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Ride long, Ride hard, 1150km (730mi), Santa has returned to the porch at the north pole. man its cool up here. left yesterday before 7am > home in 13 hrs incl a stop for a decent breakfast...

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John Ranalletta

Ruth and I hauled out for home a day early. Drove straight to Indy after a TPMS scare on the tow car Thursday morning. Got home at 2:30a EDT.

 

Great fun. Best part making new friends. Chris Olson, you the man. Thanks for 3 splendid meals and all your work. Whip, you never fail to amaze. Thanks to all who pitched in with meals, booze, planning, etc.

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In Thursday night 11:00 pm. A delightful ride with cooler temps almost to Tulsa. My bike is now yellow!! Seems Kansas and Nebraska have a

bumper crop of butter flys and grasshoppers. Add in 30 miles of freshly oiled and chipped road and I have a clean up to do.

 

Great to visit with y' all and meet new friends. Chris Olson, outstanding job and a big thanks to the rest of the support staff that made this all happen. :clap: :clap:

Whipster... :thumbsup:

 

Till next year be safe my friends... :wave:

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In for the night in Salida. Headed over the Rockies to Montrose in the morning.

 

Update: Home safely around 2PM Saturday.

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r1150gsrider

Chris and Randy made it to Dumas, TX. Heading to Austin, TX tomorrow.

 

Thanks to Whip and all the volunteers for making it a great Unrally.

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Home. Enjoyed seeing everyone and the beautiful scenery in the area. Thanks to Whip and others for putting this on.

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Amy and I had a great time with great company. We went by Devils Tower on the way home and are now waiting in Caper Wyoming for a new sprocket and chain for Amy's bike. Won't be getting out of here till Tuesday but Amy is in good spirits since she gets to extend her vacation!

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Cornelis and I are in Moab and planning to take the 640's on the White Rim Trail tomorrow.

Sue and I had a great time and enjoyed seeing everyone n meeting new folks.

Thanks Whip and All that helped! Great Un! :thumbsup:

Edited by LBump
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szurszewski

Well, I made it as far as Twin Bridges MT. I think I have an issue with my steering head bearing - or some other part of the forks are about to fall off ;)

 

Seriously though, I was planning to get another hour or so in today but stopped here and discovered the front quite wobbly at parking speed.

 

So, I'm holed up in the One motel in town and reading up on Ducati steering head bearings (something I've never messed with on any bike). If you have tips, I'll take them.

 

Looks like I need to pull some body work, loosed some bolts on the lower triple tree and thenfigire out how to adjust this guy

 

SST-2-3T.jpg

 

Without the proper tool. I do have a rod with a bunch of holes perpendicular to the length, so I'm thinking maybe I can find two “pins” and give that a go (I have one Allen key small enough - need one more).

 

503-502-6283

 

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My brother just let me know that he's home in Vegas. He sat out a hail storm in Utah under an overpass, then had to detour around part of I-70 which was closed due to fire. :eek: Then had the HOT (temp around 110) ride from Mesquite to Vegas.

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Home Saturday. Did a 900 mile day on Friday. Great weather for riding. Saved getting through Chicago for Saturday. Thanks Whip!

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Sorry for the double post. I have the start of pneumonia in my left lung. I can't get meds till tomorrow! Enjoyed the sites and everyone there. This is the last time I ride home sick!

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Well, I made it as far as Twin Bridges MT. I think I have an issue with my steering head bearing - or some other part of the forks are about to fall off ;)

 

Lisa and I made it to Three Forks MT today, and are camping about an hour from where Josh is. We've talked to him and will help if needed.

 

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szurszewski
Sorry for the double post. I have the start of pneumonia in my left lung. I can't get meds till tomorrow! Enjoyed the sites and everyone there. This is the last time I ride home sick!

Well, I made it as far as Twin Bridges MT. I think I have an issue with my steering head bearing - or some other part of the forks are about to fall off ;)

Pneumonia is bad stuff. Take it easy!

