I rode my Vision to Colorado

 

A Narrative in 13 chapters by Don_Vanecek

 

 

Chapter One, Pre-preparation!

 

It was Thursday June 14, 2007, only one more day before I would jump on my 1982 Yamaha XZ550 Vision motorcycle and ride to Colorado.  There I would meet for the first time in the 23 years I have owned this “unique” Yamaha motorcycle-I would meet and ride with other people who own and ride this same bike. This trip had been over a year in planning and was to commemorate the 25th anniversary of this motorcycle.

 

I had spent a fair amount of blood and money getting ready for this trip. I purchased protective clothing, tires, a luggage rack, a brake line, brake shoes, a seat, a battery and a voltmeter. I completed several repairs and updates including taking my flywheel off, moving my voltage regulator, changing wire connectors, steering head bearings and patching my gas tank. I also worked numerous hours at my second job where I deliver Pizza, saving a buck here and a buck there for many months in order to bank roll this adventure.   

 

And now I was going to drive 600 hundred plus miles and meet up with a dozen or so people that I have only met on the internet, DOES THIS SOUND A BIT CRAZY?????

 

This picture shows where I took my flywheel off as part of the preparation for this trip.     

http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s279/dadsvision/DadsPictures4-20-07068.jpg

 

 

Chapter Two, “Surprise Visit!”

 

There is sort of a club on the Internet that is called “Riders of Vision” (ROV for short). It has no formal dues, no particular rules, just that you have an interest in the 1982-1983 Yamaha Vision motorcycle. Actually the Riders of Vision started as a quarterly newsletter way back in the mid 1980’s. I was a member myself back in those old pre-internet days. The modern Internet club would appear to have over eight hundred members. How many of them actually have a working “Vision” has never been determined. However to myself and many other Vision riders, the ROV web site is “home, friends, advice and humor”. My own 1982 Vision would most likely be in a junkyard by now if it were not for the extensive information available on the ROV web site. 

 

I had posted on the ROV web site that I would love to get together with other ROV members going to Colorado, but sadly no one east of the Missouri River was able to come to Colorado for this get together. But just a few days before the event an ROV member from Canada named Kenny posted that he had just arranged the time off and was coming my way. On the evening of the 14th he called me that he was now west of Des Moines, IA and did I still want someone to ride with?

 

You bet I did!  “Come on over” I said, “the guest room will be ready for you!”  What a nice surprise!

 

Chapter Three, “No Gas!”

 

After showing Kenny my garden on Friday morning and giving him a taste of my fresh off the vine sugar snap peas, we proceeded to motor west. At this time we were still in my territory and doing the kind of riding I was used to, straight down the highway-so I led us at this time. We had a very nice ride that day across Nebraska on the Lincoln highway and ended the day at a motel in Ogallala, NE.

 

http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s279/dadsvision/DadsPictures7-04-07020.jpg

 

Saturday morning we left about seven or so and hoped to make it to Robert Grover’s (known on the ROV web site as H2O) home in Fort Collins, CO by late morning.

 

Well there’s the old saying something about how the best laid plans of mice and men don’t always work out! After coming off about 80 miles or so of blasting down the interstate at 75 mph with a lot of wind, we came to the town of Sterling, CO. We were going to gas up but came to one of those unmanned credit card only gas stations. As I was on a “cash only” basis, we left that station but then found a couple of “wide load” semi’s coming our way so I suggested to Kenny we find a gas station further down the road. Well gee, I figured; I should be good for another 50-60 miles!

 

Big mistake! The next two towns had no gas stations and that 80-mile blast down the interstate ate up a lot more gas then I figured. At 122 miles on my trip odometer, I ran flat out of gas! Kenny was also on his reserve tank and we had no idea where the next town or gas station was. Nicely, a couple on another motorcycle stopped to see what our problem was and they then escorted Kenny down the road just in case he also ran out.

