I was told this was mandatory around here and I wouldn't want to break edicate lol - sooooo:

I'm reposting this from the zrxoa site so if you read it there you can skip this one. Just a little quick background first since I haven't been around here long - you can skip this if you just want to get to the ride. I've ridden my whole life except for periods where it wasn't possible. I roadraced in the late 80's on the west coast, had a bad crash at Sears Point that broke my back in 3 places and a bunch of other stuff. Had to learn how to walk again and it took me almost ten years to get back on 2 wheels. In the mid 2000's I picked up single track trail riding and started racing enduros.

In 2012, I came down with an auto immune disease. In Octobers I was racing enduro's for upwards of 6-7 hours on the bike. In 6 weeks I went from racing enduro's to not being able to stand up. Took a while for them to figure out what was going on - extremely rare disease (5 in a million - 23,000 total had it in the US at that time). Was wheelchair bound for about 6 months, then a walker for a while, then a cane, etc. MANY hospitalizations, meds, etc. A couple years ago I bought an 83 KZ750 Spectre to get back on 2 wheels but didn't get on well with it - the bars were horribly uncomfortable. Rode it here and there but only for 20 or 30 minutes at a time.

We have the disease pretty under control now (it'll be with me forever) with meds including a couple forms of chemo to keep my immune system suppressed. Bought my ZX14r in August from a dealer in NC - flew down and rode it home over a few days. All of that to say that I didn't think a long road trip would ever be something I'd get to do again - if I was ever able to ride again period.

<<<<<<<<< Skip to here if you don't want to read why this trip is so meaningful to me >>>>>>>>>>>

I took 2 weeks off work to ride to Austin, TX for the MotoGP races. Being the beginning of April you never know what the weather might bring - we've had snow storms in April. I wanted to be in Austin by thursday night at the latest so that I could watch all of the practice sessions on friday. I gave myself a 4 day window to leave and still get there in time. Worst case I was going to load the bike in the back of a friends truck and we'd drive south until clear of the snow. The later I had to leave the less fun I'd be able to have on the way down as I'd have to take more freeways instead of the back roads that I was planning.

Day 1 - Saturday 4/6/2019

I was planning to hit the road by 8am but I wasn't able to get done with work until 8pm friday so I wasn't able to finish my packing and at midnight gave up. After finally getting everything in order hit the road around 11am. A lot of freeway time on this leg until I got down to Louisvile. Attempted to ride along the north side Ohio river all the way to Evansville, IN. That worked for a while (very fun road, lots of hill peaks, turns that bottom out at the apex and then climb back up, etc) but there was flooding in some areas and the road was closed. GPS routed me on Indiana 62 which ended up being fun as well - 55 mph speed limit most of the way and lots of nice sweeping turns that were fun at 70. I got into Evansville around 10pm and called it a night (I was planning on going further). The only drama today was a dog that came out of nowhere out of a yard making a beeline for me (it was close). Got into a hotel, went and grabbed a bite to eat and then went to my room, checked the weather (wasn't pretty) and passed out. The weather was beautiful all day today with temps in the low 60's to mid 70's and partly cloudy. There were large storms coming up from the southwest that were going to hit around 2am and last until 11am or so.

* Last updated by: SteveStLaurent on 4/8/2019 @ 8:36 PM *

Day 2 - Sunday 4/7/2019

I decided to sleep in and then check the weather. There was a storm right overhead when I woke up around 10am but it looked like it would be clear by 11. I hit the road around 11 in steady rain. First 3 hours or so of the ride it rained but I was able to miss all the storms. I have a rain suit with me just in case but the fairing on the ZX14r is really effective if you keep your knees against the tank. I did put on the Tourmaster rain gloves I bought for the trip but that's it. Note: I've probably tried at least 5 different "rain" gloves over the years and they ALL sucked!! The Tour Master Dri-Perf Gel Glove's worked great - finally! After the steady rain there were some scattered showers here and there. The last 4 or so hours were dry and I was able to dry out.

