Rockey Mountain HOG Rally

[FuzzyWuzHe]

i was recently contacted by a member here asking if I was going to go. To be honest, I didn't know anything about it. Looked into it and we set up a meeting today. I've never met a TT Member I didn't like, and that includes Bob (V4bob49). When I got to the rally location Bob came down ands we talked trikes and lots of other stuff. His lovely wife was taking a shower so we had a little time before he went and gathered her up and brought his trike down. Bob has a 2015 White and Blue Tri that he's had some custom paint done to. If you would of told me a white and Blue tri with purple ish "smoke" or flames. I wouldn't't of thought that would look good. But it is very well done and they've had the painter add some purple flake to the blue, so, depending on how the sun hits it, it might look blue or might look purple. Here's a pic, hope he doesn't mind I post it ... ... but I really like the look.



So after awhile he went and got his wife and trike. He was having some weird issues with his trike. All of them sounded like electrical oddities to me and a couple of them resembled a series of issues that turned out to be a loose fuse for the radio on my 14 Limited. Apparently it was causing electrical fluctuation the can bus didn't like. Anyway, he checked the fuses and sure enough, the radio fuse was loose. We decided to go for a ride and see if we could find my hotel and see if his trike still had the issue.

I don't know if anyone has been to Colorado "SKI" towns, but, they have lots of ordinances that minimize the size of signs. Makes the town look quaint, but, hard to find stuff. Even the trikes GPS couldn't find the address and we ended up going East on I70, then coming back at the next exit.

I finally pulled into a Wendy's and we had lunch and talked. His trike did not have any of the issues it was having, so maybe it was the simple thing.

After lunch, Bob and his wife headed back to their hotel and I went on the search for mine again. Turned out I was about 4 doors down from it when we ate. LOL

Next I realized that Gary (GoSlo) had called while we were riding, so I called him and we agreed to meet back at the rally. He came down to the parking lot and took me up to where his buddies were. Nice guys. Today was the meet and greet day and they had beer, burgers and dogs for sale. Since I just ate, I just yakked with Gary for a bit. They were getting ready for something called "the drunken tricycle games". Apparently they have some bigger rental tricycles and they race through a obstacle course and get these guys that are a little tipsy to do fun stuff. Sounded like fun, but, I wanted to get to my room before dark, so we said our goodbyes and I headed out. Picked up some chicken at KFC, filled the trike and headed to my room.

On a side note, the Fat Bottom Girl ran great, cool and fairly quiet. From Grand Junction to Eagle, about 120 miles, I got 35.78 mpg at 75 mph. I'm Jazzed. From Eagle to Breckenridge and the days riding, about, 110 miles, I got 38.74 mpg. This was mostly at 65 mph, but, climbing over the Rockies. All in all, I'm pretty happy with my tuning.

Heading home in the morning, want to get back before all the heat.

[FuzzyWuzHe]

Okay ... so as is my norm, I woke at 4:15. Made coffee, starting gathering my "stuff" getting ready to head home as soon as it was warm enough ... LOL ... Frisco, Co is dead in the middle of a "dip" in the Rockies. The elevation is 9,097 feet ... so mornings this time of year can be chilly. Couple that with the fact my first 30-40 minutes after leaving Frisco would be up and over Vail pass, elevation, 10,662 feet and getting a little extra "Sun" up is a good thing.

So I did the morning "two S routine", drank coffee, loaded up the trike and turned on Fox News. The temp outside was 52* so not as bad as I thought. But I still wanted the sun up so I could see "critters" in the mountains. (As it was I had to do a fairly quick stop from 65 mph to avoid Mr. Elk bouncing across the highway).

All of a sudden, I was assaulted by pretty loud rap music (I think it was rap, could of been anything, I have no idea what "music" is called now a days). This is like 6am. I look out the window and there is three or four road construction trucks in the lot and one of them is "really cranking out the tunes". There where probably 10-12 guys "dancing" around the truck.

