Loveland to Mueller State Park

I finished packing this morning and swung by Dalton’s work. He was getting off early. From there we headed south on 285. Traffic was heavy, but once we turned south on 126 it was pretty much smooth sailing for most of the trip to the park. We rode 126 to 67, both of these road are very fun motorcycle roads. A few hours later we arrived at Mueller State Park. We had a reservation for a camping site and once we checked in the ranger told us that he would be right up to deliver a bear box for us since we were on motorcycles.

Taking a break in a parking lot near highway 126

A neat looking bug crossing the parking lot

Highways 126 and 67

I set up my tent and took a short walk to check out Mueller State Park. The rain clouds were rolling in so there would be no sun set tonight, but from the bathroom and showers building I was able to see Pikes Peak and other nearby mountains. After the walk it was time to break out some dinner. We just got done eating when the first cracks of thunder sounded overhead. Mueller State Park sits at 9,500 feet in elevation, so the clouds were hanging low just above our camp site and the lightening was frequent and very loud. Then the rain started, so we had to go and hide inside the tents.

The twisty road through Mueller State Park

The road through Mueller State Park

That's the bear box the ranger brought over for us to the left of the VFR

Our campsite at Mueller State Park

Dinner is served

A couple of hours later the rain stopped, the clouds moved off and the moon came out. There was a chill in the air, but the air was so fresh. Unfortunately it was to go to bed.

My 150 mile route from Loveland to Mueller State Park

285 to 126 to 67 to 24 to 67

ST3: New tires - Part 2

When I left my bike in Dalton’s garage last Sunday and needed to take his car to get back home because the caliper bolt was stripped (see previous post) and I didn‘t have a spare, we decided that I’d come back during the week with a new caliper bolt. We would only need a few hours to install the rear wheel on the ST3. Then I could ride the ST3 home and Dalton could have his car back.

So I made it back to Dalton’s with a new bolt for the rear caliper earlier this week. I picked up the rear caliper bolt at the Ducati dealer and paid $5 for it - yikes! I was going to get some spares but not at this price. By the time I left work and made it to Dalton’s we only had about three hours to get everything done before I had to head back home.

While trying to get the rear wheel back on I grabbed the GIVI top rack and it moved. Then I noticed that the GIVI top rack wasn’t bolted down in two places. Two bolts were missing, one on each side. You can’t see the bolts with the side cases on, so who knows how long they were missing. Couldn’t have been too long though, the top case would have been too heavy to stay up on the rack without those bolts so they fell out very recently. Probably at the end or after the 4th of July trip.

A GIVI top rack bolt is missing, the same bolt is gone from the other side

Getting the rear wheel back on and adjusting the chain took way longer then it should have. We still needed to figure out how to secure the GIVI top case rack using some zip ties and I still had to put the plastics back on the ST3, which is very time consuming and a pain. And before riding 95 miles back home I wanted to do a test ride to make sure the rear tire and everything was good to go.

We worked as fast as we could but it just wasn’t going to happen and you can’t rush these things. I would have to leave my bike here until the weekend after all. Dalton made some measurements for the GIVI rack bolts that were missing. I would not be going to the Ducati dealer for those and paying too much.

So this weekend I was back to finish the ST3. I had with me two 8mm x 25mm bolts that I picked up at a hardware store for $0.87 each. Dalton was going to install a new front tire on my ST3 but first I wanted to get those two bolts back in to the GIVI top case rack. After examining the situation, I couldn’t believe it, but I was going to have to take the whole plastic off the tail section and unbolt the Nonfango rack that holds the side cases in order to get those two GIVI rack bolts in.

Picked up some bolts at a hardware store for the GIVI top case rack; they fit

In order to get those two GIVI top case rack bolts in I had to take apart the whole tail section of the bike

After two hours the GIVI top case rack bolts were in and I could finally concentrate on taking off the front wheel. Dalton mounted and balanced the front wheel and we got the wheel back on to the bike. I was finally done! It took two weekends but the ST3 had new tires, new coolant and two new GIVI rack bolts and was ready to come home. The new Pirelli Diablo Strada tires felt awesome. New tires always feel great but I really love the Stradas. With exactly 33,333 miles on the odometer I headed home. I’m hoping to get 10,000 miles out of these tires.