I put brand new Michelin Road 5's on the bike for the trip and they were great in the wet. Very predictable - I could easily feel when they were on the verge of slipping, and play on either side of that with ease. I'm sure that part of that control is the traction control on the 14 too - but I've never had a tire that I could dance around the limit of traction so easily.

At one point I somehow ended up on a new road that wasn't even on my Garmin 396LMT GPS. I have it set for Garmin Adventure routing with prefer curves and hills set at max and highways at minimum. It routed me on a road that was 1 lane wide and was more of a trail than a road but it was paved. It meandered through farm fields, etc. I haven't been very happy with the Garmin GPS riding around locally in Michigan - but on the trip it's been great (more on that later).

I rode across the northern part of Arkansas all on back roads and got to Eureka Springs about 9pm. Got checked in in to the EconoLodge and then went out to try to find a bite to eat. Come to find out there aren't any restaraunts open past 9 - including bars (I tried). I road up and down the road here looking for food - I hadn't eaten anything other than a couple Cliff bars all day (which isn't so unusual these days as I'm trying to lose weight - but I usually eat dinner well before 10pm!). When I was going west the McDonalds and the Subway were open, after finding nothing else open I went back east and the Subway looked closed. I was REALLY hoping I wasn't going to be stuck eating McDonalds. Went back west again and the Subway was open - they just had the lights off on the west side of the building and didn't know it.

Took the subway back to my room and watched the warm up session and MotoGP race from Argentina (I purposefully avoided watching it so I could watch it on the trip).

Only drama today involved deer. There was one in the middle of the road around a corner - was able to stop no problem and then watched the parade of deer cross at full run in front of me. Another time I had one standing in the field to the left and it took off parallel to me like he wanted a race - so I gave him one. The 14 definitely has more than one deer power lol.

Day 3 - Monday 4/8/19

The weather was supposed to be beautiful here in Eureka Springs today so I decided to hang here another day, get some rest, and ride some of the local roads. Got up around 10, then sat outside my room and watched the Argentina post race interviews. Also cleaned the bike up - it had a 5 oclock shadow up front from all the bugs!! Then I rode the Pig Trail down to I40 and back.

When I bought the 14 back in August last year I rode the Tail of the Dragon on the way home and discovered that it liked high speed sweeping turns but not so much the tight 10-15-25 mph ones. Turns out it was the terrible OEM Bridgestone rubber! The Michelin Road 5's have completely transformed the bike. Had a BLAST on the Pig Trail! Traffic wasn't bad and I was able to easily dispatch the traffic I did run into with a quick roll on of the wrist! I really LOVE this bike !! Most of the time I just left it in 6th and rolled it on instead of keeping it on the boil. I left a couple nice darkies and then thought I better dial that back so the tires last all the way home lol!

Here's a pic of the back Road 5 - I've never rippled a tire on the street before!

* Last updated by: SteveStLaurent on 4/8/2019 @ 8:36 PM *

The Michelin Road 5's have completely transformed the bike.

It's been so long since I've ridden on not so great tires. I sure have my favorites. Pirelli Super Corsas are very good for me and a 190/55 (think I had a 190/60 at a=one time also) or 200/55 make a definite difference in the handling of the bike. Just make sure you have room in the swing arm with a 200/55. 200/60 will probably rub with stock length chain.

The low speed corners are where it's at but they are a challenge with these big ol beasties. The bigger corners are fun but the speed required is a concern to me. Where I ride, you can't see through the corner more than 25% of the distance because of the trees. I'm sure it's the same on the Tail of the Dragon.

Awesome! Looking forward to MORE! "One deer power" HAHA!!!

That's amazing about your various health issues ... Glad you've been able to overcome, or at least get them under control.

And yeah the big 14 is just one awesome bike. I've posted it other times here: Mine is a '13 with just over 10K miles and I've been looking for a potential replacement, just due to age (5 years seems like enough), but there isn't anything!!! I could actually see me trading mine in on ... another ZX14R!