I called the front Desk to see if I needed to check out or if i could just leave the keys in the room. The gal said, "Sir, you really need to turn down the radio or TV, it's early." I told her the music was coming from her parking lot, not my room. She said she was sorry and told me I could leave the keys in the room and I would receive a 10% discount for the inconvenience. I told her it just started and I was awake, and leaving anyway so that wasn't necessary. She told me I would still receive the discount, I thanked her and headed out.

So, armed with the electric gloves, jacket, and socks (what can I say, my old feet get cold), I headed up the mountain. As I mentioned before, I had a "panic stop" just short of the Vail summit to avoid an Elk. At the summit the temp as read by the PV was 38*, glad I had the electrics.

So i came down the other side and headed home. The trike was running really well. At Rifle, I was planning a fuel stop, but, I was only at a little over a half tank, half a 32 oz mug of coffee, and the old bladder was holding up, so I opted to keep going. Temp had risen to 70*, so i turned the electrics off.

Got home (into town) on the single tank of fuel, temp 80*, glad i left early. gonna be 95* today. Had to stop and fill, was dying to see if:

a) the fuel gauge was wrong ... had 3/8 of a tank left

b) was the PV calculating the correct mileage

c) was the trike calculating the range left right ... 77 miles left with 175 used

Okay, I know the PV reads info from the ECM and so the Harley range and PV mpg should be fairly close, except my map (tune) has an "adjustment" to help correct what the PV "reports".

Here's why I don't want anyone to pinch me ... I'm afraid I'll wake up.

Miles - 175

Gallons - 3.982

MPG 43.95 (actually 43.9478 ... I rounded)

When I got home I took a pic of the PV



Guess I need to "tweak" the adjustment a bit (probably not, there was about 5 miles from the fill to the house where I hit a little traffic). Trip A is the current tank, so it's about 0.5 mpg low ... ... Trip B is the mpg for the whole trip. I reset both when I fill to leave on a trip and just A when I fill until I get home.

I would saying my tuning is done ... ... I just hope it's not a dream (hence, don't pinch me). Must be noted, from Frisco to Avon, it's only 65 mph limit, and from Dotsero to after Glenn Wood Springs it varies from 50-65mph. The rest I did at 73 mph. Also its should be noted, once you start down from Vail summit, you pretty much go down in elevation from the 10,662 to the 4,586 feet above sea level.

I forgot to mention that while I was yakking with Gary (GoSlo), someone mentioned that they weren't sure the rally was gonna happen. Apparently Breckenridge had between 8-12" of snow the week before ... it was visible in the shady areas. Temp yesterday was 74* in the afternoon, so I was surprised to see snow left.

I did get some GoPro video (I think) that I'll try to post via you tube .. if I can remember how ... LOL. If it comes out, I hope to show some of the riding we have out here, just on I70 ... and that the Rockies still have a fair amount of snow.

Might even show some of the Texans what mountains look like ...

[ultrafxr]

Sounds like a good ride Fuzzy. The wife and I absolutely love Frisco and have been there several times. You weren't far from Mount Evans. Haven't done it on a trike yet but on a two wheeler it is a hoot - well I liked it but the wife didn't care much for it, lol.

Anyway that mileage can be deceiving as you know higher elevation results in increased mpg. I wouldn't expect to see anything like that near sea level. I don't typically like to run interstates but when I have the best mpg I've gotten at 70 mph was about 35 mpg. And with a headwind it has been as low at 27-28.

The tri-glide has the aerodynamics of a 4 x 8 sheet of plywood going down the road, lol.

[FuzzyWuzHe]

DeBeque Canyon



Glenn Wood Canyon



Vail Pass



Don't know if you can see it in all the videos, but, the winter here last year was brutal on the roads ... especially in the Rockies ... I think the Vail Pass video gives you a great idea how they are.

If all the snow in those mountains melts and finds it's way to the Colorado River, I70 just west of Grand Junction will be closed soon ....

