Well, ride report. It was friggin cold! 28ish in the passes. I stopped in Cle Elum for a hot-many-cups of coffee. The el cheapo Trackside grip elements on the 14 provide more heat for sure. I had the Gerbings on full blast and it worked great. I need to get a dual controller so I can run the gloves as well. My plan was to alternate but due to the lack of wind protection I felt the jacket was more important. Once I was accross Blewett it warmed up to the low 40s so all was well from there on. One of the reasons as to why, well, the drive starts off really steep from another narrow unpaved road, very narrow with no place to comfortably park the 14. I also didn't want to pack my gear up that friggin hill, knowing I would be doing the hill several times to work on the gate, meet with the contractor to discuss next weeks work, and then the ride home. I also wanted some more bonding time, so in that regard things went well.
The ride home? Just past Omak I spotted a couple of young ladies out riding, horses, as things would have it they waved to me
I just thought that was so cool getting a wave from fellow riders, another one of the many reasons why I chose the area is the sense of harmonious being. The ride was going great, stopped at the Shell station just before Blewett, filled up, called Mama to tell her I'm OK and halfway home. Went in to get my favorite Jalepeno dog and they were out!!! Headed out as the sun had just set and knew I was in for some forest rat dodge ball, the pass is very smokey as the fires have come right down tot he edge of the road, combine that with the rutting season and I knew I was in for some sightings. Oddly, nothing, so other than a fun ride in the smoke uneventful. Roll onto I5 knowing that there is blasting at 6 and an advertised 2 hour wait. 10 minutes to 8 I roll up to the traffic. Settle in for a 10-20 miute wiat. Wrong. 2 hours later the truckers fire up, only to have them shut down 15 minutes later. WTF I think. I'm tired, not cold, almost hot even, the jacket is working great and the heat from the engine was perfect. We finnaly start moving, at 2-5 MPH, not fast enough to fully release the clutch and at 2 on the GS, tough to actually ride, so I started pausing to get distance, ride up to the car, stop and repeat. I was pas t warm at this point, sweating in 40 degree temps. Once we got onto the East bound lanes things picked up nicely and the rest of the ride home was uneventful.
The bike handles great, even with a modest load, but I need a better screen, I won't be adding a oversized/much taller, but I will have a wider one and a Wunderlich adjustable lip on next time. Do I regret riding the 14? If you had asked me that when it was in the 20s I would said yes, but I survived, learned more about the 14s sister (adopted), and know for a fact that NEXT time I will take the 14. Someone asked if the 14 is a good touring bike, well compared to the GS, there is no comparrison. Like, duh.
