Category Archives: Motorcycle Adventure

New Bike in Canada Pt2

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Off to Jasper! Up to this point we were on roads that we’ve visited before but were glad to be back because they are some of our favorites. This would be our chance to reach the northern reach of the Ice Fields Parkway for a couple of days in Jasper National Park.

We loaded the bikes while swatting the swarming mosquitoes and were on the road by 9:00 enjoying the morning’s cool temperature. The rain had moved off and the weather app (Carrot) promised good riding conditions. We were following the Trans Canadian Highway east towards Lake Louise. Immediately we started climbing to the 4,000 feet at Roger’s Pass wedged between two 9,000 foot glaciated peaks named Avalanche Mountain and Mount Shifton.

The Trans-Canada Highway stretches across all ten Canadian provinces connecting the Pacific and Atlantic coasts. According to Wikipedia, it’s approximately 4,860 miles long. Hmm, now that would be a good trip. This part of the T-Can as it is sometimes known was a lightly traveled mountain route and fun on the motorcycles.

This map might be a little better because you can zoom in.

It was a planned 300 mile day and the bikes were chewing up the miles on the nice two lane road. As we approached the famous city of Lake Louise we started climbing again to over 5,000 feet in the Canadian Rockies and we reached the border with Alberta. Immediately we started seeing signs requiring us to purchase permits to travel through the park but were glad the fees were being waved for the summer. Even for Americans!

We didn’t stop at Lake Louise but it’s on my list for a future visit. Instead we turned left on Highway 93, the icefields Parkway. This road actually has a website: https://icefieldsparkway.com/ how cool is that? Here is an excerpt from the website:

A journey through Banff National Park and Jasper National Park. Linking Lake Louise with Jasper is one of the most beautiful journeys on the planet – the icefields Parkway, Alberta’s Highway 93.

The icefields Parkway is rated as one of the top drives in the world by Condé Nast Traveller.

It’s open year-round and offers a 232 km stretch of double-lane highway with soaring rocky mountain peaks, icefields, a variety of wildlife, birds, and vast sweeping valleys.  Prepare to be amazed during the best road trip of your life.

Funny, we were so amazed we forgot to take any pictures! We did stop at a waterfall along the way for a short hike and some pics.

Large glacier peaked mountains surrounded us the whole way.

It was a fun ride through the icefields, at the peak the road was just under 7,000 feet in elevation. We stopped for lunch and gas at the Crossing Resort which was roughly halfway to our hotel. Wow, a nice place… why didn’t we stay there? I bookmarked it for next time.

After lunch the clouds were forming and as we got closer to Jasper there were a few drips on our windscreens.I had our destination for two nights, the Miette Mountain Cabins, programmed into my GPS, and when we passed through the city of Jasper in the increasing rain, it said we had 27 miles to go.

I didn’t expect to be so far from town. Deby asked about a restaurant. Did it have one? I couldn’t remember. I usually try to book accommodations that either has a restaurant or there is one nearby. Once we are off the bikes and out of our boots neither of us feel like getting back on looking for food.

well, the cabins were nice enough but food? Nope. Breakfast? Nope. We were on our own. I asked at the front desk and the nearest restaurant was about 10 miles away. Nope, we weren’t going to do that in the rain. Time to take inventory… look here, a couple cans of beer in my pannier, ha, at least we could have pork chops! Ok, we got that covered. Deby went to the hotel office to see what they had and came back with two tubs of noodles. Ok, we had a small kitchen and a hot water pot so we were good to go. True road food.

In the hotel lobby I asked about a breakfast location and I picked up  a tourist brochure with things to do in the area. The breakfast recommendation was the restaurant at the Miette Hot Springs. We were glad the rain let up in the morning and we took off in cool weather to run the 10 miles up to the Hot Springs. It turned out to be an excellent twisting mountain road with spectacular viewpoints. Here is a picture of the hot springs from the Travel Alberta website.

Wow, we walked around and were amazed by the scenery. We weren’t prepared to jump in but added it to our list for next time. The restaurant served an excellent breakfast and we noticed they had lodging in small cabins. Dang, why didn’t we just ride a few more miles to stay here??? We’ll stay there next time for sure.

I have to pause here to talk about the devastating wildfire that happened here only a year prior in July 2024.  The following is from various internet accounts of the fire:

A devastating and historic wildfire, known as the Jasper Wildfire Complex, occurred in Jasper National Park and the town of Jasper, Alberta, in late July 2024. The fires were started by lightning and spread rapidly due to extreme drought conditions and strong winds, creating a “pyrocumulonimbus cloud” and its own weather system.

 

The fire was the largest in Jasper National Park in over a century, burning an estimated 32,722 hectares (over 80,000 acres). It forced the evacuation of approximately 25,000 people, including both residents and visitors, and caused significant damage to the town and surrounding areas.

Damage to Structures: The fire destroyed a significant portion of the town. Preliminary assessments indicated that about a third of all structures in the town of Jasper, 358 out of 1,113, were destroyed. The damage was concentrated on the west side of town.

Evidence of this fire was everywhere as you would expect. It’s amazing to me that about a third of the structures in town were destroyed. We rode through town and there was still the burned out hulk of a large gas station and many empty lots. On the edge of town were rows and rows of FEMA style mobile housing units. There was a lot of new construction everywhere but clearly this is going to be a long term proposition getting the city back to normal.

We stopped at a wayside and tried to get pictures to capture some of the devastation.

A somber reminder of nature’s power. More information about the fire is here on the Parks.Canada website.

We planned a day off here to explore the area. The hotel brochure recommend a boat tour of Maligne Lake. According to the description online, “Maligne Lake Road in Jasper is one of Canada’s most scenic roads. It takes you past amazing sights like Maligne Canyon and Medicine Lake and ends at Maligne Lake, leaving any visitor more than satisfied.”

Ok, sounded like our kind of road and as a matter of fact we were indeed more than satisfied. The road was an in-and-out 30 mile run with the last few miles gravel road. The bikes ate up the curves as we checked out the surrounding mountains. We wanted to stop and do the hike into Maligne Canyon but the trail was closed due to fire damage.

Maligne Lake was another amazing stop. It’s a glacial lake known for turquoise colored water. We took a boat tour to Spirit Island which is supposed to be  one of the most photographed spots in Canada. Wait, how do you pronounce Maligne? We learned the g is silent similar to how the g is silent in through. So it’s pronounced like Ma-leen. The tour guide made it sound more like Mo-leen. Maybe that’s the Canadian way to do it. Ok, moving on….

I will admit, it’s a beautiful lake.

Glaciers on the surrounding mountains.

Here is the tour boat.

This is Spirit Island. Technically it looked more like a peninsula and much smaller than I expected but does make for a good picture.

Altogether it was well worth the side trip to Maligne Lake.

The next “not to miss stop” in the tourist brochure was the Jasper Skytram just outside the town of Jasper. The Jasper Skytram is touted as being “the longest and highest guided aerial tramway in Canada, offering stunning panoramic views of Jasper National Park. Canada’s Highest and Longest Guided Aerial Tramway has Unmatched 360° Views.”

Here is a picture from their website. https://www.skytramjasper.com/

You can see the town of Jasper on the right side of the picture. Here is a picture I took that shows some of the blackened trees.

Still, an amazing place. We talked with the tram operator about the fire. She was working the tram when it started and had to be evacuated from the mountain. It was interesting that her attitude was that this was just part of nature and in a way it was good for the forest. Ok then. I asked about the campground on the far right side of the picture and she pointed out that the campground has 5,000 camp spots which is equal to the population of the city. Wow.

We had a bite to eat at the not very crowded restaurant with a most spectacular view.

I know I say ‘wow’ a lot, but that picture is a big ‘wow.’

As you can see from the pictures the weather was threatening rain all day long but so far we were dry. On the way back to the cabin I had to pull over to take this amazing picture.

So, this would be our most northern stop of our trip and as we left the next day we felt like we were on our way home. We did have a few unexpected surprises on the route home. We started the ride home by re-riding the Ice Fields Parkway north to south. There is a favorite saying Deby and I often use that I can’t remember where it came from. “You don’t truly know a road until you’ve ridden it in both directions.” We’ve found it to be really true.

Somehow while messing around online at the cabin I found a website called GuideAlong. GuideAlong is an app that is a location based audio tour. The idea is that you load the app and the tour you want to take and as you are driving, or riding in our case the tour guide on the app tells you what you are seeing along the road based on your GPS location. There was a guide for the Ice Fields Parkway I loaded it onto my phone and synced it up with my helmet. I tried to get it to work in Deby’s helmet without success so we headed south with a tour guide talking in my ears.

The tour guide was highly entertaining in my helmet. It might be a computerized voice but it sounded like the cartoon bear at the Brown Bear car wash chain. If you’re not familiar it’s hard to explain, but wait, I can’t believe I found it online. Ha, here it is.

So we’re riding down the Ice Field Parkway and I have this bear voice in my head telling me an extended history of the area and fun facts. Deby can’t hear the bear but she can hear me so I’m busy listening and relaying the summary of the tour to Deby in her helmet. May-beee that is distracted riding? We didn’t crash so I’m calling it good.

Without the bear we wouldn’t have known to stop at the Athabasca Falls. It’s a short drive off the parkway and well worth the stop.

The falls drop down into a narrow canyon that you can explore.

I kind passerby took our picture in on of the walkways.

After that there is a short hike to Lake Athabasca with more amazing views of the turquoise colored lake.

This was one of the most crowded stops in the park. It soon became readily apparent that Deby and I as white, english speaking anglo saxons were in a very small minority. Part of that is that Alberta is a very diverse provence with a large South and Southeast Asian population. We heard many languages spoken and I tried my best to sort them out. Perhaps international tourists are opting to visit Canada’s National Parks this year. Without exception everyone was friendly and just out enjoying what nature has to offer. It really is a small world and it’s fun to be part of it.

Too soon we were back on the Parkway riding south with the bear back in my head. It was highly entertaining all the way to Banff where the bear bid farewell.

We decided to make a loop into Calgary the capital city of Alberta for a quick overnight before setting course for the dirt section of highway 40 south to highway 3.

The weather was getting better and it was perfect when we hit the dirt section. I found a helmet cam picture of the easy gravel roadbed.

Once on highway 3 we finally turned west, here is a picture of Deby and the mighty Honda near Crowsnest Pass.

We stopped for lunch in the small town of Crowsnest Pass and another biker from Colorado parked next to us. He was riding a very loaded down Yamaha Tenere. He joined us for lunch and we found out he was on his way to the Calgary airport where he was shipping his bike to Paris France for an extended European motorcycle tour. It was super interesting hearing about his plans. Unfortunately he wasn’t posting about his trip on any social media platforms or it would have been fun to follow his travels. We wish him the best.

By this point in our trip we were making hotel reservations on the fly each day depending on the weather and how far we thought we would ride for the day. We had an idea of a rough route home taking us east through Canada and then dropping into the US about midway through the state of Washington. So, somewhat randomly I booked us for a night at the St. Eugene Golf, Resort, Casino near Cranbrook, BC. They had availability, it was more or less on our way, had a restaurant, and it wasn’t too expensive. I usually avoid anything with a casino but the pictures looked like a historic building so we booked it.

I didn’t know what an experience it would be….

From their website:

The St. Eugene Mission in British Columbia was an Indian Residential School that operated from 1912 to 1970, forcing Indigenous children from their families to be assimilated into Western culture. The site, near Cranbrook, was run by the Catholic Church and was the first of its kind in the Canadian West. After its closure, the building was repurposed into a successful tourism venture by the Ktunaxa Nation, transforming a symbol of pain into a space for cultural revival, education, and economic development.

The schools were part of a policy to assimilate Indigenous people into the non-Native population. This included attempts to extinguish Native language, spirituality and culture. The Truth & Reconciliation Commission has since called the government policy and actions at this time “cultural genocide.”

It’s buried in the hotel website, but a good history is here: https://www.steugene.ca/discover/history-heritage/residential-school-history/

Our room was actually in the restored old school building that was rumored to be haunted.

I took pictures some photos on the walls.

A short walk from the hotel is the location of 182 graves just recently discovered in 2021. It’s unclear who exactly is buried there but community work had begun to identify weather the graves are of some ot the children forced to attend the school. You can read more about that HERE in this CBC report. 

We walked over and took this picture but there were signs asking people to respect the property and stay outside the fence.

I went to visit the interpretive center on the ground floor and learned much more about this history of the building and the schools that were used to round up indigenous children.

The hotel and casino is owned and operated by the 4 Ktunaxa Nation bands (including the ‘Aquam, ‘Akisqnuk, Yaq̓it ʔa·knuqⱡi’it (Tobacco Plains), Yaqan Nukiy (Lower Kootenay) Bands and Shuswap Indian Band. we were super impressed by the way they presented the history of the place with an emphasis on healing and moving forward.

I think this plaque on the wall about sums it up.

I have to admit the whole property was beautifully landscaped with three excellent restaurants and the once abandoned school house was nicely restored. In the interpretive center I learned it only recently opened just as COVID hit and then had to close down.  They said they are just now getting going again. I would highly recommend this place as a great place to stay.

Are we home yet?

Playing it by ear we decided to return to the city of Kaslo on the shores of Kootenay Lake. We’ve been there a few times before but never really had time to check it out so we booked two nights in, what else, a small cabin within walking distance of town.

It was a cozy A frame at the Sunny Bluffs Chalets a 5 unit place run by a really nice couple who migrated from Europe 10 years ago. We took a day off from our vacation to hike around town, visit some restaurants and we spent a long afternoon at the most idyllic city park. 

Now within a two day ride from home we started getting anxious for our own beds so we headed south and crossed into the U.S. and the impossibly small border crossing along the Columbia River near Boundary, WA. I think we arrived at lunch time because nobody was around and the gate was down. We waited for about 15 minutes, not sure what to do before someone came out and waved us over to his booth. Again, it was an easy border crossing with cursory questions about where we had been and if we had any drugs.

We rode south to Kettle Falls where the thermometer passed the 90 degree mark. Whew. We were glad to catch highway 20 west to climb over Sherman Pass enjoying the cooler air at 5,000 feet. We knew the cool wouldn’t last as we headed downhill where we had to pass through the always hot city of Omak. We hit the highest temperature of the trip, 101 degrees, arrg. Once again I was glad to get out of there and cool off riding up four thousand foot Loup Loup pass just outside of our destination of Winthrop, WA.

We’ve been to Winthrop many, many many times and feel like we know all the hotels and campgrounds in the area. I was surprised that there was availability at one of our favorite places, the Methow River Lodge and Cabins. Yup, that’s right, another cabin! Maybe I should have called this the Canada cabin tour? Here was our cabin for the night.

These are really nice cabins and I recommend them highly. It was a short walk into the main part of the western themed town where we had our last dinner on the road. I took a picture of this sign above the cabin door.

Do people really have to be reminded not to peek in windows? Who knows, maybe…

Almost home

One of my favorite rides home from Winthrop is on the North Cascades Scenic Highway. This highway is rightly categorized as the best motorcycle road in Washington state. And, and what to you know, there is a download on GuideAlong for this road. Ok, I was determined to get it to work with Deby’s helmet speakers and I finally did. We had a most entertaining ride home with “the bear” talking to us the whole way, filling our heads with fun facts and pointing out the sights and places to hike along the way.

All in all we rode about 3,000 miles. Both bikes did great. Deby is super happy about her new Honda NX500 and I think it will be a keeper. As of this writing her BMW F750GS has been in the shop for 5 weeks and counting. Will it ever be the same? What should we do with it?

Here is a zoomable map of our whole trip.

It’s good to be home but only for a short time. In September we’re flying to Germany for a motorcycle tour with a couple of friends and then off to Italy for a couple of weeks of riding. I’m not bringing my laptop but hopefully I can post a full account when we get back.

You can always watch our progress by clicking on the “Live Map” tab at the top of our home page.

Thanks for reading and all the comments, it’s fantastic to hear from old travel friends from Bolivia (Marco, keep riding that Honda, we miss you bro.)  to England ( Mark and Claire, great to hear from you. Same to Paul and Francoise). Of course, thanks to the tourmaster himself GPS Kevin for saying hello, let’s ride soon. Thanks to Sal, our longest time follower and good friend from Milwaukee and to the notorious Jesse James in AZ (you still there?). Hello to Willie, I’m waiting to hear about your trip with the Garys.  Thanks to the incomparable Seattle motorcycle historian and legend Tom Samuelsen for saying hi. So long as I’m going on here I have to mention my old band mates Bill and Jeff, frequent travel buddies Kim and Kris, neighbors Barb and Llamara and fellow adventurer Scott P.

More to come.

Donn and Deby

New Bike in Canada – Pt1

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Finally we were off and riding, the goal was an easy 237 miles to Whistler, BC. According to Google maps, an easy four and a half hours, it took almost double that.

We left at 10:00 AM and thought Saturday traffic might be light so we mistakenly connected with the notorious Interstate 5 in Everett, WA. It was four lanes of stop and go for miles. We struggled north for nearly two hours in the heat and traffic. Not a fun thing on a motorcycle. It was almost 2:00 PM when we arrived at the border. Fortunately, we were admitted into Canada with only a few cursory questions. The next challenge was getting through Vancouver, the biggest city in British Columbia. The regional population is over 3 million people and again, traffic was a slog. If only we could get through the city and on the well known and scenic Sea to Sky Highway everything would be good, right?

Not. Traffic was even worse as we sat in stop and go madness on this scenic route. What was going on? At one particular long stop in traffic a bunch of Harleys breezed past on the shoulder. Hey, is that legal? Does Canada have the same rule as Mexico that shoulder riding is ok? I didn’t even have to ask Deby before she was pulling onto the shoulder saying, “I’m going.”

When in Rome?? I don’t know but I didn’t really care. We spent the next hour or so carefully passing cars on the right. Nobody seemed too pissed off and we just fell in with the rough looking Harley guys. Hey, who was going to mess with us. Right?

So, long story long… we arrived at the hotel at 5:30 PM thoroughly exhausted.  At least we booked a nice place. The Blackcomb Lodge right in the middle of the Whistler Village. Not inexpensive and no refunds so I’m glad we made it. I took exactly one picture of Deby having a frosty beverage on the main square. We spent the evening walking around the high end ski village and people watching. It was plenty crowded and judging by the many languages spoken it was people from all over the world.

Here is a short rendering of the route. Nice to get into the mountains.

Day two was 320 miles to Revelstoke where we rented a cabin for four nights hoping to use the cabin as a basecamp for day rides in the area. On the road by 9:30 AM we soon were away from the Whistler crowd and onto highway 99 in the coast mountains where we steadily climbed to over 4,000 feet. The weather was perfect for riding with blue skies and cool temperatures. We stopped in Pemberton for an excellent breakfast at the Town Square Restaurant in the center of the quaint little town. I took a picture of the bikes in front of the covered town square.

So far nobody harassed us about being from the US. We weren’t exactly sure what to expect because at the moment the Canadians are not very happy with the idea of tariffs and don’t dare mention the 51st state thing.

I took this picture along the road.

Zoom in a little and we have stickers showing our support for their country.

I’d say that sticker looks good with the new Honda color scheme and sends a good message.

We had a easy and fun ride to Revelstoke and the 300 miles were breezing by. The little Honda didn’t have any problem keeping up with the big GSA. On some remote sections we were going over 120 and she was doing just fine. Oh, I mean 120 kph, in Canada speak. About 70 mph in the US. When it came time to pass the occasional logging truck in the mountains we both whipped around like it was nothing. I kept asking her in our helmet communicators how the bike was doing and she had her usual response, “can we go a little faster?”

We arrived at the Glacier House Resort where we had the cabin reserved.

Here was our route.

Here is a picture from their website. It soon became apparent this was a lodge for use in winter by snowmobilers. I will say the picture looks good covered in snow but I’m glad we didn’t have any.

Here was our abode for four nights complete with hot tub.

As nice as the lodge looked on the internet and in pictures it wasn’t that great a stay. We were there in the slow season and the restaurant was running with a limited menu. The server actually apologized about the food and said he hoped we didn’t mind that it might take a while to get served. Sorry to say he was right and the food wasn’t that good. We only ate there one night. The other problem was the mosquitos! You couldn’t be outside at all without being soaked in bug spray. The front desk woman again apologized saying they didn’t have the budget to spray the swamp this year and it’s much better only a few miles away. Hmmm, Deby said, like at the next hotel? Deby asked if they had bug spray for sale. Nope. Seemed like a golden opportunity to make some money. The woman did rummage around and found a almost empty can of spray that someone left in a room. That would do until we got to the store.

It was about 10km into town where we stocked up on supplies including bug spray and a citronella candle. The demonstration of Canadian pride was everywhere.

The shelves proudly marked which products were Canadian.

There is a pretty serious boycott of all things American.

So we spent four days riding around and exploring the area. One day we rode about 100 miles due north on a fantastic road to the Mica Dam.  We stopped to take a picture of the Goldstream River where it crosses highway 23, awesome views were all around.

And finally a picture of the dam.

It’s a beautiful area and there is actually a visitor center at the dam that was closed. Darn, but we had a really good ride. We were concerned about the fuel range on Deby’s new bike since we didn’t really have it calibrated. One hundred miles up meant another hundred miles back to town and I was worried we would be pushing the little Honda’s tank. We stopped at a camp of buildings that Deby thought was for the dam workers in this remote part of Canada. There was an above ground fuel tank with provisions to pay with a credit card. Nobody was around anywhere, but the pump took my card and we put a few gallons in Deby’s tank. I was doing some mental math, 100 miles, two gallons about 50mpg?

The next day we did a 250 mile ride in one of my favorite spots, south from Revelstoke where we caught a free ferry across Arrow lake where shortly after we rode a nicely graded gravel road along Trout Lake. It was another chance to see how the Honda did in off-road conditions, the bike and Deby aced the test.  We continued to Kaslo, one of our favorite towns and then circled back towards the ferry and return to Revelstoke.

Here is the route.

Along the way the heat was getting to both of us and we decided to stop in Nakusp at The Hut, a famous ice cream stop, yum.

We got to the ferry to cross back and saw a really, really long backup.

Now, in Washington state motorcycles go to the front of the ferry lines. That used to be the rule in Canada but we were told that they changed that a few years ago. Now bikers need to sit in line like normal people. Geesh. The boat runs once an hour, we had to wait for the third ferry, that means almost three hours. We walked to the water to take in the view, a storm was rolling in. Here is Deby looking at the rain coming down across the inlet.

Should we be worried?

We spent time talking with other bikers in line and with a group of women who were in some type of singing group together coming back from a gig. They decided to strip down to their swim attire and walk to the ferry dock for a “cold plunge”, it’s a thing.

I had a deck of cards in my trunk and we sat for awhile playing crazy 8s before the rain started to fall. Time to suit up and sit on our bikes with our helmets on to stay dry. All in a day’s ride….

Finally on the ferry the rain stopped and we were moving. I took this picture of a rainbow landing on my pot of gold.

The last day in Revelstoke it was wet all day. We rode around town a little, found a restaurant, toured the Revelstoke dam and rode on a crazy switchbacking 10 mile road outside of town called Meadows in the Sky Parkway up to a scenic viewpoint 5,000 feet above the city. It was all clouded in and raining so we didn’t see much but it’s something we added on our list for next time.

We talked to plenty of friendly Canadians on this first half of the trip and found out a few things. Firstly, everything was so crowded near Whistler because it was BC day on Monday and it was a three day holiday for everyone. Imagine a popular tourist location in the US on Memorial day weekend, you get the idea. Second, we found all of the Provincial and National Parks in Canada were free for the summer. Why?? Because they launched a program to get Canadians to stay home and be tourists in their own country instead of travelling to the United States. In addition, they counted on attracting foreign travellers that are concerned about travelling to the US because of immigration hassles. As we would find out when we went to Jasper National Park, it was working splendidly for the Canadians, every place was packed with tourists. Third, without exception everyone we talked to, especially motorcycle riders, said they usually visit the US in summer but have chose not to until the current political situation resolves. These people were super friendly to us and  told us we were welcome but they are resolute in boycotting the US. Finally, we learned that riding on the shoulder to pass traffic on the right is expressly forbidden! Yikes, glad we didn’t get caught and deported for breaking the law.

Next, off to Jasper National Park and the Icefields Parkway.

Thanks for following,

Donn and Deby

A New Bike in Canada-Getting Ready

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I felt like I was on one of those television reality shows where the homeowners return in a week, and the remodel has fallen behind schedule. Here is my version.

We’ve been wanting to return to Canada to further explore some of our favorite places, one of them being Jasper National Park in Alberta. We almost made it there last time, but for logistical reasons, we skipped the northern section of the Icefields Parkway. Now was our chance. Knowing that it is one of the most popular national parks in Canada, I decided to plan ahead (imagine that) and make reservations along the way. I booked nearly a week’s worth of accommodations and moved on to other trip planning.

Both BMW motorcycles were due for their regular maintenance service. Deby’s F750GS, with over 75,000 miles on the odometer, was due for a major service that included checking the valves. For some reason, I decided to take our bikes to a different BMW motorcycle dealer that is a little closer to our house, just north of downtown Seattle. I heard they had a mechanic who was well-respected in the area. With 15 days before our departure date, we dropped off Deby’s bike. It was supposed to be a one-day event.

They couldn’t finish it on the first day but promised it would be ready the next day. The next day, I got a phone call. Indeed, the valves needed adjustment, but they didn’t have the required shims in stock. They would have to be ordered, which would take a few more days. Weird, that is something most shops would have in stock. A couple of days later, I got another call. There was damage to the cam chain slider, and it needed to be replaced. It would take a few more days to order the parts. Yikes, now I was getting worried, but they promised it would be ready for our trip.

Nope, exactly one week before departure, I got bad news. They got the parts and assembled the motor but put the cam chain on incorrectly. When they tried to start it, the valves crashed into the pistons, damaging the valves. I am a pretty knowledgeable motorcycle mechanic, and I know this is bad, really bad.

They accepted responsibility, and we worked out an arrangement to get the motor fixed, but parts would need to come from Germany. It could be weeks…

It was a Saturday, one week before departure day, and I found myself online at the Honda dealer near my house. They had a bike that we’ve been seriously considering for Deby’s next bike. The website said they had one in stock, so I drove down to see it in person. Yes, it was in stock… still in the crate.

So what is it??? The box says Honda CB500X, but that was not what was actually in the box. Over the years, I’ve bought quite a few motorcycles from this dealer and know the main people who work there. I tried to negotiate on the price (nope) and get it ready in about two days. Like most motorcycle shops, they are closed on Mondays but promised it would be ready on Tuesday. Tuesday came along, and nope, they were too busy; come back tomorrow. Ok, Wednesday then. That would give us two days to ride a few hundred miles, do the first break-in oil change, and then get a new bike ready for a 3,000-mile trip. That was cutting it close.

On Wednesday afternoon, we got the call; the bike was ready… whoo hoo! Here it is, a 2025 Honda NX500.

For my motorcycle-savvy readers, some refer to this as a Half-rica Twin since it’s roughly half the size of the Honda Africa Twin I owned for many years.

