Bandit Alley
REGIONAL FORUMS => PACIFIC NORTHWEST U.S. => Topic started by: tacoman on March 22, 2005, 08:01:57 PM
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Anyone interested in getting together for an east Mt St Helens ride on awesome road 25? I was thinking around mid-late April, much later and its tourist season with slow motorhomes. The roads will all be clear then. Rd 99 to Windy Ridge is a great experience but with volcano activity it may be closed. Still a good ride. 25 goes from Randle all the way to Cougar, about 55 miles of twisties. I usually head east and catch I-5 at Woodland for the return home.
Also, Friday April 1st I'm heading to Sekiu on the Oly Peninsula (taking B6 weather permitting). The road from Port Angeles to Sekiu is awesome,lots of twisties along the strait. I have to stay in Sekiu a few days but when heading back you could loop back by way of Lake Crescent, nice road. If anyones interested drop a line.
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Both sound like nice rides... A Friday one is iffy since most of us have to work... but if anyone can pull it off, :bigok:
How about coming up with a date and a meeting place for Windy Ridge. :grin:
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How about Apr 9th? I would like to go early, due to the volcano they are expecting large crowds this year, although most go on the west side. We could meet at my house. I'm just off Hiway 512, easy access off 167 and I-5. Hiway 7 is just down the road and is the starting point to get to Randle. I'm busy 4/16 but 4/23 would work as well.
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I wasn't thinking the 9th as mid-late, but as long as the road is open and reasonably clean, that's as good a day as any.
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If the weather is passable and I can get loose I might be in on this one. I'm trying to get more saddle time in this year and have not ridden in that area much at all.
I'll keep and eye on the board.
Steve :thanks:
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The 9th is a bit short notice. We could shoot for the 23rd, would give people a little more time to plan. I read yesterday that Johnston Ridge is opening on the west side. Its closer to the volcano so Windy Ridge shouldn't be a problem. I'll check the website for road conditions and openings.
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I am as long as i can get my bike finished & weather holds . seems like we are about to enter into the spring rain
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Its snowing in the passes again, looks like our winter is finally here. We'll play it by ear and watch the weather and road conditions. Late April early May will work. Most RVers don't get out until after Memorial Day.
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It looks like our winter is finally here. All the E. St Helens roads are closed with snow for now. The Gifford Pinchot website says mid May for an opening. Volcano activity is still going on so Windy Ridge opening is still a question. Gotta hate it when those natural disasters get in the way of riding!
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Planning a ride over on MS. We should just combine the two:
http://www.maximum-suzuki.com/ibf/index.php?showtopic=41891
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Hey Bobcat,
Your link does not work if you are not registered at that site. You will have to post a bit more info here for those of us "who do not belong". :lol:
Steve
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I'll try to log in and see whats planned.
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Here's the thread over there as of this posting:
Note: Date changed to 5/20-21.
We really need to get together as a group and rail. It'd be great to see a huge group of Bandits in one place (and maybe a Busa) and hang with all my buds.
So, I'm throwing the dates out there: May 20-21st. Plenty of time for you to ask for the time off, or arrange it with the SO. I'm thinking maybe St. Helens, or a run over east of the mountains, or whatever your little hearts desire.
Any thoughts? Any takers?
And Scott, maybe you could try and show up for once.
This post has been edited by Bobcat on Apr 21 2005, 02:35 PM
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Matt
'02 B12S
Objects in my mirror are no longer relative.
I showed up at the beach with MobileMike, BanditFreddy, and 911Girl and Bulldog! Granted I wasn't on the bike, and I'm not sure I'll go again seeing how loudly Gina snores......
If all goes well, I will be in Knoxville, Tennessee with my son's Destination Imagination team! They will be competing in the Global Finals! Not bad for a group of 3rd graders!
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Scott
Blue '02 Bandit 1200S, Version 2.5
Holeshot: Black 17" Street Core, Stage 1 kit with 5° Advancer, Nerf Bars, Handlebar Risers and PAIR Block off kit
Givi: E41 side bags, Wingrack, D252 Windscreen
Other: Fox Twin Clicker rear shock, Gel seat, Clifford GP500 Motorcycle Alarm, Hyperlite flashing LED brake lights, Griff Mod, Driving lights, extra loud dual horns, dual low beam bugeyes with modified light blockers in the canisters, front turn signals turned running lights.
Picture of my Bandit
Stupidity should be painful!
What no room for a GSXR? Fine, see if I show up!
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Scott
'04 Black GSX-R1000
'02 Silver Bandit 1200S (Sold)
Sniff-------sniff.
Did someone say RAIL
I think I can make this one
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MIKE
WWBOC#333
I don't know what is wrong with everybody else.
