4500 miles -- I love my bike

[jeneralist]

I had a few weeks off from work and decided to take a road trip -- to see places I'd heard about and to visit some friends. One discovery I made is how much I love my "new" K75! I got the bike in November with over 69,000 miles on the odometer. My previous biggest ride was about 2000 miles, but check this out:

Miles travelled: 4,533
States visited: 19 (NJ, PA, WV, OH, KY, TN, NC, GA, AL, IL, MO, KS, NE, SD, MN, IO, WI, IN, MI)
Stops for repairs: 0
Times bike needed oil: 0
Times I wished for more power: 0
Speeding tickets: 1


I got to see part of the Blue Ridge Parkway, the Great Smokeys, and even the fabled hilly part of Kansas. I visited with old friends and made some new ones. What more can one ask?

 

[tessler]

So that's where ya been!

Congratulations and welcome home! Over 4,500 miles; nice!

Glad to hear you got a chance to get out and see part of the country, and on a K75 no less ... (it's a great bike innit?)

 

[kbasa]

How'd the GPS work for you?

 

[BRADFORDBENN]

Nice riding, next time let me know you are coming to my neck of the woods. We can break bread.

 

[jeneralist]

How'd the GPS work for you?

In general, the gadget (a Garmin 60Cx) worked great. I never worried about being lost, or not being able to find a gas station. But the times when it didn't....

First, I don't agree with the map set (City Navigator 7?) about what constitutes a paved road. Heading for Russell Cave National Park in Alabama, the directions told me to follow "Orme Mountain Road." Well, when the highway signs pointed one way and the GPS another, I chose to believe the GPS. Big mistake. I was soon sent to a small sidestreet off a county road -- first it was narrow and paved, then it had what felt like a 30 degree incline with a twist, and then it turned to gravel.... I turned around, headed back to the highway, and followed the signs. (FWIW, Google Maps uses the same route.) One of the park rangers later told me that the weekend before, over 30 street bikes had followed those directions down several miles of twisting gravel. If I had been riding a GS, it might have been fun -- but it wasn't for me.

The other problem was a software bug in the GPS itself. When I followed a multi-stop route and forced a recalculation (say, by turning off the route to get gas), the recalculated path would get me to the last stop in the route, skipping all the other stops. Luckily I caught that problem before it did any damage.

The other bit of tech I need to report on is the tire valve caps that purport to indicate the air pressure in your tires. The collective wisdom of the group is correct, and I was wrong: they don't work, and they do let air leech out of the tires. Again, I caught the problem before it turned into real trouble.

 

[sheridesabeemer]

It's a groovy kind of love!

 

[AirForce]

Just like Benn said, next time you are in my neck-o-da-woods, stop by (just off I-44 in Rolla, MO)

Nice report!

 

[rich]

Yeah, and try to hit ND next time too, will ya?

Nice trip!

 

[jeneralist]

Just like Benn said, next time you are in my neck-o-da-woods, stop by (just off I-44 in Rolla, MO)

Nice report!

Thanks for the kind words -- maybe we can trade Seca stories, too! (My 1st bike was a 1983 Seca 400.)