That night, I immediately started preparing the bike for Deby. It was a bit tall, so I lowered the forks and removed all the preload from the rear suspension. Then, I took off the seat cover and used my trusty turkey carving knife to trim foam from the seat. With Deby’s assistance, we removed nearly two inches of foam before reattaching the seat cover. Deby approved with a thumbs up, and I proceeded to install wiring for a phone connector and hand guards for wind and crash protection if needed. Like most new bikes, the windscreen wasn’t suited Deby’s sitting position, so I transferred the wind deflector from my BMW to her bike. It worked perfectly. Now, I needed to figure out the luggage situation. Hmmm.

If you recall from my last post, I had a set of Mosko bags initially purchased for my dirt bike and later used on my Norton. I wonder if those would fit?

Yep, just right. After a couple of late nights and overnight orders from Amazon we were ready to go for a day ride and get some miles in before a quick oil change. Here is the bike in full ADV mode.

We took off early on Thursday, two days before departure and rode one of our favorite day routes on the Mountain Loop Highway. It’s a great mountain road with about a 30 mile gravel section where we could test the off road handling.

The day before we left with close to 300 miles on the factory oil I did the oil change and we were ready for our Saturday departure for Whistler BC. Whew.

Canada, here we come eh!

Thanks for following and all the comments.

Donn and Deby

 

Modern Bikes Home

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One day before the longest day of the year, Deby and I packed up our camp and prepared for the journey home. We lightened our loads by sending camping gear home with friends from the rally, keeping only the essentials for the next week. The Norton had been a reliable companion for the past 10 days, but it was now looking worn, with its headlight held on by duct tape and a sticky coating of sap from parking under an unknown but sappy tree.

We didn’t have an exact plan or timetable for the ride home, but our first stop needed to be a friend’s house near Reno, Nevada, where my modern BMW motorcycle was waiting. We spent a very enjoyable night with the Griffith family but were eager to head north, just the two of us.

It took a while to get used to the much larger BMW and reacquaint myself with its smooth power and acceleration, as well as modern amenities like cruise control, an adjustable windscreen, a comfortable seat, a better riding position, and a quieter ride. After stopping to fill up the huge 30-liter tank (almost 8 gallons), we were flying back towards Quincy.

During one of the rally rides, we rode to Lake Almanor for a lunch stop. Some internet research showed we could rent a small cabin near the lake and explore the area a little more. I booked two nights. We tried to ride through Lassen national park on the way but the road was late opening for the season due to budget cuts with the park service. We found a nice back road that circumvented the park but we missed riding on one of my favorite roads in California.

Below is a picture of me and two friends on Nortons from the parking lot of the visitor center at Lassen National Park from July 2016. The elevation of the parking lot is 6736 feet and the road through the park reaches an elevation of 8512 feet.

We had a very relaxing two days in the cabin and didn’t do much except read books and go for a few hikes. We both like hanging out with groups of people but then it’s nice to have a break.

Next, we went to explore a part of california we’ve ridden through many times but never visited. The area along Interstate 5 north of Redding California. We managed to book two nights at the Jubilee Railroad Wilderness Lodge where we stayed in a refurbished caboose.

 

On the way we were looking for back roads and also checking one of my favorite websites, Atlas Obscura for interesting things to see along the way. Atlas Obscura recommend the Packway Sculpture Park, near the tiny town of Cassel, CA.,  “A whimsical display of massive metal sculptures made from recycled materials.” Well, who could resist that?

Those are just a few of the giant metal sculptures in the big grassy field. The following description is from Atlas Obscura. Here is the link: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/packway-sculpture-park

Brothers Richard and Will Hathaway sell rock and aggregate outside Burney, California. Over the years, they’ve accumulated a wide variety of scrap metal from old machinery.In 1998, the brothers decided that, rather than just recycling the materials, they would make them into whimsical sculptures instead. Their very first creation, a “scrap dinosaur,” sat at the turnoff to their business. People loved it! It proved so popular that they have continued the tradition ever since, adding one new sculpture every year.

Just the kind of places we love visiting and it wasn’t really much of a detour. Back on the road we headed north on CA 89 and kept seeing signs for Burney Falls. What was that? I suppose there is only one way to find out so we followed the signs to the McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park. Like many parks these days we were greeted by a booth collecting a fee for the visit. We discussed turning around but I thought $10 to support the local parks wasn’t too bad and I wanted to see the falls. I’m glad we did.

We were told there was about a mile long interpretive loop trail to see the falls. We swapped riding boots for walking shoes and took off on the well worn trail to see the falls. Right away we could hear the 129 foot waterfall before we could see it a few tenths of a mile later. Wow, not only was water rushing from the top of the falls but hundreds of underground springs just spouted from the rock layers.

We followed the loop trail that went around and crossed over the top of the falls before getting back to the parking lot. In the lot parked next to us was two loaded down adventure motorcycles. It was two guys from Argentina who were on their way to Seattle to watch a soccer match. Small world, we were just in Argentina about a year prior. We exchanged stories and I even practiced my Spanish for a bit. Fun stuff.

Finally at the caboose we settled in and starting planning the next few days.

Like I said, we had ridden past this part of California on I-5 many times and had always seen the signs for the Lake Shasta Caverns. A check of the map told us that it wasn’t too far from Dunsmuir. I went online and booked a tour for the next day.

With our reserved time slot I programmed my GPS to take us to the visitor center and start point for the tour. It was a crazy super steep winding road down to the lake from the I-5 exit. Warning signs were everywhere that RVs were not recommended. I could see why. Fun on a motorcycle, not fun with a big vehicle.

We found out that the tour starts with a half hour boat ride across Lake Shasta and then continues with an harrowing  bus ride up the side of a mountain  to the cave entrance. Here is a picture from the cave entrance, you can see the marina in the background. 

The cave was awesome but my pictures weren’t so I won’t show many here. I highly recommend the visit.

The two days in Dunsmuir went fast and we had a lot of fun exploring the area, finding some hiking and an excellent restaurant called Zaks, if anyone wants to visit.

Did I say we were not in a hurry to get home? The weather was perfect and we were having fun riding so we looked for more areas to explore. We’ve been to a place called Happy Camp a couple of times before and remembered that there were some excellent motorcycle roads in the area. I went online a found a “hotel” in town with a vacancy, the Bigfoot RV Park and Cabins.

Happy Camp is a super interesting place in itself it’s a small, remote town not far from the Oregon border and nestled in the Klamath National Forest along the Klamath River with a history of gold mining. While riding I received a text from the Bigfoot Cabins, we were being upgraded to a house, would that be ok? Hmm, I suppose, why not? Upon arriving we were directed to “The Yella House. Guest House 4 Fancy Travelers.” Yes, that is us for sure!

It’s hard to tell from the following picture but the house was huge and seemed like it might be slightly haunted. There was a giant second floor with at least three bedrooms. The first floor had a full living room, kitchen, dining and laundry rooms with two bedrooms. We nestled into one small bedroom which was good enough for us.

We went for a walk around town and took a few pictures.

So we had the Yella house, Shadey RV sites and a Garage Sail. All in one day, ha.

But people did seem happy there. We hiked through a park and over a bridge with this.

One of the main reasons for choosing Happy Camp was an excellent gravel road that heads north out of town into Oregon towards Cave Junction, Oregon where there is, guess what.. another cave! We started our day with a morning walk and looked for a restaurant but nothing was open so we loaded up and headed north. The weather and the road was excellent. The road turned to dirt and we immediately starting climbing from the Happy Camp elevation of 1,000 feet to nearly 5,000 feet. The views were stunning. This area had burned a few years ago and the evidence surrounded us.

We decided to ride as far as Oakridge, OR where we found one of the last rooms in town at the Arbor Inn Motel and Storage Units.

Were we in a room or a storage unit? Below the lit sign it says “Friendly WiF” I presume that means friendly Wifi? What does that even mean? Or could it mean a friendly wife? Um, sure. Well, I’m glad I have a friendly wife and it actually wasn’t a bad place to stay.

The next day we rode another of my favorite Oregon roads National Forest Road 19 towards the Cougar Reservoir. We had the road to ourselves and enjoyed every mile. At the end the road follows along the west side of the reservoir where we passed the famous Terwilliger Hot Springs. We’ve never stopped but might have to some day. At the north end of the reservoir there is a dam with a road over it. In the past the gate has been closed but this time it was open so we rode over the dam to take a look. I checked my GPS and it showed a dirt road that follows back south along the east side of the lake. We decided what the heck and looped the lake on a nice and only slightly challenging dirt road.

Back at the north end of the lake we connected with OR 126 and planned to continue north to our destination for the night at Government Camp, OR. The route would take us on another favorite Oregon road, Breitenbush road aka Forest Service Road 46. But, before the turnoff to Breitenbush we saw a sign for the Mckenzie Highway. Ohhhh, we forgot that was here, yet another favorite road. But this one is way up on the list. The Mckenzie Highway is a tight winding road that climbs up though a huge lava field. You can read about it here: https://www.tripcheck.com/Pages/Scenic-Byways-McKenzie-Pass-Santiam-Pass

How could Deby pass up an opportunity to ride on an excellent mountain road though miles and miles of volcanic rocks!

We hiked to a small lookout tower made of, what else, volcanic rock and just hung out for a while.

With the best part of the road behind us we had the option of continuing into Sisters, Oregon and circling back on boring highway 20 or just turn around and re-ride the tight turns through the lava field. Oh, yea, that’s what we did.

We stopped for gas in the very small town of Detroit which had been almost totally  destroyed in a forest fire a few years ago before turning north on Breitenbush road for the last leg of the day. Somehow we missed the Road Closed Ahead sign. Maybe we saw it but didn’t think it applied to motorcycles? Maybe we assumed we could get around any closure? Nope, not this time. The road was seriously closed and huge machinery was running around without space for two motorcycles.

The Makenzie detour had put us behind schedule and now we had to retrace about 10 miles of the Breitenbush road, bummer. We had a reservation in Government Camp at one of the most expensive hotels of the trip. We thought we would enjoy our last night. Instead we backtracked and had to almost ride to Salem, OR before catching the very busy highway to the hotel at the base of Mt. Hood.

We arrived as it was getting dark which was getting close to 10:00 PM this time of year. We had a good meal and immediately crashed after the long day. The GPS showed 331 miles for the day. That’s a lot of miles when it’s mostly slow mountain roads.

The next day it was mostly straight home for us. We crossed into Washington in Hood River and retraced our route south along the Klickitat river into Goldendale, WA. We covered nearly 300 miles and were home in the early afternoon.

That wraps up our journey to the INOA rally and back. Sadly, this may be the last trip for Deby on her BMW. Deby’s bike now has over 75,000 miles on it and is only 5 years old. That’s more miles than my 10 year old car. We took it into the BMW shop for regular service and they found a problem with the cam chain. While repairing that they put something together wrong and all her valves collided with the pistons. That’s bad.

In the mean time, we have paid for reservations in Canada for an August trip. The bike will not be ready so we have to go with plan B.

Here is a sneak preview….

The next story is worth telling but it will have to wait until we get back in two weeks.

Thanks for following,

Donn and Deby

 

 

 

 

 

1K Miles on a 50 year old Norton – Part 2

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The destination for day two was Lakeview, Oregon. We chose a route that would get us there in just over 300 miles. We had a very uninspired breakfast at the hotel restaurant that included some type of breakfast muffin for me and a breakfast burrito for Tony. Tony said it didn’t agree with him, and it was probably a good thing he was driving alone. So, all gassed up, we headed south.


South of Maupin, we connected with highway 97 but again, only for a short while. We decided to turn southeast at Madras and head towards Prineville, where we would catch another of my favorite roads, the Crooked River Highway, which follows, of all things, the Crooked River. It is a great twisty section of road that terminates at Bowman Dam at the western end of the Prineville Reservoir State Park. At that point, there is the option of the more direct route south on a gravel road or a paved road a little to the west. We probably could have ridden the gravel section, but I wasn’t sure how much Norton abuse I wanted to chance, and Tony certainly didn’t want to tow a trailer on that route.

Once I hit Oregon Highway 26, it was high-speed riding the rest of the way—east to Highway 395 and then south toward Lakeview. I felt like I was really pushing the Norton, holding 70-plus miles per hour for stretches of nearly a hundred miles at a time, all while battling a steady headwind across the high plains of Oregon’s backcountry.

Originally equipped with a small 2.5-gallon tank, the vintage Norton wasn’t exactly built for long-distance cruising. Twice I had to flip over to reserve after less than 100 miles. Both times, rather than risk running completely dry, I chose to pull over and get gas from Tony and the chase truck.

Just outside of Lakeview, we finally reached the first gas stop in a long while and pulled in to top off before calling it a night. I glanced under the bike—and there it was: a six-inch puddle of oil beneath the primary chaincase.

Wait—was that from me?

I called over John and Tony to take a look. Yep, oil was dripping from the vent holes in my primary case. There is only one way for oil to get into my dry belt-drive primary: the main seal. Arrg.

I had been pushing the 50-year-old Norton hard for the last two days, and maybe this was what I deserved. I pulled off the saddlebags to remove the seat and checked the oil. I saw I was down about half a quart, which verified the pool of oil under the bike was indeed mine, and I didn’t just happen to park over someone else’s leak. Concerned and a little dejected about my previously great-running machine, I put on my helmet and hit the magic starter button—nothing. The starter just spun without catching. Really? Now the starter isn’t working? Great. Fortunately, I am highly experienced in using the kick starter since that was the primary way to start the bike for 40 years before installing the electric start aftermarket kit. So, in the heat with all my riding gear and helmet on, I commenced with the manual starting procedure. Center stand down, transmission in neutral, gas on, key on, locate the pistons in the right position, look around to see if anyone is watching, jump up and smash down on the kick starter with all my body weight and a slightly bent knee in case of a kickback. Because everyone was indeed watching, I had to repeat the procedure… but only twice before the mighty Commando roared to life. Whew.

