Absolutely no problems! What the heck!

[Sit]

These forums are a great place to get information, but some seem to focus more on what goes wrong with the bike than discussing the joys of the bike. So here is a nothing to report story, other than the bike did a great job.

My brother and I left last Thurs evening for a trip through Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana in order to visit some dams as part of the Dam Tour 08 "contest" we are participating in. With full bags on my bike, side and top case along with a duffle on the rear seat, we set off early evening from Portland. We made it in quick order to Kennewick Wa only to find most every hotel/motel room booked due to a Jehovahs Witness convention. This happend to us the last time we went on a trip without firm lodging plans, a large rodeo was in town and we could not find a room. So after some failed attempts, we finally found a not so nice or clean room and got settled in for the night.

Got up Fri morning with plans to visit three dams in Wa, one in Idaho and one in Mt. With any luck, it would be an 11 hour day and we would be in Grangeville Id late evening. Well, after testing the brakes avoiding tumble weeds and crappy road surfaces, we found ourselves at the top of a pass with warning signs indicating curves ahead for the next 77 miles! Lolo pass for those that know the Idaho area. Figured we could make it down the pass and to our end spot with no problems. Well half way down the pass, we were both low on fuel and luckily found a little campground that sold gas. Whew! Load off our minds, now we could get off this blessed road that was way curvy and quickly getting dark. Lets see, dark mountain curvey road, with deer signs every where. I lost count of how many deer we scared off of the road. My feeble little GS horn works for that at least. Well, almost. Well past sunset we had stopped seeing deer. My HID headlight and hi beam were a blessing, but it seemed like most of the furry creatures had bedded down for the night. So we stepped up the pace a bit as it was way late now and we were getting tired. Apparently one mother deer and bambi were out late also. From about 50 mph, I saw mom come up onto the road. @$%! Hard on the brakes and started looking to see where I could go to keep it on the road. Decided to aim behind mom hoping she did not turn around. She did not, mom continued her slow trot across the road as I concentrated on the open space behind her so as to not fixate on her and hit her. Well bambi was not a fast as mom and appeared on the road a second or two after mom. Between the two, I figured bambi was toast, but kept hard on the brakes trying to loose speed as much as possible. I think this is what saved me. I had a lot of weight on the front wheel when I hit bambi just in front of its hind quarters. Bike shook just a bit, but never really gave any indication of wanting to do anything but go straight. I rode on a bit and then pulled over to make sure my brother behind me missed bambi now down in the road and to check my bike. No damage to the bike thank goodness. Bambi was not so lucky. We finally go to a hotel a bit after midnight after a long 16 + hour day on the bike.

Saturday we changed our plans and stopped in Boise so my brother could get a new front tire for his FJR. Thank you Snack River Yamaha! They squeezed him in and got his bike back on the road. From there we just did one more dam back across the border into Oregon and then headed to family for a good nights sleep. On Sunday it was one more dam and then a bee line to home.

Overall we did just under 1900 miles with the only real problem being the deer and a faster than expected wearing out of a front tire. Neither bike had any problems. My final drive did not fail, nor did the EWS. I only had to add an ounce or two of oil and the bike got freaking awesome gas mileage. During my week day commute, my gas light normally comes on around 160 miles. On this trip, several times the light never came on and I was at 200 miles on the tank. The only thing I wish the GS had is cruise control, some of those eastern oregon roads have no imagination and are straight as an arrow for miles and miles. I did fing with my feet on the crash bars leaning back against the duffle was rather comfy though. I also used a cooling vest on Sat and Sun and riding in
90+ temps was comfortable with it. Not an item I will used often, but well worth it for those longer hot trips!

Sorry for no neat pictures. but the photos we got are of just the bikes in front of dams, nothing over the top about that. Saw some beautiful country though! Wow! If you are in Idaho and find the Lolo pass, it would be an awesome ride in the day light! Just make sure you have time to get down it. The 77 miles of curves seems like it did not cover nearly that much in linear miles. It is a slow road and takes time to get down. Other riders we met on Sat thought we were nuts coming down it in the dark. We did not do it by choice.

Stay safe and enjoy our chosen rides, they are great bikes!

[tor12gs]

Good post and well put. There are issues with every bike, and anything mechanical for that matter. I've had niggly issues with every bike I've owned - the last 2 being BMW's.

The enjoyment I get and the thrills of riding far outweigh the goofy issues (yes, some are more serious) I've had to deal with owning this bike.

I believe we buy these toys for the sheer pleasure (and therapy) they provide us with. But like any other toy, hobby or interest there's the cost to participate. This takes the form of either time or money. This hobby, by far, has provided me with more enjoyment and exhilaration than any other leisure activity I've participated in. The cost/aggravation is minute in comparison.

So far..my bike's doing a great job as well!!

[Sit]

We have since done a two ride from Portland to Winnemucca NV and a three day ride that covered about about 1800 miles. This last three day ride was again flawless and much to my suprise, since my last oil change, 3K miles ago, I have not added any oil at all. Bike is starting to settle down. Since April, when I had my 6K service, I have put on nearly 10K miles, yes with another service in there. Bike has shown no issues and the summer has just flown by.

[sfarson]

Colorado to North Carolina and back last summer. No issues. Just a great and memorable trip.