One of the big reasons I enjoy blogging is posting the pics that I've taken...but I keep forgetting to take my pocket camera which is what I take most pictures with as I can get it out of my pocket and snap a pic in seconds...and with the lanyard I don't have to worry about dropping it.
I need to mend my ways and get back in the habit of carrying the little red camera, instead of relying on the cumbersome smart phone.
Anyway, back to the blog, we picked up a new bike.
A Honda NT1100. The Super Tenere, which has performed flawlessly for 7 years and has 170,000 miles on the clock and still runs great but.....well in my advanced years, I was ready for a lighter, lower bike and the NT seemed to fit the bill.
So the plan.... I would motor across the loneliest highway (50) then pick up the Lassen National Park stamp then ride along the coast north to meet Beverly in Seaside, Oregon.
And the plan worked...pretty good.
My first night I stayed here;
And the lights outside reflected to the inside and this is what my ceiling looked like all.....night.....long.
Actually is was not to bad, I found that watching it was more potent than counting sheep!
Not long after leaving Ely I notice that the bike is smoking...a little. Long story short, I had changed the oil and oil filter before I left home and also the DCT filter. Apparently the filter housing is extremely touchy as to how it is reinstalled. And I wasn't careful enough so I had a tiny bit very hard to see oil leaking down on the headers. Of course I didn't know this yet and wasn't quite sure what the problem was.
I called Bev to see if she could see a bike shop along my route. She came up with a couple but only one, Motorcycle Mania on Main Street in Fernley, Nv was willing to look at the bike. I made the short ride to Fernley and talked to Scott, the owner of Motorcycle Mania and he agreed to make the fix. Price wasn't discussed and I was just happy to have the problem fixed.
Scott waited until the bike cooled down so he could work on it then he moved my bike to the front of the line and had it fixed in short order.
When he rang up the charge, I didn't look at the receipt, I just signed it happy that I could get back on the road with very little delay. Later when I looked at the receipt I was shocked at how little he had charged me, especially since he had made my repair a priority! On top of this more than fair price, and fixing the bike quickly Scott also tried to make me feel better for making such a bonehead mistake! What a guy!!
So if your motoring on highway 50 when you go through Fernley stop in and tell Scott "Hello" for Ken. If you need anything I have total confidence that Scott will treat you as good as he did me!
Bike back in good order I made my way to Lassen NP and got that stamp. Then pointed the bike North in order to meet up with Beverly in Seaside.
Later on we both arrived in Seaside and spent a few days with son Fenton and his family. It is always hard to leave there as they make us feel so welcome!
Laurie told me about these falls and the cool road leading to them.....both were very well worth the ride - but I forgot the name of both the falls and road.
Good grief, it seems like the older I get......the......hmm ... what was I going to say? I can't remember now.
While wandering around Seaside we saw this spiffy HD trike, and couldn't resist taking a picture.
Very nice!
Then we finally departed for home, in a round about way, and visited Mt St Helens visitors center and took the Mt Rainier road up to Paradise and visitor center.
It was decided I would tag along with them to Lewiston, while Beverly would head straight for home.
(again with the little red camera and getting more pictures)
It was fun meeting both of them and riding a day together.
When we got to Lewiston they continued east and I headed south, ending up overnighting in Grangeville.
From Grangeville to home was 570 miles, a full days ride.
The new NT did very well. Its not a love affair yet, but most likely will be soon. Haha....
Thanks for reading!
Life is Grand!!!
So....what do I like and not like about the NT1100?
Like:
DCT - It took very little time to appreciate the DCT
Ease of handling - smaller, lighter bike...very good!
MPG - this trip was somewhere between 2500 and 3000 miles. I averaged 49 mpg.
Don't like;
DCT - while it was easy to get used to this nice feature, the shifting is 'clunky' its a little un-nerving teh first few times I heard it, I thought something had broken. .And it is slow to respond when the throttle is twisted. But when it does finally respond, it has plenty of get up and go! Or you can use your finger to shift down faster.
Horn button - Horn button? Yep! It is in the wrong spot and very easy to hit by mistake. Extremely annoying!
And a few other things, but I'm guessing I'll get used to them as time goes by.
