| Author | Message | ||
     Pnw_uly |
Been enough bad Uly press lately, here's a good news story. . . Had some time off and decided a road trip on the Ulysses was in order before the cold weather and rains commence once again the Pacific Northwest. September is always a great month; kids back in school, less RVs on the road, and the weather still nice enough. . . The bike: 2008 Ulysses XT, 30,200 original owner miles on the odometer, outfitted with the following: - Motolight Running Lights - Touratech hand guard extensions - Touratech oil cooler guard - Muffin Top 31L Panniers with Accessory Bags - Joe Rocket Tank Bag with Map Pocket - Touratech .5 gallon fuel cells (two) - Precision Engineering Footpegs - Garmin eTrex GPS - Dunlop D616 tires - Other assorted farkles  Ready to roll. . .  Extra gallon of fuel on board, note small accessory bags on panniers. . .  Small Tank Bag, with map case, eTrex, and iPod. . . Tools and Parts: - OEM under seat tool kit - Buell Toolkit - Spare Belt - Spare Hubs - Spare Brake Pads - Spare Spark Plugs - Tire Plug Kit - Mini Air Compressor - Mini-Jumper Cables - Spare Oil Filter and O-Ring - 1 Qt. Oil - Owners Manual  Tool and parts layout. . .  Extra belt stowage . . . The Route: Never started the journey with an exact route in mind; just wanted to hit some of the great roads in Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. I did pick up a set of the Butler Motorcycle Maps (no affiliation), and would highly recommend them, as they highlight the best motorcycle rides in each state. Day 1 (Sep 9): Instead of fighting morning Puget Sound commuter traffic, opted to take the Olympic Peninsula route from Tacoma up to Port Townsend and hop on the ferry over to Whidbey Island, then the North Cascades route (HWY 20) across Washington.  Scooter Trash to the front of the line. . .  Great road, awesome scenery. . . Ended day 1 in Colville, Washington. 423 miles. More to follow . . . | ||
| Pnw_uly |
Day 2 (Sep 10): Through the Idaho Panhandle to Hwy 508 and the Yaak route, beautiful road and almost no traffic. Pretty big dam neat the town of Libby.  Waterfall along MT Hwy 508   Hot Dam! Ended day 2 in Kalispell at 411 miles. Day 3 (Sep 11): Glacier National Park, kind of a must do, but slow going based on traffic and road construction.    In case you've wondered how far you can go with the low fuel light on, I'd say somewhere between 35 - 40 miles. Here I am at 32.6 miles on reserve, filled up 4.15 gallons. . .  Ended day three in Butte, 468 miles. Day 4 (Sep 12): Beartooth and Dead Indian Passes enroute to Yellowstone. Best riding of the trip, Unbelievable roads, light traffic, and plenty of twisties.    Ended day 3 in Jackson, 494 miles. To be continued. . . | ||
| Fltwistygirl |
Nice ride report. Glad to hear it's been hassle free, those are the best Uly adventures. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Nice! Thats some serious mileage. | ||
| Debueller |
Nice report, Paul. My girlfriend and I also enjoyed a 3000 mile trouble free 9 day trip last month. We traveled through the Mcgruder corridor, Glacier, and through Yaak also. Her Versys and My Uly performed flawlessly. We camped the whole time and the Uly is a great pack-mule. Glad you had a good time!! (Message edited by debueller on September 19, 2011) | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Very nice. Great photos.  | ||
| Motorbike |
I am so jealous! There is nothing more fun than riding through the mountains on a bike! Thanks for posting. Awesome pics! | ||
| Hooper |
Was that a RADAR detector? If so, what kind and how did you mount it (and has it been worth it)? | ||
| Rodclement |
Nice report! What is that color/texture you have on your bike? Very cool! Rod | ||
| Pnw_uly |
Jerry - Need to head back out to the Brooklyn Tavern sometime - - that was a good ride. Hooper - No radar detector, you might be looking at the eTrex (GPS). Rod - Its LineX. Its my winter commuter, so don't want to feel like it has to be cleaned with any regularity. . . Day 5 (Sep 13): A mix of riding, some rather flat, straight roads and some great twisties as I started to work my way back west and north.  Not a bad morning on the road, just killing a few bugs. . .  Roadside waterfall. . . Ended Day 5 in Kamiah, Idaho. 575 miles. Day 6 (Sep 14): Not a frustrating day, but low mileage and got turned around by fire. Did the obligatory Lolo Pass, another great road, missed the opportunity to take a photo of the “Curves – Next 99 Miles” sign. Before the trip, my tires had a few thousand miles on them, but figured they’d be well within the tread life based on my previous experience with the D616. What I failed to account for was the additional weight packed on the Uly and the chip-seal roads that I was traveling. . . Realized I was down to the wear bar, but was sloughing off tread in other parts that would have exposed the belts in short order. So I pulled into a shop in Hamilton, and was out the door 2 hours later and under $200 for a mounted OEM Pirelli Diablo. Tried to find a route to Elk City, but got turned around by fire, so had to back track; spent the night in Missoula.  Damn wear bar!  Looking for a back roads route to Elk City. . . No luck. Only 285 miles on Day 6, but felt ragged by the time I stooped for the night. Still more to follow. . . | ||
| Dynasport |
