keithu

Interesting. What have you heard? A Darien will probably be my next gear purchase.

Aerostich. Expensive up front but 15 years later you'll still be wearing it every day.

If I were to move anywhere it would be Boise. My company has a big campus there and it wouldn't be hard to get a transfer. How realistic is year-round riding there?

The first and last photos were on OR-22, but the middle three were along the Detroit Dam pumphouse road.

Bonus round: I had to run to the Yamaha dealer this morning for an oil filter, and took a slight detour up into Santiam Canyon. This is why I love Oregon: coast, valley, and mountains all on the same tank of gas.

Yeah weather was nice, dry and temps around 45-50F. Siletz Highway is fun, but if you haven't ridden Nashville Road between Eddyville and Blodgett definitely add it to your list. It's probably the best kept secret in the coast range.

A few more images. A seagull stands watch over the Depoe Bay harbor entrance:

I had the day off and took a short ride out to the Oregon coast. US-20 is the main route between Albany and Corvallis in the Willamette Valley and Newport on the coast, but at Blodgett I veered off onto the twistier, lesser known Nashville Road. In Nashville I turned onto the even lesser known back way into Siletz. I remembered that this road had a few miles of gravel, but I thought it would be fine. This road needs more gravel. The wet earth was rather snotty in places and my front wheel was really loose. Fortunately it didn't last long and I made it through. At Siletz I turned north and followed the Siletz River to the coast. At US-101 I turned south briefly. I'd hoped to explore Salishan Spit, but it seems to be blocked by some gated communities in Gleneden Beach. Bummer. I continued south on US-101 to Boiler Bay. Shortly after Boiler Bay I rode into Depoe Bay, one of the smallest harbors on the US Pacific Coast. Here the ocean crashes into a sea wall at the edge of 101, and it's not unusual for waves to spray across the highway. My FJ had a fine saltwater spray after this stop, so I'll definitely need to wash it down tomorrow. The channel into Depoe Bay is narrow and turbulent. I can't imagine navigating a boat in and out of this harbor. I continued south on 101 to Newport, and then rode back inland on US-20. It was a nice little 200 mile loop to kick off two weeks of vacation.

They may not be losing money on the Tiger 850 but it's certainly less profitable. The Tiger 850 costs about the same to manufacture as the 900, minus perhaps some extra supplier cost for the 900s better suspension and brakes. BMW used to sell a R850 alongside the R1100. They were the same bike except for bore size and power output. In fact the R850 was slightly heavier than the R1100 due to the thicker cylinder walls. People lamented when they dropped the 850, but a BMW engineer told me the 850 and 1100 cost exactly the same to manufacture, so the R850 didn't make business sense because they had to sell it cheaper. If the Tiger 850 is profitable for Triumph, that tells me the brakes and suspension are probably crap. Like, OEM FJ-09 suspension crap.

But on the FJ/Tracer it doesn't. This motor does not have a knock sensor. Without that input I don't think the ECU is able to detect and compensate for pre-ignition.

One thing to keep in mind is that the BMW might have had a knock sensor, but your Yamaha does not. A knock sensor detects pre-ignition which might be caused by lower-octane fuel, and the ECU can use this input to adjust ignition timing to compensate. So with a knock sensor you may perceive reduced power when running lower octane, but engine damage is less likely. BMW's boxers have knock sensors, but I don't know about the F800. The FJ-09/Tracer/Niken motor does not have a knock sensor. But like others, I've also run 87 octane a few times without any ill effects. I would definitely follow @PhotoAl's advice and avoid lugging the motor when you run it.

My local craft store never seems to have the correct zipper pulls so I just order the repair kits from Aerostich.

I've had many Aerostich zipper pulls fail over the last 23 years, but never the zipper itself. Zipper pulls aren't too difficult to repair yourself: Aerostich sells kits and Youtube has videos.

LOL, yes. That's exactly the stretch I rode through, also in August. I'm still finding that mud in nooks and crannies.

