Fall ride to Detroit

I had a fantastic Fall ride to Detroit and back on Sunday. It was chilly when I left the house, but after gassing up in Estacada, it began to warm up enough to be comfortable. The road to Detroit remains open until the first snowfall; from Ripplebrook south they don't plow the road so whatever snow falls, stays. This will probably be my last ride on that route until May or even June next year.

The vine maple are turning colors and their vivid oranges and reds are dramatic underneath the much taller douglas fir. Not all trees are changing yet, so the mountains have a nice mix of greens and yellows. I was briefly followed by another motorcyclist, who gained on me in the straights but lagged way behind in the curves. He never got close enough for me to get a look at what kind of bike he rode. By the time I stopped in Detroit and headed back toward home, there were quite a few more bikes out and about, all heading toward Detroit. I saw several V-Stroms in the mix.

New parts

My 2007 V-Strom has 34,000 miles on it. So far this summer I've had the brakes replaced (for the first time), new tires put on (third set, not including the Trailwings that came with the bike), and just yesterday I had a new chain and sprockets installed (second set). I also had the radiator fluid flushed about a month ago.

So far the bike has proven to be rock-solid and reliable without a single mechanical failure. Everything I've had done has been normal wear-and-tear kind of stuff, other than the front-right bar end and turn signal from when I dropped it in the parking lot at work.