 

Lisa and I made it to Three Forks MT today, and are camping about an hour from where Josh is. We've talked to him and will help if needed.

 

Well, it's all naked up front now (I'd post a pic but I cant figure out how to get the Flickr app to give me a usable url) and it seems maybe I jumped the gun on the steering head bearing - seems to be either a loose axle or maybe the front wheel bearings (guess what I just bought a set of and have in a box in Olympia...). Unfortunately the socket I have that fits the axle nut isn't deep enough to actually work. There's a Napa here in town that was already closed when I arrived and will be until Monday. I'll try to find a big wrench tonight or tomorrow am. Be nice if it was just the axle....

 

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Josh, do you know the size of the nut? I have sockets up to 1-1/8” and some smaller metric sockets — and large channel-locks. Let me know if I should go to Bozeman to get something for you.

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Sorry for the double post. I have the start of pneumonia in my left lung. I can't get meds till tomorrow! Enjoyed the sites and everyone there. This is the last time I ride home sick!

 

Foot, Lisa and I hope you recover quickly.

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szurszewski
Josh, do you know the size of the nut? I have sockets up to 1-1/8” and some smaller metric sockets — and large channel-locks. Let me know if I should go to Bozeman to get something for you.

 

Manual says it's a 28mm which is what it appears to measure at. I'll see if I can turn one up in the morning and let you know (would have texted you, but didn't know if you were still up).

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Home in New Orleans at 5:30 Sat. Got a bit hot on the Miss/La leg but dodged most storms and had a nice ride back. Great to see everyone and now looking forward to FART.

 

Thanks to Whip and all others who helped put together a memorable UN...and selecting a great location.

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**   Chris   **

I got home last night about 8:00. I had a great time. It was nice to see old friends and meet new ones.

I want to Thank Whip for all the work he put into planning the event. I also want to thank Chris Olson for doing the cooking!

 

 

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aNOTHER tERRIFIC gathering of old faces and new faces.

 

wHIPdON : you sure do know how to throw a partay.!!

 

Chef Chris Olson...man '0 man you missed your calling brother. Terrific food - an awesome job outta you

 

My Stable Mates : Chris & Randy Blaschke & Brian T...awesome time and a TON o Laughs. yeah...YEAH..!!

 

Until next time

 

Oh yeah...HOME

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Made it back to the campground near Bond, CO yesterday, having lunch in Beaver Creek at the moment. I got a certificate from the WY state troopers to make the trip official. 🙄

Going to ride a little more of CO and climb Pikes Peak today then start back east. Thanks to Whip, the Chris's and everyone else that made it a great event. Great to see everyone!

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r1150gsrider

Chris and I both made it home yesterday!

 

...and everything HannaBone said...YEAH!

Edited by r1150gsrider
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Home this afternoon. As always, it was great to see everyone. Big thanks to Whip, Chris Olson, Diamond and anyone else who had a hand in this fabulous event.

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The missus and I arrived safely after overnighting in Helena, MT. Had a very enjoyable stay and riding. Thanks to Larry, Chris & Diamond for the organization. Nice seeing Mr Olsen again, didn't know he was a camp cook!

 

Great bunch of people, new friends and old!

 

Mike Cassidy

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After being on the road almost all month :bike::Yes::revit: , it's nice to be home. Dodged the rain Saturday, no so lucky today. Can't complain, it's the first day of my Indy to L.A. to Portland To Palmer Gulch to Indy that I rode in the rain. That's Clean Living! :ohboy::wave::whistle:

 

Thanks SO MUCH to Whip, Chris, Chris, Diamond and the others who did all the hard work putting on a great UN in a great Location! Great to meet many new folks, and yet so many I didn't get to meet. Looking forward to the next UN.

 

New tires tomorrow and I'll be ready to FART! :beer:

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Deb and I got home an hour ago. With overnight stops in Cody, Helena, and Sandpoint.

 

Hot everywhere and no rain in 5000 km excluding the first half hour of the first day.

 

Good to see everyone, thanks to those who did the work.

 

Next time...

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Chris and Cindy home at 1:00 in Tucson. The idea was to take the slow way home, and it was, just not without adventure.

 

Cool, with intermittent rain from Palmer to Laramie but not bad. Coming out of Gallup on way from Laramie to Pagosa Springs the Zumo decided to take wings and flies off the bike. Upon retrieving it, Zumo says "Please drive the highlighted route" .... except the screen looks like the surface of Jupiter. It is non usable. Later, we dodged rain going to Salida for lunch. But from there it rained off and on all the way to Wolf Creek which was reeeeeeealy cold and wet at the top. Fortunately it warmed up the last 20 miles into Pagosa Springs. Well, this is Cindy's first ride on her Spyder and its already had its share of good riding, meeting new folks and a taste of inclement weather riding and some stupid stuff that just happens on a ride !!

 

Well, its about to get better.

 

On way to Eager Az from Pagosa Springs, we come to a stop sign at the junction of 91 and 191 (about 20 miles east of St. Johns AZ and basically in the middle of nowhere) and I hear "The battery light is on" . And I say "Ok keep it running" and I hear, "it just died and won't turn over." Hmmmmmmm. I have one of those portable lipo jump batteries .... but no .... cranks a couple of times and nothing. OK so time to call Allstate towing which advertises a tow to the nearest authorized repair facility. Turns out the only Can Am Spyder facility is in Chandler or Mesa. No towing company available wants to take on a 180 mile one way tow on Sunday at 3:00 PM. In fact there are no in network towing companies willing to do anything. Alternatives ??? Pay an out of network towing company $400 to get it to Show Low Motorsports logically located in Show Low AZ which happens to sell Can Am, just not Spyders. Its not an authorized center listed by BRP so Allstate won't cover it. So that's where we ended up on Sunday night. Of course like many motorsports dealers they are closed Sunday and Monday so the Spyder sits very lonely in their parking lot by the service entrance. We get a room and a late dinner and a few beers.

 

Today we rode two up on the FZ1 back to Tucson. Hot coming into Tucson.

 

A few things actually worked in our favor and one sorta did.

 

> Cell service is spotty at best in the wide open West, but right at that junction is a cell tower.

> The lipo jump pack had enough juice to keep the phones going.

> Right at the intersection surrounded by miles of nothing is an old building claiming to be the "Witch Well Bar and Liquor store". And people are pulling up to a drive in window. Eureka, how much better luck can this be to break down next to a bar !?! Turns out the bar is closed and the people running the place won't let us come inside just to get out of the sun! So, we push the Spyder to the side of the building where there was shade. They continue to do a brisk drive up business. I half expected the old fart running the place to come out and say we couldn't park on the side of his building.

> Next to the Witch Well liquor store, there where a couple of Native American ladies (didn't get which tribe) selling fry bread and sodas and water at a stand covered with one of those blue tarps. And they were doing a fair drive up business also. Water and a coke were good. Turns out they were only there on Sundays, what luck !

> The tow truck beat his estimated arrival by about an hour . What are the chances of that ?

> Even though Allstate didn't cover the complete charge, they did arrange the tow. Apparently they did cover part of the charge, but our part was still $400.

> Total time from failure to back on road was 4 hours.

 

I'll call tomorrow to see if Show Low Motosports will put in a battery and check the charging system to ensure that all's well. Either way its a trip from Tucson back to Show Low to ride or trailer the Spyder back to Tucson where there is an authorized Spyder dealer. The Spyder chewed up one front tire so there's some obvious alignment toe problems.

 

OH ... and thanks for all the positive comments on the food. The cook always appreciates it when folks like what's offered.

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Chris (& Cindy):

 

Very unfortunate set of circumstances, but it looks like you made the best of it! Linda never got a chance to talk to Cindy about her Spyder experience. Maybe we will have to visit this winter ;)

 

Mike Cassidy

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As long as there are solutions its an adventure otherwise it just really sucks. Fortunately this falls into the former category !