The videos where done like all mine ... except I was listening to the audio book via a headset in my helmet.

[paws]

Videos were clear and sharp.. no real bad vibration/bump problems.

The tunnel on the Glenwood Canyon video was so long that I thought you were going to pop out in China!

[BillR]

Videos were clear and sharp.. no real bad vibration/bump problems.

The tunnel on the Glenwood Canyon video was so long that I thought you were going to pop out in China!

:59 seconds of tunnel and not once did you rev your engine. I thought it was an unwritten law to rev your engine in a tunnel.

[FuzzyWuzHe]

:59 seconds of tunnel and not once did you rev your engine. I thought it was an unwritten law to rev your engine in a tunnel.

I had it in cruise control ... besides ... with the E-series mufflers ... who'd hear it ...

[FuzzyWuzHe]

Videos were clear and sharp.. no real bad vibration/bump problems.

The tunnel on the Glenwood Canyon video was so long that I thought you were going to pop out in China!

Be grateful it wasn't Eisenhower tunnel ... it's like 3 times as long and angles up and down ... I'm not wild about that one ...

Did you guys notice that everyone was passing me ... and I was doing just under the speed limit.

[Zammy]

Thanks for posting the videos Fuzzy, really enjoyed them.

[v4bob49]

i was recently contacted by a member here asking if I was going to go. To be honest, I didn't know anything about it. Looked into it and we set up a meeting today. I've never met a TT Member I didn't like, and that includes Bob (V4bob49). When I got to the rally location Bob came down ands we talked trikes and lots of other stuff. His lovely wife was taking a shower so we had a little time before he went and gathered her up and brought his trike down. Bob has a 2015 White and Blue Tri that he's had some custom paint done to. If you would of told me a white and Blue tri with purple ish "smoke" or flames. I wouldn't't of thought that would look good. But it is very well done and they've had the painter add some purple flake to the blue, so, depending on how the sun hits it, it might look blue or might look purple. Here's a pic, hope he doesn't mind I post it ... ... but I really like the look.



So after awhile he went and got his wife and trike. He was having some weird issues with his trike. All of them sounded like electrical oddities to me and a couple of them resembled a series of issues that turned out to be a loose fuse for the radio on my 14 Limited. Apparently it was causing electrical fluctuation the can bus didn't like. Anyway, he checked the fuses and sure enough, the radio fuse was loose. We decided to go for a ride and see if we could find my hotel and see if his trike still had the issue.

I don't know if anyone has been to Colorado "SKI" towns, but, they have lots of ordinances that minimize the size of signs. Makes the town look quaint, but, hard to find stuff. Even the trikes GPS couldn't find the address and we ended up going East on I70, then coming back at the next exit.

I finally pulled into a Wendy's and we had lunch and talked. His trike did not have any of the issues it was having, so maybe it was the simple thing.

After lunch, Bob and his wife headed back to their hotel and I went on the search for mine again. Turned out I was about 4 doors down from it when we ate. LOL

Next I realized that Gary (GoSlo) had called while we were riding, so I called him and we agreed to meet back at the rally. He came down to the parking lot and took me up to where his buddies were. Nice guys. Today was the meet and greet day and they had beer, burgers and dogs for sale. Since I just ate, I just yakked with Gary for a bit. They were getting ready for something called "the drunken tricycle games". Apparently they have some bigger rental tricycles and they race through a obstacle course and get these guys that are a little tipsy to do fun stuff. Sounded like fun, but, I wanted to get to my room before dark, so we said our goodbyes and I headed out. Picked up some chicken at KFC, filled the trike and headed to my room.

On a side note, the Fat Bottom Girl ran great, cool and fairly quiet. From Grand Junction to Eagle, about 120 miles, I got 35.78 mpg at 75 mph. I'm Jazzed. From Eagle to Breckenridge and the days riding, about, 110 miles, I got 38.74 mpg. This was mostly at 65 mph, but, climbing over the Rockies. All in all, I'm pretty happy with my tuning.

