Quick trip to Galveston

Made a quick trip to Galveston today to see the xmas lights. This was Kathy's first ride on the Golwing. I had to pickup Kathy in Plantersville and in my haste, I forgot the camera at home! Here's a pic of the Moody Garden's pyramid lit up.


Some more pics from this trip are here.

Gravel roads

I took the new Goldwing on gravel roads today. I was not sure how it will handle, one of my friends who tried a K1200LT on gravel said he kept his feet on the ground, it was that bad!

The Goldwing, even though much heavier compared to K1200RS handles better than the KRS (I have not ridden the KLT on gravel so I can't comment).

So the Yamaha FZ6 was the worst on gravel and the lightest bike, next best was BMW K1200RS and the best and heaviest so far is the Honda GL1800.

Here's a pic of the 'wing after my first ride on gravel:


Here's another one of just the road:
http://solorider.smugmug.com/photos/226623399-XL.jpg

Excuse the low quality images, I just snapped them from my handheld.

500 mile ride to trade in my bike

Read the details here.

Bigbend to Houston non-stop

Now I can say my longest ride without a stop is around 700 miles! Kathy had decided she had to be back on Monday so she'll be up early and drive towards Houston. Her early is 4am, I told her

I'll get up my usual time 7am and head out after packing.

Kathy was up around 3am and out, I got up at 7am and was on the bike rolling at 9am.I've never done such a long continuous ride, but feel confident I can do it.

After experimenting with different riding positions, I've found a mix that works for indefinite lengths of time.I take Hwy 170 to Hwy 118, the sun is just coming up, beautiful weather and unbelievable scenery.

To make up good time, I'm going a few MPH over the limit, GPS started out saying I'll be back at home at 6:45pm then dropped down to 6:10pm.

I don't stop for anything, just this one pic and put the camera back on the top case.

I get to Alpine, fill up the bike and get chocolate shake for myself. Back on the road, Hwy 67 to I10 (just want to get back quick). I10 riding is pretty uneventful, I put the cruise around 90 and just cruise along.

I see the gas guage getting low, and reserve hits. No prob, I'll pull up at next gas station.GPS says next gas station is 40 miles in Ozona and I already have reserve hit, not good.

I speed up and tuck under the windscreen. I see a Fina sign to the right, damn GPS didn't show it, too late now. About 12 miles from Ozona I get pulled over by LEO.

No dispute, I was doing 103MPH in 80MPH zone. Told the officor I'm running low on gas, he says ok, but has to give me a ticket as 103 is a little excessive (I'm thinking I'll take defensive driving and don't protest). LEO tells me gas is 12 miles ahead.

I Get back on the bike and 9 miles before Ozona the engine starts to sputter and I'm out of gas (this is never ever happened to me). Not to worry I take the seat off and find the road side assistance booklet in the under seat compartment.

I'm talking to a BMW road side operator who is trying to give me another number to call when the same LEO pulls up behind me. Cool guy, he says not to worry about BMW roadside and calls a wrecker on his phone to get me gas, I say, this calls for a picture, LEO says hangon let me roll up my window!
You see the seat is still off the bike.

I wait about 30 minutes, long 30 minutes, I call Kathy and she says it's storming bad in San Antonio, then gas arrvies. I pay the guy $50 for gas and service fee and I'm back on the road.

I top off at Ozona, time for another chocolate milk and I'm off to Houston.I find a guy in Lexus doing about 120 so I tuck in right behind hoping he has radar/laser jammer.

Finally I have to let the guy go and make another fuel stop in Seguin (don't want to risk it again). Looks like it rained in Seguin, a lady says it rained around 10am. No problem off on the road again.

San Antonio doesn't show any sign of rain but I'm on freeways and over passes. I get near Sealy and see clouds, low hanging ominous clouds. I hope that's all it is, just clouds and press on.

Soon it start pouring down and thundering like there was no tomorrow. I can barely see through the face shield so I turn my hazard on, go slow and exit to stop at a truck stop.

I should have put the rain suit on when I saw the clouds in the distance, now I know better, lesson learned.

Since I'm waiting for rain to go down a bit, might as well have dinner. I order the special, which was nastiest steak I ever had, I put my rain gear on and I'm going to press on.The truckers say "you've got to be crazy to go in this weather", but I have to be back home and at work tomorrow morning.

I press on, I leave my hazard on while I'm on I-10, home was about 60 miles when I stopped, but my speed is causing GPS to recalculate time. I turn off I-10 on to Fry road, rain has slowed down a bit but cagers have flipped and they keep turning without blinkers cutting me off! I take Fry road all the way to 290 to 1960 and I'm home at 8:45pm.

What an experience, am I tired today NO, any sores from the long distance riding (for me it was long distance) NO, does Master Yoda's Riding Position for KRS work? YES!

Bigbend 2007 Day 3 Riding around in the park

All the details here.

Big Bend 2007 ride Alpine to Lajitas

Today we were up early (by my standards) I was up at 6:00 am and all done with showering by 7:00am. We were on the road at about 9:00am, taking Hwy 67 to Hwy 118. Hwy 118 and onwards we were in Big Bend country. This is evident by the weird hills and mountains that are mostly made up of sedimentary rock, volcanic ash and sand, yes this area used to be under the sea at some point.
Elevation changes were significant on Hwy 118 and the road has long sweeping turns and is a perfect black top. Perfect for motorcycles.
Here's a teaser photo. Remember the entire gallary is here.
From Hwy 118 we hopped onto Hwy 170. We took the hilly road to The Ultimate Hideout. Kathy did notice the "Lajitas International Airport", here' s pic.

You can also view detailed forum entry here along with other rider commentaries.

Big Bend 2007 ride day 2 Austin to Alpine

Today was the longest leg of the road. We kept on 290 from Austin, through Fredricksberg and then took I-10 to Hwy 67. The ride through Fredricksberg was great, hills curves, sweepers, etc.

If you've experienced I-10, it's long mostly straight and plenty of cut throughs in the hills to keep the road straight. You have to be careful on this road, every time you go through a cut in the hill the cross winds just gust like a wind tunnel. Kathy thought something was wrong with the car, I told her it's just the wind.

You can visit the entire gallery for day two here.

It was a relieve to turn on to Hwy 67, problem was later on most of the road was under contruction. We stopped at a picnic spot to take some photos. Here's one of the bike at the stop: