2008-08-04 NAFO Colorado ( 7/18-22)

published by dcarver on Sun, 02/06/2011 - 11:26

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Part 1 - Ride to Dads House

After months of waiting, finally it was NAFO time! I would start from San Luis Obispo, CA, head to Salem Oregon to see pops, spend Sat and Sunday then off to Oregon City to GP Suspension to have my rear Penske re-valved and have the front forks worked on.

Left the salt mine at noon, Friday July 18^th. The bike to the right of Crzy8 is Miss Beemer, a 1984 R100T I sold to my buddy.

East of Paso Robles on CA 41 is pretty boring. This stretch of dirt is now consumed with vineyards, a good or bad thing depending upon who you talk to.

Ran across this FJR on 41 East, quietly wondered if he too was heading to NAFO. Interesting fellow; ¾ helmet, fingerless gloves, riding with his bud on a Harley. Perhaps he recently acquired the FJR and is not in Power Ranger mode yet?

At the junction of I5 and 41, stopped for ice and water to fill the Skyway hydration system. While pumping gas, this fellow walks over with a 1 gallon can and asks if I can afford ½ gallon to help get him back on the road. I look over, here's his rig. Notice the custom AC.

July and August is carnie time for many small towns; on I5 saw this contraption:

Near Shasta Lake, Whiskeytown, evidence of the fires is clearly visible:

Only 419 miles to go! (and I'm bored already of this I5 droning stuff)

More smoke:

Arrived in Weed, CA for fuel, dinner, and to buy a new hat. I always buy a new WEED CA hat when I'm in the area. BTW, for folks who travel through Weed, this is a new restaurant, BBQ, and it was really good, 2 thumbs up!

While eating a delicious BBQ rib salad, yeah, you heard it right, BBQ rib <b>salad</b>, I started wondering if I was up to ride all the way to Salem. I was already feeling tired, had been stressed at work, and immediately decided to ride as far and long as I felt safe; as soon as I felt otherwise the day's journey was done and I would head to a hotel. This was the first smart decision I made on this journey.

After dinner, headed back to the bike to find Weed's finest paying close attention to my FJR? Oh, just a bit of paranoia sneaking in; they had been called by store management to deal with a customer a bit too unruly.

Night time presents opportunities for unusual pictures; like this one of 'A Shit House Under Night Lights'.

Only made it to Philomath, OR, I was having visions of deer jumping out from alongside the forested I5 corridor, even applied panic brakes for one imaginary deer.. then decided it was time to hold true to my own safety promise and stop for the night.

The next day opened with beautiful sunshine, great vision and the promise of a new day, one I've never lived before.

Stopped in Philomath, OR, to visit an old friend and see their local street faire.

What a nice little farmers market they have! Every Saturday morning, fresh food from the fields, music and lots of doggies walking around obidently following the law by keeping their own leash firmly clenched in their teeth!

This young gypsy girl could really sing:

The veggies were weird looking. We don't have veggies in Creston!

Another thing we don't have in Creston, or CA for that matter, are old brick buildings. Evidently they don't have earthquakes in Albany Oregon.

Had to laugh at this sign:

This old Studebaker truck actually brought fresh veggies to the farmers market!

After taking in the Farmers Market, it was time to head north up to Salem. Decided to let GPS provide directions and boy oh boy did it get lost. It's ok though, I had a full tank of gas and no arrival time.

A farmers field:

An old barn picture, taken for in memory of Andrew.

Spent 2 days in Salem with Pops and family, doing family 'stuff'. Pops is nearly blind now, here are his new tools for getting around town.

Ok, this one is for all you gamers who started on DOS games. In the 1980's there was a game called 'Lounge Lizard Larry' and I loved that stupid game. IIRC, the bar that LLL was drinking in was called Lefty's. Imagine my surprise when serendipitously I found an EXACT sign of a real bar that matched the game from so long ago. Could it be the gamers used this sign?

To be continued

Part 2 - GP Suspension

Permalink Submitted by dcarver on Thu, 06/09/2011 - 08:01.

