Twelve days, eight states and 5,124 miles on a Valkyrie Interstate.

[davit]

A couple of weeks ago I loaded a tent, sleeping bag and a huge box of twinkies onto my 99 Interstate and headed out for San Diego.  I'm not much of a writer and just a lowly cell phone photographer, but I'll make up for it by posting lotsa pics with a gorgeous model.   



More to come...

[GiG]

That's one helluva cellphone shot! 
Sounds like a helluva trip, too 
 
~CHEERS~

[Valkorado]

   I recognize that place!!!  Glad you got to come through, wish you'd have looked me up.

[The emperor has no clothes]

Can't wait for the "rest of the story" 

[old2soon]

Got any Twinkys left?  RIDE SAFE.

[davit]

My one regret was not upgrading my cell phone to one with a decent camera.  I ran with my old Moto G as it was water resistant, and used it as a gps.

Day one, Tuesday September 15th nearly ended the whole trip.  Heading straight into a near steady 30 mph wind I stopped early to adjust my earplugs and tend to a rapidly dropping fuel gauge.  I had pulled the carbs and replaced the jets with 38 slows and 105 mains a couple of weeks earlier, and noted the mileage had dropped 10% but it was running so well decided not to worry about it.  However the first fill up, running 75 - 80 mph into that headwind, was 22 mpg and made me nervous.  Later that day she hit the trip low of 20.  

Late morning I passed by J&P Cycles just outside Dubuque and made a quick detour in search of earplugs that wouldn't work loose.  It was a nice store, checkout girl showed me how her ear hardware kept her earplugs in... I said that wasn't happening for me.  

So I fought wind and trucks down I-80 the rest of the day, and was running behind because of all the unscheduled "comfort stops" and was nearing my campsite in the dark so I tried for a hotel.  The operative word being "tried".  The whole damn area from Grand Island to Kearney Nebraska was booked so after trying several just said screw it and kept riding west... until the storm hit and hit hard, 60 mph gusts and just a little rain.  Fortunately an exit with a truck stop sign loomed into sight so I ducked into it, saw a motel across the street and the clerk showed mercy and found me a room.

Day two was much better.  

[The emperor has no clothes]

Your phone takes a hell of a lot better pics than mine does. 

[GiG]

... I ducked into it, saw a motel across the street and the clerk showed mercy and found me a room.

Day two was much better.   ....

Awesome. 
Day two she showed you Mercy and her Sister?!? 

[DK]

I ran out of gas on I-80 on the way to InZane this year.

By far the worst 18 wheel traffic I've ever seen.

Can't imagine a worse place or a nicer deputy sheriff who rescued me.

Dan

[Dark]

Looking forward to the rest of the story

[wiggydotcom]

A couple of weeks ago I loaded a tent, sleeping bag and a huge box of twinkies onto my 99 Interstate and headed out for San Diego.  I'm not much of a writer and just a lowly cell phone photographer, but I'll make up for it by posting lotsa pics with a gorgeous model.   



More to come...

Like the others have posted, I'm looking forward to the rest of the story and pics. I did a similar ride once of 5300 miles and when it was done, I couldn't even remember what I saw in what state. IMO, it was just too much mileage to cover properly in that time. Not knocking what you did at all, but my rememberer just couldn't recall the locations of all the cool stuff. As for your posted pic, it's awesome and would be a calendar shot for sure---if you didn't have the extra gear on the bike..which the judges prefer not to see.

[davit]

Wednesday I woke up early, surveyed my gear and patted myself on the back for slipping my (still dry) sleeping bag into a contractor trash bag.  I hit the road 45 minutes before sunrise with the goal of putting down three or four hours road time before breakfast.  Breakfast of course being Twinkies (I wish.  This trip was done on a shoe string budget so most meals consisted of a cereal bar and bottled water).

I stopped at the Colorado welcome center on 76 about 8:30, had a nice stretch and conversation with the lady there and picked up a really cool Colorado motorcycle map that rated the main roads green yellow or red, easiest to hardest or "motorcycles use extreme caution".

Hwy 14 west of Ft. Collins, a "red" road.  I love those signs!:


Since I was headed for Buena Vista, she suggested I take Hwy 71 south to 24 and go through Colorado Springs.  It turned out this was lousy advice, in fact on this trip every time I took offered advice I ended up regretting it.  Hwy 71 went through the middle of nowhere with no services for 71 miles (Hwy 71, get it?), hot, windy and traversed solely by eighteen wheelers from hell.

