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Memorial weekend ride report

1K views 2 replies 2 participants last post by  kbmwgt 
#1 ·
As I posted earlier my wife and I headed out on a planned 4 day trip from the south SF Bay area to Crater Lake Oregon via the Northern Sierras and Southern Cascades. Fine but busy (as in traffic) ride Friday morning heading north on Hwy 49. I didn't check the weather, hey its California right? After lunch it started a light rain. I donned my rain gear while the wife rides in her new rain proof FirstGear outfit. Heat on in varying degrees on the seat/vest and grips. The ambient temps continued to go down.
In Downieville in the Sierras I decided to head for Susanville at a lower altitude to be safe. Upon arrival at the motel I pulled in the clutch and went to idle on the throttle and the engine died as we rolled into the parking lot. It started right back up but that seemed odd and worrisome. After check in we walked to dinner with no rain.
Next morning it was raining. We geared up and headed north and into more mountains. Temps down to 37F and some moderate rain. At a highway intersection we decided to call ahead and check with Crater Lake. They had had 5 inches of snow in the past few days and the road wouldn't be advisable for two wheels. So we changed our reservation and route. Headed west to I-5. The wind was a major problem after we left the mountains. My grip was constant and tight always concerned about side blasts. Weather slowly got better. My wife thought the route south would have been better and we should have headed toward Reno or Lake Tahoe. Well that night (stopped in Vacaville) the news was all about people getting snowed on in both places and chains being required. Ah...I think I made the right choice.

The GT?
That stall I mentioned.
Throttle hesitation while cruising but making slight changes....not a smooth change.
RPMs stayed high after I released the throttle to idle once.
I have had the airbox replaced already under warranty.
The GT ran fine other than these items. Wind was a concern but this is a bigger bike than my old K1100RS and with the top box, tank bag, wife and that slab of a fairing I can understand the fact that wind will play a bigger part in the ride.

Now for an oil change and a horn change (I hate this beep-beep) and I'll be getting ready for Colorado and Banff.
 
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#2 ·
Nice report. I have had some of the same issues. I'm still not sure my GT is running right even after the airbox change. It too has some hesitation around 2300 RPM or so. I'm hoping I can figure out what causes that someday. Maybe my fuel filter/pump change will just happen to fix it (right).

We went to Flagstaff and ran the risk of snow too, but we didn't get any. Glad you and the wife avoided the worst areas. You wouldn't want to have to put chains on the GT.

I recently installed the stebel horn. I think it's almost a must. The stock horn is like a soft little request. The stebel is a demand.
 
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