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Hi and welcome to my motorcycle trip blog. Here you will find motorcycle trip reports primarily based in the State of Washington and Idaho. Born and raised in Washington I have over 50 years of motorcycle experience. Enjoy the ride.

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Chuckanut Drive


At 27,000 miles I checked the valves on my FJR. They were a bit snug in places and a bit loose in others but all within spec. Rather than go another 25 k miles I decided to check them every 10k until an adjustment was required.
This moment came at 37,000 miles. I choose to have the work done by my dealer for I am not interested in removing the camshaft.

After waiting for parts the work was done on Friday and I picked up the bike on Saturday morning. Parting with a few Benjamins is a great way to start a weekend. It was money well spent.

With coin well spent it was time to enjoy the recently completed work. 

I contacted forum member EscapeFJRtist. We laid out a route agreeing to meet in Monroe at Patty's Egg Nest for breakfast at 9:00am.

Fontanaman lives about 40 miles south south of Monroe while EscapeFJRtist lives in Monroe. The significance of this was apparent when Fontanaman hit the road at 8:00 am, his lawn well frosted over, the FJR temp gauge indicating 36 degrees. Fiddling with he new Gerbing dual temp controller Fontanaman wondered if the unit was defective. His prior controller was a single controller - easy enough to hook up. After a quick stop the controller issue was resolved and the heated jacket did it job along with the heated grips.

We both enjoyed a senior breakfast while catching on recent events. EscapeFJRtist does not qualify for senior breakfast while Fontanaman does. Truth be told a senior breakfast is just a smaller portion something Fontanaman would have benefited from long before becoming senior.

There are a lot of great roads near Monroe and EscapeFJRtist knows them all so he led the way to Arlington, all along good back roads.

No photos yet and you are all getting bored with Fontanaman refering to himself in the third person, right?

So he whips out his camera near Lake McMurray and starts shooting.

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The road is twisty around Lake McMurray.
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After Lake McMurray Hwy 9 snakes up toward Big Lake with a view of the lake and golf course along with a couple of tight turns that are fun despite the lower speed limit. Just after Big Lake I shot these photos of Mt. Baker.
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For a closer view of Mt. Baker.
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Too bad it was an overcast day. 

We press north on Hwy 9 until we the turn off for Lake Watcom along a scenic road leading to Bellingham.
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Once in Bellingham head toward Chuckanut Drive a eleven mile section along Puget Sound carved into a cliff. A few nice views but today photography was tough so I found some photos on on the web.

By eagle7cmg https://ssl.panorami.../photo/10138063

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After Chuckanut Drive we head on down the Edison Cafe for lunch. After lunch we continue down along Puget Sound, to LaConnor and point south including a ride along the Skagit River to see a few eagles.

We even notice an eagle soaring along with our spirits after a great day of riding.

Freezeout Saddle

During the first full week on October my lovely bride and I flew to Boston toured Boston for two days then drove north to tour New Hampshir...