So, where did you ride your F800 today? :)

[SteveT]

Last picture from me for 2018, from a short local ride, cos the weather is nice and I just can , having covered a little over 6100 miles on my F8GS this year, along with over 4000 miles on my big V-Strom.



Happy New Year to all on F800.org

SteveT

[Daboo]

Beautiful. Weather here is clear, and cold. I just texted a friend. Like I told him, I could work out in the yard today, or I could go to Duvall for coffee. Want to come, I said?

Probably wait till lunchtime to head out. Frost on the ground now. Not conducive to keeping the rubber side down.

Chris

[SteveT]

Took my first ride into 2019 this morning, taking in some views along the Moray Firth shoreline and then some more views along the side of the River Spey.

The shoreline at Kingston


This house has slowly but surely been inundated by the River Spey as flood after flood takes away more and more of the bank in front of the house and the fields to the side.


The old railway viaduct over the River Spey




And finally, the old Ice storage house at Tugnet, right at the mouth of the River Spey


Only 50 miles covered, but the sun was out and the temperature gauge stayed above freezing for most of the ride

Bring on more miles in 2019

SteveT

[Daboo]

I rode out to the prison this morning. Had breakfast with some of the other volunteers at 0630 hrs. We have areal flood warnings up for the rain coming through. But as I pointed out to the other guys there at breakfast, I would be drier walking out to my bike than they will be walking to their cars. And with heated gear, I am comfortable immediately. So with a little RainX to keep the visor free of rain drops, I enjoyed the ride.

I took the High Bridge road home. It's a nice curvy and hilly road. Surprisingly, there were only a few places where there was gravel or mud on the road, even with the rain we've had. The back end did step out a couple times. Nothing serious though.





I got a chance to practice what it is like to ride a real adventure bike, a GS. Like a good GS rider, I stood up. I realized afterward though that I only got off the seat, not the full standing position required to be a real GS rider. I should go back to practice this and get it right...







Chris

[Daboo]

Left the prison in Monroe on Saturday morning and decided to ride across to the Ben Howard Road. In the summer, it is frequented by a lot of motorcyclists...and LEOs. I don't think I saw either one on this trip.
















Going to the prison tonight again. Maybe I should get them to give me a bed there???

Chris

[SteveT]

Decided to give the bike a go after having to abstain from riding for most of last week cos of the colly-wobbles . . .

Just one pic as the temp was hovering around freezing and my heated gloves were having to work over-time to keep my pinkies pink

SteveT

[MGD109]

I take my hat off to you Steve, I'd be sh!tting myself on that surface on the motorbike.

[SteveT]

Who says I didn't?

This is what can happen - same track, different machine a few yeras ago . . .



SteveT

[SteveT]

Finally got to take the bike for a longer ride than just back and forth to work for the first time in weeks.
This is The Macallans new visitor centre & distillery – looks more like Tele-Tubbie land from the outside, but apparently the inside experience is something else.

https://www.themacallan.com/en/inside-the-macallan




Seems to match the contours of the local hills when viewed from this angle

I was determined to find some snow – guess this place will do . . . the Lecht ski centre

Absolutely mobbed – every car park was chocker


And this is the lastest distillery on Speyside – but they just knock out gin from this one, so no waiting years before you can sample the product, if that’s your tipple


SteveT

[Daboo]

I managed to get the bike out of the garage today to go to a Life Group meeting with the seniors at church. The snow started back on Sunday evening on 2/2 and even now, we're forecasting snow on higher elevations.







Once I got the bike up this tenth of a mile driveway to the main road, things were better. The hazard then was all the sand the road crews had put down making your "lane" really only one tire track wide. But still, it was fun. A bit of a challenge at times, but if I wanted things easy, I would've gone in my Subaru Outback.


Amazingly, the bike started right up. I didn't put a battery tender on it, just to see how well a 4.5 year old battery would do.


Gosh it felt good to get on two wheels again!


Chris

[ccramerusc]

Finally got a couple degrees above freezing, so I rode down to the boat launch, then took a lap around town. It's nice for the battery to get a real charge as opposed to the battery tender.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

[SteveT]

Went out for a brief blat this morning after a really sh1tty week.

Decided that dirt was the order of the day, seeing as it was mainly dry . . .











