Motorcycle diary of Joy Dutta

Photos: ST1300 Fly-n-Ride - Oct 07
Thread about this ride on ST forum: Getting my 06 abs this friday !

A fly-and-ride is one of kind of fun trips. I loved the whole thing, the great deal on a sweet bike, flying with full gear and riding 1320 miles, 5 states (CO, WY, UT, NV, CA) back home. Here is the trip in short:

Day 1, Friday, Oct 12:
Flew to Denver CO where Rod (seller) picked me up and drove to Loveland CO. The bike was in pristine condition, shining like new. We closed the deal, loaded the bike up and I hit the road around noon to avoid the bad weather looming over CO. Managed 200 miles before getting completely exhausted. Effect of 3 hours of sleep the night before ! Stayed at Rawlins WY at a super 8.

Day 2: Saturday, Oct 13:
Did not expect the wind chill down to 34F in the early morning. Started at 4:30am for maximum distance, but froze up till sunrise. Used up all warm stuff I packed, 2 fleece jackets under the aerostich and somehow I could ride on. The aerostich jacket sucks in cold weather as it is not tall. I had to use the rain pants to cover up the gap. Now I know why LD riders like the 1pc aerostich suits. The heated grips installed by Rod were god sent. The ST has less weather protection than my connie in stock form, but it can be fixed by some deflectors. Crossed over to Utah and got rained hard in the provos and lamb canyons before Salt Lake City. I kept moving as the bike felt sure footed and comfortable, and I was dry. Met up with Surya and Sara at univ of Utah. Surya plans to shift to bay area soon and get back to riding, so am hoping good company like the riding days in Bangalore. Had some excellent food cooked by Sara which fueled me for the next 370 miles. Went by the amazing salt flats of Utah and saw the Bonneville salt flats. That was a mesmerizing experience. White salt as far as the eye can see, like a sea of salt. Halted at Winnemucca NV for the day after 670 miles in 14 hours. Nice small gambling town, but too tired to explore.

Day 3, Sunday, Oct 14:
Another early morning start at 5am. Dodged the wind chill being fully prepared, made good time. The sierras near Truckee CA were even colder, touched 28F once when my feet started to go numb. Went through some dense fog and suddenly came into bright sunshine and warmer temps. Reached Sacramento well before noon and waited till Jeff showed up at Brookfield’s restaurant. Ken from COG forum also showed up on a shiny new KLR. Visited Ron’s place thereafter and had a short ride together. A group ride in a long time. Reached home around 7:30, clocking 450 miles for the day.

The ride bonded me well with the bike, and it rides like a dream. The most credit goes to the ST forum, which convinced me to get this bike even without a real test ride. I am glad I made this choice. Still soaking in the feeling of ownership of this incredible touring machine.

On a side note, the iPhone rocks. Internet and email is now everywhere, WiFi or not. Also, a small camera like a canon powershot is much more convenient to use on a bike trip than toting a digital SLR. I can’t remember how many photo ops I managed to lose due to my laziness. Getting the SLR out from the trunk every time I stop is a pain by itself, not to mention the pain to compose with helmet on. Unless quality is first priority, a small digicam on tank bag or pocket is just the way to go.

This entry was posted on Monday, October 15th, 2007 at 12:18 pm and is filed under motorcycling. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.