Lodging options were limited in Lakeview, Oregon, and somehow months before, I picked the Neon Cowboy as the place to stay based on internet pictures and reviews. It was overpriced, but the rooms were recently remodeled, and there was a steakhouse and bar on site. Just what we needed after a long day’s ride. We scoped out the pool fed by the nearby hot springs, but it didn’t look appealing enough to jump in. Besides, I wasn’t in the best mood because of my bike problems and decided to go for the steak dinner instead. My GPS stats for the day said 307 miles in 8.5 hours. The moving speed increased to 62.1 mph, and the max speed dropped from yesterday’s 135 to 133 mph! Ha, I didn’t think that Norton could even go that fast.

The oil leak had slowed to a trickle at the Neon Cowboy Roadhouse

Sunday morning, we met at the steakhouse for a hearty breakfast and reviewed the plan for the day. It was 229 miles to Quincy, CA, the rally destination. We decided to ride 40 miles and then pull over to check my oil, and hopefully, we could gauge what the flow rate was and figure out how often we would need to stop. I took up Tony’s offer to put my saddlebags in his truck so I could easily remove the seat to check the oil. Soon we were packed, suited up, and prepared with extra 20w50 oil containers, ready to roll. I fully expected to have to commence the kick starting procedure, but I took a chance and pushed the magic starter button, and to my surprise, it roared to life. Oh, yea, let’s roll!

We stopped after the first 40 miles and checked the oil. It was full, and there were no drips underneath. Weird. Forty miles later, we repeated the process, and again, full oil and no drips. Okay, well, let’s go 100 and see what happens. We picked up our speed down highway 395 towards Susanville, and my thoughts were consumed with what could have caused the leak and why it seems to have gone away. We got gas in Susanville, and once more, there were no drips under the bike, and the oil tank was full. No complaints from me, but this was strange. The route from Susanville to Quincy was excellent as the road climbed into the mountains with light traffic and an easy road with great curves. We followed the east shore of Lake Almanor before turning south on some more excellent mountain roads into Quincy.

Deby and I spent the rest of the week tent camping at the Pulmas Sierra County Fairgrounds in Quincy, WA. The Norton was parked on a concrete section where I could easily see any leaks that might develop. I rode it every day on the various organized rides with the groups, and the underside of the Commando was dry as a bone. As an additional bonus, the starter started mostly working. Were those two things related? Hmmm.

Campsite at the Quincy fairgrounds

The rally was attended by around 200 Norton motorcycle enthusiasts from around the country and even the world. I thought there might be someone in attendance who would know what happened with my oil leak. I probably bothered almost a dozen people with my question, but the best answer I received was from Jim Comstock, who was camped right next to us in his tent. I won’t bore you with his technical explanation but basically I have a leaky main seal on the crankshaft that also impacted the operation of the starter.

Just some of the Nortons on display at the rally

Altogether, I added about 1,200 miles to the odometer on the Norton, and Deby never had to pull out her chair on the side of the road to wait for repairs. The only other thing that happened to the bike was when I hit a severe pothole hiding around a corner in the shadows of a leafy tree. The jolt was bad enough that my glass headlight lens popped off of the bike and was swinging by the wire. By the time I pulled over, the glass was smashed, and the “beauty” ring was no longer very beautiful. No worries, I always carry some duct tape for just this possibility, and we were back on the road before Deby could get her book out. Oddly enough, the LED bulb still worked, so I was even legal on the ride back. I did notice when we got home that I had a pretty good bend in my rear wheel rim. Ouch, I’m glad I didn’t blow a tire! That would have been a roadside wait for sure.

Slightly (?) bent rim

The trusty—but clearly road-weary—Norton made the trip home on a trailer, courtesy of our friend Gary. At the last day of the rally, I swapped it out for my modern BMW so Deby and I could enjoy a relaxing ride together for the return leg. Another INOA rally was officially in the books—1,200 hard-earned miles, a mysterious oil leak that vanished as quickly as it appeared, and a headlight held on by duct tape. It wasn’t flawless, but it was undeniably memorable. With the next rally likely two years away, I’m already thinking ahead—and starting to ask around. Who’s in for the next adventure?

Below is an interactive map of the whole route down and back if you want to zoom and see the details.

Thanks for following,

I hope to do another short post about our ride home soon.

Donn and Deby

 

 

1K Miles on a 50 year old Norton – Part 1

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The adventure of motorcycling often conjures images of exploring distant countries, winding back roads, rugged mountain passes, and unfamiliar cultures. But sometimes, the real adventure lies in the motorcycle itself. This is one of those stories.

Let me introduce you to my 1974 Norton Commando. I bought it on August 30, 1978, from Sportsmen’s Exchange in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for the grand total of $1,200. It was an unusual shop that sold everything from sporting goods and chainsaws to outboard motors and motorcycles. I still have the original receipt to prove it.

One of the first things I did was try to turn it into a “chopper”—the style of the time. I added high-rise handlebars, a king-queen seat, a chrome sissy bar, and extended forks to give it that classic custom look.

Back in 1978, the Norton Commando was one of the fastest production motorcycles you could buy. I never lost a street race to a Harley or Triumph. But it wasn’t long before the Japanese motorcycle invasion changed everything. Once the fast two-stroke Kawasakis hit the American market, the era of British motorcycle dominance was almost over.

Almost exactly a year after buying this fine machine—in August of 1979—I met my wife, Deby. Our very first date was on this motorcycle. I can still picture the scene: me rolling up on the Norton, wearing a black leather jacket, long hair spilling out from under my Captain America helmet. I can only imagine what her dad must have thought.

Somehow, it worked out. That day marked the beginning of nearly 50 years of riding motorcycles together. Wow.

The Norton has been a wonderful machine, and together we’ve shared countless adventures across the United States. Deby rode on the back, often with camping gear strapped on, as we traveled from Wisconsin to the East Coast—and on another trip, all the way to Florida, carrying not only camping gear but also scuba diving equipment.

We’ve had our fair share of setbacks: breakdowns, flat tires, and more than one ride home on a trailer or tow truck. During my time touring with the band I played in, the guitar player and I both rode Nortons. We followed the band truck on tour through Texas, Iowa, the Dakotas, and back home again.

Flash forward nearly 50 years—I still have the Norton and have been working to restore it to its original condition.

For the past 15 years or so, I’ve been involved with a local group of Norton owners called the Northwest Norton Owners. It’s a motley crew of crusty bikers that have an affinity for these old British motorcycles. They’ve become some of our best friends and riding buddies. Many of them also ride modern motorcycles and we’ve had many great rides together. One of our adventures with them was documented in this blog in the series “Baja Virus Run“.

