Fell On My Ancient Arse

[M0T0Geezer]

Got back from a nice bike trip from CO to UT late last Friday.  The Little Goose carried me 1200 miles (speeds in the 70s & 80s & air temps > 90 deg F most of the time) in 4 days without any protest or even needing any oil added.  The LG is a 2004 Breva 750 w 45,000 on the Odo. 

For all the Oil Freaks out there, I was running 5-40 wt full synthetic and have been since 10,000 miles.  Motor does not smoke or use oil.





I rode through Cortez CO but skipped Mesa Verde (again), riding on I discovered Ouray had no room and kept going to Silverton CO before finding one.

Leaving there on Weds AM (2nd day) and it was 40 degF.  I rode on to my actual destination for the trip: The Moki Dugway   Later that day I arrived in Moab UT.

It was 110 deg F when I arrived late that afternoon.  A 70 degree rise in 10 hours was staggering.  The bike seemed happy enough but I was wrung out.  I found a brewery and had two draw beers in quick succession.  Like spitting on a griddle - the effect was short lived but satisfying.

Getting off the bike to book a motel, a bungee hook managed to get inside one finger loop of my right boot.  I was already committed to swinging that leg off and no way to free myself. Overbalanced and helpless me & Goose ended up in an ignominious heap in the parking lot. Definitely Goose Abuse.

Extracting myself, I discovered, to my further humiliation, there was no way I could raise the heavily laden bike onto its wheels again.  Fortunately a couple of dudes in the restaurant across the parking lot had observed my shame yet still came over to help a sorry old (wrong side of 75) geezer.  They quickly set her upright again. No damage to me or Goose at all.  Miracle.

3rd day I rode through Arches Nat Park in the morning, which is only a few miles outside of Moab.  All very beautiful of course.  My plan was to go on to Steamboat CO but it was 112 degF as I was leaving Arches.  Couldn't take the heat any longer so returned to Moab and holed up there for the final night of the trip.

Left Moab Friday AM and flew the Goose home.  I though it was springtime again when temp finally got down into the mere 90s again in western CO.  Rolled into our driveway at 6 PM.

On board GPS registered a max speed of 92mph for the entire jaunt.  Pretty good for the pack mule it had been for the trip.

'Geezer

[rocker59]

Moki Dugway!

[PJPR01]

love that area...did you stay in Mexican Hat...cool little (LITTLE) town!!  Home of the Swinging grill!!

[Bonafide Bob]

Moki Dugway!

 My wife and I rode Moki Dugway this summer on our Grand Canyon trip, me on my Stelvio and her on her H.D Dyna.
 Bob

[alanp]

Dan,
I was thinking about you and your trip.  Glad to hear you made it home without harm to you or the little goose, despite the mishap.  Embarrassment heals more quickly than bones!

Sounds like a pretty great adventure overall. 

[Muzz]

Sounds like a great ride Geezer, Sorry about the drop but I suspect something like that has happened to all of us at some time.

Hasn't anyone told you the B750 is too small to tour on?

Interesting cockpit photo. Love the watch on the brake reservoir and the thermometer on the widescreen. What type of screen is it? I tend to use the thermometer that is built in. Quite good knowing when it is approaching freezing and ice is becoming a possibility.

How do you hold the tank bag on?

[MGrego]

Thanks for the ride report !  Just curious, how do you do to deal with riding in such hot temperatures ???

[ccridr]

 I got news for you Geezer. There is no wrong side of 75! Every day past 75 is a gift and still able to ride is a rare gift indeed.

[Tom]

$hit happens.  Good to hear that you finished your trip.  At least you didn't fall over in front of a large audience.  I did at the John Day National.  Slow drags.   Steve Ford has a vid. 

[pete mcgee]

75 eh.
We had an older dude in the Ulysses club who started riding at 65, I met him when he was 76.
It had taken him 3 days to ride 50 miles through knee deep mud to get to a rally back in 1987.
He rode until he was 96 when one of his retinas detached and he couldn't see through one eye.
He passed away one month short of his 100th birthday about 3 years ago.
Getting hit by a roo and comming off slowed him down a bit in his late 80's, but he kept ridding.
May you ride as long and enjoy it.

[rodekyll]

Another victim of the bungee conspiracy!  I think there's an organized effort by bungees to kill all vehicle occupants, one at a time.

I met a guy in WI who said he knew some 'moto geezers' or 'a moto geezer'.  He might have been talking about you, but he also said something about a t-shirt.  I couldn't really make it all out through my helmet.  When I said "That would be all of us", he decided we were friends and took me to his farm to see his collection of customized model A's.

My sister bought me about a hundred bungee cords in a bag for my trip.  I politely declined.  Bungees are about the most dangerous thing I can put on a bike. (besides myself).  I've seen them hook faces, hands, and arms when they're handled with cold, clumsy hands (or gloves).  They break (I hate meeting the hook ends on the road), and they have that inherent 'bounce' that means your gear never quite feels secure on board.  Plus (as in your case) they grab every darn thing, and when that thing is me, it never ends well.

If I need something with elasticity, I use either roc straps or my home-grown version of roc straps.  Roc straps have a tiny bit of bungee strap (not cord) in their length, but mostly they're web nylon -- adjustable to where the little bit of elasticity allows you to quickly make and break the strap with standard releases that have no sharp edges or 'live' elastic.  I do have one of those cargo net type bungees with hooks all around the perimeter and a spider web of cord.  I'm using it on my trip now, but only until I can get an evening to build a new roc strap set for the trike.

[pete mcgee]

An alternative to bungies on bikes,

http://www.andystrapz.com/products.php?productCategoryId=17&Level=1

I've been using some of his products for 20 years, never lost an item tied down with them.
I get around 3 to 5 years out of a set.

Cheers

[Nic in Western NYS]

Glad your bungee mishap was so minor and your adventures so great!

[M0T0Geezer]

love that area...did you stay in Mexican Hat...cool little (LITTLE) town!!  Home of the Swinging grill!!

Naw - Stayed in Blanding.

[M0T0Geezer]

Moki Dugway!

Love it!  Here's a little text file of some fyi about Moki Dugway:

http://www.dansher.com/bikepix/Guzzi/2MokiDugway_UT.txt

[M0T0Geezer]

Sounds like a great ride Geezer, Sorry about the drop but I suspect something like that has happened to all of us at some time.

Hasn't anyone told you the B750 is too small to tour on?

Interesting cockpit photo. Love the watch on the brake reservoir and the thermometer on the widescreen. What type of screen is it? I tend to use the thermometer that is built in. Quite good knowing when it is approaching freezing and ice is becoming a possibility.

How do you hold the tank bag on?

It is a take-off OEM V7 Stone (2TB) that I bought from the owner in TX.  Fit my 2004 B750 perfectly.

The tank bag is a Hepco&Becker sold by Moto Machines:

http://www.motomachines.com/

It is held on by a magnetic clamp screwed to the filler ring. Bought from Moto Machines in early 2014.  Here's what I ordered & what I paid:

http://dansher.com/bikepix/Guzzi/SideBagsBracketTankBagBraket.jpg

[Lcarlson]

Fine trip report -- inspirational, get off and all.  Keep it going.

[M0T0Geezer]

Thanks for the ride report !  Just curious, how do you do to deal with riding in such hot temperatures ???

I think it very importat to keep well covered whenever riding at 90 degreesshirtless. It was actually cooler wearing heavy jeans and a full armoured jacket.

Full-Face Helmet with face shield down, always.
 Never ever shorts or shirtless.

Just as there is a Wind Chill Index for winter (more wind makes same cold more dangerous), high ambient temps will make a hot wind agressively hazardous.

[pete mcgee]

The skin peeling from wind burn is fairly painful as well.
Going under a tap and soaking ones self every drink/fuel stop works well.
You guys have some nice scenery.

[rodekyll]

I was riding through a heat wave a few weeks back and soaked my doo-rag and wore it under my helmet.  The helmet vents made it nice and cool for about 20min.

[Testarossa]

Dan, sounds like you had a great time.  Wonderful route!

The hooked-boot syndrome is why I'll never again ride wearing shoes with laces.  I've caught laces on the shift lever several times.  Never turned into a fall but it was a near thing once or twice.

I will console you with one of my more embarrassing skiing incidents.  I was skiing alone late in the spring at Lech, in Austria. Needed to take off a layer, so I dropped my suspenders and tied my sweater around my waist. At the top of the next lift ride, the suspenders hooked on the slats of the chairlift and I wound up dangling like a marionette, skis about six feet above the snow. Two burly lift ops came down and lifted me so I could unhook, then dropped me unceremoniously. A cheer erupted and I looked up to see a bierstube sundeck fully populated by locals ridiculing the Yank.

Let's do a fall ride when the weather cools down a bit. The Mille wants to run.

[Tom]

That's how I felt when I fell over in front of everyone.    I guess filling up on gas the night before was a bad idea.