bwhip's phototastic two-wheeled adventures thread

We are going for a group ride in early March with a friend from Boonville. Did you stop in town to hear their unique "Boont" language? I have a Boont Code Book I've been studying. lol. I hope part of his plan is to take us out to the ocean and see what you got to see on this ride. We'll be going at a much slower pace as your bikes don't have as many cc's as your new or old bike.

I have another friend who lives in Verdi (Reno). He said when the interstate was closed, some people's GPS's were directing them to take the Old Lincoln Highway (Henness Pass Road) which is the old road through Donner's Pass. Even with signs telling people not to drive the Henness Pass Rd., many people still tried. They needed to get towed out. I'm glad you were able to make it through without too much issue.

Thanks for sharing.

P.S. I'm still trying to figure out what your license plate says.

Thanks! Didn't stop in Boonville, but it sure was pretty through there. When I was a little kid, my parents had some friends who owned a big ranch there, and we stayed there for a few days, so I remembered at least the name of the town from then.

The detour we took from I-80 was Hwy 20 into Grass Valley (the mudslide was near Colfax), and it added another hour or so to the trip, but moved along pretty well considering how many people were using it.

License plate means "Late Braker," a racing term and my former motorsports photography website (latebraker.com).

I see you've found another Bay Area favorite, Skaggs-Springs Raceway. It was absolutely pristine around 2010. Since then, it's been chip sealed and heavily patrolled (at times). Glad you were able to enjoy it! I think a motorcycle enthusiast was the lead civil engineer who designed it. Every banked turn is perfect.

I just found your thread and read through the whole thing in the last couple of evenings. Great photography, wonderful stable of bikes and fantastic riding country. I have to get back to Idaho and Oregon soon. Thanks for posting and I'll continue to follow along.

Cheers

Thanks very much! So glad to hear you enjoyed my postings. I've sure had fun making them, and looking forward to another great season.

Congrats with your new PP! Nice to read your break-in report, lucky you
Heres mine, on the winter solstice day -16:

Buggy Whip,

Well played sir! Nicely reported. Ridden those roads several times (luckily). I know that excitement, good on ya mate! Outstanding looking steed !

Spent 4 days on a new Pikes zig zagging across the Blue Ridge Pkwy in NC last October. Had me seriously thinking about offing my highly zoot and muchly trick SMT for the Pikes. That is until I traded with my mate and rode the 16' Super Duke R for a half day on those same insanely glorious roads. What ???? Appreciate what you got...Appreciate what you got....Appreciate what you got..... repeat if needed.

Finally!

It seems like it’s been forever since I’ve had a full day to just relax and go for a ride. Between work, a home remodel, and weather, it’s been since my California trip a couple of months ago – way too long!

I was able to get enough work done yesterday to feel okay about taking today (Sunday) off, and the weather looked decent, so it was finally time! I decided to do my “track day” format, and load the Multistrada in the back of my pickup and drive a couple of hours to Baker City, Oregon, and do a nice 280 mile loop of some nearby favorites.


I got to Baker City around 9:30 local time, and it was cool and mostly cloudy, and as I climbed the hill toward John Day, the temps dropped to around 40 degrees. Thankfully, my heated gear was keeping me nice and toasty. The snow-capped mountains in the distance were really beautiful, so I had to stop for a quick photo.



As I approached Prairie City, the view was just amazing.



There was almost no one on the roads, anywhere along the way. Probably because it was Easter Sunday. In fact, I saw only two motorcycles the whole trip, despite the fact that it was actually pretty warm, climbing to around 60 in the afternoon. It was pretty awesome to have the roads pretty much all to myself (not that they’re ever that crowded in central Oregon anyway).



Since my previous trip, I added a couple of improvements to the bike. After putting the full Akrapovic exhaust system on the bike, I found that the fuel mapping was not what it should be. Okay, but a little rough, and sometimes “stumbly,” especially at lower RPMs. It didn’t seem that a remap was possible (at least not easily), but I did find some info about a dynamic mapping system called RapidBike, that continuously adjusted the mapping on the bike, to instantly adjust for weather, altitude, whatever. Although there wasn’t a whole lot of info available on it, I decided to hook one up and give it a shot. I also found that the “touring” windscreen that came with the bike was completely inadequate, with lots of wind buffeting that was driving me crazy. So, I decided to try the touring windscreen made by Ermax.



The bike was transformed! It was really good before, but the RapidBike system mad a huge difference. The power delivery was always great, always. Low RPMs, high RPMs, colder weather, warmer weather, climbing hills, deceleration, whatever, whenever. Just fantastic. No issues whatsoever. I’m a believer.



The windscreen was a big improvement too. I’m fairly tall (6′ 2″), and if I sit up totally straight I still get a pretty good wind blast, but with my normal (slouchy) posture, it’s pretty darn good. Much, much quieter. My face shield hardly picked up any bugs, because the taller screen was getting most of them, which was also good. And man, without all that wind noise, I sure hear that thunderous Akrapovic exhaust note just fine! It’s pretty loud! I’m glad I put the noise reducer insert, otherwise it would surely be too much. I think in it’s current form it’s perfect. Bold, earth-shaking, bone-rattling – but not completely obnoxious. Just right! And the pipe and trapezoidal end can are works of art, in my opinion. Just gorgeous.



Now that the bike is fully broken in, at several points along the way I decided to really put it to the test, twisting the throttle to the max. WOW! This bike completely kicks ass. How can a bike this comfortable be so fast, sporty and fun? It’s amazing. The sound with the throttle wide open in fifth gear climbing a big hill from 6000-8000 RPM or so is just unbelievable. I absolutely love this thing.



What a great looking bike, too. The scenery was beautiful, as you can see. But I think the bike was equally stunning!



It was a great way to spend this Easter Sunday. Some moto-therapy was just what I needed. And I’m so glad the modifications have worked out so well. I’m looking forward to a great season on this amazing machine. Now, if work would just settle down a bit…

Gorgeous machinery in gorgeous locations...always glad to see another set of posts/pics from @bwhip62!

Sweet! I grew up in John Day and return most years for the Chief Joseph Rally. (Sponsored by the BMW Riders of Oregon, this year it's 23-25 June. Check it out. http://bmwro.org/content.aspx?page_id=22&club_id=301799&module_id=172743).

That was Strawberry Mountain you saw as you descended into the John Day valley. John Day itself is about 3000' elevation; Strawberry is just over 9000'. Great hiking/fishing/hunting up there.

Your riverside photos look a bit like the North or Middle Fork of the John Day River heading north from Long Creek. Pretty country.

Great photos, and you're right-a really nice area to ride.

Great shots, subscribed!
Did you upgrade the camera (to match the newer bike) in the last post?

Thanks! Same camera I've had for a while. Sometimes I just take an iPhone, sometimes the Fuji X100T, and sometimes (like this time) the Canon 5D Mark IV, with the 24-70 f/2.8.

That Fuji is a great little camera!!!!

Mike

AH. I was wondering. Nice photos, and yes- sweet bike, too! I followed your link from your post in "MC Photography Post Your Best". Thanks for posting.

Aha! Great glass there.

Brian... I'm curious... What do you consider to be the finest photo you've taken with the iPhone? If you have it within easy access it would be great if you could post it here. I'm always intrigued by how much of a great image is because of the hardware and how much is the user.

I'd have to go back through a bunch of archives to find what might be the "finest," and am super busy this week, but in general I find that I'm most likely to use the iPhone for a couple of things it does really well, sometimes even better than much more expensive cameras. Mostly panoramas and HDR effect photos. Here are a couple from my trip to northern California a couple of months ago:

Awesome shots and write-up! What a great loop to knock out, especially on that bike.

Curious - any reports on what it's like taking FR52 out of Ukiah toward Granite & Sumpter? My guess is it would still be under snow, but maybe not?

Thanks for the shots, I love that neck of the woods

Great shots and great bikes. Been enjoying your pics since you had the FS570 Husaberg.

Thanks! I did see a fair amount of snow along the road (none on it, thankfully) at the higher elevations, so I wouldn't be surprised if some of the other routes I considered in that area weren't still a little snowy, especially with the crazy weather we've had (and are still having) this year. Ukiah to Sumpter, Ukiah to Heppner, and the Little Alps area all could be a little snowy still, but I'm not certain.