Father and Son Epic US Summer Motorcycle Roadtrip 2013 on BMW K1200LT

[TonyBKK]

Woohoo! Another fantastic summer with my boy!


Flew to JFK to pick him up near the end of June-


Catching up over pizza at the airport while waiting for our flight to Seattle.




A happy reunion!


Pleasant enough flight to Seattle on Jet Blue, but we got there too early and there was no gate so we had to chill on the plane a bit longer than planned...




My good friend Dave was kind enough to drive all the way down from Bellingham to pick us up.

We were happy to see Dave's wife Pon again as well as their Chesapeakes Mocha and Grace-


That evening, once my little guy was asleep, I went to work on our K1200LT, aka, the Land Yacht, which had been sitting mostly unridden at Dave's house since the previous fall. First task was to install the new EBC rear brake disc, as the OEM floating disc was loose on the rivets and making a terrible racket, which K-bike owners call the "cow bell"

The new EBC disc was pretty sexy


The old disc, pretty tattered-






That was easy!


Next task was to service the final drive-


Uh oh- this does NOT look good...


A little bit of metallic "fuzz" on the magnet is normal. Chunks of metal like this are not...


Dave has an awesome workshop and had the tools I needed to split the final drive case open-


Lots of metal in the final drive...




Hmmm, this looks expensive!




Fortunately, we're not so far away from one of the biggest BMW dealers on the West Coast- Ride West BMW of Seattle...
(not my pic)

[bsnub]

Ride West BMW of Seattle

Minutes from my house! Looking forward to the thread.

[david44]

Great pix keep em coming

[S Landreth]

already some great pictures and I am sure story to follow

[TonyBKK]

The broken bike was going to force us to adjust our summer plans, but we couldn't have picked a nicer place to break down than Bellingham!

What a beautiful town! I'm thinking seriously about moving there when my younger son reaches school age.

There are a bunch of parks within walking distance of Dave's house, our favorite would have to be Elizabeth Park-


Taking Mocha to Elizabeth Park became part of our daily routine while we were in Bellingham-


Elizabeth Park in Bellingham has a nice playground where Kristhawee made many friends-




I spent some time on the phone with Ride West and they told me a new Final Drive would cost $1600 and would have to be ordered from Germany, or that they could rebuild my drive for ~$1200 and that they had all the parts on hand to get the job done and they'd do their best to have the drive rebuilt before the 4th of July. Sounds good! Dave lent us his car and we drove down to Seattle to drop off the drive, then do some shopping.

After Ride West we hit up REI to get outfitted for our summer adventure!


Kristhawee got a nice new sleeping bag-


I picked up a new camping stove and some other odds and ends, then we hit a nearby Toys R Us where Kristhawee picked out some dinosaurs- ha ha! Look at his face!

[astasinim]

Looks like the start of a great thread. Thanks Tony

[TonyBKK]

Another highlight of our stay in Bellingham was a visit to Whatcom Falls Park with Dave and Mocha-


Gray, rainy and cold, but still quite beautiful!


Kristhawee was tickled pink that the park is full of Banana Slugs


Good fun chucking sticks into the rapids and watching Mocha launch fearlessly into the icy cold water-


So green!


Dave helping Kristhawee out onto some slippery moss-covered rocks- Yikes!


Mocha wanted to get in the picture too


Bellingham always seems to start off cool, cloudy and rainy in the mornings, but as the day wears on the sun usually breaks through and warms things up nicely. Father and son at Whatcom Falls, Bellingham, WA-


In fact it warmed up to the point that Kristhawee wanted to get wet!


Good times!

[nigelandjan]

Bloody hell mate ,, your old mate Dave is a sure footed guy , I have made a complete twat of myself on more than one occasion trying to do similar crossings , just on my own !

Great thread again Tone , loving the pics ,, you say the waters icy cold , yet your littlun only has his shorts + flip flops on , is the air temperature warm ?

[natalie8]

Nice start to another fantastic thread. You can see the change in Kristawee since last year. Bellingham and area look gorgeous. I really miss the west coast of Canada and the US. I'm so jealous but really looking forward to seeing it through your eyes (again).

[Satonic]

^ I don't want to spoil the surprise but you'll see quite a change in Tony throught this thread too

Great pics as usual mate, thanks for sharing

[TonyBKK]

As we're driving back to Dave's house we spot a familiar looking FZ1 parked in front of the Kulshan Brewery-


Sure enough, it's GT-Rider member Feejer who's stopped by for a few pints on a beautiful sunny afternoon!

We've corresponded for years via GT-Rider but this is the fist time we actually met. Thanks again for the beers mate!!!

A new riding buddy and a fortuitous meeting as Feejer used to ride a K1200LT and also suffered a Final Drive failure and had some good advice to share.

There was a BBQ trailer in the parking lot making awesome pulled pork sandwiches so we settled in for some fantastic beers and great food!


Kristhawee seemed to like Eric's hotted up Fizzer too!

[slackula]

The new EBC disc was pretty sexy

Clearly our dictionaries have differing definitions of what defines "sexy"!





Just joking, all the makings of an epic travelogue thread. Please proceed!

[beerlaodrinker]

Great stuff tony, keep em coming

[ltnt]

Great story and pic.'s tony, looking forward to hitting the trail.

[Dead Metal]

Great to see you and your boy back and on the road again Tony.
It's been like waiting for another "Lee Child's" novel.
Looking forward to a new adventure unravel,.. now where's the popcorn 'n beer...

[t.s]

lee childs novel. funny but true

[TonyBKK]

Some more pics from Bellingham- this is in the Maritime Heritage Park, also walking distance from Dave's house-






Respect to Ride West because they are crazy busy but have a policy to put out-of-town riders at the front of the queue. I got a call from them on the 26th that the Final Drive was ready, so blasted on down on Dave's VFR to pick it up. Throwing down ~$1200 for the rebuild was a bit of a bummer, but it is what it is! Got the bike put back together, made new footpeg risers and readjusted the harness for the little guy as he's grown a lot since last summer-

He's looking eager to ride!

Finally we are ready to hit the road!!!


We're going to meet my aunt and uncle and cousins in Olympic National Park!


Let's hit the road!!


Super happy that Dave is joining us, and Eric will meet us along the way too!

[patsycat]

This is going to be good!! If it's anything like last years!!

[TonyBKK]

Gorgeous ride through Deception Pass State Park and down Whidbey Island, with the snow covered peaks of Olympic National Park beckoning in the distance-


Riding past Ault Field-


Working our way down to Fort Casey State Park where we'll catch the ferry to Port Townsend-


Cool weather, no traffic!


Perfect timing- arrived at the Coupeville Ferry terminal just in time to catch the next ferry to Port Townsend-


Bikes go to the front of the line


Loaded and ready to sail!


Doesn't look it, but it was very cold and windy on the deck-


Popcorn for the kids

[TonyBKK]

Woohoo! We're on the Olympic peninsula and making good time!


When we reach the 101 we take a right to head west towards Port Angeles-


Elk crossing!


Welcome to Olympic National Park!


A quick blast up to Hurricane Ridge!


The road up to Hurricane Ridge is awesome on a bike!


We are excited to see snow!




Welcome to Hurricane Ridge!


What a view!!


Little guy want to play in the snow!


Interesting mix of bikes, eh?




Ha! You know where this is headed...


Snow ball fight!!


Hurricane Ridge is aptly named- very very windy up there! We ducked in to the Visitor Center to warm up and check things out-


Grabbed a Junior Ranger workbook for Kristhawee and then we headed back down the mountain.




Cool road with a bunch of tunnels-




Eric, riding his DR650, decides to take us on a "short cut"




Hmmm, that was fun on the heavy Land Yacht... NOT!


I was happy when we got back on pavement

We grabbed a quick lunch at the golden arches in Port Angeles, then pressed on!


The views along the shore of Lake Crescent are amazing!









After a long day in the saddle we finally made it to Lake Quinault! What a nice spot to camp!




Sunset-






Here's Kristhawee with "Timo", the Olympic Chipmunk that I got for him at the Visitor Center-


Here's Dave testing out his new camping hammock that I picked up for him at Cabelas. Not so easy to find a hammock for a guy his size!


