BLOG 61: The Pickup.
Sung in the tune of Led Zeppelin’s Rock and Roll: “It’s been a long time since I blog posted…It’s been a long time, been a long time, been a long lonely lonely lonely lonely time.”
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Soooooo, Tiny backstory, then on to the meat and potatoes…On the Road with Gavin. (I ain’t no Kerouac, my prose is as pleasant as a 4-vessel disease heart attack…and that’s a fact…Jack.)
Out of extreme (and mildly confusing) kindness, Brammo first loaned me an Enertia Classic. I had it for almost a year and put 5000 miles on her. Brammo seemed to be fairly pleased that I rode her a lot, took far too many photos of her, wrote about her some and that I didn’t wreck her. So they loaned me a Beta version of the Enertia Plus (a classic with double the range and a few improvements). I had this for only a couple of months before Brammo needed her back in Ashland. She was a beta bike and they needed to do some tests and such.
It was with great sadness that I let her go. A) I was just getting to know her 🙂 B) It was the first time in a year that I didn’t have an Electric Motorcycle at my house and that made me “have a sad.” It is now known as The Time of Great Loss and Increased Petroleum Use. Known might be overstating it some.
And it was 2 long, horrible months of driving my pickup truck everyday. She’s a good car, but she is still a cage…and even a gilded cage is still a prison.
But then I received an email from Brammo that they were done with the testing and I could have the beta bike back if I wanted it. Silly question. I planned to drive to Ashland and pick it up myself. It would take weeks for shipping and I wanted it NOW.
And a road trip was hatched in my head like so many parasitic fly eggs. (a public service announcement: Traveling to sub-Saharan Africa? Get all the shots they recommend.) I would drive the pickup to Ashland, tour the Brammo headquarters and bring the Plus back to Albuquerque. Those plans were dashed when a big winter storm hit Ashland right when I would be traveling there. Luckily Brammo was making a delivery of Empulse motorcycles to San Francisco that same weekend and they were kind enough to place the Plus on the truck with the Empulses (I call this bike T’Challa…all my vehicles tend to be female in my head, but this one is definitely T’Challa** to me). But enough of the boring stuff…Photos and road trip info coming up….
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I was traveling alone and didn’t want to push the driving too much. Albuquerque to San Francisco–16 hours, 1100 miles–would be done in two days. I did forget that I have the ass of a truck driver and that I can spend all day driving. I got to my night’s stay, Barstow, California, in 10 hours and felt silly stopping for the night at 5 pm. 700 miles in 10 hours. Easy to do on our highways when you don’t stop to eat or drink or pee. One stop in Flagstaff to gas up and back on the road.
Boring and uneventful…though I did hit snow twice. Once outside of Flagstff—expected since Flagstaff is over 7000 feet in elevation–and again outside of Mojave—not, to me at least, so expected. Heck, Mojave is in the freaking desert very near Death Valley. I was not at all expecting snow there.
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Just west of Flagstaff, AZ
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Outside of Mojave. Nice wind towers.
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and just a bit further…out of the snow and I had to pull over to get a nice panoramic view.
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The ride from Barstow to San Francisco, 400 miles, was uneventful. I did see a ton of Golden Eagles along Highway 5. One even swooped down and picked up a small animal out of the grass beside the highway. Lovely to see. Unless you where the small mammal suddenly clutched in talons so tight.
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But this blog isn’t about boring rides from city to city. It is about ME :). Well mostly about the Brammo bikes. And so…off to Scuderia West to pick up my ride.
ps…the people at Scuderia West were amazing. Super nice, energetic…and handing out donuts and fresh made tea and coffee to a complete stranger…of course I have always relied on the kindness of strangers.
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The Un-Loading of Bikes. I stood back and watched as I did not want to hurt any of those lovely Empulse R bikes.
I think this white one was Bill’s bike.
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“T’Challa Unloaded”–not to be confused with “Django Unchained.” Now with mini windshield. Wanted to test it in Winter riding.
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Bill’s bike…nice bar end mirrors. Looks good. I almost stole this bike. 🙂
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A nice “batch of Brammos”. Or an “Enormity of Empulses.” Fresh off the truck and ready for their new homes.
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I’m a sucker for lens flare…though I could do without the purple fringing over the front tire.
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And what is a road trip to San Francisco without taking a little ride 🙂 But that is for tomorrow’s blog. Please come back as I have a few lovely photos. San Francisco is a beautiful city…a lovely city with horrible roads. And I had a 500 plus mile ride ahead of me. And I wanted to get to my stop before dark as I did not know the city at all (City is an incorrect description. “Tiny hell hole in the middle of nowhere” is a much better way of putting it.)
Ignoring the time, I did a couple of hours in San Francisco and left a bit later than I wanted. Oh well. It was just a beautiful day that I really didn’t want to pack up T’Challa and leave. Such a nice day for riding, and I had just gotten*** the bike back and…but the highway called and I had to go…
Tomorrow….Photos from around The City.
Till Next Time…
Gavin
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For more info on Brammo, please visit: www.brammo.com
For more images, photos, discussions and all around Brammo goodness: visit, lurk and maybe join: www.brammoforum.com
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Bonus
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at Scuderia West…Brammo needs to make this important accessory.
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An Enertia Plus LE…In Ashland. I wanted that model. Siren for the win.
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**T’Challa is the name of The Black Panther. I loved The Black Panther as a kid. No “real” super powers. Just strength and training and will.
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***I am not sure “gotten” is really a word. And even if it is, it is just a horrid word. It comes off tongue in just an harsh and ugly way. I shall not use it ever again….
Sol Power--BrammoBlog.com 