Hey RE...how much vinyl did you go through wrapping the TR? I ordered 48"x24" and am now wondering if it will be enough. I will only be doing all of the white plastics (headlight, rear sides, and front fender) as well as the fork guards.
You may need a little more... Depends on how good you are with wrapping. Good luck trying to do each piece without cutting it. That was part of my reasoning for a camo theme. Some of the body panels are near impossible to wrap. A hairdryer helps too.
I seem to be noticing a lot more random gravel roads lately. In my travels I saw a forest on some hills with some logging going on, and decided to figure out how to get up there. After traveling through yet another town I had no idea existed, and down a gravel road, I found the entrance to the forestry area. Taken on top of the hill ( the track goes up around 300 meters more to a dead end ). Last pic is just after getting through a nice deluxe stretch of twisties
Our short ride this last weekend was to the top of Peavine Peak Elevation 8,269 ft (2,520 m). We live in the area so it takes less than an hour to make it to the top. There have been fires in the area and one is still burning so it was very smokey compared to normal. You could see the Sierra Nevada mountains to the West and the Desert to the North, South, and East.
ROAD TRIP I'd done a few 300mi day trips on the Terra/Strada, but hadn't really tried the longer haul. I had to show up for work in the California bay area for a week and after hemming and hawing for a week I decided to take the Terra. The plan was 2.5 days down, three days back. Hopefully with some dirt exploring on the way back. Decided to take off on a Friday about noon, but one thing led to another and it was nearly 3 before I rolled out of the garage. Spent the next hour getting about 10 miles down the road and the realized I didn't have by work badge. Decided to loop back and get it. I had booked a hotel in Yreka, CA, and wasn't sure I was going to make it. Didn't clear Portland Metro 'til amost 5 due to a couple of accidents and typical Friday traffic. Then it was straight down I5 all they way to Yreka. I don't mind things south of Roseburg, but the straight freeway is not the ideal riding for a Terra. Anyway, the bike has a sweet spot about 80/5000rpm, and it took a lot of concentration to keep it down to 70 as I put on the miles. Rolled in to Yreka a couple of hours after dark, just short of 350mi. All good. Peeled off my wolfman products and crashed. Next day the plan was to take 96 over to Arcata and then down the coast. Had breakfast Saturday and stopped by the forest service as I happened to go right past. They were closed but hand fire warnings / closures posted. Looked at that a bit, then headed west on 96. There was a hint of smoke in the air but I thought I'd be OK. When I hit Happy Camp I ran into a couple of Cal Fire trucks. They recommended strongly that I not head south on 96. They said I'd get through, but that the smoke was very bad. No worries, I headed north out of Happy Camp and ended up going back into Oregon for a bit and then turning south on 199. Got most of the fun part of 199, so that was good. Rooms were hard to come by as I headed down the coast. I had hoped to stay in Arcata at a place next too Eel River Brewing, but it was $210 night for a Days Inn. Found a dive in Eureka for $60, but instead of enjoying tri trip at Eel River I endured Applebees. Next day it was down the coast, and over the Golden Gate Bridge. First time I went all the way down the coast with clear skies the whole way. Total southbound trip was just under 950 miles. Bike did great. I missed the cruise control from by K1600, but was really impressed with how road worthy the Terra ended up being. My hotel had a parking garage and I could walk to work from there so the Terra got parked for the week while I headed off to 'pay the rent.' Decided to stay Friday night and get out of town early Saturday to avoid traffic. Didn't go that well. I was rollin' by 7, but just shy of Oakland things came to a stop. I'm not a lane splitter, well, I wasn't it until I sat there for 30 minutes going no where. Two HDs went by and I pulled in behind them and split my way to the front. Good thing, it was a couple of miles. Great I thought, all was good. Next I get to the toll booth on the Richmond - San Rafael bridge and it was backed up. Another accident, this one on the top of the bridge. Again, did some splitting and worked my way to the front. Smooth sailing after that. I had planned to take three days heading back but changed that to two due to some other priorities. It was going to be a slab fest. I headed up to Crescent City, Ca the first night, toured some redwoods on the way, had a good dinner and crashed. Early start the next morning, I decided to work my way up 199, again dodging smoke from a different fire, and then up 5 a bit and finally up Territorial Hwy and up 99. I'd seen enough of five. Rolled in to Portland about 3, about 750 miles on the return. Again, bike was flawless. By the end of the trip i was putting my Wolfman setup on in the AM in about five minutes. Great having a smaller bike for the more casual exploring parts of the ride, missed the K1600 on the interstate pounding segments. Without question the Terra/Strada are the most versatile bikes I've ever owned. Ok, on to the photos. Full gallery at http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/31617410_64QX65, here some highlights. And my absolute favorite...
