Bud Posted June 15, 2006 Share Posted June 15, 2006 Left home yesterday. Wind warnings in KS. Stopped at Hays after fighting it for too many hours. Still blowing this morning, gusting to 40 from the south. By the time I got to the Colorado border the wind was gone! See some of you Saturday morning in Morrison for breakfast. See the rest on Tuesday. Ride safe. Bud Link to comment
Kathy R Posted June 15, 2006 Share Posted June 15, 2006 They only post notices when the wind isn't blowing in Kansas Link to comment
DouglasR Posted June 15, 2006 Share Posted June 15, 2006 Glad you arrived safely! Battling the wind like that just wears you out . I rode from Grand Forks, NoDak to Belle Fourche, SoDak last month in winds like that, 620 miles, I felt like I'd been in a bar fight. When you see a sign like this in Wyoming, you need to really pay attention: See ya soon! Link to comment
Mike O Posted June 15, 2006 Share Posted June 15, 2006 ...See some of you Saturday morning in Morrison for breakfast....Bud, Glad to hear you made it. I'll be at the Saturday breakfast. Look for me; I'll be riding a BMW Mike O P.S. The worst wind I've EVER encountered was 10 miles south of Cheyenne, Wyo. I was riding at what felt like a 45deg angle and thought the wind was going to tear the tank bag right off the bike. I don't know how Douglas and those folks manage with that wind Link to comment
Dances_With_Wiener_Dogs Posted June 15, 2006 Share Posted June 15, 2006 Welcome Bud! I'll be on a beemer too! Look for the guy in the blue/orange Roadcrafter with the silly grin. Link to comment
Bud Posted June 16, 2006 Author Share Posted June 16, 2006 ...See some of you Saturday morning in Morrison for breakfast....Bud, Glad to hear you made it. I'll be at the Saturday breakfast. Look for me; I'll be riding a BMW Mike O P.S. The worst wind I've EVER encountered was 10 miles south of Cheyenne, Wyo. I was riding at what felt like a 45deg angle and thought the wind was going to tear the tank bag right off the bike. I don't know how Douglas and those folks manage with that wind So will Dog Dancer and a couple of others headed to the UN. I guess when some strangers show up you can figure out who we are. See you then. Link to comment
DouglasR Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 I don't know how Douglas and those folks manage with that wind We stay up in the High Country and hide behind mountains and in the forests! I can hardly wait! Wind can certainly be a bummer, but it's a fact of life across this country. In all the years I've been riding and all the bikes I've owned none handled it better than the Beemers, and the RT best of all (but I've never owned or ridden an LT or Goldwing, so more experimentation is necessary!). BTW, I just got a text message from MarcoPolo, he's in Cody, WY right now. He spent last night in Belle Fourche, SD and the Black Hills, rode Devil's Tower and the Big Horn Mountains today and will transit Yellowstone and the Tetons tomorrow, staying the night in Pinedale. He and I are meeting in Farson, WY for the ride to Moab, Durango, and GUNNISON! Mark left Ottawa last Sunday and got into some wind too coming across the Plains. I'm ready now, can I leave now? Damn, my job is getting in the way of my life, but not as badly as some! That "what's your excuse" thread is so sad..... Link to comment
marcopolo Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 Doug, glad to see you got my text message. Isn't technology marvelous? I think I called them the Beartooth mtns in one thread - prehaps it was the wine with dinner. I'm at the Beartooth Inn in Cody, and when the front desk staff couldn't arrange a ride into town for me to have dinner then lent me on eof their vans - can you believe that? Jellytone etc. tomorrow, then meet you in Farson Sat a.m. Yeah, between the wind and the heat yesterday, it was quite an experience. Looking forward to Moab and into Colorado. Link to comment
DouglasR Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 I just checked the weather for all the areas we'll be travelling to and during the UnRally, looks like a HUGE high pressure system is building and it will be warm and dry! Mid 90's in low elevations but low 80's up in the high country for the foreseeable future. Moab is supposed to push past 103*F Sunday and Monday! We should have really nice weather for the whole UnRally, at least that's the forecast for now . Link to comment
Ken H. Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 at least that's the forecast Leave the rain gear at home then huh? Link to comment
Firefight911 Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 Leave the rain gear at home then huh? Now, there are some famous last words!! Link to comment
Paul Mihalka Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 at least that's the forecast Leave the rain gear at home then huh? That's the surest way to make it rain! Link to comment
Yeeha! Stephen Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 I just checked the weather for all the areas we'll be travelling to and during the UnRally, looks like a HUGE high pressure system is building and it will be warm and dry! Mid 90's in low elevations but low 80's up in the high country for the foreseeable future. Moab is supposed to push past 103*F Sunday and Monday! We should have really nice weather for the whole UnRally, at least that's the forecast for now . Outta here in the a.m. Big squall line in the Amarillo area right now. Maybe we can push through it in the a.m. before it builds up again. Once through, should be a nice week to visit with all you fine folks. We're takin' a round about route, so see ya' in Gunny Tuesday! Miss Vicki is flyin' in Tues. evening. Man are her arms gonna be tired!!!!!!! Badda Boom.... Thank you! I'll be here all week... Don't forget to tip your waiters and waitresses and Good Night! Link to comment
