A Fuel sipping Power Cruiser, Camp Hunting and Cogitator lubrication

I had a couple of goals in mind while running north under the Montana sky. The first was to find a fresh camp for the next week or so.

The second was to test a theory.

The last few months it seemed to me that most of the time my fuel mileage was down quite a bit. While I'd grown accustomed to routinely breaking 50 mpg with the big cruiser, lately that number's been down 'round 45 a lot more. Hell, we generally still get 48 on the two up runs.

So, I was wondering if "something" on my gal was off a bit. Sonja seems to rumble the same tune she always has...but lately, it's like she's a bit thirstier.

I've Cogitated on the problem while lubricating my cogitator with a number of various brands of fine locally brewed lubricants... such as my latest find...

Heavy Horse Scotch Ale from the Big Sky Brewing Co. in Missoula Montana.

So... not only are Montanans  blessed with their Big Sky, ... They've got a brewery that builds a damn fine ale to wind down with after a day on the saddle.

It might not be fair for one state to have so much!

Anyhoo... with Sonja whispering; The problem is not me! and the road that runs past our camp calling to come and play...

... I managed to devise a test. You see, I got to wondering if maybe... poooooosibly... I might have gotten a lil' heavy handed with my Girl here lately...

So I came up with this idea;

I'll ride to Hungry Horse and back... find a camp... and test Sonja's claim that the Problem didn't reside in her. I'll ride her steady and even and Cruise up that two lane between 60 and 65.

Well, on a bright and sunny Saturday morn I fired her up and we headed north, drinking the wind.

It got a lil' chilly, sunny as it was, in the vicinity of Swan lake so I pulled in for a minute to add my fleece under my jacket. Then it was hang on to that cruiser and follow the paint stripes to Hungry Horse.

Have you any idea how difficult it is to maintain 63 mph... in Montana? Especially when you got bozo minivan drivers who see no reason to pull across the center line when passing you until they're something less than fifteen feet behind you? arrrrggggghhhhh....

...and then... they see no worldly reason to actually go clean over into the other lane to make the pass? Like it will save tire rubber or something if they only go far enough to put two wheels across the line? ... and after all; "you ARE on a motorcycle! You can just move over and let me have half your lane! There's plenty of room! Stop being so hoggish!"

I have found a fairly effective method to coax them to actually put their entire car on the other side of the paint stripe as they pass though... this trip... a left foot raised as high as I could lift it, attached to a cocked knee... was apparently perceived as an intention to leave a size 9 boot print on an otherwise unblemished passenger door.

Their vee-hickle suddenly moved 36 inches in an away-from-me motion allowing my knee to uncock and the smile to return to my shaking head. Wanting to maintain civility and good humor I waved my forgiveness at the apparently lane dyslexia afflicted operator with the universal symbol of friendship and understanding... The Bird.

Without further excitement other than the sweeping road under that always Big Sky I made the turns from 83 onto 35 at Big Fork and then off of 35 onto 206 toward Columbia Falls. Caught Hwy 2 and turned east for the short run of maybe five miles to the access road that turns south to Hungry Horse Dam.

And it's a damn Fine Dam!

But beavers build those too, and my interest lay beyond... I was hunting my first goal... another camp so I kept rolling.

It turns out that my luck was running. Though the camps along that right bank you can see behind the dam are managed by private corporations... because... you know... the Forest Service... unlike the BLM is too busy not cutting timber to manage it's campgrounds... ;) ...

... They apparently don't lock these up at the end of the season. The folks at the visitor center on the damn assured me they're left open well into the fall.

So... I followed along the nicely twisting road (but mind your manners, there's gravel and deadfall trash on a lot of the bends in it) to check out three of 'em...

Sweet! Goal Number one is ticked off the list. Now, roll back into the lil' burg of Hungry Horse... choke down an A&W Burger and a big mug of Root Beer... and fuel up to check the stats on that Big Sky Brewing Co. lubricated Theory.

Sonja was whispering the truth.

I took a stick and stuffed all the fuel into her tank I could fit and then did my cipherin'. It tallied up 131.7 miles on 2.52 gallons = 52.26 MPG Ha Ha! Not too shabby for a big Ol' voluptuous Power Cruiser! :)

And... with that quandary put to rest... I could roll home a lot quicker than I left it behind. Yeah... we drank a good bit more wind going south than going north... and gaz-oh-lean! ;)

Yes sir... run her steady and even 'tween 60 and 65 and she sips at the fuel pump. But twist her up tighter... sail along in that country north of 80 a lot and she'll get thirstier. Still a respectable 45 or so... but it falls off when you get north of 65-70 a lot... and especially if you do that gettin' with a pretty athletic twist of that right hand.

