'Merican Month at 40

[Roundtuit]

http://land.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/...11_qvguv-L.jpg



My Uncle has three of them that he uses for various jobs. Mostly hauling and plowing snow. He is always looking for another. Awesome trip.

[hojo in sc]

Your report Chris, is the only reason why I turned on my computer this evening after a bad day at work, thanks for the up lift!

And I wonder if you had a GS-911 if you could have DX your relay problem yourself.

[Land]

Originally Posted by hojo in sc

Your report Chris, is the only reason why I turned on my computer this evening after a bad day at work, thanks for the up lift!

Thanks, Howard. That makes me feel great. I'm sorry that you had a rough day, though.

And that reminds me: Thanks to all of you for the feedback. It's nice to know that someone is getting something from all of this typing.

Originally Posted by hojo in sc

And I wonder if you had a GS-911 if you could have DX your relay problem yourself.

I wondered that, too. I think that I'll be hitting up a certain German feller that we know and love when I get back to run some sample failures with his GS-911.

Chris

[Land]

Originally Posted by Roundtuit

My Uncle has three of them that he uses for various jobs. Mostly hauling and plowing snow. He is always looking for another. Awesome trip.

He must be a cool uncle.

Chris

[OlyVR]

Chris,
You know you're always welcome to use the GS-911 any time - but I'm not the only one that has one...
I have the Professional version though, which means no worries about running out of VINs and I don't know if the other person has that.

Anyway, I which I would have remembered to offer it to you prior to your trip - but sorry brainfart on my end...

I do need to hang out with you more and get some of your outlook on life.
Why?
Well, when I was reading about about your lighting issues and the fact that the mechanic checked it out on Sat. and found no issues with fuses or relays; then has you stay over only to tell you that it was a fuse afterall you did NOT mention a "wasted" hotel stay...nope you mentioned how great it was to slow down. I need to be able to see the positive side of things more. So thanks for making me realize that I need to smell the flowers and not worry about getting somewhere now.

Keep safe, have fun and keep posting.

[Land]

Wednesday evening (July 14), I arrived at the Ochoco Divide Campground in the Ochoco National Forest in Oregon and picked a place to hang. The elevation there is about 4700 feet.




I cooked a very simple supper. Why is it, though, that a can of chili beans heated over a fire is such good eatin'?


Coming back from the necessary room the next morning, I was again impressed by how stealthy the SuperFly tarp is. See it?




Of course, that big yella motorsickle makes it hard to be truly stealthy.


Thursday afternoon, I arrived at Redmond, OR, at the big annual rally for the BMW Motorcycle Owners of America. The rally was at a fairgrounds, and there aren't a lot of trees from which to choose. I found a nice little spot, though.


I set up my Warbonnet Blackbird hammock and SuperFly tarp for sleeping, and I also put up my ENO Doublenest hammock as a gear shelf/counter/lounging area.


There were 6,109 people at the rally , and there were thousands of tents. There may have been another hammock, but I didn't see it.

Thursday evening and Friday morning, I visited the vendors and kind of soaked up the atmosphere since it was my first BMWMOA rally.


I really enjoyed the vintage motorcycle display.








[IMG]http://land.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/2010-Summer-trip-gallery-2/BMW-
MOA-Rally-Redmond-OR-023/938186087_qER8R-M.jpg[/IMG]

Friday afternoon, I went for a nice ride of about 250 miles, then came back and watched the sun slip behind the Cascades.






There was good music Friday night. If you get a chance to catch a show by Paul Thorn, do it. Very entertaining.
My favorite song was "I Don't Like Half the Folks I Love."

Saturday morning, I entered my bike in an "anti-concours." The bikes were all GS bikes -- of all engine configurations, not just the R bikes. The idea was that the dirtier the bike and the more useful aftermarket stuff it had, the better. If the bike was too clean, it was supposed to get one of these stickers:


I stress "supposed to" because there were some really clean bikes that not only didn't get one of them, several of them won awards!

