| Author | Message | ||
     Sekalilgai |
he had just picked up his new 1125R at Hal's on 10/26 and headed to Portland.....  | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
Snappy dresser! | ||
| Froggy |
PM Yellow  | ||
| P47b |
How can you miss him? Is he missing in action? | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
I wanna know how his trip home went.... | ||
| Americanmadexb |
Was that the bike with the painted plastics? Without the full fairing? | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
bump | ||
| Swordsman |
If anyone saw him, they only saw him for a second or so... then their retinas burst into flame. ~SM | ||
| Drkside79 |
Thats a lot of yellow | ||
| Littlebuggles |
He posted briefly on the October 25th ride thread (toward the end of that thread's active life). The short of it was he picked up a U-haul (in Nebraska?) and tip-toed his way through the gnarly storm, passed through SLC Sat(31st) and was home Sunday. Wish I could have ridden his coattails home to Salt Lake. http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/4062/503966.html?1257267657 Edited for date corrections and to add the link, the posting you are looking for is from Marinus, on Sunday Nov 1. Grrr, I don't know why the address won't post as a link, copy and paste in your browser I guess... We didn't clear the storm, and I opted to keep the little one safe:   (Message edited by littlebuggles on November 18, 2009) | ||
| Sekalilgai |
wow, now that qualifies for a badweatherbiker for sure! | ||
| Littlebuggles |
Yeah, I hope he comes around and gives us the extended version of his trip. Sounds like a cool story. | ||
| Marinus |
Ah, I missed this thread somehow. First, thanks for the picture, Sekalilgai . Here's the story of the trip: Before the Oct. 15th announcement, I owned an '08 Uly; it was the first "new" motorcycle I'd bought in 21 years. I wasn't really in the market for a second bike. But, with production ending and the rebates on 1125s, it was now or never to get a new one. Another thing afoot was the mass ride to the Buell plant. That's a reasonable trip for the hundreds of Buell'ers that live in the Midwest; but us Left Coasters were grimacing at the 2000 miles and multiple mountain ranges that lay between us and East Troy, Wisconsin. As it turned out, Hal's Harley-Davidson in New Berlin still had an '09 1125R... and I figured that riding only one way would be half as hard as riding both ways. My wife said, "Go get it", so I put a deposit on it and flew out on a red-eye Sunday night. Monday, Oct. 26th Next morning, Ryan the salesman from Hal's was waiting for me outside baggage claim, and we made it to Hal's by nine. Buell riders from the surrounding states, plus some from Georgia, and at least one from Alaska were congregating at Hal's for the last ride. The coffee pot was on overdrive. The 1125R had custom pearl yellow paint, and was very pretty. I'd brought my Uly footpegs and the "touring" seat that American Sport Bike speed-shipped to me. I got the lower pegs and tailbag on just as the last group of riders set out. It was raining lightly in Wisconsin, very Portland-ish weather. I had exactly 100 ft. of experience riding the R before we left Hal's. It was well behaved at low speeds, which was a bit of a surprise. My last pure sports bike, one of the original GSXRs, was a handful in a parking lot, but the Buell's no problem. In East Troy, Buell's plant is smaller than I imagined. Over the years, they've turned out more than 135,000 motorcycles, but it didn't look like a factory to me; it looked like a high-tech machine shop. The employees filtered out as the end of their day nears, and every one I met was an enthusiast. I was too choked up to go inside. I had empathy for the workers, of course, but they're exceptional and won't be unemployed long. No, I was emotional because of the loss of this monument to American manufacturing and ingenuity. I used the excuse of the long road ahead to leave early. It was lightly raining when I rode away from the plant. Then it rained harder & harder for three hours. Everything was wet. When the rain finally stopped my gloves were leaden. Heading southwest, I reached Savanna, IL, on the road less traveled. I was looking for a bite to eat when I passed the Iron Horse Social Club on main street. I went in and found the owners sitting at a table, engrossed in bookkeeping. One of them called out, "We're closed, but you're welcome to use the restroom and look around."  The Club is full of vintage and antique racing bikes, pre-flathead stuff. The hillclimbers were a special treat. But I still needed food, so I head over the Miss. River and down to Clinton, home of perfectly suitable american chinese food and the biggest ••••••• grain elevator complex I've ever seen... by a factor of four. Stopped for the night in good old Coralville, Iowa. The motel desk clerk had been in a fight over the weekend, judging from the contusions on his face. Maybe he's not a Buckeyes fan? 280 miles on Monday. Tuesday, Oct. 27th -- Road Choices I-80 was the central thread of my route home, but not my preferred road. I like riding state and lesser Federal highways, even though they're slower 'cause of lower speed limits and municipal areas. There's more room on a little road... more room between me and other vehicles. But as darkness falls, if there are still miles to cover, I retreat to the freeway. Deer and oncoming DUIs are the two main reasons. 