 

Meanwhile I sat there on the side of the thinking “what a fool I was”! To add further insult to injury the two “wide load” semis’ soon came roaring on by me. We were now going to be late getting to Robert’s house and he’ll have to leave without us. Oh to be sitting on the side of a road in the middle of nowhere with a bike out of gas!

 

Then to my utter amazement, four middle-aged guys, each one on a late model Yamaha FJR loaded down with baggage stopped to help me! By the way these bikes did not have Colorado plates.  One of them proceeded to siphon gas from his tank for me (yeah, he carried a siphon line); I tell you this is ALL TRUE!  Kenny however appeared with a gas can before the FJR group left, talked with em a few minutes, and then they disappeared down the road. Incredible! Kenny, tell them I didn’t make this up, you saw them didn’t you???

 

Even more incredible was a little one pump open gas station just about two miles down the road.

 

Chapter Four, Accommodations.

 

The rest of the way to Fort Collins went smoothly but once in the town both our temperature gauges headed for the hot side of the fence. Thank goodness our bikes did not also vapor lock. Robert says his bike seems to always run hot in his town so he has a manual fan switch on his bike. My fan came on for the first time in almost two years. I almost rear ended Kenny when he suddenly realized he had just missed the turn for Robert’s Street.

 

It turned out Robert had not left without us but had taken his parents to the hospital. He would not be coming up to Winter Park till real late so while our bikes cooled off he gave us directions and we got acquainted.

 

We were now on State highway 14 heading into the hills on our way to Walden, CO. Boy were things starting to get pretty! This road follows a river for many miles and we saw several people rafting the river. This road was also getting rather twisty and Kenny soon passed me for two reasons. First I wasn’t very good on the twisty roads and second, I was driving him crazy as I had my foot on my rear brake just enough that my brake light was on almost all the time-more on both of these problems later.

 

We had a really nice lunch in Walden and then headed down highway 125 to highway 40 and to the condo in Winter Park. By this time in the trip the back of my neck, right at the level of my shoulders was really starting to bother me. This would be a problem for me all the rest of the trip. The ride from Walden is rather boring for 20-30 miles then you start to get into the mountains again and the ride is real pretty. I’m not real sure of the time we got to Winter Park but it was in time for the real estate office to still be open so I paid my rent share and got a key. Lucky for Kenny and I that Glenn was in the room, I’m not sure if the key they gave me fit anything in the building.

 

Let me tell you I don’t see how Robert could have done any better on the accommodations. Our unit was just right for a bunch of guys with five separate sleeping locations and three baths. Perhaps the greatest asset he had found with this condo building was the underground parking. Think of this parking facility as sort of the town “community” center. A place we could gather, talk about and work on the bikes, start and end rides from, and all this in our own semi private huge covered garage! The accommodations were great!

 

At the intersection of highway 40 and 125 in Colorado. 

http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s279/dadsvision/DadsPictures7-04-07022.jpg

This rider is getting ready to change his stator in the basement parking garage.

http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s279/dadsvision/colorado5.jpg

 

 

Chapter Five, First Ride 

 

As of Sunday morning there were six Visions’ but Robert was going to have to drive back to his home that day. It was suggested we ride up to Rocky Mountain National Park and back. This sounded like a great idea to me, I haven’t been in the park since my then new wife and I went there in the summer of 1974 in my 1963 Ford Fairlane. That old Ford had a big 221 cu in V8 (about 3.6 liters) motor, a three-speed transmission, a radio and new E70-14 belted Tiger Paw tires, what a set up!

 

We sort of had our first scare as Glenn went down the road with his side stand fully extended (obviously he’s cut the wires so to speak). Rode that way for about two miles until Kenny was finally able to catch up to him. Certainly not something we will advise anyone to attempt, but as Kenny tried to tell him about it, Glenn leaned over just far enough that he popped the stand right on up with out it giving him any problems.

