klb1122
0
- Joined
- Sep 11, 2006
- Messages
- 2,531
- Reaction score
- 96
- Location
- Houston, TX
- First Name
- Kory
- Last Name
- Burleson
There was no way a motorcycle trip was going to happen this year. My second daughter was born in January and as most people know, they require quite a bit of attention. Mix in a demanding 3 year old and hectic work and I just assumed a trip was out of the question. Flash forward to around the first of May and my wife basically encouraged me to still take a trip this year. I was a bit shocked and hesitant, but I don’t turn down opportunities like this. My first thought was to hit the Dakotas and Mt. Rushmore, then over to Minnesota and Michigan and back down. I’m trying to hit all the lower 48 states with these trips, and Iowa was going to be left out of this loop and too difficult to work in with the amount of time allotted, which was 7 days. So instead, I decided to just focus on a loop that included Lake Superior and Lake Michigan, seeing a few lighthouses and other sights along the way. The Dakotas will be saved for another year.
Day 1 - 6/24/2014 - Houston, TX to Harrisonville, MO - 705 Miles
Houston, TX to Harrisonville, MO - 705 miles – MAP LINK
Oh yes, I forgot to mention that I’ve been a horrible motorcycle owner over the last year. Here’s my ending mileage after Trippin’ Connies 5:
And here’s my starting mileage for Trippin’ Connies 6:
That’s right, I haven’t ridden a single mile since I put the bike in the garage a year ago. Embarassing!!! Part of the reason for this was a couple weeks after getting home last year I went out into the garage to start the bike. It fired up and I went out into the yard to do a few things while the bike ran. When I walked back into the garage there was smoke everywhere. I shut it off and stood there dumbfounded. I was defeated. How did everything go to heck in a few weeks of sitting in the garage? The next time I went out to start it, the battery was dead. Now I was frustrated with it and defeated. A month before this year’s trip I went into a frenzy trying to diagnose an oil leak, causing the smoke, along with changing the battery, oil, air filter, and tires. Oh yeah, and I still needed to clean off the Montana bugs and Idaho road grime too.
I mentioned that I tried to diagnose the oil leak. I had narrowed it down to a leak between the bottom of the oil pan and the oil plug washer. Easy enough, I ordered up a new plug and a few new washers. I changed it all and the next day there was still a drop or two in the pan. It was still coming out in the same spot, slowly leaking between the washer and plug. Next course of action was to drain the oil again, and put some high temp sealant between any possible gaps. Back in went the oil and the next day everything looked good. Two days later there was a drop of oil in the pan under the bike. What in the heck was going on!??!?! I tried and tried to trace it, but short of tearing the whole bike apart, I couldn’t figure it out. Oh well! I just told dad to watch out for flying oil when following me.
The plan was to meet dad at his house at 6 am. I ended up leaving my house around 5:50, filled up on the way and so we took off around 6:15 am. We’re used to leaving on a weekend, but this was the best week for me to take off of work, and dad already had a weekend trip planned to the AMA races at Barber for the weekend with mom. They wouldn’t get back until Monday, so the first day we could leave was Tuesday. The bad part about leaving during the week is dealing with a bit of traffic. It wasn’t too bad though, at least we were headed out of town instead of into it. The weather threatened a bit, but all we had was a few sprinkles. The first gas stop was 150 miles north of Houston in Fairfield, TX.
Back at home, thunderstorms were expected. I was hoping we could get out of Texas before everything rolled in, and we did just that. The weather was great. It was a little hot, but certainly not unbearable. We cruised through Dallas, into Oklahoma, and stretched out the second gas stop to just under 200 miles in Caddo, OK.
We both gassed up and got snacks, standing in the shade when a bike starts up and immediately revs…. BBRRRAAAAHHHDAAHHAAHHHHHAAAA!!!!!!! I turn my head and the dude gives me a nod, we got a good laugh out of that later. He rode up beside us and asked if we were local and we said no, from Houston. He asked where we were headed and when I said Lake Superior he went into how he used to ride the California coast and has two daughters out there. He said he was too old to do trips anymore and dad asked how old he was. He replied with “72.” Dad said he hopes he’s still riding when he’s 72. I threw on my jacket and he took the cue and wished us luck. He then cranked up his metric cruiser…. BBRRRAAAAAHHHDAAHHAAAHHHHHAAAA!!!!!!! He took off and dad and I laughed about the 72 year old rapping it out as soon as those plugs sparked. Nice guy though. Too bad I didn’t get a picture of him.
We continued North on US 69 and 175 miles later stopped for gas in Adair, OK. I wanted to stop here so we could fill up prior to getting on the Turnpike. Most of US 69 was uneventful. Most of the day was uneventful. I can easily say this because the highlight of the ride was meeting a 72 year-old guy back in Caddo, OK.
We took the Turnpike on I-44 out of Oklahoma and into Missouri, then I-49 North for the rest of the day. This last leg was about 188 miles, so a total of about 705 for the day. When we arrived at the Comfort Inn & Suites in Harrisonville I was still feeling pretty good. Ok, my wrists and shoulders hurt some, but other than that I was feeling decent. Dad said he was surprisingly feeling pretty good after fearing the Day 1 ride for weeks.
We walked down the road to Best Burrito. Margaritas and burritos made some of the little aches go away. Maybe we were starving, but the food was delicious.
Back at the hotel, I paired dad’s flip cell phone to his Sena headset and his mind was blown. We went to bed pretty early. I knew Day 2’s mileage was almost the same, but with quite a bit less Interstate. It was going to be rough.
Day 1 - 6/24/2014 - Houston, TX to Harrisonville, MO - 705 Miles
Houston, TX to Harrisonville, MO - 705 miles – MAP LINK
Oh yes, I forgot to mention that I’ve been a horrible motorcycle owner over the last year. Here’s my ending mileage after Trippin’ Connies 5:
And here’s my starting mileage for Trippin’ Connies 6:
That’s right, I haven’t ridden a single mile since I put the bike in the garage a year ago. Embarassing!!! Part of the reason for this was a couple weeks after getting home last year I went out into the garage to start the bike. It fired up and I went out into the yard to do a few things while the bike ran. When I walked back into the garage there was smoke everywhere. I shut it off and stood there dumbfounded. I was defeated. How did everything go to heck in a few weeks of sitting in the garage? The next time I went out to start it, the battery was dead. Now I was frustrated with it and defeated. A month before this year’s trip I went into a frenzy trying to diagnose an oil leak, causing the smoke, along with changing the battery, oil, air filter, and tires. Oh yeah, and I still needed to clean off the Montana bugs and Idaho road grime too.
I mentioned that I tried to diagnose the oil leak. I had narrowed it down to a leak between the bottom of the oil pan and the oil plug washer. Easy enough, I ordered up a new plug and a few new washers. I changed it all and the next day there was still a drop or two in the pan. It was still coming out in the same spot, slowly leaking between the washer and plug. Next course of action was to drain the oil again, and put some high temp sealant between any possible gaps. Back in went the oil and the next day everything looked good. Two days later there was a drop of oil in the pan under the bike. What in the heck was going on!??!?! I tried and tried to trace it, but short of tearing the whole bike apart, I couldn’t figure it out. Oh well! I just told dad to watch out for flying oil when following me.
The plan was to meet dad at his house at 6 am. I ended up leaving my house around 5:50, filled up on the way and so we took off around 6:15 am. We’re used to leaving on a weekend, but this was the best week for me to take off of work, and dad already had a weekend trip planned to the AMA races at Barber for the weekend with mom. They wouldn’t get back until Monday, so the first day we could leave was Tuesday. The bad part about leaving during the week is dealing with a bit of traffic. It wasn’t too bad though, at least we were headed out of town instead of into it. The weather threatened a bit, but all we had was a few sprinkles. The first gas stop was 150 miles north of Houston in Fairfield, TX.
Back at home, thunderstorms were expected. I was hoping we could get out of Texas before everything rolled in, and we did just that. The weather was great. It was a little hot, but certainly not unbearable. We cruised through Dallas, into Oklahoma, and stretched out the second gas stop to just under 200 miles in Caddo, OK.
We both gassed up and got snacks, standing in the shade when a bike starts up and immediately revs…. BBRRRAAAAHHHDAAHHAAHHHHHAAAA!!!!!!! I turn my head and the dude gives me a nod, we got a good laugh out of that later. He rode up beside us and asked if we were local and we said no, from Houston. He asked where we were headed and when I said Lake Superior he went into how he used to ride the California coast and has two daughters out there. He said he was too old to do trips anymore and dad asked how old he was. He replied with “72.” Dad said he hopes he’s still riding when he’s 72. I threw on my jacket and he took the cue and wished us luck. He then cranked up his metric cruiser…. BBRRRAAAAAHHHDAAHHAAAHHHHHAAAA!!!!!!! He took off and dad and I laughed about the 72 year old rapping it out as soon as those plugs sparked. Nice guy though. Too bad I didn’t get a picture of him.
We continued North on US 69 and 175 miles later stopped for gas in Adair, OK. I wanted to stop here so we could fill up prior to getting on the Turnpike. Most of US 69 was uneventful. Most of the day was uneventful. I can easily say this because the highlight of the ride was meeting a 72 year-old guy back in Caddo, OK.
We took the Turnpike on I-44 out of Oklahoma and into Missouri, then I-49 North for the rest of the day. This last leg was about 188 miles, so a total of about 705 for the day. When we arrived at the Comfort Inn & Suites in Harrisonville I was still feeling pretty good. Ok, my wrists and shoulders hurt some, but other than that I was feeling decent. Dad said he was surprisingly feeling pretty good after fearing the Day 1 ride for weeks.
We walked down the road to Best Burrito. Margaritas and burritos made some of the little aches go away. Maybe we were starving, but the food was delicious.
Back at the hotel, I paired dad’s flip cell phone to his Sena headset and his mind was blown. We went to bed pretty early. I knew Day 2’s mileage was almost the same, but with quite a bit less Interstate. It was going to be rough.