Where did you ride today?

I took off with a friend of mine, James, to Hurricane Ridge on the Olympic Peninsula yesterday. We'd just finished some rain storms, and the day was going to be good. Not too cold yet. Not nearly as hot as the summer was. And a promise of blue skies.

The route takes you through Port Gamble.
Kitsap Peninsula situated on the shores of scenic Hood Canal. Explore the 120-acre National Historic Landmark complete with picturesque, turn-of-the-century buildings filled with shops, an historic church, breathtaking views, expansive grounds and New England style houses on maple and elm tree-lined streets.
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And of course, the leaves are changing colour...and still mostly on the trees and not on the road in the corners.
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A nice part of riding to Hurricane Ridge, is the roads are in beautiful condition...a rarity nowadays.
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Lots of deer. That's how close the deer were to us. I walked right by some within a few feet of me.
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Mt. Olympus to the left.
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Hurricane Hill in the background.
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It was a good day, and with winter coming on, a day to treasure till next spring.

Chris
 
James and I took off for the North Cascades National Hwy again yesterday. We couldn't make it all the way over to Washington Pass. The Bomb Cyclones had dumped a lot of rain in the state, resulting in some rivers being over flood stage, and a mud slide over the highway.

Our first stop was at Newhalem, and the power plant there.

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Notice the black tree trunks on the hillside. A few years ago, a forest fire came right up to the edge of the town.

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These were taken on the trail behind the power plant.
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This is at the overlook.
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James, trying to scoot out of the pic. :D
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We rode over the top of the dam. That water looked to be moving at about 60 mph. If you look closely, you can see where there's actually an "empty" space behind the water because it is traveling so fast.
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It was a great day for riding and sharing good times.

Chris
 
Just a very short one today...

Veteran's Day and there be free meals to be found. So took off on the AK 550 in search of food offers.
Stopped in the parking lot of Texas Roadhouse to pick up a coupon for a complementary meal when they are open (not open when they were handing the coupons out). That one's good until Memorial Day.
Ordered a free combo meal at Taco John's using the phone app and picked that up while riding around.
The ride ended up being 20 miles taking the long way around town.

Tonight will go out with my wife to Applebees for one free dinner and a coupon for $5 off the next time we go. But won't likely ride since the temps are too cold for her and she hasn't gone riding on the passenger seat with me for more than 10 years.
 
Took off for a little 32 mile ride today after finishing up with getting lights put on 2 Christmas trees and some other holiday stuff.
This ride I was able to verify that the speedo on my AK is right at 5% offset from actual. I rode a stretch of highway that was 65 mph but I held it at 63 mph indicated on my speedo and timed a measured mile between a few mile markers using the analog clock that I displayed on the center phone connected panel of the dash. That showed it took exactly one minute to ride from one mile marker to the next. So 63 mph indicated is 60 mph actual. This is more accurate than other bikes I've had. Only my CTX1300 was dead on accurate with the speedo but all other bikes I've owned were between 9% and 11% offset. It's just good info to know.

Temps were a steady 47 F all the way around. I bought another Aquarium temp sensor since the one I have used in the past on my bikes was reassigned to show outside temps at home by running the little wire through the frame of a window where it opens. Since the AK 550 does not have a temp sensor for ambient air I like to have some indication what the temp is getting to when it's cold during a ride. And it also helps to verify the temp for the coldest ride game on the ST-Owners forum. Bike thermometers don't read below +14 F anyway and I ride much colder than that. This Aquarium/Terrarium thermometer reads from -58 F to +158 F so I'm not likely to see anything that cold for any of my rides.
 
Take 'em while I can get 'em.
Sunny and around 50+ F today so went for a 55 mile ride out on country roads.
I am now seeing a pattern where I put my feet on the AK 550 vs the Burgman 650. On the Burgman I felt most comfortable with my feet half on the slanted board and half on the level board. I never felt really comfortable with my feet only on the level foot board. My knees seemed to be sticking up too high and my leg/hip angle was too much for very long. It was a good alternate position but not for the long term. Just like the slanted foot board. That was enough of a reach on the Burgman I preferred that for a short term alternative.

But on the AK I'm feeling most comfortable with my feet fully on the level foot boards. In fact I'm finding my feet now just automatically go right to that position with my toes nestled in the notch at the front of the level boards. Moving my feet back or up on the slanted boards is a good alternate location when I feel the need to move around. In fact the slanted foot board is more comfortable than it was on my Burgman. Not as far away.

And have I said how much I like the sound coming out of the stock exhaust on this AK 550. Whether stopped and waiting for the light to turn green or accelerating or keeping a constant speed on the city streets or out on the county highways. I am tempted so often now to skip wearing my ear plugs just to hear the growl of this engine. This AK 550 does NOT sound like a scooter IMO.
 
Took a nice little jaunt last weekend up through central Mississippi. Did 425 miles of nothing but lovely back country roads exploring some potential camping sites at some local state parks. Found Paul B Johnson State Park. Ended up having lunch in Hattiesburg MS and then came home. I am further impressed by the capabilities of my bike each time I get on it!260324856_5361037917244705_8699388185017574377_n.jpg
 
Daboo said:
But if you don't take any pics, then you don't make the rest of us jealous that we weren't there. :D

Chris
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OK, Next time I ride in sub freezing temps and there's snow on both sides of the road except for the path wide enough for my 2 inline tires to run in I'll do my best to make you jealous that you aren't there.
 
He reached his goal of 300,000 miles on his ST and then quit riding........shame, always admired his riding ability.......Russ.(I could be wrong on why he quit)
 
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