 

Since it was Sunday, traffic on the roads were busy and when we got to the alpine station it was a good thing we were not in five separate cars, I don’t know where we would have parked them, the place was packed! It is sure a pretty ride though the park, I would come up here again later in the week. Umm- a trend I had already noticed riding with Kenny, I cannot keep up with these guys and my neck is now killing me after only about 30 minutes of riding!

 

The group that road to Rocky Mountain National Park on Sunday. http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s279/dadsvision/DadsPictures7-04-07024.jpg

 

 

Chapter Six, The Gangs all here!

 

As the five of us came back from Rocky Mountain National Park, the Vision population had almost doubled with a few more still on the roads.

 

At this point I will try to say a little bit about the other Riders of Vision members that made it to Winter Park. Sorry that I don’t remember some of your real names.

 

I of course first met Kenny from Canada. Let me tell you he has perhaps the nicest 1983 Canadian Vision you will ever see, and he is also an excellent motorcyclist. Kenny I sure enjoyed the day I had you all to myself-wish you could have stayed longer in Colorado!

 

Next is what I will term the kids, namely Rex, Inanecathode (we also called him Shaggy) and Kwells. All nice young man. I do have to mention that Kwells is one hot rider!

 

H2O, or Robert, was sure an honor to meet. I have always enjoyed his forum posts. He sure knows his Vision’s and has a really nice silver/gray 1982 that will soon be an 82 in title only. Robert, I think you and I would see a lot of each other if only you didn’t live 600 miles away!

 

QBS and his wife trailed their lovely original 1983 Vision all the way from Texas. You won’t know that they have over 80,000 miles on that V. They were the only couple that went two up on all the group rides and don’t think for one minute that this meant they were the slowest bike (that honor was mine!), they were also excellent motorcyclists!

 

Now we come to the group from California. First is Glenn, who drove to Colorado in his very nice toolbox on wheels (his Chevy Van). Need to fix something-he had the tool and more! He also brought a back up bike with him but his battleship gray primer Vision never let him down all week.

 

The McCoy family trucked in two Visions’, two Vision drivers, two wives and two cute little kids. It was really hard not to sit and stare at Ron McCoy’s lovely blue 1982 Vision. He has done a lot of interesting improvements to his V. Ron and Visionless by the way are a father and son team. I sure enjoyed my time with the “McCoy’s” later in the week when we rode the George Town train.

 

Supervision had his nice bike in the back of his pickup. Thank you for taking me to the grocery store, I hope you enjoyed the meals I made.

 

Now we come to the Californian’s that rode their bikes to Colorado! VisionMeister who came by himself and the two brothers Vic and Chet. Chet rode the only non-Vision, a very nice Honda 650 Nighthawk. All three very nice guys and excellent riders!

 

Having all these Vision experts together sure was nice. Robert and I both changed our spark plug wires and caps on Monday night. It was nice to have some experts around who know how to do this somewhat minor operation.

 

Considering I had only met this group of people on the Internet, what a great bunch of people they all turned out to be. Sure wish they didn’t live so darned far away!

 

 

Chapter Seven “Into the Mountains!”

 

Monday and Tuesday we had our largest group rides. Robert has posted most of the locations; it’s mostly a blur to me. Here’s a few items I remember, mountains, valleys, a valley with a railroad track running though it, streams, pine trees, no pine trees, snow, geez it was neat!  I want to stop, look, smell, what are these guys in such a hurry for???

 

I also remember up hill turns, down hill turns, turns that never seem to stop turning, narrow two lane roads, sometimes with step drop offs, and you had to keep moving as there is no shoulder and very few places to park. Let’s also not forget that my neck was now in pain after only about 30 minutes of riding. I was riding road types that I have never really ridden before. I will add a caution here that I would not want to see new rider of these roads. They really test your abilities to shift, brake, lean, balance, counter steer, etc. I quickly learned that in spite of my 25 plus years of riding I was almost a novice on these mountain roads. I sometimes found them more scary then fun. I would definitely want some professional instruction and practice before doing these kinds of roads again. But gawd it was beautiful up here!

 

One piece of road I really did not like was the couple of times we were on I-70. The road was always busy and you would find a lot of speed differences among the different vehicle types that were on it. It was also one of the places where you really noticed the lost power of the Vision at altitude. You would get your speed up to 65-70 to go around some someone, shift back to 5th, and then find yourself loosing speed-you often had to downshift again if you wanted to maintain a certain speed. I also believe most everyone had to turn their idle screws up a few turns. The bikes also started a little harder. When I got back to the lowlands I had to readjust my idle down from almost 2300 rpm. I believe the altitude at the condo was about 8500 feet and we often rode at 9-11 thousand feet. Now don’t think the Vision didn’t still have good power-you were still as fast or faster then the traffic around you, but I had to use lower gears and more rpm’s in the mountains then I do at the 1000 foot elevation I live at in Nebraska. 

 

Another question you may ask is was there a lot of differences in the performance of the different Visions? In my opinion, very little. If one Vision was faster then another it was primarily because the other rider twisted his throttle first and kept on his throttle longer. Rex and I tried to do a little unscientific acceleration testing during the Tuesday ride. It appeared the bikes were very equal-whoever twisted his throttle first was always in the lead with the tail bike maintaining the same rate of acceleration as the lead bike. I was sure pleased after hitting about 90 mph during one of these tests that I had no front end wobbles. A year ago I had changed to the tapered bearings and still had a front end shake. It appears I finally have them tightened correctly.

 

Now some of the Visions had nice sticky sport tires (not mine, Dunlap 404’s, pretty much a universal tire) and 1983 front ends. Some had custom after market rear shocks. Again I think rider ability was more significant in the twisty stuff then how a bike was set up. But if I ever did this again I would have the stickiest set of tires I could buy! Any edge would have been welcome on these roads. So keep this in mind the next time your Vision needs new rubber.

 

I do want to thank Robert for being the good host and always riding caboose on the group rides. Robert, I was always glad to see you in my mirror.

 

Back at the condo I cooked Pizza’s that I made from scratch. I did have one problem however in that margarine does not work well for greasing your pan; it tends to burn your crust!

 

The group at Loveland pass in Colorado. 

http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s279/dadsvision/DadsPictures7-04-07045.jpg

 

 

Chapter Eight, “Choo Choo Train”

 

Wednesday was sort of a split up day. Robert and I rode our Visions over Berthoud pass (I know I did Berthoud pass at least three or four times that week) in order to reach Georgetown. There were some parts of Berthoud pass that always bothered me as it had several tight turns where the asphalt had a washboard texture to the road surface. It always worried me as to what the rear end of the bike was going to do on these choppy corners while leaned over. Perhaps this is one of the situations where an 83 rear shock or an after market unit is prized. Bye the way I found that even in 5th gear the Vision has very good engine braking. Perhaps it was my conservative riding style but I rarely had to hold my brakes on for long periods of time with this good engine braking (I know, my brake light was always on, it’s just the way my foot fits over the brake pedal).

 

We met the McCoy family (who came in the family van) at the Georgetown Loop Narrow gauge railroad station. Although it was a Wednesday and still somewhat in the off-season, we had to wait well over an hour to ride the train. But what the heck, the weather was nice and the view was terrific! Robert and I sure enjoyed a chance to get to know the McCoy family, father, son, wives and their two girls. The little girls made me a bit melancholy for my own grandchildren that are so much fun to spend time with.

 

Although this train is basically just a tourist attraction (it only goes three miles up and three miles back) it was built on the original right of way that existed before WWII.   It uses a steam engine built in the 1920’s and originally sent to Hawaii. It is fascinating to watch one these in action. It was interesting to see how often the engine needed to stop and transfer water. It didn’t travel very fast and I was told these types of trains never went much faster then 10-15 mph. The original line which came up from Denver about the turn of the century never really did haul much mining material as the mines played out-but I was told by the conductor that it became quite a day ride for many years until automobile travel advanced and the line could no longer make a profit. What a neat ride I’ll bet that was in the early 1900’s. The steam engine puffing smoke and blowing steam, you never went very fast and you were constantly stopping (at least on the way up) for water and fuel. I’ll bet the mountains were really pretty and very wild yet. What a day outing I’ll bet that was!

 

Back over Berthoud pass again. That night I made Runza’s. Basically bread dough stuffed with hamburger, onions, cheese and sauerkraut. Thank you Kwell’s for helping me make them.

 

Here I am at Berthoup Pass. 

http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s279/dadsvision/DadsPictures7-04-07057.jpg

The engine coming into the station.

http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s279/dadsvision/DadsPictures7-04-07068.jpg

Navy Seabees rebuilt this overpass, the original torn down before WW2.

http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s279/dadsvision/DadsPictures7-04-07065.jpg

They do not have a turntable so this is why the engine is not facing forward on the return trip.  

http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s279/dadsvision/DadsPictures7-04-07090.jpg

 

 

Chapter Nine,” Solidarity”.

 

Can you believe it is Thursday already, where has this week gone? Some of the group was going to climb Mt. Evans and go to some other locations. I decided to go back to Rocky Mountain National Park. This time I would go by myself. I wanted to ride at my own pace, stop whenever and wherever I wanted. I was also hoping to get some good pictures. Well I already said it in chapter seven, you just can’t stop any place you want on two lane roads with no shoulders and constant traffic-but I did get some nice pictures.

 

On the way up I took a side trip in Grandby exploring some of the towns’ side roads. For those of you who didn’t make it off the main highways let me tell you there are some incredible home built and being built in that area. I had earlier ridden some of the back roads in Winter Park-again a lot of construction and gorges homes. Perhaps it is the geographer (my college major) in me that makes me wonder these things but where do the people work that are buying these expensive homes? Other then lots of restaurants and specialty shops I didn’t see any industry up in the mountains. What is supporting all this building? If you know the answers let me know.

 

I then stopped at Lake Grandby and talked to a family fishing for a few minutes. There is another neat lake on the way to the park but it’s all surrounded by million-dollar homes and I didn’t see any public access. I then proceeded up to the Alpine Station, stopping when I could to take pictures. I thoroughly enjoyed my day of solitude.

 

That night almost all of us had a real nice dinner at a place in town called Hernando’s. Great food, great place, great company!

 

A home in Winter Park next to a mountain stream.

http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s279/dadsvision/DadsPictures7-04-07052.jpg

In Rocky Mountain National Park

http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s279/dadsvision/DadsPictures7-04-07099.jpg

I just love this picture, but I don’t know why the guy is not taking a picture of that unique motorcycle next to him!

http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s279/dadsvision/DadsPictures7-04-07101.jpg

High up in the Park.

http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s279/dadsvision/DadsPictures7-04-07104.jpg

 

 

 

Chapter Ten, “The Higher You Go.”

 

Well unbeknown to me till I returned from Rocky Mountain National Park, the other riders did not climb Mt. Evan’s on Thursday due to Ron McCoy’s need for a stator change. So this was now going to be our Friday ride.

 

Here we go over Berthoud pass again then onto wonderful I-70 for a few miles. The road to Mt. Evans is about 13 miles long and climbs to 14,270 feet. It is strictly a tourist ride and has no towns or shops on it. It is black topped but that’s about it, narrow, no shoulders, few places to get off the road, and lots of twists and turns, all for the price of just a few bucks. I couldn’t believe the people on bicycles that were going up to the top; maybe I could have done that 30 years ago but not now!

