Scarlett, however, is in the shop with something wrong with her engine. Hopefully, she'll be fixed sometime soon; in the meantime, it's Fiona's job to get me out riding in the snow.
Fiona, is a Bural Rig, a combination BMW and URAL sidecar rig. Basically, the engine is from a BMW R80 motorcycle, the rest is Russian.
We had us some decent snow here in the metro Denver area so I decided to go check out the sights at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge. It's located inside the metro area, quite the anomaly surrounded by ugly city on all sides.
It was a bit brisk but with the sun out, and temperatures that would eventually soar from around 18°F to (-7.7°C) when I headed out to around 28°F to (-2°C) when I got back home shortly after Noon.
Using the telephoto lens, it looks like Fiona was closer to the Bison
than she actually was.
A park ranger, in a tour bus, came up to me as I was walking back to Fiona and said I needed to stay with my vehicle due to the Bison being unpredictable and quite fast. I felt like telling her that a Ural probably wouldn't get me fast enough away from a charging Bison; but then just nodded compliance.
Shot in the parking lot of the Lakes Area Trail Head
Mount Evans
Longs Peak
Another view of Longs Peak
As the morning wore on, it got warmer as I mentioned, and distant objects like the Front Range Mountains became hazier and hazier. I returned home to change out Fiona's 20W50 with Mobil 1 15W50 engine oil so she starts easier in colder than 14°F to (-10°C) temperatures.
As a bonus, Autozone had the 15W50 on clearance: $2/Quart, normally $9.49/Quart.
The zip ties I used on the wrap-around heated grips proved to work fine on the left hand grip; but still allowed movement on the right or throttle grip. Once I got home, I reinforced the zip ties with safety wire so we'll see if that does the trick.
Fiona is definitely lacking the wind protection that Scarlett has. If Scarlett repairs prove lengthy in terms of time, may have to go get the leg shields from her and transfer them to Fiona!
9 comments:
Any word back on what the engine issue was? Or just, "It's covered. Don't worry about it." Just wondering…
I like the long shots of the mountains.
Wow, it is currently warmer in the mile-high-city than here at my place. You'd probably enjoy winter-riding over here, too. And you would likely be the only one. I haven't seen any motorcycle lately, not even a scooter or a dirt bike.
Thanks RichardM, no word from Randy yet.
The day did start @ -2 Fahrenheit SonjaM, the sun really helps to raise temperatures!
And yes, riding in that part of Germany during this time of year would be marvelous!
And here I thought the bison were behind a fence. Are the bison always considered unpredictable or was that a wintertime warning. :) (I'm figuring I know the answer to that one given the "wild animal" designation.)
BeemerGirl, there's what they call a Bison Enclosure. However, once you are past the cattle guards, you are in the enclosure with the Bison....
As with any "wild" animal (I think these Bison are pretty used to the strange creatures who show up to take pictures) one should not be too close or disturb them. The signs to stay in your vehicle are left there year round.
Something tells me you shouldn't test your theory about not outrunning bison, as I fear you are correct.
Beautiful photographs as always.
Thanks Trobairitz, pretty sure the Bison would win....however if they were so aggressive I don't think they'd let motorcycles through would they?
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