1,000 miles in the Oregon Cascades! Linda and Goldwing!

[FastDoc]

We took a short vacation to enjoy the waning days of summer high in the Oregon Cascade Mountains.

We rode down through the Blue Mountains and up through the Central Oregon High Desert.

We stayed in a lovely resort south of Bend, OR called Sunriver. Highly recommended.

The Gold Wing performed perfectly. I did discover, however, that heavily loaded and ridden very fast mileage drops down into the mid 30's. We almost ran out of gas between Madras and Biggs, OR. There is NO gas on that route on Sundays. The towns along there are a bit like the scary movie, The Hills Have Eyes. 8O Thank God we made it OK. :wink:



Linda on top of a cinder cone in the Newberry National Volcanic Monument.



Ranger station.



Hiking at 5,000-9,000 feet is not easy and Linda was a trooper. :P







Very large fire outside of Bend. The smoke paralleled our course for over 200 miles.



In flight photography by Miss Linda. 8)







We were so isolated much of the ride the detector hardly ever went off. We hit a top speed of 130 on this trip, and on some deserted sections would cruise well over 80 for long stretches at a time.



Deer outside our cabin.



Very nice cabin.



Part motorcycle, part locomotive.





Mt. Bachelor.



Cascade Mountain Lakes.









Big bike, small girl. Good combination. :wink:

[FastDoc]

We named this duck Martin.





Sunriver airport. Next time we will fly.



We had a lot of fun on this rented tandem.



No comment needed.





The Hills Have Eyes in Ukiah, OR.



Nice resturant in Heppner, OR



Have a great day guys. :P

[Weldangrind]

Goldwing: Part motorcycle, part locomotive, part sport bike.

Perhaps a Restrom is a rebuilt V-Strom.

Oregon is terrific, and we try to visit at least once each year. Lovely pics, Doc.

[FastDoc]

Good idea about the V-Strom, Weld.

You are also right about the Wing. It will indeed hold with sportbikes ridden by average riders. Obviously a skilled rider will leave it in the dust but with me on the Wing no one has to wait for me at the end of the canyon or the top of the mountain. :wink:

125 HP and ft/lbs. Aluminum frame, single sided swingarm, ABS, wide radial rubber, and a fairly sophisticated suspension allow me to keep up! :P

Until the new BMW 1600 came out, no heavy tourer could touch the performance of the Wing. Indeed the Beemer is not much faster, but I'd prefer it....

One area the BMW can't touch the Wing still is comfort, especially for the pillion. Still no comparison there. :wink:

[Weldangrind]

I think it falls outside of the normal definition of pillion. More like La-Z-Boy.

[FastDoc]

Linda calls is her 100 MPH lounge chair.

[SpudRider]

Thanks for posting the nice photos, Doc. Try not to hit any wildlife at 130 mph. 8O

Spud

[Pliskin]

Thank you for posting nice pics FastDoc.

How cool looking is that red road. Is that scanner really effective did you have a chance to test it yet? Your goldwing looks good. I am always amazed at the size of it.

[FastDoc]

Originally Posted by SpudRider

Thanks for posting the nice photos, Doc. Try not to hit any wildlife at 130 mph. 8O

Spud

Wide open desert. Easy to scan a mile ahead. Goes by fast... :P

Usual top speed of the Wing is 135 but at 4,000 feet on a hot day that's all I could get out of the girl. Smooth and comfortable and stable as a freight train. I don't even need to adjust the volume on the surround sound. 8)

Only wildlife harmed on that road were bugs.

I once hit a bat in Yosemite at night at very high speed on my 800 Interceptor. Disgusting mess on my riding jacket. Felt like a fastball to the chest. 8O

[FastDoc]

Originally Posted by Pliskin

Thank you for posting nice pics FastDoc.

How cool looking is that red road. Is that scanner really effective did you have a chance to test it yet? Your goldwing looks good. I am always amazed at the size of it.

Thanks for the compliment .

The radar detector is pretty much a top of the line unit and quite effective within the limits of its technology. Radar traps and detectors are like a spy vs. spy scenario and there is a lot to know about interperting the signal and being alert to other signs of traps. :wink:

On roads like these there were essentially no patrols.

On the interstate is a different story. There the risk is much higher, and the detector plays a bigger role. I usually stick to the back roads unless the distances are huge compared to the time available.

The 'red road' was made of the same volcanic cinder material the entire mountain it scaled was created from. Very beautiful and interesting. Super high friction. It was one of the high points of our trip.

[SpudRider]

Originally Posted by FastDoc

Wide open desert. Easy to scan a mile ahead. Goes by fast... :P

Usual top speed of the Wing is 135 but at 4,000 feet on a hot day that's all I could get out of the girl. Smooth and comfortable and stable as a freight train. I don't even need to adjust the volume on the surround sound. 8)

Only wildlife harmed on that road were bugs.

I once hit a bat in Yosemite at night at very high speed on my 800 Interceptor. Disgusting mess on my riding jacket. Felt like a fastball to the chest. 8O

I kill a lot of bugs, even on my Zong. :P

Hitting an antelope would certainly hurt more than hitting a bat. However, I have hit an owl while riding my Zong.

Spud

[FastDoc]

I remember that!

Actually I think the owl hit you! 8O

[SpudRider]

The owl was sitting in the road at night. I swerved to avoid him, but he brushed my arm with his huge (5-foot) wingspan when he took off.

Spud