Another nice day for a ride in Iowa

[rjs987]

Went to fill the gas tank this morning since it was low from my ride yesterday. Put 2.942 gallons in with 155+ miles showing on trip meter A (which I use to show how many miles since the last fill up). Calculated 52.7 mpg. Based on my determination of how much gas my tank holds I should be able to get around 190+ miles on a tank if I had to at this mpg. That last red bar was already flashing before the end of my trip at about 145+ miles. It was not flashing at 142 miles and I looked later at 147 miles and it was flashing. Usually when something starts to flash on my dash it catches my attention right away. I have gone as much as 40 miles with that last red bar flashing before it drops off and the red E flashes. And I've filled the tank with 3.2 gals when the red E just started flashing and I figure I have about another 12-15 miles when that happens.

[rjs987]

Just a little 2 wheeled scoot to the grocery for supplies for dinner. 16 miles to go to the store 1.3 miles away. Too hot to go for a long ride. Looked at the home temp sensor right after I got back and it showed 102F (38.9C) in the shade. The little bit of wind is not helping but rather adding heat to the body at that temp. Big drink of water before and also after.

[Neil955i]

Ouch that is hot Bob. Hope it cools off for you soon.

[rjs987]

Hot? Yes, definitely. Almost as hot as I've been riding a few times in the past. The highest temp I rode in while I was working still is 105F (40.6C). Helps when the shirt under my jacket is a little wet 'cause then the evaporation works like air conditioning. And that feels good.

My riding range is still from -10F (-23.3C) up to that 105F, give or take a degree or two.

[Neil955i]

That's a heck of a range Bob, from memory mine is about -5C to about 35C.  The lowest was one winter here in the good ol' UK and the highest was one summer in Italy en route for Rome.  That was in full leathers so getting them off at day's end was tricky!!  We'd ridden down from Germany that day and as we descended the Alps the temperature just went up and up.

[rjs987]

Did it again... ran to the grocery store to get some corn on the cob on sale. 2.9 mile round trip... OOPs, not! 21.5 mile round trip.   
This bike just doesn't know how to ride straight there and back. But it was fun to see the sunset on the way through the countryside.

[Stig / Major Tom]

Did it again... ran to the grocery store to get some corn on the cob on sale. 2.9 mile round trip... OOPs, not! 21.5 mile round trip.   
This bike just doesn't know how to ride straight there and back. But it was fun to see the sunset on the way through the countryside.

We used to have a saying around here. "No pics, it didn't happen!"

Stig

[rjs987]

I ride. I don't stop to take pics very often. So you'll have to use your imagination.

[rjs987]

Watched the granddaughters yesterday and when they left one of them forgot her iPad here which she desperately needs! 
So she did video call using her dads phone and pleaded very nicely for me to bring it. I didn't plan to go riding to day due to being the hottest day since Tuesday but I relented and hopped on the AK for the 24 mile ride to my son's house. I took all back roads and tried to stay as much in the country as possible to keep the breeze going. Ended up with 49.4 miles there and back. Drank a glass of water before I left, and one at my son's house, and another when I got home again. Temps started out at about 94F when I left home. It was only up to 96F at their house. But they are north and the temps were cooler there anyway. The temp warmed up a lot coming back and when I walked back into the house I checked our home temp sensor and it was showing right at 100F (37.8C). 20 minutes later, right now, it is showing 102F (38.9C)... the same as last Tuesday. Humidity is up today also.

BTW- Some who live down south don't believe it can get humid here in the upper MidWest as it does down south. Maybe not as continuously humid but it sometimes does get just as humid as I've experienced in FL. I spent the hottest 11 months in Florida so have some significant exposure to that. We do have a lot of corn fields in Iowa.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/08/02/corn-sweat-midwest-plains-heatwave/?utm_source=instagram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=wp_main&crl8_id=d352fead-6e51-4bb1-9dd4-ed1b0071148e

[rjs987]