It's a very happy moment when the plastics are all back on the bike

Check out these really cool and high-tech brake caliper holders

While I was messing around with the bolts and plastics on the ST3, the VFR got a new rear tire mounted

Work in progress: VFR missing the rear wheel, ST3 missing the front wheel

Dalton taking off my old front Continental Road Attack

Mounting my new front Pirelli Diablo Strada

Heading back home on fresh and shiny new tires

The odometer turns 33,333 miles

Because the Pirelli Diablo Strada tires are very pointy, the ST3 is slightly taller and leans more on the kickstand. Pointy tires turn in quicker

ST3: Changing the coolant and new tires

This weekend was going to be a maintenance weekend for my ST3. I had ordered a new set of Pirelli Diablo Strada Tires for the ST3 and had them shipped to Dalton’s house. Dalton ended up purchasing a No-Mar tire changer since he wanted to mount and balance his own tires and between the two of us right now, we already had 6 old tires to take off and 6 new tires to mount.

I’ve been so happy with the way the Pirelli Diablo Stradas have lasted on the 954RR. I have 11,650 miles on them now and up until the last few hundred miles, they have performed like new tires. Those will have to be changed out next since I purchased a second set of Stradas for the 954RR as well. After hearing me talk about these great tires Dalton ended up purchasing a set a Stradas for his VFR also. He didn‘t take my word for it though, he read many great reviews on-line about a the Stradas, apparently I’m not the only one that likes them so much.

If you remember my last maintenance post, I was already riding on cords the last time I rode out to Dalton’s. Since I had to ride another 100 miles this weekend I was a bit worried if the rear would even make it. I ended up pulling over a couple of times on my way to Dalton’s house to check the rear tire but when I got there it didn’t look any worst then when I had left my house.

Even though I had two whole days to do only 2 things on the bike - changing the coolant and get the new tires mounted - I’m not very fast when it comes to working on the bikes. And the ST3 isn’t exactly the easiest bike to work on, plus the thing was dirty and I wanted to clean all the parts as I was working on them.

Take fairing off and unscrew the filler cap of the expansion tank (the cap is not shown in this picture, it's hiding underneath the fairings)

Loosen the clamp on the expansion tank radiator hose, disconnect the hose from the radiator and allow the expansion tank to drain

Place a container under the engine, place the motorcycle on its, side stand and unscrew the drain plug located on the water pump cover, allowing the coolant to drain off completely

Closer view of the drain plug

Draining the coolant

Replace the drain plug along with a new sealing washer, fill the circuit with recommended coolant

Allow several minutes for the coolant to fill all internal ducts and then start the engine, bring the coolant to operating temperature (217.4 °F) and allow the cooling fan to start at least once

By the time Saturday evening rolled around, all I had done was changed out the coolant. I changed the coolant out by myself and it was pretty straight forward. I followed the instructions in the ST3 service manual. With the tires I was going to need Dalton's help.

The rear tire is off the bike

Sunday morning I got working on taking off the rear wheel. Unfortunately I couldn’t get the rear caliper bolt off. I struggled with it for a bit, then Dalton tried to get it off and couldn’t either. He put some Kano Kroil on the bolt and it magically just came off although it was totally stripped. I didn’t have any extra caliper bolts with me and since today was Sunday, the dealerships were all closed. That meant I wasn’t going to be able to ride the ST3 home tonight.

Dalton removing my very worn Continental Road Attack with a No-Mar tire changer

Lets check those chicken strips - I can't believe I worn the tire in closer to the edge on the right then the left... I usually lean more to the left and prefer left curves

Dalton mounting my new Pirelli Diablo Strada

Dalton purchased the No-Mar model that sits on the hitch instead of being mounted to the floor, really neat concept especially for people that do track days (left), the No-Mar tire balancer (middle), sticking on some test weights to see how many are needed to balance this tire (right)

We got the rear tire off the ST3, then Dalton took the old tire off the rim and mounted the new tire using the No-Mar tire changer. By the way, the No-Mar tire changer is a great machine. This was the first time Dalton used this machine, the "how to" video on the No-Mar website helped a lot. The process wasn't too complicated and the machine is well built and simple to use although it does require some muscle.

The balancing actually took a while. It just seemed like there was either too much weight or not enough. Finally we got it as close as we could. Since I couldn’t ride the bike back home, we decided to call it a night after the new tire was balanced. We would install the rear wheel on the bike next time, it was getting late. Dalton had to lend me his car so I could get home.

Nail in the tire, bleeding the brakes, oil change

Now that the ST3 was done with trips for a while, it was time for some maintenance. CJ came over a few days ago with a torque wrench - my torque wrench for some reason didn’t survive the move from IL to CO and is now broken and in many pieces. I have not replaced it yet. He was also helping me adjust the chain on the Duc, which is a major pain. The ST3’s chain started making major noise when I was riding back from Gunnison over 4th of July weekend. My guess was that when it was originally installed it just wasn’t tight enough to begin with. In all the miles I’ve owned the ST3, and this being the third chain on this bike. I've never had to adjust a chain on the ST3.

