Umarang Repairs Done for Now...I hope

Today was the final scheduled repair for Uma the VRRV.

The left side radius arm bushings were replaced.  The mechanic had noted they were dry rotted and compressed while doing a front end alignment.

Below pic shows the bushing in question, you can see the dry rot condition of the bushing.  Also, the gap between it and arm, should not be there.

old, gap evident

new, no gap

Radius Arm front bushing

new front bushing

So, for the record:

Ball Joints, upper and lower, both side of course and with grease fittings! 

Inside and outside tie rods.

Transmission drained/refilled.  Factory says drain/refill every 30K miles for Class Cs, will probably sched for evert 25K miles.  

Serpentine belt inspected and found good.

Rear brake pads and rotors replaced at 33k miles, was told they could have gone further (the pads), so will schedule them for inspection in about 30-33k miles.

Repairs for next year, the spring shackles and bushings for the rear suspension's leaf springs.

The desire to once again resume RV dispersed camping has not arisen yet.  Finding it quite comfy relaxing at home for now.  That, and need to have the credit card cool off a bit from the repair costs lately.

We also had our 19 year old water heater in the house develop a leak, and had to replace it recently.

It's only money, right?

9/11 - 25th Anniversary

Found this on the Internet:

Twenty-five years have passed since the morning our soil became a battlefield, but a quarter-century has done nothing to dull the edge of our resolve. Time moves forward, skylines are rebuilt, and generations rise that never saw the smoke, but the pact made in the embers of September 11, 2001, remains absolute: Never Forget. Never Forgive.

We do not forget the 2,977 innocent lives stolen in Manhattan, inside the Pentagon, and in a field outside Shanksville. We do not forget the terror inflicted upon our people, the families shattered in an instant, or the agony of a nation forced to watch its own burning. The names etched in bronze are not abstract figures of history; they are a permanent record of an unprovoked, cold-blooded act of war.

And we do not forgive the enemy who struck us.

Forgiveness requires a world that did not exist that morning and cannot exist while evil seeks our destruction. To forgive would be to minimize the slaughter of our citizens, to trivialize the ultimate sacrifice of the first responders who charged into the flames, and to betray the warriors who spent the next two decades hunting down those responsible in every dark corner of the globe. Justice was delivered to the architects of that day, but the stance remains unyielding: those who plot the ruin of our nation will find no quarter, no amnesty, and no absolution.

Standing at this 25-year marker, memory is our weapon and our duty. We keep the watch with hardened hearts and sharp focus. We pass down the truth of that day to those who follow—not as a soft lesson in healing, but as a stern testament to vigilance.

Two decades and a half later, our vow has not withered. We remember the cost. We honor the fallen. We hold the line.

Never Forget. Never Forgive.

Commentary:

I remember how united this country was shortly after the cowardly terrorist attacks.  It didn't last very long, did it, this unity?

All the blood and treasure spent since then....and I'm not sure we changed anything.

Still, the Colors fly today at my home.

More Repairs for Umarang and Finding a New Mechanic Shop

It's been an expensive last three months or so.

Tire cupping evidence on the front wheels led to the replacement of the front shocks, which were apparently toast.  Only got about 30K miles from those shock absorbers since they were replaced back in July of 2023.  It was pricey.

Of course, the tires were also due to be replaced after the trip to the eastern half of the country, so that was another bunch of money for six new tires.  Still, one can't really skimp on tires eh?  

The windshield was replaced due to the cracks I'd lived with for quite a while having grown too long.  $250 deductible, the rest covered by insurance.

Today, September 10, my new mechanic shop (way less costly) finished work on replacement of the front end ball joints/tie rods/tie rod ends.  My old previous mechanic shop had noted the work needed to be done, but had provided a costly estimate.  An estimate that almost resulted in me disposing of the motorhome.

Also had the transmission drained/refilled (almost 8 qts) along with both the inner and remote filters.  They also pointed out to me that the RV has a transmission oil cooler!  Never realized that.