 

This is another road I would not want to see a new motorcycle rider on. And you better give this road your full concentration-no looking off to the sides. It does give you a thrill! My thrill pocket was rather full by now and at the eight-mile point I seriously thought about turning around. When Robert posts his video of this ride you will see that he eventually catches up to me-and there’s that brake light on most of the time. We did adjust the switch but in a tense situation my foot pushes just enough on the pedal–as the video will show-to keep the light on.  Oh well.

 

Wow, what view it was from the top! We did not have a very clear day-and got spit on a time or two-but it was still really cool. I really do mean cool, my guess is the temperature at the top was in the mid to upper thirties. I wish I had packed a small stocking cap to wear when my helmet was off. Regardless, I was quite happy with my riding outfit for this trip. I have an HJC model CL-14 helmet (perhaps not the lightest or quietist-but still very nice) a Power Trip, mostly textile jacket, and Joe Rocket Alter Ego textile pants. I do not yet have real riding boots-just a nice pair of cowboy boots, and just lightly lined leather gloves. I did wear a sweatshirt on some of the colder rides but otherwise I was quite comfortable in hot or cold. I brought liners for the jacket and pants, plus a rain suit but I never used them. I also had earplugs that I bought at a music store. These turned out to be quite nice, easy to apply, durable and well worth the extra cost.

 

For lunch that day we had buffalo burgers at a café in Idaho springs and for our final group meal Friday night, I made a pot of spaghetti that really turned out nice!

 

The sign to Mt. Evans. 

http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s279/dadsvision/DadsPictures7-04-07121.jpg

The other four riders in the group.

http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s279/dadsvision/DadsPictures7-04-07110.jpg

Still a few miles from the top, I seriously considered turning around at this point. http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s279/dadsvision/DadsPictures7-04-07113.jpg

Here I am, just a short distance from the top.

http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s279/dadsvision/colorado4.jpg

Here is Robert behind me.

http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s279/dadsvision/colorado3.jpg

At the top, taking my earplugs out.

http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s279/dadsvision/colorado2.jpg

All of us except for Robert (who is taking the picture).

http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s279/dadsvision/colorado1.jpg

 

 

Chapter Eleven, “Good Byes”.

 

Well the first person to leave was Kenny. We were all flabbergasted that he would come all this way and stay only one day. But it was all the time he had off from his job and even though he rode over 4000 miles, if you could have seen his Vision you would have done the same thing! His bike was very functional, starting with it being a true 1983, to the custom seat, hard luggage, exhaust system and GPS. That is one fine bike he has!

 

QBS and his wife were the next to leave on Thursday morning. What a delightful couple and they had the only other true ’83 Vision in the group.

 

At this point let me share that I sure wish I had taken individual pictures of everyone and their bikes-too late now!

 

Glenn, VisionMeister and Supervision all left on Friday morning-all three back to California. Inanecathode and Kwell’s sort of came and went, then came back again as they both lived in the area. Rex stayed the entire week but the tractor (the name given to Robert’s second vision) did not work the entire week. We were all a little worried about Vic’s brother Chet as his rear tire was about shot, but he made it back to California just fine.

 

Just as only five bikes made the first ride on Sunday, we were down to only five bikes for the final ride on Friday to Mt. Evans (Kwells, father and son McCoy, Robert and I).

 

Farewell good friends-gee the week sure went fast!

 

Chapter 12, “The Long Ride Home!”

 

Oh boy, Saturday morning, the 25th anniversary ride week is now history, and I now face the longest one day motorcycle ride I have ever taken. I needed to get from the condo in Winter Park to my sister-in-laws house in Kearney, NE, perhaps about 500 miles or so. I would go north to Grandby, Walden and then to Laramie, Wyoming. From that point I could either take I-80 or US 30 all the way to Kearney, NE.

 

I really enjoyed my first 100 miles or so and stopped a few times to take pictures. I knew once I got to Cheyenne, WY there would be no more forests or mountains. Things went pretty nice till I got to Laramie, WY where I finally got hit with a bad case of vapor lock! Seemed like it took forever to get the bike going again. After that incident for the rest of the trip whenever I had to slow down for a town I put my petcock to prime. I don’t know if this trick really works but I never had vapor lock again.

 

Finally running again I gassed up and hopped on to I-80 and headed for Cheyenne. Having never ridden this section of road before I had no idea I would end up going over another pass! I don’t think this pass was as high as the one’s I went over in Colorado but geez it was windy. It was not an enjoyable 46 miles and my neck was killing me! That was all the interstate I was going to drive on that day as I had to be able to stop every hour or so due to my neck pain and you can’t count on doing that on a limited access interstate.  So off I-80 in Cheyenne and onto the Lincoln Highway again (US 30).

 

Once I reached NE, just as I hoped, there were little towns about every 20-30 miles or so and most had working gas stations. So I was gassing up every 50-60 miles or so just to get off the bike for a few minutes. You can guess that this really added time to my trip. By the way now that I had descended many thousands of feet of elevation-the Vision was running great and I was back to full power! Finally eleven hours from when I left Winter Park I reached my sister-in-laws home in Kearney. Whew, what a day it had been.

 

Sunday morning I went to early church with my brother-in-law and then we had breakfast at a Perkins. I was back on the road about 10:30 but I wasn’t quite going home yet. Turns out my daughter by Lincoln, NE was having a birthday party, so that sort of split up Sunday’s 200 miles.

 

After the party I could sure tell my body was adjusted to speed by now. As I took I-80 from Lincoln to Omaha I was now passing everyone I caught up with. I was now on a mission to get home and was taking no prisoners. I just hoped I didn’t get a ticket!

 

I still had Monday off from the office, which gave me a chance to catch up on my mowing and weeding. Yuk, back to work on Tuesday!

 

Here is how I carried my luggage on the ride home.   

http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s279/dadsvision/DadsPictures7-04-07127.jpg

One last picture in the mountains.

http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s279/dadsvision/DadsPictures7-04-07125.jpg

 

 

Chapter 12, “Clicky, Ticky”.

 

The 25th anniversary ride is now over two months old as I finish writing this out. My Vision seems to run better then ever but it is getting very “clicky, ticky”. I think it is time to look into a valve adjustment, oh boy, another new Vision maintenance item to learn! I also need to redo my gas tank; my old Kreem job is getting very flaky.  I can tell my tires are no longer new, but they still have a lot of good rubber yet on them, to bad, I will not go with these tires next time I need to purchase new ones.

 

For those of you new to the Vision, I found it a perfectly acceptable ride for long distance travel. Now speaking for myself, I did not enjoy extended times above 70 or so mph. Not so much that the bike won’t handle it, but I didn’t like the very intense level of concentration you must maintain at those high speeds. The problem with the pain in my neck was sure frustrating. I don’t recall any of the other long distance riders having the same problem. I found some information on this on the Internet and it is a combination of many things, riding position, helmet, wind, who knows!  I guess if I ever get to go on a trip like this again I better trailer the bike-geez, who wants to do that?

 

Last year I went to Minnesota on a 677-mile trip and got 47 mpg. On this trip I did over 2100 miles and got less then 42 mpg. These are not guesses; I kept a log of ALL my refills. I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised at the lower figures, I would guess that on the average I drove at least 5 mph faster for the whole trip then I did last year and there was about 700 miles in the mountains. By the way, gas was about $3.43 at that time in the mountains.

 

What an experience this was, hope all the rest of you get to do something like this at least once in your own lifetime! For those of you who were there, I hope my story brings back some memories, for those of you who didn’t come, I hope you enjoy my narrative of this event.

 

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!

 

Here is my Vision and a classic older Yamaha at the July VJMC meeting in Omaha, NE.   

http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s279/dadsvision/DadsPictures8-12-07082.jpg