I understand myself perfectly
2001 B12, red
11/1pistons, ported head,full holeshot exhaust,gsxr cam,jetted by jeff,head oiler,candy red wheels,drag bars,relocated horn,braided lines,Rick forks,Penske shock,blockers removed,
What no room for a GSXR? Fine, see if I show up!
Forgive me master. I would be honored if the mighty Gix showed. I might even let you ride your old bike. She tells me nobody could ride her and make her cry quite like you.
Besides that, I'd like to head east anyway. We could meet halfway. Then we can watch Mike ride off into the distance. The bastard's built himself an AMA Superbike.
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Matt
'02 B12S
Objects in my mirror are no longer relative.
How about Lunch at the Cougar bar and grill, and ride down through Carson and over to Klickitat. Then back up 23 through trout lake.... Maybe a hotel down by the border and a two day run?
Most of you will be coming from up north right.....
Lot's of cages out on memorial day weekend.... Motorhomes, Trailers.... How about the weekend before or after?
Brian
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Don't Believe Everything You Think.
This is my ego list...
01' naked 1200. Holeshot 17"comp, Stage 1 Jet Kit, Advancer. Fox Twin Clicker, Race Tech Gold Valves and Springs. LSL frame sliders. Coerce Superbike Bars. Superbrace fork brace. WOFSCO braided brake lines. Vortex 15/48. Rizoma Logic mirrors. Suzuki Gel Seat. And a whole bunch of cool stuff on order...
Waiting patiently for winter, and a 1216.
Sounds fine to me, the schedule and the timing. Maybe a Saturday or Sunday the week before/after if folks have plans for Memorial Day.
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Matt
'02 B12S
Objects in my mirror are no longer relative.
Assuming the Streetfighter will be done..you know I'm in!
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Fear not, nor be dismayed at the appearance that is darkness, at the disguise that is evil, at the empty cloak that is death, for you have picked these for your challenges.
They are the stones on which you choose to whet the keen edge of your spirit. Know that ever about you stands the reality of love, and each moment you have the power to transform your world by what you have learned.
Michael So'oto
Vancouver, WA
Pick a date and I'll see if I can get a kitchen pass.
There are several things on my schedule the end of May and first of June, but I would love to ride with you guys and gals again.
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'Mr Ed' Caswell, Portland, Or.
Red 2001 B12S
Track day MAY 19 so plan any other day abd I am there.
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MIKE
WWBOC#333
I don't know what is wrong with everybody else.
I understand myself perfectly
2001 B12, red
11/1pistons, ported head,full holeshot exhaust,gsxr cam,jetted by jeff,head oiler,candy red wheels,drag bars,relocated horn,braided lines,Rick forks,Penske shock,blockers removed,
May 20th or 21st, Ed that work for you?
Bobcat, you wanna go East or South or both? We could go over chinook, then down through Goldendale and Klickitat, and up through Trout lake to Randle. I have't ridden any of the Southeast roads.
How far is too far for those of you that live way up north?
Where's a good midpoint for eveyone? Morton?
Will I be able to keep up with you kneedraggers?
Brian
Bobcat, you wanna go East or South or both? We could go over chinook, then down through Goldendale and Klickitat, and up through Trout lake to Randle. I have't ridden any of the Southeast roads.
I'm game for both. Might make it easier for Drizzt to meet up with us if we head east one day.
How far is too far for those of you that live way up north?
Chile.
Where's a good midpoint for eveyone? Morton?
Works for me.
Will I be able to keep up with you kneedraggers?
I'm bringing my Vespa GT with rearsets and solid rubber tires, so...no.
I'm bringing my Vespa GT with rearsets and solid rubber tires, so...no.
I was worried about that...
I'll bring up the rear, and stay out of your way.
(http://www.cagiva.cz/Vespa/img/vespaGT.jpg)
Tough to keep the front down at 60.
I'll be in the back too. Ed and Mike are much faster than I am. Experience over youthful exuberance, and all that.
I've been putting a post on bandit alley for a st helens ride. May 20th or 21st sounds good. i was planning an earlier ride then the snows came. I agree with not riding on Memorial Day, too many RVs (although $2.50+ for a gallon of petro might slow this). We'll keep up the posts and watch the weather and volcano activity & go from there.
I will be watching the posts as well, that's if even Newbies are allowed to tag along.
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Red / Grey 02 CBR 954-RR
with Dual Wolf Underseat Exhaust System
1200S Bandit Blue O2
with Dale's 14 inch "You Can Here Me Coming" Slip-On Can
and Every Lighting Gizmo I could find on E-bay
Dont be hesitant if you are a newbie or like to take it at a slower pace. We will be courtious and wait for all to catch up.
And I dont think I am the road burner that Bobcat makes me out to be.
I will have to hang behind Matt a while and watch the "spider riding the unicycle" show he puts on.
Sounds like this could be a good time. Here's a cool web site a friend just sent me for ideas for new roads/routes motorcycle roads It has a page for each state.
