2025 My Big Motorcycle Trip
For a long time I dreamed of taking a long motorcycle trip. As the dream started, I had not ridden motorcycles since I was 18 years old. Now beginning my '70s I wondered if it was too late for such an adventure. But I did my research and finally settled on a Honda Rebel 500 as my bike of choice. I am a short person being 5 ft 2 in height. I needed to find a bike that I could plant both my feet on the ground. So that greatly influenced my choice for bikes. So in 2023 I found this used Honda Rebel 2020 model with only 700 km on it. I made the decision and brought it home.
Besides it being a size that fits me, other features that attracted me was ABS and slipper clutch which make it easier and safer for an inexperienced rider. So it began and I did gradual upgrades and maintenance. Over the next years I put on more than 14,000 km which gave me experience and confidence. In 2025 I felt I was ready for that big trip.
The timing for this trip was influenced by the fact that my mother was just turning 100 years old and I wanted another chance to visit with her. Also my brother and his wife and family live in the same general area so I could see them all at the same time. So my goal became to ride to Detroit, Michigan taking a route that would include some special sites along the way.
The route I planned, and did to Detroit, looked pretty much like this.
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| Rough map of my trip to Detroit MI. |
Leaving home about 7 AM on May 21, 2025 was the beginning of the first day. The first part of the trip, from home to Hope and then on highway 3 through Manning Park, was cool. I had prayed for safety and dry weather, but I wished it was a little warmer too. Multiple layers kept me somewhat comfortable with only my fingers getting particularly cold. I got over the mountains to the east side near Princeton BC, it warmed up significantly ( about 15° Celsius ) and it was a great day for a ride.
Between the two lakes on Osoyoos is this lovely little park. I stopped for a rest and a bit of lunch.
One must stop at this overlook just a little east of Osoyoos. It presents a lovely view of the town, lakes and the surrounding mountains.
Near Kettle Falls, Washington this bridge combination and the wide spot in the road caught my attention for a quick stop and snapshot.
My route, after crossing the border, was very much on secondary roads. It included taking Kettle River Rd and highway 395 jogging SE crossing some passes such as on the Flowery Trail Road finally catching highway 20 then 2 to Sandpoint, ID. This was my goal for the first day and I was glad to settle in the motel after 359 miles and 9 hours of riding. I was tired and I didn't know if this was my only day and I would decide to turn back before I got too far east but after a good sleep I was in pretty good spirits.
May 22 dawned cool and I kept questioning my wisdom. My fingers were cold but everything else was tolerable. Putting on extra layers kept my body and legs warm enough and so far my boots were doing a pretty good job. So I carried on. It was beautiful scenery and every so often I would come upon something that piqued my interest. Such as this strange collection of 100 or more wrecked antique cars trucks fire engines and sundry other things. I'm sure if I wasn't working against a deadline I might have taken a little more time looking at this place alongside the road. Not something I knew about beforehand but there it is.
For those interested in such things here's a link to the website explaining the old cars along the road.
In Thompson Falls MT I stopped for fuel and a hot drink. Again questioning my gear, wishing I had some way to keep my hands warm, although everything else was OK. The scenery was beautiful and at least it was dry.
By Missoula MT around noon it was actually getting quite warm and I stopped to remove some of my warmer gear. I fueled up on gas and a burrito and was ready to get on my way . The day was looking up and I wasn't contemplating turning around anymore. But my pleasure didn't last!
Between Missoula and Butte MT it began to rain. This I did not want at all. But I plugged along hoping my gear was sufficient. Alas it was not. My rain pants were doing a good job both protecting me from the wet and the wind so my legs were fine all I needed to do was put extra layers under my rain gear. My heavy armored motorcycle coat also provided good protection against the wind and the rain and it is large enough to fit several layers of warmth underneath so my body also was adequately protected. But my boots were another thing I thought when I bought them that they were waterproof. It turns out they are water resistant and not very! 😕 So before long my feet were wet my toes were cold my summer gloves were not adequate although putting winter gloves over top helped but also made it harder to use the controls. But I plugged along and when I got to Butte I decided I must do something about my feet. So I went to Walmart and bought a package of heavy socks. I already had some rubber covers to put over my boots so I sat there in the store and changed my socks and put the covers on my boots but when I looked outside it was wet, very wet. So I wandered around the store a bit and bought something to eat and sat there for an hour constantly checking the weather both looking outside and checking the weather on my phone. I contemplated getting a motel but it was still fairly early in the day and I hadn't covered that many miles and I just couldn't bring myself to take that step so I sat and waited. After about an hour and a half the rain let up and according to the weather website the worst was over so I got on the bike and headed east. It wasn't very long before I realized that this was just not gonna cut it and I was gonna have to stop. I was wet and cold and miserable and very unhappy with the whole situation. So I got to Livingston Montana found a motel and checked in. One big plus at that motel was that they had underground parking so I was able to feel easy about my bike being safe plus it was nice to be inside to remove the luggage.
