The In-Between Jobs Ride - Day 6 (Last Day)

I woke to temperatures in the high 30s in Silverton, Colorado.  The plan was to ride Valencia home, via US 50 from Montrose to Colorado Springs where I would pick up the I-25 Super Slab homewards.

As expected, the engine cooling down overnight permitted enough working movement on the clutch mechanism to enable me to ride and work my way up and down the gear range, though not very smoothly.

I got packed up and left Silverton around 8:15 AM and rode north on US550 towards Ouray, the crisp morning air and clear skies made for some nice riding.  Montrose turned out to be a medium sized-city which probably would have a motorcycle shop or two but since Valencia was rideable, I motored onwards onto eastbound US50.

The rest of the day was just riding through the middle of the state of Colorado, over passes such as the Cerro Summit and Monarch Pass, past the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, a multitude of farms and horse ranches and only moderate traffic.  I held an average speed of 55-60 MPH and still, was passed by everyone, wonder why they were all in such a rush?

I changed my mind at Salida, CO and turned north towards US285 and took this road instead.  Fairplay and Jefferson went past and I crested over Kenosha Pass with no issues.

Traffic got heavier the closer I got to Denver along with wind speeds.  By the time I got to the C-470 Highway, the winds were really blowing strong from the south, at times causing me to ride as if I was in a right-hander turn to keep the sidecar steady.

Got home around 4:30 PM, roughly 350 miles of riding in a bit over 8 hrs, pretty good for a Ural with a sick clutch don't you think?  These Ural motorcycles are built tough I must say!

A good enough ending to what was a very good trip for me.  It was a needed trip to "reboot" my brain between jobs.  While rideable, I am going to replace all the clutch components on Valencia for my own peace of mind.  I am scheduling a "Tech Day" on the 20th of the month where Valencia will be worked on and inviting all the Uralisti in the area to come watch and learn.  Craig H, a fellow Uralista who's experienced in such matters and has done the actual clutch replacement, will be tutoring me.