I've been riding for 10 years & 132,768 miles

I guess a little celebration is in order. This month marks 10 years of
motorcycling for me. OK, actually it’s more than that. I started riding in
May of 1992 when I purchased my first motorcycle, but since I only rode
the Suzuki GN125 one season and then didn’t ride until July of 1999 until I purchased the Suzuki GS500, I have always been counting my motorcycling years starting with 1999.

The number 132,768 represents the total number of miles I’ve put on my 7 motorcycles I’ve owned since July 1999. Below is guesstamate of how the miles were spread out over the 10 years and my riding highlights and lowlights.


1999 - 2,400 miles

• Purchased new 1989 Suzuki GS500
• After 7 years of not riding, I re-learned how to ride a motorcycle

2000 - 2,600 miles

• Sold the Suzuki
• Purchased new 2000 Honda CBR 600F4

2001 - 10,000 miles

• Discovered sport-touring
• Towed the F4 to Pennsylvania for a sport bike motorcycle meet
• First multi-day motorcycle trip - 4 day tour of Kentucky
• An overnight ride to Minnesotta

2002 - 17,000 miles

• Sold the Honda F4
• Purchased new 2002 Honda CBR 600F4i
• Did 5 tracks days with the F4i that season
• Had my first motorcycle (and so far the only) accident on a motorcycle - I only suffered some bruises and the bike some cosmetic damage - a car didn't see me and pulled in to my lane forcing me to the curb where my bike fell over at 5MPH on the sidewalk when the front wheel hit the curb
• Multi-day ride on the F4i to Missouri for a sport bike motorcycle meet
• Towed the F4i to Pennsylvania for a sport bike motorcycle meet
• Multi-day ride on the F4i to Tennessee
• Towed the bike to Tennessee/North Carolina to ride Deal’s Gap
• Organized a two day overnight ride to Minnesota called the “Flat 4 tour” which introduced riders to sport-touring. I continued to organize and lead this ride twice a year for the next 7 years until I moved to Colorado in 2008 and handed off the ride to another sport-touring enthusiast

2003 - 8,000 miles

• Started a new job and had very little vacation that year
• A multi-day ride on the F4i: Northern Wisconsin and Northern Minnesota
• A multi-day ride on the F4i: Wisconsin, Minnesota and Upper Peninsula Michigan
• Purchased new 2002 Honda CBR 954RR
• I now owned two bikes the F4i and the 954RR
• Towed the 954RR to ride Texas Hill Country over Christmas break

2004 - 17,000 miles

• Multi-day ride on the F4i: Tennessee and North Carolina - Deals Gap and Blue Ride Parkway
• Multi-day ride on the F4i: Indiana and Kentucky
• Multi-day ride on the 954RR: Colorado and Utah
• Towed the 954RR to Mississippi: Tour of Louisiana over Thanksgiving
• Towed the 954RR to Texas: Tour of Texas Hill Country and SW Texas over Christmas break

2005 - 30,000 miles

• Multi-day ride on the 954RR: Tour of Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire and New York
• Multi-day ride on the 954RR: Tour of West Virginia
• Towed the 954RR to Arizona: Tour of Arizona, Southern California and Nevada
• Unofficial Iron Butt ride on the 954RR: North Dakota (1,021 miles in 21 hours)
• Sold the F4i
• Purchased new 2005 Ducati ST3
• I was still a two bike owner: 954RR and ST3
• A two day overnight ride to Pennsylvania
• Femmoto: Rode Buell motorcycles at the Las Vegas Speedway at a womans moto event
• Rode a borrowed bike for a few days in Southern California over Christmas break
• This was my biggest millage year - 30,000 miles

2006 - 10,000 miles

• Purchased used 2000 Ducati 900SS
• Purchased new 2006 Yamaha XT225
• I now owned 4 motorcycles (954RR, ST3, 900SS and XT225)
• Two day overnight ride to Pennsylvania
• Multi-day ride on the ST3: Tour of Arizona, Utah, New Mexico and Colorado
• The above ride was my first multi-day moto-camping tour
• Rode a borrowed bike in Alaska for a few days
• Towed the XT225 to ride dirt in Southwest Texas and camp over Christmas break
• The above way my first off road ride