Kristhawee and I were very happy to see my aunt and uncle and cousins who had driven up from San Francisco and were heading to the St Juan Islands. Fantastic dinner of locally caught salmon then we lit off some fireworks as the 4th of July was fast approaching-


Firing off "Bootle Rockets" as Kristhawee called them





Sparklers are always good fun-








My cousin Rochelle showing off her slack line skills!


Dave was ready to pass out but Kristhawee decided to sneak in to his hammock and the ensuing struggle had us all rolling with laughter-


My cousin Sean showing Kristhawee how to walk a slack line- it's WAY harder than it looks!!


It was getting late and we'd had a long day, so we called it a night!

[TonyBKK]

Good morning from Lake Quinault, Olympic National Park, Washington, USA!


Kristhawee got busy picking wild Salmonberries and Huckleberries- a nice snack before breakfast!


Even our bikes are enjoying the view!




After a hearty breakfast we packed up and hit the road-


We headed back up the coast in the direction of Hoh Rainforest, making some stops along the way to check out the beautiful coastline-




Kristhawee and Marcia, or "Baby Kitty" and "Momma Kitty" as they like to call themselves




Some pretty cool formations!


Kristhawee hitched a ride with Sean. It's funny; I used to carry Sean on my shoulders when he was Kristhawee's age!


Kristhawee and Sean at Ruby Beach, Olympic National Park-


A little further up the coast we head inland, following the Hoh River to the Hoh Rainforest-


So green!!




This place gets over 200 inches of rain every year and is cold and wet most of the time, but we've lucked out and hit it on a warm sunny day!




Moss everywhere!


My little guy is pretty good at catching rides- here he's brought Timo along for a ride on Rochelle's shoulders-


I have never seen mosses and lichens in such abundance and volume!


We set off down the Hall Of Mosses Trail to take in the sights-








I brought along Kristhawee's Junion Ranger workbook and we worked on it as we hiked-




Unbelievably clear water in this small stream-


Rochelle and Kristhawee spotting fish-


On the road again we headed north to the little town of Forks, once a logging town, more recently it's been made famous by those shitty Twilight movies


We picked up some camping supplies there and then rode west to the Mora campground near the coast-


The campground was quite full but we lucked out and got two spots together.


Kristhawee and Rochelle really seemed to connect- too cute-


Dave and Kristhawee and always competing to see who can be more naughty


Good times around the campfire-


When Dave was ready for bed he discovered that someone had already taken his hammock


It took a bit of coaxing, but eventually we were able to relocate Kristhawee to my tent-


Good Night!!

[TonyBKK]

In the morning we packed up and rode the short distance from Mora to Rialto Beach-


Wow, that is a big chunk of driftwood! Imagine the size of the wave that deposited it this far up on the beach!


Kristhawee and Dave at Rialto Beach, Olympic National Park-








Heh heh, somebody's gonna get wet!!


Somebody made a little driftwood shack at the base of this huge tree-






Our destination today is Sol Duc Hotsprings! We stopped at the Hungry Bear Cafe to grab some brunch along the way-




We cross the Sol Duc River many times-


Another gorgeous day! Not a cloud in the sky!


Welcome to Sol Duc Valley


We scored a great campsite under huge trees right on the bank of the Sol Duc River-


Kristhawee was very eager to check out the hot springs!


Dave and Kristhawee at Sol Duc Hot Springs Resort, Olympic National Park!


Next to the spring fed hot tubs is a big pool and we spent a good part of the day swimming and relaxing at this beautiful spot-


Kristhawee's swimming seemed a bit rusty, but he still loves water!


Good times!


When the big pool got too cold we'd return to one of the hot poos to warm up again-


My boy loves butterflies


There was a small store at the resort and Eric grabbed an ice cream for the little guy on the way out-

[bsnub]

Thread is off to a good start. Toured the 101 and Olympics many times. Truly beautiful.

[misskit]

Great to see you and Kris on another summer bike adventure.

Kris' legs sure have gotten a lot longer since last time he was on the back of that bike!

[ltnt]

Amazing! Love looking at America the way I remember it. Clean! I almost get homesick viewing your pic.'s Great adventure for the boy and you. Something you'll both remember for years to come.

The white bike looks like an enduro or dirt bike? What is it exactly?