my first long ride (2k), and suzi's last

[mordantmonkey]

Warning: This story is full of idiotic choices and youthful indiscretions. you can shake your head and admonish me all you want, but i probably won't listen. because i've already learned.. the hard way.

It is also long and will be broken into installments.

So my plan from the start was to get rid of everything i owned, except a few sentimental items left in storage at my mom's house, and ride a motorcycle packed with all of my remaining necessities from KC to San Francisco, and perhaps continuing up toward Seattle.
After many hours of research i settled on a GS, and i'm so glad i did. What a reliable beast. Though in hind sight a 550 was a bit small.
After 8mos and 4k mi under my belt, i figured i was ready. Though my longest single day trek was only 250mi.
I had a nice set of big nelson-riggs saddle bags, and a large internal frame backpack precariously strapped ontop. (btw, the tip about straps instead of bungies... priceless.)

Day 1
Kansas... Booooring. Took the Interstate till Salina then hopped on 56. Many long straights, but the extra weight and small engine prohibited any meaningful speeding. for now. The bike felt comfortable at around 65mph, and so was I. While it's no luxury posterior cradle, for an old seat it was surprisingly comfortable. And big thumbs up for perforated leather! Kept me cool even in 99 degree midday sun on black leather!
When i stopped for gas and lunch i noticed an oil leak from the front oil filter plate.... slow though. One of the 3 nuts had already been missing, stripped stud when i bought it. Should it have been fixed before i left? yes. Did i fix it before i departed? no.(yes, i am that reckless/young/dumb) The remaining two had been holding up just fine for the last 4k right?
I figured i hadn't tightened them enough when i changed the oil before i left.
I figured wrong.

About 20mi outside of dodge city i stop for gas... LOTS of SMOKE. I was leaking a horrible amount of oil. It was splashing over the oil pan and burning away. My heart sank. I was 20mi from nowhere. Bought a couple quarts, and limped into the walmart of Dodge City, KS. No sooner did i get into the parking lot than the idiot light came on. Bought a makeshift oil pan at wally world. Broke out the tools.
Turns out that when i put the filter plate back on i cross-threaded one of the nuts... every time i tightened it to "stop the leak", it was ripping up what was left of the thread. Fortunately there was an ACE hardware in town.(my saviours!) went and got the necessary studs and nuts.
One problem. I didn't have the tools to extract those damn studs!!! even vice grips were just eating up the metal.
A guy on a harley stopped by, but since he never did maintenance himself, he had no advice; just sympathy.
After about an hour of fidgeting on sweltering blacktop i had had it.
Iwas frustrated, tired, and hungry. My spirits were down, and i had resigned to call a tow--tomorrow. So i saddled up all my valuables in my 50lb. backpack, left the saddlebags with just clothes, and hiked to the nearest lodge. Holliday Motel: kinda smelly, but cheap, with a shower and cable, which is what i needed after the 5mi. hike in 95 degree heat.

end of day 1. more to come...

[beby99]

cool.....keep it coming.

[Ironriot]

Interesting read. I'm with beby, keep it coming

[brenno]

Interesting read. I'm with beby, keep it coming

Ditto to Iron riot

Great story keep it coming

[Regis]

We wanna see the rest of the story! Good stuff and a great adventure!

[mordantmonkey]

thanks for the kind words. heres day 2 of 4

Day2

I awoke early, and called every shop in the phone book for Dodge City/Garden City/Liberal KS. There were 3. One only did 4 wheelers. The one in Dodge was a honda shop and refused to even look at a suzuki, regardless of the fact that i just needed a stud removed from a case. The third was a suzuki shop, and the guy said he normally didn't work on older bikes, but had some sympathy after i told him about the honda guys. only problem was, he was in Garden City. What I had later learned would be a $350+ tow. ouch. I had saved a nice wad of dough for the trip but that was a bit hard to swallow. me being a tightwad and all, i decided to trek back to my bike for one last try.

my god it was hot, even at 10:30 am. And apparently in Kansas, people don't give rides to long haired, goateed, mexican bikers who are carrying all of their belongings in a backpack.
Along the way, to anyone I see with a truck, I offer a nice sum of cash in exchange for a tow to garden city. no luck.
I get back to the Suz with a new found determination fueled by: an angrily hot hike, a growing hatred for Kansas, and ultimately, cheapness.
The night of rest cleared my head and I was able to see that there was still some thread on the end of one of the stripped studs. so i stacked a couple of washers underneath the nut, held the plate (and my breath) in place , and tightened it down. gently. not bad, it looked ok. Went into the megalomart, bought some oil, and filled er up. no drips! let it warm up. revved it a few times. NO DRIPS!!
there was an entire nuts width of thread so it seemed pretty secure. now, the logical thing would be to drive to the shop and get it fixed properly. Nuts to that. I was cocky and behind schedule. let's ride!

