SouthWest Meetup June 2-5, 2022

Some of you may recall how I mentioned that CO weather can be really unpredictable, and that snow in May is not rare. I live in Colorado Springs, we got probably 8" of heavy, wet snow yesterday and overnight. It was 90° the day before! Branches down everywhere. Our poor iris flowers, which were just starting to burst out, took a big hit. As for me, I'm glad Mother Nature got this out of her system NOW, and not 10 days from now! We will probably see some of the remnants while going over Wolf Creek Pass. I'm getting excited!

Yes, mother nature got it out of her system!!! Getting excited too!

Mid MO has just been getting rain. 5” between Friday evening and noon Sat. I hope ole Mother Nature gets it out of her system too. I’m trying to time grass cutting to right before I leave. We will see.

Stlburd2 said:

Mid MO has just been getting rain. 5” between Friday evening and noon Sat. I hope ole Mother Nature gets it out of her system too. I’m trying to time grass cutting to right before I leave. We will see.

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I don't worry about the grass. It grows just fine when I'm not around. It grows and grows and grows.......

Anxiety time. I took my bike in this morning to have the front tire replaced and although I have a nice fresh tire, it was discovered I have a leaky fork seal (didnt know, and doesnt look good) and I failing battery. Seals on order and hoping for install before the weekend. Already having to deal with my accountant leaving a few weeks ago, making my days really full (hard to coordinate bike service) and also stressing on the vacation time I will be taking.
Deep breaths...

Stirling said:

Anxiety time. I took my bike in this morning to have the front tire replaced and although I have a nice fresh tire, it was discovered I have a leaky fork seal (didnt know, and doesnt look good) and I failing battery. Seals on order and hoping for install before the weekend. Already having to deal with my accountant leaving a few weeks ago, making my days really full (hard to coordinate bike service) and also stressing on the vacation time I will be taking.
Deep breaths...

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If it's the left fork seal, can you get away without it for now? Doesn't the left fork have the dummy shock?

Gregory Tubbs said:

If it's the left fork seal, can you get away without it for now? Doesn't the left fork have the dummy shock?

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I thought I read somewhere the left fork had the rebound damping, the right was compression. Dont know if that is true. But if it was a pure dummy, then I would think there wouldn't be any oil in it. I will say the last month or 2 I have been aggressive in a particular sweeper curve that has a bit of a launch pad in it that "tops" out my forks most of the time. Probably stressed the seal, which has 51K miles on it.

I bring this up because I've driven a truck for 26 years. You all may be comfortable riding the hills, but there are plenty of truck drivers on the road with little to no experience on mountain roads. Without getting into a whole big conversation, just keep your eyes on your mirrors and let these drivers go by if they're overtaking you. If you haven't driven a truck, you have absolutely NO idea what driving down a mountain is like. And obviously, a lot of the drivers in this video had no idea either. You'll notice, most of these photos show clear roads and Most of these accidents should never have happened. Be safe!

Gregory Tubbs said:

This rider saw more than remnants.

View attachment 47870

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EWWWW! At this time (always a risky statement in CO) the forecast is looking good for Cortez, in the 80's. 10-day forecasts are always dicey here...

Couldn't agree with Greg more. I drove charter/tour buses for 36 years, and it's sad to see what's become of professional drivers. Rudeness and "I don't give a ****" attitudes prevail now. How many times have you seen an 80K lb tractor-trailer gaining on someone in the #2 lane, you can see they haven't registered that fact (distraction, a.k.a smartphone), so then, as you're about to overtake them in the #1 lane, there's an obligatory single turn signal blink AS they're coming into your lane. You have to hit the brakes to keep from colliding. Seriously? I heard of one "professional" driver who lost his brakes going down a long grade in CA (lower gears and Jake?). Went off the road, lived. Safety & training officer visited the crash site, 4 hours later. Brake drums were still too hot to touch. Pink-slipped the driver in the hospital.

BUT, there's nothing particularly dangerous about Wolf Creek Pass. Million Dollar Highway will make the hair on the back of your neck stand up more grin.

Stirling said:

Anxiety time. I took my bike in this morning to have the front tire replaced and although I have a nice fresh tire, it was discovered I have a leaky fork seal (didnt know, and doesnt look good) and I failing battery. Seals on order and hoping for install before the weekend. Already having to deal with my accountant leaving a few weeks ago, making my days really full (hard to coordinate bike service) and also stressing on the vacation time I will be taking.
Deep breaths...

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10 deep breaths, Stirling. I used to suffer from leaky fork seals all the time on my '85 V65 Sabre. You could go a LONG time on those before they really needed to be addressed. Sure hope your ride isn't in jeopardy. Good luck, keep us updated.

Stirling said:

I thought I read somewhere the left fork had the rebound damping, the right was compression. Dont know if that is true. But if it was a pure dummy, then I would think there wouldn't be any oil in it. I will say the last month or 2 I have been aggressive in a particular sweeper curve that has a bit of a launch pad in it that "tops" out my forks most of the time. Probably stressed the seal, which has 51K miles on it.

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I've never heard of shocks being different on either side. Someone commented about the left fork being a dummy shock. They are certainly different since the oil capacity isn't the same. And the parts diagram shows right and left part numbers. The other parts, seals, springs, etc. are the same for both. This inquiring mind wants to know!

swblake said:

Don't get spooked; US-550 is an awesome road! View attachment 47872

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I had less than 5k miles riding experience when I rode 550. By the time I got down to Silverton I was a wreck. Never really got over it. I like guard rails.

Gregory Tubbs said:

I had less than 5k miles riding experience when I rode 550. By the time I got down to Silverton I was a wreck. Never really got over it. I like guard rails.

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Understood. I've been riding for nearly 60 years, so small potatoes. I consider the inevitable motorhomes to be the bigger nuisance. It would have been hair-raising for me too about 50 years ago.

swblake said:

EWWWW! At this time (always a risky statement in CO) the forecast is looking good for Cortez, in the 80's. 10-day forecasts are always dicey here...

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Do you think he just left the bike there and hitched a ride? I would!

Gregory Tubbs said:

Do you think he just left the bike there and hitched a ride? I would!

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Hahaha, strange place to just leave the bike though. Wolf Creek Pass doesn't have any tourist mecca like Monarch Pass on US-50. Personally, I would have kept going, carefully, weather usually clears up and warms up as you go down the grade. As long as there's no ice...