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New Portland area C14 owner

fastenova

Member
Member
Hello there, fellow PNW riders! I just picked up a 2011 Concours and have enjoyed the opportunity to get to know it on these unexpected beautiful fall days we've had over the last week.

If anyone is in my area and wants to meet up for a ride, shoot me a message. I'm just south of Portland in Tigard, OR. I am generally a fair weather rider for day trips, meaning 40* or better for morning departure and a low chance of rain, up here that means Nov-Mar is tough to plan a ride... But I also haven't spent much time on bikes with real wind protection, so maybe that will change with the Concours.

Anyway, looking forward to some local events/rides and meeting some of you.

Cheers,
Aaron
 
I'm not a PNW rider, but I will say hello and welcome you anyway. :) Congrats on the new-to-you Concours.

Be safe and enjoy!
David
 
Welcome to the group Aaron.

Previous owner farkel the machine up with goodies or still pretty stock? How many miles? What other bikes have you / do you own?

Looking forward to hearing how you like the C-14 as you continue to get more acquainted.

Wayne, Carol & Blue
 
Welcome to the KnutHaus. I am from the dry side of WA, (not tomorrow though). I go to Milwaukie on biz a couple times a year, take the C14 in good weather. I'll keep you in mind.
 
Moses Lake, I just passed through there in the spring on my way to Bozeman for a work trip (I caught some snow a few days later so was quite happy to be on 4 wheels!). I enjoyed stopping at the Wild Horse viewpoint, gorgeous area.

I'd definitely be up for showing you some of the fun roads around here on an evening ride if you're in the area!

Aaron
 
I'm just south of Seattle so it will take a little planning and effort for us to cross paths, but glad to see a new face in the area. Let me know if you ever get up this way.
 
Keep the 3rd weekend of May open. The the Bun Cooler in Kamiah, ID is the NW riding season kick off. The Bun Cooler is the longest continuous Rally in all of COGdom. A great way to meet fellow NW'ers Plus some from other areas. Kamiah is located pretty much at the foot of LO LO pass on the ID side which is a must do at least one time. Plus there are other destinations one can join in on. My favorite is Elk City. It's also a great way to see what others have done to their bikes. I took my then brandy new 09 C14 the the 09 Bun Cooler and have been here ever since.

As the time for this rally gets closer, there will be plans made to get to get everybody headed in the same direction at about the same time. I normally hook up with a small group who come relatively close to me and ride in with them. Hope to see you there.
 
Aaron,
welcome to COG. I am over in Cornelius and it would be great to meet up for rides. I too tend to be a fair, or fairly fair, weather rider. when the weather gets decent again, ping me, and we can plan some rides.
again welcome,
tdbru
 
I'm just south of Seattle so it will take a little planning and effort for us to cross paths, but glad to see a new face in the area. Let me know if you ever get up this way.
Charlie,

Sounds great! I've always wanted to ride around the Peninsula, 101 and 12... Maybe we could put together a small group spring time ride for any COGers between Portland and Seattle?
 
Keep the 3rd weekend of May open. The the Bun Cooler in Kamiah, ID is the NW riding season kick off. The Bun Cooler is the longest continuous Rally in all of COGdom. A great way to meet fellow NW'ers Plus some from other areas. Kamiah is located pretty much at the foot of LO LO pass on the ID side which is a must do at least one time. Plus there are other destinations one can join in on. My favorite is Elk City. It's also a great way to see what others have done to their bikes. I took my then brandy new 09 C14 the the 09 Bun Cooler and have been here ever since.

As the time for this rally gets closer, there will be plans made to get to get everybody headed in the same direction at about the same time. I normally hook up with a small group who come relatively close to me and ride in with them. Hope to see you there.
I will add it to my calendar. My then-girlfriend, now wife, and I took hwy 12 between Lewiston and Lolo on a camping road trip, where I proposed to her just outside of Hamilton, MT, so that area is pretty special for us! That area is beautiful. I will find a way to make it work :)
 
Aaron,
welcome to COG. I am over in Cornelius and it would be great to meet up for rides. I too tend to be a fair, or fairly fair, weather rider. when the weather gets decent again, ping me, and we can plan some rides.
again welcome,
tdbru
Sounds great! I'm in Tigard so very close to you. Talk to you in 6 months when it stops raining ;)
 
Welcome here from a fellow 2011 owner in TriCities, WA. I'll watch for your posts and maybe we can ride; 2nd the recommendation for attending Idaho Bun Cooler in May.

65,000 miles on my unit. August 2020 Montana photos at Lolo and Wisdom - you can guess which.
At Lolo Jnctn, MT 2020.jpg

CHK&MC, Lolo Jnctn 2020.jpg
 
I will add it to my calendar. My then-girlfriend, now wife, and I took hwy 12 between Lewiston and Lolo on a camping road trip, where I proposed to her just outside of Hamilton, MT, so that area is pretty special for us! That area is beautiful. I will find a way to make it work :)
Nice thing about this group.....better half's are always welcome. I am sure she would be entertained a have a good time. But no burnouts in the parking lot and nothing gets broken. The Bun Cooler is almost like a family reunion.
.
 
Welcome here from a fellow 2011 owner in TriCities, WA. I'll watch for your posts and maybe we can ride; 2nd the recommendation for attending Idaho Bun Cooler in May.

65,000 miles on my unit. August 2020 Montana photos at Lolo and Wisdom - you can guess which.
View attachment 30768

View attachment 30769
That's a beautiful silver 2011, this is the exact bike that made me fall in love with the C14... and fortunately for me, the same bike that ended up in my garage!

