Slow Pokin' The Southeast

[Sadlsor]

Where/ what is Cajun Country?

Oh, my.
Why, Loosiann, boy! The bayou!
(Spelled "Louisiana" on most maps.)

 

[Horsehead]

Oh, my.
Why, Loosiann, boy! The bayou!
(Spelled "Louisiana" on most maps.)

Wellll, that's kind of what I thought, but seeings as I was in Georgia on that trip I didn't know if it was like a restaurant in Atlanta or something. The Bayou is definitely on the bucket list...

 

[bstig60]

Lucky to live where you are. Ride by the seat of your pants til it is time to go home.Want to do that,down there,when it is open.Not bad here,just too many lakes getting in the way.!

sounds like you need to be fishing!

 

[Pop-Pop]

Actually the oil light (and neutral light if you look closely) are both on because we were at a standstill on the interstate, so I cut the bike off to keep from boiling myself. Where/ what is Cajun Country?

Along the coast between new orleans and galv tx.

 

[Horsehead]

Went out today for some wind therapy / time alone. It was a great day to ride. Grabbed several tags for the various games over on Adventure Rider forum. All in all did right at 275 miles. Probably my longest day when just getting out of the house for a few hours was the only goal. The ST11 never ceases to impress.

 

[Sadlsor]

Which app is that?
(I've recently mentioned about my fading recollection - seems I've asked this before...)

 

[Horsehead]

It's called Calimoto. Honestly it's not the best. Half the time it cannot find a place based on its exact address. You just have to kind of get near it. But it's good for tracking rides, and it's really good at creating custom routes as you can add tons of waypoints and tell it what kind of roads you want to take to each waypoint.

 

[Pop-Pop]

Oh, my.
Why, Loosiann, boy! The bayou!
(Spelled "Louisiana" on most maps.)

It runs along the gulf coast from the french quarter to galv tx. I had deer running next to me and turtles all over the road. B careful what u order in a restaraunt! Saw the rice and crawdad ponds! Turkey vultures. It was beautiful but the roads were not great.
When it rains, it friggin rains!
If u need a cheap motel i know one.
I would do that ride again in a minute.

 

[Sparky1971]

A little trip through the mountains today

 

[Sparky1971]

Back out today for a little of the Blueridge Parkway

 

[Horsehead]

Well, wanderlust has gotten the better of me. I told my wife I would be going on a motorcycle trip to Maine before the end of summer / early fall, and she was enthusiastic that I should do just that! (seriously, I have the best wife ever).

SO. Time to start planning.

I have been pretty unhappy with using my phone as my sole GPS, so last night I ordered the Garmin Zumo 396. I might have gone for the XT, but the 396 was on sale for $249 and I just couldn't pass that up.

I also ordered a camping hammock I've had my eye on for YEARS. The Warbonnet Blackbird XLC. I have hemmed and hawed over such an expensive piece of camping kit, but again, my lovely wife told me that I must get it. So who was I to argue?

I have been researching routes from North Carolina to Maine and have found some good ones. I'm open to suggestions though!

My plan as of right now is to allocate about 5 days to the trip. 2 days up, 1 day somewhere in Maine where I end up, and 2 days back.

Alright. Hit me with some knowledge!

 

[Sadlsor]

Avoid the I-95 corridor.
I think you'll be happier.

 

[CUTiger]

+1

 

[Horsehead]

Back on the road for a few hours doing some tag games over on advrider. Always enjoy getting on for a few on Sunday before getting back to the grind of the week ahead.

 

[Horsehead]

Been a while since I've updated... Life has been busy, and riding has slowed down in the cooler months. I won't rehash everything here, but the short story is I've gone back and forth a few dozen times about whether to keep the ST or get something different. Suffice it to say, I made up my mind to keep the ST, make the changes it needs, and see why I can do with it for the long haul.

First order of business is suspension. I'm headed down to Atlanta tomorrow to get the front end rebuilt by Kent at GMD Computrack.

Before the trip I changed the oil and attempted to troubleshoot my PIAA 910 lights. As you may have seen in other threads, I was considering replacing them with LEDs. I've decided to hold off on that for now. But I still had to figure out why the both simultaneously quit working.

I took off a fair amount of the bikes Tupperware to get at the wiring / relays for the PIAA harness. With my multi meter in hand, I checked voltage, resistance, and functionality of the relays and fuses. Much to my dismay everything seemed to be fine. I check connections and looked for a bad ground. Again, all fine. I ohmed out the bulbs to make sure they weren't blown despite the fact that they visually looked fine. As a last resort I bought the cheapest replacement bulb I could find on Amazon in the hopes that maybe, somehow, it would be that simple after all. And wouldn't you know, it was...



