Sunday, October 31, 2004 :::
 
I flew in to Milwaukee on October 21st, to pick up a bike I had bought on Ebay. All my concerns vanished with the excellent reception I received from the seller. He picked me up at the airport and took me to his home where I was welcomed like an old friend with dinner and a bed. The bike was immaculate and ready to ride. After I had bought the bike and told him I wanted to fly in and ride it home, he did a complete 10000 mile service on the bike. The bike is a 1993 FLHS (forks large highway sport). In other words, it is an Electraglide Classic with a windshield instead of a fairing. Here is a link to my ofoto album of the trip. You can view the photos without signing in.
http://tinyurl.com/7xkxf for a photo album

The color is Candy Sapphire Sunglo, a very vivid blue with metal flake undertones. It has hard cases and a big ass highway bar with Kuryakin pegs, The floorboards are there for rider and passenger, along with adjustable pegs for the passenger. It also has a Mustang seat and a large luggage rack. Engine mods include a bore out to 88ci, Wiseco pistons, Branch heads, Mikuni flatside carb, RB LSR 2 into one racing exhaust in flat black, and it also has a Jims cam cover (which I suspect means that the cam has been changed). The owner was a service manager at a HD dealership and when the bike came in on a trade he snatched it up for himself. At that time it had a leaky base gasket so he pulled the jugs to replace both base gaskets and that was when he discovered the increase in bore and the Branch heads. He never opened the cam chest which is why I don’t know what cam is in there. But let me tell you, this bike is fast and loud, and I still managed to average 37 mpg at freeway speeds, with a low of 33 (while bucking strong headwinds), and a high of 42 on one good flat calm stretch. I definitely got better mileage at 70 mph than at 75 mph, with the trade off of longer travel time.
I woke early on Friday the 22nd and after coffee I was on the road by 8, a late start as I only had to go to La Crosse WI where my daughter Kelsea is in a masters program at UW La Crosse. I took Hwy 60 from Grafton across to Portage, where I hooked up with I-90 on into La Crosse. It was cold and cloudy with a 20 mph cross wind, a good initiation for the trip to come. I had one exciting moment when I made it to the freeway and rolled on the throttle as I merged. I smelled something burning and looking in my rearview mirror I saw blue smoke billowing out behind me. I looked down and the oil fill cap had popped loose and oil was splashing onto my pipes and burning. I pulled off onto the shoulder and replaced the cap and wiped off the worst of the mess. At the next off ramp I found a hardware store and bought some cleaner and cleaned off all the oil I could find. I had no further incident, my guess is the oil was a little too full and the pressure popped the cap.
After 227 miles I arrived in La Crosse and found a room before hooking up with my daughter for dinner. After a good nights sleep I stopped off in the morning and said good bye to Kelsea and then headed out on I-90 into Minnesota. The wind was cold and strong from the south west which gave me a quartering tailwind. I made good time with stops for coffee and fluid reduction. I hooked up with I-35 and headed south into Iowa. It was cold and wet and the wind had switched to a 20-30mph southeaster. The bike was very stable and had the power to bull her way through the gusts, which would shake the bike but not push me out of my lane as a lighter bike would have done. Still, it was a welcome relief to ride on into partial sunshine just before Des Moines, where I turned and headed west on I-80. The wind was now a strong headwind, but at least it had warmed up into the low 60’s. I finally called it a day as the sun was setting, about 30 miles out of Council Bluffs, Iowa. There was a brand new Motel 6 there and I got a room that had never been used. With the late start from La Crosse I only put in 365 miles for the day, but it felt like enough after all the wind and rain.
The next day, after watching the weather channel, I wrote off my hope of crossing the country on I-80 since a winter storm had moved into the Rockies and was dumping lots of snow on my hoped for route. I decided to use the alternate plan and head for Phoenix, Arizona. I was on the bike before sunrise and headed west again. I crossed into Nebraska and continued on to Hwy 183 where I made a 90° turn to the south and traveled south through Kansas for the rest of the day. Northwest Kansas was quite scenic and rural, and the road actually had curves in it as I rode through the limestone country. As I crossed under I-70 the scenery changed to a much more flat terrain and the road became arrow straight. This was to continue all the way into New Mexico. By the time the sun was setting again I had switched to Hwy 56 and ended the day of riding at Dodge City. Here I got my cheapest room of the trip, $26 for a clean room. According to the weather channel I had decent weather ahead all the way to Phoenix. Total miles for the day were
473, riding at the speed limit and the shortened daylight hours were keeping me from racking up big numbers. I wanted to have no tickets on the way home.
The next morning, Monday the 25th, I was on the road before sunrise and headed down to Liberal, Kansas and hooked up with Hwy 54 which would take me to I-40 in New Mexico. This was the longest straight flat boring road I have ever been on. The monotony was broken only by the approach of another grain silo town and the hundreds of acres of cattle feed lots. After the sun came up the air gradually warmed to where I could take off a layer of clothes. With only a light breeze the riding was real nice and I began to enjoy the long straight road. At I-40 I headed west and arrived at Albuquerque by sunset and was able to get a room at a Best Western for $32. After steak and eggs at the Waffle House I headed for the bed and fell asleep watching the weather channel. The weather ahead in California was ominous, with a deep trough bringing cool unstable air clear to San Diego. Heavy rain and wind, snow on the hills, and generally crappy conditions. I could only hope for some improvement as I drew near.
After watching the weather forecast the next morning, Tuesday the 26th, I decided to go through Flagstaff rather than dropping down to Tucson. The snow that fell in Flagstaff a few days earlier was said to be gone and it should just be clear and cold. I left before dawn on I-40 and rode through the most beautiful countryside, polluted with the worst proliferation of billboards I have seen on any Interstate. I made a few stops for photos and continued to Flagstaff, where I turned south on I-17. Continuing west on I-40
was not an option, it was snowing in the mountains. So I went on down to Phoenix and found my friend Dave Lundberg’s house. Dave is an xl-lister and longtime xl-list race team supporter. He and his wife Lea were gracious enough to offer me a room for the night. I went out to dinner with Dave and Gordon Vastferet and listened to their tales from this year at the salt flats, and exchanged with tales of my summers ride to Kansas City. We went back to Dave's house and the Weather Channel. It did not look pleasant ahead. The weather was very stormy in southern California. I went to bed to sleep off the 470 miles I had done that day and gain some strength for the next day of riding.
Day six I headed out after sunrise on the 101 loop, watching out for the semi-conscious commuters. I have heard a lot of complaints about the snowbirds bad driving, but really what it is, all the locals seem to drive with wild abandon and little or no regard for the rules of the road. This seemed to be the nexus of bad drivers and I was happy to leave town on I-10 and head across the Sonora Desert towards California. It was mostly just another day of slogging along on a long straight road, but as I came into Quartzite for a gas stop the rain bas beginning to build, along with the wind. I was fast approaching the frontal boundary between the cool warmth of late summer, and into the storminess of winter. I suited up in my raingear and headed out west. Coming up over the pass at Altamont where the huge wind turbine farms are, the wind had picked up to 40 plus. All the turbines were shut down with blades locked as it was too windy for them. The rain began to increase and the sky grew dark I entered into this torrential downpour as I crossed the highlands before Redlands. The trucks were throwing huge waves of water sideways at me and traffic was either crawling or going full out. I found a slot with a semi in front and a semi behind and hunkered down, determined to ride through as the frontal boundary was nearly stationary and the only way out was to go through. Finally, coming down the hills into Redlands the sky cleared and the road dried out. I picked up my pace and headed for San Bernardino, planning to go up over Cajon Summit into the Mojave. As I headed towards the pass I stopped for gas and a bite to eat. As I watched the sky ahead it turned pitch black and was lit up with lightning. I could see fresh snow way low on the hills and the rain was pouring below. I looked at my watch, and even though I had 2 hours till dark, I decided that discretion was the better part of valor and checked myself into a motel. It was a wise move as the clouds spread out from the hills and dumped a load of rain on us, coupled with thunder and lightning. This was the same day those huge waterspouts were off of Malibu. I still ended the day with 355 miles and had a good nights sleep.
In the morning the front had moved on into Arizona and I only had to go through some light rain over the pass on Hwy 138. As I came downhill into the Mojave desert the sun came up and warmed the air, gradually from the high 30’s up to near 60. That lasted until I hit Tehachapi Pass on hwy 58 out of Mojave. Very strong winds and fog gave me a chilly ride up and over the hills. Coming down into the central valley at Bakersfield I headed across to I-5 as the air gradually warmed into the 60’s. I was actually too warm at gas stops but once moving again at 75 it was just right. I took I-5 up to Sacramento and found another buddy in Citrus Heights. I was staying with him for the night and we had a good time catching up on each others lives. Mileage for the day was 459.
The next morning, Friday the 29th, I avoided the rush hour traffic in Sacramento and instead took Hwy 65 up to Hwy 99 and on up to Red Bluff where I hooked up with I-5 for the trip north. According to the weather channel I had about a 13 hour window before the next system rolled into the Northwest. I cruised on up through the Siskyou’s, past Shasta and over the top into the Willamette Valley on a clean dry road with light traffic. After every stop I would pass the same trucks again on down the road. They started to recognize me and honk as I went by. The day passed without incident until after the sun set. Then 40 miles from home in the dark it started raining hard and the wind picked up hard. Visibility dropped to a 100 yards as the wind blew me back and forth across the lane. Fortunately I was on my home turf and new what direction the road would turn. It was a real relief to drop off the freeway at Maytown and head the last 7 miles to home on country roads. The wind was blowing leaves through the air and the rain was coming down in sheets. I crept on home, determined to not lose it on the wet leaves stacked up on the roadway. I pulled into my driveway to an open warm garage, the welcome arms of my wife, and a 120º sauna. What a relief. The trip from Sacramento took 15 hours for 710 miles.
The trip was a success. I am home. I had a very long ride. Across Wisconsin into Minnesota, down through Iowa and into Nebraska, across Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas, then into New Mexico and over to Arizona and on into California, then on up across Oregon and home to Washington. 12 states, 3589 miles, 55:49 hours of riding with an average speed of 64.3, in 8 days through wind, rain, snow, and sun. The new bike ran flawlessly, I never even opened my tool roll. She used no oil and just loved to get out and run. I am one happy camper. Shane



::: posted by Shane at 11:12 AM