570 miles on Tuesday, including a stop in Omaha for the first service. Thanks to Fresnobuell for helping me see sense about changing the oil on the road. Wednesday, Oct. 28th In North Platte, NE a fitful night's sleep gave way to a grey moist morning. Two hundred miles to the west, Wyoming was submerging in a snow storm, and Interstate 80 was closed to Cheyenne. The weather maps showed a solid line of winter weather stretching from Montana to New Mexico. Unwilling to go south to El Paso and Interstate 10, I wouldn't be riding west for a while. So, other possibilities: Park the bike at relatives' in Kansas/Eastern Colorado and fly home? Hunker down in Nebraska and wait for it to pass? Hitch a ride with some passing truck/trailer? Rent a truck and haul the machine west? I dithered a bit, during which time I-80 to Cheyenne opened, then rented a moderate-sized U-Haul truck and tied the Buell down in back. Good guys at Art's Service in North Platte helped out.  Large cup of coffee, check. Emergency blankey, check. Food and water and a full tank of gas, check. I drove out of town into a pallid landscape, and flakes were coming down within an hour. Once inside Wyoming, the wind picked up, traffic died away, and only the semi trucks were driving above 40... those that weren't in the ditches.  Made it to Cheyenne, but almost got stuck on the offramp; judicious throttle control let the U-Haul crawl up a hill, slow-spinning the dualies, and we ricocheted into a gas station parking lot. The WY DOT website said I'd be there a while: all roads closed out of town. Time to hole up; I scoped out the approach on foot, then, with a running start, got the truck to a hotel parking lot and joined the other stuck travelers. Thursday, Oct. 29 Daylight reached around the edges of the double curtains at the Holiday Inn, and I drew them back hoping for a clear day. Not so. Gale winds from the north stirred a soup of falling snow and snow that fell on Casper last night. Haphazardly parked trucks and cars and trailers filled the parking lot, abandoned where they'd stopped moving. Drifted snow streamlined every projection above the ground. All roads were closed, into and out of Cheyenne. But! The breakfast buffet was open, and the wait staff only looked mildly puzzled when I asked for some granola. The weather forecast was not encouraging. I decided to hedge my bets and buy tire chains for the truck. A local helpful CarQuest had some, and dropped them off at the hotel desk. I put on my riding suit and carried them out to the parking lot for fitment; it only took three episodes of hand-warming and coffee-drinking to get them lashed up. I triumphantly motored around the parking lot with my steel galoshes. When the freeway opened, I'd be ready. But afternoon came and went with no change in the weather or the forecast, and only two changes in the road closure report: 1. Conditions around Cheyenne and Laramie had stranded so many cars and semis that all the hotels and parking lots were full -- so WY DOT closed the freeways even further out to avoid gridlock. 2. I-25 was open southbound to Denver. That wouldn't help me; even if I could make it to I-70, that Interstate goes across a 10,000 foot pass and then runs in a nasty tight canyon... and Golden, CO, had'd 40" of snow at that point. The Winter Storm Warning ended at 6 p.m., but no one remembered to tell the wind, and it continued as before. Friday, October 30th Hilltop Holiday Inn, Cheyenne, Wyoming Overnight the snow has stopped falling, but it's hard to tell at first 'cause the wind's still howling out of the north. The parking lot is almost unchanged -- but the semi that'd hung up on the curb trying to get in has been pulled out, and so the entryway is clear. The trucks lined up in the back are still three deep, still idling, visible proof that the roads aren't open yet. The thaw, if one is coming, hasn't reached southern Wyoming. A quick visit to the wydot site confirms my suspicion. The bottom right of the map is a spiderweb of red lines marking "road closed". The truck backup's spread far beyond Laramie -- the freeway eastbound is closed at Rawlins (by the end of the day, it would be closed at Rock Springs, roughly 200 miles west of Cheyenne). I check out in a mood of grim desperation. Though unpromising, there is a road that's at least open to Laramie: US-287 from Fort Collins, Colorado. To catch 287, I'll have to go down I-25, still possible southbound. Crunch, crunch, crunch... the chains propel the U-Haul out of the lot and over surface streets to the freeway. Semis are stacked everywhere, clogging the parking lots, on the shoulders crowding the roads, stuck in the ice where they've been for 36 hours or more. The wind is gusty, here, away from the buildings nearer the center of the city. After checking the tie-downs and gulping a McMuffin, I set out towards Fort Collins at a conservative pace -- 32 mph or less. Six miles up the highway, not yet to the state line, I lose my nerve. The truck's broad sides make a perfect sail, and the wind's power pushes the back end around. Rivulets of snow cover the road, like driving in a whitewater creek. The rumble strips on the shoulders provide the only guidance of the road's course. Visibility goes from 100 feet to 5 feet in seconds. I plow through a median crossing and go back to Cheyenne. But once there, I'm ill at ease. A final check of the wydot site shows the closure situation unchanged. Grrr. So I headed south again, pushing through the same mess as before, holding the speed even lower, making progress by stubborn persistence. An hour of that passed... and then the sun came out, and the road was clear. I took off the chains, almost whistling. Cutting across to US-287 on an unpaved county road,  I found the highway and joined a small stream of (fool)hardy motorists headed for Laramie. The first hint that there was more to come was an SUV stopped well off the road. Backwards. Nearing it, I saw a huge patch of ice in the lee of a hill; the road was clear before and after, but that stretch of rink covered both lanes. The SUV'd been going 50, perhaps, and lost it instantly on the ice. Four long black smears on the highway beyond told of the resulting spin, and the rutted shoulder and plowed ditch spoke of a near roll. From there on, the road went uphill, and the conditions, contra. The chains were back on, and the driving was more of the experience on I-25. It was not easier the second time.  Note that I only took pictures of the "good" times. The rest of the time I was growing gray hairs. When the sight of Laramie emerged from the milky mists, I felt like Scott being rescued. (wasn't he rescued from one of the polar expeditions?) The freeway west was open. That road to Rawlins, though, held no respite from worry, only an shuffling of the most-likely-error list. Despite steady plowing, the drifts owned the road for long stretches; and the rude wind alternately whined and barked. OH YES, I had a beer in Rock Springs, when finally through it. And I tell you now I'll never go back through Wyoming in Winter without AWD and Hakkas. By evening, the lumbering U-Haul and I'd reached western Wyoming. Alongside the Interstate, some snow still lingered from the week's storm, but the roadway itself was clear. Gun shy from surprise slick spots, I was reluctant to let go of four wheels, and pushed the ungainly beast down into Salt Lake City. I pulled in at the first U-Haul dealer I found, and released the Buell from bondage. I rode up the road about twenty miles just to check that the bike was still shipshape, then took one last hotel room in Ogden, UT. Saturday, Oct. 31 Saturday morning I found the road west from Cheyenne was still closed, which made me feel better about the risky detour I'd taken. Once the sun peeked over the mountains, I hit the road for home. Up from SLC and across Idaho, I saw ice fog, sun, rain; saw inlet temps between 31 and 65 degrees; saw mph between 0 and 111 (ahem); 150 miles between stops worked about right. Missed the Uly's heated grips, appreciated the electric jacket under the suit. 11 hours and 720 miles later, we reached Portland, and the 1125R settled down for a rest next to the Uly.  (Message edited by marinus on December 14, 2009) (Message edited by marinus on December 21, 2009) | ||
| Froggy |
Bump out of the Archive of Doom for you | ||
| Bob_thompson |
And where are all the naysayers about Buells reliability. Thats an awful long ride in terrible weather to break in a new bike and Marinus is one tough guy. He gets my vote for the ironbutt rider of the year. Congrats Marinus, you have two of the best bikes there are. Ride safe and enjoy your new bike. YOU HAVE EARNED IT! Bob | ||
| Whatever |
I have been to that part of Wyoming... and there is NOTHING out there... no farms and no rest stops. It was around October and I noticed the huge gates they could put across the highway to close it down... Glad you played it smart and made it home safely. | ||
| Americanmadexb |
WOW, nice story. I bet you wished you had just shipped the damn thing huh? lol. It was worth it im sure to be at the factory with everyone. Wish i could have made it! | ||
| Methed |
Thanks for the update and the report--well written and a fun story, at least from this side of the story. Just for the record, Scott never admitted to being rescued but rather doctored photos from the trip to make himself appear the rescuer. Congrats again on surviving the trip and that killer bike! | ||
| Court |
Holy cow ! ! ! . . what a great ride/trip and WHAT A STORY! That's the best part of motorcycling! WOW ! | ||
| Nevrenuf |
that was truly a great story and wish i could have been along for that one. stopped in ogden back in 01 after leaving sturgis where i got to demo my first buell to have the bike worked on. they told us of the little diner around the corner that had some of the greatest salsa that the served with the eggs for breakfast. nice people at the stealership also. | ||
| Liquorwhere |
I know those roads!! Went to college in Ft Collins and I have seen first hand, on a bike that howling Wyoming wind....man...you did really well. Five years ago I left Ft Collins on my bike headed for a new home in Florida in Feb, blowing snow and Raton Pass still hold fond memories for me.....great story...really great story. Enjoy that new bike! | ||
| Tripp |
awesome story!  thanks for telling it! | ||
| Tripp |
and props to ken for starting the thread! | ||
| Squidbuzz |
You will never know how many times I stared at that bike at Hal's before you bought it. I talked with Al and Ryan about 5 times and didn't pull the trigger. I'm glad to hear that it has gone to such a deserving home. =) | ||
| Moxnix |
Great story. I certainly understand prudence in iffy weather. | ||
| Sekalilgai |
man...what a trip! Thanks for the update and hey...you coming to next year's WV Buell rally?...it'd just be a skip and a hop for ya! all the best Ken | ||
| Gjwinaus |
Marinus, what a fabulous story, your story also reinforces my determination to stay away from that white slippery stuff | ||
| Littlebuggles |
Awesome trip report, thanks for the write up and pics! Glad you got home okay, we also snapped a couple pics of you, in motion, not long after rolling out of Hal's, I can post them up or email if you'd prefer. | ||
| Marinus |
Hey Littlebuggles, if they have general amusement possibilities, post 'em. Else please send 'em on to me. bit.of.a.nutter@gmail (Message edited by marinus on December 16, 2009) | ||
| Littlebuggles |
Will do. |