Not long after the Amazon driver left the package in my car port, I had the lamps apart and fitted the new bulbs, and wha-la!, Let there be light. I went for the 55w xenon's simple because they were cheap. We'll see how long they hold up!



I'm still a bit puzzled as to why the PIAA lights look fine, test fine on the ohm meter, and don't light up, but these new bulbs do? I'm not an electrician, but it strikes me as very odd.



Either way, I'm glad these new bulbs work. Hopefully I'll get to my friends house tomorrow before I need them to see. I don't fancy riding at night in Atlanta in February...

 

[Horsehead]

The first major step in upgrading the ST11 and transforming it into my long-term partner in adventure to parts near and far took place last week. On Thursday I rode down from my home just south of Greensboro, NC to Canton, GA, where some family friends were kindly hosting me for the night so I could be at my appointment bright and early the next morning at GMD Computrack Atlanta to get the new Racetech suspension installed on the ST’s front end.


When I originally called the fine folks at GMD, I was given some tips on how to remove the forks, package them, and ensure that everything was reinstalled correctly. Towards the end of the conversation, Kent mentioned that “if you want to ride in, we can do it all here in the shop in about 4 hours.” Now, I would describe myself as somewhat mechanically inclined. My dad and I restored a 1976 Toyota Landcruiser and a 1965 Chevy C10 when I was a teenager. I knew I “could” do the work, but I also knew that attempting it myself in the relatively exposed conditions of my carport, in February, in my spare time, would likely increase the difficulty of the task exponentially. Not to mention entrusting my forks to the ham-fisted dock workers at UPS or USPS. Ergo, it wasn’t really a difficult decision to block off a couple of days (the forecast was calling for temps in the mid 60s!) and make plans to just ride down and let the experts handle it.



So, giving the bike a good spring cleaning / routine service a few days before, I packed my things on Thursday morning and hit the road around 11am.


The most direct route from Greensboro to Atlanta is to take I-85 South 90% of the way. However, I detest driving on 85, and I simply refuse to ride the motorcycle for that long on it unless there just aren’t any other options. Thankfully, there is a MUCH better option. Head west on I-40 (still not a leisurely ride by any stretch of the imagination) to Asheville, and then cut down through the North Georgia.


If you’re lucky, you might even get to stop for lunch of homemade muffins your wife made you before you left and photo ops in front of dumpy motels.





The best part of this route though is that even though it adds about 40 minutes to the overall trip, you only have to ride for about 3 hours on the highway before you’re on secondary roads. And, what’s more, you even get to enjoy some nice twisties in the Nantahala River Gorge and in a few other spots as you enter North Georgia through the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Chattahoochee National Forest.






I made good time, stopping twice for gas and once for lunch. I arrived at our friend’s house at about 5:30pm. Dinner was Mexican at a nearby restaurant and was quite good. I hit the sack early, as I was pretty road weary and had to get up early to make my appointment at the shop the next morning.





Friday morning, temps were holding about 35 degrees F. The ride from our friend’s house to the shop was about 45 minutes. Despite the cooler temperatures, I wasn’t uncomfortable, thanks to the ST’s wind protection and the extra layers I’d geared up in.





I got to the shop at around 10am and they quickly got the bike in and on the lift. The mechanic asked all sorts of questions about my riding style, where I liked to ride, what kind of extra gear I carried on the bike, etc. etc. etc. The welcoming nature of the shop and the obvious expertise of the mechanics reinforced in my mind that I’d made the right decision leaving this job to them.





While they worked, I wandered around the small town of Fairmount, GA. It’s a small town with a bank, a locally owned drug store, hardware store, coffee shop, and a couple of restaurants and service stations. I sat in the park directly across the street from the shop and had a pipe and a coffee. It was, without a doubt, the worst cup of coffee I’ve had in a long time. But, coffee is part of my morning routine, and so I choked it down.





While I sat and waited, a gentleman arrived with a truck and trailer. After a few minutes, he unloaded a 2wd Ural from the trailer and parked it in front of the shop. He spoke with one of the mechanics for quite a while and then left. Before long, the owner of the shop came out and fired the Ural up and took it for a few laps around the block. I shouted “Now you’re just showing off” as he came by at about 15 mph, side car in the air, turned around, and did it again. He stopped and said “Want to go for a ride?” Having never been in a side car before, I jumped at the opportunity, grabbed my helmet, and hopped in. He gave me a guided tour of Fairmount from a street view level.