During the judging, I overheard one of the judges -- who I am pretty sure is an inmate here -- call my bike a street bike and say that "he bought it because he doesn't want to clean an RT." I called him on it -- or tried to, because the guy who I'm pretty sure said it made himself scarce when I spoke up.

Anyway, I didn't win anything , but all participants got a t-shirt and a hat, and that's what I was there for.

There were lots of entries. My bike is in there. I doubt that you can find it. I barely can, and I know where to look.


A judge who I do know is an inmate here, Striking Viking (he judged the Airheads with Helge Pedersen), posed for a photo with me.


It's a little easier to see my bike in this photo. Look a little beyond the bottle used to bribe the judges.


I also didn't win the 2010 BMW F800GS or any of the other huge prizes given away at the closing ceremonies , but I was delighted to learn that the oldest rider to the rally was 90. I love the idea of 50 more years of riding.

Stay tuned,
Chris

[Land]

Sunday, July 18, I packed up the bike and hit the road again.

I was trying to contact a dear friend from college who lives in Vancouver, WA, with her husband and two kids. We played phone tag for a while, and while we were doing that, I did a little bit of exploring on some Oregon logging roads not too terribly far from Crater Lake.

The bike grew some fur on the seat and gained a few pounds at the rally. My bank account groaned.


Umm ...
















That last shot is from where I turned around. My fuel was getting low, and I didn't want to have to harness those huge mosquitos that were flying around me to pull me out to a gas station if I ran out -- but I don't doubt that they could do it!




I got back onto the ass-a-phalt, talked with my friend, tanked up and started heading to Vancouver, WA.

Stay tuned,
Chris

[sandmar]

great report as always Chris

[GSequoia]

Originally Posted by Land

The Jeep is a civilian model, but the trailer may be a military M101 that someone has added a tailgate to. Or it may be a civilian Bantam. Hard to tell -- for me at least -- without getting a little closer.

Looks like an ex-military M100 trailer to me that's been demilled (tailgate added, taillamps changed). THe M101 US was a bigger trailer and the M101-Canadian looked different. Most of the civilian trailers of the same era (witht eh full float axles and all) had stake pockets.

I've looked into the quarter ton trailers a lot, I own a Vietnam era M416.

[Land]

Originally Posted by GSequoia

Looks like an ex-military M100 trailer to me that's been demilled (tailgate added, taillamps changed). THe M101 US was a bigger trailer and the M101-Canadian looked different. Most of the civilian trailers of the same era (witht eh full float axles and all) had stake pockets.

I've looked into the quarter ton trailers a lot, I own a Vietnam era M416.

You're correct, of course. I meant M100. And I have one, so I have no excuse! Or can I use the fact that I also have an M101 three-quarter ton as an excuse?

Thanks for reading the thread -- and for keeping me straight.

Chris

[Land]

Originally Posted by sandmar

great report as always Chris

Thanks, Marshall.

[GSequoia]

Originally Posted by Land

You're correct, of course. I meant M100. And I have one, so I have no excuse! Or can I use the fact that I also have an M101 three-quarter ton as an excuse?

It happens.

One thing I like about my M416 is that the tub is bolted on so it can easily be converted to a bike trailer ;)

My 416 is stock except for 12V light bulbs and a civi IV cable, I tow it with my Cheorkees.

Well, enough off topic, back to your RR, more pretty pictures please!

[red bud]

And thanks again for the tape and zipties.

Chris[/quote]

any time, and keep an eye out for bigfoot in your in his stomping grounds

[red bud]

[quote=mb90535im]Really enjoying this RR Chris.

This gent favors Chuck "from my cold dead hands" Heston.

[/qu

i thought so too

[hojo in sc]

Trying to figure out what happened after the trip. Why did she...


Decide to sell him....



...for $500 down payment;



I think she's asking too much!