2010 Spring Break Ride - Day 1

5 friends, 5 days, 4 nights, 3 states, and 1800 miles.

Day 1:

After much anticipation, our 2010 spring camping trip was finally here. I didn't get much sleep the night before we all met at the Shell station at 5am.

There was not a whole lot to our first day of riding as we stuck to the major highways to get out to eastern Arizona as quick as possible. We took the 15 south to the 8 east, which eventually meets up with the 10 for some more eastbound super slab riding.

The temperature dropped down to the low 30s as we gained elevation over the 8.  I was wearing some thermals under some normal pants and a leather jacket.  It was still a bit chilly but I wasn't shivering cold like Steve.

Last trip I brought 2 pairs of boots, but this time for the sake of saving some space, I just brought one pair.  They were just 8" duty type of boots that ended up having a pretty good temperature range for comfort.

Once we came down the pass, it was lots of straight riding.  The pictures above show the group pushing forward on Hwy 8, and a nice view of Glamis off to our right.

I was trying not to fall asleep, taking pictures from the back, when the group moves over to the shoulder.  The strange thing is that we were not stopping.

The group pulled back into traffic for a few hundred yards, but then back to the shoulder.  This time we finally came to a stop.

Turns out, Brian's Ultra ran dry.  You would think something like this would put a damper on the day, but no.  Larry came packed with a siphon in case he ran out of gas (or possibly money).

Paul had some fuel to spare, so him and Larry went to work siphoning about 24 oz of fuel to get us another mile or two down the road to fill up.

We continued riding on until we arrived in Tuscon.  We stopped for some lunch at a local brewery and made some changes to our route.  I don't remember exactly why, but it didn't matter.  Brian picked out a state campground in Pategonia about 80 miles away and we continued on.

The campground seemed nice on the map because it was near water, but we got there and it was full. It actually didn't look too inviting with that many people there anyway.  The park ranger told us we could camp out on public land not too far from there and directed us to the dirt road.

At least the roads were 2 lanes and mildly curvy now.  We rode on and cruised through the little town of Pategonia.  Once past the town we ended up on a smaller windy road through some rural hilly areas looking for that dirt road the ranger told us about.

A trail head parking area caught Brian's eye and he pulled off the road into this dirt parking area.  There was a berm you could not see over from sitting on the bikes, so we parked and took a look.

Good news! Just over the berm was a dry wash that came complete with a ring of rocks for a campfire. The sun was getting low and this is where we decided to setup camp.  The town wasn't too far away so we individually split off when ready and picked up random things like firewood and water.

We didn't have a grate to cook the steak or pork loin we had, so that night we opted for hot dogs and sausages on skewers.  One by we all went off for a comfortable night of sleep.

Up and Over Palomar Mountain

On Thursday, 10/18/2010, work was a little slow so I decided to join some friends for a ride to Borrego Springs via Palomar Mtn.

The bikes ridden were my Triumph Street Triple, a Ducati Monster 1100, a brand new Screaming Eagle Street Glide, an Ultra, and 2 others I can't remember for the life of me right now.

Two of the riders had just completed course 1 of Lee Park's Total Control program last week. Three of us had already completed both courses last year as well so it was a good chance to work on and discuss the techniques learned in those classes.

I finally had a chance to edit some video, so here's Jack descending the East grade of Palomar Mountain practicing the technique learned in that class. Watch his body posture and notice the speed he's able to ride that Street Glide without scraping through any of those corners.

More Thoughts and Video on the Falken 912

Today I had a chance to get more seat time on the Falken 912.  I took the bike to one of my favorite local roads where I could test the tire with a more aggressive riding style.

I've seen videos online with the camera focused on the CT before, but I thought I make my own so I could compare the 1st hand account of the ride with the video on this specific tire.  Be sure to check out the video at the bottom of this post.

The ride ended up being about 40 minutes long, and by the end I was still lacking the confidence I have on a motorcycle tire.  That is because I've ridden countless hours on MTs and am still forming my riding style and opinion on this CT.

At higher speeds, traction in the corners seemed pretty good.  The bike was definitely less stable when hitting bumps or changing my line though.  By less stable I mean I would get a little wiggle in some those cases.  It was entirely manageable and probably will lessen with more seat time and as the tire profile wears a little more round.  Because of this though, I don't think I would recommend a CT to a newer rider.

The Verdict:

As of right now, I think my trailer will keep me slower and less aggressive than this CT will.  With the higher load capacity and slower wear, I think the CT will be on when I'm towing, or just on a trip with lots of highway riding. The only time I'd feel like I may be compromising handling is when I'm wanting to stretch out my legs on a technical road.

When I'm in the mood to go carve up some canyons solo, I'm pretty convinced that the MT is the way to go.

First Impressions of a Car Tire on my Goldwing

Today I mounted a Falken 912 195/55/16 Car Tire (CT) on my Goldwing.  I don't have a fancy bike lift for this beast, so the next best thing is setting the bike on its side to get the tire off.

The Motorcycle tire came out very easily, but I had to let all the air out of the Falken to get it in.  Once I got all the lugs back in, I inflated it up to 45 PSI and took it out for a spin.

The first thing I noticed was how different it was transitioning from riding straight and upright into a lean.  After about a mile of getting used to this, the transitions definitely felt much less pronounced.

Another difference that jumped out to me at first was how noticeable it is when the camber of the road changes. If the road changes from flat to sloping to the right, the bike will lean a bit as well.

Turning actually felt pretty normal, although I would really like to get some time in on some of the more technical roads around here. It takes slightly more counter-steer to put the bike into a turn, but once in the turn I really didn't notice much difference.  As with the other differences, going into a turn became more normal to me with each new turn.

Next, I tested out some slow, straight riding.   As I approached a stop sign steady with a little rear brake, I think I literally laughed out loud at how stable it was without even being in the zone. (you know the 'slow zone', those times you stop w/o putting your foot down for a couple seconds and you're not even trying)

It was dark out already and I didn't have the time to go too far, so I decided to take it into a parking lot and try out some precision maneuvers.  Parking spaces are usually 9 feet across, so I setup to do circles and figure eights within two stalls. (18 feet)  I was a little surprised that this didn't feel much different than doing it on a motorcycle tire.  Just to give you an idea, getting a Goldwing to turn within that much space requires a lot of counter-lean and the handlebars to be fully locked.

Once I got home and I could see how how close to the edge the tire was making contact to the road.  Had about 1.5 inches left before the sidewall.  Considering the bike was leaned pretty far in those parking lot circles, I think that is a safe margin.

I need more aggressive riding time on the Falken before I can make a real comparison to the MC tire, but it seems like it's definitely a winner for at least super slab riding and trailering.

I got 8.5k miles on my last rear Bridgestone 704 (motorcycle tire).  Those cost about $250 (on sale for $200 sometimes).  I'm sure pulling a trailer I would have got less than 8.5k.

This Falken ran me $100 and supposedly will get around double the miles.  If that is true, then the cost of running a CT will be 1/4th the cost of running a MT.

Besides cost and wear, other factors that led me to try out a CT were higher load limits, traction (esp in the rain), and the option to get a Run Flat model.

This CT is not a replacement for my MT, but rather an alternative to use based on what type of trips I am going on.  Once I get some more time on the Falken, I'll write a more in-depth comparison on the difference between it and the Stones.

As of right now, I'm pretty sure I'll run the CT on my Alaska trip this summer, even if I don't take the trailer.  That will surely test the speed of the wear.