Ride report to St George UT, Toroweap Overlook, Jacob Lake, North Rim, Sunset Crater and more

Wow $238 a night ! Last time I paid that kind of money was in Prudehoe Bay Alaska but the price was split between 2 of us and included a great 24 hour buffet Where you could eat all you wanted at any time.

Glad you had a fun ride. The little school is always fun to come across. And the sign at Cliff Dweller's Lodge is on point. People are always asking "where's the lake" at Jacob Lake, (named after the man called Jacob Lake). The last time there was a ferry at Lees Ferry, it was operated by Mr. Lee! It's the only spot for 100 miles or so where you can access both sides of the Colorado river. Nice raft launch spot and the official beginning of the Grand Canyon NP on the Colorado River.

You might try turning off TCS for anything more than gravel roads. For me, TCS 2 is gravel, and then just OFF for anything more aggressive than that. For the person that said they wish they could turn off TCS, press and hold the TCS button for 2 seconds or so and it will cycle to OFF and display OFF.

As you discovered, Williams is a tourist rip off spot. Even the Motel 6 is $120/night. The HoJo in Flagstaff is a good, clean go to spot. Flag is not much better in prime tourist season though.

I passed on Flagstaff because of the crime level there. I knew what I was getting into when I stopped at Williams. I have been there a few times before. I was just checking on rooms and all of the towns along the 40 are very expensive right now. Motel 6 is an absolute no go for me. Almost every one of them is prostitution, drugs, or theft. My last stay at a motel 6 my door got pounded on at least 3 times in the middle of the night with whores asking me if I wanted a "date".

I actually like the TC 1 on the loose gravel and TC 2 in the medium deep sand. I'm pretty sure my tires had a lot to do with the traction I was getting. I'll be adding to my Anakee Wild tire review soon.

Oh and a really strange thing I noticed was the tire pressures on this trip. Normally in years past I would just set my pressure at 32 front/36 rear and roll with it, never bothering to check it on the trip. This ride was no different except I was checking the pressure frequently through my Garmin TPS.I did not even think about the elevation changes. So here before I left pressure was set at 32/36. When I left St George (2800') the next morning it was freezing cold and my pressures were 35F/41R and it fluctuated a whole lot as I went higher into the mountains. 40 degrees at Jacob Lake (7900') the pressures were 38F/43R. Pretty strange that elevation effects tire pressures a whole lot more than temperature. I did not adjust them once during the ride.

that looks like a great trip! Nice pictures too! I definitely need to go there. It always bugs me the way places gouge travelers though. that is one thing i dislike about traveling. I usually never make reservations ahead because i never know just where i will end up. Most times i do O.K. finding a spot to stay that is reasonable but sometimes you just get gouged. Part of it i guess. In the end it is always great to look back on the trip and the great things you experienced and the great people you met. Then the wheels start spinning on the next trip and places to see!

Flagstaff is like any city, don't go stupid places at poor times and you're fine. While I don't prefer to spend the night there, I don't worry about doing so either. Never had issues there. Most of the time when I lived in St George, it was easy enough to just continue on instead of stop in Flagstaff. The back way is more fun, but elevation to consider in Winter time.

You went from near sea level at home to over 8k feet. Yes, elevation impacts tire pressure. Atmospheric pressure changes. We've already had the tire pressure discussion, so no need to re-visit.

Keep having fun and going places.

Yes it was very fun. I had a blast!!
And then came misery.....

Day five 460 miles to home:

So when I woke up the Williams the wind was freezing and howling. I simply fueled up and got to rolling. It was about 40 degrees and got colder and windier as I headed West. I ended up taken the Crookton turnoff and cruised old Route 66 to Kingman. I know from experience this will bypass all the truck traffic and I'll be protected from the cold and wind. This part of the ride was really nice. Smooth road and all the way to Kingman almost no cars to be seen.

I fueled up in Kingman. It was then I experienced the worst wind blow in my whole life!! From Kingman to Victorville it was howling at well over 50 mph the whole damn way. Over 230 miles of it. I have traveled this route dozens of times over the years and have never experienced this long, hard, and bad winds ever in my life. Every single car, motorcycle, motorhome, and truck, looked like drunk drivers. It was impossible to hold a straight line. I ended up staying in the dreaded middle of the lane and was blown back and forth across the whole lane.

FWIW the last worse wind blow I had was in Texas over 10 years ago. It was during tornado season and the winds were over 60 mph. But as anyone from Texas knows they are just steady hard winds. You just lean into them and ride. Holding a line was no problem. Here in the CA desert the winds move around and throw you all over the place.

By the time I got to Victorville I was completely spent!! Had a quick drink and snack then it was just a short final leg home. No pictures for this leg of the ride. I had to dig deep just to make it home safely.

Wind is not friendly to adventure (taller) MC. It's why when you get older and living in Denver trailering to by-pass Wyoming and Kansas becomes a more acceptable practice vs. (I always ride/never trailer) mentality. I never owned a Harley but can not knock their trailering practices anymore. Most all of us have done sub freezing rides but adding a big serving of wind tops it all. That was the case for a late September ride last year traveling from Red Lodge MT to Jackson, WY. The ride the following day back to Denver got warmer but WOW it was windy until Walden, CO. Long winded (pardon the pun) way of saying I feel your pain Chris. But you need the rider's mentality 'well I made it home'.

Oh yes, I get it for sure. I had to really dig deep and plow through to get home. I didn't feel unsafe but just really beat up mentally. At least now I know I can handle any kind of torture the wind has to offer. It's pretty safe to say I doubt many people will ever see another windstorm such as this one. At least in this country it's very rare for a windstorm to stretch more than a 200 mile radius.

The first time I did some loose downhill riding. I put an Abs cut off switch on mine as soon as I got home. That's the only time I ever use it. It would slip right when you need it locked the most. Nice ride report.

ballisticexchris said:

Oh yes, I get it for sure. I had to really dig deep and plow through to get home. I didn't feel unsafe but just really beat up mentally. At least now I know I can handle any kind of torture the wind has to offer. It's pretty safe to say I doubt many people will ever see another windstorm such as this one. At least in this country it's very rare for a windstorm to stretch more than a 200 mile radius.

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Wind will wear you out or it does me at times. I came across Kansas one time and the wind felt like someone was hitting my helmet with bat! My neck and head hurt and was so tired i had to hold my chin bar with my left hand and ride with one arm. After a while my left arm was so tired from holding my helmet i had to let it drop. All the while the bike was getting blown across the road and back. Talk about being drained when i got to Missouri! Still it turned out to be a good ride. Met some nice folks that night on Harley's and they showed me the scars all along the bottom of the bikes and down the pipes they drug all the way across Kansas.

wind beat on me on the way home from moab… so bad and with fatigue mounting I stopped short in big springs and got a room (and 18 wheelers blasting past me ) . it added one more day , and it cost me dollar wise , but I got rested and was home at 1245 the next day . it seemed the prudent thing to do.

Nice! Love UT. Just back from a Jeep outing. Trips there are always terrific, whether bike or Jeep. The place will be my retirement home. Thx for the report and pics!

Sounds like youre down my way in So Cal from your ride back.