alfalfa

when it's a tad warm and you still have to ride, living near the Pacific Ocean helps.  We took a little run up the coast to a hidden beach (Jalama) for lunch.

Playing with the dealer's toys

The train station in Rhyolite is one of the best things there.  Bottle building next.  If you've seen the movie "The Island" with Ewan McGregor, they come out of the ground in Rhyolite.

On 14/05/2023 at 08:09, Earache said:

Speed limit is 65, (this is in California - fuckin' lefty, commie,  liberal state that wants to tell you how to do everything),  which is pretty low. I did roughly 85 across all of this. Going too fast and the pig of a bike drinks too much fuel.

Hah!!!  We spend all our time at least 15 over.  Until we get to Colorado, where the drivers call the cops on you 

They are more "speed suggestions" versus "speed limits".  Especially those roads you took.  Awesome area!!

On 12/05/2023 at 07:19, Earache said:

You can see why it's a fun road to ride. No run off room though and the drop is rather severe - bad place to crash...

 

 

 

 

 

 

We came close to crossing paths, I guess.  Maybe off by a week.  Our trip was weekend of 5/6!

On 28/04/2023 at 15:16, Marcel said:

BOTM material boys. 

i like it - equal opportunity rider!!

Little ride around Utah, Nevada and California with the incontinent bunch (BMW Club of Southern California).

Chilly temps, little rain, some snow.  Death Valley was a perfect ending to warm us all back up.

I guess i'm the strange one as i thought the scenery in your pics was worth the trip.  of course, we spend a lot of time in Death Valley and the Mohave Desert .    It sure isnt Colorado, but then i dont believe Texas posts signs with a number to call if someone is driving "agressively" 

Did you go thru Hill Country?  Much greener scenery.

On 21/04/2023 at 05:45, Buckster said:

 

 

might want to polish that chrome a little bit.

On 24/04/2023 at 15:18, Marcel said:

she seems nice

On 23/04/2023 at 00:59, XTreme said:

@alfalfa?

I believe that Dean went by GS Dude on ADV and on ASR?  Possibly even Maxibikes.  And, there was a binned bike taken back to the dealer from that Rally, but it may have been Dean that binned it?   I dont recall Bucky wrecking his bike. (You were on an 800 GS, werent you?).   I did get pelted with exhaust parts following one of the smaller bikes out the highway to the VLA due to the speeds everyone was trying to hit, keeping up with Dean .  

Think this was the messed up bike.

Bucky was on this one:

With all the rain that California has been having (earlier this year), the wild flowers are out in full bloom in a lot of places you rarely see them.

Normally, this area is all brown and dry.

On 13/04/2023 at 04:06, boboneleg said:

Wow, you’re on for a sixty-niner at the end of the month

who isnt?

11 hours ago, Buckster said:

I do find it terrible being forced to ride around in Scotland, it is so bland here.

The only midge repellant that works to any degree.

Don't tell anyone, but Scotland was probably my favorite section on the trip.  Closely followed by the Lake District.  The good thing was that the English portion was more than awesome, and it came in 3rd

One of my favorite things to do when traveling outside the US, is to see what cars the locals get that we dont.  Station wagons (Estates?) arent very popular anymore in the US.  People have been brainwashed into thinking you will only be safe if you drive some big, hulking SUV.   Which is true, to a point.  But, mostly for when the other SUV idiot runs into you.

Our Plockton accommodations:

The beginnings of some fun we would have with Gary.   A little bee sting was going to mess his face up for a few days <G>

The next morning, we continued around Loch Carron on a fun, twisty road - A890.   We stopped in LochCarron for breakfast and to track down drugs for the one-eyed beast above.

Running along the A87 on the Isle of Skye:

Plockton is on the backside of a peninsula, on Loch Carron and is really cool little fishing village.   On the way there, we stopped off and took some photos of dinner:

We normally only see these at the Golden Arches, between two pieces of bread.   

As you can tell, the Amuricans were confused:

We checked into the house we had rented, changed and walked down to the main "block" for dinner.

I guess y'all dump old Tartis's just anywhere:

Hungry Amuricans wondering if they should get the Fish n chips, the fish, or the chips......

We had a BnB reserved in the small village of Plockton, so after pics at the castle (gotta love castles!!), we did a quick lap of the Isle of Skye.

Guess this was the only way to dress to protect yourself from the midges!

Someone missing a Tartis?

Another shot of the bridge.

On 03/04/2023 at 09:49, Sir Fallsalot said:

When me and specs camped by that white building in the image a few years ago it was far from decent weather 
 

I was really expecting to spend the whole trip soggy, based on what your hear and what some friends had reported.  So, we were more than pleasantly surprised to get such excellent weather when we were there.   The first day, with record temps in London, it was interesting to see how the locals reacted.  104 degrees is not a big deal to us here in Southern California.  We end up riding in those temps several times a year, in California, in Nevada, Utah and AZ.   Not fun, but doable.

We did get a really good rain storm leaving Edinburgh, which gave me lung congestion and lost voice.   I bought a rain jacket when we got back to the Lake District, which of course guaranteed we wouldnt ride in the wet again 

19 hours ago, Buckster said:

I knew you would get there eventually.

I may be slow, but i am also dense.

On 10/04/2023 at 10:15, alfalfa said:

Interesting.  Just got back from a 500 mile ride and dont know what "unridable" means to some.  The only time it gets interesting is when i pretend its a canyon racer.  The bagger version has more ground clearance than the original, but I am usually passing/leaving most Harleys i see in the mountains here.

 

Actually, mine became a little less rideable yesterday.  The free Sirius radio subscription ran out

 

Reading is fundamental.  You were referring to the Groundpounder    Yes, that bike was pretty close to unrideable!   Feet forward, but you had nothing to hang on to at full throttle.  The lack of suspension was readily apparent.

But, at the time it looked cool.  This was the heyday of factory customs!

On 02/04/2023 at 22:51, Buckster said:

I heard they are close to unridable, every corner is a new adventure. 

Interesting.  Just got back from a 500 mile ride and dont know what "unridable" means to some.  The only time it gets interesting is when i pretend its a canyon racer.  The bagger version has more ground clearance than the original, but I am usually passing/leaving most Harleys i see in the mountains here.

Actually, mine became a little less rideable yesterday.  The free Sirius radio subscription ran out

On 01/04/2023 at 13:42, boboneleg said:

Nice one @alfalfa  , it even looks like you got decent weather

out of about 9 days, we had one afternoon of rain while in Edinburgh.  Rest of the time it was really nice!!

7 hours ago, Buckster said:

Did you have an Ultra Gound Pounder?

yessir.  present i bought myself when i turned 40.  Bike vibrated so much that the air cleaner screw backed out while salesman was showing me the bike.  Had one hell of a motor!  Would break the rear tire loose in second gear, while moving.   

9 hours ago, Buckster said:

The foot position on these is all wrong.

I find my R18B very comfortable with the feet where they are.  The feet-forward position on my Road King and GroundPounder always were weird.  The Groundpounder would throw you off the back of the bike under full acceleration