The Ride of my Life.

[island_boy]

Awesome read!  Is there any more!!

I grew up in Georgia, not far from TWO, been by there many a time, but never on two wheels.  Mostly in a Jeep w/ a fly rod.  I started late in my motorcycling career, on my 2nd bike, but I need to get back up there.

My first bike was a toy for around the suburbs of Atlanta, a '73 CL360 Honda I bought from a neighbor.

My second bike is a '92 BMW K100RS16v abs bike I bought off eBay.  112k miles, set up for touring, originally from Reno.  It runs like a champ and eats up miles, and twisties.

Reading this makes me want to ride out west.  And back up into N. Ga, E. Tn, and W NC/SC.  I have a dream to take my wife two-up on the BRP, had that dream since '90.  We need to make it come true.

Hoping to read some more, soon!  Maybe I'll get to meet you at a meetup!

Chip in Auburn, AL

[klaviator]

Awesome read!  Is there any more!!

I grew up in Georgia, not far from TWO, been by there many a time, but never on two wheels.  Mostly in a Jeep w/ a fly rod.  I started late in my motorcycling career, on my 2nd bike, but I need to get back up there.

My first bike was a toy for around the suburbs of Atlanta, a '73 CL360 Honda I bought from a neighbor.

My second bike is a '92 BMW K100RS16v abs bike I bought off eBay.  112k miles, set up for touring, originally from Reno.  It runs like a champ and eats up miles, and twisties.

Reading this makes me want to ride out west.  And back up into N. Ga, E. Tn, and W NC/SC.  I have a dream to take my wife two-up on the BRP, had that dream since '90.  We need to make it come true.

Hoping to read some more, soon!  Maybe I'll get to meet you at a meetup!

Chip in Auburn, AL

There's a lot more to this story but I need to get around to posting it.  Maybe in a few months when it's cold and I'm not doing much riding.

As for your riding dreams. go for it.  The BRP is not that far away.  Even going out west is not that hard.  We have had several group trips to faraway places in the past few years. 

[klaviator]

Island_boy inspired me to work on this report a bit.  That and the recent trips out west many members of this forum have done this summer.  Next up is the first trip I ever took riding way out west from the East. 

This really was an exciting time in my life. The R1100GS was a really cool bike. It was also the first really expensive bike I had bought. I really was really concerned about spending so much money on a bike. I think that including accessories (Bags, tank bag, heated grips, corbin seat) it was around $13,500. Remember that was back in 94. When I go to a BMW dealer today and look at 20K price tags I think "WOW, that's expensive". Adjusted for inflation it's probably similar to what I paid.

The bike may have been expensive but that didn't keep my from riding the hell out of it. On the trip I just posted I rode as hard and aggressively as I ever had. I rode 15,000 miles on it in the first year I owned it. I was glad it came with a 3 year unlimited mileage warranty. I did have some issues with it. The battery needed to be replaced after a few months because the dealer used the Battery charger that came with the bike to initially charge the battery. It turns out this did not fully charge it. While it would start the bike just fine it didn't have enough voltage fro the ABS to test on startup. Another problem was that the stickers on the plastic tank would develop bubbles. After replacing the stickers twice I finally had them just remove them.

Enough about the bike, time for my first really long trip on this bike. The HSTA was having it's national rally in Avon Co. in late June. Since that ride through the west in 89 I had really wanted to go back. This was my chance

I took over two weeks leave to do this trip right. If I was going to ride all the way to Colorado I wanted to be able to spend more than a few days there. So my plan was to ride out a week early, do some riding, then attend the rally and then ride home. Debbi would fly out to Denver, rent a car, and join me in Avon for the rally. I don't remember what we did with Scott. Maybe Debbi left him with her sister who was living in NC at the time?