I can remember years ago, looking at Urals in magazines and on various websites and thinking “Man, this would be a cool machine to travel on.” One trip around town was all it took to disabuse me of that notion! The torque steer was awful and the bike had almost no power to speak of. I think I’ll stick to the ST…








An hour or so later, the work was complete and the bike back together. I talked about the changes with the mechanic and he explained to me the differences I would notice before sending me on my merry way home. He also showed me the old bushings and seals and we talked about how the bike had been “babied” by its previous owners and how as many STs as he’s worked on over the years, “you got a really good one.” To hear the honest opinion of a seasoned mechanic telling me that my bike was in great shape and had been well maintained made me quite happy and definitely strengthened the bond felt between man and machine.





On the way home, I was treated to a slightly different route back north through the Blue Ridge range of Georgia and it was the perfect way to get to know the new suspension.





The difference truly is night and day. Instead of a smushy, indecisive, hard diving front end, the front of the ST is now responsive, confidence inspiring, and planted. I’ve pondered for the last couple of days how to really put into words what the bike feels like with the new suspension. I’m not the greatest rider, and certainly have no race or track experience, so take whatever I say with a grain of salt… Looking back, the stock suspension is way too soft, dives horribly under hard braking, bounces like a pogo stick, and tries to go wherever it wants in a corner. When hustling the bike through the corners last year, I got in the habit of anticipating the front end dive, knowing it would come up when I got off the brakes, entering the corner, feeling the front end wobble and wiggle as the road surface changed underneath you, knowing you’d have to give steering input to correct, and then exiting the corner to do it all over again.





The new Racetech springs with gold valve emulators, new oil, bushings, and seals couldn’t be more different. First, whereas the stock suspension might dive several inches under braking, the new suspension gently compresses maybe 3/4 of an inch to an inch, unless you’re coming up to a stop light hard and really just grab a handful of front brake. Then, it rebounds smoothly and controllably. No bouncing up and down at all. Entering the corner, it goes where you point it. The subtle changes of the road surface are absorbed and move from the front of your mind to the back, because the bike doesn’t come off its line, shudder, shake, wiggle, or wobble anymore. It plants itself in the line you chose and unless you tell it to do something different, that’s where it stays.





Now, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows, and there are compromises to be made. Where the mushy stock suspension is nice, is going straight down the interstate at 65-75mph for hours on end. My perception may change in time, but it seems like on the way down, the lack of input from the front end made for a bit of a more relaxed ride. Now, you feel the suspension working and can really feel the road underneath you. On well paved sections it’s no big deal. Where I could really tell a difference was on sections of interstate with concrete road surface. There you really feel the seams between each segment of concrete and the bike does tend to bounce a bit more. But life is all about compromises, and I will take the increased performance and stability when it really matters all day every day and twice on Sunday. I don’t really enjoy droning on for hours and hours on end on the interstate anyways. I imagine it would take something like GL1800 to really make me truly comfortable doing that all day.





So there you have it. 768 miles, give or take. Total time from leaving my driveway to pulling back in was about 36 hours. 2.25ish tanks of gas, for a total of about $56 in fuel. Easily less than what I would have spent shipping the forks down.





Now, I wait for the Wilbers shock to come in. Experiencing the difference the new front suspension made, I cannot wait to see how the ST will perform once the rear is done as well.





Until next time!

 

[Uncle Phil]

Those folks are a real jewel when it comes to suspensions and just all around nice people to deal with!
Glad it worked out well for you.

 

[Horsehead]

The weather today was simply too amazing for me to stay home. Bluebird skies with a high around 72° meant I had to get out and ride. My first proper ride since getting the new tires installed and first ride with the new racetech front end that wasn't mostly highway. MAN this bike handles like a champion! I can't wait till the Wilbers rear shock gets here and I can see what she can really do. The difference is already night and day between the old worn out suspension and just the new rubber and front end. I can only imagine how good it's going to be once everything is complete...

 

[Pop-Pop]

The weather today was simply too amazing for me to stay home. Bluebird skies with a high around 72° meant I had to get out and ride. My first proper ride since getting the new tires installed and first ride with the new racetech front end that wasn't mostly highway. MAN this bike handles like a champion! I can't wait till the Wilbers rear shock gets here and I can see what she can really do. The difference is already night and day between the old worn out suspension and just the new rubber and front end. I can only imagine how good it's going to be once everything is complete...

What tires are you using?

 

[Horsehead]

What tires are you using?

I went with the Dunlop Roadsmart IIIs again.