My first long ride

man, that title sucks. I feel like this whole post should be scrawled in crayon and have pictures of me in diapers wearing a sesame street shirt.......

Anyway, I took the bike to michigan this weekend. Why you ask....because I could and I wanted to. I was expecting some amazing scenery and I have to say I wasn't disappointed. You northern folk have some pretty impressive views (but then I tend to say that about everywhere that isn't here ). I did 500 + 250 + 250 + 500 miles over 4 days. The 500s left my rear pretty sore, but the 250s were easy.

Here's a map. Would have done back-roads the whole way but didn't have time and there isn't much in Indiana that I care to see (sorry to any hoosiers I may have offended)

Spent a lot of time riding around on the lake shore, stopping to take pictures and enjoy the view. It was super relaxing. Between stops I had some good roads with lots of fun twists. Met some great people (and a few really cute girls) and ate some good food (particularly lots of apple inspired stuff, it's apple season in michigan). Had pretty good weather, although it was really cold sunday morning and then got super hot about an hour north of indianpolis.

Here's pics for those that read this far and actually care.

awesome pictures!!! sounds like a nice ride. one of these days I wanna road trip like that!!!

That looks like so much fun! Some beautiful sunset shots there (or sunrise, as the case may be).
You might be interested in a book I'm about halfway thru, it's called "Leanings" by a Mr. Egan, guess he's a columnist for one of the big MC magazines. Its a series of short stories about riding trips/adventures he's had, and he's based out of Wisconsin. He's a part-time musician and seeks out blues clubs, talks about a lot of the towns I'm familiar with (I'm a Sioux Falls, SD native), camps in a pup tent he carries on his bike, and has one of those great writing styles that you can curl up with and really enjoy. Highly recommended! (Leanings II is out and I will definitely be buying a copy).

Wow man thats makes me tired hearing those miles. Looks like alot fun.:thumbup:

Great pictures. I dig the panoramic set.

I just got done reading Leanings as well. You would love it.

I have a question as far as handling.... It appears that you had most of your gear UP pretty high.

did you have any issues with handling.

Botch said:

That looks like so much fun! Some beautiful sunset shots there (or sunrise, as the case may be).
You might be interested in a book I'm about halfway thru, it's called "Leanings" by a Mr. Egan, guess he's a columnist for one of the big MC magazines. Its a series of short stories about riding trips/adventures he's had, and he's based out of Wisconsin. He's a part-time musician and seeks out blues clubs, talks about a lot of the towns I'm familiar with (I'm a Sioux Falls, SD native), camps in a pup tent he carries on his bike, and has one of those great writing styles that you can curl up with and really enjoy. Highly recommended! (Leanings II is out and I will definitely be buying a copy).

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That set was sunset at Silver Lake. It wasn't as impressive as lake Michigan (things big enough it might as well be an ocean), but the sand dunes were definitely something to look at it.
I'll have to track down leanings, I'm ashamed to admit I hadn't heard of Egan before just now. This trip I took Vonnegut (Breakfast of Champions turned out to be very appropriate for the trip), but I'm always looking for something good to read.

wrightme43 said:

Great pictures. I dig the panoramic set.

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Yeah, I need to stitch those together as one big shot, they look pretty lame as a bunch of individual shots.

mikenbern said:

I have a question as far as handling.... It appears that you had most of your gear UP pretty high.

did you have any issues with handling.

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That rear stack Isn't really as tall as it looks. All that I had on the seat back there was my backpack (strapped down sort of how sportrider_fz6 does his). There was a small bag strapped on top of that for about half of the trip. It had my spare face shield in it. Unfortunately on the third day it slipped down and fell it front of the exhaust, melted it pretty bad before I noticed so I just chucked it at the next stop. The bike didn't really handle all that different, I was a little bit more careful at slow speeds at first but after a few miles I was riding her just like normal. Once I got up to speed, I couldn't even tell I had anything back there.

What's really missing from the pics is a reference of my 6'7" frame sitting next to it.....not that tall at all really.

Peter Egan

He writes for Mototrend too. He understands and can put into words things most of us can only feel. Thats the best way to describe it I know.

Thanks for sharing your trip with us, nice pics. Believe it or not, I actually have been up to Charlevoix Mi, the terminus of your trip. Way back in the late 80's or early 90's. They use to hold concerts up there. I've been pretty much everywhere, just not with my bike. And yes, I've been to Louisville, more than I can count.

Fantastic picturers !!!
Thanx for sharing. Bet you had a realy goot time :thumbup: