Sunday, September 27, 2009

Making Up For Lost Miles...1440 of them



Been longing for some miles on the LT this summer but things have kept me from taking any significant trips. Well over Labor Day weekend I put on 1440 miles with a trip around Lake Michigan. The goal was miles, camping and seeing my grandma in Blanchard, MI.

Day 1 – Left right as it was getting light, made it through Wisconsin during the morning. Fog was bad around the Mississippi river, but didn’t slow me down.

After deciding not to go through Chicago, I was headed S. on I-39, something seemed weird so I pulled off and realized I was losing air from my back tire, valve stem leak. Made a couple phone calls and then realized that the BMW of Chicago would be able to help. I ended up spending the next while making the 70miles to their place stopping ever 15-20miles to make sure I had enough air. Speed was kept slow so it took some time. Ever thing was fixed at 4:30PM. Now to leave Chicago during rush hour on a holiday weekend – yeah right!!! Made the decision to just follow US41 all the way to the S. side, it was slow but I kept moving. Had a quick bit to eat and ended up in MI for the night.

Day2 – Woke up; broke camp and headed for Grandma’s place. She didn’t know I was coming, I road into the driveway as she was getting her mail. We had a great lunch and visit and she wanted to take me for a ride all over town on her “new” four-wheeler! It was a blast. She told me about her and my grandpa as they had a final drive problem on their Moto Guzzi back in the day. I think she wanted to come along. There is a lot of history for her and my family in this small town, she has had a connection here for over a ½ decade. But I needed to get a few more miles in if I was going to complete this trip before having to start a “new job” on Tuesday morning so I headed for the UP of MI.



Day 3 – Was invited for a free breakfast of eggs, toast and bacon from a neighbor couple who were camping. What a great way to start the day. Riding through the UP was great. Had lunch over-looking Lake Superior's, south shore, in Munising then headed West into Wisconsin. I knew I didn’t want to ride into the Sun near sunset so finding a campground early was the plan. Relaxing at the camp was also great. Got a free site as I road in, the previous occupants left and the site had already been paid for, what a deal! I really like staying at National Forest campground, the price is usually a bit less rather then a State Park and things seem to be less commercialized. It isn’t for everyone, because they usually don’t have showers or flush toilets.



(Somewhere between Munising & Marquette)

Day 4 – Headed home on US63. It was great to be home and have a few days logged riding the LT – it really is a great long distance traveler.

(Chequamegon National Forest)

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

DQ Run


I got out this last Saturday (4/18) for a couple of hours. I headed to DQ in Lake City, MN. The Flood Run was in full swing and it was fun to see all the cycles out on the road. After a hotdog w/ the works I enjoyed the ride home. Yeah 87mile round trip for a DQ run is well worth it!

Saturday, March 7, 2009

2009 is underway ... sorta


So the weather was nice, almost 50 and sunny. I got the LT ready and I couldn't get it started. The key would not turn in the ignition all the way to "ON" -- I did manage to get it to work with my other set of keys and took it for a short ride around town, got the tire pressure to where it should be and enjoyed what I had left of the afternoon. A short ride but it felt great. However, when I got home and tried to pull the LT back into the garage I couldn't turn the key again, the "other" key wouldn't work either... so i'm bummed. But I'll get it going soon!