| Author | Message | ||
     F_skinner |
The bikes are packed and we are ready to roll to Springfast hosted by our own S2 aficionado, Bartimus. In case anyone is interested you can track our progress through the link below: http://aprs.fi/k0jqz-10 When you click the link it will display a map however, it should really only start showing tracks and direction once we get on the way (Thursday sometime). It is not totally accurate as this is not meant to be a tracking system and is dependent on "digipeaters" to connect to along the way. There may be areas of no coverage. You will be looking for my callsign which is K0JQZ and will be displayed as K0JQZ-10 with a motorcycle icon. Again, it is not totally accurate and there will be a time lapse as well....... It will be pretty boring as we have to head down I-25 due to the weather we had today. Snow, rain, sleet and freezing rain. I am not sure what time we will be able to hit the road but I am think around 0900. We will be taking our time and stopping to warm up from time to time. I do not know if I will be able to post pictures everyday but I will try. | ||
| F_skinner |
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| Velocity |
Have fun and ride safe Frank. Great to see you on the S2 Scott | ||
| Jvv |
Frank.......Great that you are making the trip.............ride safe and enjoy!!!!!! | ||
| F_skinner |
Thanks Jack and Scott. It is 38 degrees and raining. I have been here before when I headed out to Homecoming in 2009. I took the XB and contemplated turning around the first 100 miles. When I finally got out of Colorado into NE it was sunny and warm. When I arrived in East Troy Mr. Buell asked me how I liked the XB. I replied that there was no where enough heat coming off the motor. He laughed and said that was the first time he ever heard that. LOL Lynn is getting ready and will be on her XB12Scg and we will head out within the next two hours I think. Even with the weather I am still looking forward to getting on the road and really looking forward to heading South to hanging out with some Buellers. Frank | ||
| Essmjay |
Have a great ride Frank! It is 39 and raining here, been a very cold wet spring. Sounds like the same for you. Shane | ||
| Road_thing |
Have a safe trip, Frank. Are you packing Brad? rt | ||
| Bartimus |
Hey, nice rear shock! I think he could have fit a few more things on there, looks like he is packing kind of light for 4 days. That tracking link is pretty slick, except for the hardware.  See you two after work! | ||
| Midnight_rider |
have never seen anything like this man the link is great!!!!! Be safe you two!!! Robert in sc | ||
| Stuarth224 |
hope big brother doesn't use this software....I'd be getting too many tickets | ||
| Ebutch |
Frank look-out for this Guy!  And Have a Great Trip !!!!!! | ||
| F_skinner |
Made it to Bart's house (383 miles) after meeting up with j2blue at Santa Fe HD. I had to eat chow as I was feeling pretty bad but food and a few meds fixed that. Ran into a lot of traffic in ABQ and of course got lost. By this time I was cooking and could not wait to loose the gear. Bart came to the rescue and guided us to his house for a relaxing evening. Needless to say I am beat but enjoying the great company while the S2T hangs in the garage with a few other bikes ready to make the journey into AZ tomorrow. Lynn did great on her XB...... | ||
| Brinnutz |
So what you're saying is that you took a wrong turn in Albuquerque? lol...I had to. Glad you and Lynn made it safely!! (Message edited by brinnutz on May 13, 2011) | ||
| F_skinner |
Funny, that made me laugh. | ||
| Bartimus |
Well the journey to AS went well. Everyone met at Dennys and we were rolling by 0915 hrs. Easy ride down I-40 then headed down through the malpais. Stopped a few times to sight see, but finally made it to Alpine where we met Kim and Cheryl from Colorado. The AZ group showed up about 3 hrs later. we had a nice evening, eating, drinking, and socializing. Today, we ride the devils highway. | ||
| F_skinner |
My distance riding days may be over but I really need to thank the NM and CO that rode with us to Alpine AZ. It was very difficult to ride with a migrain but we made it and Bart did a fantastic job leading us. The S2T is somehow out of place among the high speed, low drag crowd that is here in Alpine. Perhaps it is more the rider than the bike. Like Bart said, today we ride 191 with a great group of Buellers. | ||
| Bartimus |
Sitting in Morenci having lunch, we are at the halfway point having ridden down 180 on the New Mexico side. It's been a fun ride, everyone is having a great time. 191 is calling us. | ||
| Devil_car |
I'm totally jealous that you're riding 191! That is my favorite road! Looks like you're in Springerville at the moment. Hopefully, you're stopping in at Los Dos Molinos for some spicy New Mexican food! Good luck on whatever remains of your journey, and keep the rubber side down! | ||
| F_skinner |
The journey is over and Lynn and I are home safe and sound. I will try to do this day by day. Day 1: It is raining and cold (38 to 39 degrees depending on which side of the street you are on. Lynn and I decide to go for it and take off. We are dressed for it as long as we do not get in a down pour, snow or the temps do not drop too much. Easy going at first and not much wind. We use the Sena SMH-10 Bluetooth setup to take bike to bike. Lynn is on her 09 XB12Scg and me of course, the S2T. Things go well, in fact too well. We chat and I continually ask her if she is ok or if she needs to stop and this goes on for 75 miles. We took off with the heated gear plugged in (gloves only and I will fix that soon). When we get close to Walsenburg we drop into a valley and the cold is real apparent at that point. POur first plan was to head over La Veta Pass and South from Fort Garland stopping in Taos NM for lunch and dropping into Santa Fe HD/Buell for a visit. After talking to a Goldwing rider who is headed to Wolf Creek Pass and another rider that says La Veta is clear but still some snow we decide to just stay on the Interstate and chance Raton Pass which is a little East of the storm the night before. It was a good move. When we got about 50 miles of Raton we were able to relax and feel the warmer weather. Gas prices on Raton Pass   Lynn bundled up  Me playing Power Ranger (it worked remarkably well)  Onward into NM and the suit finally comes off at one of the few rest stops. A quick call to Jody (J2blue) lets us know that he is gaining on us fast so we decide to meet in Santa Fe.  