Death Valley Airheads Rally - 2015

 We had prepared for a 5 day road trip to / from Death Valley which turned into 7 days.  The weather was absolutely perfect for the entire week. Leaving Yuma Wed. AM we did have a bit of wind...and blowing sand while passing through the nearby dunes. Darian tried to capture the sand blowing across the road as we passed through but the photos didn't do it justice.
                    (left click on photos to enlarge)

 Due to the wind starting out the day, we decided to bypass the Glamis Dunes Route and ran up some miles on I-8 which goes through Holtville CA. That also delivered us to Calipatria CA. and our favorite Mexican Bakery / Taco Shop for lunch.

Traveling around the east side of the Salton Sea, we crossed through the "Box Canyon" Road north to Joshua Tree Nat. Park.

We had never traveled into the Western portion of the Park, opting to always take the direct "North / South" route for the sake of travel time. This time we decided to explore the western section. We drove into our past favorite camp spot, "White Tank", but most all the camp sites were taken. The only one we saw available was sandwiched in between two occupied sites. We decided to travel on towards "Jumbo Rocks" Campground.

Approaching "Jumbo Rocks" you pass the "Skull Rock", which "peeks" out at you as you pass..

We found a very nice secluded site with a fire ring/barbeque and table.

We had a very nice sunset. Took a walk through the entire campground. Lots of large RV sites further in. There weren't too many unoccupied sites. We carried 2 different tents with us, since we had plenty of room. One is the small Eureka and the other is a massive Eureka. After one night in the crowded small tent, the larger tent will be used from here on out. I wanted to have the small tent along in case we ran into high wind situations.

The campsite was rather loud during the night. Someone kept opening / slamming a van door throughout the night. Didn't really bother me but did wake me up a number of times in the night. 

 We had our required morning coffee prior to heading out in the AM. We ran through the Park, exiting at the town of Joshua Tree.

 There are some climbers on this big rock....

 This was our first ride through this section of the Park.

 A small Moon crescent in the upper edge of this photo.

We stopped at 29 Palms for a Macdonalds breakfast and fuel. Heading from there to Amboy and the old Route 66.....  Kelso and then to Baker CA.

The old train station at Kelso was once again active. The cafe was closed last year when we went through. 

Much of the road from Kelso to Baker was in pretty rough shape. Plugging along at 55 mph gave me plenty of time to dodge the largest protruding rocks and pot holes. 

 The old "Worlds Tallest Thermometer" has been renovated and is back to working condition after a few years of deterioration.

We pulled into Tecopa Hot Springs at a fairly early hour. Set up camp right near the Hot Springs and enjoyed the mineral pools. No photos from there....

 The next morning we headed to Shoshone CA. and had breakfast at the one and only cafe in the town. Slow service but great food....besides, we were not in any hurry. Leaving Shoshone we took the "Bad Water Road" into Death Valley. A somewhat longer route but much more scenic than the Armagosa Junction entrance.

 Down and down and down we go......

 The temperature increased every few miles as we dropped down in elevation. Death Valley in the distance.....

                                     

We made numerous stops along the route.

You can see the run-off / silt deposits below which come off the mountain.

Stopped at "Badwater" to look at the view. As usual, had a couple folks stop and visit about the sidecar.

We arrived at Furnace Creek in the early afternoon. The Park Entrance Fee must be paid at the main Park Service Visitor Center to gain access into the campground.

 There was already a pretty large contingent of "Airheads"  present we we arrived.

Also our favorite "vending chefs" were present. Kevin Kempton and Kelly Pixton made fantastic meals for a modest fee.

An interesting restoration on an "Earls Fork" model BMW:

"Home" for the next few days:

 We've attended the Death Valley Rally at least 10 times over the years. If there is a chance of rain, one needs to be diligent and pick a tent site on "high" ground....by "high", I mean a spot a foot or two higher than the area we were set up in. We've witnessed water running through tents set up on "low" ground during a rain event. Since no rain was in the forecast, we weren't concerned much about elevation.


We typically just hang around the campsite during the rally, but since the weather was so beautiful, we decided to ride over to visit "Scotty's Castle". I "dropped" the trailer in our parking spot.
The views along the route are wonderful:

 We stopped at a Ranger Station along the way...

 We had never stopped at the "Castle" before, although we've passed it a couple of times. They offer tours through the place but we opted not to join the crowds and did our own tour. Dozens of people were lined up waiting for the scheduled tours. +80*  outside and nice!

This photo shows an area which would have been full of water, which in turn powered the generating plant for electricity back in the day. There are windows in the sides of the structure so the underwater scenes could be viewed.

The Clock Tower:

Nice little "Oasis" in the desert.

We made a loop tour over to Beatty NV...quite a few remote miles of desert terrain and minimal traffic.

Our friend John. hauled out his authentic WW2 Era (1941) BMW R-12 . He took it for a few rides around the area. I love this bike!

The machine is mostly original and has some "Wermacht" stampings in the castings. Many civilian machines were requisitioned for military use  by the German Govt. during the war. Eventually all production from all companies went to the military.

"Tool Box" access under the round plate....would make for some "hot" tools!

Some friends hauled supplies out to the Rally in a pickup...we decided to do a "4 wheeler" afternoon in the truck.

Good friends....good times....

We drove a few of the easily accessed scenic dirt tracks in the Park....lots of different colors from mineral deposits evident.

"Dantes View"

Back to the camp in time for dinner and a nice sunset... We hung around the fire ring for a few hours and visited with old friends and made some "new" friends. "Back in the day" I would definitely intake my fair share of "adult beverages"....not so much anymore....lol

 The final day at the Rally, I spied this sidecar which had come in.

 Seeing the "logo" on the back, I was aware I had talked with this guy via the Internet over the years. He owns / operates a sidecar building / import business out of Bejing China.

By chance he had moved his family to Nevada a couple years ago.  He and I had a short visit and he passed a business card to me.

 Photos from the trip end here....only narrative of our "troubles" from here on out...lol

The following day was time to head South to AZ. We planned on a stop outside of Henderson NV. at a little truck stop / casino which we had some promotional "free rooms" available. That made our day ride shorter and gave us a nice break from sleeping in the tent.
When we stopped for fuel in Pahrumph NV., we then had a quick Macdonalds breakfast. When I restarted the sidecar I noticed that the "generator / charging light" did not light up. The light is supposed to light up, then go out when the engine starts and rev's to 1200 - 1500 RPM. It is normal to have the illuminated light at lower RPM's as the charging system has minimal output at lower RPM's.
I pulled the headlight from its' shell to check the light connection....all seemed OK. We decided to proceed to Henderson, about 75 miles up the road. Made it to Henderson and everything seemed fine.....battery appeared to have "juice". I did not have my testing light / multi-meter with me as I usually do....darn.
We had a nice evening and a good dinner. The next morning the bike started right up and the light was still "out". About 35 miles down the road I noticed a "low voltage" blinking light on our GPS accessory receptacle. I then decided to head back towards civilization and Boulder City NV. Going further South towards Searchlight would have had us in the "boonies" and away from any services.
Made it to Boulder City and to a fuel station.....filled up....went to start the bike and it was 100% "dead"...bummer!
I remembered the card from "Jimbo Sidecars"....pulled it out to maybe call him and get his opinion of my issue....I'll be darned but he lived right there in Boulder City. I called him and he showed up in 5 minutes with a "multi-meter....sure enough a "dead" alternator.

I travel as prepared as possible. I had a spare rotor and the removal tool required to take it off....but dead battery and no way to charge it. Jim gave me a "jump" and we fololwed him to his place and a battery charger. I swapped the rotor in short order and the battery charged for 5 hours.
Jim has a huge cache of BMW goodies and is building / restoring old sidecars in his garage. Had a great tour of his place and Darian "hung out" with Jims' Wife while I repaired the bike.
By the time the bike was ready to go it was nearly dark so we opted for another night in Henderson. The following day the bike worked fine and got us home to Yuma. Darian had a scheduled plane trip to MT.from Mesa AZ. the following day so we made it home just in time.
Many thanks to "Jimbo" for his help getting us back on the road!

Prep for Death Valley Airheads 2015

We've been trying to keep active and take a bicycle ride nearly every afternoon. Typically 2 - 4 miles. The other day we took an 8 mile ride around the area.

