RideSlow2004

Montana, last week.



Lolo Pass, westbound, not sure of location, taken during the day, smoke from fires, periodic rain, and thunder, made for an interesting return ride.







Hope to finish actual ride report today.

tc305

nice
didnt make it over there this year but its on the must do list for next year

RideSlow2004

Dean is a maybe, we don’t know about Mike, think he may be lost in South Dakota, Mark is doing laps in Eastern Washington, Greg is seeking solitude, and tracking Mark, and Larry is visiting Spokane. Nathan and I are getting ready to go on Thursday morning.

I was thinking we would start out slow, head over Chinook, and then begin the slab blast to Missoula. As we rolled through Black Diamond, I began to realize how cold it really was, and made a route decision. I-90 would be the run, and Nathans comment was “Lets just ride.” We cut through Ravensdale, and headed north to catch SR 18 at the Issaquah Hobart Rd. East Bound at a rate of speed designed to cover ground, and not gather the attention of the folks that watch that stuff.
Fuel for us both at E-Burg.

East on 90 to the Kittitas exit, then east on US 10. Kittitas had signs for a car show and burnout contest the prior weekend. They weren’t kidding, black marks on Main St. The run east is 2 lanes, and windfarms, to Vantage.


Just burning east on 90 feels great, we really needed this, stopping for fuel, and not even getting off the bike, we finally stopped at a rest area to stretch.

Finally hit some construction, slowing us down some, and then a cone bit the ZX-14. Broke the L/S peg right off. We took the next exit, stopped, googled up a Kawi shop, then walked in and asked the lady where this address we had was. She said, “If the trees weren’t there, you could throw a rock at it, pointing SW.”
Westside Motorsports service shop is the best. No luck at parts counter, doofus with computer, nope….nope…..nope. I walked back to service, and asked one of the techs if he could cobble up something for us. He looked at the bike, said to roll it in, and started throwing stuff at it, with one of the other guys. 3rd try was the charm, reversed a shift lever, bolted in, and secured with a hose clamp. Refused any form of payment. Awesome, and held together for the rest of the trip.


We were getting fuel at the Silver Dollar, and a very nice older lady complemented us on our bikes, and we complemented her on her brand new Chrysler 200 Convertible, in Bright Red. Continuing east on 90, we were moving with traffic, when I passed a ‘stanced’ GTI. Apparently, he took offense to being passed by a Harley, because he was off like a rocket, and any time we started to get close, he was gone again. Needless to say, we were having great fun, speeding up to him, and letting him roll away into the distance. We were not going slow now, and the miles passed by. Found the crew at Ruby’s, after 505 miles, was a good day.

Dinner at the Stone, an Irish pub.
Breakfast at Ruby’s was one of the best motel spreads ever!!!! B & G, eggs, bacon, and even healthy stuff. Going to the Sun Rd in Glacier National Park is our goal. Interesting ride, east on MT 200, then north on MT 83. These photos are at the intersection of 200 & 83.





Road signs warned of construction, they were correct.

After sitting still for so long, we stopped at the first nice wide spot, just happened to be a very scenic Salmon Lake.

RideSlow2004

War Memorial at Seeley Lake.


Glacier Grill, just outside the park, in Coram, MT. wonderful clam chowder, I had lobstermelt, everyones’ food was great.

Entering the Park, Lake McDonald on your left just grabs your eye, even with the less than ideal light, still is stunning.

On Going to the Sun Road, I noticed that the tunnel I was riding through, had access to the exterior, mid tunnel.




Tires took a beating on this trip.

Waiting for the pilot car, the upper right of the pic, is where we are going, you can barely see the road cut into the mountainside.

It was a loooong 25 minutes.

At the top, Logan’s Pass visitor center also had hiking trails. 6,646 ft, and we are going up, to Hidden Lake, or something like that. Ground squirrels, marmots, mountain goats, and old goats. I didn’t make it all the way, Nathan and Larry went to furthest.

RideSlow2004

Refurbished completely, Ford Foundation and Glacier National Park Foundation, stepped up and restored these neat old tour busses.

We were running late, and I knew the rooms were going to be scarce. I started calling ahead, and got the last room here, in Browning. It was big enough that we all could stay, and the rest headed to Cut Bank, where they got rooms. So we didn’t have to share.

South on MT 89 to meet the boys, had to stop for this.


I didn’t gas up in Browning, dumb. No fuel at each of the little towns we went thru. I was sure I was going to run dry, so the group stayed with me. I was running slow, holding right about 2200 RPM, hoping, praying, and as we pulled into the station in Choteau, it quit. I put 5.29 gals into a 5 gal tank, after going farther than I thought was possible.


Just before Fleshers Pass on MT 279.


Gourmet Roller Grill outside Helena, eating standing up seems to make for a quicker stop.

Back to Ruby’s in Missoula, rode out to find food in the historic district, and found Hempfest in full swing, at the Riverfront Park. MacKenzie Pizza was our choice, very good.
Next day we headed for Lolo Pass, I checked the Idaho DOT road report, and they mentioned a little smoke on the road, 4 miles out of Syringa. They was wrong! It was like riding through Mordor, with slick spots from the rain, for about 70 of the 99 miles.




Kamiah for lunch. I didn’t actually try the B & G, but I did think about it.

RideSlow2004

Last night, Clarkston, Rivertree Best Western, rider friendly.

Hamburger joint across the street, very good.

2 breaking off to I-90, 3 going through Yakima, over Chinook, and home. Intersection of SR 260 and 261.

Where we had just come west on SR 261.

More tire troubles.

Lunch stop, Naches.

Wildflowers at the top of Chinook.

RideSlow2004

We had a great ride, hope you enjoy the pics.

CRAZYACE595

Great pictures

s1vak

Cool pictures! Looks like you guys had a great time!

Gem STate ST

Looks like you guys had a nice trip.Great pics also,thanks.Always carried my pump and never had to use it.

Misbehavin

Great pics. Lolo is a great ride! We had alot of fun when my husband and I did it this summer! Nice pics!

Vegasrider

Thanks for sharing. Nice trip report!

RideSlow2004

This was the 10th year for this ride, we have gained and lost members over the years. My son has joined in, we really enjoy riding together, and I look forward to next year. Thanks for the nice comments.

Aluli

Nice pics, thanks for sharing!

tc305

love that stuff.