All the Hoons down in Hoonville

[russell_bynum]

(With Appologies to D Tool who came up with that great title.)

 

Lisa pretty well covered everything except for Saturday's ride in Her ride tale , and all the pictures are all available on This thread

 

On Friday, after Brinks...while people were checking in, I went hooning. Down through Capitol Reef....a little slow at first to get the feel for it and remember how the turns go....then my speed crept up. At one point, I came around a turn and passed a K100RT and a K1200RS going the other way. BRAKES. U-turn. Let's go catch 'em! I passed and let them up the reef a ways, then decided I wanted to finish what I started, so I pulled another U-turn and started back down. I was about 2/3 of the way to Hanksville when I passed ex-hogwild and an RT (sorry...I can't remember who you are). Another U-turn. These guys are harder to catch. In a nice righ-hander ex-hogwild's right peg feeler touches down and showers me with sparks. Eventually, I passed and led them up and into Torrey. I could run that road all day long, but I'm getting tired and I don't to miss any of the socializing, so I shut it down for the day.

 

So...here's Saturday's ride.

 

We started out with a quick rider's meeting to see who was doing what, organize groups, and make sure everyone was taken care of. We would up with a large group (17 riders, I think) doing the Lake Powell loop, so we split into the "fast group" and the "slow group". Dick Frantz was leading the "slow group". No...seriously...stop laughing. Daryll would bring up sweep for that group. The "fast" group started out pretty small with us, BadAdam, someone else (I can't remember who), and Steve A riding sweep on the "Cruise Ship", his sweet silver LT...fresh from the Butt Lite.

 

I was down to 2 bars, but thought I could make Hanksville, 47 miles down 24 through Capitol Reef. A few people I talked to seemed to agree, so we set off. 10 minutes later, the last bar dissapeared. , so we backed off a bit. A mile out of Hanksville, the bike stuttered and died. I shut it down and we coasted around a corner. We had to do the Fred Flintstone to get to a good pulloff point, then dismounted. I knew the rest of the crew would be by soon and Hanksville has gas, so no big deal. The 90%Angel was not too pleased, but eventually settled down. After about 5 minutes, Adam came past and said he was also very low, but he'd go into town and bring fuel back. 30 seconds later, Steve A came around...we told him what was up, and he continued on it.

 

About 3 minutes later, Dick's group came around and we waved and shot a few pictures as they went screaming past.

 

Shortly, Adam returned with a gas can bungied on his bike. We filled up and rode the rest of the way to Hanksville.

 

We shuffled the group around a little and picked up ex-hogwild on his K12RS with a video camera), and I think 2 other riders. (note: I'm terrible with names...so don't take it personally if you were on our ride and I don't remember)

 

Anyway, we set out from Hanksville with ex-hogwild behind us. As we carved through the canyons, it was really interesting watching that RS on our 6. We were cornering faster and generally braking later, but he'd reel us in accelerating...especially up hills. We're going around corners uphill wide open, the RT straining to accelerate and I see that RS headlight get bigger and bigger in our mirrors. fun!

 

We stopped at the Lake Powell overlook and hung out for a while...Dick's group rolled in a few minutes behind us and we all shared the vistas together.

 

We set out again down the hill...big fast sweepers...we pushed the speed up to around 110, then 115. We climbed up through the canyon where we came across a herd of cattle last May, then shot out of the top and started down towards the lake.

 

Here it is...the middle of nowhere. Gently braking to a stop, we dismount and just look around. Nothing for miles and miles and miles. We take it all in. Adam lies down in the road. I lie down in the road. You can do that here because it's the MIDDLE OF FREAKING NOWHERE. Just as we're getting on the bikes to roll out, Dick's group arrives and we all ride down to the ferry together. Eventually, the ferry shows and and we're loaded on with an impossible number of very large trucks and SUV's pulling trailers full of quads and jeeps...hunters.

 

The ferry ride was nice...as usual. Not many people can say they took their bike on a boat ride, you know.

 

Across the lake, Dick and I picked our way up to THE gas station/A&W. I was famished...I had a burger, fries, and the biggest rootbeer float they had. Yum.

 

Then the real hooning began. I set out behind Daryll with PhillyFlash and BrianT (and Meghan) in the lead. We passed Daryll and started working on PhillyFlash. Not an easy task, but we finally outdrove him coming out of a corner and carried that extra speed into the pass. Even then, it took probably 2 miles to get around. Brian and Meghan proved even more difficult. Brian recently installed GS tubes and I wanted to see how the bikes compared. Quite simply, he smoked us. At 110-115 going uphill he just walked away from us...no problem. Downhill...we hit the same top speed...131mph on the GPS. We were coming out of the turns about 2mph faster than they were, but it just wasn't enough to get around.

