Trouble in Carbondale

My luck finally ran out. Pulling into Carbondale, the BMW overheated again. This time I stopped to do a bit of troubleshooting and figured out the radiator fan had quit. After checking all the fuses I determined the only solution was to replace the fan - hard to get on a Sunday evening in western Colorado. Needless to say, I was very frustrated with my motorcycle. Good thing a steep cliff wasn't nearby, it might have ended up a pile of twisted german sheet metal and plastic at the rocky bottom of the gulch.

Not sure what to do, I knew I wanted to head to higher and cooler ground to figure it out. Aspen was nearby, so I ran the 30 miles and 2,000 feet higher where the weather was much nicer. But low and behold, trying to get through Aspen traffic the bike just kept overheating. Any wait at a stop light meant my engine overheat light would come on, necessitating me to shut it off and let the motor cool. As soon as traffic would clear I could get moving again and get some airflow over the radiator to cool the bike down, but this was just a temporary fix. Knowing that parts might be days away, I decided to point my bike home and see how far it got me. The first stretch was over Independence Pass, which was quite difficult because of the slow traffic. I bet my engine light came on 10 times while trying to get over this pass, each time necessitating a shutdown and cooloff. Very frustrating.

Once I got over the pass then I could keep the bike moving and cool air flowing over the radiator. Even in 100+ temps, as long as the bike was moving at least 35 mph I didn't have any further trouble. Riding until dark, I made it to eastern Colorado. The next morning I got up at daybreak to beat the heat, and had fun riding through the sparsly populated backroads of eastern Colorado and the Oklahoma Panhandle. Once the temps reached 100 degrees I jumped on the highway and blasted home. As I rolled through Seiling, Oklahoma the temperature on the bank sign in town displayed 109 degrees - too hot for riding!

MotoGP Day 3 - Lake City to Paoni

Leaky Air Mattresses SUCK

Colorado has a LOT of rocks. They dig into your side, back, butt, shoulders, just everywhere, and make for a miserable night when your air mattress develops a leak. I wasn't all that happy the next morning.

Morning Ride

Jumping on my bike at daybreak, the road from Lake City north to Gunnison was spectacular. Big sweeping curves, beautiful scenery, cool mountain air. I passed one very large horse trail ride, where maybe 50 people on horses were out for a morning ride. The air was cool enough for a heated vest and my BMW was running very good. My plan was to head towards northwest Colorado and then on to Wyoming and Idaho.

Colorado Highway 92

To get to NW Colorado, there was no way I was going to pass up Colorado Highway 92. This is probably THE best twisty road in the entire state. Many other riders thought the same thing, since I saw about 50 bikes and 3 cars on the route that morning! My BMW just pounded through those twisties. I passed more bikes than I could count, diving inside or accelerating out of the corners harder and passing the straights. It was FUN, FUN, FUN!

Once again, the Colorado BMW Owner's Group was having their annual ride in Paoni. I realized this too late and just caught the tail end of their rally as everyone was packing to leave. Lots of BMW riders on the roads, along with the requisite Harley's and one KLR who stopped and talked to me. Being a photographyer, I had to stop and grab a few pictures of riders as they went by.

Lake City, Colorado

Once I finally made it to Colorado, the ride conditions improved greatly - although my luck did not, more later.
One of my favorite Colorado rides is on Colorado Highway 149 from South Fork to Gunnison. Two towns along that way are great for motorcyclists - Creede and Lake City. Both of these towns are fantastic mountain towns to visit and very motorcycle friendly. The road between them is to die for. Like a normal Colorado summer day, there was some rain in the mountain passes, but not enough to make me pull out my rain gear. I stopped in Creed to visit with some Goldwing riders, then over Slugmillion Pass to Lake City. You need to be careful riding that pass, often there is debris in the corners from the winter road sanding. But for the most part the roads were in great shape, the weather perfect, and the riding was inspiring. I passed dozens of motorcyclists on the road and never was passed myself. The BMW 650 will run pretty good as long as you keep the RPM's up and don't let your speed drop in the corners. I never came across any true full-on sportbikes dragging their knees in the corners, but I passed dozens of Harley's, Gold Wings, Vstroms, and other BMW's with no problem. The other riders probably thought I was a goofball Rossi-wanna be as I went by them with full luggage on a glorified dirt bike, hanging half off the bike like a monkey. Colorado allows you to pass on the inside of many corners when you have a clear view ahead, and that is my favorite passing move - going past on the inside, my little Beemer engine pounding away, pulling them as I exit the corner. Pretty cool!