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| Note: wet sox tied to my luggage. I did this a couple of times to attempt to dry them out while I rode. |
This stop allowed me to dry out my gear so I had it all spread out over the heater and hanging from every possible place in the room at least I was warm and my feet were dry and I had new socks 😁.
So 395 miles and 8 hours of riding behind me.
It was here that I first noticed that my chain needed adjusting. I didn't have the major tool that I usually use, a torque wrench, for the main axle bolt but I figured I could get by with the tools I had so in the morning I set about to adjust the chain. I was thankful for the underground parking and my tools were adequate for the job. I am sure part of the issue was all that wet weather washed off the chain lube so it really needed to be cleaned and oiled and that's one of the reasons it was in bad shape. I probably should have checked this out before I left and maybe put on a new chain but then hindsight is always 20/20.
Having no torque wrench, I marked the main axle nut after I tightened it so that I could see, at each stop, if it had moved at all. I knew if that nut came loose it could end up to be a very bad day.
The day dawned bright and after doing the chain maintenance that was needed I hit the road. The weather looked promising and I was thinking this is what I prayed for. I made good time arriving in Billings before noon and going directly to Harbor Freight to buy a large wrench for my rear axle nut. I also got a felt tip marker to mark the bolt and nut so that I could keep my eye on it and see if it moved at all. With the wrench I purchased I was able to tighten the axle nut as much as I felt was the proper torque without having the proper tool. But I was going to really keep my eye on it. I stopped at a grocery store and got myself a lunch and then headed for the Little Big Horn which was on my list for my next interesting visit.
I stopped there several years ago and enjoyed the presentation because it seemed so balanced. The history that we learned in school was that Custer was some kind of hero and the United States was doing the right thing but history tells a bit different story. The United States had promised the the indigenous peoples that this part of the country was theirs but after gold was found that changed. Settlers wanted to move in the government, for greed and politics, reversed their position and the Indian Wars began. Custer made an error in judgment and was greatly outnumbered thus he lost not only his own life but the lives of all the men and most the horses that were with him. In the end the United States won the wars but this was a high point for the indigenous peoples who had settled on that land. Visiting this location was sobering it stretches over more than a couple of miles and you can drive along the path of the battle and see the monuments where various soldiers fell along with an explanation of the progression of the battle. There's also a significant monument that has been put up for the Indians who fought in that battle.
These markers are placed where each soldier fell. The white markers are the US soldiers and red markers are where the Indians fell. It is less certain where each Indian was killed because when the battle was over the Indians removed their dead and buried them according to their own custom but they left the American soldiers who were buried a day or two later when the other part of the army showed up to the battle site.
This is the monument to the American soldiers who fell that day. They were first buried where they had fallen then later moved to this monument site and finally a number of years later most of them were moved to cemeteries in other parts of the country. Custer was buried at West Point.
There are other places marked where the horses were buried. Many of the horses were killed by the soldiers so they could be used as a barricade, to no avail.
This is the monument to the brave Indians and their horses.
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The Indians had a point |
Visiting this site is sobering as any war memorial is. I do find the history fascinating.
It was time to move on and I had many more miles to cover. So I headed down the road.
I have a funny habit that I sometimes do when I'm on a long road trip out in the middle of nowhere totally by myself and I see animals beside the road I sometimes will beep my horn just to see if I get a reaction. So that is what I did and to my surprise my lights and my dash went out except for my main driving headlight. My marker lights blinkers as well as my dash all went dark. I was puzzled but it was the middle of a beautiful day and there was virtually no traffic so I figured I could get along without my blinkers and other lights for awhile. So I carried on.
I kept thinking about this problem and what I was going to do about it when I saw this wide spot in the road. I thought it would be a good spot to pull over so I did so but it was only a small spot and even at maximum braking I went past it by 20 feet or so. So there I was backing up my motorcycle when there was a little bit of a dip in the road and I dropped my bike! Nothing on the bike was damage I was not injured, except for my ego. I wondered how hard it was going to be to pick it up. I removed the luggage and was surprised that I picked it up quite easily. I moved it to the wide spot. I put all the luggage back on the bike got on turned the key and everything was working. Just the way it was supposed to. That further puzzled me but I figured probably a loose wire. Maybe if it happens again I should just drop the bike and that will fix it 😅😂.
So I carried on down the road trying not to think about what had happened. But awhile later the lights went out again! I continued on thinking it will be fine I'll get to my destination and have a look and see what's going on. But I really wanted to cover the miles so I pushed on. Later the lights all came back on!
