• Welcome, Guest! We hope you enjoy the excellent technical knowledge, event information and discussions that the BMW MOA forum provides. Some forum content will be hidden from you if you remain logged out. If you want to view all content, please click the 'Log in' button above and enter your BMW MOA username and password.

    If you are not an MOA member, why not take the time to join the club, so you can enjoy posting on the forum, the BMW Owners News magazine, and all of the discounts and benefits the BMW MOA offers?

2020 Suckers and Losers Tour

bigjohnsd

'21 R1250 GS Adv
Forty years ago we rode the waves aboard the favorite ship of my career, the USS Joseph Strauss DDG-16
USS_Joseph_Strauss_%28DDG-16%29_underway_on_3_June_1968_%286403804%29-XL.jpg

Once known as "The Fastest Ship in Pearl Harbor" with a speed of 35.7 knots.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Joseph_Strauss

I was the Weapons Officer, Robert (Burt) Upchurch was the Main Propulsion Assistant, and Mark Bauer was the Communications Officer.

FB_IMG_1600395640210-L.jpg

L to R - Me, Bauer, Upchurch.

Burt has long been a motorcyclist, on the order of Abercrombie FJR, a confirmed bachelor, he has three motorcycles in his living room, has eight or ten depending upon if you count the Norton's in boxes in the basement, and has long been the President of the Washington DC Norton Owners Club. His ride for this adventure was a '14 BMW GS "Superba" as in "superb". This was my first time riding with Burt.

Mark, worked in the Cellular industry and did rather well. Mark , also a long time rider, is also a pilot. He recently sold his T-28 and purchased a T-34 which he flies around his home in Tuscon and in airshows around the country. Mark was on a brand new BMW R1250 GS HP. Mark rode with me to Inuvik in 2017. Mark named the trip.

Kip Walker, Marks step-brother, also rode with Mark and I to Inuvik in 2017 aboard the infamous Buell, Kip was a soldier long ago. On this trip he was aboard his Triumph 850 Tiger.


Day 1 - Spearfish to Laramie WY

Day 2 - Laramie WY to Alamosa CO down the spine of the Rockies

Day 3 - a loop ride out of Alamosa - to Chama NM for breakfast and a rendezvous with the "Commo" then a circuitous route to Taos for lunch and back to Alamosa over a little bit of gravel.

Day 4 - Alamosa CO to East Portal, deep in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison.
The Relive operator screwed the pooch today.
somehow the pause button got pushed early in the day :(
We left Alamosa about 0800 and took a rambling route to the East Portal. Highlights of the ride were lunch in Lake City, The North Rim of the Black Canyon, and some great roads and scenery along the way.

20200915_102146-L.jpg


20200915_102151-L.jpg


20200915_102338-L.jpg


20200915_104245-L.jpg


20200915_104449-L.jpg


20200915_104716-L.jpg


20200915_124427-L.jpg


20200915_131343-L.jpg


20200915_143015-L.jpg


20200915_143142-L.jpg


20200915_181135-L.jpg


20200915_181147-L.jpg


20200916_080732-L.jpg


Day 5 - East Portal to Moab via the Grand Mesa, CO 141 through Gateway and South to Naturita then 92 to 191 to Moab


Day 6 - Arrividerci to the Boys at 0630 - Moab to Spearfish via Grand Junction for petrol, Rifle for a Burrito, Rawlins Wy for petrol, Casper, Gillette, Moorcroft for a quick Splash of gas to arrive in Spearfish at 1745.

20200917_174514-L.jpg


Screenshot_20200917-202738_Chrome-L.jpg


20200913_123408-L.jpg
 
Thanks for the report. We returned home a few days ago from some of the same areas you rode.
Maybe we met on the road.
Did you get caught in the big snow. We had 13 inches in Gunnison.
Gunnison (13).JPG
 
Thanks for the report. We returned home a few days ago from some of the same areas you rode.
Maybe we met on the road.
Did you get caught in the big snow. We had 13 inches in Gunnison.

No snow for us, we started a week after the snow and saw only a few patches near the roads usually in the shade of a North Slope.
 
Thank you John

DDG brings back memories. Sometime in the early '80, I was at the Portland, OR shipyard working as a marine electrician. I don't remember the name or number of the ship. That was one year of employment for me. I work on a weapon system in the CIC ,bridge and above the bridge. Good trip.:thumb
 
Last edited:
DDG brings back memories. Sometime in the early '80, I was at the Portland, OR shipyard working as a marine electrician. I don't remember the name or number of the ship. That was one year of empolyment for me. I work on a weapon system in the CIC ,bridge and above the bridge. Good trip.:thumb

I know that the USS Henry B. Wilson DDG 7 was overhauled in Portland in the early 80's.
 
Yep that was the one DDG-7! Thanks John for jogging my memory of 40 years ago. Hard times but good times.:thumb
 
Back
Top