Connecticut to Colorado on the XJ...

So I just got back from my first long distance ride and I'm happy to say it went off without a hitch. Just shy of 3000 miles at 5500 rpms all day long and my little maxim-x was just begging for more!

Went from Philadelphia to NYC to Providence to Boston to Portsmouth NH to Connecticut, through Ohio and Indiana to Chicago, down to Columbia Missouri and across the beautiful state of Kansas home to Colorado.
Spent the entire month doing it, visiting a ton of friends and family along the way.

Rode in the day and at night, on dirt roads and and back roads and the interstate, in dense traffic and the open road, in the warmth and the cold, in the sun and the rain, in big cities and in the country, from the beach through the midwest and into the heart of the Rockies. Got blown around by semis and by crazy gusts in the midwest that were scary and exhausting. Sat in a traffic jam for hours in Chicago in 90 degree heat with the radiator blowing on me, blew through Kansas at 105mph all alone for miles. Ate a lot of good food, ate my fair share of crap. Rode some great roads, rode some crap ones too. Met some great people along the way, and a few crazies. Listened to my ipod on shuffle through the awesome riding tunes and the terribly, terribly wrong. Shivered hard once on the interstate and nearly wrecked. Waved a lot. Sunburned my lips. Discovered that the blue painters tape is best for affixing directions to the tank and scotch tape, the worst. Killed an awful lot of bugs along the way, both black, yellow, red and green. The butts definitely a little sore.

Sure was a blast on the maxim! Had some saddlebags and a backpack for the whole trip. Added a small windshield and a full tune before I left and she never let me down! Never ran out of gas. A small stumble at the end of my trip turned out to be loose carb/airbox boots that got tightened right up. Samsr was kind enough to help sync my carbs and give her a good once-over when I got up to Colorado Springs for which I'm very thankful.

As a last hurrah I took her up to the top of Pikes Peak on the last day of my trip. Parking lot at the top is 14,110 ft. Little bit of snow from the night before. Highest road in the country, and the only time I took any pictures, which I'll post soon from a different computer.

I want to thank everyone on this site who inspired me and helped me get prepared. It a very good trip and a great bonding experience for me and my XJ!

As always though, I'm glad to be home.

 

Welcome back from the trip, Glad I could help on the return. Lots of country still to see right here in our own back yard. We will definately have to get together for a ride or two. Maybe we could meet up this spring and get a few others from around here and possibly farther away for a nice little road trip around the state.
Sounds like a fun trip you went on, tiring but fun. Have a good one.

 

OK so where is the pic of the peek and the max x. I have to get my bike up there to get a pic as well. I do live at the base of it. doh Sounds like a good photo op.

 

Sounds like a helluva ride XJRook. Damn, I'm envious.

 

same here I was hoping for more response on sams Idea of a ride really also,,,maybe a dream for some of us but dang this is america a mans aloud to dream right...
it's been many years since I have been over independence pass on a bike,,,
I have life long friends in buena vista just up 24 from sam,, my home away from home really an get out there every so many years,,,,it is a goal of mine to get the 900 sorted out an ride there again,,,,,,
it may take me a few years as I have plans for a atv trip out there with the family next year,,,atv's also that take a lot of maintenance ,,,an I'm getting old.
,,,,I know Gods country a little bit,,,,,been on top of a few mountains there's a reason they call it Gods Country,,,I have a passion for this stuff