Heading home in the morning, want to get back before all the heat.

It was great to meet up with you at Breck Alan! Had a good time chatting about trikes and bikes. And just other stuff in general. We had an awesome ride to Leadville on Friday. Very nice town, explored some of the shops there. And of course the wife had to buy a few things. :-) We took 24 west (actually north, but it is an east/west highway) up to I-70 and headed east over Vail pass back to Frisco. Had dinner at a nice little restaurant there and then back to Breck.

Saturday we took 9 south to Fairplay and then 285 northeast to Bailey to visit my cousin. He lives out in the "sticks" on a gravel/dirt road. Of course it rained a little just before we got there. Now the trike looks like I've been doing some off-roading! We are now at our daughter's house in Westminster. Going to stay here for a few days before heading back to Wisconsin. One of the Rally sponsors, Rocky Mtn. H-D in Littleton provided a voucher for a free bike wash. They're about 45 minutes from here so we might head down there tomorrow and cash in that voucher!

So after several hundred miles, the trike is running great. Fingers crossed/knock on wood! A big thanks for suggesting checking the fuses.

A thought about your GPS not finding your motel. If I remember correctly (which is questionable at times!) you said the address was for the street we were on but the route highlight just stopped. I always have the voice prompts on and I would be willing to bet that when the route highlight ended the GPS would have said: "you have reached your destination on the left." But of couse you couldn't see it from the street.

Just my thoughts based on experience with several different GPS models that I've used as a "professional tourist" for many years.

[FuzzyWuzHe]

A thought about your GPS not finding your motel. If I remember correctly (which is questionable at times!) you said the address was for the street we were on but the route highlight just stopped. I always have the voice prompts on and I would be willing to bet that when the route highlight ended the GPS would have said: "you have reached your destination on the left." But of couse you couldn't see it from the street.

Just my thoughts based on experience with several different GPS models that I've used as a "professional tourist" for many years.

It was great meeting you and your lovely wife too ... thanks for the idea about the prompts ... I came there from Junction with the helmet on with all outputs going to the the headset. When I took the helmet off I just switched the audio, not the prompts or comms ... so you are probably right. Funny thing, the hotel was just 4 doors down from the Wendy's we ate at ... LOL.

[GoSlo]

Next I realized that Gary (GoSlo) had called while we were riding, so I called him and we agreed to meet back at the rally. He came down to the parking lot and took me up to where his buddies were. Nice guys. Today was the meet and greet day and they had beer, burgers and dogs for sale. Since I just ate, I just yakked with Gary for a bit. They were getting ready for something called "the drunken tricycle games". Apparently they have some bigger rental tricycles and they race through a obstacle course and get these guys that are a little tipsy to do fun stuff. Sounded like fun, but, I wanted to get to my room before dark, so we said our goodbyes and I headed out. Picked up some chicken at KFC, filled the trike and headed to my room.

Alan, it was great to finally meet you in person and spend some time talking. May not have been the best venue to sit and talk with so many people and music blaring, but I think it worked out. Too bad you couldn't stick around for the whole rally, we had a great time. The riding was beautiful and the weather really cooperated. Saturday we rode to the top of Independence Pass and it was 64 degrees and no wind, which was a nice surprise. It was also pretty neat to see how much snow is still on the mountains. Being lucky enough to live out here and being able to ride the Rockies anytime you want is special and watching the smiles and reactions of people that haven't ridden in the Rockies before was fun. I think the most impressive thing we saw in our rides was the damage done by the avalanches this past winter. The one that crossed I-70 between Frisco and Copper Mountain and the one between Copper Mountain and Leadville really stood out because of the shear size of the path the avalanche cut through.

Glad we got to meet up and I'm sure we'll do it again.

.....Barry

[FuzzyWuzHe]

Glad we got to meet up and I'm sure we'll do it again.

.....Barry

Me too ... I always enjoy meeting people from this forum ... you were non exception ... ride safe my friend.