ixtlan22
.020 Over
- Joined
- Aug 31, 2010
- Messages
- 33
Time for a trip and bike report...pictures start tomorrow (new camera and all that)
Okay...for those of you who don’t know me I’m a new R3T owner and fairly new to this site...traveling the U.S. for the next few years…tent on the back…motels once in a while…searching for BBQ and BLUEGRASS….visiting National anything and State everything.
Brief history…Left extreme upper left hand corner of Washington State flew to Baxter’s Triumph in Marne, Iowa to pick up a slightly used R3T (looks exactly like the red one on the bottom of this page....has a windshield, more chrome …Oh and did I mention...it's faster!
. Never rode or even sat on a Rocket so it was a small gamble to travel 1500 miles and 22 hours racing against weather to plan on jumping on a bike I was going to spend the next 3-4-5 years on . Anyway…I got to Iowa just ahead of a cold blast and storm (by two days). Hopped on the bike…couldn’t get the grin off my face…(still can’t)…rode around in 19 degree weather waiting for bank to clear $$$...turned into a peoplesickle... (Sold my sailboat so I was able to cash out the bike).
Okay, so I beat it out of there and headed south-er immediately, but way too cold still in KC (really wanted to try their BBQ there...much disappointment…so it was off through Missouri, Louisiana (where I nearly froze and got ate by alligators)…headed more south-er, eventually ended up in Port Arthur, then Mathis, TX (along the way I almost got ate up by aligators again..and snaked to death we don't have snakes and stuff like that in Washington State...or bugs....anyway... Currently hanging out in 75-80 weather in Corpus Christi, TX..(actually in Port Aransas, TX on Mustang Island). Way Awesome!... but these folks like those in Louisiana and Kansas City need to learn a thing or two about BBQ…what’s with smothering everything with ketchup sauce?? I couldn’t tell whether I was eating pork, chicken, or beef…who’s got a good rub and lots of smoke out here???…sauce is okay if you want to spice it up a bit but never as a cover for the meat flavor itself!!…Okay so my bias is exposed...looking forward to it getting better….meanwhile suffering here…sunshine and 75 F…beaches and oh did I mention...mass sunshine?
Okay about the bike…first thing…The ride is beyond belief...she been getting between 4 and 33 mpg (depending on degree of HTS happy throttle syndrome)...stock battery is crap…anything below 41 degrees…wouldn’t start. Got a new Odyssey PC625 at Batteries Plus in Lake Charles, La. for like a half a million dollars... had to do road surgery to get it to fit (make that read gently used hammer and chisel to trim off the little fins and drive it down thru the appature and incorrectly designed battery box! Finally, got it professionally modified and managed to squeeze the cables back on…now it starts correctly (of course its 75 degrees out). They tried to sell me the Odyssey charger to go with it…yeah sure like I’ve got room with everything I own plus a tent, sleeping bag, cooking gear, cold weather riding gear…you get the picture.
Second issue with the bike…way heavy in slow traffic, construction, or on P-gravel roads. Watch out backing into parking spots…P-gravel or oil, or cracks in the concrete, or hot pavement…they all secretly lurk around waiting for R3T owners to try backing up...they'll get you and this bike is really-really heavy especially fully loaded and a latte in your hands.
Last issue with the bike…mine has a factory defect, in that, it keeps wanting to go too fast…(likes to cruise up around 80 or so…What’s with that???). I set it to do 70 and it keeps getting right up there…I think I have a defective cruise control thing...especially if I’m not paying attention. Of course it always does it when the "Stater’s" are around. It doesn’t seem to understand going slow at all. The defect is that it only has a “Go Fast” or “Off” throttle position)...they left off the moderation position.... Last place I was at…I got there so fast I arrived before I left….had to set my watch up.
Rear tire now has about 5000 on it...I usually change them out when I can see the air inside.
Ray out for now...
Okay...for those of you who don’t know me I’m a new R3T owner and fairly new to this site...traveling the U.S. for the next few years…tent on the back…motels once in a while…searching for BBQ and BLUEGRASS….visiting National anything and State everything.
Brief history…Left extreme upper left hand corner of Washington State flew to Baxter’s Triumph in Marne, Iowa to pick up a slightly used R3T (looks exactly like the red one on the bottom of this page....has a windshield, more chrome …Oh and did I mention...it's faster!
. Never rode or even sat on a Rocket so it was a small gamble to travel 1500 miles and 22 hours racing against weather to plan on jumping on a bike I was going to spend the next 3-4-5 years on . Anyway…I got to Iowa just ahead of a cold blast and storm (by two days). Hopped on the bike…couldn’t get the grin off my face…(still can’t)…rode around in 19 degree weather waiting for bank to clear $$$...turned into a peoplesickle... (Sold my sailboat so I was able to cash out the bike).Okay, so I beat it out of there and headed south-er immediately, but way too cold still in KC (really wanted to try their BBQ there...much disappointment…so it was off through Missouri, Louisiana (where I nearly froze and got ate by alligators)…headed more south-er, eventually ended up in Port Arthur, then Mathis, TX (along the way I almost got ate up by aligators again..and snaked to death we don't have snakes and stuff like that in Washington State...or bugs....anyway... Currently hanging out in 75-80 weather in Corpus Christi, TX
..(actually in Port Aransas, TX on Mustang Island). Way Awesome!... but these folks like those in Louisiana and Kansas City need to learn a thing or two about BBQ…what’s with smothering everything with ketchup sauce?? I couldn’t tell whether I was eating pork, chicken, or beef…who’s got a good rub and lots of smoke out here???…sauce is okay if you want to spice it up a bit but never as a cover for the meat flavor itself!!…Okay so my bias is exposed...looking forward to it getting better….meanwhile suffering here…sunshine and 75 F…beaches and oh did I mention...mass sunshine? Okay about the bike…first thing…The ride is beyond belief...she been getting between 4 and 33 mpg (depending on degree of HTS happy throttle syndrome)...stock battery is crap…anything below 41 degrees…wouldn’t start. Got a new Odyssey PC625 at Batteries Plus in Lake Charles, La. for like a half a million dollars... had to do road surgery to get it to fit (make that read gently used hammer and chisel to trim off the little fins and drive it down thru the appature and incorrectly designed battery box! Finally, got it professionally modified and managed to squeeze the cables back on…now it starts correctly (of course its 75 degrees out
). They tried to sell me the Odyssey charger to go with it…yeah sure like I’ve got room with everything I own plus a tent, sleeping bag, cooking gear, cold weather riding gear…you get the picture.Second issue with the bike…way heavy in slow traffic, construction, or on P-gravel roads. Watch out backing into parking spots…P-gravel or oil, or cracks in the concrete, or hot pavement…they all secretly lurk around waiting for R3T owners to try backing up...they'll get you and this bike is really-really heavy especially fully loaded and a latte in your hands
. Last issue with the bike…mine has a factory defect, in that, it keeps wanting to go too fast…(likes to cruise up around 80 or so…What’s with that???). I set it to do 70 and it keeps getting right up there…I think I have a defective cruise control thing...especially if I’m not paying attention. Of course it always does it when the "Stater’s" are around. It doesn’t seem to understand going slow at all. The defect is that it only has a “Go Fast” or “Off” throttle position)...they left off the moderation position.... Last place I was at…I got there so fast I arrived before I left….had to set my watch up.
Rear tire now has about 5000 on it...I usually change them out when I can see the air inside.
Ray out for now...
