Best of Three Falls

So, Easter has a little different meaning for everybody, But as a general rule it is a celebration of renewal.  Being a fully fledged member of the church of speed, our prayers were answered with a sunny day and warm temps.  Time to kick the tyres and sacrifice some dinosuars.  I had awakened at 6:30..  I put together an idea for a route. Plotted it on Ride with Gps, and e-vited some friends to come along on this somewhat impromptu ride.  No responses and it was getting on 10:00.. Daylight was wasting and Bud E. was getting anxious.

New m2r lid. Fits so nice and is so light due to the carbon composite.  Damn.. those Aussies make a nice helmet, and got it off ebay for a steal too.  I almost feel bad.  Not!!!

  So, I geared up, popped on my new  M2R Nemesis carbon composite lid, threw on my Dragon DX goggles,  thumbed the starter and lit out like a prairie fire.

This is Ride with GPS. If you have never used it, check it out. I use it for route planning and tracking.  Sometimes just to see where it was that I went. I love it when it shows that there is no road, but your riding on it. It really is quite handy, I use the free side of it, not sure what's in the premium section.

The only problem with trying to share it was I had to load it in through the HTML side of the blog.  But its loaded, and I figured it out myself.






First, out of town, and along the river out to McDowell Creek Falls.  Lots of good twisties  in there. I hike to the first falls.  Full gear and carrying my helmet.

Next was to skirt around the edges of the farmland around here.. If its flat its farmland around here. If its not flat, its Timberland or Vineyards.  Over the hills and across the rivers.. All the way to Silver Falls.

 

Unique thing about Silver Falls State Park.  All of the land was donated to the state by the family that owned it. There are ten falls in total, and about an 8 mile trail to collect most of them.

 

 

The falls in the picture is called Winter Falls.  It was the easiest of the ten to access in full gear, again.  I was huffin' and puffin' like the little engine that could trying to climb back up that set of  switchbacks.

 

Its 134ft drop from top to bottom.
 

After catching my breath, (Damn, I am out of shape), Bud E and I lit out of there, scaring the crap out of the cruiser riders that were just kind of poking along.  I opened up with all three cylinders and really worked hard at getting right to the very edge of the tire. I still can't force it all the way over but am getting mighty close.  We tooled on through Silverton, back to Sublimity, and across the valley to catch Alsea falls.   I almost gave it up.  I thought there is no one sharing this with me so what's the point.  Still, I set out to cover 3 falls, not 1 or 2, and I think I would only have disappointed myself if I had given up.

 

I reached Alsea Falls State Park, and what do I find... the damn gate is locked... "Bullshit", I say to Bud E.  Oh well, I hiked down to complete the mission.

 

 

I load back up and get ready to take off.  Now, there is some construction going on just up the road where they are replacing a culvert or some such nonsense.  I end up sixth in line heading into this tore up section of road, these people are putzing along trying to navigate the gravel and bumps.  If they are going this slow now there is no way I will be able to enjoy the remainder of South Fork Rd.  So, as soon as I clear the first barricade and am firmly in the construction zone.  I did what any sensible rider would do.. I dropped two gears and rolled the throttle to its stop and passed every single one of them, flingin' gravel and dirt all over them.  I never looked back, because I am sure they all gave me a dirty look, but I didn't much care at that moment.  I was feeling good about my accomplishment, and nothing was holding me back.... except.... the fuel light suddenly came on.   Hmmm.. What to do?  "Screw it" Bud E. says.. "Its a frackin' Tiger.  It will make it. Stay the course. Finish the ride."  So I finish the ride back across the valley.  Never stopping for petrol.  We made it home. I was tired and sore, but reinvigorated at the same time. 

I was initially disappointed that I didn't have anybody else riding along. By the end though, I was just kind of in a happy place.  I rode well, the Tiger did what I asked.  And for a moment, all was right in my world.

Until next time.....

Polar bear


You know.. I think Bud E. might be having a bad influence on me... Naaaaaaaaaaaaah.....

The Prince of Darkness Strikes Back....Again...

Ackkkk!!!!!!!

Lucas... The Prince of Darkness has struck again...

So, I put the tiger on the battery tender for the last three days since I have been out scooting around on the Zuma..  Anyway, started it up to go to bike night. no problem.. Ran awesome. didn't hit any rain until I reached Corvallis.  Had some good conversation and was going to hit the Gym afterwards.  Went to start the Tiger and it cranked very slowly, but did start.  Okay, the battery is a few years old, I will go home first, just to be safe.  I get 5 miles from home, in the pitch black night and its now raining, I look down and my tachometer has just gone to zero.  Okay, that's kind of odd, I think to myself, give some throttle.. Still accelerates.. Things are golden... Signal to change lanes, and the speedometer starts bouncing to the same rhythm as the signals.  Uh oh... this is starting to make me nervious.  Made it home, like a good tiger should.  Fired up the Zuma and off to work out. I'll deal with the Tiger when its daylight.

