Ride Report - Fall Colors Trip 2014 - Pic Heavy

[DK Custom Products]

Various circumstances conspired to prevent Mary and I from making our summer trip out west to visit the grand-baby, relatives, and the good roads out that way.

Since neither of us have ever seen the northeast on bike, nor the changing of the colors, we have been planning a "Fall Colors" trip for awhile.

Today is the day!

Was up late last night taking care of last minute biz details. Got a late start packing this morning.

Here's what I need to fit into the trunk and the Tour-Pak. :xzqxz:

We're not going to be gone nearly as long as the Alaska trip, but it seems like we're taking just as much, or more, stuff.

It all fit the first try. We use different size stuff sacks, and label them, for a couple of reasons.

-Loading the larger ones first, then allows us to load the smaller ones and fill in all the empty space.

-We only take the ones out of the trunk each evening that we know we will need that night, leaving the rest in the trunk...stuff like the rain suits, cold weather gear, etc.

Around 2:30 pm we're ready to take off. Everything's packed, Mary and I are ready, just changed the oil a couple of days ago. 38 psi in the front tire, 20 psi in the rear tires, 24 psi in the Comfort Lift mounted rear shocks. We're ready to roll! ThumbUp

This afternoon was all interstate, never even broke out the camera for a picture until just outside of Nashville when we took rode about 10 miles on a country road to the Super 8.

Passed a Bike Night, Mary snapped a pic-

I will try and keep this thread updated everyday as we roll. I expect we will be traveling 5-6k miles before getting back home.

Kevin

 

[Sully]

Very cool, have a great and safe trip. Keep posting pics when ya can ThumbUp

 

[DK Custom Products]

Very cool, have a great and safe trip. Keep posting pics when ya can ThumbUp

Thank you!

It's great to be on the road with no specific route, just following the front wheel in a general north-easterly direction.

We are taking mostly interstate until we hit PA, which should be tomorrow.

Left out of Tennessee this morning...here we are packed up and ready...well, Mary does need more coffee. :laugh:

After hitting Kentucky, we started making some good time...when you want to eat some miles up, KY is a good State. We were rolling 80-85 mph just to stay with the flow of the little traffic there was.

Some fellow travelers....

....we've had a few glitches with the camera yesterday and today. Had it on the wrong setting for a bunch of pics...that is why the pic above is grainy. Then the cable I brought went bad, so tomorrow we'll be stopping at a Best Buy to get another one.

Overall it has served us well, we've taken over 20,000 pictures with it the last 2.5 years. Fuji JX500

Rolling thru Kentucky...

Those of you that have looked at our other ride reports know that Mary likes cloud pics....

....and this trip she's chomping at the bit to get some trees turning. Here's a bit of color.

And the shadow pics! ThumbUp

Yesterday, today and tomorrow have/will be interstate mostly. Then the rest of the trip until the last day or so will be mostly secondary roads. Rolling hills and long sweepers in Kentucky, along with a seemingly lax enforcement of the speed limit make the interstate a nice ride!

This afternoon we crossed into West Virginia. Holed up in a Super 8 with about 30 other bikes...there's a MC here (no pics).

Kevin

 

[DK Custom Products]

Leaving out of West Virginia this morning, our departure was right around the same time the Veterans MC was leaving.

They're headed southwest and we're headed northeast.

It was a bit chilly (62*) but warmed up nicely to the low 80's in the afternoon.


WV has some nice rolling roads with long sweepers.

Eating up some miles in WV.

Some fellow travelers on a great day to be riding!

I think we're above 2000 foot elevation here and we started to see some color changes.

Mary has never been to the Northeast of the US, and the only time I've been is flying into NYC
or DC for business. We are really surprised by how much country there is, and how many trees!

Today we went thru WV, about 100 miles of Maryland, and about 80 miles into PA.

There was smoke everywhere! We saw it above the trees over a mile away. A car had caught fire going up a long hill. They just got it put out as we passed.

When we first started out this morning, we stopped at a Best Buy to get a cable for the camera. They did not have one. We ended up getting a Fuji JX650, practically the same camera we've been using (JX500). It came with a cable, and another battery that are interchangeable with the JX500.

We did not try it out today, will do so tomorrow. It is 16 megapixel instead of 14, so hopefully it has a good lens and the pics may be a bit better.


We stopped at this overlook, was time to change the batteries in the camera and the video camera.

This river flows north and joins up with the Ohio river, and eventually dumps into the Mississippi. The water in this pic will be past our home long before we get back.

Some more color!

We passed into Pennsylvania. Tomorrow we should be off the interstates and onto some secondary roads!

The Tri-Glide has been running great! I am really happy with the 14.

Oh, Mary made a pretty significant mod to it before we left. See if you can pick it out. If you think you spotted it, mention it here in this thread.

Kevin

 

[Sully]

Nice post, ThumbUp

About Mary's Mod. it's hard to tell from the pics, but maybe the drink holder or the Pigtails hanging. :Shrug:

Enjoy your trip. :10:

 

[Papa Zook]

Thanks for sharing your trips with us via all the great pics Kevin, Mary does real good on the picture taking. Couple of observations, one, I like the highway pegs a lot. Two, seeing the car on fire made me wonder if you carry a fire extinguisher with you on trips. I dont remember seeing one in your pack photos.