I hit Colorado Springs early afternoon, stopped at Walmart for more bottled water and headed for the mountains.  The drive up 24 through Manitou Springs was drop dead gorgeous, and I pushed on to the Buena Vista KOA and set up camp early.

[SpidyJ]

Golly!..............how'd you keep your bike so clean?!?!

 

[Pappy!]

Was going to ask the same question! Apparently he failed to mention that the "model" also does a great polish job as well.

[The emperor has no clothes]

Golly!..............how'd you keep your bike so clean?!?!

 

No kidding ! I want to know your secrets   We just did only 2,500 miles thru NorCal and my bike was filthy. And we never had a drop of rain. Great pics.   I have ridden CO. only once headed to Inzane. I was really looking forward to it, but alas when we went thru there were spots you couldn't see 20' .   Came back thru Evergreen and Moab which were great.

[davit]

Golly!..............how'd you keep your bike so clean?!?!

 

It was a clean rain?  Stop asking such tough questions!!!

[The emperor has no clothes]

Golly!..............how'd you keep your bike so clean?!?!

 

It was a clean rain?  Stop asking such tough questions!!!

I think you are brushing your tracks also ! What do you do tiptoe off the bike for the pic ? 

[davit]

For those that wish to follow along, the "cool Colorado motorcycle map":





For some reason the resolution on this forum is dumbed down;  if you click on the image it takes you to the original on Photobucket where it is legible.

[The emperor has no clothes]

I don't think I've ever gone in one of those welcome centers. I'm going to have to check them out now.  Do all states do those maps ?

[davit]

I don't think I've ever gone in one of those welcome centers. I'm going to have to check them out now.  Do all states do those maps ?

Probably not.

This map folded into a square and fit neatly into a jacket pocket.   

[davit]

I ate at K's Dairy Delight in downtown Buena Vista that night, and had all the good stuff that is bad for you washed down with a chocolate malt.  Their thing is giving the food order a celebrity name so when 'Big Bird' was called over the loudspeaker I sheepishly picked up my hot dog and deep fried mushrooms and found some shade.  Good food not great and boy did it hit the spot!

The area had a lot to offer but I decided to continue west, taking Hwy 50 over Monarch Pass towards Gunnison.

[davit]

I had broken camp before dawn in Buena Vista and made it to Montrose for McDonald's coffee and a breakfast burrito, where I adjusted my helmet visor which had worked loose enough to cause more wind noise than I like.  That taken care of I headed south towards Ouray and the million dollar highway.

The Colorado department of transportation was doing a little road work on 550 halfway to Ridgeway, so as we waited our turn to go a GS rider pulled alongside and asked where I was headed, stating 550 had been closed for construction "all summer" and I wouldn't get through.  We both stopped at Ridgeway for fuel, and right or wrong I took the fork to the right, towards Telluride.

Hwy 145 was OK, nothing spectacular certainly not like the million dollar highway which I had ridden in 1990 northbound on a San Diego-to-Wisconsin trip on a 1981 Goldwing Interstate, and Telluride albeit too rich for my blood was picturebook perfect.

[davit]

I can't remember which pass this is, either just before or after Telluride.  Anyway, this dude's wife/girlfriend/insurance beneficiary gave him a lift to the top and and apparently cared enough to watch his backside on the way down.   





7

[davit]

More pictures from Hwy 145:













At the end of a long and satisfying day, I pitched my tent in Cortez.

[davit]

Oops one more:

[The emperor has no clothes]

Very Nice ! Thanks for posting 

[Black Dog]

Thanks for taking us along for the ride...  Beautiful pic's 

Black Dog

[J.Mencalice]

East of Telluride is Lizard Head Pass and Dallas Divide.

[Jess from VA]

Thank you for posting, fantastic views.   

[Oss]

+1   on  Lizard Pass and Dallas Divide

That was the route I took from Montrose then cut across on a road maybe it was 184 to cortez and durango

love the pics !!     

[Lazy]

Great job! We are planning to get out that way next July. Your pics really made me want to go even more.

[jshram]

Beautiful ride!

Love it.  Thanks for sharing!

John

[davit]

Before heading out I had added a Utopia backrest and Alaskan Leather buttpad and they performed admirably.  I can't say riding twelve hours was as comfortable on the Valkyrie as it would've been in a car, but it certainly was tolerable.