Wanting to camp out for the night, I looked around Lake City for an appropriate location. Nothing was available so I planned to ride over Engineer Pass to Ouray and camp. Climbing higher and higher, the trail got more difficult but easily doable on my BMW. At about 11,500 feet I think I took a wrong turn, because the trail turned from a passable jeep trail to a very rocky and rutted single-track goat trail. As I was picking my way with full luggage over giant rocks, I noticed my engine coolant light was on. Just as I turned off the bike my radiator started boiling over! Thinking it was the altitude, I let the engine cool and worked my way back down the pass to lower ground. I found a good spot to camp right at dusk.

After setting up camp I ran into town for a quiet dinner and then back to my tent well after dark. Good think I marked it with my GPS, it would have been very hard to find in the pitch-black Colorado wilderness!

#*!XV*%# FUEL PUMP

After my fuel pump fiasco in Hardesty (see below), I leave Hardesty right after sunset cruise on towards Guymon. Although I normally don't like riding after dark when the deer are out, I felt I needed to make some time and was planning to camp at Black Mesa State Park, on the border of New Mexico and the Oklahoma Panhandle. I am cruising through Guymon and stop downtown at a stoplight, when what happens? My beemer quit again - dead as before. It would turn over but not fire.

SON

OF

A

BITCH!!!!!

I cannot believe it, 20 miles down the road and it quits again. I didn't even check it out, I just pushed it about 1/2 mile to a Motel I had passed. $33 bucks and after a cold shower I crashed into bed, disgusted and resigned that my trip was over.

Awaking at 4:00 am, I thought I would just do a bit of troubleshooting again to be sure. Low and behold, this time the FUSE to the fuel pump was out. Pop in a new fuse and the bike fires right up. What the heck? I am guessing maybe I swapped fuses around during my prior troubleshooting and maybe put a too small fuse for the fuel pump.

I promptly loaded up the bike and hit the road, well before daybreak. Stopped in Boise City for fuel and checked everying out, the bike started just fine. After a cup of coffee I gave it another whirl, and now 400 miles later I made it to Alamosa CO, where I am typing this blog at a small internet cafe. I have spent 7 hours on the bike before 2:00 pm and plan several more this afternoon, hoping to catch up for lost time.

Yesterday was very frustrating but hopefully my bad luck is past. The bike is running good and the weather is great. I didn't get much time to grab pictures since I have been hammering through, trying to make up for lost time. Hopefully tomorrow I will have time to get more pictures.

Fuel Pump Woes

It’s HOT! I am leaning against my Beemer, watching the heat shimmer off the pavement. The nearest shade tree looks to be 2 miles away – uphill. I have no idea where the nearest town is, but I see some grain elevators on the distant horizon. Out west, that could be 2 miles or 20 miles. The July sun is causing the tar in the road to bubble, creating those loveable little tar snakes us motorcyclists despise. Sweat is beading up and running into my eyes, stinging like salt water. The Oklahoma panhandle in July is NOT somewhere you want your bike to quit on you.

The day started great and I got away from home at 9:30 am. My trusty beemer was running good and I was totally enjoying the ride. It was hotter than a horny toad at a Little Sahara beach party, but the 70 mph breeze and my Joe Rocket Sahara vest made it bearable. Clipping along about 30 miles east of Guymon, the BMW all of sudden just quits running. No cough, no sputter, just nothing. I try to start it by leaving it in gear, but no luck. Finally I coast to the side of the road and after a bit of troubleshooting, I figure out I ain’t going nowhere any time soon. Shade would be a very good thing right now, but I am not going to find any shade unless I can shrink down to about 6 inches tall.

After pondering my situation for a spell, I see another motorcyclist in the distance. A Goldwing rider and his wife stop to offer assistance. They drove about 5 miles to Hardesty, got me a trailer ride back into town, and brought me some nice cold water. I love motorcycle riders!

