2016-09-12 Rueben Run 5 --> La Pine, Oregon

Day 2 Weed to La Pine - the long way. So then, I've been up 97 North/South a bazillion times. Checking the map, I can see some new to me roads and only a bit of I5. No brainer. And I am eager to explore. Here we go.

Leaving the Comfort Inn, Weed, CA. The sky is clear, the air is chilly. Crazy eight is still starting okay. She needs a new starter.

Several years ago, I camped in my camper just across the interstate. I wondered if the spot was still open.

It is. Matter of fact, better than ever! There are paved cul-de-sacs with no houses yet. I made a favorite on the gps.

Judging by the minimal numbers of mailboxes, not too many people live here yet.

I wanted to see what downtown Weed looked like. I have seen on national news that a major fire went through. I learned later Kathy fire went through Angels and not downtown Weed.

Like they say, welcome to Weed!

Every small town needs to have a Mercantile.

And a post office.

Railroad tracks.

And a railroad station, however how humble.

I like this whole building with the reinforced sides.

I have no idea of what's inside.

This is where the lumber mill is.

I like this whole building so much I wanted to get a picture from the other side.

I am really intrigued that's what is inside. Looks like I will never know.

Overhead, they're scooping away from the pile.

That is real steam coming off of the pile.

Circling back around I am back into weed California.

Yes, this house is still lived in. Even though the electric has been removed. I'd peeked into the window.

On the outskirts of town, farmland.

Thinking of Andrew..

Nice to see green...

Welcome to Montague!

I am planning to retire in February 2018. As I travel around, I wonder what would be like to live somewhere. Like this.

Not much going on in this town.

The post office.

I wonder why farmers don't take better care of their barns?

There is nothing like being on the road. Nothing.

Just north of Montague, I had a decision to make. The GPS and map showed IronGate resevoir and a possible route over to 97 north. Do I play it safe and go west, or east? I decided to try...

I also found this coolio RV park. I am just south of the Oregon border, just north of Montague.

This is the coolio R-Ranch. I thoght it was open to public..but no,... private membership.

But this place, just up the road, is open to public! I want to take the family there.

Pretty nice, huh?

So this starts the great ride to no where. 20 plus miles up this road, it goes to dirt. Not FJR dirt, either. So I had to turn around and backtrack to I5 then north to Ashland, Or, then across 66 to 97 and LaPine.

OK, it's Sept 13 2016 and it's 11:07 pm. I'm going to let the pix do the talking for this ride to nowhere. But a ride to everywhere. Would do it again in a heartbeat.

Fish hatchery just ahead.

Look at all that water! Reminds me of Nacamiento Lake in the hey-day.

Whre I ws.

Very nice facilities.

Transformer station. Near the end of the road for me. Imagine my suprise when later, after making a big loop, and heading east on 66, I see that Copco road DID go all the way through!

Looking happy, eh?

Stopped in Ashland, exit 14, for some Mexican - El Paraiso. Good stuff, good price!

Emigrant lake. This is the start of 66 East. Shauna and I and Harley dog illegally camped here overnight one September. The offical was nice enough to let us stay, even gave us the key to the gate so we could get out in case of emergency. Looking at the signs now, now way that will ever happen again.

Here is where we stayed!

66 East is a national highway. And a good riding road!

IIRC, this is Keno, Oregon. Yes, I was ready for a beer but still had approx 200 miles to go..

Love the green farm land.. especially when water is abundant.

I wonder how long these old barns will exist? Are they to become the next rotary telephone?

Heading into Klamath Falls, Or. I have history here. Some tweakers tried to steal my KZ1300 here. I had to beat them them call the po-po. Had another tweaker try to break into my hotel room. I don't stop here anymore.

--------When you see this line, the RR is too freaking long!

Day results from the GPS. Minimum mileage, maximum seat time. The CBA way.

Safe at La Pine.. hit the jacuzzi, got a Subway, and updated day one and two. Now it's late and I'm off to sleep. Fini, a day well lived. Good job, Don!

Woke up this morning with every intention of going on a nice ride local La Pine ride. Lots of beautiful area to cover here. First thing I noticed was it's kind of chilly.. about 41F. 