To my great disappointment the weather turned, clouds began to cover the sky and every so often I would feel a droplet. My aim was to get as far as Sturgis South Dakota and I had looked online and found a motel that looked promising so that was my aim. I figured at that point no matter how wet I got, if I had a place where I could dry out, I could deal with it. But when I got to Sturgis and the motel that I had in mind was booked completely and there was nothing else in the near region that was a reasonable price. I decided to carry on to Rapid City. The rain was relentless and I was getting absolutely soaked. I was miserable. But in Rapid City I was able to get a reasonably priced motel room and again set everything up to dry out and warm up.
So another 8 hours and 438 miles behind me.
I did not make reservations ahead because I never knew how far I would get each day so I just walked into motels that I found online that seemed promising, price wise. I thought that coming in off the street might give me a better price but in every case the online price was less than the walk-in price so I would stand right there at their desk go online reserve the room and a minute or so later they would have it on their screen. I found that sometimes even when motels said they had no rooms I would do that and a room would become available. Usually it was an upgrade but I got the online price.
I was also blessed that my phone plan worked perfectly and I did not have to pay anything extra. The Internet was almost always available and I used it constantly for GPS as well as getting motel rooms and finding places to eat. It was a great advantage having this for the trip. There was only one time that I tried to make a phone call and it just would not work but I used my VoIP service which uses the Internet and that worked just fine.
🐝 Earlier in the day a bee got into my helmet and it took me a bit to get stopped and take my gloves and glasses and helmet off before I was able to get the bee. I don't think he was hurt because he took off. It wasn't very venomous because it only left a little sting that hurt for an hour or two. I only had a little tiny red spot on my temple. But, it didn't help that later when I was putting the cover on my bike for overnight, I rammed the same spot into my foot peg 😂🤣🐝😕.
The Badlands National Park was impressive but the weather was not! 
☔ 🌧🌧 If I have another chance to see it, I probably would. But only if the weather were nicer and I could spend a bit more time. Because it was so dreary I decided just to make a quick tour because I have the America the Beautiful senior lifetime National Park pass I can do it for free. I don't think I would have done it if I'd have to pay the $25 entrance fee.
The "free breakfast was minimal and unattractive. It was 7:00 AM and I was ready to hit the road.
I had to stop here and take a picture of this sign. It was a bit precarious because the gravel was very uneven and I was a little bit paranoid that I was gonna drop my bike again but thankfully did not and still my lights are working. The day is beautiful and I was happy.
I knew at some point I would cross the Mississippi but I had never been in this area before and when I turned south to go along the river I was very pleased at the scenery and the beautiful curvy ideal motorcycle road. That last hour of my trip that day was very enjoyable.
I was treated to a lovely sunset and knew I was only about 20 minutes to my destination so I was not worried about it getting dark but did watch carefully for animals on the road. This was a windy country road and I saw several dead animals off to the side 😞.
The motel I had chosen was called Executive Inn. I think it was the least expensive of all the places I stayed on this trip but it did not disappoint, even though the name was a stretch considering the price 😉. (around $50) The owner was very friendly and helpful I was able to park my bike right next to the door to my room and the room was large and comfortable. The owner told me that a lot of bikers choose his establishment. I can see why. It is kind of off the beaten track and away from any traffic so it was quite, peaceful and everything worked. Again I was happy. I had a very good rest and was ready the next morning to carry on.
So the next few days I spent visiting my mom, brother, sister-in-law, niece and her family. That was the reason for me going to the Detroit area and riding my Motorcycle there was the fulfillment of a dream.
Part of the challenge of the Canadian traveling in the US is the concern about medical coverage in case of that kind of need. The coverage that I purchase each year covers me for 8 days. So I can either pay for extra insurance for the days I'm in the US or I can cross back into Canada and that reboots my 8 days. Since I was so close to Canada in Detroit I chose that path. Soon after I arrived I crossed the border into Windsor ON. My wife lived in Windsor as a little girl and she asked me to stop by and see if I could get a picture of her old house from 65 years ago.
☔ 🌧🌧 If I have another chance to see it, I probably would. But only if the weather were nicer and I could spend a bit more time. Because it was so dreary I decided just to make a quick tour because I have the America the Beautiful senior lifetime National Park pass I can do it for free. I don't think I would have done it if I'd have to pay the $25 entrance fee.
Buffalo Gap and just a short distance away I saw my first buffalo for this trip.
The entrance to the park was very foggy and I figured I wouldn't see much of anything but it did clear up quite a bit as I dropped down into the park where the elevation was a little lower and the fog was quite high, more like low clouds.
After leaving the park I headed south on secondary roads highway 44 then 83 down to 20 so I saw a lot of open country as I entered Nebraska.