 

[SEABILL]

Thank you for your reports! Always enjoy your trips.

It appears that Mary like braids.

 

[olddawg]

Armour all dash??

 

[Lucky]

Thanks for the pics. and trip report. Great Job! RIDE SAFE

 

[DK Custom Products]

Nice post, ThumbUp

About Mary's Mod. it's hard to tell from the pics, but maybe the drink holder or the Pigtails hanging. :Shrug:

Enjoy your trip. :10:

It's amazing how much stuff, including her drink she puts into the pocket of my backrest.

Thanks for sharing your trips with us via all the great pics Kevin, Mary does real good on the picture taking. Couple of observations, one, I like the highway pegs a lot. Two, seeing the car on fire made me wonder if you carry a fire extinguisher with you on trips. I dont remember seeing one in your pack photos.

Thanks on the pegs, no, we don't carry a fire extinguisher. Never thought about it before.

Thank you for your reports! Always enjoy your trips.

It appears that Mary like braids.

Cool, thank you!

Yep, braids keep her hair from getting tangled.

Armour all dash??

Thanks for the pics. and trip report. Great Job! RIDE SAFE

Thank you, will do!


********************

Hint: The mod she did to the TG can be seen in several pics...perhaps the first pic in the thread shows it best.

Kevin

 

[Brentwood Bob]

Keep up the good work Mary I always enjoy your and Kevin's trips. Be safe.

 

[DK Custom Products]

We started out this morning in southeast PA and ended up in northern NY.


Pic of us loading up this morning.

We were still riding the interstates today. Tomorrow, thru most of the rest of the trip, will be secondary roads.


We started seeing some color right off-

In PA the flow of traffic was 75-80 mph, and we were doing around 75 mph when these fellow travelers rode by. Great sounding bike, btw.

Mary started using the new camera today (Fuji JX650). The pics are definitely better, and she liked using it. It also did not use up the battery as quickly as the JX500.


Church steeple poking above the trees.

When we hit New York State, we noticed TWO things right away...


The road is not as smooth, and there were a lot of State Troopers hiding and giving tickets...Oh, and the speed limit is 65 mph, and most everyone is running no more than 70 mph.


We saw more LE in 150 miles of NY, than in the previous 1300 miles combined.


This guy had just finished writing up a ticket.

Somewhere in NY, doing around 70 mph, I heard a new sound, looked around and saw my horn hanging by the wires. Held it up while riding and Mary took a pic....

....rode another 20 miles to an exit and got gas and pulled the wires off the horn.


The road was bumpy, but not that bumpy! lol


This is the 4th 2014 cowbell I've seen broken in the same spot. Don't know if HD switched vendors, or if there was just a bad batch.


It is in the trunk now, and the wires are zip tied up out of the way.

Some more color in NY.

Dinner at the Tilted Kilt after a nice 430 mile ride. Great food and atmosphere!

Kevin

 

[rmrc51]

What a great ride report and pictures to match! Thanks so much for sharing!! ThumbUp

 

[kwputt]

Is the seat rag a new addition?

 

[steamer]

If you are heading over to NH. you really should look into riding to the top of Mt. Washington. It is an amazing 8 mile ride straight up and a little nerve racking at times, but well worth it. They do charge for the ride, I think about $28.00 for the bike and 2 up. We we're up there a couple of weeks ago. Also spent 2 days in Bar Harbor ME. another must see in New England. be safe and enjoy our part of the country.

 

[Sully]

What a great road trip your having, it feels like we are with you from looking at the pics.

Hint: The mod she did to the TG can be seen in several pics...perhaps the first pic in the thread shows it best

Hows bout the Powered Coated bumper for her mod :Shrug:

 

[olddawg]

new windshield

 

[DK Custom Products]

If you are heading over to NH. you really should look into riding to the top of Mt. Washington. It is an amazing 8 mile ride straight up and a little nerve racking at times, but well worth it. They do charge for the ride, I think about $28.00 for the bike and 2 up. We we're up there a couple of weeks ago. Also spent 2 days in Bar Harbor ME. another must see in New England. be safe and enjoy our part of the country.

Cool, thank you for the heads-up, I just looked at the map and think we will do that!

Kevin

 

[DK Custom Products]

Amazing sights today. Stopped a LOT thru the Adirondacks.


No time to do a full report today. May be able to do one tomorrow.


Here's a pic of a stop we made early on in the day.

What a great ride report and pictures to match! Thanks so much for sharing!! ThumbUp

Happy you're enjoying. Lots more to come!

Is the seat rag a new addition?

Nope, this is the 4th bike we've been running the same sheepskin on.

What a great road trip your having, it feels like we are with you from looking at the pics.

Hint: The mod she did to the TG can be seen in several pics...perhaps the first pic in the thread shows it best

Hows bout the Powered Coated bumper for her mod :Shrug:

That bumper came off the 2011 TG and was installed on the '14 right away.

new windshield

That is a winter windshield, with a recurve, I put on the day before leaving. Very happy with it.


