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Home from my bike trip.

LowriderLowrider Member Posts: 6,587
edited September 2002 in General Discussion
What's been happening around here over the past seven days? I don't have the energy to read everything posted since the night of Friday, Sept. 6th, so maybe somebody could just fill me in on anything significant.

Had a pretty good trip except for the damn weather in Arizona and Utah. I left the rainy northwest for the sunny southwest, or so I thought, and was damn-near drowned in thunderstorms down south while the weather here at home (Washington State) was in the eighties the whole time I was gone. I guess that's just the way my luck runs.

Rode some great backroads and saw some beautiful country. Rolled up over 3700 miles in seven days, actually just six days of riding because I spent 24 hours in Las Vegas. Went southeast down through eastern Washington and eastern Oregon, south down the length of Nevada to Vegas, east across Hoover Dam to Kingman, AZ and then rode the old Route 66 through Hackberry, Peach Springs, Seligman to Ash Fork and south through Prescott and Phoenix to Casa Grande. I'd been wanting to ride that piece of Route 66 for many years. North through Sedona to Flagstaff and Paige, north through Utah to Cedar City, back into Nevada to dodge more thunderstorms, north to Ely and Jackpot, into Idaho at Twin Falls and north to Hailey and Ketchum, northwest to Lewiston, back into Washington and home. Rode from Ketchum,ID to my house yesterday, over 850 miles in 16 hours.

Other than the horrible two days of weather in Arizona and Utah, it was a great trip. My battery crapped-out on me in Nevada on Thursday and I was lucky to be able to limp into Ely with nothing electrical working on the bike and the engine running poorly. A great little bike shop in Ely, Nevada, "Gone Wild" by name, specializing in custom Harley work, engine building, etc., fixed me up and put me back on the road. If any of you are ever in the Ely area on your scooter, make a point of stopping there to say hi and buy a tee shirt or something. Really good people and the owner is a top-notch, engine-building sumbitch.

The best roads I traveled were in Idaho between Ketchum and Graingeville. Beautiful scenery up through the Sawtooth Wilderness and the roads were absolutely made for motorcycling. Perfect pavement and twisty like a snake for 200 miles. If you haven't been through that part of the country, make a point of it. You won't be disappointed.

Good to be back here safe and sound.

Lord Lowrider the LoquaciousMember:Secret Select Society of Suave Stylish Smoking Jackets She was only a fisherman's daughter,But when she saw my rod she reeled.

Comments

  • interstatepawnllcinterstatepawnllc Member Posts: 9,390
    edited November -1
    Welcome home scooter tramp. Glad yer safe and had a nice trip.
  • 218Beekeep218Beekeep Member Posts: 3,033
    edited November -1
    ~Lowridin` Tramp~

    He rode like the wind
    fer seven days,

    peferrin` the back roads
    over the hiways.

    This vagabond tramp
    has straggled back home

    He`s already plannin`
    where next he`ll roam.


    .218




    Edited by - 218Beekeep on 09/14/2002 15:11:29
  • LowriderLowrider Member Posts: 6,587
    edited November -1
    Too much, BeeMan. I printed that out and hung it on the wall.

    Lord Lowrider the LoquaciousMember:Secret Select Society of Suave Stylish Smoking Jackets She was only a fisherman's daughter,But when she saw my rod she reeled.
  • LowriderLowrider Member Posts: 6,587
    edited November -1
    Damn, BeeKeep. You even went back and fixed the spelling error.

    You da man!

    Lord Lowrider the LoquaciousMember:Secret Select Society of Suave Stylish Smoking Jackets She was only a fisherman's daughter,But when she saw my rod she reeled.
  • 218Beekeep218Beekeep Member Posts: 3,033
    edited November -1
    I hate it,when I don`t catch it the first time!

    .218
  • pickenuppickenup Member Posts: 22,844 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Sounds like you had a good ride. Did your friend go with you? What did he think of it? Glad to hear you made it back without any MAJOR mishaps.

    The gene pool needs chlorine.
  • Harleeman1030Harleeman1030 Member Posts: 1,505 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    ooooooo the power of the finish line lol

    Glad your home..
    All the aholes and smartbutts,wierdo's,freaks,& trouble starters.
    We're all still here man lol...