I installed a ScottOiler V-system earlier this year and so far I'm 100% happy with it. It's doing exactly what I hoped: the chain remains clean, lubed, and rust-free, despite riding through a lot of rain and 10 miles of sticky Montana construction zone mud. I don't have to futz with the chain at all, I just top up the oil reservoir once in a while. The chain also seems to require less adjustment now.

Taken in June this year in the middle of a 1000 mile day.

I rode through about 10 miles of construction like this in Montana over the summer. After multiple washings and lots of time down on my hands and knees scrubbing I've come to the conclusion that some of this mud is going to be on my bike forever.

Agreed, these should be on your bucket list if you haven't ridden them. The area in Oregon you described was called the "Ochoco" by the Northern Paiute people who lived in the area for thousands of years. It's beautiful country; I ride it every summer and hunt deer and elk there most winters. CA-36 is well known, but I prefer CA-96. I did a 1000 mile day last June that included CA-96. It's 150 miles from Willow Creek to I-5, and on a Saturday afternoon I think I saw maybe five cars the whole length.

Wow, that does look like fun. This one's going on my list for sure. It sort of reminds me of a longer version of Patterson Pass Road between Livermore and Tracy. When I lived in Manteca I worked in Alameda and later Moffett Field, and most days I would take Patterson Pass or Tesla Road home instead of I-580. I got to know every crack and pebble on Patterson Pass, it was like my own personal race track. If I had time to take the very long scenic route to or from Moffett Field I'd ride Mines Rd to Mt. Hamilton Rd past the observatory. It always amazed me that I could find excellent, traffic free roads like this right next to a major metropolis. SoCal was the same way; the Santa Monica mountains are surrounded by LA, Ventura, and the San Fernando Valley yet the roads up there were empty.

Indeed. It's one thing I miss about California. The PNW has some stunning scenery for sure, but I lived in Manteca for four years so I had all the epic Sierra Nevada passes right in my back yard: Carson, Ebbets, Sonora, Tioga, etc. It was trivial to string together a couple of these passes on a Sunday morning ride.

It varies year to year with the weather, so you'll need to check. I think the last time I rode Bucks Lake was in June and there wasn't any snow that I recall. Here's Sonora Pass in June 2005.

I don't think I've ever ridden CA229. I'll have to add that to my list. I think you still have to ride the boring part of 33 from McKittrick to Maricopa if you want to get from 58 to Hudson Ranch Rd. There's a road through California Valley and across the Carrizo Plain, but I don't think it was paved the last time I checked 28 years ago. 🤨 Edit: California Valley is an interesting place. Look at all the roads platted out in the image below. You'd think there's a big town on in the middle of nowhere, but there isn't. Some con artist bought a large tract of worthless, desolate land in the middle of nowhere, named the place "California Valley," printed up some fancy brochures, and then sold plots sight unseen to unsuspecting midwesterners. Buyers arrived and discovered they'd been had. Check out the "lake." It appears to be a solar farm now, which is about the only thing that land is good for.

Carmel to Morro Bay on PCH isn't the gnarliest road in the world, but I wouldn't call it boring. The coastal scenery is beautiful IMO. If possible I recommend riding it early in the morning, like sunrise early. You'll have the road to yourself before 8:00am. From there I would take CA-58 over to McKittrick, then go south on CA-33 all the way into Ojai. And since you'll be in SoCal, you should pay a visit to the Rock Store if you've never been. Sundays are best because the parking lot is always filled with exotic motorcycles. It's a legendary hangout surrounded by the numerous twisty canyon roads of the Santa Monica mountains.

Excellent info @chitown, thank you. Obviously it'd be great to have a motorcycle on the island, but you make a good point about the ferry. If I didn't take a bike I'd probably just fly there from Liverpool.

@chitown that's an impressive list! Regarding IOM: Assuming one doesn't have a friend from Texas with a local house, what are the options for accommodations during the TT? Are there plenty of rooms to rent, or do most people camp? I should have included this one on my bucket list.