2011 - same as 2010... bummer

So the 2011 season was just as challenging for me in terms of riding as 2010. I didn't get out much but did take a few day rides. The huge disappointment is that the odometer is screwed up. After the above picture at some point the odometer stopped working. So now I need to guess how far I go unless I have the GPS hooked up. With a $100+ to replace the unit, the replacement will have to wait for awhile. But I rode when I could in the 2011 season.

2010 - Late but here now!

2010 was a slow riding season for me. Many life changes. But I did get a "Dads weekend away" and took the LT on its longest trip since getting it a few years back. The bigger deal, for me, was coming home, did all 900+ miles in one day. That was fun!

Ely Trip 663miles pt3

After a quick stop at the DQ in Ely we started heading south, we didn't even eat any ice cream-honest!. Highway 1 from the North Shore to Ely was a great ride. The smell of the pine in the air reminded me of the aroma in the house when putting a “live” tree up at Christmas. The stop at Café Stuga in Harris, MN was crazy. Tim knows of all these great places to stop, guess that is what happens when you put 20,000+ miles in the saddle each year. One day I might be able to do this but I do want to stay married to my first wife for a lifetime and know my children! So more ridding time will come later in life. We both went different directions at the I35 split. I arrived back at home at 9pm.

Ely Trip 663miles pt2

After leaving Duluth the North Shore was cool ridding. Lake Superior was calm and it is always great to see this lake, the largest fresh water lake in the world. We stopped at Betty’s Pies for some soup.

Ely Trip 663miles pt1

I’ve been wanting to do this trip in ONE day for while. So a couple weeks ago on a Saturday morning I left at 6am and headed north for Forrest Lake and met Tim. We would spend most of the day together from then on. It’s about 100miles from my house to the micky D’s at this exit. After we met up we headed for Duluth and a stop at some brick building downtown; Aerostich. If you haven’t checked out their site or stopped by this place you are really missing some great products being made in the USA.

New Cycle ... sorta

Pic #1 - Home to Rochester
Pic #2 - Mileage
Pic #3 - '76 KZ400 Kawasaki

All of my posts up until now have been about my K100LT Beemer! Today was a very interesting day. It started out with a breakfast with the Cornerstone Cruisers held at Calvary EFC church here in Rochester. A group of them were heading out to Cookson Hill Christian Ministries in Oklahoma for a week. I had planned to ride all day long so I had a "free" day anyways. Well I've been looking for an old cycle to tear apart and learn about what makes it all work inside. To do this I ended up trading our '94 Jeep Cherokee with 277K for the above cycle. We haven't been driving it for a few of months. We've had the Jeep since Dec '93, that's 17years of our 19years of being married - wow, Aimee and I felt like we were losing a close friend - yeah right.... it is just a hunk of metal on wheels. I ended up riding the KZ all the way home to Rochester. Had it stall out once and couldn't get it started, yet after it sat for a while I was able to start it. So now I've got a retro motorcycle I can work on and "restore" - we'll see. The LT is definitely more comfortable, however, i'm way surprised that it did cruise at 60/65mph at no problem. It will be a fun 'around the town' cycle.

DQ run and Lake Pepin

On Saturday afternoon May 1st I took of with Davin for a DQ run in Lake City. As we sat there eating our cone we kept looking across the lake at the Wisconsin bluff's We decided to head home via Wisconsin. It was a great ride with my son!

Sunday Afternoon in MARCH!

Above you'll see our where we ended our ride to warm up a bit with some hot drinks. It was great to have a good friend show up on a Sunday afternoon and say "let's ride" - felt a little weird riding and seeing all the snow in the fields and the ice in the river between Hammond and Millville. It sure is great to being to log the miles this year!

2010 First Ride

Took a picture of the clock before heading out for the first ride of 2010! It was great to get out and ride around town on Wed. March 3rd. Took the LT to work and home in the afternoon. It was SOOOOO great to be out on the cycle again!

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)

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!

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!

Cool Fall Cycling - YEAH

I got the new (old) final drive installed w/ the new (old) driveshaft. These both came off an '86 K100. When I finished the project the clock read 49544. As shown in the pic I'm over 50K now and there has not been a problem. Being out in the fall on the LT is so much fun! How long will I ride into the late fall, i dunno, but today was great 10/14.

FD drive & drive shaft removed

Got almost everything apart. Still need to remove the disk from the "old" Final Drive. Hope to get this done over the weekend. Other parts were ordered and should have them by next week.

Taryn Trip

This is the trip that left me (us) on the side of the road. My daughter Taryn enters middle school this fall and I wanted to have a special time with her, an overnight camping trip. The trip started well and we took off in the late after noon for Lake Louise State Park. The night was great and the time with Taryn was fun talking by the fire. The next morning after breakfast we headed to Burr Oak, IA and the Laura Ingalls Wilder museum. This was also fun since Taryn has read all the books and some extras concerning Laura's life. After leaving the museum we were headed to Lanesboro, MN for some lunch. We never made it. From the map you can see where we broke down. I knew the splines on the drive shaft were a little worn, but not enough to quite working altogether. Taryn said it would be a trip that we would not forget. We made it home w/ a lift from a freind who went to my house and got my trailer. We did get lunch about 4:30 in the afternoon. Hope to get the LT running in the next couple of weeks so I can enjoy the Fall.

Parts Replaced...

After some replacing of some parts, air filter, fuel filter, and some other stuff had to remove the tank and replace it 3x. These two little yellow wires attach to the front brake lights and attach right under the tank. I trust the connection will hold together now -- used some duct tape! I also now have hand grips heated. The original switch was not working so had to add switch to get them working. I'm ready to ride this fall.

3 States!!!

After some work on the LT that has given it a new "feel" -- wow is it running smooth (thanks), I was able to take off on a long over due ride w/ a freind. 3 states, 1 afternoon -- turing the throttle -- PRICELESS!!!

1st Thursday's Again...

Took the long route up and enjoyed the countryside. Northfield, MN will need another visit. This was the largest crowed ever that I've been at. After the time looking at the cycles, people and enjoying slice of pizza we headed over to Bob's Java. Nice to relax, enjoy a beverage before the fun ride home.

Ride w/ Aimee

Had a chance to ride with my AWSOME wife during a Friday night CMA ride. Had a great fish fry before heading home.

Duluth Trip

I headed up the "Blue Star Highway" today to Duluth. The objective was to make purchase at the Rider Wearhouse http://www.aerostich.com/ . The day started out a bit chilly, just above freezing, however, on the return trip I was taking off the layers. Route 23 from Duluth to Sandstone was a great road. Wish I would of been on that all day. You can see from the pic where I stopped for lunch, not sure who the lady was that open the door when I clicked the camera, oh well. Round trip from home was 454miles!!!