Luckily, the offer I made to "give it away" wasn't accepted in time and I was able to gracefully withdraw it.

Shopped around two other spots and found a less expensive option and my new mechanic shop.  They're not really a shop per se.  They're a mobile repair service specializing in heavy trucks/equipment.  Marshall's Equipment Repair LLC.

They were recommended by a neighborhood friend who's an accomplished gearhead.

Roy and his son Dalton, are very knowledgeable about repairing vehicles and Fords especially.  They answered my questions freely and in great detail, taking time to explain concepts to me related to the work done.

Inspections were free as opposed to the other two shops.

They came in at the lower price as their overhead isn't as much as established shops of course.  That and their labor rates were quite reasonable in comparison to the other shops.  

Here's a short video of one of two sets of ball joints that were replaced.  They looked pretty rough and I'm quite confident I was correct in getting them replaced now vice a few thousand miles down the road.

So, for now, Umarang the VRRV remains in the family.  Not sure what this upcoming camping season will look like right now, we shall see.

Sold Yagi, the Yamaha TW200

 2026, it's turning out to be a year for many changes as forks in the road of life have become evident.

The TW200 had become unreliable to me for quite a while now.  Yesterday,  she started to have charging issues again and it looks like the replacement stator has failed.

One of the forks in the road I mentioned above is whether to keep a motorcycle-centric blog going.  It hasn't really been one for the last couple of years or more with RV camping and non-motorcycle exploration and travel being more the norm.

So, I sold her to a guy in the neighborhood who likes to work on cars/motors and then resell them.  

Sure, I could pay a dealership to fix her but I wouldn't trust her for solo riding, which is what I do.  Also, being at least 20 years old, the dealer wouldn't even look at her without a $330 deposit due to her age.

Due to age and miles, not much money to be had but oh well, I think I got my money's worth over the last 7 years or so.  Had I not found a buyer, I would have been donating her to the Gary Sinise Foundation I think.

Turns out, the previous post's pics of Yagi will be the last for the blog, only fitting I suppose.

Here's some that show some of the awesome places Yagi took me to:

Note:

Got her in 2019 with 7500 miles on the odometer, sold her with 24,500 miles.

Boondocking near Grand Lake, CO

August 16

Martha and I left home for a short 4-5 camping trip in the Arapahoe National Forest National Recreation Area near the town of Grand Lake.

We were barely starting to climb the foothills west of Denver on I-70 when the decision was made to unhook the towed Honda CRV as the RV was struggling to maintain 40 mph!

We didn't want to strain the engine/transmission and it had been the plan to unhook before Berthoud Pass Rd further on anyways.

Thus, we drove separate vehicles all the way up to the junction with US40 and from there North to Winter park, Fraser, Tabernash and Grandby.  We were shooting for this first camping along county Road 4 AKA Stillwater Pass Road.

We met up at the junction of US40 and US34 which takes you to Grand Lake and thence to the western entrance to the Rocky Mountain National Park.  (Our primary goal this trip).

After a bit of driving around with the CRV, we found ourselves a site damn close to where we had left the RV parked!  There were more campers that we had expected so we had kept going further and further in, in the end ending up less than a quarter mile from where we left the RV. 

All's well that ends well.

It's a nice, single rig site and no possibility of someone thinking there's room for more as opposed to a couple of group sites we'd seen before.

August 17

We spent most of the morning touring the Western half of the Trail Ridge Road parkway. Stopping at the Alpine Visitor Center for Martha to get her stamp in the Parks Passport book. 

It's the highest visitor center in the US Park System 

We managed to climb to the top of this incline:

Yep, that's the visitor center down there:

A little further east from the visitor center there's another good spot for pictures, it was quite popular: 

Here's a view of Mt. Baker from Coyote Valley:

We toured the Village of Grand Lake in the afternoon, nothing significant to report, just another tourists trap town in the mountains.  Nice, but meh.