           We stopped at a buddies place for a quick visit:

 He owns a number of Pit Bulls and they are all great dogs...they love Darian. She usually brings them "treats". None today but they were just thrilled to see her as usual. One of his Dogs is on her last days with cancer. She is still as friendly as ever....it will be sad when she is gone.

The weather looks fantastic for the next week so the Death Valley Airheads Rally is a "GO" for us. We've had sad news in the past 10 days with deaths of three friends and acquaintances, but maybe the trip will cheer us up a bit. Life does go on. It is always later than we think.

 I did a "once over" on the bike and trailer and think all is "good to go" for a 1000+ mile trip. Installed a new rear Michelin "K-Block" rear tire. Found that the old rear tube had been folded over in an area on the last replacement. Tube never lost any air but definitely was an accident waiting to happen. I inflated / deflated the replacement tube numerous times so hope it didn't fold onto itself. I've never had that happen in the past after dozens of tire / tube replacements. The other tires will easily make the 1000 mile trip. The Pusher tire is the one needing replacement on a 3-1 ratio to the other tires. Only got about 2500 miles out of the last "K-Block" tire. 3000 miles is about the maximum life I get from any type of tire I've mounted. I've ran Dunlops, Bridgestones, Michelins, Avons, Shinko's. None seem to be any better than the other. I'm using the "K-Blocks" simply cause I want a little more rubber on the ground. Currently running "square" sidecar tires on all the wheels.
Found a broken wire when I hooked up the trailer / wire plug today. Ran and picked up a new 4 wire plug. The old one was a CHEAP Chinese made plug with wiring that looked as heavy as cotton thread. Way too thin. I went looking for a replacement and everything I found was "Made in China". I finally found a better quality plug, but it was still from China...U.S.A. made?...not much anymore....
Darian uses a GPS with a suction cup mount in the sidecar. The suction cup will no longer hold so I permanently mounted the bracket to the "wing" window in the sidecar. Meant drilling a 3/16" hole in the plexiglass but that's OK. The "Wing Windows" were old BMW wings from an unknown model for which I paid $12.00. They were missing one bracket so I made one from some hardware store plumbing brackets that I modified.
We plan on a short 250 mile day tomorrow to Joshua Tree Nat. Park. We've camped there before and plan on staying at the "White Tank" Campground. Great hiking trails there amongst the giant boulder formations.
2nd. day probably over to Tecopa Hot Springs. That will get us to Death Valley early on Friday so we can get a good camp spot.

Airheads BMW Overnighter...Bashfords Mineral Spa

We attended the annual "Airhead Beemers Club Salton Sea Overnighter" last weekend.
Yuma had a good dose of rain on Thursday over night, and rain was forecast for Friday too. We loaded up the bike on Thursday and were ready to go for Friday AM. Looking at the Doplar Radar Friday morning, the storms were spotty and didn't appear to have any "big rain" so we headed out. We like to go over for two nights rather than one. The ride over was nice with cloud cover and mid 60's temperatures....great riding weather. Very minimal wind too.

         We always make a stop at "Glamis" for a break. 
         (left "click" on photos to enlarge)

 Always end up with curious folks looking at the sidecar setup. The short break turned into a 1/2 hour stop as usual. BS'd with one guy from Scotland for a bit...

 We always make a stop in Calipatria Ca. at a Mexican donut shop. They sell authentic food also. We both had a large lunch and bought 4 small loaves of bread (Bolillo's) for $12.00 total.

Niland Ca. (home of "Slab City") was the next stop for fuel & ice. Nothing much in Niland.

One nice thing about turning the "overnighter" into 2 nights is a better choice of tent spots...although none of them are very good. "Camping in the rocks". Our tent (not pictured) is a huge 6 person tent. Probably not a good choice for high wind situations but it has weathered through some pretty good wind storms.

Wonderful sunset on Sat. night.

 Nice turnout for the campout. Probably had a couple dozen folks there. Nice to catch up on everyones Summer riding adventures and BS about bikes, adventures and life in general. Many of us are gaining some years so health has also seemed to be an occasional  topic now...lol. One buddy from Phoenix was supposed to come to Yuma on Thursday, stay at our place and ride out with us. The rain scared him off and he didn't come over. Too bad as he wouldn't have got wet.

