5800 Miles on a Rebel, Las Vegas to the Outer Banks and Back

[VegasRider]

In celebration of the purchase of a bike that is a little more adventure worthy, a Suzuki VX800, I decided it was finally time to write my ride report.

Brief Facts:
5,860 some odd miles
21 days away, 16.5 days riding
Total money spent about $900
Why this ride? First, to my knowledge, successful ride like this on a 250 Rebel. There is a great guy in Peoria, Illinois that nearly completed a similar ride but had a little oil malfunction about 500 miles short of his final destination.

Second, I rode to help raise awareness of Domestic Violence and raise a little cash for them. Final donation tally was $285. Not bad for a first time around I suppose.

There are two people I would like to thank from the bottom of my heart. One is Shoganai. She was my not only my ride adviser and nightly check-in person but also a huge supporter for my cause. I owe her several drinks and hugs.

Then there is Jack, from Jack's Rebel Warehouse who donated a good deal of gear, without my asking.

When I set out on this little ride, I promised myself that this trip would never be referred to as "the trip of a lifetime." It was a heck of a ride, but there is plenty more roads and trails out there.

Something I live by now: "If I don't say 'What in the hell am I doing,' at least once while doing something, it's not an adventure.
---------------------------------------------------
Day One - September 26, 2008

6:00 AM and the bike is packed and double checked from stem to stern. New oil, new tires, new plugs, new brakes; I am ready.

The morning air was crisp with the promise of a hot day before I could finally escape the valley of Sin City. Work was pedantic but people would stop by and wish me well, or toss $5 into my donation can or ask me why I was still there and not on the road.

Noon time I took their advice and hit the road. Unfortunately there were a few places I needed to stop first. Where? DMV of course. My registration would be up the day before I planed to return and, well, call me funny, there was no desire to come back here with a ticket.


Here she is, loaded down and waiting with me, for my number to be called. While waiting, a rather attractive woman made an idle comment that she LOVED the automated kiosks. No line. What the hell, I would try it.

Less than 10 minutes I was out the door with my registration.

A quick ride to where my daughter worked to bid her farewell, over to pay the rent, to the bank to get some travelers checks and cash and i was on I15 heading out of town. Roughly 4:30 and 100F; far later and far hotter that I had wanted.

Little did I know how much that heat would have been appreciated a few nights later.

Destination was to be Parawan, Utah where I was told there were good camping facilities. By the time I reached Cedar City, it was black dark. Being a novice camper there was no desire to search for a place to sleep. There was a nice little hotel in Cedar city that fit the bill well.

Coming up - a LOT of pics and day two.

[schismatic]

looking forward to the pics... especially since you have picked such a great cause.

[VegasRider]

Day Two - Parawan, UT to Eagle, CO

Originally I thought this was going to be a boring day of nothing but slab. Well, i was partially correct. All slab, but some wonderful views. Before leaving Cedar City, a few pics.


Some sort of military ceremony was obviously going to occur. No idea what though.

I get on I15 and head North. It is indeed boring here. Not much to see and not many things to remember. I merge onto I70 East and within not too long things change...






I wonder if people realize how starkly beautiful this is? The complexity of this simple environment is breathtaking.



And then, the Colorado state line.

Little did I know what lie ahead.

While riding and enjoying the wonderful scenery there were occasional stops for pictures and gas. I think this guy was interested in my bike. Don't think it would fit him though.

Then the highway became enjoyable, challenging, fun. It seemed to dive into the mountain valleys and follow the Colorado River in and around towering masses of living, breathing, green mountains; something that simply does not exist in Nevada. I wanted to stop for pictures but couldn't, just couldn't. That would have spoiled the moment while attempting to capture something in a digital memory card that can truly only be carried inside a living being.

And then... Reality set in. It was getting cold, darke, cloudy and late. I pull over into a small mountain town and fuel up, get a coffee, have a smoke and think of my plans. No, I am not doing them all at once.

I think, 'OK, the next camp sign I see, is where the tent goes up.'

About a mile down the road, "CAMPING -> ->"

Nah, I will wait for the next. Little mistake. About 5 miles down the road, I hit a cold mountain drizzle. The road is now soaked, it is rapidly getting dark fast, I am now tired of course, and quite unsure of how my new tires will handle on wet pavement.

Almost black out, about 20 moles or so down the road, I see another camping sign. I gladly pulled over, found the place, found a place, paid $35 for a spot and as I walked out the office door, the fellow says, "Oh, no campfires."

Wasn't too worried right then, but would soon discover how cold it gets in Colorado.

So, in the cold dark while it misted and rained, I held a flashlight in my mouth while trying to put up my tent. After two or three attempts, it was up and looking good. All I could think was, 'If my daughter could have seen me, she would have laughed her ass off.'

Next up, 'I should have slept in the johns'.

[GB]

Cool ride.. that Rebel is working overtime with all that gear on board...

Keep it comin'

[KinkyWinks]

I have often said that, if I were to do a around the world ride, I would use a Honda rebel. The only thing they need is a bit more distance between the handlebars and the seat. They ain't fast but they are damn near bullet proof if you keep the oil changed and the chain lubed. And, the average person can fix anything that does go wrong. There is no rocket science on the bike and it will get close to 80 mpg.

[BUBB]

~in~

[TwilightZone]

>"if I were to do a around the world ride, I would use a Honda rebel"

Hmmm... not a bad thought. Parts everywhere, reliable as gravity, light enough to muscle around, unpretentious.