I rode Yagi, my tw200, a couple of times up and down Forest Road 120, The longest Ride being about 17 miles round trip. The charging system kept working as hoped for, so perhaps the latest round of fixes will do the trick in terms of the sporadic no charging conditions. 

As you can see, the area is barely starting to recover from the massive fire that hit the Granby area years ago. 

August 18

Mostly overcast skies basically convince us to return home a day early. Martha left in the CRV a few hours before I did as I was doing some chores on the RV. 

Redleg's Rides 20th Anniversary - The Stats

 Part 3 of the 20th Anniversary Series of Posts.

The 20th anniversary was on Thursday, Aug 13.

First, the blog stats as reported by Google.  I've my doubts as to some of the numbers and you should know I tend to respond to comments so the number of comments should be halved.

These were the stats on Aug 13

I've also managed to publish 3230 posts!

Now for some of the more interesting, at least to me, stats.

Miles ridden over the two decades on 12 different motorcycles.  Back in Dec 31, 2023 I had figured it out to be (roughly) a total of 238,563 miles ridden.  That works out to be a bit over 9 times the circumference of the Earth in 17 years and on nine motorcycles.

Since then, with an additional 3 motorcycles, I managed to only accumulate another 5424 as of Dec 31 2025.  The grand total as of the anniversary is 243,987.

Didn't even make it to a quarter million millions.  I proved to be such a slacker.

Camping Days

In 2016, at the halfway mark of the two decades, Martha convinced me to buy a Class C Motorhome to "extend the range" of our explorations via motorcycles.  Uma, the VRRV (Vehicle Recovery RV) was a 2006 Jayco Escapade motorhome built on a Ford E450 Superduty Chassis.

We bought her with 20,200 miles on the odometer and she just went over 128,150 miles or 107,880 miles while under our ownership.  Pretty sure we've gotten our monies worth though scads of money have been spent on travel expenses, repairs, gear and what not.  Most of the expense is fuel money, as she only gets 8 MPG on a great day, it's closer to 7 most days.

Uma being over 20 years old, she's beginning to be a bit of a money pit in terms of repairs.  We'll see what happens in that regard.

Don't miss part 1: the motorcycles and part 2: the moto-blogger fellowship 

Redlegsrides' 20th Anniversary - The Fellowship of Moto-Bloggers

Part 2:

Yesterday, August 13, was the 20th anniversary of this blog.

I want to mention the people I have met through this blog and through riding who have enriched my life and made the journey enjoyable so far.

In no particular order or precedence....

One of the motor bloggers I first found online when starting to ride, especially in all kinds of weather, and not letting weather stop me was Steve Williams who writes the blog scooter in the sticks.

Steve is an astounding writer and rider.  His thoughtful posts about riding his scooter in Winter conditions have garnered quite the large audience and following.  He served as inspiration to ride in cold conditions for me. 

We got together a few times over the years, got some riding in together and I count myself fortunate for those times and his friendship.

Another great blogger and author of several humorous and well written books was Jack Riepe.  I first found out about him through his blog Twisted Roads, his postings were a joy to read and made me laugh out loud many times.  I was also honored to be asked by him to check out his first book: Conversations with a Motorcycle.

Very sadly, we lost Jack back in October of 2023.  I miss him and his twisted sense of humor as he "painted with words".

Also lost to us now, there was Bob Leong who wrote Riding the Wet Coast.  He was one of the most generous riders and moto-blogger that I met in my travels.  We met and rode together several times.  I miss BobSkoot.

In June of 2025, another blogger was lost to us.  Brook Reams and I met through my researching for info/help in fixing my R80: Brigitta.  He was a fount of great information on all things Airhead and motorcycles in general!  His well documented and illustrated information/repairs/restoration of BMW Airheads can be found here:  LINK , maintained by his son Branden.

Another West coast blogger back in the day, he's still around, just not blogging was Irondad.  His blog was mainly about the fine points of motorcycle rider training as he taught for a while for the MSF of Oregon I dimly recall.  Dan was my introduction into the world of Ironbutt riders, something I never managed to get into.  It was he who ensured I got all the formal training I could through the local MSF chapter.