Get to KrZy8, all geared up, hit the start button and....

grrrr, grr, gr - cough, run, die.

RuhRohRollie - not good.

Let battery sit for a couple of minutes.

Try again.

On what is obviously the LAST attempt, she fires and keeps the fire - the secret was to give throttle immediately to get off of idle. The volts are so low that the cpu is struggling to provide info. KrZy8 is running CRAP but running! Soon, she's back to normal. I ride around La Pine before stopping for breakfast at the Harvest Depot to get some heat into the engine and charge into the battery.

Clearly, this starter  motor will NOT be ignored for this trip. OK during warm/hot weather, no good when chilly. Called Ray, changed my changed plans and headed over after breakfast.

On the lift at approx 10:43. Ray's left arm is kind of messed up after some medical procedure so I did the 'work' while Ray looked on and corrected me from Red Forman dumb-ass maneuvers.

To remove the starter motor, the air box and fuel injector rail have to come out. I have so much extra wiring for farkles. so took these pix to document where everything goes.

Communication loom goes under..

Fat washer bolts go here.

Notice the positioning.. to the hole front side.

Seat height adjustment to the rear position.

Ambient air pressure sensor here and connector.

Time to get the throttle bodies out of here.. They pop off pretty easy with help of leverage. Be gentle.

Throttle body plates are pretty clean. That's good.

Finally, the starter motor comes out. Be careful of the mounting allan bolts. Do NOT mess them up. Clean the holes from debri so the allen key fits in solidly.

Another view.

Re-installed! We did NOT remove cables or un-needed connectors. Ray used a bungee cord to hold it out of the way while we messed with the starter. We used WD-40 to lube the boots and throats.

We installed the air box twice. We did not like the way #2 seated. Pulling the box, the problem is clear.. This boot is shorter than the others. We lubed them with a light grease and payed special attention to #2. Somewhere in the future I need a new boot or airbox. For now, 1,000 miles from home, it will be just fine, Thank You.

These pix are from the starter motor that came out of KrZy8. Recall this is engine #2, approx 80 to 90k on it now.

The gunk. The oil seal had leaked, and the commutator had bridged segments.

Commutator.

The leaked oil just served a compound to bridge spent carbon from the brushes. Each of the grooves on the copper part to the right of the splined shaft should be clear.. not bridged with conductive gunk.

The brush cap.. and signs of oil intrusion.

Ray has an exchange program, 80 bucks plus core. The 'new' e.g. rebuilt starter draws 20 amps on the bench, unloaded. My old one, on the bench, drew a whopping 170 amps! Crap, you can weld with that!

2016-09-15 Day 4 - La Pine to Mt. Bachelor and around

The weather has been phenomenal. Nice and warm in the afternoon, crisp and cool in the morning. KrZy8 awaits in the parking lot.

Headed to Gordy's for breakfast. It's a truck stop that has good food.

I only ate one half of the pancakes.

This is LeRoy, if I recall correctly. He's a ham radio operator that helps run the county emergency ham response. Nice guy. Still rides his Harley even though he has a wounded wing. He knew Ray!

Found this on the east side of La Pine, on industrial parkway.

Imagine sitting on that seat for a 12 hour shift...

It took one helluva hit on the right side.

I'm scouting for campgrounds, so took quick pics of the various campgrounds in the area. Especially trying to find ones that can accommodate the truck, camper, and trailer.
 

Seems to me that most ecological problems are caused by man. Then we try to fix it. Sometimes with not so good results.

Check out the bow in this tree!

Stopped to watch some peeps pulling their boat out of the water. I do not want a boat. It appears that it takes two people to get a boat out of the water.

Then again, if I lived where there were plenty of lakes and fishing I might want a boat.

East Lake Campground.

Nice big beach..

and big spots too. This campground might be a contender!

In Oregon, it is very easy to see if a campground is open.Oregon, 

These pics were taking north of La Pine, Lake Paulina area.

Really pretty. Too bad it snows here..

Most campgrounds  had plenty of spaces still available.. School is back in session up here.

Another campground candidate!

We've left the Newberry area and will not check out the La Pine state park campground. It's down the hill, so no water, and hotter.

Except for the Deutsche river, of course!

Showers and full hookups too!

KrZy8, doing what she does!

Map.

Nice recreation area.

..and cabins for rent too!

Leaving La Pine and heading up the hill to Mt. Bachelor ski resort.

A mistake picture, but I like it.

Mt. Bachelor ski resort. No one home.

Heading up the hill.

Is IS pretty up here.

Mt. bachelor.

Another view.

Majestic mountains, grassy ranges in the valleys.. nice.

Cragged mountains.

Checking out another campground.

Sailboats, really?

Nice resort.

Good views too.!

Just up the road, next door, is the campground.

The boat launch!

A lady and her dogs!

This is my favorite picture of the entire trip.

Ok, maybe this is my favorite picture, just kidding!

Heading out on a forest road..

Found the Crain Prairie Resort!

Showers.

Great views..

REsort..

OOPS!

The road leaving the resort.

Leaving the campground and heading back to the 'main' road, LOL.

Check out the greenery growing all the way to road. So different from the barren brown of home.

BOOM! Fire zone.

Back to green and long wave length sunlight. Nice. A good space to be in.

1,000 miles on trip so far! 

Pulling into the hotel, found these two working the corner for a few bucks. They had really nice back packs and were dressed nice, so they aren't broke and homeless. They were pan handling for two days. On day three, they were closer to the highway and hitchhiking. By the time I got 3 tacos to go, they were gone. No wonder, check out that camel toe!

The end of day 4.

Today was about finding new to me roads off the main path. I find that using paper maps are very  useful in seeing the big picture to find the teeny roads.

The route. Yes, all the circles around Oakridge is where I got lost.. Again. In the dirt..

First things first. This guy road up on his 1998 Suzuki and stumbled into an FJR crowd. His name is Eric. Nice guy. He went in to reigister then came right back out stating "I'm not paying $150 for a room!".  Fortunately for Eric, a frugal FJR peep offered up 1/2 his room for 50 bucks and the deal was sealed. 

The next morning, Eric attempts to start the carbeurated beast. She was reluctant. Eric was actually using too much choke..

Success! The beast is alive, it's ALIVE!

Just south of La Pine, a history lesson..

KrZy8 n' Me... just exploring. A good day barely started. The temps are fall coolish. I'm wearing CyclePort mesh gears, LD comfort shorts under the bottom half and nothing else. I'm expecting warmer weather. On top, CyclePort and WarmNSafe jacket. Light gloves so I can take pix.

You gotta love a store where the main tag is 'Guns-Ammo-Liquor-Beer-Wine' and then have a huge ass bear out front!

Found a quaint cafe in OakRidge, Oregon. Good food, really fun waitress, and quiet. Actually, this pix is out of sequence. Oh well, more of this in a bit.

It's finally starting to warm up a bit so the heated jacket comes off. The view remain good.

Very little traffic and very green trees.

...and XM Sirius is playing Bruce Springsteen's 'Tunnel of Love'. Purrfect!

Here is a runaway truck ramp. Made of deep gravel, the idea is slow and stop a truck that's lost its brakes.

Back to the restaurant pictures. Here's the waitress. She was hysterical. Greeted everyone with smile and a warm heart. She got a big tip from me.

If ever in Oak Ridge, Oregon, here's the place to eat!

With a full belly, I'm ready to rock the road.

and, the road is ready to rock me right back. Check it out. Stunningly green and beautiful.

Say what, a covered bridge? In Oregon, not Vermont! You mean to tell me I rode to NERDS to see covered bridges and they were this close all the time?

Nice lodge, but by the looks of it, too expensive for my budget.

Outside of town, City Hall, barn style!

I like back roads. I like to see how people live. I also like being lost. I don't know it yet, but I'm lost. I think I'm on NF-19, Aulderfield Rd (or something close to that name.. but in reality...
I

Old barns, still in use and being cared for make me smile. I need an old barn just to look at.

Dumb and Happy, toodling down the bitchin' road, not a care in the world..

When, RuhRohRollie, dirt! Surely it's a just a patch and the pavement will start again. Sure, and DeNial is just another river in Egypt..
The look ahead..

The look back. Umm, lets see, fully loaded FJR, 10+ gallons on board, no one knows where I am, no cell signal.. Yep, turning around. Sigh.

OK, so what. I got lost. I tucked my tail between my legs and back tracked. With views like this, who cares?

There it is, the name of the road.  A U F D E R H E I D E. Yeah sure. My GPS and analog map called it NF-19.

It's a good bet it will be very scenic if the scenic sign is covered in green.

Finally on the right road, woo-hoo!

and the road gets better and better. Just crusing, running a Candy Butt pace, meaning low and slow.

Very few spots where the trees are less than full healthy..

Wow, this RR is jacked up. Sorry about that. Looks like we're back to covered bridge. As you saw on the route pic, I got lost and ened up on logging road. I turned around, missed the correct turn yet again, and ended up back in OakRidge, from the backside. I finally got on track which was this covered bridge. Instead of turning right into OakRidge, I should have gone straight. So to speak.

More barn pix. Miss you OrangevaleFJR!

Several times on this trip I thought how nice it would be to not have ugly powerlines overhead.

Please pics are from when I made a U-turn trying to get back on NF-19.

Back at the expensive Lodge, expensive motobikes!

LOL, I have no clue where this pix was taken..I used my iPhone and digital camera to pix, and got the sequence all out of order. And I'm too lazy to fix it.

This one does not show the True color of the moss growing on the tree. It was almost fluorscent.

This is a camping spot. I saw many camping spots that are not State run. Rather, people finder own spot to camp.

This must be a very popular spotmust be a very popular spot judging by the number of cars on the other side of the road. After miles and miles seen no cars, then boom, 50 cars.

Stopped to look at Cougar Dam.

As you can see, the water level is way down. 

Still, compared to the reservoirs in my area, this is almost full.

There is alot of volcanic rock in central Oregon..

So then, it's getting into late afternoon. My Candy Butt is sore, as the miles have been slow, the seat time high. Do I take the twisties back or head to the highway? What would you do?

Yes, me too. Twisty-City here we come.. I didn't take many pix.. as I've been here many times before and have pix already...

Next to last pix.. On the east side of Sisters, some peeps have this great art in their field.

Do you see the doggies too?

Fini.

edit

The RR crowd has arrived, and parking under the canopy is busy.

I see that somebody Pacific Northwest crowd are here. Niehart, Panman, and their Harley riding buddy, Jeff.

Having just written over 400 miles the day before, I was looking for a light day. Maybe 200 miles. Maximum.

Silly boy.. The PNW crew don't do little days. I should have known better. Panman says he has a route. Off we go.

Here is the route. A little bit more been 200 miles, LOL.

Checking the weather through the window, I see the big tour bus parked, idling away, diesel fumes blecching out and the old folks making sure their luggage gets on board. One old guy had a shit fit when the driver loaded a bag ahead of his...

The day broke with overhead clouds which makes for good pictures. This is just north of Lapine on Highway 97.

Kevin cracks me up. Kind of like a monkey fucking a football when he is on the FJR. Kevin is a big boy. Check out the feet!

Seems to the Mormon chuch is alive and well. Lots of churches everywhere I travel.

Unlike yesterday's ride, today we will be in high Desert. A little bit drier and the roads more open.ss

Jeff and the big Hog giving chase.

We were running through some beautiful box canyons. 

Central Oregon really does have nice scenery to see.

The roads for the most part, are in better shape than those in California.

Kevin normally tows a trailer behind his FJR. Not today though, and the pace was pretty brisk. I can still get my pictures takenI can still get my pictures taken though!

When there's adequate water, you can keep pastures truly that,  a pasture. Which in turn  makes for fat cows!

Pops n' Jeff exchange pleasantries.

Not to be out done, Kevin does HIS thing!

Crook County! It's election season, and it was funny to see sheriffs, Judges, and other law enforcement running for office in CROOK County.

Stumbled upon these riders at a fuel stop. The tall guy was a hoot. I want to say they were from back east and heading to Crater Lake. We invited them to the RR, but I'm sure they kept on trucking.

and this rider was on a single cylinder Buell. It appeared to be a V-twin with one cylinder chopped off. It sounded great.

Back on the road again. Do we go straight or making right-hand turn?

A beautiful rock formation. Later, pops call me he knew I would slow down and take pictures of it..

The clouds threatened to rain all day long.. 
T

At some point in time, someone spent alot of energy and resources to build a home. Now look at it.

Paulina, Oregon.

Everything you need, right here in Paulina. General merchandise, a post office, and a meeting hall.

Check out this boat with the Mack 10 engine...

And here is the post office!

The mercantile.. Wooden floors, of course..

Old coke dispenser..

How to fix holes in a wooden floor!

Here is an old tube radio. I wonder if it still works. Pretty sure I could fix it...

The boys contemplate moving to Paulina.. Where life is simpler and wholesome.. NOT!

Someone having fun with a FarmAll tractor... It does make for a nice yard art.

The community hall. It is still active and in use.. 

Up the road, the church for those who have sinned at the bar...

The PNW crew found this bench and decided it just have to be occupied. 

So Kevin sets up the camera on small tripod. He has 10 seconds to, ahem, do something called 'running' to get to the bench in time for the pic.

In the meantime, Jeff and Pops get cozy. Perhaps a little too cozy. I wonder what the weight limit is on that bench?

Kevin heads out..this is about as graceful as it gets.. Just Sayin, 'Nuff Said!

I got proof...

Someone is out of breath...

Tres amigos without a clue.. Jeff is red from embarrassment...

The town mascot was adorable and very very pregnant. She was incredibly friendly. Nice pup.

Leaving Paulina, Kevin routed us over 'Murderer's Creek' or something like that. It was Murder something or the other.. It was a fun little road.

And it rained too. Torrents of water, buckets landing on my shield. The Oregon record is still in place. It has rained every time I have ever been to Oregon. For over 20 years now.

See? Proof. A monsoon of water. We were lucky to not drown..

A bit later the sky cleared and the day remained glorious..

Really, doesn't get much better than this?

Check out how blue the sky is.. Wonderful fun.. Really enjoy the PNW peeps. Sorry George and his better half couldn't be with us..

Several times I found myself thinking how lucky, fortunate I am to be alive, still able to ride motobikes, and more lucky to have wonderful fiends. 

Even thought it snows here, the barns in central Oregon are in better shape than what I've seen in Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, etc..

For sale. Needs a little fixing up.

The big bluff ahead calling my name.

A pattern evolved. I would see something I wanted to take a picture of and slow down. The pack continued on. So I just HAD to play catch-up, right?

Have you ever seen a barn with so many windows?

Entering Dayville, and we've been on the road for well over 180 miles now..

I'm starting to wonder about fuel. I'm OK, with the aux tank and all, but these peeps just keep thundering on.. 

In the meantime, lots of fun buildings to look at..

A mistake photo. I'm starting to really like these mistake pictures.

Farming is big in these parts of the country. The irrigation canals remind me of the central Ca valley.
 

Approaching the gap. I remembered this from some time ago..

The last time I was here, it was well over 100°F and I was miserable. Much nicer ride today.

This rider had too much tongue weight and his Harley was all over the road..

Stunning.

So ol' Kevin stops the party to ask if everyone has adequate fuel to make it another 48 miles. Everyone says yes. This surprises me. I'm thinking to myself no way with my Harley have enough fuel but then again maybe these new Harleys get a lot better gas mileage.... We are now well into 200+ miles since last fueling..

Jeff is all happy and shit because he has more than enough fuel... The onboard computer tells him so..

Pops has no worries either.. 

So off we go, thundering to the west, totally fearless. For we are men. Manly men!

..and the sky darkens, the clouds gather. Omnious music ques in...

UhHuh, Yep, and RuhRohRollie. The Harleys outta fuel.. Out comes the siphon hose and Jeff gets a mouthful of gas. What a noobie. The siphon hose had a bubble in it. He continued to suck to get the bubble out. Everyone knows you push the bubble back into the tank then start again. Everyone, except ol' fuelie breath Jeff...

