anyone go for a ride today? Pics?

[Burque73]

Saturday was a great day to be out riding. From sunrise till around noon on the Vee exploring some dirt roads. Stayed upright most of the morning...





After lunch at home, hopped on the GS and went East towards Texas. As I cruised down I-40 I started to notice the tall grass bent way over in the direction I was traveling. No wonder it was such a calm 80 mph ride, haha, I had a 40 mph tail wind. Rather than continuing on to the Texas border like I had intended, I decided to avoid the headwind on the return ride and go South from Clines Corners. Such a peaceful empty road. Maybe two cars in a half hour.

One of my favorite riding experiences to date was after turning East at Encino. A freight train and I were side by side for twenty miles or so. No cars, no other bikes either, just a big train and I rolling along at 60 mph. It was just surreal! I stopped and caught the last car.


Kind of a pretty lake here but a bit salty!



On through to Mountainair and back up into the Manzano mountains.





Notice the difference in landscape from Cabezon Peak to the Manzano's. Man, I love this state!

[Guest]

Man..... great shots. It's nice to be able to share these experiences - if only vicariously - with each other. Every time I see places like the old store (and there are LOTS of places like that in the western part of the U.S.), I can't help but think about how someone built those buildings, with the expectation that they would be used and a profit made. But that was a long time ago and those dreams have long since faded away, and I wonder about the lives of the people who used to use those buildings.

Riding season is pretty much over here in Michigan - at least it is for me! Fall is in full swing and the first frost is forecast for tonight.

The V and the GS are pretty different machines; do you prefer one over the other?

[dorkburger]

Good to know. I'm a one bike man until the CB900f is perfect and I can afford a dualsport of some sort.

Any chance we'll see your 1150 resurface here with its new owner? I really loved its last iteration...
Looking forward to seeing your 900 emerge...

[Burque73]

Man..... great shots. It's nice to be able to share these experiences - if only vicariously - with each other. Every time I see places like the old store (and there are LOTS of places like that in the western part of the U.S.), I can't help but think about how someone built those buildings, with the expectation that they would be used and a profit made. But that was a long time ago and those dreams have long since faded away, and I wonder about the lives of the people who used to use those buildings.

Riding season is pretty much over here in Michigan - at least it is for me! Fall is in full swing and the first frost is forecast for tonight.

The V and the GS are pretty different machines; do you prefer one over the other?

Thanks for the reply. I too enjoy sharing the experiences posted on here by others.

As with many farming communities, Mountainair was built and thrived around the success of their crops. Every year hundreds of train cars loaded with Pinto beans were exported up until the mid 1940's when a ten year drought all but wiped out the crops. Now there are more cattle than people in the area. I've just begun to explore out here and look forward to seeing places like Mountainair and learning more each season.

There's no real end to the riding season here. It just changes a bit. Judging by the mulberry trees in my neighbor's yards, we haven't had a hard freeze yet. It's funny how the leaves on that particular tree all fall in one 24 hour period. Sycamore, cottonwood, poplar and some others just linger and drop over a period of months.

I am trying real hard to like the Vee as much as the GS but it just aint happenin' !
When I get on the old 850 it's like hopping back into a warm bed on a cold night, and falling right back into that dream that you hope never ends. Why I even bother with another bike is beyond me. Wonder-lust I suppose. Maybe I should just strip off the fairing, upgrade the suspension and throw on some 90/10 or 80/20 tires and take her on these dirt road adventures.

[storm 64]

Roger; your train picture reminds me of last summer when I was going across Texas on interstate 10. I could look in the distance and see the whole train from the engine to the last car. You don't see that back east, never all the cars at once. Keep up the great pictures 👍

[glib]

HAHA Thanks Dave! I was thinking about it and I feel like I'm the east coast version of you
How many miles you got on the VanVan these days?

Went for a 300+ mile ride yesterday, Gorgeous riding and come to find out that 8 hour days on the XR are actually quite nice! Looking for fuel every 120 miles so the range isn't the best, similar to the XG750A.

Went to Sporty's Iron Duke Saloon in Minerva then just rode around the Adirondacks and Green Mountains. Good day to ride, No cars on the road.


Upstate NY had a better colors then we did in VT this year! Gorgeous riding, highly recommend you do it one of these days!