Also added just before the trip was a Trackside 12 volt power adaptor from Cycle Gear on the handlebars, and a Go Cruise throttle lock.  I was happy with the power adaptor but not so much the throttle lock as it had a tendency to come loose and suddenly I would find it in my hand instead of secured to the grip.  It wasn't a big deal for me but for an inexperienced rider could cause some trouble.

Go Cruise:




The bike was an absolute dream in the mountains and I cannot imagine a better way to experience these roads.  I have lived in Lake Tahoe and Steamboat Springs and been through the Rockies on lesser vehicles numerous times and this time around it was shear pleasure.  The 1520 cc's are fun to have in everyday driving but really came into their own out here.  In fact power delivery is so smooth and the torque curve so flat that I often did not even know I was climbing until cresting a rise.  Fuel economy once again was encouraging, rising from the dismal 20 of Nebraska to 29 mpg here with spirited riding.  No hypermiling for me!

[davit]

So Thursday evening I did laundry at the campsite and planned the next leg of the journey.  I was wrestling with the desire to spend the next several days knocking around Colorado instead of making the 1,000 mile poke on into California, but the irrational side of me won that night after only two beers and Friday I was once again on the road before the sun. 

I have a weakness for this sort of thing.   

[wiggydotcom]

Davit....you're pics are awesome. Not everyone can take off on a shoestring budget and set sails to the wind, wherever it leads. I commend you!

[woofred1832]

           great pics... super trip...I lived in Colo. for 11 years and rode many of the mountain roads with the club I belong to then... after 2012 Stirgis I took my brother ,who had never rode a bike in the mountains on a 4 day ride the what I thought was some of the best vista and site roads... He loved it, make the roads we ride now, that Im back in northern Ill,and southern Wisconsin,seem boring, but after 47 years Im still riding and expect to for several years to come.... Maybe next year Ill take one of those shoe string trips and go see my daughter and grandson again back in Colorado....
                                  RIDE ON LIFE IS GOOD

[davit]

I didn't take many pictures Friday as the plan to make it to San Diego wouldn't allow much stopping. I headed down 160 and turned south towards Flagstaff, where I would pick up I-40 west.

Four Corners was busier than I remembered it;  25 years ago the guy at the gate took five bucks from me for a lonely, dusty camping spot.  This morning there were eight cars lined up waiting to get in.





Never trust your gps to find you gas:



Interstate 40 was a snooze and hot hot hot.  I stopped at a Love's near Havasau City and cooled off for a bit, jumped back on the bike and crossed the border into Needles.

Needles has the dubious distinction of being the hottest place on the trip, (The Weather Channel said 101 but I'm sure it was at least 108).  Needles had the most expensive gas at 3.99, and Needles was the place of my grossest navigational error (I missed my turn onto hwy 95); and was the one and only place in 12 days I had a scare.

Heading out of Needles on Needles Freeway (I-40) was a long steady climb into the mountains with three lanes in each direction.  There was very little traffic and I rode in the middle lane in the left tire track. 

The road maintained a perfectly straight ascent and I was cruising about 75 and could see two bikes in my mirrors, side by side in the left lane approaching rapidly.  The rider on the right had the position of riding the line with his handle bar hanging fourteen inches into the next lane, and I watched this for a few minutes as they approached.  Having lost several IQ points in the heat I said to myself f**k it I ain't moving, and I swear the dude's bar missed mine by 1/2".

I was able to make out that the patch on his jacket began with an "H", but like I said my brain had melted and I didn't catch the whole name.  The dude on the left his patch seemed to say something different.   Anyway, as they traveled on up the road trucks were moving to the right to let them past.  I guess all he wanted was a little respect.

So I plodded along into California, the first and only rest stop for miles was closed, and made it to Barstow and quit for the day.

Next morning I saddled up early, ran the gauntlet of I-15 and was at my brother's in Oceanside by 9.  Ah, yes, San Diego.   











More to come...   

[The emperor has no clothes]

 

[woofred1832]

                         
WOW what a ride (trip)  nice pics also beautiful sites.....got to got my daughter to show me again how to post pic ...Im not very good on doing it yet, got to write it down step by step....then I have some to post up from my trips also.... will be a good winter project along with painting the screens inside the side  raideator covers, to go along with the other red accents I have done to the bike...
 

[Bark2]

Thanks for sharing.