A Nice Relaxing Ride.

[Water Warrior 2]

Here goes. Started our little adventure a week ago.

Saturday: Woke up to an overcast ugly day. Cool and looked like rain. Puttered around and loadedup the bikes with hopes of a change in the weather. 2 P.M. and we hit the road late as usual. Rain suits are handy and we are dressed warm. Headed South on the Sea to Sky highway through Vancouver and to the Washington Border at I-5. Stopped at Burlington for the night. No rain and the temps were better throughout the day so we are pleased with the first day. Not a long ride but then none of the days were filled with many kms(miles) but very relaxing and calm.

[Water Warrior 2]

Sunday: Woke up to a beautiful morning with sunshine and 2 bikes ready to go go go. Breakfast next door and gas within a half block so we are ready to go into the morning sun almost instantly. Headed east on #20 towards Sedro Woolley, Lyman, Hamilton, Rockport and Marblemount. After Marblemount we came to Ross Dam. Great pic ops for those who can operate a camera. Good roads with elevation changes and some curves to keep things entertaining. They call this Blue Sky country for a reason. Almost too much to describe with words alone. Carried on to Mazama and landed in Winthrop for the night. Winthrop on a Sunday afternoon is full of bikes, cars, bicycles and folks from all walks of life. Winthrop has a Wild West Theme to attract tourism and keep the economy healthy. It works too. Wooden sidewalks, saloons, dry goods stores all looking just right. Did a walk around till we found a wooden cabin for the night. Maybe wooden and a bit dated looking but quite a new cabin with a hot tub and all the right stuff for travellers. Hot tub felt real fine and the warm evening air was just right. What will tomorrow bring.
http://www.postimage.org/TskIFe0.jpg (http://www.postimage.org/)

[Krazy Kraut]

Sounds like alot of fun and too much relaxation! Have fun tomorrow!
Krazy Kraut Rider

[Water Warrior 2]

Monday: Good Morning Winthrop. Did beakfast at Three Fingered Jack's Saloon and bought a T-shirt there. Jack's is the oldest legal saloon in the state. Finished our walk around of the town, packed up and were on the road by noon. None of this 8 A.M. stuff for us. East and onward to Twisp. Still on #20 and top Loup Loup Summit at 4020 ft. elevation. Mountain riding is the best by far and it doesn't matter what you ride. Stopped in at Okanagon for a break at the visitor centre. Looking at the big map on the wall and tracing out a North route back to the GWN. A nice Lady asks if we have been to Grand Coulee Dam. Huh, uh no but always wanted to go there. Change of direction almost instantly. Headed NorthEast for 5 or 6 miles and headed East on #155. Rode to the city Of Coulee Dam and marvelled at the Dam site. Wow, is that sucker big !!! Got a room in town that overlooked the dam and the outfall. The best is yet to come.
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[Water Warrior 2]

Monday night: Sat on a hill top by an American flag and watched a laser light show on the face of the dam. They run water down the face to create a white-ish background and have at it. 3 banks of lasers and piped in music and vocal documentary about the dam and it's history. 38 minutes of pure entertainment and knowledge to soak up. Life is good. A little TV and a sound night's sleep.
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[Water Warrior 2]

Tuesday: Leave town after a hearty breakie. Riding S.E. on #174 to Wilbur. North from Wilbur for 14 miles. M-M Good. The last few miles are brand new pavement, twisties, elevation changes, hair pins and beautiful scenic views. The road ends and all there is is water. Just wait 15 minutes and a ferry will be along shortly. Gotta get across all that Dam Water on the Keller Ferry. The next 40 to 50 minutes after the ferry were truly amazing. We were all alone on the highway. Nothing moving and no one in sight. A Heavenly ride on a bike. Continued North to Republic on #21. From Republic we rode West to Tonasket on #20. Stayed for the night.
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[Water Warrior 2]

Wednesday: Had a tasty breakie and headed North to the border. Declared 2 packs of smokes and a T-shirt each and we are on home soil again. Within minutes we are in stupid traffic and can't just cruise along at our own pace. Onto Highway #3 and a ride on the Hope-Princeton Highway. Really nice till some doffus wants your space. Oh well, ride defensively. Very scenic and beautiful area. Great in the summer but winter can bury you in snow while you drive. Been there done that. Stopped to have a short visit with a friend of ours outside of Princeton. Carried on to Abbotsford for the overnight landing.