Aaron
 
Nice thing about this group.....better half's are always welcome. I am sure she would be entertained a have a good time. But no burnouts in the parking lot and nothing gets broken. The Bun Cooler is almost like a family reunion.
.
We haven't done any 2-up touring, but hope to change that with the new-to-us Concours. My wife just got her MC endorsement a couple of years ago and we've kept her rides under 4 hours, so far. She doesn't get the chance to ride as much as she'd like (or as much as I'd like!) but she's in full support of me riding as much as I can.

I think she'd be game to join us for a get-together, though she may show up on her own 2 wheels =) I sure lucked out when choosing my partner! :love:
 
Yeah, some guys wife just rode to 48 states in under 9 days...from the American Motorcyclist magazine. So there is hope.
 
We haven't done any 2-up touring, but hope to change that with the new-to-us Concours. My wife just got her MC endorsement a couple of years ago and we've kept her rides under 4 hours, so far. She doesn't get the chance to ride as much as she'd like (or as much as I'd like!) but she's in full support of me riding as much as I can.

I think she'd be game to join us for a get-together, though she may show up on her own 2 wheels =) I sure lucked out when choosing my partner! :love:
My wife is on the fence about getting her own 2 wheels. Most times says she would rather stay 2-up and also would not ride near as spirited as we do - if she were on her own machine. I think with building confidence she may surprise herself - she’s spunky! Sounds you have an adventurous partner as well.

Looking forward to hearing how the first 2-up experiences go, C-14 is a solid platform for 2-up. It’s not a cushy couch but my wife says is more than comfortable enough and from driver perspective handles great. Stock rear spring is rather weak for 2-up but if road quality is good set the sag and have at it. If road quality is poor in your area and depending on frequency of 2-up may want to look at upgrading spring to a stiffer spring or as we did altogether swap out with a Penske double adjust shock.
 
A group of 7 riders and myself got roadblocked by 3 MT state Troopers there once. Some concerned citizen thought we were endangering our selves. Ended up having a nice chat, no tickets and took pictures with the Troopers. So pretty special to us too.
Not trying to thread jack, but that whole, "pictures or it din't happen" thang was nagging at me so I went through some albums and did a scan on a crappy copier. Here is my entire photographic journal of Hamilton Montana, a special place, and then less than 24 hours later in Enterprise OR, chatting up the local constables.
L to R, Trooper, Me squatting, My nephew Jeremiah, Lady Trooper, life long friend Greg (I used to babysit him), Jared Geddes, son of lifelong friend and his mom used to baby sit me, and my son, Adam. (not pictured Rob Geddes and Martin Wright.)
 

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Charlie,

Sounds great! I've always wanted to ride around the Peninsula, 101 and 12... Maybe we could put together a small group spring time ride for any COGers between Portland and Seattle?
We could make that happen. It's a long all day ride, and I hope you're not expecting Oregon-type coastal scenery. Most of 101 on the west side of the Olympic Peninsula is inland, but the miles along Crescent Lake at the north end make up for it.
 
Outside of Amity for me. C14 only comes out on sunny days so I'll be ready for a ride in 8 months. :ROFLMAO:

My dirty bikes have to keep me busy until then.
 
8 months?
It is usually continuously wet in Oregon from October until late spring, depending on the year. We have dry days here and there, but you can't really plan rides too far in advance if you want to avoid the rain.

You can never really trust the weathermen, but in the NW, their predictions of dry days are well below 50% accuracy.
 
the wet side (west side) of Oregon is NOT a year round motorcycle haven for sure. There are some hardy souls that ride year 'round it seems. i'm not one of them. right now we've got rain on top of streets filled with wet leaves. a very slippery setup for sure. it can make the vinyl paint strips seem grippy by comparison. when it's dry, there are LOTS of great routes. When wet... not so much... and it's wet more than dry as others have pointed out. for me there's a difference between being caught out in the rain, like on one of the pre-covid rides to the bun cooler a few years ago vs. poking my head outside, and saying, "hey, it's raining pretty good right now, i think it's time to go for an afternoon ride", if you know what i mean. the C10 and the newer tires handle rain much better than i do, so i am the weak link.
-tdbru
 
um... i'd prefer to not ride when there's icy patches in the shade on corners... but as long as there's no risk of freezing, then, yes, with good riding gear one can stay dry and warm while riding through the rain. still not my favorite riding weather though.
-tdbru
 
Had a dry day yesterday, so I took a 'mental health' day off from work and rode over to central OR to visit my folks. My dad recently got back into motorcycle riding after a 40 year hiatus, so he was excited to see the new steed. =)

I rode out I-84 to The Dalles, then took 197 to 97 south. About 3.5 hours in the seat in the morning, spent a good amount of time above 80 on the speedo. Averaged 35.5 MPG. Fingertips got a little chilly despite heated grips... Had lunch with my folks, then headed over Mt. Hood (97 to 26) to come back home.

Hit 32* temps coming over the hill, and despite the bike doing fine I had a few white-knuckle moments where I entered corners a little too hot for my own comfort... This bike is SO deceptive, feels like you're going 35 when you're actually doing 55... Compared to my naked bikes or my KLR. Averaged 39.9 MPG on the way home going a bit slower, between 65-75 most of the way over 3 hours.

All in all, a great day trip, and not something I would have been happy doing at these temperatures on my other bikes, but was quite comfortable on the C14. Sadly it's probably my last long trip before the spring, as I have 4 separate motorcycle projects this winter along with finishing up trim work from a remodel, and the road just doesn't call me the same when it's wet and cold ;)

Aaron
 
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