When CJ and I were done with the chain, I went ahead and lubed it. As we were rotating the rear tire CJ noticed something silver on my rear tire. I’m pretty good at checking my tires when I'm riding. Even when I park the bike I will take a look at the exposed sections of the front and back tire looking for anything strange. I never noticed this. Thinking about though, it might have happened on the last trip, probably on the last day coming home when we were riding the shoulder, there is always lots of debris on the shoulders. I haven’t checked my tires since then.

A rusty nail in my rear tire

Usually a nail in the tire is a very bad thing. After such discovery a plug or a new tire is required right away. I was so lucky. The nail went in sideways and only the outer rubber was damaged. I already had over 6,200 miles on this rear tire and I figured since the puncture didn’t really damage anything I could still putt around on it a bit until it got replaced.

First a nail, then 95 miles later the cords are showing

I was planning to replace the tires on this bike soon anyway, the Continental Road Attacks weren’t lasting as long as I had hoped. I must admit though, I was very hard on my tires - especially this past Colorado and Utah trip. Chasing Sandy and Dalton around required lots of high performance riding since they both ride faster than me, especially in the twisties.

Since putting on the new brake pads, the brakes never really did improve very much. The brake lever was still squishy. So this weekend I rode over to Dalton’s so we could bleed the brakes. The ST3 also needed an oil change. When I pulled in to Dalton’s garage I was shocked to see the cords showing in my rear tire. In the last 95 miles, somewhere between my garage and Dalton’s garage, the Continental Road Attacks were done.

After Dalton and I bled the brakes on the ST3, there was a bit of improvement and the brake lever wasn’t as squashy anymore. It never did get as firm as the brake lever on my 954RR. Maybe I should stop comparing the ST3 to the 954RR - the two bikes are different. With the cords showing on my rear tire I made it back home, riding nice and easy. I checked the rear tire when I got home and it didn't show any further deterioration. It looked the same as it did at Dalton’s and we live 95 miles away from each other. I guess it’s time to get shopping for some new tires.

New brake pads for the ST3

I needed to get some new brake pads installed on the ST3 before I could do any more long rides. I went by the local Ducati dealer to inquire about new brake pads and I was floored by the price. I ended up getting EBC brand brake pads for the ST3 and saved hundreds of dollars. Yes, I said HUNDREDS of dollars. I was told by the Ducati dealer that the EBC brake pads would not last as long as the ones they wanted to sell me.

OK. I’m sure the Ducati brake pads are better but the way I see it, the EBC brake pads should last me at least 10,000 miles, probably more the way I ride. But even if they only lasted 5,000 miles, getting six sets of the EBC brake pads, that is still way cheaper than the one set of Ducati brake pads which are supposed to last 30,000 miles. Now, usually I do some research and shop around. But since 4 days ago I just got back from a 13 day ride and tomorrow I was heading back out on another multi-day ride, I purchased what I could easy get since I didn't even have time to get anything from the internet.

Dalton and I had a three day ride planed over 4th of July and we were leaving tomorrow morning. I needed to put these new brake pads on so he rode over to my house after work to help me install the new brake pads.

Unfortunately this week was a bit crazy. I didn’t have any time to wash the bike before heading back out with it tomorrow on yet another ride. It was pretty dirty after 13 days on the road and it would have to stay dirty for a few more days.

So why the emergency brake pad install on the ST3? Back in Illinois when I had my bike in for valve service I was told by the dealer to start thinking about new brake pads for the front - like, the bike needed new pads already. I honestly don’t think they had even checked the pads themselves, they probably looked the maintenance scheduled and were hoping that I’d agree to have them install new brake pads. The ST3 was at 26,000 miles back then and the brake pads were fine.

Taking the brake caliper off

There is still some life left in these old brake pads

The brakes on the ST3, even when the bike was brand new, were never as good as the brakes on my 954RR. The Honda stops on a dime and the the brake lever is firm. The Ducati’s brake lever was always kind of squishy.

Old stock brake pads (top) new EBC brake pads (bottom)

In the last thousand miles my brakes started to make a noise, a metallic sort of squeaking noise. The brake lever felt even more squishy then before. The brake fluid was fine. After I returned from the last ride I was pretty sure it was time for new pads but when I got the calipers off and we took the old brake pads out, the front pads were still OK. Since we had the old brake pads off I just decided to install the new pads. Not sure why the brakes on the ST3 were making noise, maybe the brake pads had some debris on them.

Inserting the new brake pads

Inserting the clip

Inserting the retaining pins

Inserting the cotter pins

1 - clip

2 - cotter pin

3 - brake pads

4 - retaining pins

After the new EBC brake pads were installed I took the bike for a short ride to make sure everything was working correctly. It was too early to tell if the new pads make any difference since you have to allow the new pads to bed in completely before any hard braking can be done. The brake lever still felt squishy but it might firm up after a while. If things didn’t improve in the next few hundred miles I was planning on bleeding the brakes.

Cimarron Canyon, NM to Fort Collins, CO

At around 8:30am I was on the road heading toward Eagle Nest on the newly paved twists and turns of highway 64. From Eagle Nest I headed north on highway 38. This road was not as twisty as I had imagined it would be. It was mostly sweepers, then a few tighter 25MPH curves near Bobcat Pass which climbs to 9,820 feet in elevation. There were many nice views of the snow capped Wheeler Peak, the highest mountain in New Mexico which is 13, 161 feet tall.





New pavement on highway 64 approaching the town of Eagle Nest, NM

Not counting Eagle Nest, I passed though two more towns. Red River, a neat western looking but touristy town and Questa. In Questa I tuned north on highway 522 and headed for the Colorado border. This road was mostly straight, although there were some pretty cools views of mountains in the distance.





Highway 38

Highway 522 turns to 159 over the border in Colorado and although the road is mostly straight the views get much better once you get closer to the town of San Louis, officially founded in 1851, it‘s the oldest surviving settlement in Colorado. I stopped for gas in Fort Garland and turned west on highway 160. Again I would be passing by the Great Sand Dunes National Park. It was only 10AM, but I just didn’t have the time to check it out unless I wanted to be arriving home in the dark. Of course, I could just stay here another night and ride home tomorrow. It was very tempting but I just didn’t feel like camping for the 4th night in a row and I already knew there weren’t any showers here. Today was my 7th day on the road, I was kind of looking forward to sleeping in my own bed and catching up on things. Besides, this park was only 280 miles from home, so I could make it out here any other time.

I continued to Alamosa, turned north on highway 17 where I ended up sitting in construction again, just last when I was riding through here last week. I sat on the bike a good 30 minutes where they are paving highway 17 and it‘s only a one lane road.



Highway 159 south of San Louis, CO

One thing to note here, the next time I’m riding this area and I need to ride north/south. I’m definitely taking highways 159/522. A lot less traffic and much nice of a road then highway 285 south of Alamosa, CO.

17 joined back up with 285 and before I knew it I was riding the sweet curves of Poncha Pass. I took a short break at Poncha Pass at 9,010 feet to drink some water and eat some trail mix. Having now ridden 285 twice, I can honestly say that Poncha Pass is my favorite pass on this road.



Highway 285 approaching San Louis, CO



Highway 285 approaching Fort Garland, CO



Highway 285 north of Poncha Pass

I continued through Buena Vista, stopped for gas in Fairplay and rode through Trout Creek Pass at 9,346 feet, Red Hill Pass at 9,993 feet and Kenosha Pass at 10,000 feet. Coincidently, Poncha Pass being my favorite pass on highway 285, Trout Creek Pass is my second favorite, Red Hill Pass is my third favorite and Kenosha Pass is my least favorite of the passes on this highway. So riding 285 from south to north I get hit my favorite pass first and my least favorite pass last.









Highway 285 through Poncha Pass



Some really nice scenery at Poncha Pass





Taking a break at Poncha Pass

The last section of highway 285 from Bailey to Morrison was much better heading east. The view of Denver in the distance were great as I headed down from the mountains. There was a bit of traffic here though. I wasn’t stopping much today, not even for lunch, I really wanted to get through Denver before rush hour.



Approaching Buena Vista on highway 285

Having ridden 285 from Denver to the New Mexico border first southbound, and now northboundbound. I prefer riding 285 northboundbound, the scenery is much nicer, you just get way better views of the road and mountains riding in that direction.











Above pictures were all taken at the passes east of Buena Vista on highway 285

Since I left Cimarron Canyon State Park this morning, I’ve been riding all day at high elevations. I had a few layers on and finally took off one of the layers in Fairplay. When I got on the 470 west of Denver the temperature went from 65 to 80 degrees in a few short miles. I pulled over and took all the layers off and unzipped all my vents. Those last few miles I was dying, having on a thermal turtle neck and a fleece pullover. The traffic was already thick when I took the exit for I-70/I-76 east and it was only 2:30PM. Once I turned on to I-25 heading north, the traffic was very slow and for a bunch of miles I was only going 10-20MPH. Finally the traffic got lighter past Westminster. I pulled in to my driveway in Fort Collins around 4PM. After riding 420 miles today I was finally home.



Whole 420 mile route (left), Highways: 64 to 38 to 522 to 159 to 160 to 17 (center), Highways: 17 to 285 to 470 to I-70/I-76 to I-25 (right)