Bobcat, the last time I rode with you I had a hard enough time keeping up with you on your 600 with my 1200. I don't expect it will be easier now, even with the stage 2 jet kit installed since last time. I even shaved some weight by washing the bike.
To those like me who don't ride balls out or don't have 140 or more hp to play with, this is a good group to ride with. They may blast off from time to time but will stop at intersections to wait and nobody pushes anybody to ride above their limits.
Irish, in liew of answering your pm, hope you get your ride up and I'll see you there.
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Forrest
Suzuki Bandit - The Gentleman's Sportbike
'97 B12, blazingly fast blue
WWBOC #557
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Sounds like the 20th or 21st of May might be it. If people could swing getting Friday the 20th off, crowds would be low. If not, the 21st would work. Send in your posts and lets pick a date.
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I'll be there, work permitting. Shouldn't be a problem, but you never know the way they "manage" things... :roll:
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Id be able to do any saturday ride. My neck of the woods....
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ok, we'll watch those two days and see what happens; weather, volcano, etc. We can check the MS forum and see what goes on there. Newbies are welcome, I'm not a real hard charger (self employed, no sick pay). Also, the roads this time of year are still a little "dirty"(gravel, silt, overzealous Harley riders) so it will be "sport touring".
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I'm watching the thread. I'm most likely more interested in a day ride, probably could get away on Friday with a bit of notice. I'll see how things look as we get closer to the date. Seems like I am better at short notice than long term planning.
How many do you think are going to show?
It's interesting to watch how things shape up.
Steve :motorsmile:
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Some pics from a ST.N run up to St. Helens earlier this month can be found here, if anyone's interested.
http://landofopus.com/galleries/mount_st_helens_april_2005/
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this looks like the west side up to Coldwater Ridge. I've done that ride, its scenic but the road is a little boring. Looks like theres still a lot of snow up there.
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OK, here's the latest from the M-S thread:
OK--let's finalize this. We meet in Randle on Saturday 5/21 at 10 am at that greasy spoon restaurant with the waitress who likes to torment me. Those who want to make it a 2 day ride certainly can, but it seems Saturday will work best for the majority.
Ride up to WR, and down to Cougar. Play it by ear from there
For folks that want to, there's an earlier meeting place that may be more convenient and/or desireable... providing Jerry gets his dates straight. :lol:
Ok... Friday the 21st at 9am at Krispy Kreme on South Hill Puyallup for the Seattle, Tacoma, Puyallup posse... and then South to Randle by 11am.
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Sounds good! The krispy kreme sounds good (the location, not the greasy donuts). I read in the paper windy ridge is set to open the 16th so we should all be clear. For those who have not been on this road, its awesome. Its like a moonscape. The hardest part is paying attention to the twisty road when there's so much cool scenery.
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I got looking at those times. We need to be in Randle by 10am. How abut meeting at Krispys by 8:45 am on the road no later than 9. that should put us in Randle by 10.
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Ok, looks like we're getting this ironed out. Due to folks catching ferrys etc. we'll move the time back. Saturday, May 21, 11 am in Randle. Randle is on Hwy 12 just west of White Pass. Randle is small so you can't miss the greasy spoon. Its on the south side of 12, there is a gas station across the street. Any adjustments we'll post.
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If things work out good for me I will be in Des Moines IA on the 21st. I'll post more later.
Steve
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OK, this is getting close - Next Saturday.
What are we gonna get for an Alley contingent?
I'm in.
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I'm out. Sorta last minute vacation adventure to corn land calls.
Steve
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i'm in. Theres been a lot of time setting on Max Suz. Looks like official meet time is 11am at the greasy spoon in Randle. We've set some times and meeting places for riders from the north. Looks like 9am at the McDonalds at Hwy 512 and Pacific Ave (Hwy 7). Windy Ridge is set to be open pending any major seismic activity :banana:
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Things are shaping up for Sat ride. The max suz site has the info. Post here if theres anymore questions. It looks like a ride to Windy Ridge, then south to Cougar. Some will probably head south. I have to head home so I'll just head west to Woodland and catch I5 north home.
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Looks like the Cougar-West to I-5 is the route I'll be taking, too. My wife is out of town for the weekend and I'll have to get home to take care of the animals.
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I think there's a couple others taking that route too. See you tommorrow, are you meeting at the McDonalds?
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I'd love to be going with you guys, but I have a little thing up my sleeve :banana: . I think you'll understand when I post after I get back. I see the weather is looking good for the northern plains. I hope the weather is good for you. Have a safe, fun time! Pics please.
Steve :bigok:
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See you tommorrow, are you meeting at the McDonalds?
Sounds like that's the plan - I'll be coming down with Bobcat. Looks like he's gonna make it a weekend ride, but I'm just in for Saturday.
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See you there, weathers looking up.