2007 - 13,000 miles

• Towed the XT225 to ride dirt in Louisiana and camp
• Towed the XT225 to ride dirt in Mississippi and camp
• Towed the XT225 to Kentucky and did a multi-day adventure tour (dirt and pavement) through Kentucky, Virginia and Tennessee
• Towed the XT225 to Upper Peninsula Michigan to ride dirt and camp
• Multi-day ride on the ST3: Tour of Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky and Ohio with camping
• Rode the whole Blue Ridge Parkway on the above trip
• Multi-day ride on the ST3: Arkansas
• Sold the Ducati 900SS (I was down to three bikes: 954RR, ST3 and XT225)
• Towed the XT225 to Iowa to ride dirt and camp
• Towed the XT225 to ride dirt and camp in Louisiana, Alabama and Florida over Christmas break (unfortunately the bike stayed on the trailer in Florida, there was just too much rain to ride)

2008 - 15,000 miles

• Towed the XT225 to Southern Illinois to ride dirt and camp
• Rode the ST3 to Southern Illinois and camped
• Multi-day ride on the ST3: Tour of Ohio and Pennsylvania
• Multi-day ride on the ST3: Tour of Missouri and Arkansas with camping
• Got laid off from work - spent 50 days riding the 954RR: Tour of Colorado, Utah and Wyoming (wanted to ride the ST3 but there was something wrong with it)
• The above ride is so far my longest ride
• I finally got published! Two articles in the (Honda Sport Touring Association) STAReveiw Magazine
• Moved to Fort Collins, Colorado in October

2009 - 7,700 miles ...and counting

• First overnight camping ride on the XT225: Northern Colorado
• Multi-day ride on the ST3: 7 days through Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona with camping
• Multi-day ride on the ST3: 13 days through Colorado and Utah with camping
• Multi-day ride on the ST3: 3 days through Colorado with camping

September 2001 - The bike (2000 Honda CBR 600F4) and the ride (Kentucky) that started my sport-touring addiction

Colorado and Utah Trip Summery

This was a great trip. Not only did I get to ride some of my favorite roads in this area but I had some great company as well. I spent a total of 13 days on the road. The first 5 days and 1,036 miles I spent riding with Sandy. I haven’t seen Sandy since I moved to Colorado so it was fun showing her some of the great Colorado roads and just hanging out and catching up. This was only our second multi-day ride together. We did a 10 day ride in 2006 but only rode through Colorado one day, so this ride was almost a continuation of the first ride. We had lots of fun.

Sandy and I in Crested Butte, CO

Sandy took this picture of me goofing off on highway 65

Getting some serious photography

A ruin on highway 65

On day 5 of my ride with Sandy, Dalton rode out and joined us in Steamboat Springs. The following day Sandy rode back to Denver to visit with her aunt and Dalton and I began our 8 day and 1,950 mile ride.

Dalton riding through the Sunset campground at Bryce Canyon National Park

I only did one day ride with Dalton before heading out on this trip. We went over the ride plan in detail to make sure we both understood what to expect on this trip. I think that is very important especially if two people haven’t done a multi-day ride together. We discussed how many miles we should ride each day and what time we wanted to be getting to the campsite. We talked about other activities we might want to do on this trip, like hiking and eating out. The trip turned out great. We had a lot of fun riding and camping together. This was Dalton’s first long multi-day moto-camping trip and I think he’s hooked now so we’re already planning the next moto-camping ride for the 4th of July.