SteveT

[The Nightingale]

Went to a friend’s funeral on Friday.... took the longer route around the M25 as one of my other friends needed a lift, which was a welcome distraction. Picked her up at Redhill and headed up to Amersham. Chantelle’s first time on a bike, and she was amazing on pillion - barely felt her there but for hands around me and light pressure on my back while under braking. Anyway, she did brilliantly and now wants a bike....



After getting her home the weather turned horrid - thick fog and temperatures down to 6c (about 40f), so took it really easy. Thank you, heated grips!

[TelemarkTumalo]

... this riding motorbike activity you speak of... forgive me, but it is foreign to my people

[Daboo]

Yeah, that looks like my deck until a week ago. You're getting the Snowmageddon they originally said we'd get up north.

I still have snow in my yard, but at least I can get to the main road...though only because I shoveled a tenth of a mile to get there.

Of course my Subaru Outback doesn't need shoveling...

Chris

[Richard230]

I heard on the news today that the Oregon Snowmageddon, along with some fallen trees, has resulted in an Amtrak train stalling on its tracks in the middle of the Oregon outback, south of Eugene. The train has been there for the past 24 hours and the passengers are running out of peanuts and pretzels, along with toilet paper. Tough times in Oregon right now. We are just getting a few showers south of San Francisco this morning, with temperatures in the low 50's. I was out riding my motorcycle yesterday.

Nice looking snow pile. Now what are you going to do with it?

[TheMeteor]

That GS will rip right through that snowpile!

Man, that is a lot of snow, Mark!

[lang2u@yahoo.com]

Hey ccramerusc, I'm thinking about taking the bike off the tender for a quick spin too when weather permits! However, it's19 degrees now with snow on the way tonight in Connecticut 😫

[TelemarkTumalo]

We had a similar snow a couple of years ago. What was different this time was how fast it fell. Just a really intense dump of about 24" in 12 hours. About 45" total over 4 days. I must admit that it brought neighbors together. Two of my neighbors have snow throwers and there were several plowing sessions. And, we dug out several adventurous folks who tried to drive through the worst of it. BTW Chris, the Outback is the official car of central Oregon. But, we're digging out now and back in our 4x4's and SUV's. In terms of snow pack, we really need it and hopefully it will stay cold for awhile longer and the snow may melt slowly. We've been in a drought for over 5 years so this is all good.

[Buzzz]

Went for a quick tour after work on thursday.

[Daboo]

Beautiful, Laurent!

Mark, we really needed that snow too. I mentioned that in my Life Group last Thursday evening and everyone looked at me like I was crazy. There's still snow on the side of the roads. But we are possibly looking at a drought ourselves this summer. The area is building up in population and our drinking water is the snowpack in the Cascades. If the temps are just a little warmer, then the moisture falls as rain and runs off immediately. We need it to come as snow so it melts slowly over time.

Chris

[Daboo]

Went to the prison in Monroe this morning. Temps were below freezing, but the roads have been dry for days now. I like the route I take. It very quickly gets to some sparsely populated areas and the mountains in the background with the sun coming up are gorgeous.

The pictures aren't as good as being there, but I hope you enjoy them.









Chris

[lang2u@yahoo.com]

Nice open roads and scenic views! Thanks for sharing the pics Chris.

[Daboo]

Today was the last day of the heat spell we've had in the last couple days. After all the snow we had recently, this was a welcome break.

Here's some pictures on the way up Hwy 530.














These following pics are inside the park itself.























Obligatory motorcycle picture. It's the tiny black dot above the snow.

[SteveT]

From a little run out for lunch today . . .













SteveT

[lang2u@yahoo.com]

Took the F800GT out briefly around the neighborhood for the first time since winter and she purrrrred like a kitten! Did get a warning light for low tire pressure (27 front and 33 rear). Not too worried since it was only 43 degrees and pressure raised as tires got warmer. Looking for a longer ride tomorrow as it will be 60 degrees here in Connecticut.

Had to put the recommended tire pressure of 32 front and 42 rear on the ride back home...

[TheMeteor]

No pics, but today was the first day to ride since the first week of January. Little air in the front tire, unplug the Battery Tender and off we went. Still dirty from the January ride and snow melt unfortunately, but Jan and Feb did not offer many days that would allow me to give the girl a bath. 37F degrees when I left the house but was slow climb to 60F when I got home mid afternoon. One pucker moment early on some wet, shaded country road that evidently had some ice remaining. Almost went skating in the woods....well not that dramatic but a slight wiggle anyway.

Good to have the F8 out again. 188 miles today.

[SteveT]

Pushed the bike out of the garage and handed the keys to it's new owner



Let the hunt commence

Steve T

[TheMeteor]

Saturday was another of the first nice, weekend days of the season. Though 40F degrees when i left my home at 7am, the temps gradually climbed to 70F for a brief moment in the late afternoon.

My destination was to meet my son in Allentown, PA to ride with some of his friends for the day. It had rained most of the overnight and the roads were pretty wet as I headed out. As I slabbed it to the west and some slight elevation, it got darker and temps dropped to 38. It is reassuring to see the ice warning flash on the OBC as the thick fog sets in. I decided it was wise to move from the wet fast lane to the drier middle lane and slow down to a more reasonable speed. Arrived safe and warm thanks to good people at Gerbings and heated grips.

After breakfast we headed out towards Amish country. The fog burned off just as folks gathered. Plenty of nice country roads with Amish buggies and plenty of horse droppings in the road. I took two separate dung splashes to the visor! Also, this rural country and many evidently burn trash in open fires on the weekend. Between that and manure piles being tilled into the field, I dubbed it the Smoke & Dung Ride 2019.

In seriousness, this is beautiful country and I would up with 352 miles by the time I returned home in the evening. The F8 once again proved a great travel companion to stay with the sport guys in the twisties (at non-track settings) and comfortable enough to pile on the miles. A great day of riding all-in-all with fine scenery, roads, and fellow riders. And a good day with my son.

PS...the bike still needs a wash from the winter rides..

[GaryWoods84]

I also have to wash it, but I think it gets dirty on its own

[Buzzz]

There is still a little bit of snow here


Just in time for a refuel...

[Daboo]

I just went to the North Cascades Highway last month, but couldn't resist the opportunity to go again. The highway has gates to close it from travel because the last area to be cleared has a large danger of avalanches that cover the road up to 60 feet deep. Even the snow plows are at risk in those circumstances.

So combine the pictures from 3/30 for the west side of the road with these and you'll get a good idea of what the ride was like.

On the way up. Beautiful skies. But that went away once I got into the mountains and gained some elevation.



Once you near Rainy Pass, you gain enough elevation that you start encountering snow.



Coming down at this point from Washington Pass at almost 5500 ft. For those of you in the Rockies, that probably doesn't sound like much...but we're starting from sea level, not a mile high already.






Down from the pass, heading towards Winthrop and Twisp. Part of the reason for the trip was to meet up with TimR from the Kawasaki Concours Owners Group.



We ended up talking for over an hour about the upcoming Bun Cooler 2019 trip to Kamiah, Id. Then I headed back. I still had about four hours to get home and as you can see from the time stamp, it is almost 5:30 pm already. I was going to make this a big loop, coming back over Stevens Pass and Hwy 2, but decided not to. It was a little longer and would be dark by the time I got home. There's one section of road that has a sign up saying how many people had been killed by deer in that particular area. It adds a sobering reality to the deer crossing signs.



Liberty Bell mountain. You just can't get a perspective of the size of that mountain from a photo.



I'm really glad I have heated gear. I don't know how I made it without. Temperatures ranged from the mid-50s in the lowlands, to 30-31F in the pass area. Luckily the road surface was warmer.






Note the eagle flying above...






The F800GT is a delight on a trip like this. It's all day comfortable for the straight stretches, and when you get the twisty portions, it makes those a delight too.









The photos don't do the sunset justice. But it was gorgeous.





All these pictures were taken on the fly with my Sena 10C Pro. It's a combination of a Bluetooth headset and action camera. You can't find anything else that combines the two things into one small package like this.

Oh...there was one interesting time on the trip home. I was about 10 miles east of Marblemount, when I saw a Ford Explorer SUV approaching. It looked like it had either a roof rack...or a light bar on it. I've been toying around with a new radar detector I bought and noticed that it didn't go off...but on the side of the Ford Explorer was the logo for the Washington State Patrol. Oops. I was doing about 60 mph in a 50. Not speeding badly, but if the WSP wanted to pull me over, he could. The thought crossed my mind that he might turn around and follow me. Maybe I should play this with a little caution. So I slowed down to 50.

A few minutes passed and I noticed some headlights approaching fast. There were really few cars around at that time of the evening. Sure enough...here was the WSP catching up. So I held the bike to the speed limit exactly or under it for the next several miles till I turned off to head south. Phew!

