antmakka
Well-Known Member
Day 9, May 15[SUP]th[/SUP]– 229 miles – 7hr 34m
(now heading east)
Gordon went to see an old buddy today and Barry's KLR needed new tires. We found one dealer who only had 'very' off-road tires (he said they were road legal) so we headed down the road to Santa Barbara where his 2000 mile old tires were replaced with exactly the same type (surely dual sport are the way to go unless you're doing serious off-road).
At our next fuel stop a man, who was driving past, stopped his car and ran over to us. I thought one of us may have cut him up and he was going to put us in our place. But no, he wanted to talk about my Tiger. He'd read all the great reviews but wanted to speak to an actual owner to see what I thought. Try as I might I can't think of any negatives about owning a Tiger 800XC, the same goes for any of my previous Triumphs (Speed Triple 1050 & Tiger 1050). So he thanked me and said he would be booking a test ride in the next few days.
Santa Barbara was the next big town we rode through, (looked very expensive), and they kept closing roads just as we approached them. Not sure what was going on, but CA doesn't like to keep the road users informed about closures.
Oh well, into Palmdale we rode, having now given up on being able to find any camp sites near our daily destinations, but with hotel rooms split 3 ways it was fairly cheap.
Day 10, May 16[SUP]th[/SUP]– 292 miles – 7hr 35m
The twisty road portion of our trip was now well and truly over. With Gordon and Barry having to be back in Denver in 3 days, it was now time to put in some boring freeway miles. The wind did it's best to blow us into different lanes, usually as we were passing trucks. An added distraction in the Mojave Desert was the temperature, 107F/42C. Man it was hot and the wind made it feel like standing in front of a huge fan heater. At regular stops we soaked our under-clothes with water, but they were bone dry within 15 minutes of riding. Still worth doing though.
Finding shade at rest stops was a necessity.
Ready to go.
Just outside Kingman, AZ, we stopped to discuss how much farther we wanted to ride. All of us agreed that Kingman sounded just fine. Riding in the heat really takes it out of you, and pushing-on at the end of the day when you're tired is an accident waiting to happen (at least for me it is). We also got to watch a man fill his tire with air at the gas station. He kept filling, and filling, until BOOM. It exploded in spectacular fashion. It was loud enough for us and we were quite a distance away. He seemed quite dazed and probably had ringing in his ears for a while afterwards.
So we ride Route 66 into town.
We went upmarket with our motel. This one had a pool.
But no water.
We met a couple of Brits who were riding Route 66 on Harleys. One of them had a serious lung disease which meant he could walk no more than a few steps before struggling for breath. He was ok riding his bike but that was about it. He had always wanted to ride the 66 and this was probably his last chance. Quite sad really, but at least he was living his dream.
I tried out one of the bikes. I think I really need leather chaps to complete the look.
After a really hot day riding, there's only one thing I can think of the end the day. Beer. This time in a cowboy bar.
(Part VIII to follow)
(now heading east)
Gordon went to see an old buddy today and Barry's KLR needed new tires. We found one dealer who only had 'very' off-road tires (he said they were road legal) so we headed down the road to Santa Barbara where his 2000 mile old tires were replaced with exactly the same type (surely dual sport are the way to go unless you're doing serious off-road).
At our next fuel stop a man, who was driving past, stopped his car and ran over to us. I thought one of us may have cut him up and he was going to put us in our place. But no, he wanted to talk about my Tiger. He'd read all the great reviews but wanted to speak to an actual owner to see what I thought. Try as I might I can't think of any negatives about owning a Tiger 800XC, the same goes for any of my previous Triumphs (Speed Triple 1050 & Tiger 1050). So he thanked me and said he would be booking a test ride in the next few days.
Santa Barbara was the next big town we rode through, (looked very expensive), and they kept closing roads just as we approached them. Not sure what was going on, but CA doesn't like to keep the road users informed about closures.
Oh well, into Palmdale we rode, having now given up on being able to find any camp sites near our daily destinations, but with hotel rooms split 3 ways it was fairly cheap.
Day 10, May 16[SUP]th[/SUP]– 292 miles – 7hr 35m
The twisty road portion of our trip was now well and truly over. With Gordon and Barry having to be back in Denver in 3 days, it was now time to put in some boring freeway miles. The wind did it's best to blow us into different lanes, usually as we were passing trucks. An added distraction in the Mojave Desert was the temperature, 107F/42C. Man it was hot and the wind made it feel like standing in front of a huge fan heater. At regular stops we soaked our under-clothes with water, but they were bone dry within 15 minutes of riding. Still worth doing though.
Finding shade at rest stops was a necessity.
Ready to go.
Just outside Kingman, AZ, we stopped to discuss how much farther we wanted to ride. All of us agreed that Kingman sounded just fine. Riding in the heat really takes it out of you, and pushing-on at the end of the day when you're tired is an accident waiting to happen (at least for me it is). We also got to watch a man fill his tire with air at the gas station. He kept filling, and filling, until BOOM. It exploded in spectacular fashion. It was loud enough for us and we were quite a distance away. He seemed quite dazed and probably had ringing in his ears for a while afterwards.
So we ride Route 66 into town.
We went upmarket with our motel. This one had a pool.
But no water.
We met a couple of Brits who were riding Route 66 on Harleys. One of them had a serious lung disease which meant he could walk no more than a few steps before struggling for breath. He was ok riding his bike but that was about it. He had always wanted to ride the 66 and this was probably his last chance. Quite sad really, but at least he was living his dream.
I tried out one of the bikes. I think I really need leather chaps to complete the look.
After a really hot day riding, there's only one thing I can think of the end the day. Beer. This time in a cowboy bar.
(Part VIII to follow)
Last edited by a moderator:
