Weather predicting shoulder.......

So this morning the weather predicting shoulder spoke. 35 degrees, 20 MPH wind, and an 80% chance of rain on Saturday canceled the plans for the bikes this weekend. Looking outside right now, I think it was a good choice. It is actually raining outside, and this is when we would have been hitting Dallas. I just hope the shoulder stops reacting to cold like this as it heals, cold and damp is not even a little bit comfortable. Oh well......

Enjoy

Dave

Cold, windy, wet, and on two......

The forecast calls for 20 MPH winds, chance for rain, and 42 degree weather. This is called payback weather. For people who ride in Texas and gripe about the heat. I always tell rookies to enjoy the 100 degree days because when (if) winter comes in, you will miss the heat. I am sitting in the garage next to a loaded bike, listening to the wind blow outside, and all I can think of is how nice it will be to be knees in the breeze even if it is below freezing.

For anybody that wants to check my math...... 42 degrees + 65 MPH = 27 degrees WCF.

http://observe.arc.nasa.gov/nasa/earth/wind_chill/chill_wcscript.html

I think Kel has the best observation for my particular outlook on these things... "It is just different for you, you're stupid"

on that note, I will go to bed and dream of a vibrating lawn chair.

TTFN

Dave

Thanksgiving prep....

The shoulder is doing well, full range of motion, very little pain. We will know when we get to Waco if riding with the shoulder was a good idea. Got the beast inspected and the tags renewed today. I had to teach the guy at the station how to inspect a motorcycle. All that is left to do is an oil change. I just hit 15000 KM. I want to make sure it is in good shape before the Dallas trip. I just changed out the vacuum lines, looked like I had a leak in one. Not good for the engine.

TTFN

Dave

Pre-trip maintenance

So here we go, finally getting around to doing some work on the bike before the harvest classic run. I did the maintenance...Oil, Gearbox, valves, etc.... Now I am just waiting for my new final drive to get in. I am moving from 4.62 to 3.89. That will make it much easier to run on the highway.

Dave

We made it home alive.

Looks like me made it back. Now it is time to do all of the maintenance that needs to be done on the bikes after a long trip.

The ride back was fairly uneventful The roads out there are nice, but nothing like what we have been on. Just pretty enough to keep you awake, but not wild that you have to spend a lot of time working on keeping the bike up. Turns out the whole trip , with the in town running around came up to about 1900 miles.

Here is the final map.


View Larger Map

Looks like the next trip will be a short one, The Hill country Classic Rally, in Luckenbach.

Till then, Keep the dirty side down....

Dave

The long road home.....

We rolled out of Yukon, OK about 9:00 this morning. The road rolled by fairly easily. Today was spent mostly on fairly flat and featureless roads, with only a few very small towns along the way. The best thing on that road is the bridge over the Red River with a big sign on the far side that says "Welcome to Texas!" I got a bad case of Road Butt, I am going to bed. Next update will be from home tomorrow evening. YAY!!!!!!


View Larger Map


Rollin home.....

Dave

Route 66 and the assorted kicks.......

The road out of Eureka Springs is just about as nice as the road in. Not quite as high on the pucker factor, but still something to experience first thing in the morning while you are still tired from the night before. We crossed into Oklahoma on US 62. The first thing we discover is that we are on the Trail of Tears. This road has got to be a hidden gem. We did not see another bike through the whole thing. There were a few nice switchbacks , one even came with a semi crowding the double stripe.

Once we got onto 66 everything smoothed out nicely. Not much in the way of curves, not much in the way of real anything. I think the interstate has finally killed off the small towns along 66 except for the big ones that also touch the interstate. Pretty much all there is now is abandoned buildings and Route 66 museums and gift shops. On top of that, it looked like someone carpet-bombed the highway and then set the speed limit to 65.

Remember the old childhood rhyme "Birdie birdie in the sky, why'd you do this in my eye?" I think this bird must have had some precision bombing training. The little sucker got me right in the visor, in front of my right eye, at 60 mph. I am also discovering that Oklahoma has one of the most amazing selections of bugs I have ever encountered. We actually had to stop one hour outside of OKC to clean my visor.

Tomorrow is the downhill run back to Texas. Thursday night at Kel's parents house, then back to Austin on Fri.

Here was the route for today. Total mileage so far 1100 miles.


View Larger Map


TTFN,

Dave