4 Years in Montana on a CBR600RR (PICS. COOL STUFF. RAINBOWS)

INSIDE: Squidbrah rides a sportbike across the vast state of Montana...and probably a few other places in the Northwest. This thread will be my pictures and descriptions/route suggestion/random thoughts/hootenanny dumping ground while I live here for the next 4 years. Every town, state national park and twisty road is going to be covered up in here by the time I leave. I guarantee it.

Right now the weather is very meh for riding, but that shall soon change in a few months. The riding season is short up here, but as soon as the good weather hits, this thread will be updated almost daily.

Background: I moved up here in March 2012 relocating from South Carolina for work, I got bored and bought a bike. That's pretty much it. The roads are amazing up here. I don't exactly "fit in" up here either. No cowboy hat, no northern accent, not blue eyed or Native Indian. Fun times are ahead. That really has nothing to do with the thread but whatever....anyway....

Here she is the day I bought her on August 5th 2012. $6500, 4k miles on the clock. Low-sided once. She is mine. Took my BRC, got my license and I was on the road in a week.



My first ride on a supersport was something I'll never forget. Just the thought of having that much power with the flick of the wrist will put a smile on my face until the day I die. Very few feelings in life can compare to what I felt that first day.


I took her south on I-15 through the Helena National Forest on one of my first rides - following the speed limit at all times of course, stopping at this overlook between Great Falls and Helena. Great Falls is an absolute shithole by the way. The world would lose nothing if the entire town disappeared. More on that later....


Obligatory sideview off of Recreation Road....you'll see alot more of Recreation Road as this thread goes along. One of the best routes to ride in Montana, in my opinion.


Rec Road once again, and Holter Lake, a couple miles down a windy but bumpy side road



Eden Road just south of Great Falls. It snakes for about 15 miles until it turns into a dirt road heading into the mountains. No traffic, no cops. Just Farmers and their oversized pickups.




Random shot in the ass end of KGTF...Ugly indicators and fender: Gone.


More to come very soon my friends.

Finally able to bump this thread. Got some good weather this weekend so I headed out to Belt, Montana. Like many small towns, there's not much to it. And like many small towns in Montana.....there's 5 different bars for a town of 1000. It's the Big Sky way.

The road heading into Belt provides some twisty fun, but it's only 2 miles long until you hit the town.


Downtown....a bank, a small grocery, and 3 different bars.


Fun Fact...you can earn up to 9 DUI's before you do hard time in Montana.


The only 2 pumps in town


Heading out of town....one of the many ranches that dot the state. Old millionaires leave their crowded Los Angeles condos and buy thousands of acres of land here and the locals of course are not very happy....


Headed back into Great Falls to meet up with some riders....Once the weather gets above 45, everybody in town dusts of the bike and hits the road


Might as well post a picture of myself while the thread is still new. I need some cold gear......

I worked out of GF and Billings and Kallispell many years ago. Never got up there on a scooter but I've trucked through all of it. Keep posting what you see. One of these days I'll make it back to there and will need some new ideas.

Will do. For how sparse the land is, there's still a lot to see. The camera is always close by.

Looking forward to this! I spent a year in Helena from mid-05 to mid-06, and really miss it. I used to a lot of ATV riding in Helena National Forest. A lot of really great trails there.

Rob

So being the idiot that I am I decided to go through Helena National Forest in late February. Helena Natl Forest sits between Great Falls and Missoula, with very few places to stop in between. I nearly ran out of gas before reaching Lincoln, which is the only decent town on the route through the mountains.

It was 55 degrees before I hit Lincoln, and it quickly dropped to 35 once I arrived. While I was pumping gas, 3 different people came up to me and joked about how cold I must be. I'm pretty sure I was noticeably shivering. The cashier offered me large hot chocolate for free and had a guy hold my hand and pray before I walked out. Gotta love Montanans.

As another famous rider on this forum has said: You remember the stupid ideas a lot more than the smarter ones.

You sir are brave! What kind of gas range do you get ?

Later
John

Been to Lincoln quite a few times.. what a neat little town. Ted Kaczynski's cabin was there for those who care. My wife and I looked into buying the Sportsman Inn there (it was for sale at the time), but the sellers wanted entirely too much for it.

Rob

The gas range is pretty short. I'll average about 35-40mpg with somewhat spirited riding. A full tank will go 160 miles, maybe more. It all depends on your riding style.

Yeah there's not much to it, but the way the town is kind of nestled into the mountains makes it kind of neat. It's a nice place to hide for a guy like Ted Kaczynski.

Welcome to Montana. You're a very adventurous rider for February. You have some nice roads to ride there south and west of GF.

David

Looking forward. Spent time in trout creek last year where some friends live.

There is some great riding in cooler weather.
Think about some heated gear and enjoy it more.


Have fun and keep this thread going.

The first signs of spring were starting to show this week with temps in the 50's and 60's. Although the afternoons are nice, the mornings here are still cold and linger around the 20's and 30's which still leaves some chances of snowfall. Despite the danger of a snow shower showing up out of nowhere, I threw my gear on and headed down I-15 to the tiny town of Cascade and did a quick run on Recreation Road while I had the chance.

Cascade sits right off I-15, and as of 2011, 690 people reside in the area. I tried to get a few photos of busy and bustling downtown for you ADVer's, but as soon as I rounded the turn onto main street, a gaggle of locals gave me a not-so-welcome stare down as I slowly rolled past - so we'll take a rain (snow?) check today. As many folks know, Montana is plagued with a raging alcohol and methamphetamine problem, so dealing with the good ol' boys, especially in tiny towns such as Cascade where Billy the Sheriff only comes around once every 3 days is a gamble I didn't want to take.

I did however find a somewhat safe spot to snap a pic of Cascade's famous Opera House before I headed back onto the highway.

So maybe it's not really famous, hell they probably haven't had a show in there in years, but I gotta build it up somehow since I risked getting off my bike for the picture.

Heading south out of Cascade on the traffic-free and somewhat curvy Frontage Road, I stopped to take in the scenery of the Big Belt Mountains.


10 minutes later, I'm on Recreation Road, hugging the banks of the Missouri


After doing a run on Rec Road (doing the speed limit at all times of course), I decided to turn onto Beartooth Road which wraps around Holter Lake, one of the many lakes that feed the Missouri River. It's a skinny, bumpy road and the rains haven't washed away any of the rocks or gravel, so I had to take it slow.


Another photo showing the road a bit better....nice curves but I didn't feel like low-siding today.


Surprisingly, the lake was still frozen over from bank to bank


I reluctantly decided to not take a swim today, so I turned back on to Rec Road to head home, and I hit an unexpected traffic jam:


Make up your minds....


Anyway....It looks like the weather is gonna turn to shit this weekend, so she's back in the garage for the time being. Hopefully some good riding weather will pop up next week.

Random wide-angle photo just for shits and giggles


Ride safe!

That traffic jam didn't look too baaaaad.

Wow, the whole lake frozen over... I haven't seen that in ages.

Sure do miss Montana! :)

Rob

but yea MT is starting to grow on me a little bit.

It's been a while since an update.....the weather has been very off and on these past few weeks and I've been crazy busy with no time to ride much.

I did however have the chance to ride down to Holter Lake once again with a co-worker who just picked up a brand new Triumph Speed Triple. In my opinion it is the ultimate cornering bike - probably the most nimble bike I've ever been on.

Possible next bike if I don't get that fancy pantsy Panigale that everyone talks about.


yea...classy helmet I know.

Glad you got a ride on one of the nice days. We are socked in with 6+ inches of snow in Glendive.

David