Irondad in white shirt with wife Katy

Speaking of Ironbutt riders, Jan Daub aka CCjon stands tall (literally) among their ranks.  His blog detailing his adventures, achievements and wonderful photography can be reached at:   Riding the Horizon

An avid sidecarist, he has served as president of the US Sidecar Association and in my mind the authority on those comfy yet powerful Honda Goldwings with sidecars .  

As of this date he holds the record for oldest Ironbutt rider for the Prudhie Bay, AK to Key West, FL run.  He's also entered the world of van camping recently.

Another moto-blogger I met initially online was Richard Machida who writes the blog: Richard's Page.

Another rider who didn't let Alaska 's extremely cold temperatures stopping from challenging it with his sidecar rigs, he also inspired me to ride in snowy conditions.  He also hosted me for a couple of long weeks+ during my sojourn in Alaska while my sidecar rig's engine was being repaired.  He and his lovely wife Bridget have remained friends of ours and we get together as often as we can now that we are fellow RV campers.

RichardM, as I refer to him in many, many of my blog postings has always willingly help educate and guide me in the fixing of many things both relating to motorcycles and to my motorhome.  He even rescued me a couple of times while in Alaska when my rig broke down!  I am fortunate to count him as a friend.

Another moto-blogger I met during a trip to a BMW rally in Wisconsin is Doug Cooper.  He writes of his riding on Coop's Corner.  He has quite the herd of motorcycles and thinks nothing of long distance rides to moto gatherings in his neck of the woods.

Here's Coopdway when I rode with him last:

In the small ranks of female bloggers, the first one that comes to mind is SonjaM or Sonja Mager.  She used to write of her motorcycling adventures on Two Wheels Revisited.  However she hung up her riding gear soon after moving to Germany with her husband Roland; they are now happy "parents" of two nice dogs and do van camping and their VW camper, showcasing the lovely scenery around them.   SonjaM has also been quite the hiker for some time now as trains/works on completing the "El Camino" journey.

From her blog:

Then there's Lori Z.  She used to write a blog: For Love of a Motorcycle, though it's no longer active.  Her husband Chris and her lived out of their Overlander rig for a couple of years and we met and traveled together several times.

Baja

They've gone through quite the series of adventures with their rig: Stewie.   However, as with others, they're moving on to different things and directions.

I rode with Bluekat aka Kari Kropf of Bluekat's Journeys just a few times, most notably the trip to Montana was she and her husband Ron met us on their motorcycles to ride with me and BobSkoot.  They're more bicyclists than motorcyclists these days though they too have entered the camping world in their Ram Promaster Van.

8

Ron and Kari aka Bluekat

Another blogger in the northwest, Brad Laurie of Troubadour's Treks, formerly Troubadour on a Tiger.  I met Brad and his lovely wife Brandy aka Trobairitz while on the way to and back from Alaska on Valencia, my 2011 Ural Patrol.  Brad now teaches/works part-time for the MSF Oregon team and they're also fellow RV campers:

Though we've not physically met, Oz of Just an Ordinary Rider writes of his motorcycle rides and provides details of likely ride destinations.  He's proven to be one of more faithful readers, someday we shall meet hopefully.

From his blog:

Another Harley-Davidson rider, Gary France whom I first met back in September of 2010 as he was touring the United States riding his beautifully painted motorcycle, the Leading Ladies.  Great guy, published an awesome book about the journey, wrote a great blog "Flies in my Teeth" and now runs the dream job motorcycle tours in Europe. 

There are others with whom I've lost contact since such contact was visible their blogs which are no low active.  My apologies for missing your inclusion.

So there you go, the above are part of the fellowship of moto bloggers that I have had the privilege to know and read about their adventures in the last 20 years.

My own blog's future direction and focus is definitely changing I believe, I think it's just the natural order of things.

Part 1 is about all the motorcycles that have carried around for the last 20 years.