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The people and the trees were the highlights. A 51 day ride west.
- Thread starter humanrace
- Start date
Come on guys it's Dennie's thread, just enjoy his pics.
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Gee. I apologize and deleted content. Had no idea about hijacking this beautiful, superbly done thread.
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I don't think I can rank Burr as high as Ara did, but it's in my top 5 in Utah. A plus is no traffic.I wanna do one of these relaxed exploration trips before my time is up. But on a smooth single. Well, ok, a GS might be more medically advisable due to arthritis. I know the Burr Trail finally, having ridden over the pass and into Boulder and right past it on sport tourers for 40 years. Finally, I turned onto it after being goaded by a friend who knows where all the cool stuff and hidden petroglyphs are. He said "I can't believe you've been by this turn off so many times and never taken it". I was embarrassed, but I was always the high speed guy who did not stop to smell the cactus blooms. But loved Calf Creek area.
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You're fine. Put that back!
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When you go back, take some TWT members with you. I volunteer if you'll do all the planning.
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Day 49
Anything that starts like this is OK by me. Highway 95 is in my top 10.
Cheese Box Butte
Down Hwy. 95 a couple of miles is Jacob's Chair
Still at the ugly end of 95
Like Boulder Ed, I've passed this sign many times and never turned down the road. I usually bypassed it because I was with other people.
It didn't take long for it to get good.
I think I've reached the edge of where the lake is supposed to be. It is nearly 170' low.
I love deep sand with 17" tires and TKC-70 tires.
How can going back on the same road have different scenery?
The canyon the road is named after.
95 stays like this the entire length, at least until 4 or 5 miles past the Colorado River
Back up a little
I took another little side road to Hite Marina. I don't care what the sign says, there is no fuel, the restrooms are locked and nobody was there. There was also no lake visible from as far as I could legally go on the road.
The view back to where iconic pictures are taken of the Colorado River and the bridge over it.
Texas T's iconic picture of the Colorado.
Here's looking back at you Texas T. If you look under the left side of the bridge you can see the spot Texas T took his picture.
That's the promised different view of the Colorado. Now for the retirement home I can afford.
It needs a little work, but I can be a handyman.
A plus is it's not very far to Stan's Burgers in Hanksville. If you order a shake, order the small one. It will be enough. Most of these guys and girls were on an organized tour followed by a chase vehicle. The leader is driving the chase vehicle and tells them where to stop and let him catch up. Stan's is one of those places. I believe they were from Germany.
I stopped at a rest stop on the interstate and this young man approached me and asked if I had any oil. I did not, but I went to the closest station and got him 2 quarts. That got his level up to where it would show on the dip stick. When he tried to start it, I could hear the rods or something knocking. He thought he needed a jump start. I couldn't do anything else and we agreed I should continue my ride while he waited on someone in a car to give him a jump start. He was on his way to Kansas in search of greener pastures. I think he may still be on his way. I wish him luck. I've been to Kansas. "Opportunity Knocking" does not come to mind when I think of what I witnessed in Kansas.
I checked all the campgrounds along Highway 128 in Moab with no success. I went back to Monticello where I knew I would have success.
Anything that starts like this is OK by me. Highway 95 is in my top 10.
Cheese Box Butte
Down Hwy. 95 a couple of miles is Jacob's Chair
Still at the ugly end of 95
Like Boulder Ed, I've passed this sign many times and never turned down the road. I usually bypassed it because I was with other people.
It didn't take long for it to get good.
I think I've reached the edge of where the lake is supposed to be. It is nearly 170' low.
I love deep sand with 17" tires and TKC-70 tires.
How can going back on the same road have different scenery?
The canyon the road is named after.
95 stays like this the entire length, at least until 4 or 5 miles past the Colorado River
Back up a little
I took another little side road to Hite Marina. I don't care what the sign says, there is no fuel, the restrooms are locked and nobody was there. There was also no lake visible from as far as I could legally go on the road.
The view back to where iconic pictures are taken of the Colorado River and the bridge over it.
Texas T's iconic picture of the Colorado.
Here's looking back at you Texas T. If you look under the left side of the bridge you can see the spot Texas T took his picture.
That's the promised different view of the Colorado. Now for the retirement home I can afford.
It needs a little work, but I can be a handyman.
