The Southwest: Demenshea meets the Versys

[demenshea]

The drive to SoCal to pick up the new bike was trying at best, being we got into some horrid LA traffic, not knowing any better. Friday afternoon is not a good time to take anysort of freeway travel, and here we thought we'd make up some time and ended up in what appeared to be a very long parking lot. After nearly 2 long hours in bumper to bumper traffic we finally arrived at Hutchins Motorsports a mere 2 hours after we thought we'd be there. Sadly, our diabetic kitty required Gary to simply flip around and head back home, which made for a very long day. I on the other hand got a motel and got an early morning start on my sojourn east to better weather to do the break-in ride for my new Kawasaki Versys.

We did encounter one very special Royal Enfield in Fresno when we stopped at a BMW dealer. Check out this totally decked out RE.



From the rear...Gary thought the gold balls were a very nice touch.


Where was his passenger?


The owner of the bike was a colorful as the bike itself.


The morning after picking up the bike I headed to Joshua Tree NP where I know there would be a few twisties, even though the speed limit is 45, I figured I would get to feel the handling of the machine. The day couldn't have been more perfect and the bike was a gas, without using much



In the park there was some sort of car meet with some beautiful vintage beauties. I didn't get many photos but got a few. (one is in the previous post.)


This plant reminded me of a little alien.






My first fill up...geeze!!


I made it to my friend Roger's home near Phoenix around 6pm. He rode out to meet me, and we proceeded to his home for a nice night of family camaraderie. What a treat. His dog Snoop and I bonded immediately!


The following day after a very leisurely morning, he escorted me out to old Hwy 60 leading to Globe, AZ as I was planning on making my way to Lordsburg, NM.


I had a wonderful ride through Superior and Globe revisiting the photographs that were still fresh in my mind from my post regarding the old Hwy 60.
Both the following shots were shot while riding and sadly aren't as clear as they should be, but you get the idea.

[demenshea]

As I made my way to Lordsburg, the day was waning and the sky began its bedtime dress. I shot a few photos while riding that after I arrived in my motel, I quite liked the result! It was an amazing sunset.








A fit ending to an amazing day!

Tomorrow on to Truth or Consequences, NM and some dear friends.

[Moedad]

Originally Posted by demenshea

The drive to SoCal to pick up the new bike was trying at best, being we got into some horrid LA traffic, not knowing any better. Friday afternoon is not a good time to take anysort of freeway travel, and here we thought we'd make up some time and ended up in what appeared to be a very long parking lot.

Oh man, Friday afternoons are the absolute worst times to travel east or north out of LA. Great pictures so far!

[notarian]

What happened to the Joey Dunlop yellow lid? Are you still on the stock suspension settings or did Hutchins re-set it for you?

Good pics - as always! Enjoy D.

[Queen]

Wow Donna, great pics. Your bike looks like so much fun!

[hercbr]

Great stuff Donna! I LOVE the pic with the sunset on your helmet!!!!

Glad to hear you are having happy trails!!!

Nancy

[coyotebros2]

You never disappoint. Keeping the RPM's down during the break-in period I see.

[viffergyrl]

More, please

[URSUS PURPUREOUS]

How do you like the seat?
I know a guy that rode his Versys to Alaska, and he used a board he had rounded the corners on, then put it under his legs,cross wise, so he could extend his saddle time. He picked up the trick from some other cross country rider who posted pics of it in another forum.
I can't remember what year his bike is....have they done something to make the seat a bit more comfortable?

Mighty fine shot of the sunset....

[sanpedro]

Nice bike. My local dealer just took delivery of a 2012 and I got a good look at it the other day while picking up tires. The layout of the bike reminded me of a supermoto and I could tell just by looking at it that it was probably very agile but without being stuck with the 400 cc powerband.