The ST3 and VFR on highway 24 in Utah

Dalton took this one of me taking pictures at Molas Pass on highway 550

A stop on highway 12

Trip Details:

13 days on the road

2 states visited (CO and UT)

2,986 miles traveled (1,036 miles with Sandy and 1,950 miles with Dalton)

7 nights - camped
5 nights - stayed in motels

My 13 day and 2,986 mile route

Highway 95 in Utah

My favorite road of the trip:
Highway 95 (Blanding to Hanksville, UT)

Twistiest road of the trip:
Highway 82 (Twin Lakes to just west of Aspen, CO)

Most boring road of the trip:
Highway 491 (Cortez, CO to Monticello, UT)

Most scenic camp site of the trip:
Crawford State Park - Crawford, CO

Best camping facilities of the trip:
Thousand Lakes Campground and RV Park - Torrey, UT

Hiking Bryce Canyon National Park

National Parks and Monuments:
Natural Bridges National Monument
Bryce Canyon National Park
Capitol Reef National Park

CO Mountain Passes:
Fremont Pass 11,318 feet - highway 91
Monarch Pass 11,312 feet - highway 50
North Cochetopa Pass 10,149 feet - highway 114
McClure Pass 8,755 feet - highway 133
Rabbit Ears Pass 9,426 feet - highway 40
Muddy Pass 8,772 feet - highway 40
Gore Pass 9,527 feet - highway 134
Tennessee Pass 10,424 feet - highway 24
Independence Pass 12,095 feet - highway 82
Red Mountain Pass 11,018 feet - highway 550
Molas Pass 10,910 feet - highway 550
Coal Bank Pass 10,640 feet - highway 550
Lizard Head Pass 10,222 feet - highway 145
Yellowjacket Pass 7,783 feet - highway 160
Wolf Creek Pass 10,850 feet - highway 160
Poncha Pass 9,010 feet - highway 285
Trout Creek Pass 9,346 feet - highway 285
Red Hill Pass 9,993 feet - highway 285
Kenosha Pass 10,001 feet - highway 285

2 rides in 1, a move and a possible job?

June is already looking to be a really busy month for me. I had another job interview. If I do get this job it won’t start for at while though. Coincidently, it was two streets away from a job interview I had in February. Either way, it’s really close to where I live now and having been out of a job for almost a full year (on the 27th it will be a year) I really need some income - bad!

But lets not forget that at the end of the month I have to move out of the house I’m renting. The owners of the house are coming back, so I can’t simply renew the lease, I have to be out of here and find another place to live and not having employment at the moment has definitely added to the challenge of finding an affordable a place to live. I do have a back up plan in case I don’t get this job and I can’t find a place to live. Basically I’m thinking of putting all my stuff in storage, packing up the ST3 and taking off to tour around the Pacific Northwest for the summer. And as much as this backup plan appeals to me and I‘d love to live on the road for a few months and explore new places, the money is gone and finding a job and a place to live is really what I need to do.

But the focus for June is sport-touring! I’ve been planning a 9 day long ride to Utah with Dalton and just found out that my friend Sandy was hoping to ride out to Colorado to attend the ST.N national bike meet which is going to be in Gunnison, CO this year. I was originally planning to ride out to Gunnison for the meet, spend one night there and ride back home the next day since I had an even larger trip already in the works so I didn‘t need to spend any more days riding around Gunnison since Dalton and I are planning on riding some of those roads around Gunnison on our way to and from Utah.

Sandy’s vacation was approved and now we’re also planning a week long ride around Colorado. Sandy hasn’t seen too much of Colorado, on the 10 day ride we did in 2006 we mostly rode around Utah, New Mexico ad Arizona. The one day we did spend riding through Colorado on our trip, we mostly rode highway 50 but it was a miserable day. It rained the entire day and it was cold.

So I’m actually excited to ride around Colorado again even though I live here now. Some of those roads I haven’t been on since my trip in 2004 and 2006.

The 1,200 miles route for the trip with Sandy

Now, the trick is to figure out two separate routes that don’t duplicate too much of the riding, although there are some roads I’d like to hit twice since they are that good!