GP Suspension

Monday, July 21 2008 found me in Oregon City at GP Suspension. I had purchased a new 3-way Penske rear shock in January, but decided to not have the forks done as Crzy8 was fresh back from a deer strike and had new fork tubes, seals, bushings, oil, etc.

Here's Crzy8 looking really red neck, up on blocks..

Fork internals:

The suspension guru, Dave, at work on my forks.

Stock fork valves and GPS valves.

Rear shock valving:

Ben at work on the rear shock:

Shock install:

Shock rebuild part deux:

I can't say enough good things about Dave and Ben. They bicker like an old married couple.

Dave "Where you this morning, Ben?"

To which Ben replies, "Camping, just like I told you last week. Oh, by the way, great job on scheduling an FJR when I'm not going to be here!"

And so on and so forth throughout the day these best buds continually busted each other's chops, all in good fun.

Dave is a real perfectionist, and it took all day for them to finish the bike:

My rear shock came only 4 clicks away from full soft, not centered midrange. I mentioned this to Dave who immediately said to Ben "Pull that rear shock, we need to fix that!"
After building the front forks, Ben showed me the proper to cinch things up so that the tubes are in alignment, preventing binding and stiction. Dave allowed me to observe the entire process – teardown, inspection, parts replacement, how the computer CAD program is used to generate automated parts machining, his pistons vs. Traxxion vs. RaceTech vs. stock Honda. For Dave, it's a passion.
After completely rebuilding (revalving) the shock, it was installed. Dave wasn't happy with the sag settings so off came the 800 lb. spring and on went a 850 lb spring.
Then Dave noticed the hose connecting the remote reservoir to the shock body. "Why is it routed like that?" he asked. I responded, "It's the only way I could figure to get it to fit. I read the instructions but just couldn't see how it would work." Dave wasn't happy that the hose had an 'S' curve in it. Looking carefully, Dave deduced that my shock was shipped with a 13" hose when it should have been a 10" hose.
So off comes the shock for a hose replacement. This essentially means a complete rebuild! Finally, Dave and Ben set the sag, front and rear, with me on the bike.

These guyz are the BEST and I highly reccommend them!

Part 3 - Salem OR --> Twin Falls ID --> Steamboat Springs CO

Permalink Submitted by dcarver on Thu, 06/09/2011 - 10:08.

Well, ol SockMonkey as done the route in again by delteing his photobucket pix

When we arrived at Steamboat, old ever scheduling SockMonkey had a planned pre-NAFO banquet! Realize that I prefer to ride solo, this was the longest I've EVER travelled in a group, and experienced the good and not-so-good of group riding, but decided never-the-less to attend the banquet.

Of course, the banquet restaurant was '1 mile away, tops' per old SockMonkey. So BikerSkier, old long-legged SockMonkey and myself start out on the trek. I'm wearing a shitty pair of sandals, and quickly fall behind these two long legged galoots. So I decided right then and there to say 'Screw it, I ain't having fun, I don't want to socialize, I'm going back to the hotel, and on the way getting some beer!' [/size]

That night, old man BikerSkier arrived, damn near in full sweat leather, with 'choice' words for old SockMonkey! J Something about not one mile, but nearly 2.5, the only idiots to walk rather than get a cab were them two, and the walk, just like the old days, was uphill in BOTH directions!

I burped a nice pizza/beer blend at him, laughed to myself and fell asleep.

The next morning BikerSkier and I awoke to find all our riding buddies had left us! Evidently they had a schedule to meet, so Ralph and I meandered into Steamboat and had a great breakfast. The scenery at the next table was, well, awesome!

Ol Feklar had found himself a new tire, and as BikerSkier and I fueled up, guess who arrives? So now we are a fearless threesome headed to Golden via northern route.

XM radio was playing the Who 'I can see for Miles'; couldn't resist this pix.

We stopped in some small town, not sure where, I noticed that they had a 'Longbranch' bar, the same name as one we have in Creston! Thought I'd take a pix so James Burleigh wouldn't get confused…

BikerSkier and Feklar consume calories.

Then, this old guy on a Honda Pacific Coast drops by! His name was Roy, 78 years young, on a +500 mile just because 'it was a nice day today!' This guy has RACED Daytona beach, back when the race was on the beach, served our country, seen good friends die in service, owned several motorcycle shops and even today is the hard core real thing. And great guy too!