No pictures after that as I got pretty sick upon arrival in Santa Fe, Migrain, Nausea etc... Lynn forced some food in me and it helped. The wind started to pick up and said said fairwell to a fellow Bueller at Santa Fe HD (Murrae) and hello to J2blue when he got there. We decide that we should follow Jody in his truck into ABQ and Barts house. Traffic is bad, wind is bad the drivers are worse and we hit rush hour, I was miserable and soon I was lost. Lynn and I do not yell at each other but I was getting in a mood and feeling like crap. Jody found Bart's house but we had to make the "were lost call" and Bart came to the rescue. I am hoping to get a new GPS out of that ordeal.  After I started feeling better we visited and had a great evening. Day 2 Later. | ||
| F_skinner |
Day 2: Up early and grab a bite to eat at Denny's just off I 40 and meet up with fellow Bullers Russ (1125) and Shannon (Blast). I am already starting to feel bad but nothing to do but press on. My good friend Jody has his truck so there is always the option to put my bike in the truck so he can ride his but I really want to do this thing. I would guess it is about 250 miles from Barts to Alpine AZ but it was the longest 250 miles I have ever done.         These were the only pics I took. The parking lot at Dennys then at a turn off just South of Grants NM heading into AZ. I was hurting pretty bad at this point but would find temporary relieve at times. After arrival at the Alpine Lodge I took a nap anf instantly felt better. The particular road we were on was rough which at the time had no significance but later on it would come into play. At Alpine we hooked up with the AZ group and a couple of the Buell elite from Breckenridge Colorado. It sure was great talking to everyone. A sportbike group from PHX at a little get together at the same time and they were a good bunch of people as well. In fact, and these are the things I notice. There were no HDs or Beemers or the other popular brands of bikes. Just strange.... All in all a great group. | ||
| F_skinner |
Day 2.5: About 20 miles from Alpine we stopped at the Safeway to pickup some munchies and while the group was in the store I decided to lay down on the sideway and relax. It was the side of the building and not many cars. A young boy came out and was with his mother and I heard "look Mommy, there is an old man sleeping on the sidewalk"...... Funny... The Mom assured the young man that I was just watching the motorcycles. Day 3 and 191 (aka 666) in Arizona. Great road. I rode with the slow group and was able to give Lynn some pointers, By the end it was hard to keep up with her. She learns quickly and is on a ore capable bike. What fun. AZ into NM and back into AZ. No health issues on this ride and I am glad because I needed to concentrate.                            | ||
| F_skinner |
Day 4: The groups met for breakfast and soon we all went our separate ways. The NN and half the CO group retraced our steps back. That damn road that was so rough the first time was even worse in the other lane. I though the S2T was vibrating more than normal. I checked isolators and looked for loose bolts but found nothing. It was not until we were back at Bart's house that Bart noticed one bag moved a lot. Turned out the saddlebag bracket had broke. Lucky for me I know an electrician that is also a good welder. Bart had it welded in no time and it is still holding. Getting back into NM  If you look hard you can see a Bueller coming out of the bushes after making a "nature call"  Where's Lynn  Broke back bracket   Bart and his assistant fix my bike.  And it was at this point that I took the radio equipment out and decided to try a different approach since the weight of the antenna and mount may had contributed to this. So since I did not have it one the day before or this day I took it apart and stowed it. I was thinking of a different option on the way home that would not get in the way as much. It was more of a proof of concept anyway. | ||
| F_skinner |
Day 5 and back to Colorado: Jody, myself and Lynn headed back this morning. Bart led us out of ABQ up through Santa Fe and to Las Vegas NM. It was busy traffic, windy and down right cold. We made it the100 miles. Sipped hot chocolate and made fun of other riders than came into the gas station. We said our goodbyes and headed our separate ways. Jody stayed with us until Trinidad Colorado which was our last gas stop. We had a good 150 to 200 miles of the wind at our back, it was real smooth sailing and a welcome change. In Trinidad that changed but we could almost see home. Lynn and I stopped in Pueblo CO for chow.     Great people, 5 Days and 1500 miles, me on the classic and timeless S2T and Lynn on her capable XB. A special thanks to our good friend Bartimus... | ||
| Blks1l |
Looks like it was a great time! | ||
| Essmjay |
That is great you had a mostly good time Frank. I am pretty jealous, really jonesing for a long ride. Shane | ||
| Road_thing |
Looks like you had a great time, Frank! Sorry I couldn't make this one. I've got a very close friend going through radiation therapy at M.D. Anderson cancer center in Houston and decided it was more important to be here with him than to go for a long ride. Tough call, but it was the right one. We've been buds since jr. high, our dads grew up together and I just couldn't not be here with him. rt | ||
| Moxnix |
So, it looks like your limits are dynamic, not static. | ||
| No_rice |
so it seems as though maybe you need to add an extra day in there for your trip to christmas in july? but who knows. youve got another month plus to recoup even more | ||
| Bartimus |
Nice job with the pics, Frank. It was great seeing the three of you again. This time, I wasn't the sick one! | ||
| Gowindward |
Ditto on the jealous and jonesing for a long ride. |