The 2,225 mile route for the trip with Dalton

So it looks like I will have two motorcycle trips this month and I will be riding a total of 14 days. But the weird thing is, I will not be able to come home in between the trips, the two trips will actually overlap by one day. So once I leave the house, I’ll be gone for two weeks and I’m leaving the laptop behind on this trip. So no posts from the road on this trip.

As far as riding, the ST3 got out on two occasions this month. On Saturday, June 6th I rode up to Estes Park and took the long way back home via highway 36 through Lyons and Longmont, 100 miles total. Unfortunately I was supposed to be attending a group ride that day, and I had even made a route of 300 miles for the group. But since life has been a bit hectic lately, I ended up leaving the house late and I was unable to catch up to the group on 34 on the way to Estes Park. Traffic was just horrific and I couldn’t pass the many RV’s that were going 25MPH in a 45MPh zone. When I knew there was no way of catching up with the group, I decided to head home. I had tons of things to do and I had already started packing for the move at the end of the month. I only had another week to pack and finalize stuff before the two trips started.

June 6 -ST3 taking a break on Highway 36 just east of Estes Park

Today morning I rode the ST3 down toward Denver to meet Dalton for breakfast in Thornton so he could give me a print out of the route I e-mailed him the other day for our trip (I have no working printer at home at the moment) and to go over last minute trip stuff since who knows if my cell phone will work on the ride with Sandy. The plan is for Dalton to meet up with Sandy and I next Saturday at the designated campsite. He also wanted to run his bike all packed up for the trip, since this will be the first long trip for his VFR, which he just bought a few months ago.

June 14 - Last minute trip details in Thornton with Dalton, he took these pre-trip ride pics

BTW, breakfast at The Egg and I was really good but I didn't have my camera

In a few hours Sandy is actually arriving at my house. She had already called me this morning from Nebraska and said she will definitely be in Fort Collins tonight. She was supposed to arrive tomorrow, but has been making really good time riding from Chicago on the interstates. So even though we were supposed to leave for Gunnison on Tuesday, now that she will be in Colorado a whole day early, we might want to try and leave tomorrow or at least do a day ride.

First Overnight Ride on the XT225 with Camping

I was looking for something else on the web when I found a website with a list of the best campsites in Colorado. It seems like the best campsites were way off the beaten path. Immediately the little wheels in my head started to spin. I have a dual-sport motorcycle. How fun would it be to pack up all my camping gear and ride out to one of those amazing campgrounds via amazing dirt roads, and also do some hiking while I‘m there.

The one campground that I’ve come across a few times that is highly recommended is located some 400 miles from here in the Elk Mountain Range, on a very long dirt road, far away from everything. Before I could head out there on my bike, I‘d have to see if I could even carry all my camping gear on my little XT225. Having enough gas to get to the remote areas is always an issue when riding the XT, the tank is very small on the bike, only 2.1 gallon.

I was already kind of thinking of getting on my ST3 and taking an overnight ride somewhere to camp and hike, the weather was supposed to be nice for the next two days. But I thought it would also be nice to take the XT somewhere, and a two day ride on the XT was definitely cheaper, then a two day ride on the ST3.

I found a campground not to far away from Fort Collins, which was surrounded by many dirt roads and many hiking trails. Jack’s Gulch Campground seemed like the perfect location to test out my dual-sport touring and camping capabilities.

I started to plan my departure for the following day, I was totally prepared to ride and camp alone since it was a week day and everyone was working.

Today was Wednesday, and the local Fort Collins ADV Rider beer night. I had to inform my buddies that I couldn’t make it out there tonight. Instead I was heading out to REI to attend a clinic on climbing Colorado 14ers.

Then I remembered that one of my beer night buddies is also unemployed, rides a dual sport, and likes to camp and hike. Thinking it was too short of a notice, since I was planning on leaving tomorrow, I sent a message out anyway. You just never know. By the time I got home from REI, I had a reply and Al was in for the ride, the camping and some hiking as well.

