[ST] Here's the [long] version of the trip report....

["Marc Danziger" <lists@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The Triumph Sport-touring Rider's Association (TSRA) decided to hold a
two-day rallye in Red River, NM - a small town a bit north of Taos - and it
seemed like a good excuse to get out and do a long ride w/Grace. We covered
about 2,500 miles, which isn't long at all for some but sure worked for us.

I'll summarize the high and low points and then do a bit of day-by-day
description in the next post...


Good Stuff:

Vixen, my '00 Sprint ST ran like a champ the whole way, and hit 50,000
miles in the process. It did come down with one problem...an apparently
blown fork seal ('no, it's just ice cream') on the way home in Kingman, AZ
- - which meant that I hung off on all the left-hand turns to keep the bike
upright.

MuZe, Grace's (formerly _our_) 99 MZ Skorpion Sport Cup, had been sitting
in the garage waiting for some work when Grace's GS500 came up suspiciously
lame and she decided she'd rather ride it instead. MuZe ran flawlessly
(except for known problems) the whole trip. Saw pavement twice at the Grand
Canyon, but both were parking lot drops. Grace wound up riding with the
fast group in our ride with the Triumph folks, and kept me anxious and
alert the whole time...but never put a wheel wrong. MuZe got new tires
(Avons) and a replacement shifter and linkage (I just happened to have one
in my garage and Donovan was kind enough to FedEx it) in Farmington NM (The
Motorcycle General Store, can't say enough nice things about Richard the
wrench there. I called and they ordered the tires for me _ I asked if they
wanted me to pay for them in advance, and they declined, "Just come on in
and we'll take care of you," and they did) and a new battery at Route 66
Motors in Kingman, AZ on the way home (ditto for Bob the parts guy there).
Just needs a chain, to have the new rear turn signals connected, and to get
lowered for Grace (I'm gonna give it up and she's going to take it over as
her main bike - then we'll get another one and set it up for _me_). Oh, and
the bodywork fixes for the tipover damage <g,d,f>...

Our Aerostiches kept us comfy and Grace unhurt in her spills (one bruise).

The fire department at the Grand Canyon, who rescued Grace when she tipped
over next door to their station (after I took off down the driveway) and
was stuck under the bike, and then loaned us workspace, power tools and
parts to get back on the road.

The Valentine One radar detector/Legal Speeding wireless heads-up display
was Da Bomb...saved us from at least two tickets each, as well as the
entire pack from one on the group ride Saturday. My only comment is that it
would be nice to have a 'night mode' to dim the LED in the helmet when it
gets dark. Highest recommendation.

Camelbacks worked great to keep us alert in the warm weather, except that
out cheapo carriers didn't have chest straps, which meant that I got a
strap wrapped around my biceps at 90mph and had trouble getting my hand
back on the bars...not a good thing.

My Aerostich 'competition' neck wetter thingie worked great as well,
keeping me almost comfortable on our miserable mid-day run home across the
Mojave.


Bad Stuff:

Grace's parking lot drops, which were a combination of her being slightly
too short of leg for the MZ and in case #1, a graveled parking lot and
inattention on her part, and in case #2 (twenty minutes after we set out
from repairing the damage in case #1) a badly off-camber parking lot and
her being rattled by drop #1. 

My inability to just let Grace ride rather than worrying about her all the
time; the only point where I actually had a 'moment' was when I was
midcorner in an 85mph downhill sweeper, looked in my mirror, saw Grace,
thought 'this is too fast for her' and chopped the throttle. This meant the
front got WHOA! greasy and I immediately got back into the throttle and
just didn't look in my mirrors for much of the rest of the day.


Basic Things I Have Learned:

If you think you need a new seat for your bike, get it _before_ the 2,500
mile trip.

Women just take longer to get ready in the morning than men. That's just
the way it is. Don't fight it, accept it. Bring a book.

If you own more than one bike, and put off doing work to one of them,
that's the bike you'll wind up taking on a trip and you'll wind up doing
all the work on the road instead.



Great stuff:

The riding....all of it, even the miserable stretch from Blythe on the 40.

The people who helped out and who we got to hang out with on the trip.

George B for loaning me his only tank bag, and Donovan for housesitting
(and cleaning the catbox!) and FedExing the parts so they were waiting in
Farmington.

In Prescott, we hung out with Tim and Renee as well as some of my other
Raven (API-list) shooting friends, who continue to be amazingly tolerant of
my loud Democratic self.

In Grand Canyon Village, Bruce the fireman who loaned us his firehouse and
tools to fix MuZe after the first tipover.

In Chama, we met up with a Louisiana mother and daughter who were proudly
bringing 'Louisiana back-yard BBQ' to New Mexico, and who served us an
awesome beef sandwich and pecan pie. And dared me to compare it to my
favorite BBQ places in L.A. and Kansas City. And made Grace a friend for
life by stocking their bathroom with Charmin. You can't miss the place,
it's the only BBQ restaurant there, check it out.

The Triumph folks who were all smart, funny, nice, and interesting, even
when they foolishly disagreed with me in my ever-insightful and always
accurate analyses of motorcycling...<g>

Special mention goes to Leroy (the Yamaha V-Star riding Triumph guy), who
definitely had the funniest motorcycle crashing story I've ever heard - the
final line itself tells it all: "Haven't you seen enough _yet_?"

Ivor, the truck driver from Tanganyika, who used his CB to find out where
Grace and I stopped for lunch so he could check out the MZ...

Richard and Lisa White, who loaned us the jumper cables that made it
possible for me to jump Grace at every stop...<g>

And Grace herself, who is just the best travelling companion I could ever
want...


Marc D, home at last...




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