We are planning on traveling to Death Valley Ca. for the annual "Death Valley Airheads Rendezvous" in a couple of weeks. My rear pusher tire is getting a bit thin but I thought maybe it would make it to Death Valley and back. After arriving home last night, I saw noticeable further wear from the 130 mile trip home. Funny how tire tread seems to "disappear" so quickly when they are approaching the end of their life. I have a used conventional 18" tire I could mount, but decided to go ahead and order another Metzler "K-Block" tire. I ordered it last night so should have it in plenty of time to mount for Death Valley. I contemplated running the existing tire to the end, and then changing the tire during the trip. Not sure if I really want to perform a tire swap "on the road"....I think I could get a couple hundred more miles out of the currant tire...we'll see. 


                   Our "Donut Shop Stop"...had to stop in on the way home too....

                    Took a minor detour to a Glamis Overlook...lot's of sand.

                           Picacho Peak in the distance:

Another nice little get away and no bike issues. Bike belched out a bunch of smoke when I started in Sunday to leave. The engine does that every now and then when starting. Very little oil usage so I'm not worried about that.

Old BMW Parts "Housekeeping"

Been spending some time sorting through old BMW parts recently. I have numerous old parts which I doubt I'll ever use. At one point I considered assembling another bike. I have some frames, spare engine, transmissions, final drives etc. But upon thinking it through I decided that time would be better spent maintaining the bikes I already have, rather than taking on another "build". Plus there were numerous parts I am missing to even assemble a "rolling chassis".
I went through all the old parts and spent most of a day cleaning and sorting what I thought would be marketable via EBay. Ended up listing a couple of final drive assemblies, both needing work. Also listed a spare 1970 era alloy turn signal, later model rear brake cylinder, misc. transmission parts from a dissassembled transmssion, a side stand, rear swing arms, /5 BMW wheels and a few other bits. I listed them all cheap so most should eventually sell.
Today I tore down the 1975 R60/6 engine we have been tripping over (in our outdoor laundry room shed) for the past year. The engine appears to be in pretty good shape, and I'm sure it would have run as is. I'll try to sell the pistons, cylinders & cylinder heads individually. They're not worth much but should bring a few dollars. The engine "bottom end" appears to be in good shape, but shipping / packaging is too costly to mess with. I'll likely run a Craigslst Ad in Phoenix to attempt to sell the frames / engine block.
I still have a large selection of parts which I keep as spares....3 transmissions, a rear final drive, rear swing arm, starters and a multitude of small items.
I've sold hundreds of items through EBay the past 5 years. Occasionally I end up needing something which I once had, but sold. In those instances I just have to bite the bullet and buy another part, but it doesn't happen often.
We packed today for our annual motorcycle trip to the Salton Sea / Bashfords Hot Springs Airhead gathering. The function is scheduled for Sat. / Sat. night but we plan on heading over on Friday. The weather forecast looks a bit shaky for tomorrow with 60% chance of rain. If the weather looks poor tomorrow, we'll head over on Sat. morning.

Salton Sea Day Ride

Decided to take a long day ride yesterday as the weather forecast was great. After looking over the area maps, decided to go around the West shore of the Salton Sea. We've traversed this same route numerous different times, but never get tired of the scenery. 
                   (left "click" on photos to enlarge)

Decided to run the Gold Wing for this ride as it is by far the most comfortable highway cruiser I have....plus I wanted to run some more miles with the recent single carb conversion. The bike performed flawlessly and hit an average of 40.2 MPG. Speeds varied from 45 mph to 80 mph on the freeway stretches.
I ran the bike with the windscreen and soft saddle bags....and the always present tank bag. 

 Encountered some pretty heavy cross winds on I-8 to El Centro CA. The big Gold Wing is quite stable in windy conditions due to its' weight. Much more stable than my R75/5 in cross winds.

The Salton Sea is a large body of water covering approximately 350 square miles and sits 234 feet below sea level.

Stopped at Desert Shores for a quick break and bite to eat, packed some snacks as did not want to take any time at eateries. Very nice day with mid 70's temp. and the wind died off earlier in the morning.

Crossed over to Mecca CA. and the East side of the Sea. Then up to the "Box Canyon Road" which cuts through a 25 mile section of twisty roads. Always have to be alert on this road as when storms hit, the roadway becomes a river. Quite often there is debris and sand on the roadway so diligence is needed. Today was pretty good with minimal rubble on the road. 

 Not much traffic, but a few bicyclists were sharing the road.

I always enjoy riding this section of road. Have seen sand and rocks on the road more often than not.


The most boring section was the I-10 from Joshua Tree National Park to Blythe CA...about 70 odd miles of Interstate. Stopped for a minute at the old location of Camp Young which was Gen. George Patton's Desert Training area during WW2.

 Some newer tanks sitting about, a small museum and gas station / convenience store.

The town of  "Desert Center", a few miles from Camp Young, used to have a store, gas station and some activity. Now it appears pretty much abandoned with no store, food or gas available. Only a few hard core inhabitants remaining, so it appears from the freeway.

Turned South at Blythe CA. after a fuel stop and traveled the route down to I-8 and home. Arrived home just at dusk. About 350 miles in 6 hours.

Was a nice day ride and the single carb conversion worked well. Still have the "lag" at take off, at low RPM's, right when the clutch is dis-engaged. I simply counteract this trait by giving the bike a tiny bit more throttle which counteracts the issue. Not really a problem now that I'm used to it. Once moving, the throttle response is better than the stock OEM four carb set up. Acceleration is awesome on the highway.

I'm still a hard core BMW fan, but the Gold Wing is a joy to ride on the highway, and handles well on the two lane twisty roads too.  The upgraded suspension contributes to the better handling, but sacrifices some comfort due to the harshness of the stiffer "Progressive" suspension.  My Wife does not like riding pillion due to the "stiffness" of the ride. I find it quite effortless to ride 350 - 500 mile stretches with minimal fatigue. The bike is much heavier than the R75/5 and braking is much better with the triple disc brakes. All in all a great road mile eating cruiser!
I guess as I age I appreciate the comfort afforded by the big Honda, but nothing still compares to road riding on an old BMW /5..... Completely different "animals".

World Travelers Visit

Last Summer I had met a Finnish couple at our campground in Wall South Dakota in July or so. They are on a multi year "around the world" adventure on a sidecar and motorcycle. The sidecar seats their dogs which are their constant companions. When we met is SD, they had three dogs, sadly one of the pooch's passed away a few weeks ago.  A link to their Blog:  http://www.sauerkraut-tofuwurst.com/
We had a short visit in South Dakota and I gave them my Yuma AZ. information in case they wanted to stop by for a visit when they got to the Southern US. A couple of months ago they contacted me and were planning on passing through our area so we invited them to spend a few days.

The sidecar rig is a special construction rig which "Wolfi" had built in Germany.  The sidecar door is a fold out ramp for the dogs easy entrance. Wolfi recently braved some of the rough back roads of Death Valley and had a catastrophic failure of one of the BMW OEM front suspension components. Luckily he was at low speed on a dirt road when the steering failed. He had to abandon the machine and return the following day to retrieve it. The story is covered in their Blog.

                       (Left "click" on images to enlarge)

 The below photo was taken in South Dakota last Summer, showing the dog ramp.

 The stacked aluminum container system straps down to a rear rack. Tons of storage between the two bikes. He also has a light duty electric winch mounted to the front of the sidecar frame.

 "Skippy" is riding a Suzuki on their adventure.

We decided to show our visitors the "Dunes" area West of Yuma, just inside California. 

 The little dogs had an absolute blast and ran and ran and ran....so much energy!

 It was a beautiful day with a little breeze which was slightly moving the sand around.

The couple now have headed over to Phoenix to continue preparation for their adventure into Mexico, Central America and South America. Wolfi estimates that they will spend at least a year traveling through South America. He suspects they'll need 6 weeks to be fully prepared to cross the Mexican border and continue Southward.

 The dogs are right at home in the sidecar.

 We thoroughly enjoyed the 3 day visit and hope they will come back and spend a few more days before they depart to the South. We don't have many Winter visitors.

On to Phoenix! Happy Trails!