A plus is it's not very far to Stan's Burgers in Hanksville. If you order a shake, order the small one. It will be enough. Most of these guys and girls were on an organized tour followed by a chase vehicle. The leader is driving the chase vehicle and tells them where to stop and let him catch up. Stan's is one of those places. I believe they were from Germany.
I stopped at a rest stop on the interstate and this young man approached me and asked if I had any oil. I did not, but I went to the closest station and got him 2 quarts. That got his level up to where it would show on the dip stick. When he tried to start it, I could hear the rods or something knocking. He thought he needed a jump start. I couldn't do anything else and we agreed I should continue my ride while he waited on someone in a car to give him a jump start. He was on his way to Kansas in search of greener pastures. I think he may still be on his way. I wish him luck. I've been to Kansas. "Opportunity Knocking" does not come to mind when I think of what I witnessed in Kansas.
I checked all the campgrounds along Highway 128 in Moab with no success. I went back to Monticello where I knew I would have success.
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Day 50-I still haven't started for home, but I am working my way that direction.
I took Utah 46 which turns into Colorado 90 towards Naturita, Colorado and either The Million Dollar Highway or 149 through Lake City. I eventually chose The Million Dollar Highway.
I promised a cattle round-up and here it is on highway 46.
A calf hiding behind momma and 7035 giving me the evil eye.
Another group of riders from abroad. This group of 13 is from Ireland and their leader is also from Ireland. He gets one of his American counterparts to lay out a route for him and he comes over with the group and leads. I asked why everyone else was on a GS1250 and he was on a Harley Pan American. He said the rental company had twelve BMWs and he was 13th in line. He whispered to me, "I've ridden both and the Harley is the better bike." I haven't ridden the BMW so I can't verify that.
The leader, David, said he liked the desert southwest and one of the reasons was it was easy to find healthy food. Just then two of his customers walked out of the convenience store with hotdogs and another was gnawing on a Slim Jim sausage snack. They had left Moab and took the same route that I had taken. I asked about the cattle drive and that was going to be the highlight of their day. One of them said he was going back to Ireland with a cowboy hat.
Two of the others.
The Sneffels Range.
With just a hint of the snow that's going to give me a little apprehension at Molas pass.
Road construction delays. Every time.
The typical view of Ouray as one looks down from highway 550 heading south.
With a little work, the view gets better.
And this highway is definitely in my top 10.
My wonderful motorcycle pleading to be washed.
I pulled into Burger King in Durango at 4:15 for a late lunch of healthy food that's available in the desert southwest. I used my phone to map a route to Bryan and it said 966 miles. I had already ridden 243 miles today from Monticello, Utah to Durango by going the northern route. I left Durango just before 5:00 and spent the night in Moriarty, NM at, I promised a nostalgia Motel, this motel on Route 66 that I have stayed at in the past. The current owner is the son of the couple that built the motel in 1959. The original room price was $7 and no tax, but he wouldn't honor that price. It's now $87 with tax.
The last time I stayed there, there was a ducky in the bathtub. It's still there.
I took Utah 46 which turns into Colorado 90 towards Naturita, Colorado and either The Million Dollar Highway or 149 through Lake City. I eventually chose The Million Dollar Highway.
I promised a cattle round-up and here it is on highway 46.
A calf hiding behind momma and 7035 giving me the evil eye.
Another group of riders from abroad. This group of 13 is from Ireland and their leader is also from Ireland. He gets one of his American counterparts to lay out a route for him and he comes over with the group and leads. I asked why everyone else was on a GS1250 and he was on a Harley Pan American. He said the rental company had twelve BMWs and he was 13th in line. He whispered to me, "I've ridden both and the Harley is the better bike." I haven't ridden the BMW so I can't verify that.
The leader, David, said he liked the desert southwest and one of the reasons was it was easy to find healthy food. Just then two of his customers walked out of the convenience store with hotdogs and another was gnawing on a Slim Jim sausage snack. They had left Moab and took the same route that I had taken. I asked about the cattle drive and that was going to be the highlight of their day. One of them said he was going back to Ireland with a cowboy hat.
Two of the others.
The Sneffels Range.
With just a hint of the snow that's going to give me a little apprehension at Molas pass.
Road construction delays. Every time.
The typical view of Ouray as one looks down from highway 550 heading south.
With a little work, the view gets better.
