5K mile trip plan for Norge

[blackbuell]

In a few weeks I am riding on the Norge from KY to the north rim of the Grand Canyon. My brother, who will be riding his C14, has never seen the big hole, so we chose it as our primary destination. En route we will ride through Rocky Mt. NP, Leadville, Salida, Lake City, and Gunnison in CO.

From the Grand Canyon we will ride to Albuquerque to visit my daughter; we will also pick up my wife at the airport--she will ride with us (on the back of the Norge) for the remainder of the trip. While in the four corners region, we plan to visit Moab, UT and ride on some of those great roads between Arches and Bryce Canyon.

I am a veteran of many cross-country MC rides, but this will be my first on a Guzzi. I do plan to take a quart or two of oil with me, since it's tough to find the proper oil at places other than at MG dealerships, but aside from that, I am making the same preparations that I have made in the past when riding other bikes. Any suggestions for preparation from you fellow CARC bike riders? How about destination suggestions?


Jon

[Pete Roper]

Put Key in ignition.

Turn until dashboard goes through its paces.

Press start button.

 Ride until fuel lamp comes on.

Fill up.

Repeat.

Every 2000Km or so check the oil level. Do not fill to beyond half way between the 'Full and 'Add' marks.

Drink lots of water.

Go to the North Rim. It's much nicer than the South Rim which has a F@cking Shopping Mall built on it and is crammed to the gunwales with fat, ugly, morons licking ice creams and complaining that there is 'Nothing There', (Apart from one of THE GREAT GEOLOGICAL MARVELS OF THE PLANET!!!!!! No, There isn't. Send 'em to Vegas to die!!!!)


I'm going to be riding across from the South East to the South West in late June early July. PM me when you're on your way, we might be able to meet up. I'll be the fat, ugly Australian with the walking stick and bad attitude that if I've been around the police will know about.

Pete

PS. I'll be on a black and white Aprilia Mana GT with Florida plates and my bet is they are even rarer than Norges!!!!

[blackbuell]

Pete,

I agree with you about the north vs. the south rim of the GC--no comparison; it is certainly worth the extra effort to ride to the north rim, so we will definitely go there. I'll keep you posted about the trip; maybe our paths will cross.

Jon

[Orson]

How about destination suggestions?

Colorado Highway 141 through the Unaweep Canyon.

Fantastic red rock scenery   You might be able to string Utah-12 together with CO-141 to get you from the Grand Canyon to Albuquerque.

CO-149 from Gunnison to Creede is also nice

NM-64 is a nice way across Northern New Mexico

[blackbuell]

Orson,

CO-149 is one of my favorite MC roads; in my youth I used to include it in many of my rides in the SW USA. One of my favorite MC camp grounds is at Slumgullion Pass. Lake City is a great destination. We will definitely ride on this road.

I have ridden NM-64 several times, but it was many years ago. We might have to check it out; perhaps we will follow it on the leg of the trip between Albuquerque and Moab. Same thing for CO-141. I have never ridden on the latter, but your post lead me to read about it--seems like a great suggestion.

Thanks,

Jon

[blackbuell]

Well, the ride actually turned out to be 6,000 miles long and we had a great time. The Norge performed nearly flawlessly--it just could have used a bit more power when riding 2-up, fully loaded, up those high mountain passes in Colorado.

My favorite routes were 149 in Colorado (between Gunnison, through lake City, to South Fork), route 114 in Colorado (between Saguache and Gunnison), and route 128 in Utah (between Moab and Cisco). My favorite spot was Bryce Canyon.

A few pics follow:

Jon

[Daniel Kalal]

Those are some very nice photographs!  Looks like a terrific  trip.