The weather improved but was not looking promising. By 5:30 or so it began raining and again I was getting soaked and feeling really sorry for myself so when I got to Ainsworth NE I called it quits and went into a low priced motel. After I got settled in the room I went to use the toilet and there was no water in either the tank or the bowl and the knob for the water was on. I went to the front desk and they moved me to a different room which was marginally better but the next morning the floor all around the toilet was wet and it had been leaking between the floor and the toilet - yuck. I was careful not to step in it and got myself ready and out of there ASAP.
6 hours and 248 miles behind me.
The skies were looking more promising. My prayers have been answered. I was feeling much more optimistic and intended to make some really good time. Nebraska is a lot of flat farmland great for being the breadbasket of America but a little bit boring to drive across. I stayed mostly on the secondary road highway 20. Iowa was pretty much more of the same.
I did stop once for a break and took about 15 or 20 minutes and one again adjusted and oiled my chain. I was truly wondering if it was going to last for the whole trip.
I did 540 miles in 11 hours! Most of it was straight long stretches of nothing but farmland and small little towns. Kind of interesting but also a bit boring. Then the last hour I went off the main road and down toward the south along the Mississippi River. So that last hour was intensely beautiful, including a lovely sunset. I arrived at my motel about 10 minutes after dark.
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| I suppose it was for Memorial Day but this town really went out all out for the flags. |
Temperature was in the high 60s, no rain, and I was not planning on a very long day. I was scheduled to meet up with my brother Gary in Warsaw Indiana. He is completing his own motorcycle trip with Vietnam veteran. You can read about it here Run for the Wall. Gary was a combat medic for an intense year in Vietnam in 1970.
My electrical problem persisted, but seem to remain on more than off so I did not try to find the problem.
Today was 6 hours of riding and about 266 miles behind me. It was a nice relaxing day I didn't even take any pictures. There was quite a bit of city traffic which slowed me down somewhat even though I avoided going through Chicago. I was looking forward to meeting up with my brother.
Gary and I met up. It was good to be with my brother once again. We had a nice relaxing evening with a meal at Bob Evans and hanging out with snacks in our motel.
We slept in but got on the road about 9A M. We headed southwest to our first planned destination.
I find in my travels that the best meals and the most reasonably priced are found in small town independent diners. So we had our breakfast at Rochester Family Diner. It was a nice late breakfast. I had a delicious vegetable omelet and fruit platter. It really hit the spot and my brother also enjoyed acting the clown! The other customers were all in our age bracket and seemed to be regulars. It really had that hometown feel.
About an hour later we arrived at our planned destination World of Motorcycle museum in Winamac Indiana. It is an excellent museum attached to a Harley Davidson dealership. It surprised us that this was really in the country side with no significant town nearby. They were very accommodating even allowing us to touch and sit on some of the displays. I really enjoyed this diversion.
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It was great to see that they had a good example of the bike I rode in the 1970s, a Kawasaki H1 Mach III. It was also called the Widow Maker because so many young men died riding it 😢. I think God preserved me for a better kind of life. I asked and they even allowed me to sit on it. This was a little newer than the one I rode and had some upgrades to mine. Mine was red but sitting on it felt somewhat familiar although I could tell it would probably be too much bike for me to ride and handle today 😁.
From there Gary and I headed to his home near Detroit. It was an easy 5 hour ride on secondary roads and very enjoyable to follow along with my brother seeing the beauty of southern Michigan.
So with about another 200 miles behind me I had arrived at my planned destination.
The main reason I went at this time was so I could see and visit with my mother who has just turned 100 years of age. Quite a milestone. It was good to see her one more time and most of the time she was responsive and knew who I was.
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| Above picture is Dan Wells, sister-in-law Charlene Wells, grand nephew Peyton Anderson, brother Gary Wells, grand niece Marica Anderson, and niece Michelle Wells Anderson. We ate at a restaurant in support of the high school my grand nephew and grand niece attend. |
In the evening was my grand nephew Peyton's Graduation from high school. It was a happy coincidence that I was there and able to attend.
Smart kid!
Peyton with his Wells grandparents.
The speeches by both students and the administrators were excellent and the whole program moved along swiftly to accommodate handing out diplomas to about 200 students.
I went to Harbor Freight Home Depot and a dollar store to buy the tools and materials I needed for a few repairs. I set to work and repaired my luggage rack which had been sagging and coming loose quite late in the trip.
Once again my lights and dash had ceased to work so I set out to trace the problem. I wondered if it might have anything to do with the tail light flasher I had installed just before the trip. So, I checked those wires carefully and they all seemed to be perfectly intact. Under the seat I examined all the wiring that I could see and everything looked perfect. I was certain that it could not be a fuse because a fuse would have been either blowen or not but I decided to check fuses and in one place under the seat there's a small fuse box with about 5 or 6 fuses in it. It has a lid so I opened it up and pushed each fuse and two of them were loose and pushed in a tiny bit. That fixed the problem - hurray. It worked perfectly for the rest of my journey. I plan to stick something like foam rubber in there to constantly put a little pressure on those fuses. I also plan to add a small multimeter to my toolkit so in the future it will be easier to check electrical things.