Finished a sweet day at 223 miles and knowing Sonja was healthy... She just works up a thirst if she's workin' harder. What a surprise huh?

Grab Your Handles and Ride
Brian

Just a Man, On a Fine Motorcycle, Free on the Earth

From Seeley Lake, for a guy that rides a road bike there are but two directions. You can go Hwy 83 North, or you can go Hwy 83 South.


With fall coming on we're moving up to Glacier for a couple weeks before we roll on over to our month of Labor in North Dakota doing the beet harvest.

Yup... that's me, Gypsy Cowboy Biker Beet Picker. ;)

Before we can head across Montana bound for Sydney though... we've got a meetup with some folks up there by Glacier. With Labor Day coming on Monday we've got an issue though.

The Forest Service in its infinite wisdom, locks the gates on the majority of the campgrounds the day after labor day!

September and October, probably the Two Best months of the year... and they lock up the camps... then in the spring, come May... when it's still raining, and snowing and nasty much of the time... They open 'em up! Typical Federal wisdom...

So... anyhoo... I need to ride on up there and scout for a campsite that's NOT going to be locked up while we need it. Where I cut west at Big Fork the other day bound for Kalispell, this time I'll stay north for a bit and then cut east to Hungry Horse Reservoir...

The Sun is Shining in Montana. Gonna be a warm day... So... I'm putting it in the wind under the Wide Montana Sky... rolling up 83 under the Chinese Wall bound for Hungry Horse.

Just a man, on a fine motorcycle, in Far country, free on the earth.

Grab Your Handles and Ride
Brian

The Tire Made it to Kalispell... I Made It Two hours later...

And just as promised... the deal got done.

I'd taken off just after lunch time and headed up route 83 from our camp ten miles north of Seeley lake. I'd not gone too awful far when I rolled up on an opportunity I couldn't pass up...

*My Favorite Forms of Horsepower*

A small band of horses was pastured along the highway, so I swung around and caught a photo of the two modes of transportation that have had the biggest impact on this old busters life. Most of 'em had run off down to a river bottom below... these few hung around for a portrait.

From four feet to two wheels... A motorcycle always struck me as the right sort of vehicle for a horseman.

I kinda like the picture, even if the front wheel IS on backwards! :)

Then it was spin 'er around again and twist the throttle for Kalispell. I'd been advised that since I had a near to gone tire anyway (at least half way through the wear bars) I should keep it under a hundred. I obliged and rarely broke 80. :)

I wonder why they do call 'em wear bars? They sure don't slow down the wear rate any when you get to 'em!

Well... I got to Penco Motorsports in Kalispell about an hour before the appointed time, and reported in. I was surprised when they went right to work on it and had the new tire on before I was even supposed to be there!

How often do you get THAT sort of service?

Before you ask... yes, THIS time I checked to make sure the tire was turning the right direction before I climbed back on...

 I got a lil' closer and checked some more...

I even got down on my knees and checked it for sure and for certain...

Yep... everything is just like it's supposed to be... well... except for all the road gouges I've picked up on that one time polished aluminum wheel... Damned Ol' thing is starting to get as many dings as I carry around...

Now... just to say it... Apache Yamaha down on Camelback in Phoenix... has declined to even respond to my attempts to contact them over the past week about their Installing the wheel backwards when their shop mounted the tires for me.

So considering their lack of care for their reputation... I'd take your tires to Ridenow... or some other shop, since Apache doesn't seem to be too awful concerned about the safety of their customers... At least not enough to even open a conversation once the customers card has been debited. :)

That's ok... I got better things to do with my time than worry about the faults of another company that'll one day seal its own fate.

I needed to make a "quick" run across Kalispell to run some errands...and guess what? As small as Kalispell might be... it's still not a town your gonna do a "quick" run in at rush hour. ;) But I finally made the run both directions... got out of town and headed south...

... right into another rush hour... this one of the wildlife variety. The service manager at Penco had warned me to be watchful running that road at sunset... the deer on it he claimed were BAD.

and I gotta agree with him... rolling along at 80 or so...there were quite a few! Along with three turkeys. :) But I have a technique... if you go fast enough... you're past 'em before they even have the time to get out on the pavement! :)

*Hwy 83 between Seeley Lake and Kalispell Montana*

That's a nice road... not so many straight runs, and lots of nice sweeping bends under a Wide Montana Sky... with the Mountains, lakes, horses and meadows all along the ride.

