Decisions, decisions

After spending the day discussing options with the semi-local bike shop in Flagstaff (a 2 hour drive each way), we came to a hard decision. We are leaving the little "Roadrunner" at the shop here for safekeeping until we get a chance to come back and trailer it to Louisiana, where we hope to get it repaired. Hope springs eternal.... We also made other, parallel
arrangements in order to continue our trip.


In order to get our Iron Butt badges, we need to visit National Parks on our bikes. And the shop happened to have a bike that met my needs. So now I own a Yamaha V-Star 650. To give you an idea of what I'm taking on, here's a side-by-side comparison:


V-Star 250                                V-Star 650
chain driven                              shaft driven
27 inch saddle height             27.4 inch saddle height
2.5 gal gas tank                        4.2 gal gas tank
78 mpg                                        48.9 mpg
324 lbs                                         513 lbs


These specs may not mean much to non-riders. The biggest difference for me is the weight. An extra 200lbs can be tough to handle. I'm also not particularly happy with the lower fuel efficiency, but it still beats the minivan. The 650 also has more power so it will easily handle mountain and long-haul rides.


After taking a few rides around the campground, I felt more comfortable with it. The 650 handles just as easily as the 250, so long as I keep in mind the weight difference. We'll see how it does on the road. An annoying bit of a problem is that I need to break in the engine. Break IN, not break.


Another difficult decision was whether to head to Arches National Park in Moab, Utah, on an overnight trip. That decision was fairly easy, since YoManBob wanted to see the arches and I wanted to show him the cliff dwellings in Mesa Verde.


As we exited the Grand Canyon, we pointed out an interesting sign to YoManBob.

"What's that noise?!"

He thought it was cool... until he realized there was a reason for the sign.