I guess it's about time I post this ride report...

Well here's the story. I went on a little trip... by little I mean ~4,000 miles in about 10 days.

So let's start this out with a picture of my trusty steed!


Look at her! She's so ready to go! Started out on a bright thursday morning!

Here we are at our first fillup, about ready to get going on the highway!


Toll roads! Only hit one of them, actually. 'twas quite nice!


We were stuck on this bridge for about half an hour... it was so hot we actually ended up taking our gear off and just chilling there. But it started moving again eventually so we just scrambled to get our stuff on and pulled over to get everything fastened again.


First night! Setting up camp! We met a little cat who we named andrew. He chilled with us and it was awesome.


Buddies!!!


Day 2! It started getting hot... But it was still awesome!


Hot hot hot!


Day 3 - I hate Kansas... It was 103F the whole day...


Finally in Colorado! Nice relaxing to this view.


Clean.


And... 2 day trip in colorado to the most amazing destinations I've seen in my short 22 years... I'll shaddap and let you guys just see it.





Now for a bonus! My aunt and uncle's car! This was amazing!


And left to right - My FZ6, my Aunt's Mercedes SL500, my Uncle's Harley Davidson.


It was amazing.

It looks like it was a fun trip! Thanks for sharing the pics and the story:thumbup:

Great stuff! :thumbup:

Funny how strip malls all look identical in the states. If I didn't know better I'd be sure that was taken in Joisey!

Great pics! thanks for sharing

I'm surprised you had warm weather this time of year.

That GW looks like it tows a pop-up camper?!

Edit: Just saw your smartphone screen shot....

Glad you enjoyed your visit here! um....were you in Colorado Springs & Monument?
And do I recognize Twin Lakes in one of those pics?

Outstanding work , thanks for sharing it with us :thumbup:..... Makes me want to load up the bike & ride :rockon:

lytehouse said:

Glad you enjoyed your visit here! um....were you in Colorado Springs & Monument?
And do I recognize Twin Lakes in one of those pics?

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Nice catch!

My aunt and uncle live in Black Forest.

We ended up taking a trip through monument and aspen and ended up in Montrose. Stayed the night there, and came the southern route back to Black Forest/CO Springs.

It was simply amazing.



Also: this was in july.

Been to Twin Lakes many, many times....on the way to my fav place in the state: Aspen! Hope you got to see the Maroon Bells! And gawd, isn't Independence Pass a blast to ride?!?!


The pic with your aunt & uncles car....taken in a King Soopers parking lot in Monument (Baptist Rd)?
And the pic with your aunts car & uncles Harley...taken in a parking lot with an Albertsons grocery store on Research & Union Blvd?

lytehouse said:

Been to Twin Lakes many, many times....on the way to my fav place in the state: Aspen! Hope you got to see the Maroon Bells! And gawd, isn't Independence Pass a blast to ride?!?!


The pic with your aunt & uncles car....taken in a King Soopers parking lot in Monument (Baptist Rd)?
And the pic with your aunts car & uncles Harley...taken in a parking lot with an Albertsons grocery store on Research & Union Blvd?

Click to expand...

Independence pass was my favorite! Once the snow falls here, I'm going to edit my goPro footage and upload it.

Uhh... You are correct on both accounts... You live in the area?

Xavias said:

Independence pass was my favorite! Once the snow falls here, I'm going to edit my goPro footage and upload it.

Uhh... You are correct on both accounts... You live in the area?

Click to expand...

Great looking forward to seeing it!
Yeah, I'm in Colorado Springs....Monument is right up the street...kinda :thumbup:

Thanks for the pictures.

Nice form on the seal, all you needed was knee pucks.

Trudging across Kansas in 102 is shear torture :bow:

A few questions, If I may...

Colorado is just the beginning of the good stuff, where else did you ride 4k in 10 days?

Wing battery trouble? Side cover is off at fuel stop. Any bike troubles?

How often did you lube the chain? MPG?

Are you still grinning from all the fun you had?

Thanks for posting up, I'm ready for summer already! Maybe I'm just getting old but would rather sweat than shiver. Wanted to take a trip on the bike this summer but didn't work out, love seeing the photos and where you went. Gives me some ideas for next year.

Red Wazp said:

Thanks for the pictures.

Nice form on the seal, all you needed was knee pucks.

Trudging across Kansas in 102 is shear torture :bow:

A few questions, If I may...

Colorado is just the beginning of the good stuff, where else did you ride 4k in 10 days?

Wing battery trouble? Side cover is off at fuel stop. Any bike troubles?

How often did you lube the chain? MPG?

Are you still grinning from all the fun you had?

Click to expand...

The 4,000 miles was as follows:
Grand Rapids, MI -> Colorado Springs: 1350mi (3 days)
~1250 miles around Colorado (5 days)
Colorado Springs -> Grand Rapids: 1300mi (3 days, northern route)
So I guess it was 11 days, wasn't it? Hmm...

The goldwing had a fuel pump issue which had to be replaced. No worries, 1 hour and we were back on the road. Other than that, PO of my bike had the idle speed down around 900 RPMs, which for whatever reason was causing the bike to stall when I closed the throttle if I had it at about 4,000rpms or above. (There was a significant RPM rebound up that high...) I changed it to what I remember reading is the yamaha spec of 1200rpms and everything was peachy.

I lubed my chain every evening after riding. We usually did 400-500 miles per day. and I figured it'd be worth it in the long run.

MPG - I was able to get ~52MPG average on the trips out and back. Didn't calculate while we were running around in colorado except for our 2 day trip to montrose and back. Keep in mind I spent most of the 2nd day in 3rd gear through twisty mountain roads... And I averaged 62 MPG on that 2 day trip... I was amazed by what the little guy could do!

Only comment I have about being in the elevation - The bike feels underpowered... You don't get that rush at 6k like you do here around sea level. There's still plenty of power, it's just not the same...

Since this was in July, the grinning from fun faded about 2 weeks ago. Now I just daydream about when I can go back! :BLAA:

Not surprised with your increase in mileage in Colorado. It's the high elevation that gives you better mpg. Both my FJR and my friends BMW GS would see an increase of 8-10 mpg while riding the Colorado high country.
Now you need to plan a trip to vacation land in Southern Utah.

Great pictures and sounds like a great trip as well. Thanks for the ride report. Makes me want to ride and ride and ride.