Ray leaves in flash.

Back to bitchen roads –no idea where, hopefully BikerSkier/Feklar can help.

So I'm taking fotos from a low angle perspective, at speed, when I notice these two yahoos on FJR's cutting the center stripe close.. Who would do such a thing?

And the roads just get better:

Beautiful Empire; is this CO yet?

I was simply following BikerSkier at this point; the nice roads had been road, the Interstate was calling our name, when suddenly BS deviates from the GPS route and we're on HiWay 6 headed for Golden!

The last pix before arrival..

Part 4 - Onward to Steamboat Springs, CO

Permalink Submitted by dcarver on Thu, 06/09/2011 - 10:46.

BikerSkier and I shared a room to cut costs. The next morning, I had to laugh at his new and improved windscreen. Look carefully for the shades!

The road was nice.

PonyFool contemplates life.

Actually, he was looking at the smokin' redhead.

Back on the road, the group takes formation:

Much more colorful than where I live..

The day had being going along just fine, with no drama. No performance rewards, (even running at 90+ on the Istate) no close calls, just a nice ride. Then ol' Feklar casually mentions 'Gee, I sure hope I can make it to Golden with this back tire!'. I glanced casually at it as I walked by to mount my trusty steed, it didn't have cord showing, so WTF!' Then PonyFool takes a closer look; suddenly, we have drama! Excitement! Something to do!

So we get on the phones, trying to find a tire. We're using the gps to find Yamaha dealers, calling via Bluetooth Razor phones, and StarCom audio systems. Not BikerSkier though.. He found we had accidentally stopped at a freakin' all terrain shop, casually walked in, got all the help in world, making all of us high tech zombies look foolish!

On the phones…

SockMoneky surveyed the situation, said all is good, and then sat in the hot sun like dumb ass!

BikerSkier, before noticing the shop was, literally, just one wall away!

Here's PonyFool, doing his best TWN imitation!

I think the town we stopped in was Montpelier. Here is their VFW.

We think Feklar has found a tire on route, so off we go at a stupendous 55 mph..

Thank goodness, a CBA lunch break just ahead. The food was only so-so but the line of people was very long. Evidently, this place is well known by the Europeans. We left Feklar there to defend for himself. I felt badly about leaving him, but then again he was left in a resort town with a lake, hotels, food and good looking gurlz in bikinis. How bad is that?

Dos Amigos, PonyFool and FjrPig.

Self portrait!

Where I live, we don't get these big clouds..

The road ahead looks fast; wonder if any poh-leece are ahead?

Close to Flaming Gorge, Utah.

BikerSkier and I stopped at the overlook. The rest of the frenzied pack sped ahead, oblivious to the beauty surrounding them.

Flaming Gorge, Utah view.

Where we are, in case you're interested.

So we're all motoring along, I'm thinking how scenic this is, how much I like the water and Red Mountains, the aspen trees and all; I call my lady friend, who had to remain home, and is going through work hell. It was difficult to tell her what a great time I was having when she was so low.

Big curvy road..

FjrPig at speed.

Yep, I'm still grinning'!

PonyFool, before he got the 'itch'..

Very colorful indeed:

Continued..

Part 4 Continued - Onward to Steamboat Springs, CO

Permalink Submitted by dcarver on Thu, 06/09/2011 - 09:08.

Entering Craig, CO.

FjrPig contemplates another 4 hours of seat time.

SockMonkey on the digital horn with FjRay – 'Hey Ray, we're running late for the banquet, can you get there first and run the show?'

BikerSkier, on the other hand, had a different agenda; simply lay in the lawn where all the travelling dogs pee to get the very special eau de dog-pee smell!

Turns out the next 200+ miles was only 130 or so, and the desert was absolutely beautiful.

Dinosaur, Colorado, I must go back someday..

Anyone want to purchase some real estate? How about a cheap motel?

Café?

Continued--

Part 5 - Steamboat Springs to Golden, CO

Permalink Submitted by dcarver on Thu, 06/09/2011 - 12:15.