On Saturday I attended Sabbath service with my brother at the Monroe Seventh-day Adventist Church. In the afternoon my brother and his wife joined me for a visit with my mother.
I now considered my ride home. My original plan was to go up to Sault-Ste Marie Ontario and cross the border there traveling back over the top of the Great Lakes and across Canada to home. There were several things that influenced my decision to not do that. The first being the weather I had encountered on my way. I thought that if I traveled farther south it might be a little more pleasant. I also had listened to a Creationist podcast about the Grand Tetons and having never been there that appealed to me. As I studied the map I realized that it will only add a couple hundred miles to the shortest route and if I went back through Canada it would be almost a day longer so that helped me to make my decision to go back by a more southern route.
That decision also meant that I had to reboot my insurance before I left because it would take me six or seven days to get home which meant another border crossing on Sunday.
On Sunday also I did some checking over of the bike including a careful adjustment of the chain and oiling. I knew it was going to be an issue on the way home because my chain was adjusted to nearly its maximum.
So around 7 am Monday morning I was on my way heading west. My plan was similar but slightly more southern route to what I had done going east. The weather was cool but clear so I was looking forward to a great day. As the day progressed I stopped every so often and removed another layer. It was getting warm! Around noon I even stopped for a cool snack at a Dairy Queen!
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| Rough map of my return home from Detroit MI. |
By late afternoon I began to enter the flatlands and by evening I was into Iowa. I had a great start with 442 miles behind me in about 11 hours.
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| Windmills are scattered all over the flat lands in Mid America. |
The motel breakfast was pitiful - white toast and orange juice. So I skipped it and moved on to Ditto's family restaurant in Stanwood Iowa. The food was excellent and very reasonably priced.
The weather prediction did not look great. It even warned of thunderstorms and tornadoes. I headed out but soon it got very gray and dark and the rain began to come down. I had all my layers on and was fairly comfortable but the riding was not pleasant. It's hard to see when you're windshield and helmet face mask is covered with raindrops. And at one point at highway speeds I crossed over a patch in the road that was very slippery and the rear wheel slipped a bit and wobbled. I said to myself "this is not good". I got off the freeway and followed secondary roads where I could ride slower but very soon I realized I must call it quits. I stopped at a McDonalds near the highway and bought myself a small warm snack and rearrange my clothes and put on dry socks. A little later I opted for a stop at a Walmart and just inside the doors I again changed some of my layers so I was a little drier. For me this kind of motorcycling is not fun. It was a wet miserable day!
So after only 6 hours and less than 250 miles I opted for a motel. I spent quite a bit of my time drying out all my clothes on the heater which was mounted in a very inconvenient and accessible spot but with persistence I got mostly dry by morning.
I kind of made up for yesterday with 590 miles behind me and 11 hours of riding. The weather somewhat cooperated with gray skies but very little moisture so I was much happier.
At one point I really needed something to eat to sustain me for my travel. My stomach was saying it's time! I decided to try another hometown diner instead of a big name place. I got an omelet for five bucks. It was delicious at Penny's Diner. I asked the lady serving me if she was Penny and she said "No, Penny got fired for drinking!" I'm sure there's a story there. 
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| Flat rolling landscape of Nebraska and Iowa. |
I had been watching my chain. This wet weather is hard on the chain and sprockets I keep adjusting and oiling it but I knew it really needed to be replaced. Perhaps I should have done this before I started out on this trip.
I decided to start a little later On the 5th of June and stop at a motorcycle shop and see what they can tell me about my chain.
So I had checked the Internet and found a motorcycle shop that was open fairly early in the day. I had breakfast at Down Home Diner in Cheyenne WY around 7 am so at 8 o'clock I went to Cheyenne Motorsports on Westland Rd. The first guy was not very helpful or interested in my dilemma all he told me is that I needed to replace both my chain and sprockets. They did not have the parts and it would probably take at least a week to get them! So I contemplated what to do but during that contemplation one of the mechanics who had overheard came out to the bike and had a quick look and told me what he did. He gave me the confidence that if I kept adjusting the chain and gave it lots of oil I would probably make it home. So I went back in and purchased another can of chain oil and carefully applied it before I headed out for my next destinations. Thanks to that mechanic at Cheyenne Motorsports!
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| Looking carefully at the rock and the distance you can see people climbing it. It is a big rock! |
I ran across this attraction which the below photo explains a bit.