And this highway is definitely in my top 10.
My wonderful motorcycle pleading to be washed.
I pulled into Burger King in Durango at 4:15 for a late lunch of healthy food that's available in the desert southwest. I used my phone to map a route to Bryan and it said 966 miles. I had already ridden 243 miles today from Monticello, Utah to Durango by going the northern route. I left Durango just before 5:00 and spent the night in Moriarty, NM at, I promised a nostalgia Motel, this motel on Route 66 that I have stayed at in the past. The current owner is the son of the couple that built the motel in 1959. The original room price was $7 and no tax, but he wouldn't honor that price. It's now $87 with tax.
The last time I stayed there, there was a ducky in the bathtub. It's still there.
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Day 51
I got up at 6:00 New Mexico time and was ready to go at 7:00. My phone said it was 711 miles to Bryan. It was 45* in Albuquerque and 40* in Santa Rosa, the two towns on either side of Moriarty, but it warmed up quickly. The motel provided breakfast which was two home baked pastries, two pieces of fruit and in room coffee. It was given to me at check-in, in a paper bag. Since the pastries looked so good, I ate both pastries that night and one of the oranges. The other orange went into my backpack for a later snack. I stopped in Santa Rosa for breakfast. I stopped for a late lunch in Abilene and made it home with my odometer saying I rode 716 miles. It was good to hug my wife.
I got up at 6:00 New Mexico time and was ready to go at 7:00. My phone said it was 711 miles to Bryan. It was 45* in Albuquerque and 40* in Santa Rosa, the two towns on either side of Moriarty, but it warmed up quickly. The motel provided breakfast which was two home baked pastries, two pieces of fruit and in room coffee. It was given to me at check-in, in a paper bag. Since the pastries looked so good, I ate both pastries that night and one of the oranges. The other orange went into my backpack for a later snack. I stopped in Santa Rosa for breakfast. I stopped for a late lunch in Abilene and made it home with my odometer saying I rode 716 miles. It was good to hug my wife.
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THE LOGISTICS
Bike 2018 Suzuki DRZ-400SM with 8,193 miles on the ODO
Tires Continental TKC 70s chosen because this ride was going to be mainly street
Luggage Pelican saddlebags, Givi 20L Tank bag, Generic backpack for short hikes, Generic Tail bag with no name on it.
Ending mileage 19,509 miles
Longest day 711 miles
Shortest day two zero days for maintenance and for hiking
Daily average 222 miles
Rider 74 year old male with 59 years riding experience
Windmill suggested that I must be in excellent physical shape. I am not. I'm a little less than 5'8" and my starting weight was 194# right out of the shower. I lost 11# on the trip.
I had more problems with the bike and equipment on this trip than any trip I have ever taken. I had an oil leak after about 1,000 miles that ended up being an O-ring behind the front sprocket. I had to replace the battery which was totally my fault. One of the plastic hinges on my eleven year old tail bag broke. I bought an identical new tail bag and the retail price was $64 so I guess I got my moneys worth out of the old one. Ray charged me less than $64. I had to adjust the clip on the carb needle because the bike took forever to warm up at sea level and even when warm, it would surge on steady throttle. The Givi 20L tank bag is a poor design. It has a harness that mounts with one strap in front and one in back. The harness would rotate while riding, so I taped the harness to the tank. The straps that tie the bag to the harness are sewed on the bag in the middle instead of at the bottom allowing the bag to get loose as items in the bag compressed. The clock in my speedo started running backwards. When it got to 0:00, it stayed there until I did a reset. This happened once before on DRZ #1. the current bike is DRZ #5. One front turn signal bulb burned out and had to be replaced.
I found this post card and modified it before I sent it to my wife.
Bike 2018 Suzuki DRZ-400SM with 8,193 miles on the ODO
Tires Continental TKC 70s chosen because this ride was going to be mainly street
Luggage Pelican saddlebags, Givi 20L Tank bag, Generic backpack for short hikes, Generic Tail bag with no name on it.
Ending mileage 19,509 miles
Longest day 711 miles
Shortest day two zero days for maintenance and for hiking
Daily average 222 miles
Rider 74 year old male with 59 years riding experience
Windmill suggested that I must be in excellent physical shape. I am not. I'm a little less than 5'8" and my starting weight was 194# right out of the shower. I lost 11# on the trip.