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Chris (& Cindy): ... Linda never got a chance to talk to Cindy about her Spyder experience. Maybe we will have to visit this winter ;) Mike Cassidy

 

Cindy and I look forward to it !

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DyAnne and I got in a few hours ago. We spent a few days in Billings after leaving Palmer Gulch to ride the Beartooth and Chief Joseph. Big thanks to Whip for another great Un!

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Mark and I made it home today after 6,050 miles and 16 days of fabulous weather and riding. Today (17th and last day) we did 375 miles in rain from start to finish! We arrived home in the DC area dripping wet. We both have the new BMW Enduroguard jackets and pants that are suppose to be waterproof, however after 1/2 days of riding in heavy rain we were both soaked. Stopped to have food, but more importantly to change clothes.

 

Another fabulous UnRally! Great riding and wonderful fellowship! Thank you Whip and those who helped. A big thank you to Chris Olson for the fabulous job of making our dinner meals an easy and fun affair! Hope to see some of you at FART '18 :thumbsup:

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szurszewski

Back to Olympia today about 7pm - very hot day through eastern WA - triple digits (barely, but still...) between the mountains (which was six of my nine riding hours). Overnight stops in Ten Sleep, WY, unexpectedly in Twin Bridges, MT with a late start the next day necessitated by having to source a wheel bearing in Butte, and last night in Ken and Lisa S's trailer at the brewpub (we all arrived too late for beer though! :( ) in Wallace, ID.

 

It was great to see and talk to everyone and the riding was great!

 

Thanks to everyone who helped out in the Gulch ('cause I didn't do anything useful) especially those of you who fed and "watered" me, and to those who offered help and suggestions for my wobbly front end. Looking forward to seeing, and adding to, the pics threads...but for now a shower and a bed!

josh

 

 

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The dealer in Show Low (Can Am side by sides but not a Spyder franchise) was hesitent to work on the bike and also claimed to be buried in work .

Sooooo .....

All members now accounted for back in Tucson.

In case you're wondering why not use the nice enclosed trailer peeking out from around the corner ?

Its because although the interior dimensions are good, the actual opening for the door considering the framing for the hinges is such that the Spyder won't fit through :mad:

img_0726.jpg

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Home safe! Great ride back, although we ran into nasty cold and sleet when doing Beartooth, and a really heavy hailstorm the next day near Livingston, Mt. Other than that it was just your normal summer 100 degree heat, although we didn't see much sunshine due to a heavy overcast from forest fires through all of Idaho and most of Nevada. Great UnRally! Many thanks to the cooks and bartender who did such a fine job in feeding us all.

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Finally home after taking the scenic route to avoid the heat and fires as much as I could. Went west through Chief Joseph Hwy, Beartooth Pass, Yellowstone, Lolo Pass and Columbia River gorge until I hit the Pacific Ocean, then turned left and headed down Pacific Coast Hwy until getting home today. P.S. PCH is now fully open between Monterey and Morrow Bay, which has been closed for more than a year. AWESOME UN and many thanks to Whip, Diamond, Chris, Russ my roommates in Cabin 17, Chris, Randy and brother Hannabone, "GET OFF MY YARD" and everyone else there for making this an EPIC UN. Tally for this UN, 17 days on the road, in 10 states and covered 4,987 miles on the mighty FJR. To steal a line from someone I wished was there, "Worthy."

 

P.S. .... "YEAH."

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Francois_Dumas
Chris and Randy made it to Dumas, TX. Heading to Austin, TX tomorrow.

 

Thanks to Whip and all the volunteers for making it a great Unrally.

I should probably move there ☺ï¸â˜ºï¸â˜ºï¸â˜ºï¸

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TheDigginDutchman

Cindy and I had a great trip! Beautiful scenery, terrific roads (paved and dirt) and great people to make it all the more fun. Larry and I did the White Rim Trail in Moab on our 640s on the way home. Hot, but fun. Larry has some pics to share. Anyways, thank you Whip and all those who contributed to making it all happen, we appreciate all your efforts and hope to make the next one, wherever it may be!!!

 

 

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