Now Hardesty, Oklahoma is your normal western town, very tiny and worn. The people are always nice and they helped me troubleshoot the problem. After a few calls to BMW of OKC (another very helpful group) and some good old fashioned troubleshooting – in the shade thank you – I determined the fuel pump was out.

Naturally nobody had one anywhere around, and the BMW shop was out. Their special order deadline had already slipped, so it was either wait in Hardesty 4 days to get a fuel pump or figure something else out.

I called my best friend Alex and he helped me tremendously. He went to my house and got the fuel pump off Kay’s BMW and flew it up to me in Hardesty. There is not an airport in Hardesty, but that is just a very minor inconvenience in the Maule. Landing in a local farmer’s field, Alex brought me a fuel pump and more importantly, saved my trip!!!

Funny Oklahoma Names

Slapout. Sounds like a card game. It is just one of the many funny named town in Oklahoma. Right in the eastern edge of the Oklahoma Panhandle, Slapout is not much more than a wide spot in the road and a place where farmer’s get fuel for their tractors. Reminds me of Pink or Gotebo, OK. Hardesty is a booming metropolis compared to Slapout!

MotoGP to be broadcast on ABC

Cool mom, I might be on network television! Today ABC and Dorna, the producer of MotoGP, announced they will broadcast the Laguna Seca race nationally on ABC on July 30.

This just goes to prove how important this race is. It is a BIG deal and a really big spectacle - enough to entice me to ride a bazillion miles to watch. The skin on the back of your neck stands at attention the first time you hear a MotoGP bike go by at full speed. They don't sound like your typical Superbike - the sound is totally unique. You can feel the excitement in the air at Laguna Seca when these things fire up, everyone runs to the fences to watch practice and qualifying. The TV also doesn't do justice to the sound. It is like the sound of a P51 Mustang - any pilot worth his or her salt can IMMEDIATLY tell when a P51 passes by at full throttle - same goes for a MotoGP bike - it is a totally unique sound that only these bikes make. It has something to do with their very non-traditional firing order of the cylinders.

I can't wait!!!

US MotoGP Laguna Seca - D-day minus 2

Two more days until I point the knobbies on my BMW westward. I just cannot wait! I have spent the last week since my daughter's wedding working on my bike. Did an oil change, new rubber all around, new sprockets and chain, repaired heated grip, new headlight, new fork seal, new air filter. I think I am ready to go. I pretty well have most everything packed, the GPS loaded, my radar detector mounted, tested, and ready.

Last year Adam and I met a lot of bikers along the route. Just today I took a 430 mile trip in my Dodge truck and was thinking about why you meet so many more people on a bike than you do in a 4-wheel vehicle. I think it has something to do with the adventure. People are attracted to the adventure. They see your bike all geared of for cross country travel and they just naturally stop and talk. Other bikers seek you out at gas stops and talk. I like to chat with other riders about where they are going, where they came from, what their planned route, how long they have been riding, etc. It is fun to grab a lunch with them, or drink a bottle of water while sitting outside the only convenience store within 100 miles.

This year I am on my own schedule so I plan to take a LOT more photos. I also plan to interview some of these people I meet, do a quick portrait of them - not a snapshot, but a true portrait that tries to portray who they are. I hope to post these as I travel so the people at home can get an inside look at the other riders I meet long the way.

Hope to see you on the trail!

Heroes

2006-0422-0164, originally uploaded by jamest210.

Kay and I were riding our CBR's in Arkansas this spring and stopped at a local watering hole near the Mulberry River on Highway 23. There was a large group of young riders on sport bikes there who were milling around, talking, and just doing what motorcyclists do when they stop for a break. This 78 year old gentleman on his FZ1 rolled in and nobody seemed to notice. I made a note to talk to him and was just amazed. He started riding when he was 8 years old and has owned motorcycles ever since. His current mount is this 2006 FZ1 that has been lowered slightly to fit his stature. I just had to get picture with him. When he left he roared out of the parking lot pulling a wheelie! DAMN!!! I want to be THAT guy when I grow up!

Route 66 Biker Rally

2006-0602-0029, originally uploaded by jamest210.

I stopped by a the Route 66 Biker Rally the other day just to grab a few pictures. I wasn't exactly dressed appropriately, but everyone was very friendly. I took this photo of Tom Owens on his custom Harley Davidson Heritage Softtail.