I sure like the looks of that route!

[cowboyup3371]

Left the house after work this evening to run through Caesar Creek Park and then to check out a road I traveled in the truck. Sadly I had to follow Farmer John for the entire ride once I got to it but it was still nice and I had to smile as I watched another farmer driving the combine back home after a day in the fields. I realized sadly that summer is finally over though as it got very cold especially once the sun went down. I guess it's now time to start wearing long sleeve shirts under my jacket and I will need to throw my winter gloves in the tank bag now

Sunset Ride 25 Oct 2017 by Scott Baker, on Flickr

[alke46]

Yes Scott, sadly it is that time of the year.

[dorkburger]

Late October and the riding season is winding down. With things being tense on the homefront, and a warm day today, I had hoped all day for some cycle therapy tonight. At 11 pm it was still semi warm with enough humidity to make it feel warmer. As I rolled the GS out of the garage and geared up, some sounds of a summer night could still be heard, though with less fervor. With a half moon hanging low in the sky I headed out. Rt 18....little interest in a slow ride. I wanted to hear the GS sing and occupy my mind. A quick 75-80 mph jaunt and I fairly quicky made it to my exit..... plus one.... oops.. I rode past my son's high school and the hospital he and his class goes to for a taste of field experience. Time sure has a way of sneaking by... my son... high school....another summer gone..... yikes..
I wanted to get a better picture of one I took a while back so I ended up in Asbury Park. With Halloween coming up the streets were full of costumed people doing the club / pub crawl...... the girls..... I actually felt like a young man for a bit. Full gear and a full face helmet hide the truth...
I got my picture and headed home. By now the moon was hazy, then obscured by clouds that will bring rain and cool weather tomorrow.... im glad I got what will likely be the last ride this season with out needing to layer up warm clothing.

http://Suzuki gs by Glen Brenner, on Flickr

[Eli69]

Great post Mr burger.

[Carter Turk]

I went for 20 mile maiden ride on the single bill 92 Honda F2, that actually came with a title, factory manual and rear stand.
The manual cam chain tensioner backed out at the end of street.
Probably my fault, didn't touch any bolts I hadn't touched myself.
Turned around got out a 14mm open end wrench in the driveway.
Fortunately the tensioner is on the outside of cylinder #4, so easily accessible.
Tires are old, so took it easy, tabs are from 2013.
Shifts, turns, stops, but transmission feels notchy compared to Suzuki's.
Saw a LEO at 5mph over (no turnaround phew!), then 5 minutes later a sizeable buck stepped out 3' into my lane @65mph on I-5, slowed to 50 hoping not to get rear ended because I was watching the deer not the mirrors.
I took the highway back instead of the road I came down to avoid the LEO I just saw.
Happy, seems to run well for the price.

[Redman]

......

Good read Mr Glen DB.

Another nice photo of that scene.

Great post. But, hey, stop with the talk of the last ride of the season.

Dave

[Redman]

I went for 20 mile maiden ride on the single bill 92 Honda F2, .......

Sounds like you had a good experience. Thanks for posting.

Need a photo (so then I do not have to admit to not knowing what a Honda F2 is.)

.

[dorkburger]

Thanks for the comments. No grand plan, but I’ve been trying to improve my writing. Descriptive writing is something I’ve had an interest in since middle school, hence my occasional rambles here....

Carter, I assume a single bill is a one owner bike?

[Boriqua]

The old west. Part of my trip with the wife and Suzi today was N Bush Hwy and its about 25 miles though the mountains. I pulled in to a parking lot at the salt river to take this pic but the entire 25-30 miles is one lane in one lane out winding with nice up and downs and mountains like this on either side. Its really a beautiful ride and reminds me of the old cowboy fliks.



The bike and I also had a bit of a milestone today. I had only been riding locally ... this is actually kind of local to me .. but typically less than 40 miles round trip and rarely over 55 miles and hour. A couple of tears now and again but mostly old man riding at 3500-4000 rpm. I knew if this was going to be transport and not just a toy then I needed to be brave enough to do some serious highway so part of today's jaunt was 65 miles on AZ highways which typically run 75-80 mph if you dont want to die. Bike handled it like a troop and got us home safely and running fine. Have to thank this forum for that.