I have done a multi-day ride on the XT, but stayed in motels. And I have camped with the XT many times, but I didn’t ride the bike there, it was towed to the campsite. This would be the first time I was going to be riding my XT with all my camping gear.



From my 2006 SW Texas trip: Fieldsheer tailbag (too bad I left the gas can in IL in storage, I think I could really use that can for this trip)



The FS tailbag looks huge on the little XT, but the Nelson-Rigg saddle bags have more packing space and sit lower on the bike, which is nice since it doesn't make the bike as top heavy



From my 3 day ride around Kentucky, Virginia and Tennessee in 2007, lots of gas stations in the east, I didn't need the gas can

I needed more luggage space for this ride. Jack’s Gulch was located at 8,100 feet in elevation, I would need all my cold camping gear. In the past I used my Fieldsheer tailbag on the XT, but the tailbag wouldn’t hold all the stuff I needed to take for camping. I tried on my Nelson-Rigg saddle bags that I use on the 954RR, and they fit fine on the XT. The only concern I had was the right saddle bag had vinyl backing and the vinyl was resting on the exhaust, although the exhaust can had a heat shield. Would it stay cool enough not melt a hole in my saddle bag?



The XT225 ready for it's first overnight ride with camping using the Nelson-Rigg saddlebags


Packing list:

Camping Gear:
Sierra Design Light Year 1 person tent & footprint
+15 degree REI down sleeping bag
Sleeping bag liner
Inflatable camping pillow
Big Agnes insulated inflatable sleeping pad
Camping head lamp

Clothes & MC gear:
Dirt riding gear
Helmet
Gloves
DS Boots
Hiking boots
Light waterproof jacket shell
Fleece shirt
Down jacket
Fleece thermal pants
Fleece hat and gloves
Down camping booties

Food:
2L water
I can Red Bull
2 packets of tuna
Crackers
1 piece French bread
2 apples
Trail mix
2 banana muffins

Misc:
Camelbak daypack
Bowl and spoon/fork/knife
Sunscreen
Lip balms
Toothbrush and toothpaste
Hand sanitizer
Zip-ties
Bicycle cable and pad lock
Matches

12 day motorcycle tour that didn’t happen

The Pacific North West Ride (CA, OR, WA, ID)

I usually don’t post about rides that “could have been”. But I was very close to doing a huge ride, so it’s worth a mention. This ride is now “technically” postponed. I’d still like to do it, and I will if the opportunity presents itself.

Had things gone as planned, today I would have been heading out to Northern California for a motorcycle meet in Fortuna, CA. On the way to Fortuna I was going to stop in Sacramento and meet up with another woman motorcycle sport-tourer, who is also a blogger like me. I‘ve known her for several years now as I followed her motorcycle travels through her blog and various motorcycle message boards.



My proposed 4,000 mile route through CO, UT, NV, CA, OR, WA, ID and WY

Funny, we have never met in person, but reading someone’s stories year and year, makes you really feel like you know them. Ah, the magic of the internet. The motorcycle community is an amazing one. A simple e-mail to another rider in another state, usually will provide garage space for the bike, a place to lay your head for the night and sometimes even a home made meal. To the traveler it’s inexpensive lodging, and of course, the bonus is hanging out with other riders, sharing stories and motorcycle adventures over a meal and some beer. You can’t get that at a motel if you‘re traveling alone.

As for the motorcycle meet in Fortuna. I have never been to that one before, but I have been to many others over the 7 years that I have been a member of this group. This meet for another opportunity to meet in person some of the people that I have known for years through the message board. Some of the people I have met already through other events and rides, and was looking forward to seeing them again.

And lets not forget about the roads. I was really looking forward to riding along the coast in California, gazing at the Pacific Ocean, posing my bike for a picture in front of some of those giant redwoods.

From California I was going to ride with two other riders through Oregon and Washington. Two states that I haven’t been through on my motorcycle yet. After a short visit in Washington, I was going to ride to Idaho, and get to cross that state off my “to ride” list, then head home.



This trip would finally allow me to color in Oregon, Washington and Idaho, the states I have not been to yet on a motorcycle

12 glorious days on my motorcycle, a few days staying with other riders, the rest of the night camping. So why didn’t I go on this ride?

Literally two days before I was supposed to head out, I received an e-mail informing me of a job interview the following week. At first I thought I still couple make it out to Northern California for the meet, but if I rode out to Northern California I’d literally be arriving back home the day before the interview and that was cutting it too close. If the weather got bad or the bike broke down, I wouldn’t make it back in time.

The Colorado and Utah Ride

A couple of days after Labor Day I sat there playing with my mapping software (Microsoft Streets & Trips) and thought about possibly doing a shorter ride. I was already pretty much packed, I didn’t want to waste all that packing effort. So I decided to head out to Utah for 5 days. There were still so many places I haven’t been to out there, as well as in Colorado. I created a route that took me through these parks and monuments:

Paonia State Park, CO
Natural Bridge National Monument, UT
Bryce Canyon National Park, UT
Capitol Reef National Park, UT
Colorado National Monument, CO



My proposed 1,500 mile route through CO and UT

But since I wanted to camp every might and hike and everything in every park, the 5 days just wasn’t cutting it. I needed more time, I needed an extra day. I didn’t rush through it. Since I didn’t have an extra day I scraped the Colorado and Utah ride idea. I was still going to ride somewhere, but it was going to be a much shorter ride. To be continued…

Motorcycle Touring on a Budget

In the recent years I’ve been trying to “reduce” the cost of my motorcycle trips. There are three things I discovered that will significantly reduce the cost of a trip:

1 Don’t buy bottled drinking water - free water is out there


2 Eat less at restaurants - buy more food at super markets


3 Camp more - stay in motels less


My last 7 day trip cost me $177.45, that’s about $25.35 per day. I’m glad gasoline is cheap again since $90.65 of that cost was just in gas.


Drinking Water

I think the biggest rip off is bottled drinking water. A bottle of driking water can cost anywhere from $1 to $2 per bottle, and during the warmer summer months it’s totally possible to spend anywhere from $8-18 a day just on driking water or other beverages. Over a 7 day trip that can easily amount $60 or more for the trip. Water is a necessity but water is out there and you get it for free. Most campsites, state parks, national parks will have water fountains. Now, of course if you want to get free water you will need to have some containers with you to store it. I tour with water bottles and water bladders (like a Camelbak or Platypus) and I fill up with water whenever I see free water. Carrying drinking water is an inconvenience, water is heavy, and all those water containers take up space, but you can save a lot of money, especially on those longer trips. Most bathroom sinks at gas stations have perfectly good drinking water, but I also use a water purification system and I can filter any kind of water with it. Any river or lake water becomes drinking water. I use the Katadyn Hiker Pro and it will will set you back about $69 but I also use it for backpacking and it should last for years. The more I hike and backpack, the more items I discover that I can also use on my motorcycle trips.



Platypus water bladder



Katadyn Hiker Pro water filtration system



Katadyn Hiker Pro in action



Food

It’s hard to eat well on trips, and restaurant meals ad up quickly, so eating out is expensive, and eating at fast food restaurants is not very healthy. I guess the hardest thing about keeping food on the bike, is that most foods require refrigeration. Things like peanut butter and tuna fish not only do not require refrigeration, but are also healthy foods, with lots of protein for energy. If you have a way of heating up food, like a Jetboil, this opens up a lot of possibilities. You can make anything from hot cereal in the morning to a pasta dish. I try to keep things simple food wise, and even though my favorite fruit - the banana - doesn’t travel well in a top case, apples do. I keep things like crackers, trail mix and energy bars on the bike for those times where I can not find food on the road.



My camping favorites: Tuna, crackers, peanut butter and jelly



On the road snack foods: energy bars, trail mix and banana chips

I tour with a camping knife/fork/spoon and a simple cheap plastic bowl




One of my dinners on the last trip: I ran out of water and was glad the park had a vending machine with PowerAde for $1 each, avocado, crackers and my favorite tomato & basil tuna



Subway subs make a great meal, cheap and nutritious, they travel well



Breakfast



Breakfast



More tuna and crackers



Pringles travel well, as do apples



Lodging

Motels are expensive. All you really need is a place to sleep, a bathroom and a shower. Unfortunately not all campsites have showers. The one thing that kept me away from camping on the bike for the longest time, was that I wear contact lenses. Many campsites have modern bathroom facilities and that isn’t even an issue. But many campsites have no running water, no sinks. I found that carrying some tissue wipes and some hand sanitizer works well in those situations when there is no modern bathroom facilities. The savings between camping and moteling can be huge. A decent campsite costs between $7 and $15, a decent motel room costs between $55 and $70. Staying with friends and family is always the cheapest option. I’ve been trying to find people to stay with on my trips. Besides the free bed, it’s always nice to hang out with like-minded people during the trip, especially when you’re traveling alone.



Tent camping

A troublesome start but we made it to Iowa

Even though I haven’t been working for exactly one week, I’ve been super busy trying to arrange things for our ride among other things. Originally we were planning on leaving for our ride on Friday July 11th in the late afternoon after Mike was done with work, but two days ago the call that I’ve been waiting for finally came in. My ST3 was ready!

Since a three day weekend was coming up, we wanted to take advantage of the extra day. Our first stop was Colorado and having three days to get there was better than trying to ride there in two days.

So just when I thought I had a week to get ready for the trip, now I only had two days. Since we knew we would be on the road for at least a month, possibly two, there was a lot of things to consider when packing for this trip. My longest ride so far was 10 days, this doesn’t even compare to a month or more on the road, carrying all the necessities one might need during that time. In my case I also needed to bring some papers, resumes, a lop top, mouse and mouse pad, DVD's for the computer, my check book, a note book and other things I usually don’t take on a sport-touring ride.

We picked the bike up yesterday. The 20 miles to get home it ran fine, although it did have two small hiccups when at a light the RPM‘s feel for no particular reason. We didn’t think much of it. Friday morning we still needed to finish packing, we knew an early start was out of the question, it took me 4 hours to load up the ST3. The bike has never been this loaded and fitting everything just right was like working an on intricate puzzle, where each piece had to go in a particular place. We planning on heading out no later than 10AM to still be able to ride 400 miles today.

Just after 10AM we were ready to go, I started the ST3, let it run to warm up but a few minutes later it died. I started it up again and again after about two to three minutes it died. I started it for the third time, but again it died. It wouldn’t even run long enough to come to the operating temperature. Finally we let it run with the enricher so it could come to temperature. Once it reached the operating temp we turned it off and let it idle but again it died again.

As frustrated as I was in the last few weeks having to bring the ST3 back again to the dealer, it was nothing like I was feeling right now. Having the bike all loaded up and ready to go. If we had some time, we should have ran the ST3 last night, but we were so busy packing since we brought it home that there was no time to take it for a test run.

Obviously there was still something wrong with the ST3.

A decision had to be made. Today was a holiday and the dealer was closed. Do we wait to leave for Colorado next weekend hoping the dealer could work on the bike and get it squared away this following week? I had no confidence in them anymore, they had the bike 3 times and it still was not running the way it should. So the other option was to take my Honda 954RR but with the soft saddle bags there was no way I could take all the stuff I already had packed on the ST3.



The ST3 all packed up to go

As a last resort, Mike took the side panels off the ST3 and went looking for loose connections, hoping the dealer missed something putting he bike back together. I remember back in 2005 when my bike kept stalling on me, the ground wire had slipped out of the ECU. We checked that and other things, but everything seemed fine. Mike went back in the house to search the internet for any clues to what this might be and what to check and I started to re-pack from the ST3 to the 954RR. We really wanted to leave today.



Last try to see if we could fix the problem

I used to tour on my 954RR back before I got the ST3, so the GIVI top case got moved to the Honda. Then I pulled the saddle bags out, I haven’t used them in like 4 or more years. Only problem was, back when I used to use the saddle bags, I didn’t have a GIVI rack on this bike. The GIVI rack was in the way, but after 45 minutes of adjusting the straps I finally strapped the saddle bags over the GIVI rack and secured it the bike. Then the tail bag got moved and a whole bunch of stuff got placed in the “can’t fit on the bike” pile. Basically I had to leave behind most of my clothes, many emergency items, and other redundant or luxury items. I was really going to be ruffling it without some of these things. With the ST3 I’ve gotten used to having the space for all the items I wanted to bring, but obviously the soft saddle bags didn’t hold nearly as much. I got so lucky, my new Ogio Tanker tank bag actually fits on the 954RR. I didn't think it would because it's so big. I'm so glad though, if I had to use my small Nelson-Rigg tank bag, I could only bring 1/3 of the contents of the Ogio tank bag.



My 954RR almost ready to go sitting next to the pile of stuff that I can no longer take with me

We also needed to dump some of the tools that we were bringing for the ST3, and bring the tools for the 954RR. The bummer was, the ST3 had a new back tire and new sprockets and chain. Its good to go for another 10,000 miles or more. The 954RR has about 6,000 miles left on the back tire and will need new sprockets and chain really soon and a valve service. The 954RR has 35,030 miles as of today so who knows what else will need replacing. I’m still on the original clutch.

The most upsetting part of this whole satiation is, especially now that I’m not employed is having to pay for the valve service on my ST3 $700+, then having to pay $400+ for them to fix the St3, on top of that paying for the new back tire, mounting and balancing, chain and sprockets. So that is an additional $400+ and now I'm not even taking the bike. Soon I'll have to spend that money again on the 954RR. With no income coming in this will be tough, since gas, food and lodging is already expensive. The thoughts of fixing the ST3 and selling it are running through my head. People keep telling me it’s not the bike but the bad dealerships and service, and I agree. For the dealership not being able to figure out in three visits what the problems is with the bike, is inexcusable. And they never even took the bike on a test ride after the fixed it each time.

This was the second Chicagoland Ducati dealer that I’ve been dealing with, the previous place I was going to also took over a month and three tries to figure out I needed a new ECU and exhaust valve springs in 2006.

By 5PM the 954RR was all packed. The bike felt so heavy that when I pulled out of the driveway I almost didn’t think I could ride it. The sport bikes don’t carry the weight as well as sport-touring bikes. That is why I like my ST3 for touring, it carries the weight really well. I don’t even feel the top case. On the 954RR I especially feel the top case and the bike gets really top heavy and slow maneuvers are tough with all the extra weight.



954RR is packed and ready to go

The roads out of Chicagoland were not too busy on this 4th of July afternoon. We had a camp site scoped out about 400 miles from home but leaving this late, we would not make it there. The plan was to put on as many miles as we could today.

With the sun already low on the horizon we pulled over for gas in Williamsburg, IA 255 miles from home. We have not seen any camp grounds near by. We could have gone another 50 miles, but riding in the dark wasn’t appealing with all the trucks on the interstate and the wild life, possibly drunk drivers on this holiday. Any way, at this point we decided to bite the bullet and get a motel room. Didn’t feel like looking for camping in the dark off the interstate. There were a few motels at this exit and we chose the Super 8. The rate was $75 per night, we almost wanted to ride down to the next exit and see if we could find something cheaper, but that would waste another 20-30 minutes, so we chose to stay at the Super 8. By the time we unloaded the bikes and wet next door to the restaurant for dinner, they were already closed. Apparently everything closed at 9PM in this town. We grabbed some food at the gas station, went to our room and by 10PM went to bed.



All interstate, we made it to Williamsburg, IA today, 255 miles from home