Enroute to Spokane, now boondocking at the Squaw Creek Overlook

Long day of driving.

Left the vicinity of Burns, OR and continued north mostly on US 395.  I checked out two sites listed in iOverlander but neither worked out for me.

The first was OK in terms of scenery (picture grass covered hills) but you basically were camping by the side of a county road:

Elk Meadows

The second one was advertised as a large parking lot for a recreation area.  It turned out to be a medium sized lot, next to the Pendleton, OR airport.  Not great, camping within an industrial area.

There wasn't much within easy reach to the north so I decided to try a site called Viewpoint.  Turns out to be a small overlook area called Squaw Creek Overlook.  There were a couple of spots where Uma could camp, I picked the one furthest away from the parking lot.

Though not very busy, there were cars coming and going all afternoon as I rested.

One of the views from the Overlook:

This spot will work for one night.  Tomorrow I drive into the state of Washington and hopefully find a nice spot to hang out within easy drive of the Spokane airport.

Enroute to Spokane, now boondocking near Burns, OR

Sunday, May 14

The Z's and I took a rest day after the recovery efforts on Saturday.  We needed the downtime for sure.  We stayed at the Modoc District Fairgrounds in the town of Cedarville.  Nice place, good views of mountains, lots of shade trees.

The fairgrounds also had old buildings from the pioneer days of the area, arranged for viewing by fairground visitors.

After lunch at Whalen's Pub, where pizza with way too much cheese on it is served, I left for Cedar Pass on CA State Hwy 299 while Chris and Lori ambled about the town on their e-bikes.

The best view turned out to be at the entrance to the forest road where Stewie got stuck before!

A little further east down from Cedar Pass, there's a trailhead and small ski facility:

Heading back and staying on State Hwy 299, I reached the lake? area to the east of town.  Some nice reflections were evident:

I returned to the fairgrounds and did not much of anything.  I found the Z's relaxing in the shade of trees next to their Overlander: Stewie.

Monday, May 15

This morning it was time to get some miles in towards Spokane where I'm picking up my lovely wife Martha at the end of the month.

As Chris and Lori Z. have appointments for stuff to be done to Stewie, they headed northwest from Cedarville while I headed northeast to secure a good spot for camping; prior to the amateurs showing up for the Memorial Day weekend!

Made it about three hours or so, ending up in some BLM land near the town of Burns, Oregon.  I decided to stop early and get some more rest, another long drive tomorrow I'm sure.

I unloaded Yagi, my recently repaired TW200, to check out the local area.  Came across two unexpected things.  One was a Ford Explorer, Oregon Plate: 250 JPK, with a BLM warning note on the driver's window.  You can see it's loaded with stuff, typical of a car camper.  The warning was dated May 8.  I wonder where the owner is, the car has a flat front tire so he/she probably went for help?

The second thing, as I crested a small hill:

See the tower in the center?

At first, I thought it was a Fire Watch Tower.  But when I used the telephoto lens, it obviously was something else.  Not sure what, but below is a closeup of the tower.

Otherwise, the scenery was farmlands, rolling hills with sagebrush covering most of them, pretty tame.  The best part of course was I had the place to myself, assuming the owner of the Ford Explorer doesn't return of course.  

8pm: A couple, in a ratty looking gray with black patches paint drive by and did something at the broken down Explorer.  They didn't stay long then left heading south.  They may have come to retrieve something perhaps?

Uraling back to Colorado - Day 63: Ontario, OR to Montpelier, ID

I left Ontario, Oregon and the Motel 6 shortly before 7:00 AM and made it over to Boise by 8:00 AM.  I couldn't locate the URAL dealership at first so instead decided to get breakfast at a local restaurant.

While in the restaurant, reviewed Google Maps again and realized my error.  After breakfast, the shop was open and I found it right where Google said it was.  It's a small building, easy to miss if you don't know what to look for.

Big Twin Cycle Center

I wandered in and fortunately the guy I started talking to was the owner!  Fred Wiley is his name and when he found out I was a URAL rider enroute to Colorado, and that I was asking to borrow a torque wrench and a spot to do an oil change, he said: "No problem!"

