ÜberDoober
10-16-2008, 07:27 PM
And it's about damn time too!
Didn't post up about it but I took a little 300 mile spin solo a few weekends ago. Went up through Payson and over the trail to Camp Verde and back to town on the big highway.
It was a nice, easy paced ride with cooler temps than I was dressed for and with enough of the unexpected to keep it all interesting. My mostly trusty bike ran great the 90 or so miles to Payson but once in the town proper, decided to run on three cylinders. I'm thinking "oh great". Just what I need is to be stuck by myself with nobody to call for a rescue.
I had one weird misfire a few months ago right after doing a big tuneup and figured I got a little carried away with the antiseize compound on one of the plugs that quit working. I cleaned the #3 plug, put it back in and all has been well since but I didn't go tooling off through the countryside unprepared. I had all the tools I needed and a few spare plugs just in case. I did want to avoid stripping my bike down on the side of the road or in a parking lot but was ready to if needed.
Anyway, as I sputtered my way through Payson and headed for the gas station, I decided to not freak out about it. I topped off the bike and pulled off to have a smoke break. I had loaned out my camera but had a crappy one.
Deciding what to do:
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g223/EKron/Picture078.jpg
When I couldn't hang around any longer, I told myself I was going to get on my bike and continue the direction I wanted to go but if the bike wasn't running perfectly, that I would turn around and if necessary, try changing a plug. Much to my joy, the bike ran fine and never missed a beat the rest of the trip.
On my way to Camp Verde, after the good twisty sweepers and the road straightens out, I came upon an accident scene. There was a big rally in the area and loads of Harley riders out. Apparently, a rider in one of the groups had gone down (on a straight road). You can't see it in the pic, but there's a chopper parked on the highway.
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g223/EKron/bikewreck.jpg
I stopped in Camp Verde for lunch. It had been a few years since I had been through there and it was interesting to see how the town had grown. I had a super uberdoober burger at the DQ. I contemplated heading toward the hellhole of Sedona but decided to just hook up on the freeway and motor back to town.
It was extremely gusty and quite tiring to ride in but I enjoyed the scenery, what there is of it, and fondly remembered how many times I've ridden this same stretch of road on two wheels in the last 27 years. By the time I came down the hill, the cooler temps of earlier in the day seemed like a distant memory. It was hot but a cool hot like 105º.
This last weekend was really our first spell of 80º weather and while I wasn't up for a real ride, I did feel like getting out just so I could wear my leather jacket for the first time since spring. My red Teknic mesh jacket is nice but my Alpinestars leather one rocks the world. I actually did a bit of urban riding until I worked my way to parts of the east valley that used to be all farmland. Sad to see so much unchecked sprawl. At any rate, I decided to head due west and see where I ended up and somehow ended up on the other side of I-10 and at Firebird Raceway.
They were running an SCCA autocross event and while I didn't want to pay to get in, I stood outside the gate, snapped a few pics and watched a dozen or so runs through the course.
All I can say is that 75 miles isn't very far but being able to ride locally in the middle of the afternoon without a heatstroke is really nice.
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g223/EKron/Picture083.jpg
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g223/EKron/Picture084.jpg
Oh yeah, the bike didn't miss a beat.
So, to sum it all up, IT'S RIDING SEASON - W00T!
Didn't post up about it but I took a little 300 mile spin solo a few weekends ago. Went up through Payson and over the trail to Camp Verde and back to town on the big highway.
It was a nice, easy paced ride with cooler temps than I was dressed for and with enough of the unexpected to keep it all interesting. My mostly trusty bike ran great the 90 or so miles to Payson but once in the town proper, decided to run on three cylinders. I'm thinking "oh great". Just what I need is to be stuck by myself with nobody to call for a rescue.
I had one weird misfire a few months ago right after doing a big tuneup and figured I got a little carried away with the antiseize compound on one of the plugs that quit working. I cleaned the #3 plug, put it back in and all has been well since but I didn't go tooling off through the countryside unprepared. I had all the tools I needed and a few spare plugs just in case. I did want to avoid stripping my bike down on the side of the road or in a parking lot but was ready to if needed.
Anyway, as I sputtered my way through Payson and headed for the gas station, I decided to not freak out about it. I topped off the bike and pulled off to have a smoke break. I had loaned out my camera but had a crappy one.
Deciding what to do:
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g223/EKron/Picture078.jpg
When I couldn't hang around any longer, I told myself I was going to get on my bike and continue the direction I wanted to go but if the bike wasn't running perfectly, that I would turn around and if necessary, try changing a plug. Much to my joy, the bike ran fine and never missed a beat the rest of the trip.
On my way to Camp Verde, after the good twisty sweepers and the road straightens out, I came upon an accident scene. There was a big rally in the area and loads of Harley riders out. Apparently, a rider in one of the groups had gone down (on a straight road). You can't see it in the pic, but there's a chopper parked on the highway.
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g223/EKron/bikewreck.jpg
I stopped in Camp Verde for lunch. It had been a few years since I had been through there and it was interesting to see how the town had grown. I had a super uberdoober burger at the DQ. I contemplated heading toward the hellhole of Sedona but decided to just hook up on the freeway and motor back to town.
It was extremely gusty and quite tiring to ride in but I enjoyed the scenery, what there is of it, and fondly remembered how many times I've ridden this same stretch of road on two wheels in the last 27 years. By the time I came down the hill, the cooler temps of earlier in the day seemed like a distant memory. It was hot but a cool hot like 105º.
This last weekend was really our first spell of 80º weather and while I wasn't up for a real ride, I did feel like getting out just so I could wear my leather jacket for the first time since spring. My red Teknic mesh jacket is nice but my Alpinestars leather one rocks the world. I actually did a bit of urban riding until I worked my way to parts of the east valley that used to be all farmland. Sad to see so much unchecked sprawl. At any rate, I decided to head due west and see where I ended up and somehow ended up on the other side of I-10 and at Firebird Raceway.
They were running an SCCA autocross event and while I didn't want to pay to get in, I stood outside the gate, snapped a few pics and watched a dozen or so runs through the course.
All I can say is that 75 miles isn't very far but being able to ride locally in the middle of the afternoon without a heatstroke is really nice.
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g223/EKron/Picture083.jpg
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g223/EKron/Picture084.jpg
Oh yeah, the bike didn't miss a beat.
So, to sum it all up, IT'S RIDING SEASON - W00T!