I pulled out my K&N air filter today as I noticed oil leaking from the clear drain line from the airbox. No oil in the airbox but a very fine layer of dust. Realized I had not used the installation grease. Had a tube from years ago, greased it up real well and reinstalled.

I'm going to check again in a couple of thousand miles and if there is any sign of dust, going back to OEM air filter.

Guess, what's new at this picture:

By the numbers

4 states...1247 miles....2.5 days

Too many major mountain ranges and rivers to list..

Thursday at 7:30 departure:

Ogden to Brigham City via the 89. Brigham to Corrine on the 83 then on to Howell Utah and I-15 to Snowville. Snowville UT on the 38 through Curlew National Grassland to Roy and the 37 to American Falls Idaho .

Then back on the 39 on west side of the American Forks Reservoir through Aberdeen-Springfield-Pingree and then Rockford Idaho to the 26 heading NW to Atomic City (no services...I was hoping to grab a burger on the run). Left there and headed to Howe, Idaho via the 33.

After Howe onto the 22 and then the 28 NW to Lone Pine (where I arrived on fumes).

Pumped gas there on an old manual pump and had to report the total to elderly proprietress. As luck would have it I wanted a burger and she replied matter of factly " My cook left..not sure if she's coming back". After a bag of chips and Miller High Life I was back on the road with a quick stop at Leadore ID. Walking into the restaurant after seeing the OPEN sign lit up I was surprised that no one was in there. I shouted HELLO" twice. Not receiving a reply I walked out the front door and into the adjoining bar which was also showing a sign that it was OPEN. In this bar were two aussie sheppards and a huge compressor that was running at full tilt making the racket from Hell, myself and apparently no one else. I stood there for a few seconds, then uttered an unrepeatable word. As I walked out I had half a mind to leave the door open to give the dogs a reprieve.

The next three towns ( Lemhi-Tendoy-Baker) are only on the map to frustrate, confuse and disorient travelers. I'm not even sure I went through them but they are shown on the map none the less. Could be like Brigadoon and I rolled through there at the wrong time. Somewhere in this general area I crossed this....



Salmon is a well established small city with lots of shops and touristy trappings. Still, parts of it are pleasing to look at. I fueled up and hit the 93 north just ahead of a group of Harleys, passing some resorts on the way to the Broken Arrow Resort which I arrived at after 400 miles at 4:40 pm. See my write up under Gatherings

Friday: At approx. 7:30 AM I headed north on the 93 taking sweepers and tight hairpin curves while being mindful of the elk and deer I saw standing close to the road as I was heading up to the top of the pass that crested at just over 7,000 feet at the Idaho/Montana state lines. From there I turned east on the 43 to Big Hole Nat Battlefield (well worth the stop if you're into the history of the American west) and into Wisdom were I procured gas and an early cup of coffee.

Somewhere on the 43 south of Wisdom Montana.




By pure luck I stumbled across a hidden gem of a road called the Pioneer Mt/s Scenic Byway. I've been passing these mts from the east on I-15 going on 2 decades and this road goes right through the backside. An ABSOLUTE MUST on a bike!!!!



I came off this road onto the 43 at Wise River Montana where I fueled up and headed south on the frontage road after hitting I-15. I followed the frontage all the way south into Dillon...an excellent stretch of the old 60's red/pink agate (???) material used for roads back then. It was like riding on sandpaper and instilled confidence that had me hitting triple digits repeatedly

Bridge on that stretch of road.



Then on to Dillon Mt on the 278. Leaving Dillon on the 41 north east I hit the following towns Twin Bridges-Sheridan-Alder (where I had a late lunch) Virginia City (tourist trap) and Ennis on the 287. From there I went ever south and skirted west Yellowstone via the 20 and Island Park.

Trying to outrun a random thunderstorm west of Yellowstone. I had to do this two or 3 times during the day at various places.



Eventually I ended up in Driggs, Idaho on the 33 and headed south east over the pass into Jackson.

On top of the pass to the west of Jackson/Jackson Hole looking east.




Getting gas at Hoback Junction I went east on the 191 about 8 miles and camped at hoback campground within 25 yards of the river. At 9 PM I had some hot Land-O-Lakes hot mint chocolate with a shot of Jameson and called it a night.

Campsite. I slept like a baby on my $200 Thermarest after knocking out almost 600 miles




Saturday: On the road by 6:45 and cold as all get out. Luckily I put on my jacket liner but even that didn't take the severe bite out of the cold. There was frost on the seat as I climbed on the CB and pointed her north at the Hoback Roundabout. A short time Later I was looking at the Grand Teton and SNAP SNAP had the pics to prove it and was heading back south through Jackson and into Alpine Wy (where I had breakfast) and Star Valley.

