[Akari.Blue]

It's been a hellish summer, I haven't gotten much time to ride or read the forums (I am away a few months and ohwow the whole place is different!), but I did get a good evening ride by Lake Kachess in Washington a while back. And, I took the TW on a week-long camping trip. Not a riding trip, but a fun experience packing everything on to the bike to get there and back anyways. Also found out that leaving the oil filler cap off for a 10-mile ride doesn't drain much oil out of the bike, but it sure makes a mess! :/



Here's (hopefully) some photos of the Kachess lake ride (if it'll work):

I'll be uploading more Kachess trip photos to my flickr account here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/akari_blue1/with/4996611345/



My friend and housemate had a business meeting in the area and was able to borrow the big pick-up truck from work for it, so we loaded up my TW in the back and I spent the late afternoon and early evening exploring the hills above the campsite. It was a lot of fun, I was out riding about 4 hours total. I don't have any photos of the last half of the ride because I was too busy getting down OFF the mountain before I got struck by lightning.

If I had a helmet-cam, I'd have glorious shots of blue-purple lightning right in front of me, lighting up the whole sky. It was beautiful! But not exactly what I was hoping for, I had a hard time concentrating on the path in front of me with the lightning in the sky above me!



The path was probably easy to most people here. I found it a bit challenging, I'm just not used to dirt trails on an actual dirt bike yet. It was mostly gravel, bone-dry even in the deepest potholes, and a lot of it was obviously driven over in 4x4 trucks. The little TW had absolutely no trouble navigating it, but I found it unnerving to be losing traction as much as I did. Over the ridges in the road, the back wheel would just break free, and then come back, so suddenly that I'd have no time to react. Kind of neat! Also interesting loss of traction over large rocks embedded in the road surface, a but more "eek"-worthy but I never lost control so it must have been alright! Lots of wildflowers, no big animals or other traffic, warm but not hot, it was just about perfect.



Hopefully when my personal life settles down, I'll have a chance to go back and spend more time up there. Lots of trails I'd love to explore around there! And with how easy it is to load the TW into a pickup, hopefully I'll talk my friend in to taking me on more such outings. It was a nice change from my usual treks through the Olympic Park trails.



Akari

 

[ATXthumper]

looks like an awesome ride. gravel is unnerving to navigate. the way the back end of my tw slides around gets kinda disorienting sometimes. i'll feel it after i hit the pavement too its kinda like a phantom limb! i know the bike is riding true but i feel that slippy feeling..

 

[Rainman]

What a great place to ride. What road were you on?

 

[admiral]

Thanks for sharing the photo's. Nice to see you back and will look forward to future adventure photo's and reports.

 

[jvt]

I was in that general area yesterday and did a loop of 114 miles from greenwater to cle elum washington. Was on gravel roads most of the way. Lots of hunters.

 

[TW2007]

I was in that general area yesterday and did a loop of 114 miles from greenwater to cle elum washington. Was on gravel roads most of the way. Lots of hunters.

Jim,



I don't want to steal this thread but I saw your avatar and it reminded me in 1989 I was considering buying the Roslyn Cafe it was on the market then for $74,000 asking price. How the world changes. And then came Northern Exposure.



Mike



PS Sorry Akari.

 

[elime]

Also found out that leaving the oil filler cap off for a 10-mile ride doesn't drain much oil out of the bike, but it sure makes a mess! :/

Been there done that!!! HA HA HA! My right pants leg was just soaked with oil. Live and learn I guess. I haven't come close to making that mistake again. Tony

 

[Woofhound]

Next time you go up there try dropping your tire pressure to about 15 psi, it takes a lot of the loose feeling away. I run mine at 15 psi all the time. give me a hollar next time you go over. I'm in cle elum almost every weekend. woof

 

[Petrus]

Lovely pictures Akari

 

[Akari.Blue]

Heck if I knew what road I was on, I wasn't paying attention heading out. Generally west of the reservoir and east of the highway and I started out on the road running straight west from the last turn-off for Kachess Lake campground. It was a lovely trip but my last of the season, unfortunately. Now I'm waiting to see if there'll actually be snow around here so I can see how the TW handles it, but I doubt I'll be going far until I can afford electric gear.

I'll try dropping the tire pressure next time, I suspect that'll help quite a bit. The tire pressures are still as set by the dealership, which even on pavement is a bit much for my weight by itself. Thanks for the suggestion, Woofhound, I hadn't thought to do that before starting out. And yea, I would have tried to hook up with you, but it was way too last minute rushed for anything. I found out my housemate was making the trip in just enough time to toss the TW in the back of the truck and check to make sure I had gear and gas cans. I'm glad I went, it was lots of fun.

 

[imnxnyr]

Was stationed at Bangor during the late 80's on the West by-GOD Virginia and loved the area.

My greatest memories are riding the Green mountain trails (I've heard they're all shut down to bikes now) and riding at Tahuya State Forest ORV park. Used to enter there at sand hill.

Oh yeah, I guess I should mention (in case my wife reads this post) the all time greatest memory from that area is getting married in the Port Orchard court house.

Thanks for the pics.