Back out for a little ride on a beautiful day. Partly cloudy and high just over 82F and almost NO traffic. Since so many riders want others to stop riding to take photos I did that and include those here. There was one or two other spots I could have stopped for a good pic of the curves I was headed into but then I would have to get back up to speed and miss out on the initial entry into those curves. Which is why I tend to just keep riding without stopping. I'm about the ride rather than the photo op.
This ride was actually a shopping trip to Costco... which is 1.5 miles from my home. I ended up with just over 72 miles to get there and back. Yep, happened again. The bike just has such a hard time going the shortest route when shopping! Rode on a few roads I haven't been on in a long time and one section I have never been on by bike. I may be taking that route more often in the future.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/xGz97oMkmhMhsjms5
https://photos.app.goo.gl/HdhhtJkiW5mWUKnC6

ps- attempted to use the icon button to insert image but the result was blank space in the post so I used insert url as I now usually do.

[Neil955i]

As you say Bob, a beautiful day.

[rjs987]

Just returned from a 5 day/4 night moto/camping event with the ST-Owners group. Camp home base was Wisconsin Riverside Resort in Spring Green, WI.
AK performed flawlessly. MPG was as high as 60 and as low as 54. The high was likely more due to the gas pump putting an extra little bit of fuel to totally cover the plate in the gas port... but not by much. Maybe more like 59.5 mpg. The low was due to a very significant headwind most of that tank. Otherwise the AK stayed near the average I've been getting between 55.5-57.5 mpg.

780 miles there and back and including a bit of riding around the area west of Madison. Even got a ferry ride in there.
Here is a link to some pics of the event. And yes, we did put the canopy OVER the fire pit Saturday night. Saturday afternoon through early morning was the only rain we had and it sometimes did come down rather hard... thus the canopy.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/tMk312qhy1qo2qSNA

Now, since my front tire is just a fingernail away from being even with the wear bars, and I have another trip planned in a week and a half, I need to get on replacing that tire. I already have both a front and rear tire waiting in the garage that were just received last week.

[rjs987]

Another errand today. A 5 mile round trip to 2 errand stops took 16 miles on the AK. Wanted to do a check ride after the front tire replacement. Checked the front wheel hub and specifically the bushings on each side of the front wheel bearings for heat. The front brake discs were a little more than warm but not much. was still able to hold my hand on the surface so no different than normal. The bushings were both COLD to the touch right after stopping after a continuous 10 mile run (second stop). It seems all is good with the tire replacement.

[Iahawk]

beautiful 88 mile ride today on the Helix..for anyone familiar with the Iowa City / North Liberty area..headed North out of North Liberty on Mahaffey Bridge rd to Solon, then by Sutliff Cider to Lisbon, over to Mt Vernon, up the twisy road to Springville, kept going North to Whittier, turned back around and backtracked toward Solon, then through Ely, back through Solon and home to North Liberty.

Saw nothing but Harleys out today...and me on my Helix. Even followed a group of 4 Harleys on a 2 lane for a stretch. I think they kept checking their mirrors to see what that strange 2 wheeled thing behind them was...

Perfect weather, temps in 60's and 70's, leaves on the trees are changing, beautiful Fall day, the kind you hope will never end.

[rjs987]

Left home just before the dawn. Was dark so I was a little concerned about forest rats being about. But within 10 minutes I was able to see easily a mile away. About 8 miles along the ride I was on a country road and my eye caught the white tail end of one of those forest rats bouncing into the trees up the hill to the right about 100 ft off the road. That was the only one I saw though I was on high alert the entire ride. Sun was risen by the time I arrived at the Wendys 17.4 miles after starting out. The temp stayed relatively constant the entire ride. The photo below is when I arrived at Wendy's and shows 20.2 F. That aquarium temp device can handle from -58F to +158 and the thermal probe end is made for immersion in water so perfect for this purpose. I keep it in the clear pouch on top of the right Kemimoto bar muff with the probe sticking out to the side to be in the breeze. The total ride was 22.4 miles. Only the drive up window was open for my Veterans Day meal so I rode up to the window and the clerk looked at me in wonderment for a moment. I was the only one there so I set the AK on the side stand and dropped my free meal in the storage box under the seat. I had the heated grips set to the lowest setting and my hands were HOT! Almost TOO hot. And the next 2 settings are noticeably hotter so I keep it on low until the temps drop to below zero F. Then I'll see if I need to set the grip heat to medium.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/9NXZcYD1dyYicTFt8