The Wyoming Range in background, lesser known red headed cousin of the Wind Rivers Wilderness.



As the sun warmed up my black jacket and I spent more time out of, instead of in, the shadows I started to get feeling back in my hands and hammered south at well above legal limits on the 89 either through or by Freedom, Thayne, Afton, Cokeville Wy and finally onto the 16 towards Woodruff and Randolph UT where I turned west on the 39 through the backside of the Wasatch Range climbing over Monte Cristo at a little over 9,000 feet, through the Ogden Valley, past snow Basin Resort down trappers loop onto I-84 for a short burst home.

Downtown Afton, WY:




My house sits within a mile of these mt's on the other side

I tried to search this out on the forum first. Any of y'all swapped out your grips before? I have kuryakyn grips on my Shadow and GoldWing. I really would like to add a little more "beef" to the handgrips for riding. Just feel a tad small to me. Thanks in advance.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

We passed this a few times in the last couple of days and finally had a few minutes to stop in. Very unique museum, mostly Harley and Indians, but a few unusual ones too. A lot of Moto Police pictures, info and memrobelia. Worth stopping, if your in the area.

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This next one was unexpected

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Deer patrol ?

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CB750K eh?

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Other notables

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Five Triumphs, (Thruxton R, Street Twin, Tiger 800XC, Daytona 675R and Street Triple R) with a shocked and saddened Mancunian now living in NJ along to make it real, on a spirited ride with breakfast on one end, and delicious cake and coffee on the other. Nice roads in Western Monmouth and Burlington Counties, great weather, and home in time for a few hours at the beach...a perfect Saturday morning. And saw a black CB1100 in Allentown, anyone here, per chance?

It helps to have an excuse for a long-distance motorcycle trip, even if that excuse sounds contrived or concocted. In my case, this is the honest truth: I have a Canadian bank account that I visit for a once-a-year transaction so the account won’t go dormant or inactive. Sure, I could take all or some of the funds out with a phone call but the bank would take a too-large percentage of my money for their cut.

The money was left over from a time when my wife and I owned a half acre of land in British Columbia and had hopes of building a second home. We used the account to pay annual property taxes and other fees. Eventually we sold the land and now the money just sits, making no interest, waiting for us to be tourists on our great Canadian vacation which we keep putting off. A year ago in July, I took the account out of dormancy (following a few years of neglect) by visiting in person on my Goldwing. The in-person visit was a clear and no-substitute official requirement that time to "free" the account. This trip, I decided to ride my CB1100 to British Columbia and withdraw a small sum, keeping the account in an active status for another year.

I began this journey after riding very little in the last three months because of a family health crises. In March, I lost my dog in a coyote attack in my backyard, and my wife’s dog was severely injured, with bite marks encircling his neck. These are toy poodles--fru, fru dogs--and we love(d) them dearly. Well, my wife’s injured 15-year-old, diabetic, half blind poodle--who is a brave protector of the family and kept the coyotes from making off with his dead sister’s body--decided that he was now MY dog! (That created family tensions of its own.) The end result was that the dog demanded a lot of my time while he recovered. That kept me from riding the motorcycle. I’m not relating this story to gain sympathy, but to add context and explain how I logged only a few motorcycle miles in three months.

Not having ridden much, I was now proposing to be on the bike for eight days in a row. I was looking forward to this as a first real test of the bike’s touring abilities. Yes, I like the retro look of the bike. But the retro experience of traveling around the country on this reliable Honda--a universal Japanese motorcycle--is what I’m really after. I can now say that the motorcycle performed up to my generally high expectations.

First the basic route: Being a quick up and back, I travelled many miles of Interstate highway, primarily I-15 and I-90 with some I-70 and I-80. My Canadian destination was Cranbrook, BC (Bank of Montreal and then a night at the nearby Jim Smith Lake Provincial Park) so US 93 North and a loop back on US 95 South and US 2 East were worked in.

Detours (in no particular order): To vary the pace, I sought out an important trout stream “frontage” road, Old US 91, in southwestern Montana along the Beaver Head and Big Hole rivers. This road was nearly always out of sight of the Interstate, was in great condition, and retained its 70 mph speed limit. It also had very little traffic. Hundreds of miles to the south, I used the same Old US 91 to by-pass I-15 construction in the Virgin River Gorge, detouring from Littleton, Arizona to St. George, Utah through the Beaver Dam National Conservation Area. My longest non-Interstate route was US Highway 89 (aka The National Parks Highway) from Spanish Fork, Utah south to Panguitch, Utah. I then connected back to I-15, along State Routes 143 and 148, past the high-elevation Cedar Breaks National Monument, and finally State Route 14 down the mountain to Cedar City. Along the way, I also worked in a mountainous, Provo Canyon-to-Park City, Utah (very) long-way-around ride to Salt Lake City, just to avoid a few miles of urban freeway and excessive heat. Finally, I relaxed along State Route 38 from Brigham City to Tremonton, north of SLC.

