Hello Newbie
- Thread starter maxrider
- Start date
Monday start of the first Solo ride, look soooo forward to it,BB, and in the near future BBG or 2000SS, not sure yet which
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Speaking of range...more than a few riders have Gen 5 Goldwings here in IBA-land - including me. Your bike should have 25L / ~6.6gal of useable fuel in the tank before vapors. Nope, not at all saying use all of your range, but you may be leaving some range on the table. Your bike could very well have a common malady with the 'low fuel' sender in the fuel tank that's lighting up that light prematurely. My 2006 would light that up with about 180 miles used. My current 2016 is much more accurate (~205 - 210 miles) before it lights up. Other threads here on the forum have mentioned running a bike to dry (with a gallon of fuel on-board in a can) as a rough check of the accuracy of the sender(s) on any given bike.
So, if you're putting in ~5.5 gallons at 150 miles
that's a bit concerning. Roughly 4 gallons would be nominal. Yes, for some of us, including me sometimes, the need to empty the bladder may obviate the need to use all of your fuel range. I figured out while doing my very first ride that having other riders involved seemed to actually slow my pace down. It was a ride organized by the Motorcycle Touring Forum (a Delphi forum...) which had other riders along for the ride, doing the exact same route. I got an early start and was lucky enough to miss most of the rain that day, while the other two participants did not fare so well with weather conditions. I'd heard late they made it okay, about three hours later than I did.
Since that first ride, I have done all but two of the others solo. Those two exceptions were SS1000's with my wife in the pillion position. One was to have lunch with family that live in SoCal, the other was to have an enjoyable day ride to New Mexico and back home to sleep in our own bed.
There are many LD riders that live in SoCal; many may be on more popular social media platforms.
Luck to ya; enjoy the ride!
Ken, I agree with your opinion of fuel, indeed there is more fuel left, and looking back on the gas receipts for the first SS it was a measly 3.8-4.5 Gal I put in the tank on average over the entire trip per stop.
So that would translate in more time saved, I get that concept and conceivable could save me an hour + on gas stops.
But the peace of mind and the forced(self-imposed) rest stop made it also so refreshing for us(my riding buddy)that both of us did not experience any undue fatigue, and we felt 100% sure that we're alert to safely ride.
So on this second LD I planned rest stops according to my first SS, adding the excitement of the next day 500 miles to it for completing the BB and first Solo.
On the following LD in the near future, the SS 2000, or maybe the BBG if I feel that a BBG is not too strenuous on my ability, I certainly will apply a more prudent way of refueling stops in the route planning, but for now, I go with what worked for me before, live and learn
But thanks for pointing that out to me, point well taken.
Max
So that would translate in more time saved, I get that concept and conceivable could save me an hour + on gas stops.
But the peace of mind and the forced(self-imposed) rest stop made it also so refreshing for us(my riding buddy)that both of us did not experience any undue fatigue, and we felt 100% sure that we're alert to safely ride.
So on this second LD I planned rest stops according to my first SS, adding the excitement of the next day 500 miles to it for completing the BB and first Solo.
On the following LD in the near future, the SS 2000, or maybe the BBG if I feel that a BBG is not too strenuous on my ability, I certainly will apply a more prudent way of refueling stops in the route planning, but for now, I go with what worked for me before, live and learn
But thanks for pointing that out to me, point well taken.
Max
That's good advice. I can't think of a better way to check out your specific bike's range and fuel gauge accuracy.
Max, try planning out a regular BB1500 before the BBG. Make the plan so that you could also do it in less than 24 hours if you feel up to it. I.E. don't set up a hotel reservation 750 miles away. Get a bite to eat 750 miles away and turn around to head home. When you feel tired or in need of a good reset, grab a hotel for some real R&R. If you don't feel like you need a break, just continue home. It feels way better to "upgrade" a BB1500 into a BBG than it does to "fail" a BBG and "settle" for a BB1500. I put them in quotes because both rides are an accomplishment to be proud of. I don't really consider a BB1500 to be settling.
An unreserved hotel room might cost you a few extra dollars, but it's worth it for the freedom of picking where you stop based on how you are feeling during the ride IMO. If you've got a hotel room reserved, it might make you push yourself harder than you should to get there and not waste more money on a different room. The last thing you want is to start nodding off and crash in the last 15 minutes of the ride! It's way better to cut the ride short and get a hotel room early than to push yourself too hard.
Max, try planning out a regular BB1500 before the BBG. Make the plan so that you could also do it in less than 24 hours if you feel up to it. I.E. don't set up a hotel reservation 750 miles away. Get a bite to eat 750 miles away and turn around to head home. When you feel tired or in need of a good reset, grab a hotel for some real R&R. If you don't feel like you need a break, just continue home. It feels way better to "upgrade" a BB1500 into a BBG than it does to "fail" a BBG and "settle" for a BB1500. I put them in quotes because both rides are an accomplishment to be proud of. I don't really consider a BB1500 to be settling.
An unreserved hotel room might cost you a few extra dollars, but it's worth it for the freedom of picking where you stop based on how you are feeling during the ride IMO. If you've got a hotel room reserved, it might make you push yourself harder than you should to get there and not waste more money on a different room. The last thing you want is to start nodding off and crash in the last 15 minutes of the ride! It's way better to cut the ride short and get a hotel room early than to push yourself too hard.
Hello "newbie", I too am retired, don't know how I ever had time to work since I can't find the time to change my mind these days! I've done roughy 33 Certified rides, only 3 Golds: 2 BBGs and1 SS2KG, and still am considered a very low rookie/newbie, some of members here are off the charts saddle hounds. This is my Gold Ride year but I thought 2020 was going to be but we all know how that went. Welcome and ride safe.
It is amazing being retired and running out of time for things I want to do, and yes I wonder how I ever squeezed work in the day.
Wow WY88 and you still are a newbie? Well, you have done a good amount in my book, hope to get there in the future.
Ira, it crossed my mind as well, that and the fact I do not look forward to hiking in MC gear and or pushing the Beast, thanks.
Wow WY88 and you still are a newbie? Well, you have done a good amount in my book
, hope to get there in the future.Ira, it crossed my mind as well, that and the fact I do not look forward to hiking in MC gear and or pushing the Beast, thanks.
So back in town, started out on Monday eve 5-10 at 2200 hrs, drove up the I-5 towards Sacramento and took the I-80 to Salt Lake City, easy peasy, no surprises, and the only thing different from riding with a buddy vs Solo, it is quiet, I still made my gas stops 100-130 intervals, and that was actually comfy for the limbs.
Incorporated a plastic binder with a ziplock baggie taped inside for the gas receipt, and I was organized.
Took a tip from WY88 and taped a paper clip to the top shelf for freeing up a hand and taking a record picture.
Did the first leg about 1146 miles in 19 hrs, and stopped in a hotel, took a nap for 3 hrs, ate some, and talked to family members on the phone, and so it was 1 AM when I hit the road on the I-15 S to Las Vegas.
Knowing that I had plenty of time to complete the task for the remaining miles, it was relaxing to know that.
I actually goofed off a bit more at the rest stops and ended up in several conversations with folks curious as to why I was on the road, on my entire trip I only met 1 other motorcycle on the road, and that was in CA outside of Los Angeles.
So I was the IBA Ambassador, explaining the finer points of this great organization., at many stopping points, while folks commented on the bike and ensuing conversation.
So at Las Vegas with 1146 miles for my BB at 0700 in the AM, with 3 hrs to spare, I look forward to doing a Silver BB here in the near future.
Thanks for the input you all created, it seems that going Solo is not all that bad as I thought it would be.
Incorporated a plastic binder with a ziplock baggie taped inside for the gas receipt, and I was organized.
Took a tip from WY88 and taped a paper clip to the top shelf for freeing up a hand and taking a record picture.
Did the first leg about 1146 miles in 19 hrs, and stopped in a hotel, took a nap for 3 hrs, ate some, and talked to family members on the phone, and so it was 1 AM when I hit the road on the I-15 S to Las Vegas.
Knowing that I had plenty of time to complete the task for the remaining miles, it was relaxing to know that.
I actually goofed off a bit more at the rest stops and ended up in several conversations with folks curious as to why I was on the road, on my entire trip I only met 1 other motorcycle on the road, and that was in CA outside of Los Angeles.
So I was the IBA Ambassador, explaining the finer points of this great organization
., at many stopping points, while folks commented on the bike and ensuing conversation.So at Las Vegas with 1146 miles for my BB at 0700 in the AM, with 3 hrs to spare, I look forward to doing a Silver BB here in the near future.
Thanks for the input you all created, it seems that going Solo is not all that bad as I thought it would be.
So I was the IBA Ambassador, explaining the finer points of this great organization., at many stopping points, while folks commented on the bike and ensuing conversation.
., at many stopping points, while folks commented on the bike and ensuing conversation.
Enjoy those solo trips. They are valuable alone time that lets you figure out what kind of person you really are. Many people can't handle solitude, but I love it! No instaface, no bluetube, none of those tweety birds either! Just me and my own thoughts until the next fuel stop.
Congratulations on the ride!
Sorry, I was still pretty upset when I wrote that one so I appologize for that. We were 8 from start, got 2 more at first fuel stop and lost 1st one due to mechanical at 2nd stop. 2nd loss was halfway (1h sleep so there might be some questioning why start at all) and 3d "loss" was at 2nd last stop. So we were 7 who finished together and the one MIA finished at home.
Cant stress that enough though. Never! Leave! Without! Telling! Letting teammates find out next day, on Facebook of all places, is NOT okay!
Cant stress that enough though. Never! Leave! Without! Telling! Letting teammates find out next day, on Facebook of all places, is NOT okay!
No apology required. I've been that guy going back over the route looking for a rider in the ditch or worse and finding nothing. It's beyond belief that someone would just leave the group w/o telling the rest, or at least the organizer. Heck, even a text on my phone would have let me know and saved a lot of stress and time.