| Author | Message | ||
     Chopped58 |
I figured after the recent, and disheartening closing of Buell by HD, I'd share some pics and stories of a recent trip, and how I enjoyed my Uly. My friend Charlie and I were invited by his Father in law to fly out to Mesa Arizona, borrow two of his bikes, and ride to Vegas for a Bikefest. I figured it would be a good chance to ride to Mesa, and continue from there to Vegas. We came up with a route that included a SS1000 to St. Louis, a ride up Pikes Peak, Royal Gorge Bridge, Monarch pass, Arches N.P. in Utah, Bryce Canyon, Zion N.P., Grand Canyon, Vegas, and maybe a dip into California for a photo op. We had 16 days, and that included 4 days in Mesa to spend time with our families who flew out, and would stay there for 2 weeks. Here's some pics... This was a fuel stop in PA, Charlie had never done a SS1000, and wanted to try it. It gave us a chance to put down some miles on the first day, and spend some more time riding out west...    West Virginia  My friend Charlie cruising..    A familiar view for some of you...  We made it to STL as it was getting dark. It was drizzling out, when I realized I felt an odd vibration from the bike between 2-3000 rpm's, and I couldn't determine in my mirrors what kind of vehicle was behind me. I could see lights, but not if it was a car, bike, truck or ufo. We found a motel off I-70, and pulled in for the night. This was when I noticed my headlight was out. I figured I'd look at it tommorow, and got settled in the room. The guy who signed us in was nice enough to sign our IBA paperwork, and it was off to sleep. First days mileage...  I'm off to bed, more tommorow.. | ||
| Buellerxt |
Very cool,Chopped58. Thanks for sharing. I'm looking forward to more! Ths. | ||
| Rightpecial |
Yeah man thanks. Love hearing stories like this one. | ||
| Idaho_buelly |
Wow,that's a whole bunch of riding in 1 day!! Great pics,thanks | ||
| Skinstains |
How about a pic of that chopped 58 ??? How do you like those highway pegs ? Ate they sturdy ? I am thinking about getting them as I keep doing more and more distance riding on the Uly. | ||
| Lars1974 |
nice one, looking forward to the next installment! | ||
| Ratbuell |
....jealous.... safe travels!  | ||
| Hooper |
A well-farkled Uly (especially an '06) is a sight to behold. | ||
| Glen |
is that a second gas tank on the back seat of that harley? looks like an awsome ride!!! makes me wanna head out right now... | ||
| Pso |
I have a set of those pegs. They are great for open roads (need to ride them to get anywhere from where I am). Had one weld break the front right footpeg to cross brace. Got it rewelded and worked great on last couple of trips. Now if I could only get the fuel pump back in. | ||
| Nvr2old |
Great ride, thanks for posting. "My friend Charlie and I" Hmmm, where have I heard that before? | ||
| Chopped58 |
We wake up the next morning to rain, and I decide it's time to check out the headlight issue...  I pull the fuse and sure enough it's blown, but why? Charlie pulls the bulb and the filaments are shorted together explainig the fuse, but why did they touch? Looking further, and remembering my vibration issue, Charlie noticed my front isolator was bad.  Ok, so I call a few dealer that are along our route, Gail's in Kansas City, says they don't have it in stock, but can get it in 24 hours if I order now. I had hoped to be further west, and only riding 250 miles and losing a day kinda sucks. I found another dealer in Hays Kansas that could get it in 24 hours also. I ordered it, packed up, and we rode west... While putting the route together, I stumbled on a BBQ joint in Kansas City that was well spoken of. I figured we had to give it a try...man were we glad we did!..Arthur Bryant's in Kansas City..   That was the best pulled pork I've tasted yet, but am still searching!       about 500 from STL we made it to Hays. We found another Days Inn, grabbed some food and some beers, and crashed for the night. We woke up the next morning, and rode over to Doerflers HD to check on the arrival of my mount. I was told it would arrive by 10am...fantastic! Earlier than I expected! We ran some errands, and rode back to the dealer. Mount was in, and I asked if there was any problem with us changing the mount in the lot. I was told no problem, and we started to change it. We used a ratcheting tie strap to lift the motor, but it broke..   ...so I grabbed a better strap, wrapped it over the frame, and under the muffler, tightened it up, and presto! I was back in business.  Piece of cake...changed the headlight bulb, packed up, and onward we went...next stop Colorado Springs... | ||
