Spring Afternoon Jaunt

[GoldOxide_imp]

You’ll enjoy your SE Utah trip. This region, as well as the Black Hills of South Dakota, are my most favorite places in the U.S. to ride. Bring hydration!

I really enjoy riding where there's an expansive vista and geology to observe on a macro scale.

Hydration! Good reminder!

It's good a to hear of another person with only one bike that does what they want it to.

What happened to the Triumph, Stichill?

Triumph themselves lost interest in the Thunderbird 1600 and weren't really supporting the bike with OEM accessories and even some mission-critical parts like warpage-/leakage-prone throttle body tubes. Every accessory I wanted to try had to be found on the secondary market: different seats, heated grips, windscreens, etc. It was so frustrating because the bike launched with a TON of cool accessories that were nearly impossible to find six years later. It also started to remind me of my F800GT in that there were some fundamental oversights in the design, for example the factory method of jacking the bike was to literally put a piece of wood under the sump and hope you didn't crack it when lifting the bike. A guy came up with a set of retrofit brackets called the Jack-b-quick and wouldn't you know it...he had stopped making them and I had to track down a set on eBay. It was a nightmare to install them. The wheels were bare aluminum and started to have significant blemishing from corrosion. I spent a Saturday working myself to death with metal polish and ended up with a result that was "meh". I was terrified to remove the rear wheel for tire replacement, as belt tensioning and alignment were a black art. I think it was at that point that I decided to move the bike on.

Every accessory I tried and didn't like had to be re-sold to the next parts seeker. In the end, I could never find a windscreen that didn't buffet: I tried low, mid, high. I tried lower deflectors. Riding with the tall screen in the rain meant no rainwater on your visor but also no cleaning action of dirty road spray. The buffeting was probably related to my helmet as well, but I wasn't about to start trying different helmets to find the magic combo. Lesson learned: buffeting is the nemesis of the cruiser design.

It was supremely comfortable and smooth to ride on "big roads", though. If I lived out where Long Ranger does I would probably put up with its maintenance idiosyncrasies and still have it. In my area around here, in many ways it is out of its proper element. There are few if any cruisers out there that can touch it for handling prowess and smooth shifting with that six-speed gearbox and its quiet helical-cut gears.

BYW, I hope you stop for gas at Hollow Mountain gas station. It’s a legendary place. The town isn’t much but you’ll want to get a photo of you and the town sign!

Ha, I love roadside Americana!

We're staying a night in that town! There's not much else in the vicinity.

Triumph themselves lost interest in the Thunderbird 1600 and weren't really supporting the bike with OEM accessories and even some mission-critical parts like warpage-/leakage-prone throttle body tubes. Every accessory I wanted to try had to be found on the secondary market: different seats, heated grips, windscreens, etc. It was so frustrating because the bike launched with a TON of cool accessories that were nearly impossible to find six years later. It also started to remind me of my F800GT in that there were some fundamental oversights in the design, for example the factory method of jacking the bike was to literally put a piece of wood under the sump and hope you didn't crack it when lifting the bike. A guy came up with a set of retrofit brackets called the Jack-b-quick and wouldn't you know it...he had stopped making them and I had to track down a set on eBay. It was a nightmare to install them. The wheels were bare aluminum and started to have significant blemishing from corrosion. I spent a Saturday working myself to death with metal polish and ended up with a result that was "meh". I was terrified to remove the rear wheel for tire replacement, as belt tensioning and alignment were a black art. I think it was at that point that I decided to move the bike on.

Every accessory I tried and didn't like had to be re-sold to the next parts seeker. In the end, I could never find a windscreen that didn't buffet: I tried low, mid, high. I tried lower deflectors. Riding with the tall screen in the rain meant no rainwater on your visor but also no cleaning action of dirty road spray. The buffeting was probably related to my helmet as well, but I wasn't about to start trying different helmets to find the magic combo. Lesson learned: buffeting is the nemesis of the cruiser design.

It was supremely comfortable and smooth to ride on "big roads", though. If I lived out where Long Ranger does I would probably put up with its maintenance idiosyncrasies and still have it. In my area around here, in many ways it is out of its proper element. There are few if any cruisers out there that can touch it for handling prowess and smooth shifting with that six-speed gearbox and its quiet helical-cut gears.


...
Dang. That is too bad. I really liked the looks of that ride you had.