Almost home...

----------when I see these marks, the RR is too long..-------------

I gotta give props to Jeff and his HD. He rides the wheels off that thing. Yes, we could have gone faster with an only FJR crowd.. but not in many places.  I enjoyed meeting and riding with Jeff.

With that, we rode back to La Pine, had a big ass rare rare rare prime rib and called it good for a day!

Fini

2016-09-12 Day7 LaPineToGrassValley-BigJohnsD

John and I decided to ride south to Mr. and Mrs. Bugnatr's place in Grass Valley, CA.

Today's route, as provided by John..

The morning started cool and foggy. This is the first time I've seen fog in La Pine, Oregon...

So we headed off to Gordy's for breakfast and to wait for the sun to rise and burn the fog off. At least most of it..

Gordy's has consitently good food, and too greasy either.

Only two FJR's left..

At the..

Leaving Gordy's, getting ready for the 450 mile trek..

John, wearing his hoodie. Good thing no cops were around.. I'm pretty sure he'd be arrested for something!

Because old trucks lives matter? Look at that, a Chevy and Ford right next to each other. Can't we all just get along?

We both decided 97 South was really the only option to get outta town.. 
395 would have put another 2 hours on the already long day..

XM radio was playing Johnie Cash 'A boy named Sue'. Surely this is the place where the big fight broke out?

Small-town life is good life.

Every rider has ther own thing. Brodie likes to ride without hands. John likes to dangle his legs. I just look studly all the time!

Old train car new Tule Lake. I normally head south from here into Modoc territory and Captain Jack. You need to google Captain Jack to learn how his tribe of 30 held off the entire Cavalary for months on end..

Speaking of trains...

I bet John doesn't get many pics of himself, so I took a bunch. And really, that's NOT Old Michael. Where is he these days anyway?

John had a short cut..

A good old barn day..

I saw several of these flags, left hand side. Not sure what it means..

John, doing his John thing..

We had several road maintenance delays today. 

Approaching Eagle Lake.

Nice ride, and the further South, the fewer trees..

Sure is yellow there, John..

Into Westwood.. feet still dangling. I'm sure he NEVER has worn out a set of foot pegs, JSNS!

Into Indian Valley, CA.

Hotel is open, and I bet it has vacancies too.

The local high school..

Check out this route! The second half of the day more than made up for the 97 S part..

More road work. This one was over 10 minutes. At least it was nice and warm.. The look ahead.

The look back..

She was bored out of her little mind..

Clear of construction and into Quincy. The last time through, I met Bugnatr here for a spirited ride to his house..

John stopped here and explained that this place was his Dad's favorite. His dad recently passed, over 100, IIRC. His pop, like John, served in the US Navy.

I got creative with the shots, just in case John wants something different.

The road ahead.. Delicious. Let's rock this road.

Into La Porte, CA.

Notice the power line.. and what it is NOT attached to.. e.g. a power pole. Rather, find an existing tree, and use it!

A close up..

The daylight shortens, we're almost there.

Gayle and Doug. Great peeps. Thanks for having us again, you two. The pizza was yummy. The beer was cold. The bed was comfie. Perfect hosts. And Happy 60th Dougie!

The next morning, John makes friends with Ruby, 10 months old!

Uhh, Doug, the look on your face?

There, that's better!

With that, I bee-lined home while John was off to see other peeps and Bug was out to 'Natr more pests.

Fini.

The final day. Had to early out on vacation due to stupid real estate for sale for Dad's estate. Paper HAD to be signed. NOW. So I non-stopped it from Yuba City after breakfast. 

Doug, headed out to work..

Neat old truck.

Breakfast at LumberJacks.

Trailered Harleys..

Trailered KLR's.

Trailers full of non-tied down missiles ready to kill a rider.

Bad wreck northbound, I5. Pretty sure peeps died. The SUV was unrecognizable.

Getting closer..

These two took over 5 miles to make a pass. Idiots. I can tell the vacation is over.

Near Shandon, and I can hear the burger bar calling my name..

Ah, home again.

The end.

Fini de la Fini