Work on the XRR and a Ride

Some more work occured on the XRR this week. I added the Tanker Brace to further support the massive, Saraha Gas Tank. I also added Rox Risers and a ProTaper Bar. Finally, I added some Adventure Foot Pegs.

Then I took her out for a spin in Rampart. It was a great day and I really enjoyed the ride....with my buddy, Mat.

Work on the XR

With Audra out of town, up at Vail, for the State FLA Competitions (Future Business Leaders of American)....I took the opportunity to "live" in the garage for about 10 hours on Sunday. What did I do??? ......

Well, I dove in to this Honda I recently purchased. For peace of mind, I needed to make darn sure she was ready for the high country and wouldn't leave me stranded. The pressing concern was the, rear ProLink Suspension. I tore it completely down, inspecting to make sure it was in good working order and then re-lubed with some high grade Marine grease. I did some other things as well, including....adding my new Acerbis Sahara Gas Tank.

Texas Tour with the Boys

With Bryce at Texas Bible Institute in Columbus, TX..... I was longing to ride with my boys. All Winter, I dreamed and planned for our first, spring ride. What would it be? Finally, I arrived on a plan. Tyler and I would trailer out VStroms from Colorado to my Mother's home in Brownwood, TX, where we would meet Bryce. For the past year, Bryce has had his VStrom at my Mom's.

We would get up early on a Friday morning....and ride to West Texas, enjoying the Davis Mountains and Big Bend.

But it would not happen.

Upon arriving at Brownwood, we checked the weather and decided to 'bag' our trip to West Texas. The weekend temperature forecast for Big Bend was north of 105 degrees!!! (really high for the first of April) So, we needed a plan "B".

A couple of weeks earlier, a fellow rider had posted a note to me about the TAR (Texas Adventure Ride). As serendipity would have it, the TAR was happening the very weekend we had scheduled our ride and would be based out of Junction, TX.... only a short, two hour ride south of Brownwood. We decided the Hill Country would be our destination for the weekend. (And a great decision it was, due to the Range Fires that sparked and burned out of control in West Texas all weekend.)

Leaving Mom's, we rode south.

The heat wave affected all of Texas, including the Hill Country. On Friday the temps were in the high 90's. When we stopped to rest, it was in the shade. Upon arriving in Junction, Sonic Drive-In Route 44 Iced Teas hit the spot.

For the weekend, we camped at the Upper Llano River State Park. This little park sits about 3 miles outside of Junction and was the perfect base camp for our weekend rides. Two afternoons, we stripped down to our gym shorts and hit the river. Usually, we floated in the cool water for a couple of hours during the heat of the day. Our campsite, was a 'walk in' location where we had some pretty good privacy and the place, mostly to ourselves. (The last night, a group of Girl Scouts invaded us to make it interesting.)

The Texas Adventure Riders are a great group of guys and fun to hang around. The Christian Motorcycle Association was represented and made their rounds, praying for everyone's safety. Honestly, I thought the state of Texas was 99.9% private property and there was no access to dirt riding. I was reeducated... Actually, there are hundreds of miles of "county access" roads all through the state. It was these roads that we explored and had a great time. One major riding education point for the boys and I was the cement water crossings in Texas. Oh my goodness these things are slick as greased owl poop. Once, both boys dropped their bikes.

Being close to Campwood, TX where the Burleson side of my family grew up, I was excited to show the boys some of their heritage. We rode through Campwood, but the hit was a trip to Vance, TX, where many of our kin are buried in the little cemetery there. Here is a pic of the boys with the headstone of their Great Grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Burleson (Mother's Parents).

On our final day, we rode north-east to Fredricksburg, TX, to enjoy some great German Food. The boys were enamored with the Blonde Beauty. All three of us order different Brat meals and shared. It was amazing!

After getting back to Mom's, eating dinner with my sister and her kids and crashing for the night.... Bryce headed back to TBI and Tyler and I left for Colorado. The trip was a good, quick one... except for the trailer tire flat that delayed us for 15 minutes. Thank God I had a spare!!!

The New Mexico sunset.

Good bye to Two..... Hello to One

After a long winter of deliberation, I made a couple of tough choices. I decided to sell the BMW K1200LT and the Honda NX650. Both of these bikes were outstanding for me, but I realized I was just not a good fit for either bike. The LT is a long distance touring bike and that just isn't in the cards for Audra and I at this juncture in our lives. The NX is simply an amazing dual-sport, but it was going to take a ton of work to get it set up for my 6'4", 240 lb body. And it wasn't the 'Dirt Bike' I really wanted. I needed a bike that would tackle the light single track and high mountain adventure riding that I love to do.

So, I sold both bikes this spring.

After about a month of hard searching on Cycle Trader, Craigs List and EBay, I found the bike I was looking for. Staying a 'Honda Guy', I stumbled on a XR650R up in Denver that is in really good shape. The bike only needs about $500 of upgrades to make it "Happy" for me. I am really looking forward to getting this dude up in the woods and throw it around on the trails.

Facelift on Tyler's Strom

For the past several months, Tyler has been working hard, paying back his loan (to Dad) for his own Suzuki VStrom. With his 19th birthday arriving, he is also nearing the end of his payments and had some cash in his pockets and some birthday presents to fully equip his bike.

It took him a couple of days in the garage to do all the work, but in the end... the bike really looks phenomenal.

He added Hand Guards, Engine Guards, Skid Plate, Center Stand, Luggage Racks and Handlebar Risers. He also had to replace the oil seals in his front forks.

Finally, he purchased some 'Truck Bed Liner Spray' and painted his cowling. The previous owner had dropped the bike a couple of times and the cowling was a little scratched up. Now.... it looks amazing!!!