Motorcycle performance, etc: The six speed 2014 standard feels right at home at 90 miles per hour, or at 85 for long distances, or at 80, the maximum speed limit in the states of Utah, Idaho, and Montana along this route. I experienced some strong crosswinds in southern Idaho but the bike was not pushed around. A couple of days of blasting down the Interstates with strong tailwinds really ate up the miles, with a feel that was as smooth as glass, but head winds on other days were quite tolerable. For the most part, after completing my 350-ish miles a day (a conservative plan) I knew I could easily do another 100. Because of the motorcycle’s skinny front tire, I was watchful around asphalt snakes when the road surface was extremely hot, and rode slowly on chip-seal gravel. To ward off high temperatures on the last two days heading south, I wore a Hyperkewl hydration vest and silk scarf under my Motoport air kevlar mesh jacket. Water for the vest was provided by city park spigots in the small Mormon towns along US 89.

Photos:



Early in the trip in a corner of Arizona, by-passing I-15 on Old US 91



In southwestern Montana, this is another stretch of Old US 91 providing access to the Beaver Head and Big Hole rivers.



Big Hole River near the town of Glen



Trout food on the bike



Tent camping in Dillon, Montana



Tent camping at Jim Smith Lake Provincial Park, British Columbia



Early morning at the lake with the setting moon



Cedar Breaks National Monument on the way home



Mojave Desert at sunup. I was home before 7 am yesterday to avoid the heat.

Surprising results:

Q2
1 DOVIZIOSO 1'45.246
2 ROSSI 1'45.961
3 REDDING 1'46.312
4 MARQUEZ 1'46.430
5 CRUTCHLOW 1'46.568
6 HERNANDEZ 1'46.828
7 Pol ESPARGARO 1'46.997
8 Aleix ESPARGARO 1'47.118
9 IANNONE 1'47.567
10 PETRUCCI 1'47.601
11 LORENZO 1'47.897
12 VIÑALES 1'48.415

Dovizioso sets a blistering pace in the wet, Rossi in 2nd 0.7 seconds behind. Lorenzo a whopping 2.7 seconds behind, Pedrosa didn't make it out of Q1. Satellite teams shined.

Marquez crashed on his out lap, summersaulting in the gravel, jumping to his feet and running behind the wall. He spotted an unattended scooter and rode it back to the pit where his crew was busy changing bike 2 from dry to wet. He managed two laps. Pretty amazing.

Anyone missing a scooter?

Headed north yesterday to the Lake Winnipesaukee area. On the way there we stopped at the Canterbury Shaker Village, pretty interesting, sorry no pictures Today we rode around the south end of the lake, a lot of very nice riding in the area. Especially nice as there really wasn't much traffic, it being a week day and off season. Perfect weather, mid 70s, clear sky's and no humidity !

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Saw the sign for this and couldn't pass it up.

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Stopped in Wolfboro, Americas first resort town (according to Wolfboro) and had a great lunch. Then off to the Castle in the Clouds (worth googling, to tired to give you the history)

This is the road up the mountain

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Waterfall stop on the way up

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Old picture of the castle (it was on the wall of the men's room)

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Main entrance as it is today

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And the view from any west facing window

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Important edit, build your own sundae

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Back from day 1 of testing at local Yamaha Demo days. The 3 bikes in the title were the ones I rode today. I had previously ridden the FZ-07 and FZ-09. The XSR was new for me.

First up was FZ-07. Last year I gave a report here on this bike.

http://cb1100forum.com/forum/showthread....demo+rides

I didn't like it much. People said I was wrong so I wanted to give it another fair shot. I still don't care for it much. Small, not a lot of power, too vibey for me and I am not a fan of Yamaha switches or gauges.

FZ-09 Very improved over the 1st gen. Fueling much better, but not as good as the XSR. Close though. Tried all 3 modes. I liked std mode. I could own one of these.

XSR 900. I liked it the best. Even though it uses the same power plant as the FZ/FJ 09 it feels very different. The fueling is better, by a bunch. Tried it in all 3 modes. I liked std mode in it as well. Was more comfy than the FZ-09. Better ergos. Seat was better and better shaped. FZ-09 really crushed my nads into the tank, but the XSR didn't. A bit tall for me. I can see why Geezer likes his.

Rode my CB 1100 to and back home from the demo rides. I like it the best of all. everything works better, fueling, switches, shifting, seat, ergos, height, What a great bike.

addendum:

I did think the FZ-07 was better than the R-3 I rode last year and the Indian Scout I rode a couple of weeks ago.