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| Red Canyon overlook. |
Although the sky was mostly clear it was somewhat gray and chilly in what I would call the high desert. I had all my layers on but my fingers still would get cold. Even when the sun came out it was still cold. I think I'm going to have to do something about better riding gloves, perhaps even heated ones.
When I was stopped I was too hot the air was chilly and I was certainly glad to arrive at my destination and put the heat on.
This was the only day on my trip where I had a bit of fuel anxiety. My tank is relatively small and even though I get very good mileage my range is only about 140 miles. Perhaps if I'm real careful I can stretch it to 150. But there were two times when I was out in the open country of Wyoming that I was getting very concerned. At about 100 miles I wondered if I would make it to the next fuel stop. At one point I even stopped along the road and talked to a rancher who told me where the next gas was which was not far away so that comforted me. I made it but it with only maybe 30 miles to spare.
In about 9 hours I had covered 425 miles. It was still early enough in the day that I took the time to adjust and carefully oil my chain. This got me all ready for the next day which I had been looking forward to my whole trip west.
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| Looks like I just woke up. I had! |
I got started about 7:00 AM at the Heart and Soul Cafe in Pinedale Wyoming. I had planned on a fairly leisurely trip as I planned to take my time seeing the Grand Tetons and then stay somewhere just after the park on the Idaho side.
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| My first glimpse from the east side of the Grand Tetons. |
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| It had turned into a lovely day. Perfect temperature only scattered clouds. It could not have worked out better. My spirits were up as I took in this grand display of God's nature. |
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| At this viewpoint I talked with some nice young men who were kind enough to take this picture for me. It turned out to be one of my favorites of the batch |
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| My telephoto got me close enough to these buffalo. |
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| This is the view without telephoto. I really didn't want to get any closer to them although many tourists were walking out in the field just daring them. I thought them rather foolish. |
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| A perfect day. This is my favorite shot of the day. This is Jackson Lake with the Grand Tetons and a perfect reflection. |
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| I thought this an interesting place as the scrub begins to turn into evergreen trees. I truly felt I was getting back to the West. |
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| After I left the park and stopped for a brief lunch I started out on highway 22 which began with Teton Pass Highway. This is a rather steep 10% grade for miles. Heavy trucks are not allowed. I did really feel the climb and you can see in the picture above the road far below. It is a climb of about 6,000 feet in 5 miles! |
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| I was a little nervous parking at this gravel pull out overlooking The Teton Valley far below. The pull out had quite a grade and it was soft gravel. I very carefully found the right spot to park my bike and got off and back on with no drop! Whew. |
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| Here are some views of the Grand Tetons from the Idaho side. The Wyoming side seems more spectacular maybe because the road is closer to the mountains and of course that's where the National Park has been established. |
Proverbs 16:9 NASB2020
The mind of a person plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps.
I like to plan my trips very carefully. Even when I'm on the trip the night before I plan the next day. But, it never seems to work out the way I plan. Once I get on the road I like to just go and see what happens. Sometimes I make better time than I expected sometimes I don't. I don't like to make reservations ahead because that really ties me into a tight schedule and I would rather just play it by ear.
Well, that's how this day worked out. It just did not go as planned. I didn't get up early because my plan was to cover the next 600 miles in two days. So around 9 o'clock I was on my way to the next town where I had planned to stop at Noodle Express for a late breakfast I had been craving.
My wearing and slackening chain continued to concern me so at every fuel stop I would check it and make sure it was not getting too much worse and apply more oil. I would also regularly check the axle nut to make sure it had not moved. At one point I decided to go into a rest area and do a careful adjustment and oiling of the chain. I laid down and rested on the grass for a few minutes to relieve my tired behind. Speaking of behind I had had my seat reupholstered a couple of years ago and this trip was really a test of that little extra cushion. It mostly was okay but my inner thighs were getting very sore I don't know if there's really anything that can be done about that when you're riding long days as I was.
In this rest area I got out my tools and was carefully working on adjusting my chain. I should not have been surprised when a young man came up and asked if I was okay. I told him about my chain and he began to tell me about a trip he had been on where some of the bikers had chain issues and they had no oil. But some helpful person came along and he had some tallow that they used to grease their chains. That got them several hundred miles back to their home. I guess you do what you have to do I wonder how it smelled 😂😀. It wasn't long before another traveler came to me and he turned out to be an old biker (probably about my age) who had a lot of tools in his car and he too asked if I needed help. I explained what I was doing and everything was okay. It was good to know that if I had needed help people are there that are willing.
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| My third crossing of the Idaho border in two days. |
I enjoyed the ride between Canyon and Coeur d'Alene ID. It was a nice winding climb and descent and fun on a motorcycle. Plus, to my great joy, the weather was ideal even a little warm. I stopped at a park rest area outside of Spokane. I seemed to be ahead of schedule and I was tired so I laid down and relaxed for 15 or 20 minutes. It felt really good to lay on the grass in the shade on a bright sunny day.
