Utah 2017

BamaRider

Guy
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I'll be heading out Oct 1 for a ride out to Utah to lean the canyons. Over the years I managed to ride the best roads Utah had to offer, but I promised myself I'd come back and spend several days and nights. I'm making good on that this year. Home will be over the high country of North Colordao in Fall color.

In this chapter of my long riding career, I'm spending time in places I most just passed through back in the day. I have always taken my time on a long tour, but even more so now. I'll be on backroads except for first and last day. Those are the only days I ride to get somewhere. In a case of poor planning I planned my 2 nights in Moab on Columbus Day weekend. Not really my fault, in Alabama that day is just another day, but other parts of the country its a big deal.

This will be a camp/motel mix tour.

For the first time in my career I won't be riding alone. My brother is accompanying me on his 2014 Concours. He's been riding since the days of his Rupp Minibike, but not any long rides. I've coached him up as best I could. He has the proper gear and extras down to the sena bluetooth. The last month he has been busy riding almost everyday, to get use to the extended saddle time needed for a cross country ride. He is beside himself and looks forward to seeing things only seen on tv/movies.

This ride will come in somewhere between 4-k miles spread out over 12 days, so the pace will be good. Gives us time to see things and enjoy where ever it is we find ourselves.

I'll be riding the RT for this tour. It is still the most comfortable stock bike out there. The BMW is now closing in on 100k miles. In our buildup we've found the Connie almost 2-1 gas stops over the stingy 50 mpg RT with a 7.6 gallon tank. He has a smaller gas tank and more thirsty motor, so run the numbers.

Looking forward to a great ride.
 

okckeith

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Enjoy your trip. I'm leaving out on the 1st with a buddy headed to Washington State. We're on a 12 day ride also. We will be staying a night in Moab also. Hopefully Make it there Monday night is the plan. Sounds like we will be a day or so ahead of you.
Have a safe ride.
 
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I'm leaving out on the 1st with a buddy headed to Washington State.
Keith-
You might check the status of the wildfires in the NW before you head up there. We were in western central Oregon a few weeks ago and the smoke was so bad in some areas we altered our itinerary because the air quality was so bad it just wasn't healthy. At the time in some areas roads were closed due to the conditions. A stretch of I-84 east of Portland was closed for several days while we were there. We had no idea before we went up there about the fires and smoke conditions until we found ourselves in it. Also at the time, we found out it wasn't just Oregon. Several states in the NW as well as in BC in Canada were having the same problems. Hopefully things have gotten better since then but when we were there it was pretty bad in a lot of places and it had been going on for a while.
 

ToddC

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Keith-
You might check the status of the wildfires in the NW before you head up there. We were in western central Oregon a few weeks ago and the smoke was so bad in some areas we altered our itinerary because the air quality was so bad it just wasn't healthy. At the time in some areas roads were closed due to the conditions. A stretch of I-84 east of Portland was closed for several days while we were there. We had no idea before we went up there about the fires and smoke conditions until we found ourselves in it. Also at the time, we found out it wasn't just Oregon. Several states in the NW as well as in BC in Canada were having the same problems. Hopefully things have gotten better since then but when we were there it was pretty bad in a lot of places and it had been going on for a while.
Most all the fires are well contained......and the smoke has blown out. A little rain and lots of fresh ocean air cleared us up...:bow1:

ToddC
 

okckeith

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Most all the fires are well contained......and the smoke has blown out. A little rain and lots of fresh ocean air cleared us up...:bow1:

ToddC
Thanks for the reply Todd. And sorry Ken I did not reply. Kind of busy making sure I am over packed and forgetting something.
Todd had posted several pictures of the smoke. Yes it was bad.
Thank you for the warning though.
 
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Turns out I'll be in Utah from the 8th until the 13th of October. Visiting my daughter while she is on fall break from school. You guys have fun!
 

okckeith

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I hope you found a place to stay. I should have warned you. To be honest I didn’t even think about it. We started there 10-2-17. We were lucky to find a cabin at the campground in town. All the rooms in town were booked.
I hope your trip was as good as ours. I sure enjoyed it.
 
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I am in Utah all the time. I live in Park City, on the East side of the Wasatch Mountains about 25 miles east of Salt Lake City. There are some great motorcycle roads around here if anyone makes it up to the northern part of the state.
 

John OoSTerhuis

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I just returned from this tour. You can read about it on my website. Just click over there and follow the links.
Finally finished reading the trip report:
http://www.bamarider.com/southwest-tour-2017

Thanks for the great ride-along, Guy! Have ridden moST of those wonderful roads myself, twisties and lovely plains too. What a gift to ride with your brother. BeST Wishes,

John
 

lectron

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Hello I have read your dialogue re: your trip with your brother, and enjoyed it immensely. While I have ridden through a lot of the are you described it brought back lots of memories. You have a very good way in narrating your trip and i was pleased that everything went well. Since 1998 me and my friends have visited all the lower 48 states, and found it to be a wonderful expierence. Looking forward to find new roads and enjoy this great country. I ride a 2005 ST 1300. Love it.
 
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