A "Doable" Long Distance Riding Patch

Today I found another outfit that offers certification/patches/stickers etc in similar venue as the Iron Butt Rally (IBR) people. Although I'd thought about it, I've never more than spent a few minutes looking into the logistics of trying to qualify for the entry-level IBR certification of 1000 Miles in 24 hours. Reality would usually set in at this point and I'd move on to something else.

I'd also read/heard that it can take up to 3 months, sometimes longer for one's stuff to come back from the IBR folks once they finish reviewing your application and ride documents.

So along comes this "competing" outfit for one's long distance certification dollars. They're called Long Distance Riders or LDR. Here's a link to their site: LINK

They've some pretty cool looking patches for their certification program which consists of four ride levels as of now. I am thinking their entry-level certification: 500 miles in 12 hours is something I've already done before on some of my longer day rides. I might try and go for it when and if I ever get off my butt about riding out to MOAB one weekend. It's actually only 381 miles to Moab, UT from home in under six hours so I'd have another six to work in the remaining 119 miles.

First Anniversary with Maria

I was annotating my maintenance log with the services I did on Maria today, my 2004 R1150RT motorcycle today and realized upon checking my blog archives that it has been exactly one year today when I bought her from the Sturgis BMW dealer!

Yep, one year and 22,447 miles ago, I traded my 2006 Honda Shadow Aero 750cc motorcycle for Maria and I've not had a regret since then.

Spent an hour or so this afternoon, after the services described in the previous posting, practicing U-Turns in a nearby housing development whose roads are closed to public traffic. I still have to put a foot down once in a while but am reasonably confident I can do some U-Turns in narrow streets without having to resort to the duck walk. I just can't seem to do it over four times in a row without dabbing my foot down sooner or later!

I'll not be trying out anytime soon for a motorcycle riding demonstration team anytime soon but I should be able to get Maria turned around when I need to with some demonstrated ability to any casual observer.

I still catch myself stealing glances at the edge of the road instead of back towards where I want to go so it's a matter of more practice I think. I did find I can make a U-Turn within the width of two parking spaces when I really nail the maneuver though! More often though, I go to about two and half parking spaces.

I tried turns in narrow roads, wide roads, from left turns back the way I came and also from standing stops.

Definitely need to practice more so I quit having to dab my left foot down when doing left handed U-turns. Right-handed U-Turns are tougher for me and while I did do a few of those, I concentrated on left-handed ones since those are the ones I end up doing more of when exploring and riding my motorcycle.

I have to keep remembering to keep the revs up, work the friction zone on the clutch, keep my eyes aimed back where I want to go instead of the edge of the road and finally hang my outboard buttcheek off the seat to balance the motorcycle as I lean her into the tight turn. Lots to think about, must practice it so often that its muscle memory!!!

Not too shabby considering she's not the smallest or lightest of motorcycles! Here's a link to her specs and the blog entry I made the day I brought her home. LINK.

Maria gets new brake pads and alternator belt

Maria is closing in on 42k miles and I decided today to start work on her maintenance items which are either coming due or a bit delayed. This way, I am not trying to cram it all in on one day of maintenance when she does get to 42k miles.

The alternator belt replacement came first, having had some practice at it, it was an easy job specially when one has the right part to start with! The old belt is still looking pretty good so I am going to carry it as a spare. It's good that I decided to do it in the comfort of my garage with all my tools at hand since the pry bar I had fabricated to lever the alternator back into place to secure it failed miserably to do the job. I had to resort to the largest flat tip screwdriver I've got instead. Oh well.

Then came the replacement of the brake pads for both the front and rear wheel. The job is very easy to do on my motorcycle, just removed the mounting bolts, take the calipers off the rotor and then take the safety pin out by hand, remove the securing pin that holds the old pads in place, remove them and with your fingers push in the pistons so they're flush. Pop in the new ones, reverse your steps and you're done. The rear pads were just a bit different in that you have to tap out the securing pin that holds the pads in place but no big deal otherwise.

