Topic: Weekend ride to the Adirondacks - Oct 2010

[andy750]

This weekend my friend Chris, Chris #2 (friend of Chris) and myself went for a 3 day trip to the Adirondacks. We left Boston, MA on Friday and went up Rt2 to Rt 78 to Brattelboro, VT and then over the Green Mountains to the Adirondacks Cabins at Clemens, NY which is half-way up Lake George. Weather was mid-60s and sunny - beautiful foliage.

The bike prepped and ready to roll...


Rolling through Vermont on the Higgley Hill Road (unpaved)



A potential lunch spot Rt 100, West Dover, VT - but was closed for lunch!



Arriving at the Adirondack Country Cabins, Clemens, NY



Saturday - we went to meet some fellow CB750 enthusiasts from Montreal (Michelle, Danny - and Diane - g/f of Michelle) that Chris had met this summer on his trip to Canada. We all ended up at the top of Whiteface Mountain. Weather was sunny but chilly and by the end of the day it was low 40s for the final run to dinner.

Nearest town was Ticonderoga, NY - 20 min ride away..


Breakfast at the local diner...wonderful! Inside it was like a throwback to the 50s/60s with local photos on the wall







the local covered bridge in Ticonderoga, NY




We got a great tip from a local Harley rider to go up CT 7 - excellent road!



and then we got distracted by county road (CT) 12...which was supposed to go over a mountain but we ran out of real road...



we turned round here..


off we go..



we passed this cool dam on some back road



next to this bridge



and then we went to the North Pole on the slopes of Whiteface Mountain, NY



and then headed to the frozen top of the mountain - it had been 25F at the top that morning brrrrr



trail to the top



and views for 60 miles



very windy



the view coming down..



Disaster!! The rack breaks!!! Stress fracture..



and in the morning



Dinner at the local pizza place in Ticonderoga, NY after a cold but excellent ride off the mountains..



Sunday - Chris #2 and myself rode down Rt30 in Vermont to Manchester and then came over the Green Mountains via the unpaved Kelly Sand Road and then along Rt 9 to Brattelboro before coming down Rt78  and then Rt 2 to home. Weather - started off low 30`s and then made it to mid-60s on the way home.

Early Sunday morning - low 30s brrrr...chilly ride to breakfast



On the way home -crossing the Green mountains via the Kelley Sand road (unpaved)




All in all a great 3 day ride and we rode some excellent roads in the Adirondacks (County Road 7, 12, Rt 3, and more!!)

Trip facts:

Mileage ~770 miles
Avg ~ 40 mpg
GPS worked great on the 750 -comparing speedo to the GPS speed is off by about 5 - 6mph up to 75 mph and then 8 mph at indicated 80 mph. Not too bad at all.

Cheers
Andy

[Damfino]

Great pics Andy! That looks like one very fun & memorable trip. And you can't beat that fall foliage, very beautiful! 

[Stev-o]

Great report, I'm jealous...

[Raef]

great pics, thanks for taking us along for the ride,

Mark

[MCRider]

Great report, I'm jealous...

Just the word I was going to use.

That's what it's all about!

You know those racks are only supposed to carry 10lbs right?    I've broken one also.

On the GPS, I'm assuming the bike was 5 to 8 mph faster than the GPS? As opposed to slower. Indicated 80=72?

That would be the 10% error that is usually assumed.

[andy750]

Thanks for all the comments. It really was one of those perfect weekends!

Ron - I was using a Garmin 60CSx for the first time on the 750 and so was paying attention to everything. Yes I mean the speedo was over-reading as the speeds increased so it was indicated 80 = 72.

Went something like this:

Indicated = actual

55 = 55
60 = 60
75 = 71
80 = 72

This is running 17/48 sprockets.

cheers
Andy

[JBMorse]

Great pics Andy, I'm jealous!  I wanted to do something like this this fall but my CB500 needs some attention after the x-country trip.  There are all kinds of hidden treasures throughout the Northeast that are best discovered on two (vintage) wheels!
My luggage rack broke in exactly the same spot as yours during the last days of my trip.  My father thinks it can be welded but I'm skeptical.  I'll see if I can get it fixed and I'll let you know how I did it.  For now I just inserted a piece of rod to hold it together.  My brothers make fun of me for having that rack but I think it's the most practical piece of luggage and I actually like the way it looks!
Thanks for the great pics!

[ofreen]

Very nice.

[andy750]

My luggage rack broke in exactly the same spot as yours during the last days of my trip.  My father thinks it can be welded but I'm skeptical.  I'll see if I can get it fixed and I'll let you know how I did it.  For now I just inserted a piece of rod to hold it together.  My brothers make fun of me for having that rack but I think it's the most practical piece of luggage and I actually like the way it looks!
Thanks for the great pics!

Thanks Jeremy. This weekend I took my rack to my welder friend and he is confident he can fix it and make it better. A support brace linking it the rear fender/licensce plate is required as well to stop the "tail wagging" -this is why they all break!

cheers
Andy

[BeSeeingYou]

Yeah, mine broke too.  The one for the CB750F anyway.  I have one for my XS650 and that one has many thousands of miles on it carrying some big loads without a problem.

Andy, how did your repair turn out? 

[MCRider]

My luggage rack broke in exactly the same spot as yours during the last days of my trip.  My father thinks it can be welded but I'm skeptical.  I'll see if I can get it fixed and I'll let you know how I did it.  For now I just inserted a piece of rod to hold it together.  My brothers make fun of me for having that rack but I think it's the most practical piece of luggage and I actually like the way it looks!
Thanks for the great pics!

Thanks Jeremy. This weekend I took my rack to my welder friend and he is confident he can fix it and make it better. A support brace linking it the rear fender/licensce plate is required as well to stop the "tail wagging" -this is why they all break!

cheers
Andy

I had the type of rack that has braces dropping down to the tail light mounts. It is obviously stronger, but the next weak link is the fender. I often overloaded the rack, plus it had the backrest my passenger would lean on. This ultimately cracked the fender. Probably would have been OK without the passenger, but couldn't leave her behind. 

[andy750]

Very timely question srust and good advice Ron (MCRider).

Last night I rode the 750 out to the welders shop (great guy and great shop) and he showed me his excellent work on the rack - he cut the other side at the same spot and put in a plug in each side. Then he made a brace for the back as Ron mentioned, so that the rack is now braced against the license plate bracket - much stronger than before! But as Ron indicates the fender is now perhaps the weak point...so this will be addressed in a later mod...bracing the license plate to the rear foot peg so that it triangulates everything. This will be done over the winter when he is less busy and will include an attachment for pelican side cases (small ones that wont look too out of place).

Ill post some updated pics of the rack in the morning or tomorrow sometime.

cheers
Andy

[MCRider]

Very timely question srust and good advice Ron (MCRider).

Last night I rode the 750 out to the welders shop (great guy and great shop) and he showed me his excellent work on the rack - he cut the other side at the same spot and put in a plug in each side. Then he made a brace for the back as Ron mentioned, so that the rack is now braced against the license plate bracket - much stronger than before! But as Ron indicates the fender is now perhaps the weak point...so this will be addressed in a later mod...bracing the license plate to the rear foot peg so that it triangulates everything. This will be done over the winter when he is less busy and will include an attachment for pelican side cases (small ones that wont look too out of place).

Ill post some updated pics of the rack in the morning or tomorrow sometime.

cheers
Andy

Now that would be a good rig! Pelican boxes are great.

[andy750]

Here the photos....silver paint is to cover the welds and prevent rusting..





and the other side was cut and rewelded with a plug



and the back brace...



Thanks for all the comments.
cheers
Andy