We just finished up our first little trip with the new TMan 124 motor. While 2500 miles really isn't that much of a trip, it was certainly enough to give me an indication of how the motor would do "on the road". The bike was flawless. No issues whatsoever, regardless of heat / cold / fuel grade / etc...

The ride took us from DFW, to Hobbs NM, to Silver City NM, to Eager Az, to Albuquerque NM, to Taos NM (two nights), to Canyon Tx.. Only about 15% of the trip was on Interstate, with the remaining 85% on really nice backroads.

We had a wide variety of conditions. It was often VERY hot, it was also cool, we had a couple back to back tanks of fuel that were high speed highway stretches (85mph), we had a LOT of backroads hilly, windy roads, mountains, etc…. Fuel milage was not bad. Running 85 (2up, with luggage) we got about 35 mpg. Just cruising, we got got 42'ish, and at elevation we got 47mpg.

I mentioned "HOT"… We had lunch in Hatch NM (Chili Pepper capitol of the world) on Sunday. When we left there, mid afternoon, we had a stretch (about 50 miles) that was 107 degrees. It was f'ing awful. On that leg, my wife started telling me she was overheating, but there as NOWHERE to stop, no shade. I tried to keep talking to her to make sure she was "with me". We finally got to the TINY town of Hillsboro NM. It looked like a small ghost town with everything boarded up. When I found a shade tree to stop under, I was shocked to see my wifes face. She looked like she was about to pass out. Her eyes were glazed over & she was barely responsive. I kinda freaked out. Fortunately, one of the other gals with us jumped in and started working to cool her down. Another rider from our group went and found our "oasis" - Lynn Nusoms Kitchen. There was a small restaurant that was part of one of the few homes in town & it had only opened 3 weeks earlier. We got over to "Lynn Nusoms Kitchen" and the reception we got was truly amazing. The owner saw what condition my wife was in and offered to let her lie down in her bed, in the AC to cool down. We let her rest for an hour and then the owner offered to let her take a cool shower, which she did. After collecting her wherewithal, Guylyn Nusom offered to follow us to Eager Az and give my wife a ride in her car ~ it was about 60 miles. We collectively decided that since she had cooled down pretty well and because we were only 9 miles from getting back into the mountains where it would be cool, that we would ride.

We got to Eager w/o further incident & Wifey was able get in bed & rest. The next morning, she felt "ok" (but not great). We decided to ride directly to the next hotel and skip the ride on the Coronado Trail because it was a 9 hour ride with nowhere to stop if she needed to. With another day of rest under her belt, she still had no appetite. We visited a local Dr, who checked her out and was advised to continue rest, drink at least a 1/2 gallon of water and a 1/2 gallon of Gatorade. We reluctantly decided that we would get her a flight home in Albequerque, rather than risk any additional issues ~ Better Safe than Stupid. I took her to the airport the following day (Tuesday) and finished the ride w/o her. It was a bummer! I was able to text & email pics to her along the way. She was a good sport and she is doing a LOT better now.

Here are some pics from the road…. How appropriate for the "Touring Section".

Enjoy…. We did!

Our first break, about 120 miles out of Dallas…



Looking down from a scenic overlook @ Cloudcroft NM. There are no roads like that abound DFW.


More random pics…





Getting to Az..


More from the road…




In Albuquerque, we rode the "Longest Tram" ride in the world. It was amazing. It takes about 15 minutes, in a cable car that will hold 50 people to get to the top. I highly recommend this to anyone that visits Albuquerque!
Looking up, just starting out at the bottom:

..about 1/2 way up, notice the other car coming back down…

Looking down from the top…. It's WAY up there!!!!


More scenery, on the way up to Taos:

 

…contrinued
At the motel, in Taos… They let bikes park in the courtyard. Look at the size of this Weeping Willow Tree!



Not sure what these are, but there were a TON of them. I thought they were llama's, but the signs said something that began with an "a"… ???….


Here's a shot w/o bags & the temporary pad for momma's new backrest ~ too bad she didn't get to use it too much.


Almost home… Friday night, at Palouro Canyon, in Tx…. Went to the musical / play "Texas" at the amphitheater. We had the entire front row. It was great.. Recommend this too!



The trip was a blast. Wifey is on the mend & all bikes to were trouble free!

Ready to go again… Well, maybe this fall.

 

Sounds like a fabulous trip, glad to hear your wife has recovered. She seems like a real trooper. Nice pics.

 

Thanks for sharing! Nice pics! How do you mount thar water bottle?

 

Great pics, beautiful country there, I think I'll have to go find a place there to live out the remainder of my days one day!

Hope your wife is doing better, sound like nice folk that gave her the bed!

I'll bet that engine got just the right break'in in, I wouldn't mind have me a piece of that one day!

Thanks for the pics!

 

Looks like a hell of a ride.
That's some kind of backrest.

 

Nice pics and good to see the bike performing well. I think they are called Alpacas. Are those a new style of liberty ***** on the back fender?

 

Looks like a nice trip. I had the same thing happen to my wife on a long trip. We hit some 100+ temps and she went south quick. She was red faced and not doing good. Getting someone that close to heat stroke to eat is most important. You cant fight it off without food. I stopped in the closest restaurant I could fine and forced her to eat and rehydrate. She was Ok after a few hours and we were able to finish out trip.

 

Thanks... She IS a trooper!

It's a "Butler" cup. Google it. They have kits to mount on just about any bike ya can think of. It may not be too attractive, but it's sure nice to have on long trips ~ espically when it get this HOT!

That's it. Alpaca. Thanks!
The ***** are wrapped in black reflective tape ~ for the officer in the adjacent town who pulled me over asking for the DOT authorization # for my CycleVisions tail light & not having any "reflectors" on the back of my bike.

It took a couple days before she could (would?) eat much. She's better now though. It was a scary event.

 

Looks like a helluva fun trip.

"In Albuquerque, we rode the "Longest Tram" ride in the world. It was amazing. It takes about 15 minutes, in a cable car that will hold 50 people to get to the top. I highly recommend this to anyone that visits Albuquerque!"

I ain't gettin' on that thing!!