So I headed out early one morning. I rode the beltway around DC and picked up I-66 west. At the end of 66 I picked up some back roads to get trough part of WV before picking up I-79 and I-64 West. I do remember that it was raining all morning and the back roads of WV were not exactly fun in the rain. The rain did end in WV and I made good time. The R1100 was very comfortable and I was able to make it out to Indiana or Illinois. I stopped because it was getting dark and I didn't want to have trouble getting a motel room. I wasn't that tired. Mileage for the day was 800. The next day I headed west on I-64 and then I-70. I spent the next night in Kansas about 150 miles from the CO line. Mileage for the day was 675.

One of the interesting things about this trip was that except for Avon, I do not remember a single motel from this trip or even where I stayed. In contrast I remember most of the place I stayed on my two week trip in 89.  I'm not sure why.

Day three of the trip I got up and headed west. I was getting tired of the interstate so I picked up a back road that ran west south of I-70. I'm pretty sure it was 40 and then 24. Although it was a straight road it was still interesting seeing the miles of farmland and the small towns. I made it to Colorado Springs in time for lunch. This is where the real adventure would begin. Sorry for the lack of pictures but I just didn't take any up to this point.

[klaviator]

Bear with me for the lack of pics. I did take some later in the trip.

The thing I remember the most about Colorado Springs was that it was pretty hot, mid 80s if I remember right and I was sweating in my Aerostich in the city traffic. However I wasted no time after lunch heading west out of town. My destination was the Pikes Peak. At that time the road was still unpaved to the top. The GS was a great bike for this road. I on the other hand had very little experience off the pavement but I still enjoyed the ride on all those unpaved curves heading up to over 14,000 feet elevation. It might have been 80+ degrees in Colorado springs but it didn't take long to get up into the snow. People were still skiing. There was no lift but people just had someone drive them up. At the parking area at the top it was probably mid 40s with snow all around. There were a number of people who had driven up or maybe taken the tram who didn't think about the elevation and temperature change and were wearing shorts and T shirts:eek7 I enjoyed the view and maybe I took some pics but I can't find them. The GS ran perfectly at that altitude but I felt light headed when I go off the bike and walked around.

Then I rode back down and headed west. My recollection of where I stayed, the ride, and the route for the next few days are very hazy. I'm thinking that I took 24 west, 285 south, 50 west to Gunnison, then 149 and 160 to Durango. One thing I do remember was that at one point as I was riding down the road I came up behind a giant cattle drive that covered the entire road. It was only going a few miles per hour and I was wondering how I would ever get by it. Eventually a pickup came up behind me and then passed me. The Cowboys herding the cattle them opened up a path for the truck and I followed close behind. It was a bit nerve racking being surrounded so closely by all those cattle ???

After Durango I headed North on the Million Dollar Highway. I remember seeing a dirt road that headed off the main road. I decided that since I now had an adventure bike I should ride down it. I didn't get very far when I saw some bad weather moving in and decided to turn around. Good thing I did because it was a nasty storm and it chased me Montrose where I got a motel room just before the storm hit.


Here's a pic from the trip that I have no idea where I took it so it might have been during this part of the trip.



The next day I headed to Grand Junction where there was a BMW dealer. I went there because I needed an oil change.

[klaviator]

After getting my oil changed I headed east on I-70. I was headed to Avon but didn't want to just head there on the interstate. Besides, I had plenty of time and there were so many interesting looking roads on the map.

I considered heading North and looping through Steamboat Springs but ended up getting off of the interstate and heading South on 65. I'm glad I did because it ended up being a really memorable ride. 65 went into a canyon and ran alongside a river. Miles of high speed sweepers running alongside a river in a scenic canyon.   It was an awesome ride! Eventually that ended and I was in a giant valley with mountains all around. Looking ahead I could see that at some point the road would have to climb those mountains although I couldn't see were. Eventually the road started snaking up the side of a mountain. Endless curves with spectacular views!!