 

Climbing up a gentle slope on a straight, RTs flat out at about 115, I see a headlight getting bigger behind me. Just then, ex-hogwild goes blazing past like we were sitting still. D*mn K-bike hoons.

 

We led the way up through Capitol reef and just flat out hooned. fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun.

 

Everything else pretty much matches Lisa's story.

 

Is it time for May Torrey yet?

[PhillyFlash]

Great story, Russell. As I told you in Torrey, I'm really impressed with your riding skills. It truly is a joy to ride behind you and Brian T and watch the two of you carve through the curves. Especially considering that both of you were riding two-up. If those RTs had more speed and clearance, there'd be no stopping you guys! I dread the thought of trying to keep up with you two if you're ever riding solo.

[rdfrantz]

Great tale, Jedi.

 

Now tell me... What is tire wear like on that 020 two up at 131? And... did adding three pounds of air remove the "wiggle" you indicated earlier?

 

[russell_bynum]

That rear tire is wearing very well. A little squared off, but not too bad...and lots of tread left.

 

Unlike Brian's D220's it did not self-destruct, even at those high cornering speeds (and high speed in general).

 

In short...they held up very well.

 

I haven't gotten to do a good test 2-up to see if additional pressure helped. If it does, I may just stick with this tire. I still prefer the feel of the MEZ4, but for the extra miles...I can tolerate this IF (and only if) I can get rid of that wiggle 2-up).

[Ron_B]

Russell, you're a maniac.

[Paul Mihalka]

Ron,

I'm not supposed to post this, :-) but I fully agree with you. We all know that anybody slower than I is a moron and anybody faster is a maniac. Russell is definitely a maniac's maniac! In Gunnison I saw him dissapear over the horizon while Lisa was taking pictures from the back seat. What a couple!

[Airtire]

Russell, that's a great report. What really scares the piss out of me is thinking when you get that RS, you will be in another state by the time we know what passed us.

 

In reply to:

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Just then, ex-hogwild goes blazing past like we were sitting still. D*mn K-bike hoons.

---

 

I know the feeling.....this weekend my buddy passed me on my flat out RT with his FJR on his way up to 150 mph on Highway 120 in the Sierras. Russell, do not even go near an FJR....that's a powerful force

[russell_bynum]

In reply to:

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What really scares the piss out of me is thinking when you get that RS, you will be in another state by the time we know what passed us.

---

 

I can't see going much faster from a "top speed" perspective. What I miss on the RT is the power to pull above about 110...especially 2-up and at altitude.

 

In reply to:

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this weekend my buddy passed me on my flat out RT with his FJR on his way up to 150 mph on Highway 120 in the Sierras

---

 

I can imagine. In May Torrey, I was having a real hard time keeping up with Dick. Later, Dick admitted that he figured that my RT could probably do 110 through that section of road...so he went 115 (on his RS).

 

Power...that's what this thing needs...more power.

...so I rewired it.

[David_S]

All I can say is WOW! I had a great time meeting everyone and riding together. I was most impressed with the riding skills of the folks blasting through the curves two up. You Ladies have more trust than I think I could ever put in one person! I ended up riding 5600 miles before arriving home yesterday. The video from the K Kam looks like it turned out pretty good. Once I edit it and get it up the computer I'll figure out how to load it to my ftp site for download if anyone is interested. There are so many posts on Torrey so I won't add to it but I will say this entire trip was the best motorcycling experience I have ever had. Meeting new folks, riding together, eating BSing etc. It was all just too much fun for my limited writing skills to express with words. Thanks to everyone!!

[Tool]

In reply to:

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but I will say this entire trip was the best motorcycling experience I have ever had. Meeting new folks, riding together, eating BSing etc. It was all just too much fun for my limited writing skills to express with words.

---

Noooo, I think you nailed it pretty good, my man!

 

Sure glad you made the trip; sorry I wasn't there this time... think how much BETTER it all woud have been!

 

 

[murrayg]

Now this just ain't fair. You had a blast running way illegal and now Master Yoda dubs you a Jedi. And went all out hooning with Lisa, angel on the back? Lisa, you scare me girl.

Russell, so you're a Jedi and a Head Hoon all in one trip. I'm glad you and Lisa came back in one piece. Carry on my friend and thanks for the post.

[Brant Herbert]

Once I edit it and get it up the computer I'll figure out how to load it to my ftp site for download if anyone is interested.color=blue>

 

You BET we're interested!!! I want desperately to be able to show friends and colleagues a glimpse of what its like to run those awesome roads. Looking forward to your video!!