He showed me a nice dry spot on a concrete pad in the back of the shop, handed me an oil pan and a torque wrench, and left me to my maintenance chores.

I rechecked the torque on the head bolts, all were fine.  I changed out the oil in the engine and was happy to not find any large metal shavings, just a few "sparkle sized" grains of metal in the oil filter which I tore apart.

After I cleaned up, I asked Fred for a picture and thanked him for a great first experience at his dealership.

Fred Wiley, the owner of Big Twin Cycle Center and 

new URAL dealership for the Boise, ID area.

So, if you're interested in a URAL sidecar rig or a BMW motorcycle, and live near Boise....go check out the offerings Fred has.  The day I was there, he had a blue/white and forest fog pair of rigs.

Maintenance done, I headed back onto the I-84 slab.  Eventually I reached Bliss and turned off to check out the Thousand Springs Scenic Byway which had been recommended to me by a friend of the family.  The byway proved dissapointing in that the "thousand springs" have dissapeared along with the water for them, there's barely a dozen or so springs where there were apparently a thousand.  I guess someone forgot to pay the water bill?  :)

The byway took time to do and proved just a tour of farms and cattle ranches.  I eventually reached the other end of it at the city of Twin Falls.  It was hot, it was full of cars, and I wanted nothing but to get back to the I-84 slab and keep going east!  I even crossed over the Perrine Ridge bridge without taking a single picture.....sigh.

Here's my route for today, all slab riding as I get closer and closer to home.

Roughly 374 miles of riding today, man it was hot.  I hear its even hotter in the Denver Metro area!  I had to take more breaks than usual due to the heat making me sleepy.  Valencia did great today as well, I am taking it easy on the "almost completely rebuilt engine", keeping speeds between 55-60 mph (indicated) which translates to 50-55 mph actual.

About 524 miles and lots of more slab riding separate me from my loving wife and sons.  It'll be a long day of riding tomorrow but I believe tomorrow night I'll sleep in my own bed, with a bit of luck.

Uraling back to Colorado - Day 62: Salem, OR to Ontario, OR

I left Bluekat and Ron's home shortly after 7:00 AM and arrived at Raceway Services in Salem, OR shortly after 8:00 AM.

Last evening, I had a chance to give Rachel, Bluekat and Ron's daughter

another ride in the sidecar.  She doesn't like her picture taken apparently....  :)

Robert started checking out Valencia's torque on the head bolts, asked me about yesterday's oil change, examined the oil I'd brought from that oil change, fixed the mounting bolts on my front brake caliper (they were stripped due to overtightening I think).

I was out of there by 10:00 AM, once again thankful for such a great dealership such as Raceway Services and the stellar shop crew and management that they provide for customers.

The rest of the day was steady ( speed was between 55-60 mph indicated ) riding on the I-84 Super Slab.  No pictures of the Columbia Gorge area, too much congestion due to a traffic accident on milepost 44 which really snarled things up.

10 glorious hours later, and according to Google Maps roughly 421+ miles, I checked into a Motel 6 in Ontario, Oregon.  I am a tired rider tonight.

Here's today's route:

source: google maps

 As I rode along, I tried to capture a sundog rainbow, failed at that

but as you can see, got a good shot of the sky and clouds somewhere

to the west of Ontario, Oregon on I-84.

Red sky at night, sailor's delight.  That's the saying where good

weather is presaged by the appearance of red skies in the evening.....I hope its correct.

Valencia ran great all day I am happy to report.  The plan is to cross into Idaho tomorrow and stop at the URAL dealer in Boise, ID to get him to check/re-torque the head bolts one more time per the recommendation of Raceway Services.  I didn't have a torque wrench with me and the one I found at a NAPA store was $200 so I passed on that purchase!  I also hope to do a 1000 kilometer interval oil change to ensure there's no more metallic shavings in the engine oil.

After that's done, it's more slab time heading towards Wyoming.  

Uraling back to Colorado - Day 61: Covered Bridges with Bluekat and Ron

Great day for motorcycle riding today here in Willamette Valley, Oregon!  Temperatures ranged from low 60s to low 70s, sunny, mildly windy.  Traffic was light for the most part and I had a knowledgeable guide this time guiding myself and Ron to several covered bridges for which this area is known.