I stopped in Moscow for a nice dip in their public pool, then cruised down through the pan handle of Oklahoma to Boise City, through a crazy storm of grasshoppers, then back up to get on US-160 in Colorado.
Word to the wise: The first part of Colorado on US-160 has NOTHING. The first place I stopped to get gas was closed. The second, had no gas. I was closing in on Trinidad (sure to have food and gas) but by my calculations it would be on fumes. I started going real easy on the throttle, but to no avail. I coasted to a farm entrance 20mi. from Trinidad. I started on my hike, thumb out, this time without the pack. My luck held out and a nice couple from Halstead, KS gave me ride all the way there and back.
i rolled past Trinidad and camped out for the night in trinidad state park.

Next morning took a scenic detour on 12 "highway of legends". Now this was Colorado! Twisty roads, mountains, and tall pines that breifly parted to reveal an absolutely crystal clear lake. I was so taken by the sights that I let my speed creep up and got pulled over by the HP. The cop was super nice. i just explained that i was concentrating on the road and the view and wasn't paying as much attention to the speedo as i should have. I lied, I usually keep my speed at <10 over, this time was no exception. He let me know that he tickets at 10 over, and I barely passed.
thanks officer!

Back to US-160, beautiful still, but now it was time to make some miles. made it to Alamosa and took a detour to the Great Sand Dunes national monument. Got a wild hair and decided to climb the largest dune in the noon sun. The dune was 611' high. and a good mile hike from the visitors center. Sand is much harder to climb than one would think. Especially when the hot, sun-baked pebbles work their way into your shoes and begin to cook your feet. should have kept the cycle boots on. I rested at the top to laugh at all the ants down below, knowing almost none of them would make it this high. Then went down to enjoy the icy cold mountain stream at the base.

US-160 just got more and more amazing. higher, higher until i hit wolf creek pass. absolute bliss. Tall dark pines so thick that the misty pine vapor flooded my helmet. To my left a frothy and ever growing stream bounced and boiled along rocks and boulders as it made it's way down the mountain. Then a twisty down grade so steep I had to keep the engine in third almost the whole way. the heavy pack on back didn't help either. then i hit a scenic (as compared to the rest?) overlook that revealed a lush valley that stretched for miles ahead. I made my way down and camped out under an inky black sky cradled by mountains, framed by pines, and awash in celestial twinkling.

end of day 2

[brenno]

Cool.Enjoying this story hope days 3 and 4 are good for you

Bren

[emjay]

This is great, keep it coming.

...Next morning took a scenic detour on 12 "highway of legends". Now this was Colorado! Twisty roads, mountains, and tall pines that breifly parted to reveal an absolutely crystal clear lake...

Hey, you drove by my sisters cabin! They have a little place in the mountains between Trinidad and Stonewall Gap. The lake is probably Monument Lake. Beautiful country.

[MissFabulous]

Great story and descriptive writing! Can't wait to read the rest!

[tkent02]

I think this is going to be good.

[MelodicMetalGod]

Nice story and well told. Looking forward to the next installment. I'm guessing that oil filter plate situation is gonna come up again... [-o<

[MissFabulous]

I think this is going to be good.

For real - any story that has "my first" in its title and warnings about being young and reckless is definitely going to be a good story!!

[tkent02]

I can't even remember my first young and reckless adventure, but some of the more recent ones turned out pretty good!

[marvinsc]

I can't even remember my first young and reckless adventure, but some of the more recent ones turned out pretty good!

Well I remember Parts of a Road Trip to Daytona when I was 18, 4 Guys in a 71 LTD! Man that trunk held a Lot of Beer.

[Regis]

Well I remember Parts of a Road Trip to Daytona when I was 18, 4 Guys in a 71 LTD! Man that trunk held a Lot of Beer.

That brought back some memories! As a young Marine (77-81) we had numerous adventures that were similiar, but instead of the trunk, once we actually used a steel 35 gallon trash can in the back seat between the two passengers, that we had punched a hole on the bottom of the can and ran a ice-packed beer keg, gravity style! No empties to deal with either!