the section of 89 that runs along the east side of the Grand Canyon). From there it'd be hard to pick a bad direction (the mountains in New Mexico are spectacular), but Monument Vally, the Utah Canyon Lands, Zion, and Bryce would be hard to pass up - and if you go that way be sure to get to Arches NP.

ajerimez wrote: Very impressed that you packed all that into 11 days - you really covered a lot of ground!

We do it every year, and I wouldn't trade the experiences I've had for anything. I always manage to find more gotta-see places for the next time I'm out that way. Got a dog-eared travel journal in the saddlebag that I use to write 'em all down - I'll probably run out of time before I run out of places (or pages ).

recondas wrote:

kshuff wrote: We didn't ride bikes out, but took almost the same route. I'll have to post some pictures also.

I'd love to see some of your photos. I took less than I would have liked - it started to rain in Reno Nevada, and only occasionally stopped through California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana.

Ok Dave, finally scanned some photo's. I'll try to scan more and get them posted.

recondas wrote: From there it'd be hard to pick a bad direction (the mountains in New Mexico are spectacular), but Monument Vally, the Utah Canyon Lands, Zion, and Bryce would be hard to pass up - and if you go that way be sure to get to Arches NP.

I second the recommendations for the Utah parks. You can cover a lot of them in a short amount of time, and the scenery is often spectacular. Just be sure to fill up on gas and food when you can - there are a few places where you might as well be on Mars as far as evidence of civilization (and supplies) goes.

ps. Nice shots, ks!

I am currently signed up to get my license on the 27th of this month. Once I pass I have my eye on a modified Y/B TL1000R that a friend is selling.

tingo wrote: Nice trip, recondas. Sadly, my FLSTC (1997) haven't seen much road (other than between home and work) this year. Too busy. I still have fond memories from the long trip last summer; Oslo (Norway) to Åre (Sweden), then over to Trondheim (back in Norway again) and up to Svolvær (Lofoten) in northern Norway, and back home again via the scenic route (Røros in this case).

recondas wrote: Norway and Sweden sound like a great ride (I'm envious, a ride across Europe and maybe Australia are on the short end of my bucket list). Your Heritage is a great bike to travel with. I used to travel on an FXSTB (if you'd like to see it I sneaked a couple of photos into my nekochan gallery ).

Yeah, we have great rides, both in Norway and Sweden. And Denmark too. Heritage? Ah, I mistyped - i have an FXSTC (Softail Custom). Corrected now.
Your bike looks fantastic - I really like that front wheel.

recondas wrote: I'd suggest making a north-to-south loop...

Yes, I definitely want to do a loop. I've already seen most of the beautiful places you mentioned in the southwest via motorcycle - did a 17-day tour back in 2003. This time, I'd like to see the northern half of the country, so I'll probably head due west to San Fran, then go north along the coast to Seattle, then head eastward through Montana. It just dawned on me that I need to add Mount Rushmore to the list. On the way back, I need to pick up a rack of stereo equipment in Wisconsin that my father bought on eBay (otherwise, I'd be taking a much smaller car, or perhaps a motorcycle). A few pics from 2003:

aw shit

http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/News/ ... sses-away/

http://www.motorcyclemuseum.org/halloff ... scipline=0

http://roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=45574

^x2

fix up that divco bro, gotta get a real tribute rollin'

nice shots riders