Well, ol SockMonkey as done the route in again by delteing his photobucket pix

I burped a nice pizza/beer blend at him, laughed to myself and fell asleep.

Ol Feklar had found himself a new tire, and as BikerSkier and I fueled up, guess who arrives? So now we are a fearless threesome headed to Golden via northern route.

XM radio was playing the Who 'I can see for Miles'; couldn't resist this pix.

We stopped in some small town, not sure where, I noticed that they had a 'Longbranch' bar, the same name as one we have in Creston! Thought I'd take a pix so James Burleigh wouldn't get confused…

BikerSkier and Feklar consume calories.

Ray leaves in flash.

Back to bitchen roads –no idea where, hopefully BikerSkier/Feklar can help.

So I'm taking fotos from a low angle perspective, at speed, when I notice these two yahoos on FJR's cutting the center stripe close.. Who would do such a thing?

And the roads just get better:

Beautiful Empire; is this CO yet?

The last pix before arrival..

Part 6 - Rocky Mountain National Park

Permalink Submitted by dcarver on Sat, 06/11/2011 - 09:03.

In approximately 1979 I rode a KZ1300 Kawasaki to this park. 6 cylinder, water cooled, double over cam, trip-deuce carburetors. Could barely get the bike moving from stopped due to the high altitude. Time to see if technology really does march forward or not, I thought as BikerSkier, Bob, Taff and I left the NAFO parking lot. I was simply tagging along, not paying any attention to the route as BikerSkier seemed to know all the local roads. Somewhere along the way, we passed this neat old rock house:.

The road couldn't be much better, and wicked it up, only to find Johnny Law around the next corner; he lit up the bubble gum machine but didn't chase after us! Whew, a close call.

The best part is, we missed the rain!

Beautiful Nederland, CO.

Out of order, but on the way back, we noticed a rider, carrying a helmet and *gasp* walking the other direction. BikerSkier quickly pulled over, we stopped, BS went back to the rider (dirt bike guy, all is ok) and I had chance for this foto.

Mi new amigo, BikerSkier.

Taff, going phast!

Still more great roads!

Mining (sure wish Andrew could provide narrative, he was smart, I just take fotos.

Finally, I found the 'Pot-O-Gold'!

On the way

Ran across these fine FJR pilots – who are you?

BikerSkier running the slalom on the tarmac.

BikerSkier, Bob and Taff

Got curves?

Bob is a hoot:

Who are these fine folks?

Taff and Bob

Having fun

Taff looking like a fighter pilot:

Bob looking like, well, uhh, Bob!

Pretty girl rubbing her buns..

BikeSkier gets all the great foto shots:

Bob and BikerSkier enjoy the moment.

Almost to the top for some food!

Welll said Mr. Taff, well said.

Our view from the café window – not bad, eh?

We decided to run the route backwards to the hotel, BikerSkier said it was nicer than riding the other end of the park. So off went. Well, actually, just after ol' Taff says "Let's be careful, lots of cars on the road, we're tired, so be safe" he then sets the afterburners to high… I think I saw him again later that night? Just kidding.

--continued--

Part 7 - Mt. Evans

Permalink Submitted by dcarver on Sat, 06/11/2011 - 11:24.

Part 7 - Mt. Evans

After a hefty night of partying, and wimping out of the SS1k ride, me n' some true Candy Butt Association riders decided to ride ALL the way to Mt. Evans. Riders included JBurleigh, dcarver, and FjrPig.

Self portrait (I really like this one!)

JBurleigh and FjrPig follow up.

Climbing the hill.

Lots of FJR pilots coming down the hill as we ascended. Who are you?

JB sittin' tall in the saddle.

Highest elevation encountered.

The Castle in the Sky info sign.

Not bad, eh?

The house.

Science is everywhere..

Hungry?

The road below.

Taff, getting jiggy in the high altitude.

JB, looking green and singing 'I feel pukey, so pukey and green and… '..

Evidently, JB didn't read the sign.

Taff thought she was bee-yooo-ti-fulll!

Then it started to rain and hail! BkrChk, I think, has had enough and is OUTTA here!

JB is wondering what this white crap falling from the sky is…

FjrPig knows how to enjoy the moment!