The club is part of a larger organization called the International Norton Owners Association, every year they have a rally in different parts of the country. For 2025 the location was Quincy, California. Should I ride my trusty Commando to the Quincy INOA Rally or not? That question had been on my mind since the rally location was announced almost a year ago. I asked around and talked to others in the club, but I didn’t hear the same enthusiasm I remembered from 2016 when a small group of NWNO die-hard riders made the trek. After some back and forth, I decided to tempt fate and ride the Norton the roughly one thousand miles to the rally. After all, how hard could it be? Here is a picture of the Norton in full touring mode.

My Commando is now nine years older since the last trip to Quincy but has never run better, thanks to loving care and diligent maintenance. I, on the other hand, am also nine years older. I’m still running okay, although my maintenance could be better, and a few parts are showing increasing signs of wear. Deby agreed to ride along on her modern BMW motorcycle. She joked (half-jokingly) that she would bring a camp chair and a book for the inevitable roadside wait due to a Norton breakdown. I hoped she would be disappointed on that count.

I spent time looking at routes and made a plan to get us to the rally by Sunday evening, in time for the official opening on Monday, June 16th. We rounded out our group of travellers with John and Tony. John planned to ride his Commando, while Tony would drive down with a trailer carrying a couple of motorcycles. Tony offered to follow us with extra gas and tools….just in case.

Ignoring superstition, on Friday the 13th at 8 AM sharp, we convened at the Preston Park and Ride, ready to ride. Due to last-minute problems with his Norton, John arrived on his 1972 R75/5 BMW, a very suitable bike for the trip. John made sure to point out that the engine was bored out to 900cc, making it the largest displacement motorcycle of the group. So, there we were, off to the Norton rally with my Norton motorcycle outnumbered two to one by BMWs. Somehow that seemed appropriate. Some years ago, there was a joke about the club that we are the Northwest Norton Owners, but we ride BMWs.

We decided to ride east over Snoqualmie Pass and spend the first night in Maupin, Oregon, just under 300 miles away and one of my favorite destinations. I took the lead because I wanted to set the pace, and I had the track programmed into my handlebar-mounted Garmin GPS. The GPS was part of my conversion of the Commando into touring mode with a windscreen, Mosko saddlebags, and provisions for my heated liner, which I was grateful for on the chilly morning.

Immediately, we were on the interstate where the speed limit was 70 mph. I carefully increased speed, trying to keep up with the traffic while listening for any hint of something wrong with the Norton. So far, so good. No unusual vibrations (just the regular ones) and no funny sounds or smells. I wicked it up to 4,000 RPM and was close enough to 70 mph for comfort. The windscreen directed the airflow just right around my Schuberth helmet. I adjusted the heated liner for maximum comfort while watching the voltmeter to make sure I wasn’t taxing the Lucas alternator or battery too much. I wiggled my butt on the Airhawk seat pad to get it in just the right position. Ahhh, that would be a lifesaver. I called Deby on the helmet communicator to ask if everything looked okay from behind. She responded that it looked fine, but could I go a little faster already?

Once we summited Snoqualmie Pass, the sun was out, and the temperatures warmed nicely into the mid-70s. We opted for old highway 10 instead of the interstate going east, and then in Ellensburg, cut south on Canyon Road along the Yakima River, one of the top motorcycle roads in the state of Washington. Traffic in the canyon was light, and I could push the speed limit around the corners on the Norton, testing the Roadholder suspension.

There are not many road options south of the city of Yakima, which is within the Yakima Indian Reservation, so we jumped on highway 97 towards Goldendale. About 60 miles south of Yakima is the St. John’s Monastery and Bakery, usually worth a stop. The bakery is part of the Holy Monastery of St. John the Forerunner and was founded in 1995 when the property was donated to the church for the foundation of a women’s monastic community. We only stopped briefly to stretch our legs, quench our thirst, and say hello to the nuns. It reminded me of John Belushi in the Blues Brothers; we were on a mission from God.

Anxious to get off the rather boring highway 97, we turned west in Goldendale and connected with state route 142, an excellent twisty road following the Klickitat River as it flows south towards its intersection with the Columbia River near The Dalles, Oregon. After crossing into Oregon, we climbed out of the Columbia River Gorge, feeling good about our day. The wind that had picked up along the river soon settled down as we climbed to over 1,000 feet on scenic two-lane highway 197. With only 40 miles to go and plenty of sunlight left in the day we took a short detour to visit the White River Falls State Park, where we took a break to admire the scenic falls.

Deby and Donn at White River Falls

Instead of returning to the main highway for the last leg, we found a small two-lane county road that followed the Deschutes River into Maupin, where we stopped for a few minutes and watched river rafts shooting the rapids at this popular rafting location.

Our destination, the Oasis Cabin Resort in Maupin, Oregon, consisted of twelve “charming” cabins and two vintage travel trailers. At the turn of the century, the cabins served as housing for railroad workers, and they were mounted on flat cars to be moved where needed. When the rail line was completed, the cabins were moved to their current location and used as one of Oregon’s oldest fishing camps.

Left to right: Tony, Deby and John

Cabins being used to house railroad workers

John posing with his vintage BMW and trailer

Deby, Tony, and I had cabins right next to each other, and John was booked into a small vintage travel trailer a short distance away. Shortly after getting off the bikes and out of our boots and gear, we found the beer in Tony’s cooler (thanks, Tony!) and unwound in the last of the afternoon sun, drinking beer and reviewing the day’s ride. My GPS logged 287 miles over a total time of 8.5 hours. The average moving speed showed 54.1 mph, but wow, it said I had a max speed of 135 mph! Clearly a glitch in the GPS system, but maybe?

More to come as we make our way south on vintage motorcycles.

Thanks for following,

Donn and Deby

 

Home for a while in 2024

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Thanks for visiting our motorcycle travel blog. After an adventurous start to 2024 in South America we are home in the US for a while getting caught up on non-travelling life. We have a few things in the books this year including a trip to Canada in August that will include our friends Michael (pork chop in every glass) and Richard who rode with us in Copper Canyon. In September I have a crazy ride planned in the Southeast part of the US with a bunch of Harley riders! I’ll be renting a Harley Pan American. I probably will not be bringing my laptop for live blogging but might be inspired to ride up a post-ride report when I get home.

I’ve updated the links and maps on the tab above for “PastMaps”. It’s a good index to browse some of our past rides.

Check back for updates or Subscribe on the right for notifications when I do post something. I’m careful not to post more often than necessary so don’t worry about getting spammed.

Thanks for following,

Donn and Deby

End of the Ride

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We had the best intentions to cross from Argentina to Chile at Paso Agua Negra but we woke up to this view of the mountains….

Dang.. an online check of the pass conditions verified that the pass was closed. With the help of the hotel front desk we made a call and were informed the pass “might” open the next day or it might be closed for the rest of the season. Well, once again off to plan B. Continue reading →