The forecast was good so Steve and I headed out for an overnight to Oregon intending to stop in McMinnville and roam the Air Museum. After that, head for the coast and the next day ride home. It was freakin cold when I climbed out of the bunker – like 26 degrees – but the sun was coming up and a Gerbing jacket and heated grips take the edge off…..and that’s about all they do on a K1300S at 75 mph.
It remained cold until Portland, where the drivers will get your temperature up, and then got comfy as we arrived at the museum. Got quite warm actually at around 55 degrees.
Significant additions have been made to the air and space components as well as to the number of static displays outside the formal museum buildings so if you have not been here in a while, I’d strongly suggest a return visit. Here is some of what we saw:
I took a lot of other pictures but one should spend a day taking it all in. If you get too hot there is a new water park, where you can cool off, featuring a 747 allegedly with a water slide that runs through it. Must be popular as there were more than a few cars parked outside.
After our fill of aircraft, spacecraft, and tanks, we headed for the coast and spent the night in a Motel-6 in Lincoln City. Steve had a saddle bag trauma though. The latching mechanism on the saddlebag containing his stuff broke and he could not get into it. We tired all manner of things with no luck – depressing – but at least bad people couldn’t take his stuff either; that was the good news. The real bad news was his Gerbing jacket was in there so he anticipated a cold ride in the morning.
Fortunately it was about 42 degrees when we left so Steve wasn’t too bad behind the fairing on his RT, but the cold spots, down to the mid 20 degree region were unpleasant I’m sure. Regardless we got home in nice warm mid 50 degree temperatures – in the sun – and had the best ride of the year so far. No snow, ice, clouds, or rain. Superb.
I’ll add that I bought a small Kriega R-15 backpack from South Sound BMW to use as an alternate to luggage on my K1300S. I instinctively dislike backpacks on motorcyclists thinking they will present problems in the event of an off. Just thinking about sliding, or tumbling down the road with one on my back isn’t appealing – but I gave in to my desire to travel light and used it on this trip. Good choice.
First off the thing is configurable – that is one can add a 5 or 10 litre additional pack to it if you just need to do so. It can carry a hydration bladder inside, and has little compartments for small stuff like registration, wallet, and so on. I could easily carry enough stuff to support a week on the road – assuming that is limited to changes of socks, underwear, toiletries, and medications. Further, the shoulder straps are shaped such that they don’t impinge upon one’s ability to ride in comfort or control the bike. I really didn’t notice it at all.
Though I still have concerns about the safety of such things, I will likely continue to use the backpack for short rides – it is quite convenient.