Not sure why but on the rear calipers, the rearmost mounting bolt had a washer whereas the frontmost mounting bolt did not. I'll have to check with someone I guess on why the difference.

I put everything back together, no extra parts!

I put away my tools, and took her for a short ride around the parking lot to test out the brakes. They work just fine! There was still some wear on the old pads but now I know when they were replaced. I wonder if the PO ever had them replaced or is this the first time? I must ask him.

Major stuff left for when she goes over 42k: Oil Change, Valve Clearance Check, a Throttle Body Sync along with upping the idle to 1100(maybe). Then, removing the gas tank to swap out the fuel filter and bleed the ABS module control circuits and front and rear wheel brake circuits. I'll probably replace the transmission and final drive oils as well.

Guanella Pass and South Platte River

Sunny and warm with some pretty strong winds towards the afternoon. Temps in the mid to upper 80s.

I left home shortly after 0900hrs and crossed through Denver via the I-25 slab and took I-70 westbound towards the mountains. Today's objective was to cross the continental divide at yet another pass: Guanella. The road that leads to the pass links Georgetown/I-70 on the North end to Grant/US285 on the south end. I tanked up at Georgetown and headed on down towards the pass.

There's a sign near the town that says the road is damaged and proceed at your own risk. I gotta tell ya, they weren't kidding. Potholes were plenty and I was going slow, weaving my way through the many many potholes, sand/gravel accumulations, cagers who were dodging potholes as well and trying to see some of the scenery! Keep alert on this road, I hit a couple of the smaller potholes and they bottomed out the shocks on Maria.

Once you get past Clear Lake, the road becomes a bit smoother, just dirt with some gravel. There are patches of washboard road which are quite rough on poor Maria. I found going a bit faster on the washboard sections tended to smooth out the ride. There were several small mountain lakes as I continued climbing towards the pass. The road has several hairpin turns and is heavily forested by pine trees on both sides.

Finally, I got to the summit of Guanella Pass. The forest service provides a Summit Overlook parking lot up there where I took these pictures. The temp was 47 degrees at the top, nice and cold with winds picking up.

The Requisite pic of motorcycle and Sign

A short while after I started descending the pass heading towards Grant, the dirt/gravel road became a beautifully paved road with smooth winding/twisting turns leading one downwards. It was great. But alas, it did not last long and pretty soon after a few miles I was on a packed dirt/gravel road full of dust and cagers heading up. The dust got on everything of course and washboard road conditions lasted for several miles. Not that much fun.

However, it was all worth it when I came across a short stretch of road bordered on both sides by Aspen Trees which were turning colors. I stopped here not only to take pictures but rest my hands from griping the handlebars tight on the dirt road!






A short while later, I was at US285 and Grant which is not a very big town. I think it consisted of four buildings! I turned to head North on US285 back towards Denver. I did not stay on this highway very long, I turned off at Foxton Road which is a very twisty road that leads you into the mountains south of US285. I enjoyed this road very much today.

Foxton Road intersects with South Platte River Road. I decided to take the river road since I'd never ridden it from this end, I have always ended up at this intersection when coming from Deckers, now I was heading towards Deckers. Here's some of the rock formations I saw along the river.



I took a short water break at the ruins of the South Platte Hotel and then rode to where the road becomes paved once more as it nears Deckers. I elected to turn onto County Road 67 and head towards Sedalia. I had remembered this dirt/gravel road as pretty "gnarly" when I first took it down back when I used to ride the Honda 750 Shadow Aero. Well, either my memory of it was tainted by my being a noobie to motorcycling or I've gotten more confident on dirt/gravel because it turned out to be not so bad.

I only had one slip which I handled correctly as I made my way up the 15% grades. It was only maybe two miles and then it was roughly paved roads which were just fine for riding. Lots of gravel though so one could not pick up the speed too much until you get to a road junction where a grocery store is located. The road is nicely paved and you twist and turn your way down this county road and end up in Sedalia.

From Sedalia, where I had to stop for a train, I headed south on US85 towards Castle Rock. Once there, it was the usual backroads towards Parker and from there home via Inspiration Drive.