    If we lived in a perfect world you would not be here
    NRA MEMBER
  • sodbustersodbuster Member Posts: 2,305 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I'm glad you had a good, safe adventure! Those days of ridin' in crummy weather suck at the time, but make for better road trip stories later on. Any cool stuff on Route 66? Cool roadside diners? What was the security like going across Hoover Dam? Got yer next trip planned yet??

    "Just my opinion."
  • daddodaddo Member Posts: 3,408
    edited November -1
    While you were on your road trip-I was thinking about the road trip I wanted to take, that I didn't get to take, that you took, that I am going to take, but you took first. I'm turning green with envy, thanks to the road trip I wanted, but you took instead.
    Not much going on!
  • LowriderLowrider Member Posts: 6,587
    edited November -1
    Pickenup: Yeah, my Polaris Victory ridin' friend went too. It's hard to say how he liked the trip, all he did was * and complain for the whole seven days, and then today told a mutual friend all about the great time that he had. I know I really got tired of waiting for him on the twisty roads. He's definitely a straight-line rider. He never even packed any raingear for the trip. Then when the torrential downpours hit and I stopped to get suited-up, he whined and cried about how he "guessed he'd just have to get wet." I think he was pissed at me 'cause I didn't leave my gear in the saddlebags and get wet along with him. It rained so hard I ended up wet anyway.

    Sodbuster: Lots of cool stuff on old Route 66. Things I'd seen in books about the MotherRoad and things I've seen in movies, but never seen with my own eyes. The Hackberry General Store is a real trip. Been there since the thirties. It's been filmed for a lot of movies and the memorabilia and stuff in the store is too much. Also saw Delgado's Snow Cones. That place has been operating ever since the Route was the only east-west road. Also the "world famous" Route 66 Motel. I had a real good time riding that stretch of American history.

    The security at the dam was pretty tight. No trucks or buses allowed to cross the dam. The big rigs have to detour a long way around. They have checkpoints set up a mile or so each side of the dam and they are stopping everyone. We were waved through after slowing to a crawl, guess they figured you couldn't pack a bike with enough explosives to do any harm, but the vehicles in front and behind us were stopped and given the third degree. Things are sure different now. I rode across Hoover in 1994 and never saw any cops anywhere. Now the place is crawling with Feds. They even have the viewpoint parking areas fenced off with signs that read "Gov't. Parking Only."

    You're right about the bad weather being fodder for good stories. I already forgot about how miserable it was and now just think back on it as part of the adventure. One thing for sure, when it rains so hard the roads are flooded and the visibility is so bad you're riding about 20 mph on a 60 mph road, it's a damn dangerous situation. Especially when there are other vehicles on the road (mostly big rigs) still highballing it through the storm. Very easy to get run over.



    Lord Lowrider the LoquaciousMember:Secret Select Society of Suave Stylish Smoking Jackets She was only a fisherman's daughter,But when she saw my rod she reeled.
  • Evil ATFEvil ATF Member Posts: 1,195 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    LR:
    My aunt and her new hubby belong to a bike club and just got back from a ride, as well. They were in the same area you just got back from.

    Any chance you know them, or did you ride by yourself?

    Name's are Linda and Steve. I can't remember Steve's last name for the life of me.

    They live in New Mexico but ride just about everywhere.

    Stand And Be Counted
  • BoomerangBoomerang Member Posts: 4,513
    edited November -1
    Were you alone on U.S. Hwy 50? Late Sept early Oct is a great time to be in the Southwest. Late August early Sept the monsoons can catch you.

    Boomer

    "Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as it is by the obstacles which one has overcome while trying to succeed."NRA Life Member
  • LowriderLowrider Member Posts: 6,587
    edited November -1
    Evil: No, I don't know them, but I could sure as hell have seen them on the road. I probably saw two or three billion bikes on my trip, and most of them were loaded down and traveling.

    Boomer: No, I wasn't alone, but there sure as hell isn't much out there in the Nevada desert. "Loneliest Road In America" is a very accurate description of Hwy. 50. There's something about the desolation of the desert that I really like, though. Something about the fact that very little has changed out there in the past few million years. It's very beautiful in its own right.

    Lord Lowrider the LoquaciousMember:Secret Select Society of Suave Stylish Smoking Jackets She was only a fisherman's daughter,But when she saw my rod she reeled.
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