My first real ST Trip- Duck Creek Utah

[MidlifeMotor]

I leave tomorrow about 5am from Mesa, AZ to Duck Creek, UT. It will be a solo ride to meet up with my family who is already up there. It's a 440 mile ride and ends at an elevation of 9000 feet. My previous long ride on the ST was 380 miles all highway. The reason this will be the first "real" trip is once I get there I will have access to many many miles of forest service roads and other trails to hone my off-road skills. The weather will be cool and the scenery spectacular. 10 days up there. I will post pictures when I can (what that means is I will tell my 14 year old to do it).

YEE HAW!! ::015::

 

[OregonS10]

That's going to be a great trip! Ride safe and have fun! Looking forward to seeing some picture! I'll be going on a road oriented trip next week. Up to Joseph OR and up into Montana and Idaho.
Cant go off road to much with a Gold Wing and FZ6 as the other bikes. Should be fun anyway!
Cheers,
Janet

 

[MikeBear]

Have fun! ::017::

 

[Nathan Wiley]

I live in Cedar City and work at Bradshaw Chevrolet right on Main.....Mon-Fri. Swing by and say howdy. Be aware highway 14 from the Cedar Breaks turnoff to Cedar City will only be open for the weekend and then be closed again Monday morning. You may have already known this though.

Don't know how familiar you are with the riding in this area but if you need some suggestions just ask.

Have a safe trip.

 

[Jerry]

Sounds GREAT. Lets hook up when you get back, I am in Scottsdale and maybe we can ride the rim a bit. Jerry

 

[MidlifeMotor]

I live in Cedar City and work at Bradshaw Chevrolet right on Main.....Mon-Fri. Swing by and say howdy. Be aware highway 14 from the Cedar Breaks turnoff to Cedar City will only be open for the weekend and then be closed again Monday morning. You may have already known this though.

Don't know how familiar you are with the riding in this area but if you need some suggestions just ask.

Have a safe trip.

Thanks Nathan, I was aware of the road restrictions. There is a large forest fire up here now, the Shingle Fire, and 14 is closed east bound as well. We had no power for two days as Garkane Power cut off the electricity to the entire mountain due to the fire. I am limited in my abilities to post pics at this time but will get some up soon. This bike is incredible. I am tearing up the off-road up here but am limited due to the stock tires. I have learned a TON about this bike and will share the info soon in this thread. My riding is limited at this time because the local gas station is shut down due to the power outage. My father in law has gas in storage but it's Octane 85. If the power outage continues much longer I will go buy some octane booster and get back in the game.

 

[MidlifeMotor]

Sounds GREAT. Lets hook up when you get back, I am in Scottsdale and maybe we can ride the rim a bit. Jerry

Will do Jerry. I would love to share what I have learned and learn from you as well. I come back around July 9th depending on the fire in our area.

 

[MidlifeMotor]

Ok folks, need some quick advice. I will post a full summary of my trip in this thread when I return. But I wanted to ask about the stock Metzler tires. The area of Utah I am riding in has not had rain in a long time. The dirt ground is hard as concrete but is coated in layers of dust. It feels like I am riding on ice with these tires. To further complicate matters, the roads have a lot of gravel and rocks. If I ride in a stretch of road with any moisture at all , the tires grab great and I can really rip. Other wise, there's times when I am squirling all over the road.

I am in no position to trade out tires at this point in the trip and will prob buy K60's for future rides. I was thinking of airing down these stock tires to handle the off road stuff for this trip and need some recommended PSI numbers. I have access to an air compressor and can easily air them back up for the great highway trips in the area. I am currently riding at the manufacturer's recommended PSI but this obviously doesn't apply to what I am riding. I am mostly riding forest service roads but have taken a few ATV trails as well.

I really enjoy the harder ATV trails but don't want to damage the tires riding them at lower PSI. I can't see why this would harm them but wanted to check with the folks here. My return trip home is 440 miles of highway road in about a week.

 

[Nathan Wiley]

Thanks Nathan, I was aware of the road restrictions. There is a large forest fire up here now, the Shingle Fire, and 14 is closed east bound as well. We had no power for two days as Garkane Power cut off the electricity to the entire mountain due to the fire. I am limited in my abilities to post pics at this time but will get some up soon. This bike is incredible. I am tearing up the off-road up here but am limited due to the stock tires. I have learned a TON about this bike and will share the info soon in this thread. My riding is limited at this time because the local gas station is shut down due to the power outage. My father in law has gas in storage but it's Octane 85. If the power outage continues much longer I will go buy some octane booster and get back in the game.

I've been watching that fire since Monday. I can see the giant heat clouds from town. Sad really....burning up some nice forest.....putting a lot of ground crew and pilots at risk.

On my way home today (I travel up hwy 14 to get to my house in Cedar Highlands) I noticed that the digital sign said 14 would be open for the 4th thru the 9th...presumably only to Duck Creek because of the fire. This may help your gas situation.

This is a direct copy and paste from UDOT. " Currently, travelers can drive through the Restore 14 project on nights and weekends. However, beginning Tuesday, July 3rd at 4:00 p.m. access will remain open around the clock until the following Monday, July 9th at 7:00 a.m. "

 

[MidlifeMotor]

I will post a summary of my learning lessons at the end of my trip. But one lesson is glaringly obvious- the stock tires are not real good for off-road. I really learned that today when I tried to take a little ride after it rained. My logic being the roads would not be as dusty and would have more traction. However, I was stupid enough to go down a road made of red clay, which with the rain turned into the most slippery surface other than ice. I went about 300 yards and down she went. The Givi bars took most of the slow speed impact. I put a small dimple in the gas tank from the handle bars cranking all the way and the brake lever assembly and hand guard pushing into the tank. Not a huge deal. Got my first damage out of the way.

I had on a full face helmet but had the face shield up to see due to the rain drizzle. As I hit the ground the top of the windshield entered the opening in the face of the helmet and gave me a nice bruise on my cheek. I jumped to my feet and immediately took a picture of the downed ST which I will post later. I was just glad I was able to get the bike back up in the mud. I went a very short distance and it went over on the left side. Got the bike back up and said, "Screw this" and rode it on the forrest floor back to a gravel road.

Man I need a set of K60's.

 

[bikerdoc]

Ouch! Though at least it was mud, wet mud, so aside from a little bruising and a dent to add character... you managed to get a workout in, having to pick her up not once but twice!

But...

::006::

 

[MotorcopBBQ]

Get back safely

 

[MidlifeMotor]

Here's my first attempt to post a picture. This is the red clay mud road which I made it about 300 yards on. The most amazing thing about this was the fact I made it this far in this stuff. You can see it just stuck to the wheel and covered all the tread. This photo does not do it justice as to how slick this was, like riding on oatmeal on top of a marble floor.

If you look at the left mirror, it is pushed in. This was done by the lower part of my full face helmet. I had the visor up so the windscreen jammed into my cheek leaving a sweet bruise (my wife was impressed). The right mirror was pushed in as well. The right hand guard was pushed down and into the tank, causing a slight dimple in the tank. The funnest part was trying to get it back up in the mud without falling down.

 

[snakebitten]

Here's my first attempt to post a picture. This is the red clay mud road which I made it about 300 yards on. The most amazing thing about this was the fact I made it this far in this stuff. You can see it just stuck to the wheel and covered all the tread. This photo does not do it justice as to how slick this was, like riding on oatmeal on top of a marble floor.

If you look at the left mirror, it is pushed in. This was done by the lower part of my full face helmet. I had the visor up so the windscreen jammed into my cheek leaving a sweet bruise (my wife was impressed). The right mirror was pushed in as well. The right hand guard was pushed down and into the tank, causing a slight dimple in the tank. The funnest part was trying to get it back up in the mud without falling down.

One thing for sure is you aren't letting much stop you.

I've read some of your posts in other threads. You get this bike.
AND, you don't seem to be leaving many of its cards unturned. On or off road.

Keep having fun and telling us about it. But keep the hard parts away from the face. lol

By the way, the wife sounds like a good sport too. Life sounds good.

 

[AVGeek]

I know its a bit late for your trip Sean, but absolutely air down the Metzelers on dirt. When I did FR300 on the Mogollon Memorial Day weekend, I took the front tire to 25psi (left the rear at 42, which is my street pressure). It went from skating everywhere to planted. I will also be ordering up a set of K60s when I wear out the stockers; I just need more time to ride some serious miles!

 

[MidlifeMotor]

Thanks AV. I did air them down to 26 after the first few days and it really helped on the gravel and dry roads. I am not sure I could have aired them down enough to deal with this muck. Look forward to riding with you.

Sean

 

[MidlifeMotor]

Let me post some pictures from some better moments from my trip.

The first picture is a cattle farm in Utah.

The second is Lake Panguitch, Utah

The third is a photo of one of two Yamaha semi trucks that rolled into Duck Creek for a dealer only demo

 

[MidlifeMotor]

Seems I can only post three pictures at a time. There was a forest fire at the time of my trip. The picture of the bike on it's side is from me cleaning the bottom of it. The red clay mud will bake itself on to the hot exhaust and you have to get it off fairly quickly or it's a real bear to get off. The yellow road sign says it all. Talk about fun twisties.

 

[MidlifeMotor]

Fire command post. Dirty Bike. Cedar Breaks, Utah a must stop for anyone traveling the West. This photo doesn't do it justice.