Totally stoked

Arches NP

The 2-week August road trip is coming together. I was able to reserve online most of the campsites along my route of travel, including all the really big ones: Arches, Bryce Canyon, and Zion National Parks. State park campsites I reserved are at Ridgway (CO) and Dead Horse (UT). I even scored a lakefront campsite at Molas Lake, high in the San Juan Mountains, rated by AAA as the most scenic campground in Colorado. Definitely nosebleed country at over 10,000 feet in elevation.

Some campgrounds on my route are first come first served- Colorado National Monument and Capitol Reef National Park. I've always found nice spots at Capitol Reef.

All of these places I've visited before, but not on a motorcycle. The trip is designed around riding amazing roads with spectacular scenery. I love redrock country and high desert landscapes, and My Great Big Summer Ride- a savage journey to the heart of the American Dream- is all about experiencing that on my Road King.

Rim Rock Drive, Colorado NM

Squaw Pass Road

Very nice Memorial Day ride today- excellent riding conditions. I rode up Bear Creek Canyon to Evergreen, then west on the Squaw Pass Road. The Pass tops out at 9807 feet. The eastern part of the Road is very twisty, with some 2nd gear switchbacks. As you get higher the road opens up more.

Stopped at the Echo Lake lodge for coffee- very crowded, lots of bikers- then down the hill to Idaho Springs, where I had a buffalo burger at the Buffalo Restaurant & Bar. From there I took the Central City Parkway over the hill to (where else) Central City, then down the hill again to Golden, and back to the garage. 104 miles out and back.

Be advised that when we say 'hill' in Colorado, we mean 'mountain'.

Roadside, with Mt Evans massif in the distance

The Mountain King

I took this photo some years ago near the summit of Mt Evans

Denver Roller Dolls Bikini Bike Wash

...at the Hawg Back Saloon in Golden, Colorado. It was just past noon so not a big crowd yet, but the place will be rockin' tonight, I'm sure. Of course I had to wheel my dirty dirty Road King into the pit and let some real live derby queens give it a quick wash. I made sure to remove the leather saddlebag toppers, and install the rain sock on my SE air intake first.

Road King gets the treatment



I'm in love for the rest of the day



Screamin' Eagle- Stage One (with dynamometer video)

What a day.

Today the Road King got a Stage One Screamin' Eagle upgrade at Sun Harley-Davidson in Thornton Colorado. This consists of a "Ventilator" high flow air intake assembly, slash-cut Street Performance mufflers, SE platinum spark plugs, and some sweet red SE spark plug wires. Then a technician put the bike up on the dynamometer, hooked it up to a computer equipped with an H-D SuperTuner, and remapped the ECM for maximum performance.

Stock air intake

the "Ventilator"

Stock pipes

Street Performance mufflers

The job took several hours, and the service guys at Sun did a great job- hats off to Gennaro and his team. They even let me observe the dynamometer run, which was friggin' awesome. When they put your motorcycle in the dock and run it wide open, it is deafening- Rocky Mountain thunder, baby!

After making my way thru afternoon traffic, I finally got out on CO 128 and explored the bike's new capabilities. I was doing 60, and still in 5th gear... the pipes were just purring behind me. I could crack the throttle open and accelerate up hills that used to have me downshifting. The difference in performance is remarkable. Instant throttle response. Big-time acceleration. This bike will eat Vail Pass for lunch. I'm going to have to re-learn how to ride it, given the increased power and performance.

And the new pipes sound beautiful. Not louder... but a deeper, fuller exhaust note. But when I crank it, oh man... they roar.

Here's some video of the bike on the dyno that I shot with a Canon PowerShot A490:



My bike, my ride, my sled



New skids for my lids

Mustang saddlebag lid covers, from Dennis Kirk Enterprises. Installed in 5 minutes. No velcro, no sticky strips, no strings attached. Just stretch them over your lids and hit the street.

They match my seat perfectly

Big Monday Is Coming

Welcome

...newest blog follower George F from Riding the USA . 

( I Am Road King still gaining acceptance....)

Right now I'm trying to get a few people together for an epic ride. Trail Ridge Road is OPEN so I hope to recruit a few of our people from last summer's Sturgis campaign to band together and tackle this ride with me. Safety in numbers, and all that.

Molas Lake campground, high in the San Juan Mountains

I'm also busy planning my summer vacation, which will be a two week road trip winding through southern Colorado and on into Utah. I'm waiting for August to go, because the route traverses several mountain passes over 10,000', and includes at least one high country campsite. This is Colorado after all, where it is not unheard of to get a surprise snowstorm in the middle of summer at very high elevations. I crossed the Great Divide at Eisenhower Tunnel in late June one year, and it was snowing like crazy. It was pretty nerve-wracking coming down that mountain, and I was in a 4WD vehicle.

So the Road King will need some mods- a luggage rack and sissy bar to which I can strap my gear, and some sort of power point to charge cellphone and iPod and camera batteries. But the biggest mod of all comes next week. More about that in a future post.

Y'all be cool.