After seeing my Givi T411 Voyager Saddlebags rub the paint job on the VFR and VStrom and the Two Brothers logo on the VStrom, I finally broke down and got a pair of Givi E36N cases. These cases are designed to be either top or side cases. With the addition of the Givi PL528, I will mount them as side cases. I found all three components (2 x E36N’s and 1 x PL528) for a bit of a discounted price compared to most websites. A company out of Southern Georgia called RL Motorcycles has a website dedicated to Motorcycle accessories. The cases and PL528 were a bit under typical MSRP and shipping is a flat $9.95 per order! Continue reading »
Tamara and I decided to take a motorcycle ride over Labor Day weekend. I had planned two routes. The first route is shown at the bottom of the page, and involved Southwestern Colorado. The alternate was scenic, but had more straight roads and involved Four Corners and Northern Arizona. Although Tamara has not seen the Grand Canyon yet, I opted for the Colorado route.
Day 1: Friday Night in Cuba, NM
We left late on Friday, but managed to knock out about 90 miles. There were thunderstorms on the distant horizon, but we managed to steer clear of them. Northern Sandoval County had Flash Flood warnings, too. We stopped in Cuba, NM because it was getting sort of late (~10:30pm) and there were thunderstorms not too far in the direction we were heading. The next place to stop would have been another 90 miles to Bloomfield. We found a decent motel and called it a night. It was not a bad place, but I parked the bike in the room anyways. You can never be too safe I suppose.
Jul 072008
My parents came out Thursday night. They had a real tight connection between Atlanta and Albuquerque and barely made it themselves. Their checked luggage did not make it. So, we had to wait for the first Friday flight from Atlanta to bring the bags. This was nice, because we got to take them to Frontier to experience one of Albuquerque’s best restaurants. We also got to have a nice leisurely start to our weekend on Friday morning. We got the bags early Friday afternoon, and headed out at around 4:45pm.
Jun 252008
Tamara’s niece turned two over the weekend. This is the Jones family and they live in Roswell, NM. It is her sister and brother-in-law live there with their 4 children (3 girls and 1 boy). We took the opportunity to drive the VStrom on a longer trip and test out a few new toys.
- Our new BlueAnt Interphone bluetooth headsets that also have an intercom feature
- A homemade hardware mounting plate for my garage door opener, MP3 player
- New headphones for the both of us
- My old Escort 945i radar detector
We took a straight highway route to get there on Saturday morning. It was colder than expected, humid, foggy (in Vaughn), and a bit rainy. It took just a bit longer than usual because we took an extended gas break in Vaughn to let the weather pass over us a bit. The route we took home was the fun part.
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Jun 162008
Last week, I took delivery of my newest toy. It is a 2002 Suzuki VStrom (DL1000). My Dad sold it to me after upgrading to a 2003 FJR1300.
Late Sunday afternoon, Tamara and I decided to head up to the Jemez to check out some of the natural springs. The route was a pretty simple 125 miles and about 3 hours of driving time through the beautiful Southern section of the Jemez National Forest.
NM-4 is the road that winds up through the Jemez. It starts out as wide sweepers through the Jemez Pueblo. The first stop was just north of the Pueblo at a neat picnic area with these gigantic red rock formations.
840 Miles of Southwest Fun!
It all started out with replacing a REALLY bent inner fork tube for the VFR. Check it out… <sarcasm>Can you see where it is bent? I’m not sure that it is pronounced enough.</sarcasm>
Tamara and I fixed the bike up together and went on a ride to Western NM and Eastern AZ over the Memorial Day weekend holiday. Check out the photos here: Memorial Day Weekend Ride.
Day 1 (Friday): 80 miles to Socorro
We left after work around 6:15pm and headed to Socorro. The wind was a bit high and we were heading into it. The one hour drive to Socorro couldn’t go by fast enough! An annoying start to the ride. We stayed at a Howard Johnson that was strategically placed across the street from Socorro Springs Brewery. They have the best beer and pizza in the Southwest! This would be our only stay in a hotel, too. Continue reading »