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hi all,

i was assigned four operations for inspection, one in monticello, ut and three in colorful colorado. rather than fly and rent a car and have to pass those costs on to our clients, i decided to ride my '06 girlie tiger and make a road trip out of it. having recently completed its 24k mi service, thanks to dsm8's tech day and tntmo's assistance and watchful eye, i was eager to give it a proper shakedown ride.

day 1, thursday -- encinitas to green river utah, 718 miles. this was a long day for me, about 12 hours ride time. 

all photos are from my iphone, so not that great, but google has plenty to see for anyone interested in where i went...

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green river and light rains.

day 2, friday -- green river to monticello, breakfast in moab at love muffin cafe, left moab at 9 for my inspection, followed by 424 miles to colorado springs. only one photo from this day, i needed to make time across the rockies. from monticello to cortez, onto 160 through durango to pagosa springs, wolf creek pass, through alamosa to walsenburg, onto 25 north to the springs. i got rained on a bit before durango, then again descending from the continental divide, but that only lasted 12-15 miles. another long day, punctuated by riding between pueblo and co springs in the dark, with lots of traffic. total of 532 miles for the day.

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bridge and rock in moab.

i lived in co springs for a few years a few years ago, so i got to spend some time catching up with friends and hiking the local trails for the weekend... sorry no photos.

day 3, monday was a short run up to denver for work, only 151 miles for the day. 

day 4, tuesday, i said my goodbyes to my hosts and headed to howard, just east of salida. after my inspection, i followed hwy 50 over monarch pass and through gunnison to montrose. total miles for the day, 240.

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there were a few riders staying a few doors down at my digs for the night, the black canyon motel, which i highly recommend. nice folks, good wifi, clean and well cared-for. the guzzi was having charging issues.

day 5, wednesday, up early for my 8:30 inspection. once finished, i was on the road to st george, ut. 458 miles for the day, no photos.

day 6, thursday (yesterday), up early and on the road by 8 am. got back to encinitas at 1 pm, 6 hours travel time, 437 miles, average speed 73 mph, my fastest day. no time for photos.

at each gas stop on days 5 and 6, i took my shirt off and rinsed in the bathroom sinks, which was very effective at keeping me comfortable. i should have done it on day one, but first day jitters had me thinking about other stuff. the other days were pretty moderate, temperature-wise. the hottest area was the inland empire between riverside and san diego counties yesterday.

my bike ran perfectly. it had to give it more throttle at altitude, but it still pulled pretty good. i checked the oil level a few times, and hardly used any for the entire 2,536 miles, much of it at highway speeds of 70+ mph. when i checked it back at home, the level dropped about 2-3 mm on the dipstick, but was still on the full side of the hash marks. i calculated mpg to be between 39 for the low and 42 for the high, and average speeds were between 59 and 70 mph, both figured from gas stop receipts. 

this was a great opportunity for me to see what kind of time/mileage i'm comfortable with each day, as well as getting a lot of confidence in the bike. my wife and i leave for a three week moto-camping adventure to northern california on sept 11th. mileage will be considerably lower per day, with lots of off days of hiking and exploring interspersed. ride report will follow, hopefully with more and better photos...

thanks for reading, and extra thanks to dsm8 for hosting a most excellent tech day, and extra extra thanks to tntmo for your encouragement and guidance on the bike service. 

best regards,

johnnyg

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Nice. I love road trips.

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Great loop!  I've been spending time in some of those areas lately. Congrats on a great ride.

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Very, very cool.  And exactly what I'd expect from SDAR types. Why fly when you can ride?

Well done, sir!

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Good to see your trip went well.  That Corbin seat is the stuff, right??  

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