As I neared Spokane I stopped for gas at Costco. It was really getting hot. I stripped down to my basic riding gear and sat down in a shady spot with my phone to look for a dollar store where I intended to pick up some water and other drinks. I sat there with my phone and put in dollar store and the map landed right where I was. To my mild humor the dollar store was right there in front of me. I just wasn't really paying attention. So I picked up my drinks and carried on with the trip. Got through Spokane with some of my least favorite type of riding of busy freeways trucks and other traffic and got to the west side of the city. As a continued I was surprised how many miles Spokane has spread out since I was last through there. A lot of the area I remembered as being scrubland has been developed into all kinds of businesses and various residences. I figured since I was ahead of schedule and it was really hot I stopped for a cold snack before I headed out into the open country.
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| Here is the Washington scrublands. I don't know how they can produce anything here. Maybe they don't. |
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| Chief Joseph Dam Here is where my plans began to fall apart. About an hour before I had figured I needed to start looking for a place to stay for the night but I'd put it off and here it was nearly 7 PM. So I stopped at a nice little park overlooking this dam and sat with my phone to make my reservations. But everywhere I tried was full. I had not run into that on this trip before. So I checked a couple of other places that were not part of the Internet reservation system and phoned a couple and they too were full. I contemplated what to do next. I even considered backtracking 50 miles because I was fairly sure I could find a place to stay at Grand Cooley but my chain issue continued to concern me and I did not want to add another 100 miles to my trip. I waffled it back and forth in my thinking for 15 or 20 minutes and decided to carry on. I took a back road #173 through Bridgeport and other small communities thinking maybe I would see a place to stay. I stopped at one hotel in Brewster that I had not been able to phone and got the same "no room at the Inn". There was no place to stay so I figured I had to carry on. I watched for some place where I could just wild camp even though I had almost no gear with me I figured if I could find a nice hiding spot I could get comfortable. And it was plenty warm. But no place struck my fancy. It was a beautiful ride in the evening but my biggest concern as the sun dropped behind the horizon were animals on the road, especially deer. So I really slowed down my progress and became very vigilant of the road ahead. At Winthrop I stopped for gas and headed out for the pass. My first encounter with animals was a mother deer that crossed the road. I slowed down and then I saw a tiny, no more than 18 inches high, fawn. It was very cute and I was sure glad that I had slowed down enough to let this baby creature across the road without harming it, or me. I continued on and minutes later another couple of deer startled me and I had to hit the brakes. I continue to climb the pass of the North Cascades. During the day this is a beautiful drive and I had fully intended to do this on Sunday morning instead of in the dark but here I was. |
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| I was glad that I at least had a full moon as dusk began to turn into dark. Then it got really dark. I was glad that my motorcycle has a very good headlight, that I have pretty good night vision, and there was this full moon. One more time I saw deer alongside the road, maybe about 10 of them. One was standing right on the shoulder and I slowed down considerably rolling by them but watched carefully because that one on the shoulder spooked a little and looked like it might jump out in front of me. As I continued up the pass I was hypervigilant and kept my hands on the controls and my foot near the brake. I think if it hadn't been a cool evening I might have really been sweating. But I moved along at very slow rate of speed over the top of the pass. I was surprised that at nearly every pullout along the road there were cars with people obviously sleeping on the side of the road. I had wished I had that option. |
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| This is the lookout over Ross Lake that has an excellent view during the day and surprisingly my phone was able to capture a pretty good view around 10:30 PM. It was very dark. My slow pace added about 45 minutes to my trip. |
I finally arrived at Sedro Woolley around midnight. I stopped for gas and had a nice conversation with the man delivering fuel. It's interesting the people you meet along the way.
I knew My wife Donna was probably worried about me. So I sent her a text that I was safe and explained my plan for getting the rest of the way home. I have her on my Google locations so she can track me and I know that she does that and prays constantly for my safety. That gives me comfort.
I considered going my normal route from Sedro Woolley to home but it is very much in the country and in the past I've seen lots of dead animals alongside the road. I made my decision to add a little time to my trip and to avoid animal encounters I would go out to the freeway and take that route home.
I got to the border around 1:30 AM, of course it was not busy. I was the only one there and the agent was interested in my story so I talked with him for a couple of minutes. When I told him I had gone to Detroit he said oh you flew out there and I said no I rode this motorcycle. And he responded with amazement and said how far was that and I said a round trip of about 8000 KM, and he took a long pause and said "that's crazy". I don't know if it's crazy or not but I am glad I did it. If I do it again I would change a few things.