Life doesn't get much better than that.....except in this case it did. Those curves finally ended as I found myself on a large mesa that was a winter wonderland. It had been in the high 80s down in the valley and now it was probably low 40s and snow was everywhere. The road however was dry and a fun ride. I wish I had taken some pics :(

After a while the mesa ended and it was another bunch of curves going down the mountain until I was back in the desert and heat. It was a great ride and one I will never forget. After that.....well I forget. I somehow ended up in Avon where I checked into the Christie Lodge which would be the site of the rally.

The Christie Lodge was a pretty luxurious resort that probably catered to skiers more than anyone else. My room was a suite with a kitchenette, separate bedroom and balcony. If I went out the door it opened into a giant atrium with all kinds of cool stuff like swimming pools, restaurants, places to hang out and stuff like that. It was a really expensive place but we were worth it! Oh yeah, the manager of the place was one of our members so we got the rooms for 49 bucks a night.

I got there a day or two before the rally officially started so I had a day or two to go exploring. There is one incident I particularly remember. I decided that since I had an adventure ride I needed to ride some dirt. So I found a dirt road and headed down it to see where it went. I went a few miles and came to a gate.  So much for finding something exciting. So I stopped, parked the bike and took a break. Then I got on the bike, fired it up and started doing a U turn to get turned around. I didn't quite make it all the way around before I realized I wouldn't make it and would end up in a ditch. So I stopped and tried backing up. Unfortunately the road was sloped and I couldn't back up. So I got off the bike and tried backing it up. And I tried some more. Keep in mind this bike with luggage was around 600 pounds. I tried pivoting it on the sidestand but that did it didn't work.

So here I was at the end of a gated dirt road that might not see any traffic for days and I was stuck. I realized that riding a 600 pound motorcycle down a deserted dirt road by myself might not have been the smartest thing I ever did.

I did have one option. I could get on the bike, ride it through the ditch and up on to the hillside and then back through the ditch.

If I failed and crashed and the bike fell on me and injured or pinned my they probably wouldn't find my body for weeks.

OK, to be honest the ditch wasn't all that deep and the hillside wasn't all that steep but I had no real dirt riding experience beyond some easy dirt roads. An experienced dirt rider wouldn't have given it a second thought. Well I gave it a second thought. I could walk a few miles to the main road. My pride wouldn't let me do that. So I got on the bike, fired it up, rode through the ditch, up the hillside and back through the ditch without crashing ;D

It certainly got the adrenaline flowing. I decided I would stick to the pavement after that.

I don't want to do another post without pics so here is one that I have no idea when or where I took it. Well it was somewhere in Colorado.

[klaviator]

My reason for going to Colorado was the HSTA rally. The HSTA had a number of regional rallies every year and one national rally. The national rally was in a different location every year......until this year. It was the first time the used the same location again. The first time they held it in Avon 400 out of 1000 members attended. The participation percentage wasn't that high this year but the number of people did increase to around 450 if I remember correctly, possibly even 500+. For me this was an awesome event. The Christie Lodge rocked, Colorado had fantastic roads, and now I knew a lot of the other riders from previous rallies. The Rally itself ran from Sunday through Wednesday. A number of other people showed up early like I did. We also had great weather during the rally so I was able to get in a great day of riding every day.

I don't remember all the details of the rides but I do remember bits and pieces and I have some pics so here goes.

The first day Debbi was there we rode up to Independence pass which has an elevation of 12,095 feet. We parked the bike and walked to an overlook about 50 yards away. By the time we got there Debbi was out of breath.



No I don't know the story behind the guy in the shorts and T shirt who photo bombed this pic:D

A few days later we rode over independence pass again. This time Debbi had no problem walking to the overlook. A few days at higher altitude really made a difference.



I think these next two pics were also taken on or near Independence Pass. Although there was snow everywhere it was June and was pretty warm at lower elevations.



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[klaviator]

Some more stories and pics from the rally.