Last year when I crossed the golden gate on my K1600, I needed cash and fumbled a bit. This year I was prepared, had the cash ready to pull from my map pocket on the tank bag. Turns out they've gone 100% electronic, and if you don't have a transponder they just take a photo and ID your plate. Well, the bill came today, and when I went to pay it online I grabbed the picture they took. Thought it was pretty cool, not the typical empty bike view you get in my photos.
Hey! It's worth it to not pay in advance so that you can get a cool photo I'd try it, too, but I am on FasTrak so I wouldn't get a cool photo, only a debit to my account Wish I'd known you were going to be in the Bay Area, I live in Oakland and would have loved to meet you and take you on a ride in our hills. There is some beautiful stuff here...surprising for being in a major urban area...and it's only 5 minutes or so from downtown. Did you get to experience the joy of going over the Bay Bridge while here? That's my daily commute, and it's a split-fest each and every day
Headed north for a few days over Labor Day. My Terra and 610 went on a 450-mile loop through some of the best stuff NorCal has to offer. Modoc, Shasta, Lassen and Siskiyou counties, almost all on dirt. The Wolfman luggage was fantastic, and kept everything dry through the torrential downpour we endured on Sunday night. I'll try to get a ride report going in the next few days or so. This was on part of the CA Back Country Discovery Trail....
I think next time I do the trip I'm going to do two weeks. One weekend down, work a week, one weekend riding in the Bay Area, work a week, one week back. Then I can look you up, stop and see Coffee, ... Didn't do the bay bridge. Did split my way over the Richmond San Rafael on my way out of town.
I have a suspicion i passed you coming off hwy 1 shoreline intersection just prior to 101 and GGB. Only other Terra i've yet to see on the road round here. The bags give it away! Another nice little sideshow between slab out of Williams on the 5 head west onto FH7 also possible coming in from Lake Pilsbury on FH1. Both cojoin in Round Valley Covelo. With plenty o' options back out to 101 or more dirt upto 36. All off the top of my head, so don't quote me on it. But a nice combo of winding backroads and hard pack forest......great scenery along the Eel River.
I have a suspicion i passed you coming off hwy 1 shoreline intersection just prior to 101 and GGB. Only other Terra i've yet to see on the road round here. The bags give it away! Another nice little sideshow between slab out of Williams on the 5 head west onto FH7 also possible coming in from Lake Pilsbury on FH1. Both cojoin in Round Valley Covelo. With plenty o' options back out to 101 or more dirt upto 36. All off the top of my head, so don't quote me on it. But a nice combo of winding backroads and hard pack forest......great scenery along the Eel River.
Went for a ride out to Litchfield National Park today. About a 260km round trip. The road is one big loop, so no backtracking. It's a beautiful part of the Northern Territory. Gets pretty busy these days. E It's a nice ride, with a bit of dirt and quite a twisty road, which is rare around these parts. On the way home I saw a dirt track hill climb, which I thought I'd have a crack at. Would have been about a 3 or 400 metre climb. I started to regret it half way up, it was getting steeper and steeper! Managed to turn the bike around and get back down, but the sphincter was pretty clenched for a while there! I was that relieved to get down in one piece, that I forgot to get a photo of the hill. It was a great day, the rest of the clan drove in, so there was a cold beer waiting for me when I got to Wangi Falls. Nice! Starting to really warm up here now though. Today would have been about 34C and 80% humidity. Good swimming weather! Wangi Falls Buli Rockpools View attachment 31371
Couple more pics. All taken with my phone, so not the best quality. Not sure why it keeps putting the last pic upside down?
Because you live in the land down under. On a more serious note, I've no idea why the software we are using puts pictures in an orientation other than what is intended.
Couple of shots from the Pacific Northwest. Frog Lake area in Mount Hood National Forest. Perfect TR ridin'.