Looks like rain!

FjrPig negotiates the wet downhill.

Upper Mount Goliath

I was there!
!

The cheapest gas on the whole trip!

Arriving back at NAFO camp, found these scroundels just hanging out, looking for trouble; Smitty and Petey, two great guys!

And this couple making it back safely too. Who are you?

Part xx - NAFO to Montrose, Co

Permalink Submitted by dcarver on Sat, 06/11/2011 - 21:14.

POST DELETED DUE TO PHOTO BUCKET RANSOM

See new post hosted on my server below..

x xxxxxx

Permalink Submitted by dcarver on Thu, 03/19/2020 - 10:20.

NAFO to Montrose, Co

When this trip started, I thought it would be cool to see if I could find my Grandma's old house in Grand Junction, CO. Of course I had no address, but certainly I could find it, hell, it's only been 35 years, and it's kind of on the way!

Then again, I wanted to run as much of GZ's SS1k route as possible too. Hmm, need to be back at work Monday, another 1k miles out of the way is going hurt; but screw it, when I'm old(er) and gray(er) I won't remember the pain but will remember the ride and fotos, so off I go.

And for those of you who ran the SS1k route and would like dvd copy, please PM me.

Leaving NAFO

Nice paint job.. Remember, this 2008 not 2014 red..

Hawk Pilot

TurboDave

Highlander, just back from Alaska IIRC.

SkooterG's ride.

Hard to miss ToeCutters bike..

Creative wiring. At least it's easy to access.

Tim Bates, TwoWheelNut, hosted this gig. He had to put the entire hotel on his credit card and hope the peeps arrived. It was later noted many of the IBA 'Top Dogs' were gifted rooms which pissed alot of regular folks right the fuck off.

PonyFool Scott Westerman stands and applauds to something..

This pic for ToeCutter, he's a fireman.

Some interstates have scenery!

Eisenhower tunnel.

A part of Beroux's SS1k route.. George Zelenz.

Colorado 24 East bound and down!

Cool old bridge.

I stopped at a WWII memorial for high altitude special warriors.

I am proud to be American. Thank you patriots for my freedom.

Old dogs and Harley's just love pickup trucks and trailers...

Road construction..

Over 10,000 feet you'll find Leadville.

This AirHead rider was a trip..

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2008-07-28 NAFO - Montrose-Torrey Utah

Permalink Submitted by dcarver on Sat, 03/21/2020 - 10:48.

2008-07-28 NAFO - Montrose CO to Torrey, Utah

Delta, Colorado. Nice little town.

KNZZ is a radio station licensed to Grand Junction, Colorado and serves the Grand Junction area. The station is owned by MBC Grand Broadcasting, Inc. They are an affiliate of the BYU Cougars Sports Network. Wikipedia

I remember this ride, the scenery, even as I add this text in 2020 March 21. A very pretty valley.

Running at 95, at 45.8 MPG!

Gateway is an unincorporated community and a U.S. Post Office located in Mesa County, Colorado, United States. The Gateway Post Office has the ZIP Code 81522. A post office called Gateway has been in operation since 1903. The community most likely was named for a rock formation near the original town site.Wikipedia

Thiss was such a cool store.. living quarters upstairs.

Big peeps on a trike.

Red Red Red rocks.

Check out the bridge.. I gotta get back here soon. If only I knew what road it was...

Crossing the CO river. I think I'm on CO 90.

Check out the stock mufflers!

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Hanksville Utah, Hollow Mountain

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2008-07-29 Torrey Utah to Home

Permalink Submitted by dcarver on Sat, 03/21/2020 - 12:58.

2008-07-29 Torrey Utah to Homex

Darrell, Hueretic ready to leave. We were darn lucky to get a room.

Hiway 12 south of Torrey Utah.

Artistic!

My Buddie!

It was downright chilly.

Heading down the hill.

HiWay 12 north of Boulder CO.

Hells BackBone restaurant and inn.

Hells BackBone...

Spirit, as in Ara G and Spirit, The Oasis of my Soul. As I write this in March 2020, I think Ara as gone 'off grid' and Spirit is no longer with us.