bitpusher
30th August 2011, 11:15
I really got annoyed this afternoon at the effin heat and just started loading the bike up with everything I think I would need for a 2 week trip.
my schedule does not permit such a thing right now so it was basically a dry run.
got all loaded by about 7 pm and hit the road around 8pm.
Slabbed it up I-17 about a hundred miles to Camp Verde to see how the bike would behave with everything loaded and to get a reality check on my gas mileage with a 2.5:1 (26t/65t) secondary ratio.
I have to admit that I do so dig the torquey get-up-and-go that the ultra-deep gearing gives around town but the drop in RPM really cuts fuel efficiency, even in 6th, on long hauls. I will likely gear back up to around 2.2:1 for any long distance trips.
Anyway, headed East from Camp Verde to Payson via Strawberry and Pine. Stopped somewhere on the rim and laid out the bedroll and just looked at the stars. This is a luxury that we city dwellers don't have. There had been a controlled burn earlier in the day so the smell of burning/burnt pine was in the air. it was nice.
Once I got back on the road I had just started pondering the odds of a deer popping out and what I might/could do and ran up on a doe that had just crossed the road looking back at me. I wonder if she heard me coming... that got both my hands back on the bars with a quickness.
Ended up going through Payson after midnight so when I stopped at the casino the poker tables had already folded up. damn. was hoping to take a bit of cash home with me.
oh well, just headed on home with a stop at Denny's for some chicken fried steak.
Some here will be proud of me: I normally only wear a helmet on special occasions but tonight I put on the FF before I left the house and wore it until I got back. I have to admit it was nice. I especially appreciated it each time a prehistoric size bug slapped into the shield. I had been wearing a 3/4, much less no lid, I would have been a hurtin puppy.
Sorry no pics. I had no camera and it was dark. sue me. :p
my schedule does not permit such a thing right now so it was basically a dry run.
got all loaded by about 7 pm and hit the road around 8pm.
Slabbed it up I-17 about a hundred miles to Camp Verde to see how the bike would behave with everything loaded and to get a reality check on my gas mileage with a 2.5:1 (26t/65t) secondary ratio.
I have to admit that I do so dig the torquey get-up-and-go that the ultra-deep gearing gives around town but the drop in RPM really cuts fuel efficiency, even in 6th, on long hauls. I will likely gear back up to around 2.2:1 for any long distance trips.
Anyway, headed East from Camp Verde to Payson via Strawberry and Pine. Stopped somewhere on the rim and laid out the bedroll and just looked at the stars. This is a luxury that we city dwellers don't have. There had been a controlled burn earlier in the day so the smell of burning/burnt pine was in the air. it was nice.
Once I got back on the road I had just started pondering the odds of a deer popping out and what I might/could do and ran up on a doe that had just crossed the road looking back at me. I wonder if she heard me coming... that got both my hands back on the bars with a quickness.
Ended up going through Payson after midnight so when I stopped at the casino the poker tables had already folded up. damn. was hoping to take a bit of cash home with me.
oh well, just headed on home with a stop at Denny's for some chicken fried steak.
Some here will be proud of me: I normally only wear a helmet on special occasions but tonight I put on the FF before I left the house and wore it until I got back. I have to admit it was nice. I especially appreciated it each time a prehistoric size bug slapped into the shield. I had been wearing a 3/4, much less no lid, I would have been a hurtin puppy.
Sorry no pics. I had no camera and it was dark. sue me. :p