Bud Posted June 17, 2006 Author Share Posted June 17, 2006 Took a little trip today. Highlands Ranch to Morrison to Evergreen to Echo Lake to Mt. Evans. < Can not let a little weather stop you when you ride in the mountains. Cold and windy on the top of Mt. Evans. Link to comment
DouglasR Posted June 17, 2006 Share Posted June 17, 2006 Leave the rain gear at home then huh? Never ever leave your rain gear at home. I've lived in mountain country my whole life and I know how fast the weather can turn, especially at the higher elevations. I have my Savannah jacket and pants, Joe Rocket mesh jacket, 14 pair of gloves (and heated grips), a pile of non-cotton undergarments, swim trunks, layer upon layer of PolarFleece, sheepskin seat pad (and waterproof bag for said sheepskin), CamelBack, GoreTex pants and jacket, a few choice tee-shirts, some pants with zip-off legs and a bottle of Crown Royal. First aid kit, tow strap, tire patch kit, tools, zip ties, wad of cash and credit cards, headlamp, spare batteries, granola bars, sunscreen and some other crap. Only Gawd knows what else, I've lost track. Light on clothes, heavy on riding and safety gear. I am ready for ANYTHING, bring it on! Well, hail, that photo above looks exciting! Fun driving on ball bearings, isn't it? I got into a hail storm on Dunraven Pass in Jellystone two years ago, nowhere to hide or even pull over, had to keep riding. the only thing that bothered me much was the hail hitting my hands since I had pretty light gloves on. I was laughing inside my helmet thinking, "Man, at least I know I'm alive!". It was actually pretty neat to be out on the bike in that storm. See ya SOON! Link to comment
DavidEBSmith Posted June 17, 2006 Share Posted June 17, 2006 And as a corollary, never leave the cold weather gear at home. Even when it's 100 degrees in the plains, you might find yourself on the top of a 14,000 foot mountain in snow and wind. An electric vest doesn't take up much room, and I've worn mine in August. Link to comment
Paul_Burkett Posted June 17, 2006 Share Posted June 17, 2006 I will be leaving in the morning and plan on making Co. Springs at night. Sunday will be Gunny day, and it will again be a welcome sight. Link to comment
PhillyFlash Posted June 17, 2006 Share Posted June 17, 2006 I'm not in Colorado yet. Hell, I haven't even left home yet, and won't be leaving until early Sunday morning. But I'll be there. It was touch and go for awhile, but I think things should go smoother now. With only 14,000 miles on it, my rear Ohlins wasn't feeling right. Since I plan on making this a 7500+ mile trip, I decided it would be best to have it looked at. Found an authorized Ohlins service facility to do the work, but then the real problems started. Wrong parts, leading to wrong set up, leading to a too long shock that would barely enable me to get the wheel back on the bike (both tires on the ground when on the center stand), new new parts ordered again, they finally come it (the correct part), and after several more hours, the sag is set correctly using the remote adjuster and the preload rings on the shock. The ride doesn't feel as nice as I'd like it to feel, but it's acceptable, for now. I'll be packing my stock shock for the trip to Gunnison, though, just in case. If all is OK with the Ohlin, then AZ Al will put the stock shock into his trailer and bring it home with him, and I'll be on my way east on Thursday morning. Which leads to problem number 2, the front shock. Now that I'm hyper-attentive to the suspension, I'm noticing that the front end is diving. With the telelever suspension, there's not suppose to be any front end dive. Well, as long as you have compression damping in the front shock you shouldn't. And that's the conclusion that I came to. No compression damping. Even with the rebound damping turned almost to max, and the preload maxed out, I was still getting front end dive when I'd hit the brakes. Not as noticeable when riding normally, but a definite problem when breaking. If compression damping is gone, then rebound damping may not be far behind. Plus, my preload is maxed out, and the best I can get for sag is 55 mm (60 mm is max). I don't think that this shock will last for 7500+ miles. So off with the Ohlin and on with the stock, which is working well (about 20k miles on it, and should last at least 30+k). I normally wouldn't wait until the last minute to get the shocks rebuilt, but Ohlins typically should last between 20,000 to 26,000 miles, sometimes more, before a rebuild is needed. A few weeks ago in Torrey the shocks seemed fine. By the time I got home, they were questionable. This was not something that I could foresee happening. It's like having a tire go bald at 3000 miles when it normally lasts for 8000. I was caught off-guard. But hopefully that's the last of my bad breaks. They usually come in threes, and I had mine - lost my traveling buddy (Tool had to bail), lost my rear shock, lost my front shock. That's it, I'm through. I've had my share of bad ju ju. I'm expecting the next 4 weeks to be stellar, and a ride to write home about. Maybe that's just what I'll do. See you all in Gunnison on Monday night. Oh, and a big thanks to Tool for loaning me his XM radio. This is my first time listening to XM and I'm hooked on Deep Tracks. Fantastic music. I may just my leave my CD player and CD's home this time. Thanks, Tool. (Now I'm going to have to subscribe to XM myself.) Link to comment
brennaman Posted June 17, 2006 Share Posted June 17, 2006 looks like you might be going thru the KC area. I will be leaving for gunn. after my sons T-ball game today. Should be on the road about 1:00 PM, I will look for you on the road. c-ya Phil Link to comment
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