Coast to coast in the U.S.

[katawest]

Härliga bilder!
Gjorde klart snedtaksreglarna och började sätta upp takpanelen idag.

[KYpondman]

Wonderful adventure! Thanks for sharing.
Claude

[mr west]

Due to our inability to get up in the mornings and check out in time it got even more adventurous yesterday...

Starting from the Hilltop Motel in Nebraska (after consuming the very nice owners not to bad interpretation of a swedish coffee) we drove to city of Casper, Wyoming and went out for dinner with Amandas half-sister and her mormon family. It was interesting to hear stories from missonairing by John the husband.. But it got so late that again we had to ride in the dark after that... Now I never want to do that again.

Freezing cold. To many animals. And to much energy to always scan the road. We had a deer passing in front of us... Some that looked like a fox was eating from a carcass on the road shoulder.. A huge bird took of from the side of the road and just missed my head. A mole...or someone with eyes close to the road, ran around to the left... Four rabbits crossed the road, and two of them I probably killed with the left fot peg.

We reached the foot of rocky mountains at 0:30 am, and put the radiator on max.

Today we are determined to reach wherever were going in daylight!

[Whiskerfish]

Yea riding at night is something I like to do because of the traffic here on the East Coast but the dangers are terrible. Glad you were able to avoid all those furry obstacles!!

[82aspy]

the sharp contrast of a hot day vs night temps riding can also bite,

i remember a night ride, in blowing wet snow conditions, in a minivan,

all of a sudden .............BANG,

have no idea what i hit but figured some small animal, i saw nothing

[Brant]

Hard to stop when you got a destination in mind. Driving lights help, reduce your speed. One night I knew it was time to stop when I couldn't maintain a steady speed and mailboxes started looking like dogs.

[82aspy]

Hard to stop when you got a destination in mind. Driving lights help, reduce your speed. One night I knew it was time to stop when I couldn't maintain a steady speed and mailboxes started looking like dogs.

i went (micro?) asleep early (started ~ 05:00 with no sleep prior) one morning, next thing i knew i was on the rocky/dirt shoulder of the fast lane, ended up drifting (no braking of course) into the middle grassy median area,

worse part was almost dropped it at the very end, very low speed, in the slimy wet grass,

woke me up tho then made it to NY city, even tho, at the time, was just at the beginning of the trip

[mr west]

Waking up in Medicine Bow national forest today, air was crisp, fresh and little bit chilly... We wanted to get started but it all takes so much time to get ready... Shower, breakfast, packing, filled up a little oil, checking the route... And when all thats done its time for coffee!

We started with about 20 miles up the mountains on dirt roads. I dont know much about ridin that, but I can tell you an old bike with two people and luggage and sitars easily becomes unsteerable if you chicken out on the throttle around the corners... We made it into Colorado eventually and the views are just great! Snow clad mountains and serpentine roads. Coming around a corner one of those large trucks with oversized load had just tipped over... Police was there and we just hope the driver us ok. Just enough room for us to pass!

It started to rain so much we had to stop for lunch in Granby, but after that we made it over the Loveland Pass. I think the altitude might be the reason I couldnt get the bike to idle up there?
Coming down was just great to, so much views and fun roads...

Stopped for gas in Vail, but then it started to rain so much we had to book a hotel right here. Pricey, but we got updated to a suite so that was a nice surprice! So after a dip in the hot pool and a sauna we call it a day! Tomorrow we will try to get going before noon for once! The plan is maybe to go through Aspen to Bryce Canyon and then Vegas. The grand Canyon will have to wait until after Vegas it seems..

[Whiskerfish]

Yea dirt requires either very slow and cautious or very confident and aggressive. Hard to do in between.

That is a LONG Day from Vail to Vegas!! Be safe!!


.

[Sagebrush]

I know you have some time left in the states before you return to Sweden but if you are planning on storing the bike and return to it some time in the future you might start thinking of how you leave it while you're gone. The best way is to have someone knowledgeable with motorcycles to look after it. Someone who can start and run the bike on a periodic basis, look after the tire pressures and the battery charge. If you don't have someone then you will have to store the bike properly, just don't park it and walk away from it and then expect it to run well when you return. If this is something you are interested in I'm sure we can come up with a list of things to do to the bike to ensure as much as possible that the bike will be in a rideable state when you return.

[mr west]

Well were are not trying to make it to Vegas from Vail in one day! We are planning to stop for the night somewhere around Bryce Canyon...

I think I have the storing of the bike under control.. I park my bike in Sweden around 6 months each year, so I have a routine worked in.. I dont believe in starting it periodically though... Still appreciate your input!

[brokentoe]

Those must be really good cases. I would worry about water getting in.

[mr west]

Ok! Yesterday totally changed my feelings about motorbiking on the highways.. We managed to get going by 10 am, and going on the highway downhill from Vail was great! Long soft bends, most of the times along a river, and spectacular rock formations left and right. Through tunnels and over bridges, after what thought was 10 minutes I glanced at the odometer and it had already been 100 miles!

We stopped for mexican food in an almost forgotten town... Food was quite heavy, so I decided to have the burrito to go. It was a glove fit in the fairing storage!

After that the scenery just got more and more amazing. Passing eagles canyon, ghost rock canyon, black dragon canyon. A few drops of rain on the windshield, but we avoided the bad wheather all around the horizon.

[mr west]

On the exit to a scenic view stop, bike just dies as I park!

All electricity gone!
Just dead while turning the key.
I take a closer look on the wiring which has extra cables running everywhere because of the fairing. I find a big fuse by the battery, but it doesnt seem blown..? After som investigation I see that one is only fir fairing stuff, like the 12 socket and the fan.. The i find the real main fuse and that one looks like the grilled cheese i had before..

It comes to mind that the spare main fuses we had are probably still in the top box we left in Brooklyn!

[mr west]

Amanda manages to stop a couple in a rental car to ask about a spare fuse... While i gently crawl in under the guys dashboard to locate the fuses I notice hes an exact copy of the Heissenberg character from the Breaking Bad TV series.... It all takes about half an hour to get the spare fuse out of a modern Ford hybrid car... Just no room for fingers!

New fuse in the bike and were ready to go! Question is if whatever caused the fuse to blow is still a problem...? Will it melt directly? Its 40 miles to the next gas station and we have about a gallon in the tank.... Its getting dark... Rains are coming closer... As safety precaution I change the position of the Burrito so that it will not interfere with the fairing wiring...