Chris

[Richard230]

Around the Bay Area, at 10 mph over the limit the CHP, wouldn't even bat an eye. I was riding my Yamaha on I-280 yesterday at an actual 80 mph in a 65 zone and car, SUV, van and box truck drivers were passing me on the left and on the right like a shot. Their speeds must have been between 90 and 100 mph. Not a one of them seemed concerned about getting a speeding ticket. Too many speeders around here and not enough cops, I guess. I do know that just about every driver has a cell phone stuck to their ear and about two thirds of the drivers in the HOV lanes are single-occupant drivers, so apparently the chances of getting caught and paying a $500 fine is worth the risk to get to your destination a few minutes early.

[SteveT]

One month and 5 days without a F8GS in the shed . . . . . welcome to F8GS#4 collected today 6th May 2019.



2 lady owners from new (put on the road in 2014) and just 2943 miles when collected

Just needs a wash, an oil change and some of my left-over extras fitted

SteveT

[MGD109]

Welcome back.

[Norfolk UK]

Just back from a visit to Dundee. Journey was certainly a game of two halves !

Long range forecast for Tue 7th May had been good - Dry and maybe 10C. However, the nearer the day got the worse the weather. Left home in the dry but only 6C. Onward on the A47 & A17 to Newark I think I saw a high of 10C very briefly. Going north on the A1 was 6C and showers before Scotch Corner. The A66 was cold enough to prompt me to stop at Penrith and add another jumper ! Dry again until the M74 in the Scottish Borders where it rained heavily at only 4C. Glasgow to Stirling, Perth then Dundee saw the rain return. Fortunately my gear is all good and I arrived still dry and not too cold (heated grips definitely helped).

Compare that to 5 days later when I returned. Leaving in sunshine and 10C it got warmer as the day progressed getting a steady 13 - 14C and even a high of 16C on the top of the hills on the A66 ! Dry all the way home with the temp just beginning to drop again as I crossed Lincolnshire and Norfolk.

We all know the type of weather we would prefer to ride in but sometimes there is no choice.

Ian

May 19.pdf

[Daboo]

...We all know the type of weather we would prefer to ride in but sometimes there is no choice.

Ian

So true. I'm leaving on Friday morning for a Kawasaki Concours Owners Group (COG) rally in Kamiah, Idaho. Last Friday, the weather here in Puget Sound was in the mid-80s F (@29 C). This coming Friday, the temp will be down to 59 F (15 C), and they are forecasting downpours. But I've been looking forward to getting together with this group since last year and I'll go anyway.

On the way over, I'll be crossing a mountain pass. I expect the temperature that early in the morning to be down around 6 C. There will be a wide variation in the weather conditions and temperatures.

Chris

[SteveT]

Took the latest steed up it the hills for a nice sunny evening ride . . .







SteveT

[Fearfas]

We got lost, and ended in the middle of the vineyards, outside Barcelona.

[SteveT]

Another year, another UKGSer Dent-Event.

Eldest son & I set out for another enjoyable taste of Yorkshire hospitality, flavoured by the presence of many Bavarian two wheeled offerings (other manufacturers machine are available & where indeed present in numbers more than 1)
Nice ride down in good weather, tents positioned to Margaret’s satisfaction, off to the pub for dinner, a slurp and then a little while blethering with other early arrivers.

Friday – time to ride our own little ride. No real plan except go and enjoy the local area and all it has to offer.

The view back to Dentdale at the start of a good day


Wandered our way south a little bit over roads we’d not ridden before and found our way to the Slaidburn end of the Salterfell road








Didn’t do it all, but just enough to “complete” it for me as I’d done most of it years ago from the other end.

Time to find some tasty morsel for lunch – a pie in Settle it is then


Headed north and found a local attraction


And then we wandered onto the end of the Salterfell BOAT that we didn’t do many years ago




Back to camp, to find that the hordes had descended.

Grabbed a table at one of the local watering/feeding establishments before the above mentioned hordes decided to fill the place. Rest of the evening spent chatting with known faces and new ones as we wandered around the ever filling campsite

Saturday morning and most campers are still snoring


Eldest son had an appointment in Cockermouth with a dyalisis machine for the morning, so he headed out early doors, leaving me to codgertate a meandering route to the same location, timing my arrival to co-incide with him getting un-plugged, which I did (meandered and arrived on time)

Once we had had a snack and a blether we headed out to find some roads in the Lake district that were new to us






Back to camp for a repeat of Friday night’s activities, with the added fun of a raffle, with the proceeds going to the local Air Ambulance.