The mod Mary did was a new backrest for herself.

Will post pics later of this mod. But the short of it is, she was not comfortable with the new backrest on the 2014, and the older style was ok, but also not ideal for her, so she made an entirely new one!

Kevin

 

[slick rick]

ThumbUpThumbUp,,,riding along on another one Kevin , you guys be safe and keep it coming ,,,a big fan of Mary and yourself . ThumbUp

 

[olddawg]

i always enjoy your trips and posts.Enjoy your trip and ride safe..

 

[DK Custom Products]

ThumbUpThumbUp,,,riding along on another one Kevin , you guys be safe and keep it coming ,,,a big fan of Mary and yourself . ThumbUp

i always enjoy your trips and posts.Enjoy your trip and ride safe..

Thanks guys!

Working on another post right now.

Kevin

 

[DK Custom Products]

Up until today we were taking mostly interstates to get up to this part of the Country!

What a full day! We left out of Watertown, NY and ran secondary roads all the way to the ferry crossing, ending up in Vermont.

First pic is of us entering the Adirondacks....

....for us southerners, we never picture New York looking like this.

Didn't cover a lot of miles today, but was in & out of the saddle a lot...so many places to stop, and we did at more than a few.

I usually like to push it in the curves, but today I just took it easy (most of the time ) and soaked in the views.

You may notice how far out the camera is from the bike...Mary can get pretty creative with her picture taking....lol...hanging way over to get the pic she wants.

Another stop where Mary was playing with the leaves.

I've been riding a lot of decades, and today, slowing down and taking in all the views and smells...it just reminded me of one of the reasons I like to ride so much...being connected with all that is around me.

Just amazing countryside!

Another stop....rode the TG right up to the edge of the bank. Went down to the water...that was COLD!

One last pic of the NY countryside......

.....then it was a ferry ride over to Vermont.

Much more to come!

Kevin

 

[steamer]

Don't forget the Ben and Jerry's factory while in VT.

 

[Rod69]

Hey Kevin and Mary looks like your having a great time. Keep up with the Pics and be safe riding. Were enjoying your ride.

 

[ride3]

Thanks for sharing!! Excellent trip so far. ThumbUp

 

[DK Custom Products]

Had a great ride today. Lots of stops. No time to do a report tonite. Probably will have time tomorrow nite.

Kevin

 

[slick rick]

Your right Kevin ,, not what we think of when thinking of New York ,,great pics ,,,,,be safe ThumbUp

 

[DK Custom Products]

Don't forget the Ben and Jerry's factory while in VT.

Up in Maine right now, may be passing back thru VT.

Hey Kevin and Mary looks like your having a great time. Keep up with the Pics and be safe riding. Were enjoying your ride.

We're have a great time, for sure, glad you're enjoying...more coming.

Thanks for sharing!! Excellent trip so far. ThumbUp

Thank you!

Your right Kevin ,, not what we think of when thinking of New York ,,great pics ,,,,,be safe ThumbUp

It's amazing how many trees there are up here! We've be successful in staying away from the big cities so far!

 

[DK Custom Products]

We left out of Vermont (just outside of Burlington) headed for Fryeburg, Maine.

It was overcast most of the morning...

....Mary has taken at least 50 pics trying to get the Ride Free patch AND some color in the background...both focused....but it just does not seem possible....here's the best one so far. Both of those patches have been on this vest since 2004 or 2005, back when we got our first bagger, a Road King Custom.

Before we knew it we were crossing into New Hampshire. It was still overcast....

....But it cleared up soon after. There must be a million trees for every one person!

We took steamers advice and headed up MT. Washington. What a great experience, and fantastic views!

About halfway up we rode into the clouds...

When we reached the top we were above most of the clouds and it was pretty much blue skies. 6288 feet.

Headed back down, back through the clouds, gives a bit of an idea of the road, hairpin curves AND lack of any guards beside the edge of the road and thousands of feet drop.

Mary is a trooper, after we were at the top, she told me she was afraid of the edge...I asked her why she didn't tell me so I could stop. She said, "I did not want you to stop, I wanted you to get to the top as quickly as possible."

On the way down she told me she was used to it now, no longer afraid.

Getting below the cloud layer, and back into some amazing colors!

Back on the road toward Fryeburg. Seemingly endless hills of color!

Back awhile ago I started a thread on using GPS for the first time in my life. Here's the link to that thread-

http://www.triketalk.com/forum/thre...ekend-am-digging-the-GPS?highlight=technology

I know I'm behind the times...but until 3 months ago I had never even seen a GPS in action...we have been using it this entire trip, and it has revolutionized our travel. For Mary it is SO MUCH easier, for myself as well. We just look at what town we want to hit/pass thru for the day and punch it in. No looking at maps, or directions while riding, no having to pull over for a missed turn to look at how to get back on track. Amazing.

Anyways...here we are headed toward Fryeburg, ended up staying at a nice motel right outside of North Conway.

More coming.

Kevin