After some riding I did in Utah in March I was itching to go back on the big bike and cover some miles. Though I’d seen the petroglyphs around Moab and was vaguely aware of the indigenous communities that had occupied the four corners region March was the first time I’d visited cliff dwellings and found some rock art that was off the beaten path. I wanted to see more of this and just go hauling around the amazing state to our west.
My antisocial riding buddy and I threw the bikes and gear in/on my truck and trailer and drove out to Grand Junction. We parked at a friend’s place and rode from there. I’d made a route that took us down some great twisty pavement, got us on the Rim Rocker Trail for a while and ended up in Monticello where we had rooms for a couple of days. After the long drive out it was good to get on the bikes. The route was fun and had a great mix of terrain and landscapes. From red rock desert to high alpine aspen groves, we ripped about 200 miles out before hitting our hotel. We found some surprisingly good Thai food at one of the 2 or 3 restaurants that are in this tiny town.
Saturday I had a loop planned that was mostly centered on seeing some archeological sites but also offered some great riding. We started by riding down a canyon road that has an amazing concentration of sites. We took our time and made several stops to check things out. This is NOT my usual riding style. I like to go like my hair is on fire and see the sights as they whip by. It was a nice change of pace, we saw some really cool stuff and I got to throw plenty of roost later.
From there we headed south. I took my friend to Forest Gump point because I know he’d had it as a screen saver but never seen it in person. Then we hit Valley of the Gods road. In my eyes this is peak ADV riding. It’s not crowded, the views are mind blowing, the surface is perfect for drifting corners and there are little rock kickers all over the place to make it even more fun.
We headed up the famous Moki Dugway and I was excited for some hiking to ruins I had planned up ahead. We got to the top of the Dugway, stopped to look around and…….my bike wouldn’t start. No crank at all. Then the dash started freaking out. Then it was dead. No lights, no life. Uh oh. Checked the obvious stuff and saw nothing. Decided maybe my lithium battery had failed. I coasted back down the Dugway trying to bump start, nope. We had cell service and I found an oreilly’s that had a battery in stock that was on the way back to the hotel. It was 60 miles away. So my friend towed me those 60 miles. That was something. I was keeping the strap around a footpeg and holding it down. I have sciatica and bum knees. I never realized how hard it was to keep my foot in one place while riding until I had to do it for 60 miles. Ugh.
With the new battery in the bike fired right up. It had every warning light it could on but these do that when the battery gets low and it was running good so I thought we were back on. We headed for the hotel and as we approached I glanced at the dash and saw the voltage display: 11.4V while riding. Shit. I arranged to pick up a U-Haul in Moab the next morning and bought some tie downs from the local NAPA. I got lucky in the morning and that battery got me the 55 miles to the U-Haul place. I rolled into their lot showing 9V.
Looks like my stator went bad. Replacement is in the way. It was shitty to cut the trip short but it could have been worse in a lot of ways.
Peectures:
