Summer Trip - Ride Report

[isiahstites]

My trip begin at 6:00 A.M. on Thursday morning, I left the house to meet Chris at 6:30 at Cycle Gear in San Marcos. I was a few minutes late after saying long good byes to my girls and promising them I would return home in one piece on Sunday evening.

Our first stop after about an hour of riding was to get some gas in Santa Ysabela off of the 78 freeway.

Pretty Busa

Just a short 6-7 mile ride out of Santa Isabela is Julian the home of some great apple pie and some really cool buildings.

Coming down the back side of the mountain

Chris

Banner Queen Ranch??? WTF???

A view off into the distance.

A little more than an hour into the trip and..................look mom! No chicken strips! I really like The BT-016 tires I bought especially at $268 a set shipped with tax.

 

[isiahstites]

Hayabusa and Chris's CBR1000RR

At the intersection of Hwy 78 and 86 I went to downshift through the gears to slow down and start to stop and nothing was there. I pulled in the clutch and coasted to a stop.

When I turned around I saw this sign. This sign is a famous sign seen on t-shirts and magazines of a surfer with his board trying to get to the beach.

Thankfully I had brought some blue loctite on the trip and I knew I had the 17mm wrench to put her back in the proper place. I was really grateful the way the engineers at Suzuki designed the shifter. It just loosened itself up, but the bolt remained in the assembly thanks to a c-clip. Saved my butt! After a quick repair we were back on the road.

More riding lead us through Brawley and passed the Salton Sea and headed into farming country. When we made the turn off of the main road that took 78 through the farm land there was a nice dip in the road and them up again. The busa got completely airborne...........pretty awesome and a little scary.


Glamis sand dunes..........it was a bit warm out there.

A picture of my girls on top of my tank bag as reminder to behave and not do anything entirely stupid.

We stopped in Aguila, AZ to get gas and found that the locals across the main road HWY 60 were just hanging out in the shade enjoying the day. This place really felt like a farming town in Mexico.

 

[isiahstites]

From Aquila we took the 60 to the 71 to the 89 to 89A into the Sedona area. These pictures were taken a few miles outside of Jerome, AZ.

Just outside of Sedona, AZ

Before we got to Sedona we went into Red Rock Park and rode around checking out the local scenery. Absolutely beautiful!!

 

[isiahstites]

Once in Sedona Chris and I were ready to call it day as we had been riding for about 12 hours. We were tired and hungry as we both only ate power bars throughout the day and a lot of Gatorade to stay hydrated in the heat. We stopped at one of the first restaurants we found off of the main highway. The food was excellent, steak and shrimp for me with baked potato and veggies.

A few pictures from the parking lot where we stayed.

Lots of bugs on this trip. When we stopped for gas or rest we always had to clean the visor's of our helmets as they were plastered with bugs.

After dinner we tried to find a hotel in Sedona that had a good rate. Chris and I being the cheap bastards that we are decided to stay in Camp Verde after a chat with my friend Dean. Camp Verde was a blip on the radar and with our new found energy from eating and resting for over an hour we kept on riding the 260 towards our Show Low destination. The sun was setting and the air was cool. It was an awesome ride! We finally made it to Strawberry and Pine, AZ and realized us being cheap bastards that any Bed and Breakfast we went to was going to be just as expensive as Sedona so we kept on riding.

At this point it was all but dark so, we made calls to loved ones and let them know where we were what our plan was and when to expect a call. We changed visors and put liners in the jackets as the temperature went way down. After talking to the locals and Dean we knew that our stopping point for the evening would be Payson. We continued on in the dark and didn't go over the speed limit in hopes to leave more reaction time to avoid any four legged creatures that may try to occupy the same space we intended on riding through.

After a short time we made it to Payson and stayed in the Best Western. The price was right and we were able to park the bikes by the front door of our room. After 14 hours of travelling we were pretty beat. We took a quick swim in the pool and called it night.

