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This will be a day I won't soon forget.
After months of tweaking, repairing, adjusting, and syncing the bike was finally ready for a longer trip. I had ridden for a hundred miles or so a couple of times but always seemed to notice something that needed attention on the bike before going on any longer rides. Today was the day. I packed up what seemed like a useful tool kit and a few supplies for the road.
As I left this morning it was around 45 deg. F. a real nice cool start for the day. Traffic going out of town was really heavy right at 8 am, but a few miles out it seemed the road was all mine. The windjammer is a real blessing to have as only my hands got chilled. The sunrise on my left was hard not to watch as I headed down the road. I left a little later than planned so I needed to make haste and get to Las Cruces by 11 am. With the throttle lock (cruise control thingy) set at 85 mph the engine sounded sooooo smooth. It seemed all the state highway patrol guys must have been having coffee still so I cranked it up to 90 mph and left it there. Within about an hour I was in Socorro and had only burned off about two gallons of fuel. A quick fill up, walk around and look over the bike, then back to it. The next leg of the journey was 150 miles, about the limit of one full tank, without stressing anyways. Onward to Cruces I went. This road was indeed all mine, nobody out there. Ok, time to see what she's got. Crank the throttle down and pray I don't get a windjammer in the face. Climbing, climbing, ok no more to give at 113 mph and 8500 rpm's. Didn't hold that speed for long just quick a pat on the tank, good girl, and back to a reasonable speed. I made it to Las Cruces at 11:02 am, but true to form my son was late! We were having lunch and I was to meet his girlfriend. Ok boring lunch and us stuff......
Now back on the bike. There was a slight detour toward El Paso to say hi to raygun, really neat guy. Hard working and bright he is, and has a really cool KZ1300 too! Sorry no pics of that one
Heading North now back toward my neck of the... tumbleweeds.
What is it with the road paving crews that don't pave the on ramp. The Interstate is a good 3 inches higher in elevation than the on ramp creating on heck of a tricky transition. You can't hit it head on due to the angle of approach. It almost took me down twice today! Rant over....
After about an hour I was getting sleepy. Waking up at 3am excited for the ride is catching up with me now. I stopped in Truth Or Consequences, NM for gas and a red bull. Now it's on!! Crazy how red bull made the trees seem more colorful and the bike ran even better too, is that odd? Cruising at 80 mph now no hurry but a good pace. I approach the turn off toward the Trinity site, White Sands Missle range and think, hummmm why not. Headed down that road is a bar famous for their catering to the engineers and scientists who built the first atomic bomb here.
Nobody on this road either, what gives? Oh it's a weekday. I need to take a well day more often. I felt too good to go to work today!
Here's a sight to see. The famous Rio Grande (River Big, in English) is almost dried up. Tire tracks in the middle of the river bed!
The trinity site is only open twice a year on Oct 1st and April 1st. I wonder why that is? Ok, quick shot of a historical marker and back to I 25.
Another blasted uneven on ramp almost got me, ugh! Boy, now all those state troopers are out in droves. 75 mph from here on out. Good thing too as I got a grasshopper smack in the middle of my visor. Startling that was! Now the sun is setting on my left side. It's getting hard to not look over my shoulder, better just stop for a pic. and a couple of gallons of fuel.
Well it was pretty uneventful from there on in. All in all about seven hours in the saddle today. Maybe a couple more of these and I'll attempt the trek to California.
The bike got a steady 39.5 miles per gallon regardless of the speed. Pretty good I'd say!
After months of tweaking, repairing, adjusting, and syncing the bike was finally ready for a longer trip. I had ridden for a hundred miles or so a couple of times but always seemed to notice something that needed attention on the bike before going on any longer rides. Today was the day. I packed up what seemed like a useful tool kit and a few supplies for the road.
As I left this morning it was around 45 deg. F. a real nice cool start for the day. Traffic going out of town was really heavy right at 8 am, but a few miles out it seemed the road was all mine. The windjammer is a real blessing to have as only my hands got chilled. The sunrise on my left was hard not to watch as I headed down the road. I left a little later than planned so I needed to make haste and get to Las Cruces by 11 am. With the throttle lock (cruise control thingy) set at 85 mph the engine sounded sooooo smooth. It seemed all the state highway patrol guys must have been having coffee still so I cranked it up to 90 mph and left it there. Within about an hour I was in Socorro and had only burned off about two gallons of fuel. A quick fill up, walk around and look over the bike, then back to it. The next leg of the journey was 150 miles, about the limit of one full tank, without stressing anyways. Onward to Cruces I went. This road was indeed all mine, nobody out there. Ok, time to see what she's got. Crank the throttle down and pray I don't get a windjammer in the face. Climbing, climbing, ok no more to give at 113 mph and 8500 rpm's. Didn't hold that speed for long just quick a pat on the tank, good girl, and back to a reasonable speed. I made it to Las Cruces at 11:02 am, but true to form my son was late! We were having lunch and I was to meet his girlfriend. Ok boring lunch and us stuff......
Now back on the bike. There was a slight detour toward El Paso to say hi to raygun, really neat guy. Hard working and bright he is, and has a really cool KZ1300 too! Sorry no pics of that one
Heading North now back toward my neck of the... tumbleweeds.
What is it with the road paving crews that don't pave the on ramp. The Interstate is a good 3 inches higher in elevation than the on ramp creating on heck of a tricky transition. You can't hit it head on due to the angle of approach. It almost took me down twice today! Rant over....
After about an hour I was getting sleepy. Waking up at 3am excited for the ride is catching up with me now. I stopped in Truth Or Consequences, NM for gas and a red bull. Now it's on!! Crazy how red bull made the trees seem more colorful and the bike ran even better too, is that odd? Cruising at 80 mph now no hurry but a good pace. I approach the turn off toward the Trinity site, White Sands Missle range and think, hummmm why not. Headed down that road is a bar famous for their catering to the engineers and scientists who built the first atomic bomb here.
Nobody on this road either, what gives? Oh it's a weekday. I need to take a well day more often. I felt too good to go to work today!
Here's a sight to see. The famous Rio Grande (River Big, in English) is almost dried up. Tire tracks in the middle of the river bed!
The trinity site is only open twice a year on Oct 1st and April 1st. I wonder why that is? Ok, quick shot of a historical marker and back to I 25.
Another blasted uneven on ramp almost got me, ugh! Boy, now all those state troopers are out in droves. 75 mph from here on out. Good thing too as I got a grasshopper smack in the middle of my visor. Startling that was! Now the sun is setting on my left side. It's getting hard to not look over my shoulder, better just stop for a pic. and a couple of gallons of fuel.
Well it was pretty uneventful from there on in. All in all about seven hours in the saddle today. Maybe a couple more of these and I'll attempt the trek to California.
The bike got a steady 39.5 miles per gallon regardless of the speed. Pretty good I'd say!
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