Author Topic: First long trip comin' up!  (Read 8153 times)

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DanKearney

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on: September 20, 2013, 02:36:05 am

I'm psyched.  All packed up and ready to leave early tomorrow morning for the last multi-day motorbike trip of the season.  The very first trip on my new C5 Special.  Will be heading up and over the high Rockies and camping at the destination in Hotchkiss, CO.  Looking forward to a few 11,000' + passes, dirt roads, and some gorgeous fall colors along the way.

The metal panniers are filled with the heavy gear. The pelican case on top, although quite heavy looking, is mostly taken up by my sleeping bag and some clothes.  I was pleasantly surprised that the bike is very easy to lever off of the side stand while fully loaded.  My old BMW F650GS was a bear to grunt upright.







The route on the way out will be all on pavement.  A good protion of the the I-70 portion can done on U.S. 6 which parallels the interstate.



I didn't make a route for the trip back, but will definitely take Cottonwood Pass from Carbondale over to Gypsum and then follow I-70 service road/U.S. 6 for as much as possible on the way home.  Including Saturday's ride up to Kebeler Pass near Crested Butte, I should get in a little less than 750 miles total.  I managed to put 650 miles on the bike in the three weeks I've owned it, so she's almost broken in.  A good start to a hopefully long Royal Enfield career.

Cheers,

Dan K.
« Last Edit: September 20, 2013, 02:39:13 am by DanKearney »


mattsz

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Reply #1 on: September 20, 2013, 03:12:59 am
Wow, that's quite a load!  How many months are ya' stayin'?  ;D

Seriously, have a great trip!  Don't forget - your battery cable terminal ends are a weak link - mine failed me twice, but I knew what to expect, so it didn't hardly slow me down!

Dan, how did you make that map?


High On Octane

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Reply #2 on: September 20, 2013, 04:18:56 am
Awesome Dan!  You know, you will not be very far away from forum brother baird4444 (I think he's the only other member from CO besides us).  I've been meaning to make it out that far to say hi and just haven't gotten around to it.  Have fun and be safe!

Scottie
2001 Harley Davidson Road King


DanKearney

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Reply #3 on: September 20, 2013, 04:34:17 am
Wow, that's quite a load!  How many months are ya' stayin'?  ;D

Seriously, have a great trip!  Don't forget - your battery cable terminal ends are a weak link - mine failed me twice, but I knew what to expect, so it didn't hardly slow me down!

Dan, how did you make that map?

Thanks for the tip on the battery cables.  One of my other bikes is a Ural, so I'm stocked up on the usual spare doo-dads, including wire and solder.

The map is just from google maps, using "terrain" view.

Cheers,

Dan K.


DanKearney

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Reply #4 on: September 20, 2013, 04:36:10 am
Awesome Dan!  You know, you will not be very far away from forum brother baird4444 (I think he's the only other member from CO besides us).  I've been meaning to make it out that far to say hi and just haven't gotten around to it.  Have fun and be safe!

Scottie

If I knew where he was, I'd look for him.  I plan to take it slow and easy.  Thanks for the good wishes.

Cheers,

Dan K.


mattsz

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Reply #5 on: September 20, 2013, 12:06:35 pm
Follow the USPS to baird4444's house - I finally got around to shipping his battery tender to him.

Re. your ride: take a lot of pictures.  I like a lot of pictures...

Re. the map:  I can make a google map all day long, but I can't make it share a map the way they want me to.  I can post a clickable link to the map, but when I instead try to embed the map in the body of a message here, all I get is the pile of HTML text and no map.  I see your map is a .png file - did you just take a screen shot of your map and post it as an image?



High On Octane

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Reply #6 on: September 20, 2013, 12:59:19 pm
baird4444 is in Montrose, CO, doesn't look like too far from where you are camping.

Man I wish I was making a trip like this right now.  It's been a HELLISH week at work.  Between painting customer cars, painting cars that need to be sold, putting my own car together and running out of gas last night, I haven't been home from work before 7:30p all week and have been waking up at 5a.  I could use a late summer camping trip.

And I know what you mean about having the F650 loaded up with camping gear.  A couple friends and I did a camping trip on our adventure bikes on Labor Day weekend.  I was on my friends F650 that I borrowed.  Once I had it loaded up the bike felt like it was just going to topple over on the side stand.  It actually did topple over on the center stand as I was loading the bike up to leave the campsite.  Luckily no damage done.

Scottie
2001 Harley Davidson Road King


baird4444

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Reply #7 on: September 20, 2013, 03:38:19 pm
Ride safe my friend....
   rt. 133 south out of Carbondale is a beaut. Up and over MClure pass is one of my faves. The colors may be started showing in the high country.
why Hotchkiss? There is an awesome Beef Manhattan to be had at a
restuarant-bar down town...
   - Mike
'My dear you are ugly,
 but tomorrow I shall be sober and you will still be ugly'
 - Winston Churchill


mattsz

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Reply #8 on: September 20, 2013, 04:02:13 pm
There is an awesome Beef Manhattan to be had at a
restuarant-bar down town...

Beef Manhattan?  Do they serve it in a Manhattan glass?  On the rocks?


baird4444

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Reply #9 on: September 20, 2013, 04:20:00 pm
roastbeef, mashed potatoes, gravy all on a sandwich....
tasty
'My dear you are ugly,
 but tomorrow I shall be sober and you will still be ugly'
 - Winston Churchill


D the D

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Reply #10 on: September 21, 2013, 02:01:15 am
roastbeef, mashed potatoes, gravy all on a sandwich....
tasty

I love it!  Monday leftovers from Sunday Dinner when I was growing up.

Godspeed Dan!
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2014 Yamaha Bolt R Spec V-Twin
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baird4444

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Reply #11 on: September 21, 2013, 11:30:11 am



     also called a "Horse shoe...." I believe.
'My dear you are ugly,
 but tomorrow I shall be sober and you will still be ugly'
 - Winston Churchill


mattsz

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Reply #12 on: September 21, 2013, 12:04:39 pm
I know it's nothing to do with rides, but since we're just chatting waiting for Dan to wow us with his report...

Speaking of restaurants and drinks:  We were at a restaurant in Saint John, NB, for a friend's 50th birthday.  She'd never tasted a martini, and tonight was the night!  We told them all about it when we were ordering.

The first warning sign should have been when the waitress asked us what kind of dressing we wanted on our salads - when we asked what our choices were, we were told, "creamy or oily".

The martini arrived... in a manhattan glass.  When pressed, the waitress said that their martini glass was being used.  After about 5-10 minutes of my friend sipping her martini, the waitress came back with the now available (and hopefully clean) martini glass, and she took the half-consumed drink and poured it from the manhattan glass into the martini glass.   :o

Classy joint - happy Birthday, Cathryn!


High On Octane

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Reply #13 on: September 21, 2013, 02:18:45 pm
That's flipping awesome!  LMAO  Reminds of Dumb And Dumber when Harry says "Excuse me, waitress, there isn't any bubbles in my soda" and the waitress takes his drink and starts blowing into the straw.   ;D

Scottie
2001 Harley Davidson Road King


DanKearney

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Reply #14 on: September 23, 2013, 04:39:11 am
Arrived home late this afternoon after about 710 miles of flawless riding.  Awesome mountain roads, and navigating Little Cottonwood Pass's clay surface in a torrential rain on the way home today.  I should have heeded the "Road impassible when wet 3 miles ahead" sign. . .

Will post a few pics tomorrow.

Cheers,

Dan K.