48 States- Leg 2

[09UltraSteve]

What a great post Jake. I have been wanting to do a coast to coast for a while. One of these days.
We are planning a trip to Houston, TX right after July 4th, 1500 miles one way. The wife is going to ride down and fly back, so I may take the long road home.
Keep up the posting and pictures they are great.

Steve

 

[RetiredJake]

Thursday 6/25

My ABS light was on most of yesterday, so today was going to be dedicated to finding a dealer to look at it, as well as an oil change since I just hit 20,000 miles on the bike. But first, a note from our sponsor.

Do you have that ugly splotchy look?

You can look like this !

All you have to do is join Glider’s Pledge Club :lolrolling

Headed to John Day, OR to get my ‘J’ town, then headed north on US 395.

I do not recommend this road right now. From US 26 to Pendelton, OR, 395 has been patched with an oil & gravel process. None of the lines had been repainted, so I was worried about loose gravel still being on the road. The shoulders were covered with it, and I kept seeing myself hitting a patch while going around a curve. Took a lot of the fun out of this stretch, as almost 50% of it was like this.

Along the way, I found this little club. Love the hours, my kind of place.

Got to the HD dealer in Kennewick, WA. They changed the oil, and figured out that the front wheel speed sensor had died. Unfortunately, they did not have one in stock, so I will probably not have ABS for the rest of the trip. They were also getting a fault code about the O2 sensors. DigitalTech showed that the ECU was not receiving any signal from the sensors. They found and removed the oXed’s from the bike and that problem went away. Not sure that they really work on ‘08’s. You should keep this in mind if you are looking at them.

Got the bike back about 1630. Headed west on US 12 towards Walla Walla. The Post Office there only has one sign on it, and you can not park, stop or stand in that area. No Walla Walla Post Office for my ABC’s, but do have another sign.

Called it quits for the day. Need to recover from the lies and cold ones from last night. Oh yeah, the dealer washed the bike before they gave it back. Saved me a lot of work.

 

[haroldt]

Hey Jake, enjoying your post, I (as many others) check it daily. You stated you now have 20k on your Ultra, yet in the very first post you mentioned that you had just bought it. So I must figure it was used... (like mine) how many miles were on it when you bought it?

 

[RetiredJake]

Friday 6/26

Haroldt, I bought my ultra new, it had 2 miles on the odometer when I picked it up. It is now 13 months old, and has 20,511 miles on it as I write this. In the same time, I have put over 10,000 miles on my Street Bob. One of the advantages of being retired, you have time to ride, whether your body is willing or not. :lero

Leaving Wall Walla, WA on US 12, the hills are COVERED in wheat. I did not know they raised so much of it around here.

Shortly, I ran into Waitsburg, WA. A “W” town for my ABC’s. Still 100% on using post offices to document my towns.

I came around one curve and found myself staring at a wall of yellow. What appeared to be a field of mustard, wrapped one side of the road around the curve, so that whether you looked to the front or the rear, all you could see was yellow.

Leaving Pataha, WA (one speed limit sign) I found a T-Rex and a large shark trying to devour my bike. They were made with an armature of small diameter rebar, and what appeared to be old cutter bar blades. The ingenuity of artists never fails to amaze me.

Hit Lewiston, ID about 1045. The first thing you do leaving town on US 95, is to climb about 2000 feet in 5 or 6 miles. At the top is a historical marker and a view of Lewiston spread out 2000 feet below you. The road you see in the picture is the old highway, built in the early 1900’s.

Believe it or not, Lewiston, ID is a seaport

Continuing up the road, I got my ‘G’ town for ID, Genesee. I may have to use the zip code to convince the reviewers that it really is a G in the picture.

Arriving in Coeur d’Alene, ID, I arranged to meet a fellow forum member at the Lone Wolf Harley Davidson shop. We had a ‘Meet & Greet’ over a couple of cold ones. Nice to make new friends.

Someone asked for a picture of my camp. Not much to it, I’m a minimalist camper. Just a place to sleep and somewhere to sit down.

I’ve met my goals for getting ahead of schedule. Even with the added trip to the coast, I’m still 3 days ahead. This will allow me to layover in Sturgis for a day or two and see some of the stuff that is mobbed during the rally. I will spend any extra time after that with my sister in CO.

 

[NEWHD74FAN]

A-h-h-h what a life, to be able to see this great country...I hope to do that some day, don't think my gal would care for it, unless she had the teardrop trailer out back to sleep...!

 

[simondippenhall]

Jake

Fabulous trip...thanks for taking us along.

Had a flat recently on mu Ultra while on a trip...interested in how you plan to deal with a flat while you are on the road.

best wishes from Europe

simon

 

[RetiredJake]

Jake

Fabulous trip...thanks for taking us along.

Had a flat recently on mu Ultra while on a trip...interested in how you plan to deal with a flat while you are on the road.

best wishes from Europe

simon

Keep my road service card in my wallet and hope the cell phone works. If not, tubeless tires, 12VDC air pump, tire plugging kit, hope like heck I don't get one.

Jake

 

[RetiredJake]

Saturday 6/27

Headed north out of Coeur d’Alene, ID on US 95. Stopped in Sandpoint to get some breakfast and to warm up, temps in the low 40’s again. Headed north again on US 95/2. Where they split, the decision was whether to go into Canada, or hit MT first. I went east into MT on US 2.

In a short time I crossed the Moyie River. I parked at the end of the bridge and walked back to look at the river. Pretty, but sure was a long way down there.

A few more miles, I came upon this sign. I still have no idea what was there.

Next was the MT border and a time zone change to mountain time. Another ABC point and I was on my way. Turned north on MT 508, The Yaak River Road. I stopped at the falls in a few miles, where two boys were fishing; they were catching catfish, not trout.

MT 508 is another road to add to the list. The first half was easy cruising, gentle sweepers and gorgeous scenery. The second half got tougher. Tight, sharp turns, scenery to take your breath away, not a good combination. Do one or the other. After the road went up and over a small mountain range, this part dumped me out on MT 37, right after crossing Lake Koocanusa.

Part way though the second half of MT 508, I came upon another one of my fascinations. I love to look at old cabins and barns that have weathered and fallen down. What stories they could tell.

I then stopped at the Post Office in Rexford, MT for another ABC point. Hey Tom, you still counting?

I next stopped in Eureka, MT for lunch and to upload yesterdays pics. After lunch, it was 8 miles to the Canadian Border.

I headed north on Canada 95, working my way towards Radium Hot Springs. Stopped in Fort Steel, BC for the night. Two nights in a row in a tent, the wife will be proud. Actually it will be three nights. I’m going to stay here tomorrow night as well after I return from the hot springs. The ride up here was outstanding, gentle curves with the Rockies right beside you.

 

[eleft36]

Great stuff, of course I envy you and appreciate your sharing.

Stay safe,

Al

 

[Trek]

Very nice Jake,

I look forward every day to read your post and look at all the awesome pics, thanks again and ride safe.