Nice trip. Thanks for sharing it with us. | ||
| Wbrisett |
and under $200 for a mounted OEM Pirelli Diablo. So you have a Diablo on the rear and D616 on the front??? If so, how does the bike handle? I had to put a Bridgestone BT016 on my Uly's rear when I had a major blowout 600 miles from home. I was not happy about the way the Uly handled with a Sync on the front and the BT016 on the rear. | ||
| Pnw_uly |
Wayne - No significant issues, handling-wise, but keep in mind, this is coming from a guy who actually likes the Dunlop D616. . . Generally I would steer away from mixing tire brands based on compounds, tread, handling characteristics, etc., but I'm not running this bike at the track, and it was kind of an "Any port in a storm. . ." kind of decision. Since my daily commute is all interstate, plan on running these out and then swapping over to the PR3s. | ||
| Rodclement |
Line X! That's what I thougt! May I ask how you applied it? Did you take it in to a shop or do it yourself? That seems like a good winter project for me! Rod | ||
| Jphish |
Hey Paul - A wonderful, TROUBLE FREE adventure on your Uly ? What the hell kind of adventure is that ?? (~: Glad you're back safe pal. Got back tues from St Joe fishing trip - Off to Canyonlands (Ariz / Utah) tomorrow. (This recreational life is positively grueling) I can't convince Ashley to 'mount' the tigers - (I'm referring of course to the bikes) to ride in 80*, sunny weather, so taking the damn car. Be back on 7th - call you then to meet up for ride. Hope trailer isnt taking up 'man cave' space. If so...sell it. Toodles, j | ||
| Pnw_uly |
Rod - Pulled all the parts and had a local shop shoot them with Line-X. I've self-applied Herculiner to other projects before, and although its a great bargain, cost wise, I don't really like the texture - - and it fades out quickly... John - St. Joe, as is between St. Maries Idaho and St. Regis Montana? If so, I went down that stretch of road, even did a little off-roading based on road closure; I'll update this thread with a couple more pictures tonight. . . No issues with the trailer, sure you don't want to haul the Tigers down to Utah. . .? I can drop it off this afternoon if you want it - - it is yours, after all... | ||
| Rodclement |
Thanks again Paul! Hope you don't mind if I copy your idea! Rod | ||
| Pnw_uly |
Day 7 (Sep 15): Time for some dirt. And rain. . . The St. Joe scenic byway is 89 miles between Idaho and Montana, and 12 miles is dirt. Except for right now, as they have closed the road based on construction. Having been turned back by fire the day before, I was determined to try to find a way through . . . Talked with the road crew and convinced them I could make it on the 4x4 only dirt track to link up to the spot behind where the road was closed. Started off without fanfare, then the rain started - - nothing significant, but enough to get your attention. No photos of this action, just a few pics at the end of the trail, after getting back to the tarmac.  FSR 339 They ALWAYS put gravel at the end of the dirt road where it meets the tarmac - - REALLY!  A little mud makes the Uly run better. . . Crossed back into Washington between Lewiston (ID) and Clarrkston (WA), and had enjoyed the North Cascade highway so much, decided to make my way back north and return via the Olympic Peninsula. Not a lot of people will believe this, but most of the Washington real estate east of the Cascade Mountains (and that's most of the state) is dry agriculture. . . Enjoyed a nice twistie road (WA 261) through Starbuck, (any chance it was the catalyst for the coffee chain???) Kansas ? Nebraska ?   Nope - - Washington, just north of Lind. . . Well, spent time at the dam at in Montana (Libby), so felt obliged to stop by Grand Coulee in Washington. . .   Spent the night of day 7 in Omak, 535 miles. . . | ||
| Scooter808484 |
PNW_Uly, great ride, but what have you done to keep your muffler so pristine looking up in our wet and nasty corner of the world? | ||
| Pnw_uly |
Scott - Had the exhaust headers and muffler coated by Jet Hot coatings, with their JH2000 ceramic coating - - kind of looks like 80 grit sand paper, which works well with the Line-X theme. . . Got tired of painting the muffler during each oil change, and after 6,000 miles I'm very happy with the results. Not that we really have hot weather here, but felt much improved temperature management from the bike - - better than the comfort kit and SPEC OPs heat blanket combined.   | ||
| Pnw_uly |
Day 8 (Sep 16): Great final day; North Cascades highway west-bound, the ferry back across the Puget Sound to Port Townsend and a leisurely last few hundred miles to the house.  Ross Lake along the North Cascades Highway (HWY 20)...  Artsy-Fartsy Photo Attempt...  Crossing in the Puget Sound, Port Townsend off the starboard bow. . . Ahh, clouds, will get used to those for the next several months...  Tacoma - Narrows Bridge (new span on the right). Getting close now, just a few miles out...  Safely back in the stable... Only 329 miles for the day, but still a long one... Random thoughts to follow. . . | ||
| Idaho_buelly |
WOW! Great ride! Thanks for the pics too.  | ||
| Calamari_kid |
Nice ride, thanks for sharing. Did ya get the exhaust coated in Seattle? If so, where'd ya take it? That's on my list of winter projects. |
