Road Trip

[1999 Drifter]

Sounds like a great trip Troll and safe riding for those heading out, the weather in Sudbury(northern) Ontario Canada has been just beautiful highs in the low 70's for 10 days or so
have put on 8,000 + miles this year on my 99 1500 for a grand  total of....18,495mi
Combo city and town April till end of August every fill up recorded 46.1mpg
best recorded gas mileage 58.1 mpg

FYI

[VN1500]

Glad ya had a nice trip Troll. Too bad the weather wasn't better.

Leaving myself tomorrow on my Drifter. Heading west to Missouri , Arkansas etc. Myself and a local friend & his wife.

We won't do the daily distance you did, we're in Ohio. We are doing all US & State routes [it's what we like].

My luggage system is similar to yours, except that i have some vintage Buco hard bags, as opposed to leather. I've traveled on the Drifter before , it does pretty well. I have a later model BMW, but haven't had it long enough to know if I want to live with it for 10+ days on the road.

When i return, I'll be asking for tutoring on down loading pics. I just got my first digital....not all that well versed yet.

Ron

[chief]

Thanks for the narrative. I really appreciate hearing about this trip. I had a similar experience with our Goldwing the last trip through the Great Plains... the winds really impact mpg... not to mention fatigue!  We had about 40 mph crosswinds in SD... headwinds elsewhere. It really takes all of your attention. The fenders on the Drifter don't help the situation, either!

[Troll]

Ok, I'm back home... feel like I've gone 5 rounds with Rocky. I left Casper at 7:30 on Thursday morning...it was 34 deg. I almost took my winter clothes with the electric heaters with me, but literally at the last minute , decided not to   DUMB!. I did take the liner for my mesh jacket and cool weather gloves......I swore at myself all day Thursday, but this is not supposed to happen this time of year. I put my rain suit on, even though it was just cold, and it blocked enough of the cold wind to keep me reasonably warm, considering everything. Just outside of Gillette, I ran into a cold rain, and that stayed with me all the way to Sioux Falls. I did manage to take some more pictures, before the rain, so here is one of the thriving metropolis of Bill, WY. I happened on this place about 30 yrs. ago by accident, and since I was in the "neighborhood" I decided to stop by. The population has swelled from 2 to eleven, and they even have a motel, now. The Vulcan in the picture is the only new thing in "town" since I was last there. The bike performed admirably,
1,951 miles in 4 days. My only complaint, besides losing the rear reflector, is that the fuel injection system adapts to load, and the mileage, depending on the headwind I was pushing went from a high of nearly 46 to a low of 32, when it was really cold and windy, coming across South Dakota. I have to do some more research into how to prevent this drastic swing. This clearly could be a good 1,000 mile a day bike, but with the fuel issue, it's not ready for prime time, yet.

[Troll]

Heading home tomorrow....Yesterday it was 80+, today in the 40's......and rain, but not much....tomorrow is supposed to be high 70's...Here's a picture of of miles and miles of miles, and one of an abandoned ranch....Rode over to Shoshoni this morning, 100 miles west of Casper, just for the heck of it...Tomorrow, I'm going to be taking Wy 59 through the Thunder Basin National Grassland, just so I can stop at the town of Bill....I hear 11 people live there, now...Last time I was there it was 2.

[Troll]

The first picture shows why I have a trac fone....nothing in sight, and 5 out of six bars on the phone, called home to let my wife know I wasn't dead, yet. Second one was taken about 1/4 mile from my motel in "town"

[mookybird]

Great trip through some beautiful country, that last photo looks like you found a few bugs with your windshield.

I'm pulling out of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State tomorrow morning heading east then turning south for a desert ride down to Twnetynine Palms to take a marine "nephew" out for dinner before he deploys to Afganistan in a couple of weeks.

Figuring to go to Mexico and pickup some eardrops and take a photo before riding back home next week, this will be the last long ride before winter for me. Be safe and enjoy your ride home. Denny

[KsDrifter]

Very nice, ride safe!

[Troll]

   I have a week to take a trip. I haven't been on a decent ride since 2005.  I left on 9-12 @ 7am. The goal is 2,000 miles in 4 days, with 1 day for sight seeing before returning. as of now, I have 932 miles and will be leaving for home on Thursday morning. I did 656 miles the first day, only stopping for gas, etc. Tuesday I stopped often for pictures. So far the Drifter has performed flawlessly, except for losing the reflector above the license plate. Here are a couple of pictures...starting with the one my wife took before I left.