New mode!

I acquired a new toy today -- a screaming-yellow 4-cylinder motorcycle that is just BEGGING me to take it for a ride. As soon as the baby has its "break-in" miles behind it, I am going to head for the high country of northern Arizona and south Utah, hopefully BEFORE winter gets here! I figure red-rock dust will match the bright yellow paint just fine!

Any other scooter lovers on the site?

Motorcycles are a kick but I've only ridden dirt bikes and just around town. Not sure I'd like them on the highway. I get cold way too easy. :-)

On a trip through Utah this summer, I met a guy who lived in San Francisco and who had a long weekend so he hopped on his motorcycle to drive to Colorado for lunch. He had stopped at the same motel I was staying at the night before on his way to Colorado and was staying there again the next night for his stop on the way home. Now that's a roadtrip!

I understand the getting cold part -- I don't chill that easily unless I am ill, so that is not a problem for me. I love highway riding, but the worst part is the discomfort after 100 miles or so -- what bikers call iron-butt syndrome. I've never done a longer trip on a motor -- just short day trips or a weekend here or there. On my last bike, the longest trip I did was over to Rodeo, New Mexico from Phoenix, then I rode a circle around central-western NM with a stop at Pietown for some chocolate cream pie. Sigh... WHAT a weekend!

Last summer, I drove across Utah from Uvada to Mexican Hat, mostly on Utah 14 & 12 (on my way home from OR/ID) -- it was absolutely beautiful and I've been thinking ever since that would be a perfect place for a motorcycle ride -- in fact a few months ago (right after I was there) I saw a TV program, a documentary, about some lady bikers who rode that same section of Utah on their way to a rally in SFO. So that sealed it for me -- I'm GOING! Soon, very soon.

Now, I just need to figure out how I'm going to secure a sleeping bag and small tent onto the bike's bodywork...

Sounds like a great trip. Let us know how it goes. And hope you don't lose your sleeping bag/tent on the highway. :-) Judy