Oh, and you're right about the stock tires: Not good. And you're right that once you have good tires, the 14 handles the Dragon very well.

Your story is an inspiration. Sounds like you'd be fun to travel with. Can't wait for the next installment.

If you're ever out on the West Coast, look me up.

Mad

* Last updated by: Maddevill on 4/9/2019 @ 9:05 AM *

Steve looks like you should have great weather in Texas till Saturday anyway.

What route are you taking once you cross into Texas?

Day 4 - Tuesday 4/9/2019

The forecast temps were in the 90's where I was planning on camping so I didn't leave Eureka Springs until almost 1pm so that it would be dark (and cooler) when I got to the campground. I figured it was better to keep moving during the hottest parts of the day. I don't know what it is about highway 62's but I rode on 3 separate ones on this trip and they all rocked!! I was in Oklahoma for about 3 hours. I grew up in central Oklahoma and had an FZ600 at the time - it kills me that just a couple hours east were some of the best roads I've ridden on. Oklahoma has LOTS of cops evidently. I saw 4-5x as many cops in that 3 hours in Oklahoma than I had seen in all of the other states combined thus far. They were using instant on radar and K band as well - which I didn't see in most other areas - the real radar was almost always Ka band elsewhere.

When I got into Texas I was very impressed with the road etiquette of Texans!! Far left lane for passing only - and I had tons of people change lanes when they saw me coming. Several times it was even people that were in a queue of cars passing a truck and they'd get over to let me pass. Awesome stuff. I could also get VERY used to 75 mph speed limits even on rural surface roads (2 lanes - one in each direction)! When I was going through Dallas there was one point where there were like 6 lanes of traffic all cruising along at 75 or so but very denase. I was in the 2nd lane from the left and an idiot in front of me decided he needed to get over to the exit he was about to miss. He slammed on his brakes - I quickly switched over to the left lane, looked back in my mirrors and he was WAY back there - it looked like he might have stopped in the middle of the freeway. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a big pile up.

I'm very afraid of heights - and they have some bridges here where multiple highways are crossing that are WAY up in the air. I was on one that was a single lane wide and it had to be 70+ feet in the air. I actually got nauseaous from it - I was trying my best to focus on the truck in front of me and try to ignore what was off to the left and right (unsuccessfully I might add). When the sun went down the temp dropped like 10 degrees. It actually felt cold and I would have guessed it was mid 50's - but it was 73. I got to the campground a little after 8 and I turned around almost immediately to get someplace to have dinner. The guy waiting on me saw the bike and started talking to me about his 93 FZR600 that has 277,000 miles on it ! Then he showed me the picture of his bike - a Seca II . He asked me what size my bike was - I told 1441cc - and he told me the bike he really wants to buy is a 1600 vstrom . Wasn't worth calling him on it.

Went back to camp and pitched the tent, etc. That's when I figured out that any effort made that 73 degrees hot quickly. My tent has mesh around almost all of it down to about 18 inches off the ground. There was no rain predicted so I left the fly off and got to sleep under the stars - beautiful!

Day 5 - Wednesday 4/10/2019

Woke up to the beautiful scenery posted above. Took my time getting ready because it was supposed to get into the mid 90's. Check in time at the hotel was 3 so that's about when I wanted to arrive. With the high speed limits here I was making great time !!

Took back roads until I got into Waco and then I jumped on the freeway so I wasn't sitting still. Between Waco and Austin, I-35 was very busy and tons of trucks (18 wheelers). One of them threw a tread in front of me (didn't see it let go) and the ~ 12 inch x 3 ft chunk of rubber was playing pinball down the road from cars hitting it and sending it flying. It got spit right at my (at ground level) and I was boxed in because of the traffic. I got myself as low as I could and got on the throttle just before hitting it to get the front wheel light. I tried to look while riding to see if there was any damage but I just couldn't see anything. Next gas stop I took a look and the right lower fairing is busted up and the left one is just hanging out there. I pulled on them and they seem very solid. On the right side where it was busted up there's a big tear in the plastic with a chuck still attached. I tried to break it off but it just bent. I called the local Kawi dealer to see if I could get one sent rush and he said he wouldn't be able to get one here until next thursday - he'd already put in todays order so they wouldn't have another order in until friday. He asked what I was riding, I told him and he came back with "you rode THAT down from Michigan!?) I fiddled with it some more and I'm pretty sure everything will hold until I get home. I am going to see if I can figure out a way to get a couple holes drilled where that piece is hanging and either zip tie or safety wire it on for the ride home. Funny thing is that's the same piece I scratched up when I dropped the bike in the garage.

When I got into Austin on I35 I ended up in stop and go traffic for about an hour and the temp reading on the day showed it being 101 degrees. Keep in mind it wasn't that long ago that we had negative 40 to negative 50 degree temps in Michigan - so like a 150 degree swing! Got to my hotel, checked in and then took a nice cold shower and filled the tub with cold water and just cooled off for about 30 minutes. I also put my soaked with sweat helmet and gloves right in front of the AC unit to hopefully dry them a little before I went to meet my friend - they were still wet after a couple hours - oh well.

Coming up on 2,300 miles since Saturday. Tomorrow I'm going to the track to get my campsite and pitch my tent. I may stay at the track overnight Saturday so I don't have to battle the traffic. Sunday's forecast is calling for 73 degrees and sunny - perfect conditions. Going to check out Limey bikes with some of the guys and probably dinner afterwards. I'm fairly tired and sore so I plan on taking it pretty easy. I did bring my digital SLR so I'm hoping to get some great pics at the track. Can't wait - so excited. I last saw what was then Formula 1 at Laguna Seca in '93 (I think - it was the last year they were there).

* Last updated by: SteveStLaurent on 4/11/2019 @ 9:34 PM *

If you liked those speed limits try TSH 130 while your down there 85mph posted speed limit.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_State_Highway_130#/media/File:Texas_SH_130_map.png

Hennessey's Caddi went 220 on it before it opened to the public to check the toll tag readers.
https://www.foxnews.com/auto/watch-car-hits-220-mph-on-new-texas-highway

Nice report!

* Last updated by: 1wheelpeel on 4/11/2019 @ 9:58 PM *

Ugh ... sweat ridin'. Oh well, still better than workin' in an office all day, which is what I'm doing.

Still enjoying the read ... 2,300 miles already ... Wow!

Day 6 - Thursday 4/11/2019

Took it pretty easy today. Slept in and then rode to the track to pitch my tent (going to stay overnight at the track Saturday night so I don't have to deal with traffic in the morning). Then I met up with guys I know from online at Limey's bike shop ( http://www.limeybikes.com ). Checked out some of the stuff he was working on. I really liked the tz250 he had there (tuned down to about 50hp he said). After hanging there for a bit I followed the group to their Air bnb and then we went to Jester King Brewery ( https://jesterkingbrewery.com ) for dinner. Came back to the hotel so I could wash some clothes (I packed a weeks worth) and then crashed out.

* Last updated by: SteveStLaurent on 4/12/2019 @ 8:26 PM *

Day 7 - Friday 4/12/2019

It's HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Rode to the track via a different route because the one I rode the previous day had a bunch of construction zones taking roads down to 1 lane - which means sitting in the heat for a while. Got on the toll road - and discovered an 85 mph speed limit!! 100 mph and I was only doing 15 over lol. Today was practice for everyone and the superpole for MotoAmerica Superbike. My seat is great - turn 15 section 13 row 22. I took a few hundred pics - got several great wheelie shots of Rossi. I forgot my adapter for the memory card from my Digital SLR so I won't be able to post those until I get back home. I'll put an album up and link to it here.

I also walked through the manufacturers area and the vendor area. Lots of very drool worthy bikes out there right now!!! Took a pic of a bunch of umbrella/booth girls - and a woman walking by called me a pervert. She was wearing short shorts and a skimpy tank. I just said "ok" (thinking, you do realize that's why they are here, right?). I'm guilty as charged I guess. Do you think maybe she was giving me a complement!?

COTA is a beatiful facility! Even the food was great. They have a ton of different food vendors. I had 2 shrimp tacos for $11 that were awesome! First time I've ever eaten track food and wanted to go back. I've paid more for a crappy hamburger before.

Livin' the dream!!

Mmmm, shrimp tacos

Steve, what map system are you using that gives you that printout ..? Pretty Cool and thanks for the right up..

It's Garmin Base camp. Works with my Garmin Zumo 396 LMT-S GPS. It's not the easiest thing to use and the doc's SUCK but once you get to know it is pretty powerful. The GPS records the track all the time and I can then pull that into base camp and take screen shots of the maps.

Thanks . Steve If you bump into Chris again, tell him I said "Hi" :)

Base Camp is annoying clunky like some old program from 20+ years ago, but it has a couple things it does that I can't find in any other program. And I seem to remember it was either free or came with something I bought.

Anyway, keep the updates comin' Steve. I repeat, I'm living vicariously thru you right now.

Base camp is free: https://www.garmin.com/en-US/shop/downloads/basecamp

Steve, you might try Kawasaki of Marble falls.com for your fairing parts might have them in stock. Nice ride going over too, FM 1431. Check it. Enjoy yourself, Be safe. Oasis on Lake Travis for a margarita?

Day 8 - Saturday 4/13/2019

Rain was forecast to start at 2am and go through 10am this morning. So I woke up at 6am to check on the weather and the timing looked accurate. Around 10 I saw that the storm was almost past and also that they'd cancelled the morning practice sessions, that they were hoping to start the first practice at 12, and that the gates were closed for now. 10:35 I got the news that they'd opened the gates so i headed to the track. Shortly after I got there it started raining again and I looked at the radar and we had a big storm coming our way. As I'm sure you've seen on the news the storms caused major damage to our northeast.

Went to the gate and they'd closed the gates again. A couple of us took "shelter" under an ez up (that luckily was strapped down with gigantic spikes) and then the sky's opened up. The wind was so strong that the rain was blowing sideways. That ez-up provided zero shelter - so much water was hitting my face (under a hat mind you) that it felt like I was swimming. In about 20 minutes the end of the parking lot we were in had water a foot deep - school buses were going through there and that's how we saw the depth - that was about 30 feet from where I was parked!

A little after one the rain stopped and the sun came out. They finally opened the gates for good :) and we got in. There was a lot of damage to tents in the vendor area. First practice (moto 3) started around 1:30. Towards the end of that session the track was almost dry - and then MotoGP hit the track and by the end of their session the track was dry. There's good videos available here for free with the days qualifying coverage: http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2019/04/13/marquez-keeps-rossi-at-bay-to-retain-cota-qualifying-crown/289235?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_content=AmeGP_QPReport_en&utm_campaign=Traffic . Towards the end of the day the wind whipped up VERY strong (40+ mph I'd guess). I'd signed up for the "Cycle Corral" which got me parking VERY close to the stands I was in which was the main reason. It also included a parade lap (2 actually) around the track (controlled - 40 mph). I wasn't going to do the parade lap but after seeing the track and the elevation changes I wanted to be able to see it from the rider's perspective. Video's don't show elevation changes well at all - it always disappointed me watching coverage of Sears Point and you can't hardly tell that turn 1 is uphill - and it's nearly 160 feet from the bottom to the top at turn 2.

It made me REALLY want to do a track day there! The track is beautiful, very technical, fast on the long straights, slow in the tight corners, etc. A friend was there and was able to take pics of me on the track. Here's the best one IMO:

As I said above my plan was to camp at the track Saturday night so I didn't have to deal with the traffic in the morning. So after the parade laps I made my way over to the campground to see if my tent survived. There was a tent that looked like mine but no fly - but it was about 20 feet from where I set mine up. Where I set mine up it looked like just the rain fly and a pole sticking out - which didn't make sense since the fly doesn't have a pole. I made my way through the mud and it looks like one of the poles either broke or the clip at the bottom did - the other one was still there and the tent was flat on the ground under the fly. It was too windy to attempt to erect it back up so I left it there for now. After the races tomorrow I'll go back and see if it's salvagable and toss it if not.

