This weekend I did a 750km ride on the Terra, small asfalt and gravel roads. I passed the Swedish town of "Huskvarna" where all the Husqvarna motorcycles were made between 1903-1986. The factory was started as early as 1689 making weapons for the Swedish army.
The Strada is almost broke in now at 450 miles. Picked her up two Fridays ago and been running the back roads in Kentucky and south western Ohio. I'm really taken by how smooth this motor is and by the midrange power. September 6th I'm heading from Cincinnati to Norman, OK for a HVAC training course for work. Taking two lanes the majority of the trip. Plan on heading out on US 50 then taking scenic. 7 through Arkansas then SR 9 into Norman. I'll post back afterward. The Strada should be pushing 4k miles by the time I get back on the 29th. ;-)
Hey Guys and Gals! I finally started my Idaho ride report. http://www.cafehusky.com/threads/terra-ism-in-idaho.35357/
If I can ever get some time off work I want to do the TET-S (Trans Eastern Trail Southern loop) again. I did a good part of it on my Versys and was lucky that the condtions were pretty good. It would be a great trip on the Terra. I wont have to do the "big bike" detours and wet clay wont be as scary.
Not terribly exciting, but I went to the grocery store, or better titled "a pictorial of why I bought a TR650..." I've been waiting months to take these pictures, sadly they are not that great, and I could not get the proper lean angles on the bike because of all the traffic around here today that keeps drifting over the double yellow lines on the blind curves. (Camera was snapping pics and was mounted on the handlebars) It's about 20 minutes on the bike, otherwise it is 40 minutes, to get to the closest grocery store. Destination
On the way back home: Obligatory vineyard pic. This is typical on the weekend. People driving super slow and not using the turnouts. For the record, if there is a police / CHP officer that is being slowed because people are not using the turnouts - they will definitely get a ticket. This person seems to enjoy slowing things down. But no matter how slow he went he could not stay in his lane. I realize what he is trying to do, save his tires, but at some point it is a safety issue because at least once someone in a car came around a blind corner and almost hit him - of course the horns were blaring. The person in the pickup then in turn became frustrated because this little white car slowed him down... Seems he was aok if he slowed others, but not if he was slowed. Obligatory driveway pic.
Heading out to AZ tomorrow to haul some stuff to my new digs there. Once that and a few more chores are complete I plan to pack up the Terra and head north on BigDog and Dingweeds route from Mex to Canada. I'll just go as far as the Utah border for the first leg of the entire trip. Going solo, and will try to take time to take a few pics along the way. My fingers are crossed that the monsoons don't creat a muddy mess for me. The clay there is just impassable when wet. We'll see what we will see....
This was a little dirt on the way south to the gravel. I went up and down this 1/8 mile bit 2 or 3 times before heading off. Almost dropped it the last time so I figured it was time to go. More places I'm not allowed to ride...sign says bla, bla, bla!
Another locked gate! No fun to be had here... Hard to see but there was a 3 foot deep pond at the bottom of this road, to much for my lame skillz.
Put the jacket back on in Nashville, ran into a bunch of Harley boys & girls on the way home. Asked them to move over or speed up and they moved.
Yes . to the limit of the mask, but so many bubles around helmet yet. I am going to try using some steel pletines to fix it higher, around 20-25cm, to see what happens. otherwise, I should consider to probe Palmer windshield, which it seems the best I see , so far, at leats to commute and motorway riding.
I intended to ride backroads from Johnson City, TN to Hot Springs NC, but got re-directed by a closed bridge where US 70 crosses the French Broad River. I ended up lost as a goose in the mountains on rugged gravel roads that kept going up and up, and up. I genuinely stared worrying. No GPS, no cell phone, no people, no spare inner tube. I took this picture in case they found my body, they at least know where I'd been. I ended up at a beautiful place called Max Patch. Here's a link to some professional photos of the area. They're stunning. That's the beauty of adventure riding... Going out, taking a risk on something new and unknown, and being surprised and then delighted. All with an excellent, capable machine.