It was good to arrive home! My wife had been tracking me so as I came down our street she had the garage door open as well as her arms to welcome me home. It was great to be at the end of this trip and I have a special sense of accomplishment.
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We took these pictures the next morning after I got home so one can see how I looked on the bike with all my luggage. |
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| I had washed my helmet a few hours before this but riding in the evening sure attracts the bugs. |
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| Even though it was cleaned at my last gas stop. |
The 2020 Honda Rebel 500
I made the right choice
This trip proved the Rebel can handle a long trip. Sure, I had a couple of minor incidents. The chain of course is a maintenance issue and I don't blame the bike. I did have brand new Michelin Commander III tires and they also performed excellently. I was able to handle the electrical issue and now that I know it's a thing I'm not concerned about it.
The comfort level is so so but for my size I think it works. Perhaps I could do a little work on the saddle to make it better. I will look into that. Also, at times highway pegs would give me a little relief. Considering I was riding 6 to 12 hours each day, I think I should expect some discomfort.
I need to improve my luggage situation. The tools I brought were useful and I only added one wrench. I will also add a small multimeter. I used my compressor once just to check that my air was good. The jump box wasn't used (except it powers compressor) but gave me comfort that it was there if my battery should be an issue. I did buy some duct tape and wire to repair my luggage rack but that can be found almost anywhere in civilization.
I dropped it twice while stopped. I seem to do that a couple of times each season. I never needed to use the device I had along to lift it and discovered I was able to do that myself. Me nor my bike suffered any damage 😁.
I never had any issue with keeping up with the traffic. There were sections of the country where the speed limit was 80 mph and I had no trouble doing that speed. But my personal preference is to slow it down a bit partly to improve my mileage and for safety's sake. I don't like to be around big trucks and fast thick traffic so most of the time I avoided the freeways. But the bike can handle it if I choose to do that. Most of the time I traveled between 60 and 70 mph.
I do have one tooth bigger on my front sprocket so my engine runs at lower RPM than stock. It's not quite as quick from a stop but I like that. In fact since I need to change the chain and sprockets anyway I'm going to try a slightly smaller rear sprocket and lower my RPMs even more. I can can go back if I don't like it.
I am very pleased with my Rebel 500 as a small touring bike.
Personal
Dan Wells 73 years old
Some might want to know how a senior citizen fared on a trip like this.
My life has been blessed with good health and strength. I have always been able to drive myself to work long hours and get the job done. But at the age of 66, in 2018, I was diagnosed with prostate cancer that was medium aggressive and I had to do something to preserve my life. I chose to end my work career and try to beat this cancer. So my wife and I chose surgery and I had a Radical Prostatectomy (complete removal of the prostate and surrounding tissue). That has been hard and recovery took time. In 2020 my lab numbers indicated that it had not all been removed so we chose to undergo 35 radiation treatments and go on drugs affecting relevant hormones. That was more difficult than the surgery. It took time to recover.
My wife and I both really are enjoying being retired!
In the spring of 2023 I chose to buy a motorcycle but that fall I was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver and I felt absolutely awful. I never used alcohol or smoked but I guess my genes were working against me. Doctors did not hold out much hope that I would get better, but God had other plans and a very careful diet reversed my symptoms. By the spring of 2024 I was back on the bike and did several short overnight trips that summer.
I have continued that careful diet and felt well enough to go on this longer trip that I had hoped to do.
How did it go? Well the average day of 9 hours on the bike was not always comfortable. Having a small fuel tank and thus limited range forced regular stops. That was good and I always got off the bike and removed gear before fueling. That gave me regular breaks at least every two hours. I also stopped a lot at rest areas and roadside historic signs and attractions.
I did have something to lean against and that helped alleviate some of that back discomfort. I had raised and pulled back my handle bars and that helped but I need to get new bars and do more back pull on them. My inner thighs suffered and I am not sure if I can do anything to improve that. When I get the bars back more I might try highway pegs because sometime just to straighten my legs for a few minutes really helped. I sometimes would prop one leg at a time up on my crash bar, and that helped.
Better boots and gloves would have improved the wet and cold days.
Over all I actually feel pretty good. I think the trip actually enhanced my health and well being. I think I could do it again and might even try a few days of camping.
So there you have it. A 73 year old senior who has a few health challenges, with a few adjustments, can still act like a young man. 😁🤣😃
Statistically Minded
Some people, like me, like numbers, spreadsheets, statistics. So for those is the following:
This trip was 5264 miles and according to my bike's computer I averaged 57.1 US MPG.
For the metrics this trip was 8464 kilometers and 4.9 L/100km
I have checked my speedometer with radar and GPS. It is 100% accurate. I am not sure why my bikes speedometer is a bit different from Google Maps results but the following statistics are expenditures and the distance are from Google Maps.
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