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[Twolanerider]

Have enjoyed this thread throughout Steve.  Still terribly regret missing you that morning when my niece was ill here in Joplin.  The vicarious enjoyment of your trip has been a real pleasure.  Thanks so very much.  The fender picture makes you take a sudden deep breath.  Then the very next thought is "oh screw it."  You may have been 12 inches from getting away clean but if the other guy had been 12 inches ever more stupid the bike wouldn't have been riding home and you might be pretty banged up.  So I'm just glad you had such a great trip, got to see so much country and will get to enjoy a brand new fender without a single rock chip in it in just 4-12 weeks  [smiley=xyxthumbs.gif] .

[jachin72]

Thanks DooD,

Totally unscathed, but shook up for a day.  Fortunately, the tire went below the step bumper and saved my forks.  The service guy who installed my temp fender checked out the front end and saw no issues there.  Then we drove the remaining 2,900 miles home.

My wife slammed into me, so she had plenty of cusioning.  I slammed into my fairing and snapped the 15" clearview windshield like a twig.  Had to buy a 12" standard HD windshield.  I'll be getting another clearview once I deal with the new fender.

I think I'm going to call Dragonfly and ask them to have their painter just paint the scooby gold without the black/crimson rips.  Then the front and back fenders will be the same.

One final note.  Anyone who was skeptical whether or not the DF fairing fiberglass mounts would be strong enough to hold up can be assured that after slamming into it at 210 lbs. + wife (at an undisclosed weight), the fiberglass mounting system is MORE THAN STRONG ENOUGH!

Steve

[jachin72]

Thanks 2lane,

It would have been real nice to meet you in person too.  Good news is that we'll be coming back through possibly as early as spring break, in our truck.  I'm delivering my old squat rack/power lifting station to my youngest brother.  Too old to be lifting that kinda weight anymore.  Bowflex is about the most I want to do now.  So I'll PM you and give you a heads up before we drive to Illinois again.

Steve

[Twolanerider]

Thanks 2lane,

It would have been real nice to meet you in person too.

[jachin72]

Here's some highlights of the 1st day.

[jachin72]

It was 120 deg F when we passed this sign.

[jachin72]

If you ever get tired of looking at trees and having water under your bridges, then this is the place for you [smiley=xyxthumbs.gif]

[jachin72]

They didn't finish I-40 through Kingman until I was about 15 years old.  This is a shot of a Santa Fe steam engine I saw every year on the trek to Illinois going US-66.

[jachin72]

Highlights of Day 2:

[jachin72]

Some impressive scenery at the AZ/NM stateline area.  My wife got to see more of this stuff than I, as I had to pay close attention to the trucks, since they can go just as fast as the rest of us in AZ or NM.

[jachin72]

Reached NM by mid-day.

[jachin72]

NM scenery.

[jachin72]

Highlights of Day 3:

[jachin72]

Reached Texas.  Even the "tiny" panhandle was 178 miles wide.  You could see the earth bend out of sight here.

[jachin72]

Mrs. Gilligan took this because I've always said that my "dream job" would be to cut grass along the freeway in an air conditioned tractor with TV and radio.