[Water Warrior 2]

Thursday: Looks like the end of the road today. Will be home this after noon. The usual traffic snarls and delays on #1 are in full swing. Abbotsford to the West side of Vancouver is a bit of a nightmare after just cruising at our own pace in Washington on the secondary highways. From West Vancouver to Squamish is my kinda road. Sweepers, curves, twisties, call em what you want, some elevation changes and all on new pavement. It is never boring and really hard not to at least keep up to traffic which disregards the speed limits. Someday I will get stopped for flying low. Actually the speed limit signs are just a suggestion till a cop shows up. Now we are home. First stop Star Bucks.

[Water Warrior 2]

Friday: Comments about our trip. Do it folks. The ride through Washington is just a rider's dream and just right for almost any size bike. A GZ would be right at home on the secondary roads and be an absolute hoot in the twisties and hairpins in the mountains. We rode through open range country, miles of orchards with fresh fruit, met some wonderful friendly people and spent less than anticipated. Total trip was actually short distance wise but very refreshing for the soul. 1300 kms(800 miles) is not high for a 6 day ride but we decided that distance is not the determining factor for a trip. It is the quality of the ride. Yes we stopped a lot and played look when something scenic showed on the horizon. That's what it is all about in our opinion.

[happyhobo]

very well said. It was a GRRRrrrrreat ride. Back to work for me tomorrow....blahhhhhh
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[Water Warrior 2]

For those who don't know, Happy Hobo is the other half of the team. She started out with a GZ in 2006 and upgraded to an M-50 Zuk this year.
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[BusyWeb]

Hi, Mr. WW
Wonderful sceneries.....and very sound place to ride.
Also, I noticed the your V-Storm colour >> Blue >> runs faster ha ha ha
Mine is also blue..^^;

[Water Warrior 2]

Yup, blue can be quick and fast. I do prefer yellow but it was not in the cards for the 2005 model. An earlier model Strom 1000 in yellow was the bike that originally caught my eye. Finally in 2007 the 650 was yellow and had ABS as standard equipment in Canada.

[Moedad]

Great report and great pics, WW! Cabins and hot tubs and breakfasts, oh my! Beautiful weather to boot. Thanks for posting!

[happyhobo]

and i didn't have to cook

[dannylightning]

definately some really nice scenery, looks like a fun ride.

[burkbuilds]

Thanks for sharing the daily updates and the pictures, beautiful, majestic places, so cool! PS and I'm glad Linda didn't have to cook either!

[alantf]

Just finished watching the last episode of "Billy Connolly's journey to the edge of the world" This week he came down from theWhite Pass mountains,to Vancouver Island, via Telegraph Creek, New Alyansh (think I spelled it right), Then down the Mitchell river, to finish up at Friendly Cove. You sure have some beautiful & desolate scenery along the west coast & B.C.

[mrlmd1]

How does happyhobo like that padded gel seat cover? And that comfy looking backrest?

[Water Warrior 2]

The jury is still out concerning the backrest, sheep skin and separate gel pad. At present Lynda has to stretch a bit to see over the windshield without the sheep/gel combo. A bit uncomfortable on ocassions. A future project will be cutting down the shield for her height and ease of vision. Then she can determine the best combo for comfort and support. Most bikes are a work in progress for quite a while so it is not a life shattering dilema. Just another winter project to research and plan for. Most if not all bikes are a good platform and need to be customized to an individual for their specific size and fit.
This is where a motorcycle forum shines brightest. Without a forum and a gathering of info and experience many of us would probably hate our bikes and just park them. Case in point, my Vstrom. Without a forum I probably would have set fire to it within a year. It didn't fit, I was in constant pain after 15 minutes. Noise levels, helmet buffeting and blurred vision were a constant on even the slowest highways. Now I ride a champion steed that will take me anywhere anytime I pick up the keys. Forums, gotta love em. Thanks to Dupo Lynda's GZ was made into a perfect small bike for her. The "M" is very close but still needs a little tinkering. That is my job.