Kari, aka Bluekat, who has not been on a motorcycle since December of last year due to taking care of her daughter; who is now a cancer survivor, led the way and we enjoyed county two lane roads all morning long as we rode our way through several covered bridges:

 Larwood Bridge over Crabtree Creek

1939

 Shimanek Bridge over Thomas Creek

1966

 Hannah Bridge also built over Thomas Creek

1936

 Valencia is running well....

 Gilkey Bridge

1939

A truck damaged it and it was "reconditioned" in 1998

Hoffman Bridge

1936

Crabtree Creek

Kari, aka Bluekat, left us shortly before noon somewhere near the town of Sweet Home.  Ron and I rode a short distance to the town, had a quick lunch at the Subways Shop.

After lunch it was a few more miles of riding which included going over Foster Dam, the towns of Brownsville and Crawfordville before we finally arrived back at Ron's house in Lebanon, OR.

I'd reached 500 KM since the engine was rebuilt, so it was time to do an oil change.  The oil itself didn't look too bad, and it was missing that creamy bronze color which has indicated metal contamination due to the self-destructed races on the control rod bearing.

There was however, more swarf and some large metal flakes stuck to the magnetic plug used on the oil drain hole.

 Looks bad doesn't it, but in the end, most of it was the usual swarf, the 

large metal bits were probably lodged in some cranny of the engine and remained

even after Robert of Raceway Services cleaned out the engine casing.

Valencia's odometer is at 36,852 KM, I will be doing another oil change at 37,500 and probably one 1500 km later, much earlier than required, to ensure no further large metal shavings keep showing up.  I changed out the oil in the engine along with the oil filter.

I take Valencia back to Raceway Services tomorrow to have them check and probably re-torque the heads on Valencia.  Then, all being declared OK, will start once again heading home along I-84 and the Columbia Gorge.  Wish me luck!

Here's my planned route, lot of slab time I know, especially moving at URAL speed.

At this time, thinking my overnight locations will be Pendleton, OR, Twin Falls, ID, Price, UT and finally.....home!

Uraling back to Colorado - Day 60: Willamette Valley Riding

Willamette Valley is a rather large valley in which the cities of Salem, Corvallis and Lebanon reside along with many other smaller towns.  It reminds me of Wisconsin in that its quite bucolic, agrarian and has lots of nice two lane roads with farms and ranches alongside.

This morning, the idea was to ride as much as possible in order to have racked up 500 or so kilometers since the engine rebuild yesterday, for the upcoming visit to the dealer on Monday for a final check.

I got about half the required mileage accumulated, more riding tomorrow.  I spent the whole riding time staying close to Salem, just in case something went wrong so that I was within reasonable cost towing distance.  Can you tell I am having some trust issues with my Valencia right about now?  :)

But first, I went to Corvallis to the regular Saturday coffee meet of local motorcyclists.  Two fellow moto-bloggers were going to be in attendance:  Trobadour and Trobairitz.  Troubadour aka Brad, teaches MSF motorcycle courses on the weekends when not working his fulltime job at the Lowes Distribution Center.  Trobairitz aka Brandy is his lovely wife, I forgot to ask her what she does for work.  Sorry.

There was a pretty good turnout of riders and we all sat around the largest coffee table to talk about motorcycles and riding.  Quite an enjoyable time.  After a couple of hours though, it was time to get some riding in.  Brandy and Brad led me out of town and I took off to wander, at slower than normal URAL speed, through the country lanes of Willamette Valley.

Trobairitz and Troubadour with yours truly

This part of Oregon is apparently known for its old covered bridges.  I would end up finding two of them just by wandering around, both of them on Kings Valley Road:

 The Harris Bridge

1929

 The Ritner Creek Bridge

1926

 I believe this was in Independence, OR

A Grain Silo perhaps?

 A nice mural in the town of Independence (I think)

 Railroad Trestle

Despite the claim, I didn't find any covered bridges in/near this town.