The ride from Avon to Independence Pass and then to Aspen was one I did two, maybe three times. It was an awesome ride with great scenery and a lot of curves. On one of those rides I was riding with a group that included some of the guys from Indiana that I had ridden with a couple of months earlier. My GS ran great at the high elevations and I had no trouble keeping up with the much faster sportbikes. At one point a little after Independence pass we started going a little slow. What's up with that? I wanted to go fast and have some fun.

Then we pulled over. Jim's Ducati 916 wasn't running right and didn't have much power.



So they pulled the panels off his bike and found the problem. One of the spark plugs had fallen out.  Luckily one of the guys on a Honda had a tool kit that included a spark plug wrench. Meanwhile, I had brought a video camera and was filming this. I asked "how many people does it take to install a sparkplug?" So the Honda guy held up his wrench and said "we just fixed this Ducati with Genuine Honda parts." I guess you had to be there. We thought it was pretty funny.

I still have that video somewhere but it was 8mm and I have no way of playing it.

We continued to Aspen where we ate at one of the outdoor cafes and enjoyed the beautiful weather and scenery.

One of the rides took us west on I-70 through Glenwood Canyon. I'm not normally big on riding on the interstate but this was a spectacular ride. This was a lunch ride so everyone at the rally rode to the town of Hotchkiss for lunch. After lunch I led a group of sport bikes over Grand Mesa in the opposite direction from what I had done a few days before. Debbi took a pic of the group on the twisty road heading up Grand Mesa.



And here's a pic up on top.



Debbi did video tape some of this ride from the back seat.  No GoPro's back then.  I think we had an 8mm video camera.  Debbi held it in her hand and shot around my helmet.  I think I still have that tape somewhere.  Maybe someday I'll convert it to digital.

I have to mention that Debbi was great passenger. I was running at a sportbike pace two up on a giant "Dirtbike". She never complained about the speed.

One more thing I remember for this ride was that as we were coming around a curve in the canyon North of Grand Mesa we saw a State Trooper parked in front of a giant boulder the size of a small cabin that was blocking half of the road. It must have fallen pretty recently. We were glad we weren't riding by when it fell. Something like that could ruin your entire day!

[klaviator]

OK, time to wrap up this Colorado trip.

A few random pics that I don't know where or when:



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Unfortunately all good things must come to and end. The rally finished up with a dinner on Wednesday evening. It was time to say goodbye to old and new friends. On Thursday Debbi headed for the Denver Airport in her rental car and I got on the GS and headed east. It took me two and a half days to get to Colorado and I now had four days to get home. I decided to explore a little more of Colorado before tackling the boring interstates and flatlands of the eastern states. I'm pretty sure I got off the interstate and went over Loveland Pass. This pic might have been taken there?



One thing I do remember was was going up Mt Evans. The road up Mt Evans is the highest paved road in the USA. It was an exciting ride with spectacular views, a lot of tight curves. and some shear droppoffs. I even saw some mountain goats. This next pic is Summit Lake which is 12,840 feet high and 5 miles from the top.



Unfortunately the road to the top was closed just past the lake :(   I decided to put it on my bucket list and come back some day.

Once out of the Rockies it was a long and boring ride home. It took me 3 1/2 days total to get home. I wasn't as motivated to get home as I had been to get to Colorado. Overall it had been a great trip and I knew I would have to get back out to Colorado to do some more riding.

[springer]

 Well, at lest 1 cylinder on the Duc will run right for awhile.  :)


Awesome right up on the trip. You REALLY kill it on your ride reports klaviator! 

[TWJohn]

This has been a fantastic Read. Thank you for sharing as I know this takes quite some time to put together.

[klaviator]

I lived in Maryland for 3 years and did a lot of riding. I averaged about 18,000 miles a year while I was there. The problem is that except for the Colorado trip my memories of all that riding is really jumbled up. I did take some pics but for the most part can't match the pics with a particular ride. So let me talk a bit about living in Maryland. We enjoyed our time there. As you can see from previous pics we found a really big house to rent. Well it was really big for us. It was much bigger than our previous houses.