[mrlmd1]

Obviously you probably tried, but the shield can't mount any lower without hitting the headlight, or change the angle to drop the top edge a little?
It's very annoying plus restricts your vision to have to look at the top of the windshield in a line across your eyes.

[Water Warrior 2]

I will just find some one with the expertise cut a bit off the top. I did have to hog out the headlight cutout a bit to fit the shield over the top of the forks. My level of skill and tools left a bit to be desired but overall was acceptable. The top of the shield will require a lot more talent to do a nice job.

[alantf]

The top of the shield will require a lot more talent to do a nice job.

Don't despair! Just because you're not happy doing it doesn't mean it's difficult for someone else :) An electric jig saw with a fine blade, followed by an orbital sander with fine glass paper, should see the job finished in an hour at the most. Just don't forget to mark the cut with a marker pen BEFORE you remove the screen. Also, if you cover the area where you're going to mark, with masking tape, you're marking this, not the screen, so if you get it wrong you can rip it off & start again, without messing up the screen. Also, the guy with the saw will be able to see the line better, & he can rip off the masking tape after cutting, & before sanding. :2tup:

[Easy Rider]

I will just find some one with the expertise cut a bit off the top.

No doubt you've already considered this........
Sometimes tipping the top of the shield farther back (more rake angle) will drop it just enough to do the trick.....and give better air flow too.

[Water Warrior 2]

Tipping the shield back is not an option. Wish it was though. Due to the size of the shield with lower sections dropping down past both sides of the headlight there is little room for adjustment. Actually none really. The bottom/lower sections are actually touching the backs of the signals already. Thus allowing no change of angle. Luckily the present angle has the shield parallel with the forks which seems to be a rule of thumb. I briefly considered just lowering the entire shield but then the wider part of the shield would not be as good for hand protection. So all in all shortening is the only option especially for a shield never designed for this bike but a great shield with tinkering. When I rode the "M" in the rain at higher speeds I was very pleased with the protection it supplied.

[dannylightning]

Tipping the shield back is not an option. Wish it was though. Due to the size of the shield with lower sections dropping down past both sides of the headlight there is little room for adjustment. Actually none really. The bottom/lower sections are actually touching the backs of the signals already. Thus allowing no change of angle. Luckily the present angle has the shield parallel with the forks which seems to be a rule of thumb. I briefly considered just lowering the entire shield but then the wider part of the shield would not be as good for hand protection. So all in all shortening is the only option especially for a shield never designed for this bike but a great shield with tinkering. When I rode the "M" in the rain at higher speeds I was very pleased with the protection it supplied.

it's not for your bike?? no wonder, you could always drill a bunch of holes in the sheild to make it more aerodynamic :lol:
i personally think i would just take it off if it impairs the way the bike rides and start looking on ebay for one that does fit, you can always put the old one up for sale and use that money to buy the right one.

[happyhobo]

This is getting really confusing to read. It is really not that big a deal. Here is the thing. It is my bike and I love it. Having said that I do find the seat uncomfortable,sometimes.WW answer to that was the removable gel pad and sheepskin...which is great BUT then i can not flat foot the ground BUT I can see over the windshield.Riding with the seat bare I see through the windshield.Soo0oo you see I am damned if I do and damned if I don't. It was me that suggested to cut the windshield down about an inch...that was there would no problem either way I ride. If that is too big a job,scrap the idea and I can make do

[alantf]

It was me that suggested to cut the windshield down about an inch... If that is too big a job,scrap the idea and I can make do

It's NOT that big a job! If ww checks my reply (above) he can do the real easy bit (marking the screen), then remove it & let someone with a jigsaw, a sander, & a bit of ability with these tools, do the rest. :2tup: