2017 West Coast Rally

[kennyw]

Looks like the link is no good. I have to figure out how to share a folder.

[gmike_imp]

Thanks for your pictures and write up Jon. Looked at
the pictures and read more than once. An adventure for sure.

Very nice to meet you and every body at the rally.

Mike

[Cormanus]

Nice report and pictures, Jon.

[the Ferret]

Good stuff JonZ

[GaryMNM_imp]

Ditto on the great pic's and ride report's all, thanks for sharing.

Definitely looked like one for the books!

[Jonz_imp]

I'm loving the pics too! Here's a few more words.
The rally starts:
Thursday 7pm- Mike, John(the other Jon), Karl, Lisa, and I met at the “Rivers Edge” pizza restaurant . Karl, Lisa and I had met once before for about 30 seconds at Sultan Days bike show a year or so earlier. I think we live about 5 miles apart. The food was better than expected, and my beer was great. John had seen Kenny’s post about a delayed arrival, but with the rain, Missoula’s rush hour, and almost 600 miles to ride, I was a little worried about our entrepid leader. As the deserts arrived so did Kenny. Sitting on the deck with the river flowing just below, we made some plans and got to know each other a bit more. I hadn’t realized that Mike wasn’t going to be there for other dinners or I would have talked with him more. Next time!

Friday 9am - Line up for pics!
[url=https://postimg.org/image/rpbovxygz/]
Right off the bat John saw that my front tire was mounted backward. On the rim correctly but the rim was backwards. I wasn’t to happy with my dealer who had mounted my PR3’s almost 5000 miles earlier. I felt a little stupid for not noticing the clearly marked arrows before. Oh well, lets ride!

Kenny lead the 6 of us to some beautiful places on unexpectedly enjoyable gravel roads. I’ll let our posted pics describe the wonders we beheld. Kenny balanced the pace with the challenge of navigating the gravel/dirt road while taking in the scenery and having a blast riding. I want to see Flynriders (the other John) photos , he was using Ferrets technique with camera on a lanyard. Riding last, on the way back,watching the line of our bikes wind through the valley will be a mental picture I hope never to forget.

For dinner we rode a few miles north to the Mexican restaurant in Gibbonsville. Some of our group decided that pie was all that was required. We all returned to our beds without any deer traffic and reflected on what a good day it had been.

Still more later-- Jon Z

[Jonz_imp]

I know it's been a while so I better finish this. You all saw the waterfall pics, anouther great ride. More paved road this time,and mountain passes. We were told to get back on our bikes an leave after a water break near Lake Como, a Montana reservoir, by what looked to me like a teenager in a uniform. We took a few last group pics just after the last pass, the sun casting long shadows of our dusty CBs.
Over dinner at the rivers edge we talked about lofty things, like spaceship doohickeys and flying into remote airstrips. I had anouther great local beer (1 per evening, I still had a mile of deer on the road), and wondered if I could really ride 6 hundred miles home the next day.
Sunday after early morning coffee and muffins with Karl and Lisa,Kenny lead the way back to home. Maybe 6 hours in, an hour after lunch, at a gas and water break, I was backing my bike out of the shade and dropped it. Kenny thought I did it so that when I welded my snapped clutch lever back together it would match my break lever.
So on we went, with a 2" clutch lever for me and a butt very happy with my Airhawk.
Roads were not crowded, and I-90 was hot. Kenny split north at Quincy,just before the Columbia River and the eastern slopes of the Cascades.
Not more than 30 miles later traffic slowed to a crawl, and I was very displeased with the length of my lever in the next hour of stop and go. I did make it home in 12 hours though, not to bad. 1726 miles for me, loved them all (except where noted).
Fixed my lever the next day, and the following Saturday got the dealer who had installed my front wheel backwards to turn it the right way. After more than 6,000 miles they weren't going to give me anew tire. Not surprisingly the road noise is quieter and though I've only used it for my commute to work the last few weeks I think it handles better.
Well I had hoped flynrider would've posted some pics by now, but maybe something glitched somewhere.
Jon Z

[flynrider]

I know it's been a while so I better finish this. You all saw the waterfall pics, anouther great ride. More paved road this time,and mountain passes. We were told to get back on our bikes an leave after a water break near Lake Como, a Montana reservoir, by what looked to me like a teenager in a uniform. We took a few last group pics just after the last pass, the sun casting long shadows of our dusty CBs.
Over dinner at the rivers edge we talked about lofty things, like spaceship doohickeys and flying into remote airstrips. I had anouther great local beer (1 per evening, I still had a mile of deer on the road), and wondered if I could really ride 6 hundred miles home the next day.
Sunday after early morning coffee and muffins with Karl and Lisa,Kenny lead the way back to home. Maybe 6 hours in, an hour after lunch, at a gas and water break, I was backing my bike out of the shade and dropped it. Kenny thought I did it so that when I welded my snapped clutch lever back together it would match my break lever.
So on we went, with a 2" clutch lever for me and a butt very happy with my Airhawk.
Roads were not crowded, and I-90 was hot. Kenny split north at Quincy,just before the Columbia River and the eastern slopes of the Cascades.
Not more than 30 miles later traffic slowed to a crawl, and I was very displeased with the length of my lever in the next hour of stop and go. I did make it home in 12 hours though, not to bad. 1726 miles for me, loved them all (except where noted).
Fixed my lever the next day, and the following Saturday got the dealer who had installed my front wheel backwards to turn it the right way. After more than 6,000 miles they weren't going to give me anew tire. Not surprisingly the road noise is quieter and though I've only used it for my commute to work the last few weeks I think it handles better.
Well I had hoped flynrider would've posted some pics by now, but maybe something glitched somewhere.
Jon Z

Sorry about that. I haven't been at home long enough to process my pics and upload them. Just got back from a week flying around NM, so I'll have some time this week.

[Jonz_imp]

Great - sorry if I'm rushing you! I'm always looking at my pics as soon as possible. Lesli waits awhile after a trip, some how her pics turn out to be the ones I remember.
Jon Z

[flynrider]

OK, got my pics processed and uploaded to Imgur this afternoon.

Most of my fellow rallyers have posted pics of our roadside stops, so I'll be posting mostly Lanyard Cam pics.

Thur. - I rode from Emmett, ID to the rally with gmike and his buddy Bob. We did a short stretch along Idaho Hwy 55 which runs along the Payette River. One of the white-wateriest rivers I've seen (it goes on like this for miles).



Fri. - After meeting up and taking some group photos (see above) we headed off for the days ride. Kennyw convinced us that a little tour off the beaten (and paved) path would be just the ticket.

The road follows the North Fork of the Salmon River as it heads towards its meeting with the South Fork of the Salmon, somewhere in the Frank Church Wilderness. It is appropriately called Salmon River Rd. and starts off with decent pavement.



Soon after, the road changed to nicely packed dirt/gravel.



The canyon narrows.



Occasionally, the road crossed the Salmon.



Roadside rest stop and photo op.



Our quiet approach caught this baby Big Horn Sheep by surprise.



We stopped and waited while the family was reunited.



After around 35 miles of dirt, the road started to get a bit soft and messy, so we turned around and headed back to North Fork.



We stopped for a pic on a bridge over the Salmon.



Later that afternoon, Kennyw and I decided to take a ride up to Lost Trail Pass before dinner.



We stopped for a CB pic at the summit. It was at this point that we saw a black '14 CB1100 go by waving to us. I was so surprised I didn't get a pic.



The day ended at the Broken Arrow Mexican restaurant up the road in Gibbonsville. This Idaho Mexican food was "interesting" from the point of view of a lifelong Southwesterner, but quite tasty. Karl and Lisa passed on the Mexican cuisine and opted for pie and ice cream for dinner. Who says you have to eat sensibly when you're on vacation.



That's it for Friday. Saturday's pics coming soon.