The weather in Maryland allowed for year round riding with some occasional Winter weather as well as some oppressive heat and humidity in the summer. One winter we got 18 inches of snow in one storm. It shut everything down. I had a few days off and met most of my neighbors as we all shoveled snow. I enjoyed the shoveling and made a couple of piles of snow.



We built a sled run off my neighbors back deck and our kids had a blast on it.



Luckily the winter weather normally didn't last that long so I didn't develop any really bad cases of PMS.  There were some pretty good roads nearby so I could go out for an hour or two and have an enjoyable ride. I really did a lot of exploring. I often went down roads just to see where they went. I once went riding with a couple of locals who had lived there their entire lives and took them down some roads they had never been on.

I also did day rides into the mountains of VA and WV. This involved riding the beltway around DC then east on I66. After about 80 miles I could get off the Interstate and ride all kinds of great roads. My typical rides where anywhere for 250 to over 600 miles. Once I headed out on my EX500 on a long weekend with the intention of making it an overnight ride. I rode well into WV and VA. Around 2 or 3 in the afternoon I started looking for a motel room. That was not the smartest thing I ever did as I couldn't find one. Eventually I just decided to head back home. I rolled into my driveway around 11PM having ridden 700 miles. The weather that day had been about perfect, not hot and not cold. I really wasn't that tired.

[klaviator]

I was in Maryland for three years from 94 to 97 and did a lot of trips. I don't remember a lot details and haven't been able to find many pics.

One of the things that happened, I think in Spring of 96 was that I took the GS in for service and when they took one of the valve covers off the cylinder head broke around where on of the valve cover bolts went into it. It ended up taking something like two months to get a replacement.  This was right during prime riding season and I had plans. Luckily I had another bike to ride. So I took a great trip on my EX500. I rode WV for a weekend rally then my friend Al from Michigan and I headed south to our favorite riding areas around Deal's Gap and North GA. It was a great ride but no pics.

I also took another ride on my EX. I rode over to Northwest WV where I met my friend Tom from Michigan. He was riding his new BMW R100RS. We picked up route 16 and followed it all the way down to Marion VA. We had some really beautiful weather and I really enjoyed the ride. Tom mentioned to me how all the poverty in WV was depressing. I just noticed the great weather, scenery and roads. The section of 16 from Tazewell to Marion was particularly memorable. It was a super twisty section of road that went over a few mountains. Today they call that the "back of the Dragon" or something like that. We ended up in my favorite riding area and I think there was an HSTA rally. Maybe it was the annual rally they had in Townsend every September. I did get some pics from this ride.



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I also took some more trips on my GS. There was one ride that really sticks out in my memory. I was in Robbinsville, NC. I was exploring the roads behind Robbinsville when I saw a sign saying "to Andrews". My normal between those towns was US129 which wasn't that exciting. So I headed down the road indicated by the sign. It didn't take long for the pavement to end and turn into a two track, single lane road. Normally I would have turned around but I was on an adventure bike. So I ride along......deep into the wilderness. Or so it seemed to my. This road snaked it's way up the mountain with no signs of civilization to be seen. I wasn't real comfortable riding on gravel so I rode slowly. Then I came to an intersection with no signs. Which way should I go? This was quite an adventure for me. I still remembered my incident in Colorado where I almost got stuck. I decided to go straight through the intersection. After what seemed like an eternity I saw signs of civilization through the trees and way down the mountain. I eventually came out in Andrews.

Those of you familiar with the area have probably guessed that I just went over Tatum Gap, sometimes referred to as the "Gravel Dragon". My memory of the beginning of this road on the Robbinsville side is very different from what it's like today. Either my memory is off or they changed the road.

Of course I did a lot of riding on the twisty roads of the area there my GS handled like a sportbike and I would wear my front tires out at the edges before the middle. A few random pics from that time.

I think this was HWY 28 south of Highlands.



Bridalveil Falls.