Sunday was Thursday in reverse, but with a deluge trying to drown us as we got to and then through Perth.

880 recorded miles on my latest F8GS and eldest doing most of that with a knackered rear shock on his R12GS.

Cracking weekend in a cracking location with like-minded people.

SteveT

[BMW - Ken]

A little back road touring home today!
Awesome

Sent from my SM-G950W using Tapatalk

[MGD109]

A trip to Durham to look at a car. It's been a long time since I last visited the County.



At last a wall somewhere for a much needed "Nature Break"



No cars but plenty of free roaming sheep.




Handy bench for a spot of lunch, I wasn't parked as poorly as it appears. The camera has foreshortened the image. Not as on top of the junctions as it appears. Oh and I bought my wife a Volvo.

[Daboo]

...At last a wall somewhere for a much needed "Nature Break"...

Chris

[TheMeteor]

Being Father's day weekend, I met my son for our Father's Day Ride. We met up in Hamburg, PA for coffee and breakfast. From there we headed over to Hermey's BMW Triumph in Port Clinton. A little window shopping for both of us and some bikes to dream about. We then headed for a day of riding over some great roads near Shamokin, Mt Carmel and eventually to Port Carbon.

In Port Carbon, we stopped for gas and water and it started to sprinkle. There was no mention of rain in the forecast the night before so a bit of a surprise. Looking at maps, we see a fairly decent cell coming upon us...and we had a brief shower. But rain appeared more prevalent and longer lasting to the north, so we changed our previous plans and decided to head south to Reading and The Pagoda for some sight seeing. After that, we headed to Allentown to meet the wives for dinner...and then home. 354 miles for the day....a nice day of riding.

Hamburg


The Pagoda

[TheMeteor]

Today, I met some friends in Stockton, NJ - a little town on the Delaware River - which served as our departure point to the National Triumph Rally. The rally is in Oley, PA and meant an opportunity to ride through some really pretty parts of Eastern Pennsylvania. After another rainy week, one could not have asked for better riding weather. Sunny and 78 with low humidity...let's ride!

Photo stop on the way



The rally proved to have a number of Triumph specimens from across the original Triumph and New Triumph years.


Plus a non-Triumph rarity:

[Runmyownlife]

I like contrast of the tablets to those beautiful old bikes. There's probably 80+ years between those two technologies! Beautiful examples.

[Daboo]

Yesterday, I went on the "Longest Day Ride - 2019" with the Concours Owners Group. We met at Denny's in Arlington for breakfast and headed out for a trip that would take us over the North Cascades Highway, south on Hwy 97 to Wenatchee, through some delightful back roads in the area, and then back over Stevens Pass. That was the plan.

It didn't happen that way. Breakfast at Denny's happened. We headed over to the North Cascades Highway...and then it all blew up on us.

Here's the group just after passing through Newhalem.




Up at the Observation Point above the lakes. Did we go over and look at the view? Nah...we were more interested in telling tales of what we didn't do, but want everyone to think we did.








Obligatory BMW photo...




Just before "the Rock"



And then Grant ahead of me hits a rock the size of an Easter ham.



Here's a still shot captured from that video.






That was a lot of force to hit that wheel, compress the tire and bend that rim.



A couple of the riders in the party went into Winthrop to the Ace Hardware there. We made some progress getting the rim back to the point where it would hold air using a huge C clamp, 5 lb hammer and some wood. It still wasn't pretty when finished, but at least it held air.


We couldn't have asked for a prettier place to wait...




On the way back. Did a little thing like a bent rim and a tire that might be leaking slow Grant slow down? Nah...












The Motley crew after dinner.







Interesting cloud formation and colors...



The video and still picture was taken by a HaloCam M1. The still snapshots with the side of my helmet were taken by a Sena 10C Pro. And the other couple pictures were taken with a Samsung Note 9.


Chris

[Richard230]

I had a friend who had exactly the same thing happen to the rim of his F800ST last month when he hit one of California's famous potholes. Fortunately he located a wheel repair shop near his home and they fixed his rim for around $100. It now looks like new and you can't even tell the rim was ever damaged. They even repainted the wheel to match the original color.

[TheMeteor]

Looks like he taught that rock a lesson too. Pretty resourceful to bend it back to where it held air too.

[lang2u@yahoo.com]

Rode with a couple of buddies from Connecticut to Vermont this weekend along route 5 north. The views of the lakes and mountains were gorgeous!