| Chopped58 |
Skinstains...ask and you shall receive..   The pegs are a welcome relief on my achy knees on long trips. With the aux fuel, we rode about 250-280 miles between stops. Glen yes that is an aux tank My friend added to his HD. He made a quick disconnect mount for it, the whole assembly comes off in about 5 seconds! Nvr2old yea I've heard it somewhere before as well, but we don't have (free)spare bikes or chase trucks following us...  | ||
| Hooper |
Intriguing setup on your extra lights. How are they attached to the turn signals (I assume)? Drilled through? A clamp? Are those car part store specials, or something more serious? | ||
| Chopped58 |
Hooper, they're just two pieces of flat stock I bent to 90 degrees, drilled the "short" end to fit over the threaded portion of the signal stalks, and drilled the other end to fit the lights.  the lights are hella ff50's with a clear plastic lens cover. | ||
| Hooper |
Thanks man...looks really easy. That's a face only a mother could love.  | ||
| Chopped58 |
After leaving Hays Kansas, we headed west on I-70 towards Colorado. The route would take us west to 24 in Limon, then south west towards Colorado Springs...      24 was an amazing ride, just vast stretches of rolling hills, for a guy from Long Island, this was incredible....and we haven't hit the rockies yet! We made it to Colorado Springs, found a motel and checked in. Here are some shots from right outside the motel room door...      We were to ride up Pikes the next morning, then check out, and continue south and west towards the Royal Gorge Bridge, and west on 50 towards Utah. The next day we woke up early, and rode to Pikes. At the ranger station, we were told that the road was frozen after a chemical was sprayed on the dirt portion, and we wouldn't be allowed up on the bikes. He explained that as slippery as the road was frozen, it was worse when it defrosted, and turned muddy. I asked if we could give it a shot as we would be quick at the top, and come right back down, and he reluctantly let us go....        Um...we didn't make it up. The road was slippry as hell, and defrosting quickly. We were slipping and sliding all over, and thought it wasn't worth the risk of getting hurt, or breaking the bikes. We rode back down, disapointed, but ok with our decision. Back at the ranger station, the ranger said that he and another ranger were relieved to see us back. Oh well, we had much more to see... We decided to check out Garden of the Gods, and were glad we did...it was beautiful...     After leaving Garden of the Gods, we rode back to the motel, checked out, and rode south past Cheyenne Mountain, towards 50, and the Royal Gorge Bridge. more later... | ||
| Cumminspowered |
Great pics! | ||
| Chopped58 |
We made it to Canon City where the Royal Gorge Bridge was located. We didn't ride across it, the price was a bit steep we thought, so we took a pic, and rode on...  (I really need to work on my composition) we continued west on 50, what scenery!     Over Monarch Pass...    Down the other side of the Continental Divide past Blue Mesa Reservoir         If you look close, you can see the road we rode up on the right side. There was a steep, high, drop off along this road. There were no guard rails, and I remember thinking that if you went over, you'd be swallowed up by the canopy below, and never be found....   Not much here...as far as you can see...simply amazing..   Landscape started changing...  And we made it to Utah, and Moab...    more later.. | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
I enjoyed that, thanks. Keep them coming. | ||
| Dcc46 |
great rr & pics keep em coming | ||
| Chopped58 |
We stopped for the night in Moab, had a bit of a time getting a room. It seems Moab is like the "extreme sports" capital of the world! Ok, maybe not, but it was very busy, Jeep rock crawlers, bicycles, rock climbers, parachutists, all seemed to converge on Moab when we were there. We found a room, and slept, tommorow was a big day as we planned to see Arches, Bryce Canyon, and Zion National Parks. We woke up, had breakfast, and left for Arches....            Next we rode towards Bryce...up to I-70, then south towards Bryce then Zion...    Need to watch your fuel in these parts...102 miles between services at one point...could catch you unaware... Finally...         Bryce was amazing...just mind blowing...next was Zion...  I like the different textures...     We left Utah, rode south on 89alt towards Marble Canyon in Az. We rode down a mountain pass out of the Kaibab Forest into House Rock Valley. On the left was the Vermillion Cliffs, and to the right, Kaibab Plateau. What a sight, the road stretched towards the horizon. We had a long night looking for a place to sleep, and ended up riding through Grand Canyon National Park at night. The elk were restless, as we passed a couple in the park...big pucker factor! We finally found a room, ate and crashed after a long day...Next was a return to the Grand Canyon (in the daylight this time) and south towards Mesa where our families were waiting.... | ||
| 4_pete_sake |
I am loving it.... very nice!!! | ||
| Two_buells |
great shots, nice trip! Hey I see that you have Sirius on your Uly. TSS Radio makes a Sirius antenna with a 1 foot coax, so you don't have to wrap the 25' of coax around your mirror. When I had my Uly, I had the Sirius Antenna mounted on the top case, less dropouts.  | ||
| Chopped58 |
Glad everyone is enjoying it. Thanks for the info about the antenna, will have to look into that! Would be much neater. | ||
| Chopped58 |
The next morning we went back to the Grand Canyon. It was another amazing sight...      It was pretty hazy, my pics didn't come out very well..We left the Grand Canyon, and motored south towards Phoenix, then Mesa. Our families were happy to see us, and after a few days rest continued towards Las Vegas...    Wikieup, AZ  Nothing...  Closer to Hoover Dam      Vegas in our sights...  4 Queens where we stayed..   From up high..  Hogs and Heifers....what a blast that was..  Nightime  We arrived in Vegas on Friday afternoon, and were going to head out Sunday morning. Vegas was pretty cool, and I had a blast. Next installment, the trip home... | ||
| Mnrider |
Great pics and ride report. The Freemont street light show is pretty cool. | ||
| Ulycruise |
Great Pics thanks for sharing...Like to find out about your fuel tank and highway pegs..I have a 2008 Uly and miles from anywhere..always a long trip in the Canadian rockies.Hate that yellow light!!! Could you possibly let me know the details? Also where did you get the driving lights and how are they mounted... winter has set in so have a few months to work on my bike..get it ready for Daytona I hope...ride safe | ||
| Chopped58 |
Mnrider- glad you like it, the street light show freaked me out, having no idea it would happen, and being a few beers into a good buzz...freaky Ulycruise- it's a 5 gallon tour tank with a baffle, and a vented cap. What you do is remove the drain plug from the fuel pump, install a hose barb, and run a fuel line (with a petcock) to the tank mounted on the rear. It's a piece of cake, and gives me a range of over 350 miles without stopping. The lights are hella ff50's mounted on some flat stock bent to 90 degrees. The short side is drilled to fit over the signal mounts, the long side drilled for the light. Very easy...any more questions just ask! | ||
| Ulycruise |
Chopped58 ,thanks for the reply...where did you get the tank? was thinking of having 1 made to fit the back Tour Bag.Like the light but you never mentioned the Hiway pegs....Sure would love a set. I'm planning to go to Daytona and gotta drive with my bike in my truck to clear the snow ......Where can I leave my truck? Is there other buellers going to be there?Great way to break up my 5 months of winter.Thanks again ..ride safe | ||
| Chopped58 |
Whoops sorry...pegs are from Palmer products, you can find a link to Palmer products on this site. Tour tanks can be found here.. http://www.tourtank.com/ttproducts.html |
