Another Pillion Ride to the DK Diner

Today was my wife's birthday so we took a ride out to the DK Diner in West Chester for breakfast.  We had not done a pillion ride in a while, since last month's ride to the Goose Creek Grill, so it was nice to get ride together for a change.  Yet another great day for a ride with temps in the low 80s and no noticeable humidity.  Because we left fairly early, around 09:00, there was virtually no traffic on Goshen and we were able to make a nice run without putting feet down between 252 and the Pike.

On the Ridley Creek Bridge

After breakfast we headed back on the same track but stopped at a couple of places to take some pictures.  First at the bridge over Ridley Creek and then over at Bartram's Covered Bridge.  We saw several groups of riders on Goshen, all going in the opposite direction.  This was a short run, just to get breakfast, but I always enjoy riding that route because of the scenery and the nice layout of the road.  The Bullet performed great but, as can be expected, does not move very fast with two people on board.  At full throttle, with good road conditions, it was only able to hit 65 mph on the speedo.  Allowing for the ambitiousness of the speedo, it was probably not moving faster than 60 mph.

Ridley Creek

Interior of Bartram's Covered Bridge

Clowning around

High Speed Low Drag - XD

Crum's Creek by Bartram's Covered Bridge

Last time we rode together we had trouble with the UClear HBC 100 plus communicators I bought in Idaho.  I tried contacting UClear but they never replied so I fooled around with the dammed things and they are working fine now.  Don't ask me what I did, I just pushed buttons until the things worked.  We used them today on this ride and they were just fine and felt better with the new buckets than they did in the old set.

On departure the odo read 1708.5 miles at 09:10 and on return 1731.1 at 10:55.

Route: Out Goshen/Strasburg to West Chester Pike into West Chester to the diner and back on the same route.

Departure

Return

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Goose Creek Grill

V Stoms at Goose Creek Grill

 Yesterday I noticed what looked like a cool place to have breakfast while on my ride on 926 and I made a plan to come back today with my wife.  We left the house about 09:00 and headed up Goshen to Providence road where we made a left turn.  Today that intersection was littered with gravel that was not there yesterday.  I don't know where it came from but luckily I saw as we approached so I was prepared for it and took the turn without any problems.  

We continued up the West Chester Pike and made the left at 926.  We crossed over 352 and found the Goose Creek Grill on the left soon after that.  As we pulled into the parking lot, we noticed a large group of riders on the side of the building.  We pulled up and parked next to the other bikes and before we were off the Bullet we had a group around us.  The Bullet draws attention everywhere it goes.  We talked to everyone about the Bullet and the bikes they had.  There was a majority of sports bikes and modern standards (including two V Strom 650s like Phillip's, my friend in Idaho), however, there was also a 1968 Honda that someone had on a trailer.  There was also a 2005 Bonneville T100 and a Ural sidecar that looked really nice.  I talked to the owner and he said that, even though he had bought the adapter kit for the Bonneville, he had a devil of a time getting the sidecar installed.  This was a great group of guys and, although they don't generally ride together, they meet at the Goose Creek Grill every Saturday around 08:00 and have breakfast together.  I don't think I will be able to make it next Saturday but we are making a plan to go the following Saturday.

Bonneville T100 with Ural sidecar

After breakfast and a walk around the park, we headed back on 926 to 353 across the Pike and to Strasburg for the way home.  Another great easy ride, the Bullet turned over 1000 miles shortly after we left the Goose Creek Grill parking lot and we added another 13 miles before getting home.

The HBC 100 plus communicators worked well for the trip out but once we turned them on for the trip back one of them refused to work.  I can hear my wife on mine but she can't hear me on hers.  I tried turning them off, rebooting, and re-synchronizing but none of these things seem to work.  I put in an email to UClear but I don't expect to get a reply at least until next Tuesday.  Very aggravating.

After this trip, the odo clocked 1013.8 for a total of 24 miles on the run.

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Riding a Spyder in Idaho

Fueling up on the way out

I was out in Boise, Idaho, the last couple of days on a work deal but that doesn't mean that you can't ride.  Luckily, I was able to hang out with my friend Phillip who rides a Suzuki V Strom 650 and we did some cruising.  Phillip hooked me up with Birds of Prey Motorsports in Caldwell, just outside Boise, where they rented me a Can Am Spyder RT for only $129 a day.  Since I was not going to be in Boise long, I only got the one day rental but Phillip and I made good use of the time I had.

Phillip on his V Strom

On the evening of July 1st, we took a long ride out east of the city.  I'm not quite sure of the route as Phillip was leading and I was just trying to get used to piloting the Spyder.  (Addendum 06 July from my friend Phillip - "from SE Boise, east on e. Warm springs ave, s on hwy 21, s. Federal way, crossing I-84, s. Eiseman, west on gowen (south of BOI and air guard base), s on pleasant valley road past the quarry and two state prisons, east on kuna mora rd, which turns into black creek.  Blacks creek terminates at gravel road, which is called foothills...so we covered all of blacks creek road!")  This Spyder was the automatic model, without a clutch and with a thumb shifter, which took a little while to get used to but that I enjoyed none the less.  I figured the eventually we ended up on East Black Creek Road for quite a while.  This road links up with the Oregon Trail and runs part of the trail.  Whatever the route, the ride was very enjoyable with enough twists and hills to make it entertaining.  The terrain was very western high desert and we saw some rabbits and quail along the way.  On the way back we ended up on I-84 for a little while and I tried to push the Spyder to break the ton but I was only able to reach 91 mph as we approached our off ramp rather quickly.  We clocked a little over 60 miles on this run.

Me on the Spyder RT

The following morning we rode out towards Idaho City via Route 21 (Ponderosa Pine Scenic Route).  This is a really great ride rising from the high desert towards alpine meadows and mountains.  Roble's Creek runs along this route and there are several dam lakes and very scenic areas through out.  At about less than 10 miles from Idaho City we ran into road work and we turned around there because we were on a tight schedule.  We headed by to Boise and probably clocked a little over 40 miles on that run.

Phillip was nice enough to offer me a ride on his V Strom before we headed out to return the Spyder.  The V Strom is a really sweet ride, I did not go very far on it, just a little down the road in his neighborhood but I can tell there is a lot of pep in that bike.

On the way to Idaho City

On the way to Idaho City

I followed Phillip back out to Caldwell to return the bike but that ride was mostly done on I-84 so not much that another 40 miles on freeway conditions.  On the way to the airport we stopped at a Cycle Gear store in Meridian where I bought a UClear HBC 100 plus dual pack communicators.  When I test them out I will review them here.

The Old Toll Road

The Old Toll Road

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