So I fly out Friday night, flight delayed but got in to Phoenix by about 7 pm. Picked up at the airport by George (seller) and went out to his place to complete the transaction. It was already pretty much dark but I hit the road via 93 and stopped off in Wickenburg at about 10:00pm for the night and was promptly provided with this biker bag by the motel clerk.
Neat idea I thought. I guess the $89.00 per night excluding taxes must have been padded to include the bag-o-gifts. Gifts proudly displayed to the left; 2 bike rags (past their prime washcloths) a few assorted treats and a lovely mural. Speaking of which, check out them bandanas on those bikers. How did they know that I was a firm supporter of bandanas???
So I decided to take the southern route, or at least head due east toward Parker and then stay over in the Lake Havasu area. Beautiful weather by the way. Definitely t-shirt traveling. I brought along a Rattlebars kickshift that I bought used that arrived just before heading out. I mounted that puppy and got ready for Laughlin.
I ran up to Laughlin to check things out. As usual, the place was jumpin. Had a great steak sandwich from the Outback Steakhouse booth, a couple of cold ones, picked up the Laughlin t-shirt paraphanalia for the grandkids, daughter & son-in-law, and Nick and then made my way back down south to Havasu. It later dawned on me that this (Days Inn in Havasu) was the same place that Ratdog had set up as ground zero for the Valk Laughlin Gathering a few years back.
Laughlin
The next morning I head out taking a slightly different route and end up cutting through Oatman, Az. I believe this is along the old Route 66. Pretty cool road, not well maintained though. It was giving my new IS trunk and fairing a work out. Stopped off at Cool Springs for a cool drink. Nice setting and friendly folks.
Not the Oatman Road but interesting rock formations along the way.
I continue on toward the stretch on 93 leading to Hoover Dam.
The bridge is now connected. Still can't use it as the road to and from is not done but it was still nice to see this part done.
Got in a couple shots of the wildlife. Much bigger than we use to catch out in southern California back in the day...
To put things into perspective, I'm guessing these were approximately the size of your forearm, elbow to finger tips.
So I got up to Vegas and played with my grandkids, and spent time with the daughter for her pre birthday celebration. Nick got in about 6:00 am on Monday to spend time with his sis for her birthday.
Des (my daughter) had to go to work so I took Nick out for breakfast, helped him pick out some party decco's and I made my way back to Los Alamos.
The bike ran great. Much to my surprise I really appreciated and liked the radio. When I got across the New Mexico border I stopped off at a Loves Truck stop and bought an MP3 adapter cable and hooked that up to the accessory outlet and enjoyed my own tunes the rest of the trip. The bike has stock, un-molested pipes so it made me wonder how well it would work with something like Cobra 6 into 6's.
Another great surprise and newfound appreciation... I believe the first few tanks I was averaging 40 mpg!!!
Quite a bit different than my 27 avg mpg on my standard.
Other tanks on the return trip were challenged with head winds so I don't believe it hit the 40 range.
A great trip on what seems to be a great addition. Cobra floorboards were sitting on my porch waiting for me. I had bought a few other items, to include a throttle lock which didn't arrive until today. Turns out the bike had an un-advertised throttle lock already. Thank goodness, definitely helped with the trip.
I've definitely determined that my backside and the Ultimate Low Rider seat does not work. I was doing the southside shuffle much of the trip.
That's about it. 1,270 miles for a test ride and all seemed to go well, I think I'll take it!
Gary
