Bedifferent
Old man on a bike
Well everyone... I took my first trip with my R3T. The bike ran great and met all my expectations as to how it would handle and ride. Smooth cruising performance is the best way to describe it. We traveled 1331 miles over four days and managed to avoid any rain. Since I plotted all the waypoints and routes on my computer using Map Source, transferred them into my Garmin 550 and made all the motel reservations, I became the leader of the pack. It appeared everyone else was along for the ride and more than happy to follow a Triumph.
We started from Coldwater, MI Thursday morning and made our way to Le Claire IA for the night. We took a side trip I had programmed off I 80 at Ottawa, IL driving through Starved Rock Nature Preserve on 71 then 6 to Le Claire. The following day was our all day scenic ride up the Mississippi River (some on the Iowa side and some on the Wisconsin side) to La Cross, WI before we turned east on 90, 94 and then highway 21 east to Oshkosh, WI. Our third day met us with a cold morning and much of the same for the day as we made our way North to Escanaba, MI where we turned East on Highway 2 along the Lake Michigan Shoreline to St Ignace, crossing the bridge to Mackinaw and finally Cheboygan for the night. Sunday we started out a 8 am and it was a race against time and the rain, as we booked it back to Coldwater running 80 most of the way to stay just ahead of the rain coming down for the North and West across Michigan. The Corbin fairing handled well even in a heavy head winds and the Rocket was always smooth and powerful beneath me. The group followed me the whole way as it appeared they didn't have a clue where I was going, even though I had sent them maps and detailed instructions of the route. It was appropriate the Rocket was out in front. We didn't stop much for pictures, but here are a few pictures if you would like to have a look. I did not include the route from Cheboygan back to Coldwater on the map.
We started from Coldwater, MI Thursday morning and made our way to Le Claire IA for the night. We took a side trip I had programmed off I 80 at Ottawa, IL driving through Starved Rock Nature Preserve on 71 then 6 to Le Claire. The following day was our all day scenic ride up the Mississippi River (some on the Iowa side and some on the Wisconsin side) to La Cross, WI before we turned east on 90, 94 and then highway 21 east to Oshkosh, WI. Our third day met us with a cold morning and much of the same for the day as we made our way North to Escanaba, MI where we turned East on Highway 2 along the Lake Michigan Shoreline to St Ignace, crossing the bridge to Mackinaw and finally Cheboygan for the night. Sunday we started out a 8 am and it was a race against time and the rain, as we booked it back to Coldwater running 80 most of the way to stay just ahead of the rain coming down for the North and West across Michigan. The Corbin fairing handled well even in a heavy head winds and the Rocket was always smooth and powerful beneath me. The group followed me the whole way as it appeared they didn't have a clue where I was going, even though I had sent them maps and detailed instructions of the route. It was appropriate the Rocket was out in front. We didn't stop much for pictures, but here are a few pictures if you would like to have a look. I did not include the route from Cheboygan back to Coldwater on the map.
