Where did you ride today?

[rjs987]

A warmer day than we've had in a long time. All the way up to 53F. But just below that when I was riding. Rode 52 miles today on mostly county roads. Left the handlebar muffs on but definitely no need for heated grips at these temps. I really wish one of the roads I regularly ride on to get to other better roads would be resurfaced. It's concrete and every section is slightly offset from every other section. The edges line up but it's still like riding on a wavy road and at certain speeds the scooter gets into a harmonic bounce. Would have to go real slow to avoid it. I did stop for one pic on the way on one of the nicer roads. That lake is all ice even though the temp is up. Will take a week of 50F to make that go away.

 

[970mike]

Took the old ST out after some major service, I must have fixed it good as I now have faith in it too take me anywhere. It was a nice day for a ride.

Here is Jalama Beach.

 

[Jethro]

I wish.

 

[rjs987]

Another warmer day today. Not as warm as Tuesday was but still...
Started out my ride near 31F and returned home with the temp up to 45F. I had a few errands and things to check out that were more into town than usual so took off for the local Suzuki/Kawasaki/Indian/etc. dealer first. They are a bit out of town but across from me. Then my wife wanted me to pick up a really good sandwich from the Union Bread Co. downtown in the city so that was the next stop. I knew it would take around 25-30 mins to get home anyway so took the longer route to get me out of traffic faster. The dealer was way up north of town, and Union Bread was city center, and my route home went south of town then back west. Rode 41 miles. Trip meter A, which I use to keep track of miles from last tank fill up, is now showing just over 133 miles. That includes from when I filled up before taking the AK to the dealer for warranty service on the heated grips controller (where I'm sure the ran the bike on idle for some time) and also time in my garage measuring voltages (more running the bike on idle for a while) and a few short trips at 7F and 15F. So I don't expect real good mpg for this tank but I still consider 133 miles to be fairly good. The last red bar started flashing around 100 miles, which was kind of earlier than normal. On the AK the red bar flashes for a long time then that drops off and the red "E" flashes for another 12-15 miles before empty. So I have some miles to go before that happens. The dealer I stopped at is Struther's Brothers and they mainly carry 7 different brands including what I mentioned above and also CF Moto, Ural, Roxor, and Zero. Zero is new to them. Here are a few pictures of their show room and also their used bikes inventory. They always have the largest inventory of used bikes compared with any other dealer in central Iowa. They also have a large inventory of new bikes. This is also the dealer where I always took my Burgman to for service... when I didn't do the service myself.


At the very bottom of this pic there is a Majesty scooter and the third bike in the lineup is a gray Zero with top case.

 

[rjs987]

Was a nice sunny 59F day today. Had to run an Amazon return to the UPS store so took the AK 550. Headed right to the UPS store, dropped off package, then headed south through town to get out into the country. Stopped by a few tags but no phone signal to post them right away and ended up being Bruced on both by the time I was able to post the photos. Rode 32 miles. Since it was so warm I removed the handlebar muffs for this ride. It will be colder temps and snowing by Tuesday so put the muffs back on after my ride.
Here are a few pics.

 

[Jevers]

It got up to 43° here in the frozen North yesterday AND the sun was shining. So I unplugged the Battery Tender, aired up the tires, put on my riding suit and I was off for a very pleasant 80 mile ride! The roads were dry for the most part but dusty, salt dust, that is. I had my Gerbings on but didn't need it. I did use the heated grips though. Jevers

 

[rjs987]

Rode 33 miles today. Stopped to grab a few tags along the way. Last sunny day for the next week. Warm temps around 57F but I didn't bother to take the handlebar muffs off this time. Definitely did NOT need them but was lazy and didn't take them off. Rode the first part of the ride with my summer gloves and no grip heat but that was just tolerable but trending to cool, so put my PolarTex gloves back on. Those were warm in the muffs but I'd rather be a bit warm than cool. Usually the PolarTex gloves are plenty in these temps. Filled the tank at the end of this ride and calculated 52.4 mpg. So as the temps warm up the mpg also goes up.

Here's a pic of a boat ramp found along the way. Still a bit of snow or ice on the road where there is shade and expecting more in the next few days. River is still frozen and will stay that way for a few more weeks.

 

[Bikeric]

40 mile round trip yesterday to pick up a camera that I won at auction.

The gale was still blowing down our way and the dual carriageway bridges were very gusty so I had to keep the speed down. Lots of tree branches, twigs etc at the roadside in the sections with trees, but I didn't see anything too dire from Storm Findlay.

 

[rjs987]

Just out and about today. Sunny and around 60F so had to go for a ride. Even my wife suggested it!
Rode about 65 miles and dropped off some library books on the way out then headed for the country roads. Just meandered around and enjoyed the ride.
Did have one guy pace me on a divided 4 lane city street for a while but couldn't hear through my helmet what he was trying to tell me. Then I pulled over to the turn lane just around the corner from the library and this guy whipped across 3 lanes to get in behind me. He then stepped out of his car and started yelling at me for no reason that I could determine. No, I did not cut him off since the only time I changed lanes was several miles before that and there was no one in the lane I moved into. I turned the corner and then turned into the driveway to the library that was right there. This guy apparently didn't realize that the police station was also right there before getting to the library so I pulled into the police station parking lot and made the loop around it. The guy pulled in as I did but then realized he didn't want to be there so pulled off to another side lot to turn around. I guess 2 of the 4 police cars that had just come from the station in before I got there saw this guy ranting from his car and pulled in to block him in. One LEO rolled down his window as I was riding out of the lot and pulled close. He asked if I saw the guy yelling, I said yes, he asked if I heard what he was saying and I said no and we parted ways. I went on to the library and left by a different way. I guess it gets the wrong attention when you stop at a stop light and step out of your car yelling at someone. Hope I never cross his path again since I ride a rather distinctive bike for this area. So much for the excitement for the day.

Anyway...

 

[Roger]

Not far ... ... local garage for annual MOT - passed with a clean bill of health, and no advisories

Went for the bike's annual test yesterday - another pass - #22 - no problem!

 

[scootac]

70° and sunny today!!!

 

[rjs987]

Only around my driveway and sidewalks today...

So much for March coming in like a lamb!
It did for a very short time. A few very nice days near 60F. And then the wind blew... hard. A few tornadoes Saturday evening with one being EF4 and a total now of 7 dead and many injured with much property damage and homes or businesses lost. The big one was on the ground for over 160 miles and passed just 10 miles south of me.
Then last night the snow fell. Woke up to 3.5+ inches of heavy white stuff all over. Not really wet but definitely not dry powder. All the schools announced a 2 hour delay. 5 inches at the metro airport about 8 miles away as the crow flies.

Not such a nice day for a ride in Iowa.
Just came in from "riding" my other 2 wheeler to blow off the white stuff from the driveway and sidewalks before my wife took the 4 wheeler out to pack it down. Temps started out near 20F and will get up to the mid 30sF today. Expecting refreeze tonight and then mid 40sF tomorrow. More snow, just as much if not more, coming Wednesday night into Thursday.

This is not entirely unusual to get snow in March. Just doesn't happen every year and was hoping with being a milder winter this season that it would be a milder March. Wrong!

The lamb was devoured by the lion!

Maybe the lamb will have her revenge at the end of the month?

 

[Daboo]

Took a day-ride with James (jtvisions) to the North Cascades Highway. It's still closed at the Ross Dam Trail Head, but we could get to the Diablo Lake Overlook.

Davis Peak

Parked at the Observation Point.

Diablo Lake. You can still see ice on the lake to the left side.

The green color of the water is caused by glacial flour. https://www.nps.gov/places/diablo-lake-overlook.htm

In summer, the distinctive turquoise color of the lake is the result of suspended fine rock particles refracting sunlight. These rock particles, called glacial flour, enter the lake when rock from the surrounding mountains is eroded by ice and flows into the water through glacial streams. The color is most vibrant on sunny days in July, August, and September when seasonal glacial melt occurs.

I was trying to capture the stark contrast of the wet rock that turned black from the water. I'll have to go back and try again.

A couple of the spillway gates from one of the dams was open. Quite often, it is just a minimal amount of standing water in that river bed.

Chris

 

[mello dude]

Wow, Chris...super photos!

 

[rjs987]

Thought I posted this earlier today but can't find it so...

So I went for a little ride today. Had a big tornado Saturday. Then 3.5 inches of snow by Monday morning. Colder temps expected the next 4 days with more snow possible on Thursday. So took advantage of the sunshine and close to 40F temps today and rode around just outside of town to grab a few tags and just enjoy riding. I rode 65 miles keeping to a bypass route around north of the metro staying out of traffic... mostly. Also needed to drop off some stuff with my son at his work place and pick up some other stuff from him.

This is my son's place of work. It's a local coffee roastery which supplies coffee beans for several coffee shops in the area and also sells online world wide. They have several coffee shops in the area of their own as well. That is where my son started, as manager of one of the coffee shops, and he did so well at managing the shop and organizing the coffee sales that he was promoted to work with the owner here.

When I stopped at a local Army National Guard base equipment museum a pretty young gal who was parked there also enjoying the sun and the view jumped out of her car and insisted on taking this pic with me in it using my camera. The sun was in position to keep me in shadow.

The local amusement park. Anyone ready for some splash passes?

This is the local horse track and casino and hotel. Prairie Meadows. Right next to the amusement park above.

 

[Hound]

Not on the ST1300 - that's still poorly and in pieces - but the VFR1200X Crosstourer. Went to the Ponderosa Cafe on the Horseshoe Pass in North Wales, my first visit of the year. It was quite cold and windy but there were a couple of dozen bikes there and plenty of cars. It's bleak up there until summer.









The Crosstourer -- 1237cc, V4, shaft drive, so a close (ish) relative of the ST! Mine has DCT but you can still manually change gear with + and - buttons.

 

[mello dude]

Always thought Honda should have done an ST bike with that engine/platform.

 

[Hound]

Always thought Honda should have done an ST bike with that engine/platform.

That's pretty much what the VFR1200F was. Same 1237cc engine but 170hp. I believe Honda intended it to replace the ST, but I think it turned out to be a bit too much Sport and not enough Touring. Neither the F or the X did well in the US.



Uncle Phil rented one of these when he came over to the UK for a BritSTOC meet some years back- I don't think he cared for it much.

 

[970mike]

A nice ride with the Canadians today around Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties. The beach is Point Sal Dunes, Lunch was in San Luis Obispo.

 

[ColinW1981]

Nowhere!!! Says STacy while stamping her foot. "That green tarted hussy (AKA '17 Kawi Versys 300 in green) got to go to the USFS Middle Fork Campground outside of North Bend." Worse, that 'other woman' didn't even take pictures!