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It's looking up for the destination - but may be getting a little wet getting from up here to your area... we're still forecasting scattered showers tomorrow up here in the North Sound area.
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Well, I made it home safe and sound... got back a couple hours ago. What a long, LONG day! Up at 5am for a 6:15 departure. Rendezvous #1 at 6:45, #2 at 7:30, #3 at 9:30 and #4 (the "main" one) at 11:00. Had lunch and a long BS/photo session before finally getting on the road a little after 1pm. Enjoyed the hell out of FS25, despite it being damp, with frequent frost heaves and moss stripes... the this altitude, spring was just starting - in fact, we had to pass on the Windy Ridge part of the ride as the road was still closed due to snow or maybe they're afraid fo people getting too close to the mountain and having it go off on them... though the current snow level is lower than the road.
~30-35 miles before we got to the end of our route, it started to rain, but since the possiblity was in the forecast, everyone seemed to be prepared... the part that sucked for me was riding the slab back home for 5 hours in the pouring rain - AND getting stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic in downtown Tacoma and again just south of Seattle by the airport when a 4-car pile-up stopped the freeway.
Tacoman - no offense intended when I didn't stop at the gas station with you and the others. I just wanted to get the trip in the rain over with ASAP and I still had 3/4 of a tank. If I would have stopped, I would have had to stop again as I was >200 miles from home when you guys pulled in @ Woodland.
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Just finished a post a M-S. No problem on taking off at Woodland, I was just about to follow as i had the same "get it over with" mentality. I should have warned you about I5 thru Tacoma. It ALWAYS backs up around the dome on weekend afternoons, is this where you got stuck? Fed Way has a ton of construction right now. Wasn't the rain south of Chehalis brutal? With all the rain, spray, and a covered face shield, I couldn't see 50 ft in front of me. Going slow was worse. I finally sped up to about 80 and it would blow all the drops off. My hands were absolutely numb, my gloves are better suited to gardening than wet riding. I did bring a spare though. Stopped at a truck stop, used the hand dryer to warm up and soldiered on home. A good ride!
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Yup, that's where I got stuck. I know what you mean about it always being slow thru there, but I don't know the area well enough to take any kind of bypass.
I tried the hand drier bit in one of the rest stops - but it didn't do much good. A couple minutes in that crap and they were soaked again, so I just used my grip heaters so I could have warm, wet hands.
I did get a few small breaks in the rain though - the first two were in Seattle when I jumped on the Express Lanes and there's two stretches where the Express Lanes are under the main freeway. The other one was for ~10 miles right after I left the freeway and headed west. What was weird was that 10 mile stretch was totally dry, even the dirt in the farmers fields was dry. Then, just as quickly as I'd found the one dry spot in western WA, I had to turn south to my end of the island and the rain resumed.
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A good bypass around the tacoma dome and federal way is to get on hwy 512 again. Follow it thru Puyallup and onto hwy 167. You can either cut back to I5 or merge onto 405. Glad you made it home safe, when you can't see and your hands are too numb to work the controls (hey, you have heated grips) it gets a little scary out there. Good ride and it was good to finally meet you in person. Again, sweet pass on that delivery truck in those twisties by Alder Lake.
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I actually thought about 167 - but it can be a real crap shoot. I've been stuck on it when it make the slowdown in Tacoma seem like a 4-way stop on a deserted road. While the delay in Tacoma seemed to take a long time, it was mostly because of the weather that made it seem eternal.
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This was the 2nd worse weather I ever got caught in. The worst was last year on Chinook Pass. Same type of weather but about 15 degrees colder with snow mixed in the rain. Water seeps in everywhere, up into the helmet, down the collar, up under the waistband, and up the from the ankles. Oh well, the earlier part of the day was a blast and worth it.
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Photos pirated from dpontiac1 of M-S.
Randle, WA - where riders from the north, south and east met for the day's fun (and misery).
(http://imbris.net/~danegg/randle.JPG)
A break at the turn off to Windy Ridge - which was still closed for snow, which explains why we're stopped in the middle of the road.
(http://imbris.net/~danegg/break.JPG)
An organized shot of the 10 Bandits and the Busa we allowed to tag along. On a clearer day, you would be able to actually see Mt. St. Helens just bhind the ridge that was the horizon on this gray day.
(http://imbris.net/~danegg/group.JPG)
From left to right
Mike (mobilemike), Ed (Ed Caswell), Fred (Bandit Freddy), Matt (bobcat), Jeff (bulldog), Brian (steelheader), Paul (Red01), Dan (dpontiac), bandit newbie, Jim (tacoman), and Mike (Irish Bandit)
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A good time. If its cold and cloudy you get empty roads. This weekend the weather looks great but that road will be clogged with tourists and RVs.
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dpontiac came up with another pic I thought was worth sharing:
(http://imbris.net/~danegg/Pana0037.jpg)