Ready to hit the road first thing in the morning for race day!! It'll be fun watching all these Texans freezing when it's in the high 40's/low 50's - payback for them laughing at me sweating! :rof:

* Last updated by: SteveStLaurent on 4/13/2019 @ 9:55 PM *

BigRed1 - thanks for the suggestion but I already ordered the parts I need through Motosport. Thanks for the invite but I need to pace myself to get through the rest of the trip. This is by FAR the most physical activity I've done in the last 7 years. Monday I'm going to stay here in town and just kick back and relax before heading home.

Almost 2,600 miles so far . . . .

Day 9 - Sunday 4/14/2019

So . . . . . . hindsight being 20/20 I should have found a way to stay at the track last night. Plot twist - my bike was stolen out of the hotel parking lot some time during the night. Went out to head to the track and it wasn't where I was 99% sure I parked it. Walked around the corners of the building and it wasn't there either. Thinking "this can't be happening", I thought I must have just not seen it - like happens at home when I ask my wife or daughters where something is and they walk up and hand it to me - and it could've bit me if it was a snake. Nope - it was gone.

Called the cops and filed a report, then called my insurance company and explained I was at an event and asked if I could report it tonight - she said no problem, you have 24 hours. I wasn't about to let this ruin the trip/races so I called an Uber, got a ride to the track, then had to walk about a mile in.

I missed the morning warmups but made all the races. My mom LOVES the Budweiser Clydesdales and they were there - so I took a selfie with them and other pics and texted them to her, she loved them. I'm not going to post any spoilers on the races but they were awesome. Weather was perfect, competition was fierce, etc.

When I got back to the hotel I started pulling together receipts before I called the insurance company, then I called their main number and started the claim process. She asked me how I was going to get home - I said that's my next question. She said I didn't have rental car insurance so there wasn't anything they could do. Then I asked about whether accessories were covered (I added it up and I'm at $4,600 in add ons) - she wasn't sure. Then I asked her how this works and when would I get paid out, etc. She said the police would have to decide they weren't looking for it any more before they could pay out. I was not happy about that whole exchange.

I looked on their website and found that their motorcycle policies cover "Custom motorcycle work, such as paint or upgraded components" and "Trip interruption expenses" - whew that's a relief. I'm hoping she's wrong on the other things too. I'll be calling my agent first thing in the morning and he'll straighten it out - I've had my policies through him for 30 years.

So, tomorrow when the general manager of the hotel gets here we can review their security tapes - but I don't think there's any that will catch it. There is a camera on the Best Western next door that looks like it's pointing straight at where I parked but it may be too far away to see anything. I've got to find a box to pack up a bunch of my gear and ship it home by UPS - too much to carry into the airport and check because the hard bags all were on the bike. I've got a couple soft bags made for the side cases so I can take my clothes - but I have all my camping gear, etc. The guys I met down here from the zrxoa both offered any help they could provide. I'm hoping the insurance company takes care of me and I won't have to reach out but we'll see.

The dealer I bought it from still has a 2017 just like it in stock and they are open tomorrow. Depending on what I hear from my agent I'll either be flying home Tuesday or flying to NC to buy another one and ride it home. So . . . hopefully the road trip is on pause for a just a couple days to be picked up in North Carolina.

Luckily the Ohlins shock and Traxxion cartridges I ordered hadn't come in before I left - so they are waiting at home for me at the suspension shop.

* Last updated by: SteveStLaurent on 4/14/2019 @ 9:55 PM *

You got to be shitting me. What kind of luck is that? I don't live in Texas, I'm in the PNW. God bless you Steve, hope everything works out. Sounds like your a doer and not a dreamer. Keep us up to date.

HOLY SHIT