 

[isiahstites]

Up bright and early the next morning we left the room by 6:30 in route to Heber Overgaurd to meet Dean. It was a cold but beautiful ride with nice high speed sweepers.

Once in Heber and meeting up with Dean we followed him the back way into Show Low. This ride consisted of lots of high speed sweepers and road that you could see forever. Chris and I really enjoyed the route Dean took back to his place.

Once in Show Low the CBR1000R and the Hayabusa were turned into dual sport motorcycles as we rode down the three mile dirt rode to Dean's place. I had to stop twice as I thought the tires went flat and I also thought the steering dampener busted off. It was just the loose gravel and the unusual feedback I was getting.

Once at Deans place we were greeted by their awesome dogs Einstein and Buddy.

Dean gave us the grand tour and we had a wonderful lunch prepared by the Grand Hostess Mz. Pam. After lunch a full nap was in store. I can't remember the last time I took a nap intentionally. It was utterly awesome!!

After our nap we decided to head east to New Mexico to meet up with Dave.

 

[isiahstites]

A few miles from the AZ/NM border we passed him heading west.

Once we were back at the Dean's I snapped a few shots.

The view from the second floor.

Around dusk Mz. Pam called us for dinner. Here was the view from the patio of there cabin. I truly was at peace while there.

 

[isiahstites]

The Grand Hostess!

The infamous Deano an equally Grand Host!

The amazing meal Mz. Pam made for all of us. Chicken Alfredo, salad with creamy blue cheese dressing and of course amazing I can't get enough please give me more APPLE PIE w/ Blue Bell Ice Cream. To say I went to bed fat and happy was an understatement.

 

[isiahstites]

The next day we made our way to the Bear Wallow Cafe, in Alpine, AZ for another amazing meal. The road was amazing and the scenery stunning.

Dean checking out the busa.

Everyone left and it was time for dinner once again, oh boy another amazing Mz. Pam meal!

I was so hungry that I dug right in and forgot about taking a shot. Half way through I remembered...........Brats, BBQ beans and fresh fruit............eating like a KING once again.

 

[isiahstites]

The next morning Chris and I woke with the attitude of a kid who has to go to school on Monday morning. I could of just stayed in bed and took naps all day and ate some more of Mz. Pam's amazing food and apple pie.

Kicking and screaming in my head I reluctantly boarded the rather dirty rocket ship Hayabusa for the venture home.

The first part of our trip home was some of the best road we had ridden the entire trip. I think it's called Salt River Canyon and it was DAM AWESOME!

Here is a nice picture of the scenery and the type of twisty road that the canyon has in it.........a sport bike riders dream!!

Here is a link to the map so you see all of the twisties............Chris and I could of spent the day there wearing out our new tires!
Salt River Canyon, Roosevelt, AZ - Google Maps

 

[isiahstites]

Here is what my tire looked like 20 or so miles after running through the twisty part of Salt River Canyon. Did I mention I am really happy with these tires?

Last picture for this trip..........it was awesome boys!

The rest of the trip home sucked!! 115 degree weather for about 5 hours...............I got nothing to report about that other than we were hot, sweaty, and wore out when we got home.

 

[BUBBA]

Blue Bell?
Really?
Blue Bell?
That is the best in TX. Have they now expanded to the Best Coast?


Great trip and thanks for the pix

Bubba

 

[isiahstites]

Blue Bell?
Really?
Blue Bell?
That is the best in TX. Have they now expanded to the Best Coast?


Great trip and thanks for the pix

Bubba

We were on the NM/AZ border which is only about 500 miles from the TX border.

Scott

 

[ANTON BUSA]

wow nice pics and looks like you had a good time

 

[cbat2210]

Awesome pics, looks like a great trip! Thanks for sharing

 

[jellyrug]

Great ride report, thanks for sharing!!

Good to know a Busa can handle dirt roads.