I had more problems with the bike and equipment on this trip than any trip I have ever taken. I had an oil leak after about 1,000 miles that ended up being an O-ring behind the front sprocket. I had to replace the battery which was totally my fault. One of the plastic hinges on my eleven year old tail bag broke. I bought an identical new tail bag and the retail price was $64 so I guess I got my moneys worth out of the old one. Ray charged me less than $64. I had to adjust the clip on the carb needle because the bike took forever to warm up at sea level and even when warm, it would surge on steady throttle. The Givi 20L tank bag is a poor design. It has a harness that mounts with one strap in front and one in back. The harness would rotate while riding, so I taped the harness to the tank. The straps that tie the bag to the harness are sewed on the bag in the middle instead of at the bottom allowing the bag to get loose as items in the bag compressed. The clock in my speedo started running backwards. When it got to 0:00, it stayed there until I did a reset. This happened once before on DRZ #1. the current bike is DRZ #5. One front turn signal bulb burned out and had to be replaced.
I found this post card and modified it before I sent it to my wife.
Great report, thanks. I hit a cattle drive the same place you did a few years ago. Here is one from Colorado
Jeff S
Forum Supporter
I wish I could have done 10% of this ride. Not the 716 mile last day... but maybe any of the others. Thank you for taking the time to take the pictures and post them and your thoughts and words here. You're very good at all three things (riding, photos, writing).
Excellent RR. Nice to see some familiar places from my ride last year. I see lots of stuff I wish I'd have seen but my time budget was significantly less than 51 days so I'm very happy with what I got to see and happy to have an excuse to go back out there sometime. 716 miles on a DRZ is quite an accomplishment, that's some serious miles on a bike not really built to do that, but still capable. It was also nice to see the California pictures with water flowing over the falls and no smoke from fires.
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Thanks Jeff and Jasen for the kind words.
My wife and I saw one close to Crawford, Co. that had us stopped for at least 20 minutes. I was riding my brand new 1980 Yamaha 850. Sometimes cow pies were so thick I had to go into the other lane to avoid them. Can't have that on my new bike.Great report, thanks. I hit a cattle drive the same place you did a few years ago. Here is one from Colorado
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I truly enjoyed your trip. As a native Arizonan I've been to many of the locations you've visited (both here and other states) but not to all of them. Canyon de Chelly remains my most favorite place in the state to visit; I did do the Navajo guided tour down inside the canyon but that was in 1979 so I'm sure its WAAAAY more expensive now.
On a 2010 ride to Utah I managed to run into my own herd, but it was quite a bit smaller that what you encountered.
We had to wait several minutes for momma to gather up her calves and move off the highway.
If all the ride reports on TWT were as good an extensive as yours, I'd never get off the computer. Nice job.
On a 2010 ride to Utah I managed to run into my own herd, but it was quite a bit smaller that what you encountered.
We had to wait several minutes for momma to gather up her calves and move off the highway.If all the ride reports on TWT were as good an extensive as yours, I'd never get off the computer. Nice job.
Simmons1
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Thanks for taking us along on a great road trip with you.
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Thanks for the recap of your trip. I hope to be able to travel like this one day. I need to start marking an atlas and keeping a spreadsheet by state of places and things from great ride reports. Planning and organizing a trip has never been my strength.
Thank You Good Sir!!!
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I enjoyed it Guys and Gals. I know I said we would discuss misconceptions about California when I finished, but I'm going on a standard vacation with family and will be gone for two weeks. I'll start the discussion when I get back, probably in the basement instead of Story Telling. I want to thank everyone for the kind words and especially those who have posted trips and ideas that helped me on this trip. A special thanks to jixxerjasen and Texas T. Jasen for his excellent RR that was the last straw that tilted the balance toward me going to California and Texas T for a pile of note cards that I made over the years on places to see, based on his posts.
P-Ratt
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It's been great to have your ride report going this past couple of weeks. Saw your bike in the driveway today as we went past. Grandma has been in the hospital then hospice and quietly passed yesterday. Was over your way to work with church arrangements for the funeral. But your RR has been a welcome and thoroughly enjoyable trip!
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I'm happy that I could help in a very small way.
RedPill
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What a super report!
jerrybo
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Fantastic pictures and commentary!! I am so envious! Thanks for sharing!