Well, I was curious how the thing would handle with the tire on there right. It had been an improvement over the Metzler when it was new... but as the tread got thinner... it started really losing its grip... 

It's a lot nicer running home... with a tire that isn't handling "funny"... As my confidence grew, and the manufacturing scum got scrubbed off... my momentum picked up... and life was good again. :)

The new tire with the tread running the right direction :)

Here's the old tire with the tread going the wrong direction...


I failed to find the angle to catch a good picture and this one really doesn't show it well... but the tread over the center is mostly gone.

Only there enough to be visible. Not especially a shiny condition for guys that tend to ride ( in spite of wild claims of quiet and sensible cruising) at rates of locomotion that can capture the attention of certain motorized members of soh-sigh-uh-tees rule enforcement division...

You can see in a spot or two the shadow on the tire where it was badly cupping on that left side... and just flat wearing "odd"...

Oh well... lesson learned... Check all work... no matter how Pro you think the guy who did the work might be.

Now... I'll be curious to see if the mileage on this tire changes with it spinning correctly...

In the meantime... I'm hoping to get back to racking up more miles in the next year than what I spun off in the last... I kinda let life get in the way of LIVING... and that's not a real tolerable sitchy-ashun...

Grab Your Handles and Ride
Brian

Riding toward the Black Hills through Montana and Wyoming...

... and it turned out a lot like that... a ride, to, the Black Hills. :) We took a 600 plus mile ride... and made it more like 900 :)

By the time we got done winding through Southern Montana and Northern Wyoming... we didn't leave much time to actually ride the Black Hills. :) bummer... now we'll have to go back... :)

We rolled through Helena and across Hwy 12 to drop down for a night in Big Timber.

*A hard night in Big Timber Montana*

When we got up the next morning we rolled the three bikes, a Goldwing, A Silverado and a Raider, east to Columbus where we turned south to Red Lodge and the Northern  approach to Bear Tooth pass.

*Approaching Bear Tooth Pass from Red Lodge*

If you ride anywhere near the NW corner of Wyoming or the SW part of Montana... You've got to ride the  Bear Tooth... it's a mountain you want to remember...

... and after the heat of the plains to the North and East... the top of the Mountain will reward you...

*The Montana side of the Bear Tooth Mountains*

*Top of the Bear Tooth*

*You've got to stop at the "Top of the World" ... don't you?"

We came down off the South side, heading for Cody... the road doesn't wind as tight on the Wyoming side...  but... it's still not lacking for views to remember...

*Coming down off Bear Tooth Pass into Wyoming*

We spent so much time riding this mountain... we chose to bunk in Cody that night, and head for the Bighorns, the next day...

... and so... I'll continue that... the next day :)

Grab Your Handles and Ride
Brian

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Camped Below Devils Tower

We fought a nasty wind most of the afternoon to ride in to Devils Tower just before dark yesterday...

This morning, a clear blue sky and a pretty view at sun rise. Waiting on coffee and then we'll head for the border and put it in the wind in the Black Hills

Grab your Handles and Ride
Brian

Bad Boys in Columbus

Stopping in Columbus for Breakfast .... and ran into a razor tough guard Dog... :)

... as soon as we pack the groceries in we'll climb over Beartooth Pass and see where we end up!

Grab your handles and Ride!
Brian

Along the Road to the Black Hills

We took off this morning about 9AM. With none of the three of us caring for riding the Interstate we kept to the Secondaries from Seeley Lake through Helena to turn south and stop for the night in Big Timber.

A good prime rib sandwhich and a Rolling Rock Beer at the Timber Bar in Big Timber has me ready for bed. :)

I can't say that any part of Montana is un-attractive... but, for a biker, much of the eastern 2/3 or so of the state can get pretty monotonous.

After winding through some awful pretty country, once we got east of White Sulphur Springs, the road drops down and really straightens out... You start hitting some considerable stretches where you wish the road builders had just turned their equipment once in a while, if only to break up the no monotony :)

But that's OK... just south of here is a sweet road... for tomorrow.

In the morning we'll ride a short ways on I-90 to get east to Columbus where we'll cut south again for Red Lodge and Beartooth pass.

Today was a fine ride... and tomorrow will be another. It's good to be a biker.

Grab your Handles and Ride
Brian

A Trio ofOld Guys, on Fine Motorcycles, Heading for The Black Hills

The Raider is packed and ready. a couple chores to complete and I'll be ready to ride.

The other pair of Riders are linking up today in Idaho... Expect to link up with them tomorrow. Then it's put it in the wind and roll for Deadwood! :)

Grab Your Handles and Ride
Brian