I covered 320 km today, another 180 more needed for tomorrow's riding.  It might be more, have to check the manual to see if its 500 or 600 KM one must ride to break in a new engine.

Valencia did great, her engine sounds fine, and I might range further afield tomorrow.

Uraling back to Colorado - Day 59: Valencia gets her Heart Surgery.

First off, my grateful thanks to Robert, one of the ace mechanics at Raceway Services who accomplished great things today with elan and calm, thorough expertise and care.  All the folks that were there at Raceway Services today ensured that all my needs were taken care of, I know I've said it before but Jim Petitti runs a great shop and Frank, the new owner is a lucky man to have such a crew.

Second, my thanks to URAL for their continued outstanding warranty work support for this rider on a trip of a lifetime.  They sent the parts overnight and they showed up, all complete as requested, by 11:00 AM via UPS and Robert was able to get started on Valencia's heart surgery.

I call it heart surgery because the heart of a motorcycle is its engine.  Robert basically rebuilt it from the inside out by replacing the crank assembly, both pistons, the right side head assembly, all associated bearings and seals, and despite a couple of snags did it all in eight hours!  

 Above is the freshly cleaned out engine casing's front view

Below is the engine casing's rear view

 The new crankshaft, nice and shiny.  Sadly, the oil catcher still had to 

be cleaned out by Robert, it came from the factory with greasy crud in it, along with 

some metal fillings!

 I thought it was a bit tricky but Robert got the new crankshaft into the tight

space of the engine casing with no issues.

 The crankshaft's front bearing is pulled through with a special

tool, and readied for the installing of the timing gears.

Ready for the timing gears

Timing gears installed, 515 sealant (the grape colored stuff on the gasket) 

ready to be smeared prior to mating the front of the engine to the main portion.

 Flywheel now installed, Robert proceeds to install the right side jug's base,

easing the new piston in carefully.

The right side piston, nice and shiny

Here's a view of the scoring on the left cylinder's barrel.  Robert

didn't like the looks of it, and Jim had him hook it up to the  large

honing tool to smooth things out a bit.  I am to order a new barrel for later installation

once I get back home, under warranty of course.

To get me back on the road, Robert used the above honing tool to smooth out

the surface of the cylinder's barrel.  Quite the neat tool.  This way I didn't 

have to wait for a new barrel to be ordered from URAL.

A view of the honing tool, it basically rotates around the barrel's 

surface, removing imperfections such as the scoring, leaving shiny 

surface behind.  Care must be taken to not remove more than 1/1000ths

of an inch of material....for then the piston rigs won't seal against

the cylinder walls.

Robert removed about 95% of the striations, had Jim verify his work and Jim declared that it would hold piston rings just fine!

Once the engine was assembled, it was quick work by Robert to reinstall the clutch assembly, mate the transmission to the engine, reinstall the PowerArc ignition sensor, set the timing and together we manhandled the engine onto the motorcycle frame.  Man, that's one heavy sucker.  Through the judicious use of a motorcycle jack though, and Robert's expertise, we managed to get the engine secured without anyone getting hurt.

Then it was just a matter of hooking up all the wiring, bolts, screws and assorted connectors back onto the engine, reconnecting the exhaust pipes, gas tank, starter and air box.  Oil was next, carburetors were mounted and related cabling was sorted out.  

A compression test revealed 130 psi on the left jug (which had to be honed) and 140 psi on the right jug which has the new head.  So, within required spec of being within 10 psi of each other.  The psi figures should climb as the engine gets broken in by the way.

I left the shop at 7:00 PM, and taking it easy on the engine, rode along I-5 towards Lebanon, OR and Bluekat and Ron's home therein.  They've graciously invited to stay with them over the weekend.  

I am spending the weekend riding Valencia around the Salem/Corvallis/Lebanon area.....doing the 600 km engine break-in procedure of riding under 55 mph, using varying speeds, in order for the new engine components to "bed in" properly.  Wish me luck, I am making sure I am staying within easy towing range but I believe things will go just fine.

Then, a final checkout by Raceway Services on Monday and I should be cleared to go back to riding towards Colorado and home.