Just got back from a nice long solo-ride over Father's day week-end. This was the first longer distance ride not in a group setting.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Left Scottsdale on Friday evening, where the temperature showed 104 degrees, and headed up towards Payson, via the Beeline Highway, to meet family at the cabin near Christopher Creek. Even though it gets dark late around this time of year I could not make it up to to the cabin by the time sun went down.
It was just after dusk when I left and I found myself driving a longer distance at night, for the first time. I have to say, it was a nice night to drive since it was a full moon, but I found out that the high-beam indicator is freaking bright. The blue light in the dash was blinding, so perhaps I’ll bring a bit of black tape with me next time... Seriously, that high-beam indicator is way too bright. Overall, I am happy with the light the headlamp of the GRiSO puts out. I honked the horn a couple of times too, since I am getting used to the switch gear.
Getting closer to Payson the temperature noticeably changed and by the time I reached the Payson city limits the the ambient temperature in the instrument cluster showed a nice 82 degrees fahrenheit.
My wife had left earlier in the day and gave me an order to stop on the way to buy half & half for the morning. I promptly added eight New York strip steaks to the order when I stopped at the supermarket. Yep, the Moto Guzzi soft luggage accommodated a few pounds of red meat with no problem at all - and it was only about 30 more miles to the Cabin.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]When I arrived at the cabin the temperature dipped a bit below 80 degrees and the average miles per gallon on the instrument panels showed 47mpg.
The next morning, I left late… around 11:00 am and stopped for gas in Heber. The odometer showed 133.4 miles and I filled the GRiSO back up to the neck with exactly 3 gallons, so the instruments weren’t too far off compared to calculating the average (consumption, using a manual calculation, showing 44.47 miles per gallon).
Following the 260 east, I continued on to Show Low and stopped again in Springerville. The stretch between Show Low and Springerville was a lonely grass-land with terrible crosswinds.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Gassing up in Springerville, I calculated the average MPG again and it showed an amazing 46.3 mpg.
After Springerville the fun started and I took the 261 toward Crescent Lake. This road is not maintained or patrolled in the winter months and I expect the pavement to be terrible. The 261 was actually in better than expected condition and the pavement had tar-snakes and some roughness until the lake. The 273 from Crescent Lake to the 260 junction was smooth as glass and I let her rip. The temperature was really nice and 69 degrees, it almost started to feel a bit nippy..
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]When I reached the 260 junction, four guys on Harleys crossed paths and I kept on their tails until Show Low. Surprisingly, I did not see many other motorcycles. When they veered off on their own destination the last guy in the HD-Pack gave me thumbs up.
I hauled the freight back, since I am the designated grillmeister, and I could not be late for dinner. I reached the cabin near Christopher Creek, at around 6:00 PM... and thanks to the Bill Mayer Saddle my rear-end experienced zero soreness after being in the saddle for about 5 hours. Yes, the seat won’t win a beauty contest, but I give it two cheeks up.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]I had a great time and spent the rest of the evening with family having steak dinner in the pines.
The next morning I rode back to Scottsdale and was pleasantly surprised that it was only 98 degrees.
This was one of a heck Father’s Day weekend and I came to realize that the GRiSO is probably the best bike I have ever owned.
Subject: Stretched the GRiSO's legs on Father's Day weekend 
Sun Jun 15, 2014 7:17 pm
