FJR09 June Shakedown

[maximo]

19 minutes ago, betoney said:

Glad to hear that you made it back safe.  I followed throughout the day and looking forward to the report tomorrow.👍

Me too! 

[keithu]

I went to bed early Friday night. I set my alarm for 4:00am, but I woke up at 3 so I got up, made coffee and breakfast, and hit the road just a few minutes before 4:00am. I rode I-5 south 40 miles through Eugene, then turned off onto OR-58 heading east. My PIAA driving lights cut a huge hole through the darkness, but with the summer solstice in a few days they weren't needed by 5:00am.

I already had 60 miles on my fuel before I departed. The plan was to top up in Oakridge, which should have given me plenty of gas until Lakeview. Alas, when I rolled into Oakridge at 5:15am every station was closed. I checked the Chevron to see if I could self-serve with my credit card but the nozzles were padlocked.

This is exactly why I installed auxillary fuel. In any other state this wouldn't be an issue, but Oregon has some stupid gas station laws. I just opened the valve on my aux tank and continued my ride. Without the tank, I'd be waiting 45 minutes or backtracking 40 miles to Eugene.

Rain started shortly after Oakridge, and it was cold. 42 fahrenheit according to the bike, and dropping. Isn't this mid-June? When I stopped at Willamette Pass for a photo it was 37 and the rain was mixed with snow flurries. Snow! In mid-June!!!!

A few miles down the mountain things dried up as I got into the rain shadow of the Cascades. I took the Crescent Cutoff road over to Gilchrist where I found an open Shell Station. Topped up, I rode north on US-97 a bit until turning back east onto OR-31. If you haven't ridden 31, put in on your bucket list.

At Fort Rock I took some minor roads due east across Christmas Lake Valley. This was a new road to me and is straight and flat for miles. Boring to some people, I suppose, but I like the serenity of the high desert. Just be careful; you can roast a rear tire pretty quickly on roads like this. All too soon I was turning south on US-395 to Lakeview. I got into more rain along this route, and the wetness continued into California and just past Alturas.

Although I've ridden almost every road in NorCal before, I'd never been on CA-299 between Adin and Redding. It's starts as a sweeping asphalt ribbon through alpine and high desert terrain, but traffic picks up as it drops down into foothills and oak savannah near Redding.

My Spot tracker glitched out at this time and didn't ping the satellite for over an hour. Why? This was the least remote stretch of the whole trip. Weird.

I continued through Redding west on 299. In Weaverville I had a burrito al pastor from a little taqueria, and then continued up into the Siskiyous. Great road, incredible scenery, lots of traffic.

At Willow Creek I turned north on CA-96. This legendary road is 150 miles of sweepers and twisties along the Klamath River. Sure, the world has lots of roads like this. What makes 96 special? It starts at nowhere and goes to no place. Nobody has any good reason to be on this road, so when you ride it you have it to yourself. Several times I rode 20 or 30 miles without seeing a single other vehicle. Magical.

By the time I hit I-5 I was getting pretty sore, having already ridden 780 miles of great roads. I turned north, set the cruise at 75, and arrived home just before 10:00pm, so 18 hours on the road. Miles according to:

Basecamp: 1014

Google maps: 1017

FJ-09 trip meter: 1032

Sorry I didn't take more pics. My perfectly adequate Still Life with Motorcycle and Fort Rock was marred by schmutz on the lens. The crown for superior landscape photography remains with @betoney

[texscottyd]

Outstanding @keithu!  Thanks for sharing. 

[keithu]

Bike Report

What worked:

The bike - comfort wise, it's dialed in.

Aux fuel and lights work perfectly

Scott oiler kept the chain lubed. I need to fine-tune the flow rate, but this is one less thing to worry about on a long ride through variable weather.

Cup holder - the swivel mount Ram cup holder is great. How did I go 30+ years without this?

 

Things to improve:

Windshield - twice during this ride the right side Madstad adjuster knob vibrated loose, causing the windshield to lean back on one side. I think I've figured out the angle I like, so I will probably just locktite the knobs.

Hydration system - I have a one gallon Rtic jug full of ice water in the pillion seat, with a drinking tube and a bite valve. I need to rework this. The Velcro system for securing the drink tube wasn't nearly reliable enough, and the position of the jug made it hard to get on and off the bike.

Storage - I rode without a tank bag but obviously I need to use one. Stuffing everything in pockets and saddlebags was a pain.

 

 

 

 

[betoney]

@keithu - Awesome report and photos - Thanks.  And congratulations on completing 1,000 miles in 18 hours, I might try that some day.

I have ridden a lot of multi-day road trips, several of them riding solo, the spot tracker sounds like a great idea although I did read a fair share of negative reviews on Amazon, your thoughts?

With all of that time on the road you get the chance to reflect on the modifications you have done or what you might still need to do to make your ride more enjoyable.  Anything pop up where you thought to yourself "When I get back I need to..." or "I really wish I would have..."?

Thanks

**EDIT**  I see you already answered some of the questions just as I posted. 👍

[betoney]

14 minutes ago, keithu said:

Bike Report

What worked:

The bike - comfort wise, it's dialed in.

Aux fuel and lights work perfectly

Scott oiler kept the chain lubed. I need to fine-tune the flow rate, but this is one less thing to worry about on a long ride through variable weather.

Cup holder - the swivel mount Ram cup holder is great. How did I go 30+ years without this?

 

Things to improve:

Windshield - twice during this ride the right side Madstad adjuster knob vibrated loose, causing the windshield to lean back on one side. I think I've figured out the angle I like, so I will probably just locktite the knobs.

Hydration system - I have a one gallon Rtic jug full of ice water in the pillion seat, with a drinking tube and a bite valve. I need to rework this. The Velcro system for securing the drink tube wasn't nearly reliable enough, and the position of the jug made it hard to get on and off the bike.

Storage - I rode without a tank bag but obviously I need to use one. Stuffing everything in pockets and saddlebags was a pain.

So, the big question about the auxiliary fuel tank, - did you get a chance to push the range between stops? and what was the longest you rode between fuel stops?

[keithu]

For satellite trackers there are basically two choices: Spot or Garmin Inreach. I chose Spot because I found a Spot X on sale last year just before elk season. The areas I hunt are very remote, way out of cell range so the satellite tracker provides a lot of piece of mind for both me and my wife.

It's also useful for LD rallies because organizers can use them to track participants. It's not mandatory, but there is a points benefit to carrying one. It gives riders an emergency beacon if they have trouble out of cell range, and it helps the organizers verify your travels and that you're not speeding excessively.

The Spot works okay, but if I had it to do over I'd probably get the Garmin instead, based on feedback from others in the LD community. My bro-in-law also has an Inreach for ocean fishing and he seems happy with it.

[keithu]

6 hours ago, betoney said:

So, the big question about the auxiliary fuel tank, - did you get a chance to push the range between stops? and what was the longest you rode between fuel stops?

I didn't keep good records but I believe the farthest I went on this trip was 299.9 miles. The number stuck in my mind because I saw it and thought, "Dang, just shy of 300." That was Willow Creek, CA to Sutherlin, OR.

Usually I refuelled in the 240-290 mile range. And really that's perfectly fine. I feel like the range I have now is workable. Can I go 400? Nope. But during the rally I'll be required to get fuel every 300 miles anyway so that is no big deal.

[piotrek]

Thanks for the report... good to see things worked out as planned 👍. My experience with Spot tracking is similar to yours... but It is their service fees and terms that annoy me more.

Edited June 14, 2020 by piotrek