   This morning before work, I hook up a set of jumper cables and start it up.  The tach starts working again... Cool, I say to myself.  It just needs a new battery.  I purchase a battery from one of the vendors that I use when I need batteries for lift trucks.  Go about my day and come home and drop the battery in.  Check the charging system, 12.6v.....  Hmmmmm.. That doesn't seem right.. Should be up near at least 14v...  Check of the wiring and found a burnt connection from the stator to the rectifier.  Fix the connection.. Still no improvement. Remove the Rectifier.. Test the diodes.. all seem to test okay... I hope its not the stator.. check from wires (a to b) 10ohms, (b to c) 10 ohms, (a to c) 10 ohms.. Okay, thats good one more test. Check for short to frame...10ohms.. $#@@#%#$%%$$#$#&(insert your owm explitive)...Check the Interwebs to confirm... Sure enough.  Stator is Dead... Prince of Darkness has claimed another victim...

The Victim

$140 for the aftermarket stator...and yeah, we have to order it.... 

The Family That Rides Together

This is  a post I had started on in July and never quite got back to.

So.. the weekend before Fathers Day found the whole family out and about on Motocycles..My wife had only recently passed her Team Oregon BRT Class and wanted some more practice.  So I loaded up the bikes on the trailer and hauled them to an area I had scouted a week earlier. The spot I scouted ended up with people camped there so we searched for another spot. I unloaded the Elsinore to see what was up the road. I found a nice flat, wide spot that was perfect. Rode back and let SweetPea ride it up to the wide spot.

I thought for for she was going to stall it along the way, but she made it with no problem.

Look where you want to go

Then my  daughter decided that riding motorcycles looked like fun. So after a brief tutorial she was off and running..I was really impressed she had natural ability..

Head and Eyes Up

Lucas was being Lucas...goofing around on the little Suzuki Jr50....

Everyone had a great time and wants to do it again....

Kind of like one those Incredible Journey photos

My faithful dog Scout... Waiting for me to come back..

Might have to buy more motorcycles.
Cue the  Maniacal Laughter!!!!!


January 31,2013

edit:  Recently added a Yamaha Zuma 125 Scooter to the stable.. No pictures yet as a recent car prowl resulted in a net loss of camera battery charger and my kick ass $30 Gps.

Princess Scooterpie Mascot Challenge..... Accepted

Princess Scooterpie posted up a new blog challenge...  Do you have a moto Mascot...

You bet I do... His name is Bud E.   He is my riding and adventure buddy..

Downtown Skagway AK

We go looking for sun and snow..  Twisty roads and sometimes down a hole..

Brother Bear... Damn.. I thought everything was bigger in Texas

Please note Sarah Palin's location on the far right of this page.
Give me the fish....Please.....
 

As far as a name for the motocycle..  no... no name...don't really know why..  Just nothing has struck my fancy.

No matter.. When we are all together, there is no telling what kind of trouble will find us (not that we would go looking)..


  We'll keep an eye out for you further  down the road.

Polar Bears... they're everywhere..

 So, How about this.. posting again...even in the same month this time.

I have been graced to see a lot of these United States growing up.. My fathers siblings were scattered across all of them.  During the summer we would pack up and head out and down the road. Those are stories to be told another time.  My job, however, also allows me to see a lot of the great state of Oregon... Just yesterday I had a service call that was 250 miles away through the ice and snow and fog.  But when I arrived, what glorious sight did I see...

 My very own namesake...In Neon... Isn't that cool... I mean right.. that is cool...

Polar Bear Cafe in downtown Merrill Oregon

It was cold down there.. But the sun was shining. I grabbed the point and shoot and grabbed a few pictures of Klamath Lake which was frozen over.

 

After getting the lift truck repaired I decided to visit California...  Literally one side of the road is Oregon.. the other side is California.

 

Looking at California

Looking at Oregon

 I am so glad I live in Oregon......Even the worst parts look better than the best parts of other states..















You know.. I thought about bringing Bud E along for the ride...Maybe next time....

New Year.... New Goals

Okay... I have slacked off on this blog thing  long enough....

This years goal is to post much more often.

 My problem I think was that I was trying really hard to keep it all motorcycle related, which sometimes limited posting. 
So readers and riders, you may find a bit of randomness from time to time.

Other goals.... make more time for fitness and drop a 3 or 4 Stones..
Yeah, I said it Stones.. and no, I don't mean Taylor, Wood, or Stewart.

I think that is about it for goals... I am one of those people who always asks.....Where does that road go... So, I go and find out.  Sometimes to my own peril, but what the hell...This Merry-Go-Round only goes round once.

Onwards and upwards... we had a polar bear/New Years day ride.

What polar bear ride would be complete without out a polar bear...

It was a glorious day for a ride... The air was crisp...(26*f). The sun was shining.. I was the first one to the usually coffee shop.  The sun beamed through the door and I noticed the little bit of steam wafting out of the cup and tried to catch it with the camera.

 
 Soon the rest of the riders (fools who haven't got a lick of sense to get out of the cold) arrived.  After a bit of conversation, and a recount of Troubadour's Polar bear ride fail.
We saddled up and were on our way.

The roads were in mostly fair shape.. I little difficult to tell the difference between what was damp, and what was frozen in the shade.  I was riding.. and that was all that mattered.  Here is a little slide show I put together with the GoPro.. I may do this more often.  Set it too take photos every 5 sec. and just let it run..
 Ironically, from the time I turned it on until I got home, it took exactly 955 photos.  Which is one for every cc of my Tiger, and that is special.

 

  Like Mickey Frickin' Mouse said,  See you real soon.
 The Polar Bear.