I put a lot of back-road miles on my old Honda 175 'Scrambler' back in the 70's and had a ball with it... maybe there's a Rebel in my future. :>)

[KinkyWinks]

Something else to think about is, if you were somewhere in central america and you crashed, blew up, or whatever, you wouldn't lose much. You can buy a new one for less than $3,500 out the door, and good, new looking, used ones for $1,500

[funhouse]

good for you.........

[VegasRider]

Just one comment about those bulletproof motors. They are indeed bullet proof... mostly. While in Kansas I noticed a little something that fooled a bike mechanic and myself. Let's just say I am glad the engine made it all the way back. Aside from that, ya, I might take her again, but not so much on the 4 lane highways.

[VegasRider]

Day #3 - I should have slept in the johns.
Eagle, CO to St. Francis, KS.

Now, it has been a long time since I was hypothermic and there was no desire to be so again. About 2AM my shivering, swearing self got out of the tent to utilize the facilities. I open the door and WHOOSH.

Not an atomic after-smell but honest-to-goodness warmth. More than a few times I thought of just bringing my bedroll in there. But alas, I didn't.

Instead, wearing every shirt I had packed, riding jacket, long johns, 2 pair of pants, two pair of socks and my boots, under two thick blankets and my Mylar emergency blanket, I managed to get about 3 hours of semi-hypothermic sleep.

Up before the sun, I spent my time walking the campgrounds, smoking, swearing and going into the john for heat. Pictures? This is the day when my electrical gremlins started hitting. Camera would only save perhaps 1/3 of every picture. I took several of my camsight but didn't save.

Ah, well. I break camp at the break of dawn, get gas and had biscuits & gravy, with a pot or so of coffee.

My tracker (loaned to me by Keith, N2OBS) started misbehaving as well.


Here she is at nearly 10,000 feet. She was indeed struggling but from here on out, it was mostly downhill.

The little stop below was nice. There was a wonderful view of the mountains and a building where people could go in and read a little history of the area while drinking coffee. Yes, it was starting to warm up.

A little too much in some places. When I first pulled over, I smelled something like plastic burning. The wiring I ran for the tracker (GPS with a ham radio using something called APRS) has an emergency cut-off just incase something shorted out. I yanked it immediately.

The smell stopped and a few days later traced it down to a short near the battery.

After stopping there, it was off to Denver. While riding through the Eisenhower tunnel someone riding what looked to be a Dakkar, sporting a large ADV sticker passed by. He waved a foot and was gone.

So Long, who ever you were...

And we made it! The East side of the Rockies. I pull over in Aurora, CO for gas and a celebratory Red Bull. Right on schedule, as well.

Two lane riding coming up...

[RussellH]

I love it! long road-trips on bikes that most will write off as inadequate...but RRs such as Sly, Vanya, Jen and Ben's adventure and now this one make the best RR to read.

[VegasRider]

Onwards to two lane bliss.

A few more miles down I70 and I exit onto I36. It is a great two lane road that supposedly goes all the way to Indianapolis.

I stop for a sandwich, smoke and to enjoy the wide open nothingness...

In older places like this I wonder how many people rested here. How many teenage loves made out here and how many break up.

A few miles down the road I see a run down motel and an old Texaco station.


From across the road a woman exits her house and yells to me, "Hey You! HEY! You, over there!"

This wasn't a "Hey You, want to share some sweet tea," sort of yell. It was more of a "Hey You, I have a loaded .410 here!" sort of yell, so I skeedaddled.

A while down the road I noticed that I was nearing 100 miles on the trip odometer; my indicator that gas was required soon. I could go to about 150 with reserve but didn't want to take any chances.

One thing I completely forgot to plan on was the fact that this is the country and it was Sunday. Gas stations are... closed.

How apropos, Cope, Colorado.

Luckily I wandered into Kirk, CO and this grocery store was open.

The lovely lady tending the cash register rang up my drink and told me of a little automated Farm Service station down the road. I could have hugged and kissed her. Should have.

With no more worries, knowing St. Francis was only 50 miles or so away, I really kick back and take some pics. Unfortunately these are the only ones that saved...



And then, I was there... St. Francis, Kansas. JWhitmore44 here on ADVRider suggested this town for camping out and it was an ideal suggestion.

I check out the park and it is great. There are bathrooms, showers, shelters and fire/grill stands. I ride over to the Pizza Hut for a celebratory pizza, then over to setup camp. The police ride by and we exchange waves. As the sun set I build a small fire. Thunderstorms play to the east as the fire dies to embers. I can see the Milky Way for the first time in what seems eons. So far away yet just out of reach. 10PM and I am asleep; best sleep of the trip so far.

Up next - Problems in Kansas.

[VegasRider]

Originally Posted by RussellH

I love it! long road-trips on bikes that most will write off as inadequate...but RRs such as Sly, Vanya, Jen and Ben's adventure and now this one make the best RR to read.

Well, thank you! I will need to hunt down those RRs and do some reading.

[tedder]

in!

Originally Posted by VegasRider

Brief Facts:
5,860 some odd miles
21 days away, 16.5 days riding
Total money spent about $900
Why this ride? First, to my knowledge, successful ride like this on a 250 Rebel. There is a great guy in Peoria, Illinois that nearly completed a similar ride but had a little oil malfunction about 500 miles short of his final destination.

FWIW, there have been a few people who have done the Iron Butt 1000mi ride on a Rebel250. Not sure who has lived off it for three weeks though!

But I'm waiting to hear when you had trouble with the bungees and they got stuck in the wheels or something.