Great Ride to Tombstone - But watch out

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kjsett
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Great Ride to Tombstone - But watch out

Post by kjsett »

Finally, my lovely spouse of 36 years and I took an overnight ride to Tombstone, AZ.
We decided to just get there from Phoenix so that we could be tourists in Tombstone for the afternoon on a Friday instead of Saturday.
They are very Biker friendly, there is definitely a Harley presence also as they even have a store on the main street. But as they were very friendly, I can only say good things. I spoke with a couple of them and they made helpful suggestions. Well we went to the OK Corral and bought tickets and saw the reenactment there in the outdoor stage setup right next to the actual corral.
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Good, but I really enjoyed our brief ride into Bisbee, AZ even more (what, no pictures) :cry2: . This town had a combination of Old West and European (narrow windy streets) feel to it that I found very charming. Unfortunately, we only had time for a ride through and on to Sierra Vista (next to Fort Huachuca) to stay the night. Definitely want to go back and base out of Bisbee to check out out the region (Cochise, Geronimo, strongholds are in this area and other National parks to check out, with maybe a day trip into Mexico).

The morning started out with a great breakfast for a reasonable price at "Caffe Ole". We then rode up to Benson, AZ on the I10 to gas up. On my IPhone "maps", I had noticed that a road went from there up to Globe, AZ (another great Biker destination).
Now, I do want to let you know, that there is a great ride to be enjoyed starting out of Tuscon on SR79, then taking SR77 up thru El Capitan pass to Globe. Only, why does the GPS keep trying to get me to go all the way round to the Tuscon route, when this line is on my Iphone is much shorter. Well 22 miles of tarmac later and we get the sign, "Unimproved Road" ahead. Well how long and bad can that be. I rather enjoy those kind of roads. When I was in the middle east (Oman) most of the roads are that way. Of course I drove a 4x4 and could go up to 50mph on them easily.
It was at first kind of fun, I mean, how many people get to see this:

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but by the end of the 1st hour, I was ready for asphalt again. But instead, it got more washboard like, and I could only manage about 15 to 20mph at best, so as to not shake the bike apart. My hands were getting numb, so I would have to shake life back into them regularly. It got really, really old. :-O

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We were on that road for over 2 hours and only made about 35 miles before finally getting back on tarmac just a few miles south of San Manual, AZ (where we would have been about 1 1/2 hours sooner if we had gone around. :gmad: Of course, we picked the 1st day where it got into the mid 90's also.

We rode on up to Globe over El Capitan Pass

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Then on down to Superior, AZ to take a break, where we saw a plethora of Trikes and Bikes passing through and some also taking a break (gotta learn to take more pictures). Then on to home.
US 60 between Apache Junction and Globe, on up to Show Low, AZ is another great ride (back through Payson)
Even with Sunscreen, I need to do more to keep from getting sunburned on my rides. That was rarely a problem in my former life when I rode the wet highways of Oregon. Ahhh, but you can't beat the Oregon coast, or the Cascades, or the Blues Mtns for beauty (when you can see them through the drizzle or clouds).

Thanks for listening.

Note to self: do better research of where your going, even when you want to be adventurous. But at least I left travel plans with someone before we did (hint-hint) :thmup:
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Ken - '03 Voyager XII - Shelley - '97 Vulcan VN800A
formerly: 1965 Honda CB50; 1972 Honda CJ350; '80 Suzuki GS450L; '79 Yamaha XS1100;
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debron
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Re: Great Ride to Tombstone - But watch out

Post by debron »

Ken, Thanks for the post! I rode to Globe from the south about this time last year (on the pavement,) stayed overnight in Globe, then east to New Mexico to meet up with Rocket Rod to ride down to Big Bend National Park in Texas for the Enchanted Voyagers Spring Fun Run. It definitely was not 90° then! 39° in the am, got up to the 70's in the pm! Great riding though!

I am a Pacific NW native that would love to become a SW Desert rat. However, my wife is still working plus we have 8 grand kids in the area plus she actually likes the rainy season (sick!) so we are stuck here for a while.
Ron in Oregon
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kjsett
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Re: Great Ride to Tombstone - But watch out

Post by kjsett »

Ron,
Yes I am still hoping to get to the NW this summer in time for family picnic in Vancouver, WA the 4th of August (Via Idaho then down the coast as far as Pismo Beach, CA).
I do miss the beauty, but not the always putting on the raingear to ride (well, at least it seemed like always).
Going to Colorado Springs in 3 weeks and plan to go up through Cortez, Telleride, and Beuna Vista on the way, then back down the freeway (I25 and I40) to get back.
Since I will be going through the mountains, it could start out in the 90's (+) and get down into the 40's (i hope only) on the way. Was planning to camp one night, but will probably do cheap motel as I don't have a tent yet (my son will be giving me one on the way back). Fortunately, I will be staying with family all but that 1st night so the cost will be just for gas (just filled up and got 44.22mpg :clap: on this last leg with 2 up).
I chickened out :oh: and filled up anyway. I was trying to find out, when does the gas low light come on. My gauge was firmly pegged for the last 40 miles on E and I would like to know if and how much gas is left when it does (it comes on during startup as it should) come on. :thk: Do you know how much the reserve is supposed to be. I put in 5.45 gallons after 241 miles.
Thanks and great rides to you. If this summer happens, maybe we can plan a meet up (at least for coffee). :-D
Ken
If You Can See Me - There I Am
Ken & Shelley (Harley the dog now in heaven)
Ken - '03 Voyager XII - Shelley - '97 Vulcan VN800A
formerly: 1965 Honda CB50; 1972 Honda CJ350; '80 Suzuki GS450L; '79 Yamaha XS1100;
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Re: Great Ride to Tombstone - But watch out

Post by debron »

kjsett wrote:I was trying to find out, when does the gas low light come on. My gauge was firmly pegged for the last 40 miles on E and I would like to know if and how much gas is left when it does (it comes on during startup as it should) come on. :thk: Do you know how much the reserve is supposed to be. I put in 5.45 gallons after 241 miles.
The gas gauge on my XII pegs on E for quite a few miles (never really clocked it) before the reserve light comes on. Last summer the reserve light came on for the first time when I was out in No-where Nevada and I rode over 40 miles into Ely at 45-50 mph (max mpg range) because I didn't know how much gas was in the tank! When I got to Ely and filled up, there was still 0.8 gallon in the tank if the 6.2 gallon rated capacity is real-world capacity. Therefore, I would guess there is more than a gallon of gas left when the reserve light comes on. This has been confirmed on a number of occasions as I've filled up a number of times since after the light had come on and never put in more than 5-5.5 gallons.

If you make it out here this summer I'd love to ride with you. Your dates are between the Rally in Kanab and the ride-in at Wallowa Lake so that should work!
Ron in Oregon
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Re: Great Ride to Tombstone - But watch out

Post by David (N. Alabama) »

Nice post. Thanks for sharing you adventurous ride with us.
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