Cold weather ride to Newberg

Yesterday I brought my motorcycle up to my parents house. The temperature was in the high 30s most of the ride up. There was a thick layer of ice on several low-lying bogs and wetland areas that I passed. In other words it was the perfect time to try out my new riding gear.

Earlier in the week a large box arrived from NewEnough.com containing a set of FirstGear Kathmandu riding pants, a FirstGear Rainier jacket, and a pair of Sidi Abiss gloves. Wearing that gear plus a fleece jacket from Columbia Sportswear I was nice and warm the whole ride up. My only complaint is the Sidi gloves are a bit too short in the fingers. Who would have thought XXL gloves would be too small? After one more ride I will decide if I need to return them or not to get something that fits better. Maybe I’ll keep them around as an emergency pair of rain gloves.

After the lousy performance on my last ride I was prepared for more of the same on this ride. Turns out the bike ran great this time. I wonder if I might have gotten some bad gas when I filled up in Lincoln City last weekend.

Total mileage was 63 miles. I also should note that my trip meter will read 10 miles less than it should at the end of this tank. For some reason when I reset it at the last fill-up, it didn’t start counting again until I fiddled with it more — 10 miles down the road.

Route Map

Motorcycle Rain Dance

Yesterday I had the distinct pleasure to ride my motorcycle in the rain for the very first time. After putting on two layers of undergarments to keep me warm, my riding gear, a layer of goretex rain gear, and a layer of plastic rain gear I mounted my bike in a downpour. It was touch and go heading down my parents steep and twisty driveway. On the highway I ran into a big traffic jam going into Dundee. I stalled my bike about halfway through it but it fired right back up again. The clutch was being a bit touchy. Perhaps that’s the benefit of premium gasoline?

I discovered that I can keep my visor from fogging if I leave it open one click to allow air (and rain) to flow along the inside. Otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to see on the way down. Even with my visor clear, it was still difficult with all the fog and water flying everywhere. When I got to Corvallis I was very happy to be off the bike but also a little sad. It was fun riding in the rain!

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Newberg motorcycle run

This afternoon I went up to Newberg and back on my new bike. The windscreen is GREAT. I got just a touch cold coming back but nowhere near as frigid as I used to get on the old Shadow that had no screen. When I got off the bike at my parent’s house I wasn’t sore at all. The only thing that could be improved is the diameter of the grip. My right hand was a bit sore from holding the throttle the whole way.

In total I did about 125 miles. I also bought gas at the Chevron in Newberg. Currently I’m feeding it premium but I might be bumping it down to Extra or even Regular soon. No need for fancy gas if there isn’t a reason to burn it.

Route map