The following day, July 9th, I took the Tiger for another ride. It is easy to add miles to the bike, and my intention was to reach the 500 mile mark to have its first dealer service out of the way. Early in the morning I set the bike up with rear mounting plate for the Pelican box and on the handlebars the camera box.

And the GPS, of course.

Where to? To the Pacific! The blue in the low horizon is that first view of the Ocean that I mentioned on earlier posts.  How I look in anticipation for the first look of the Ocean.  It starts with feeling the cool air, then come the smells, then comes the visual.

Lunch break in Yachats, one of my favorite places on the Oregon coast.

Another stop under the bridge close to the Haceta Lighthouse.

There’s the Haceta Lighthouse.  Famous and probably most photographed lighthouse on the Oregon Coast.

Closing up (as much as the camera will go).

On the way back I took old Stagecoach rd, one of my favorite dirt roads in the area, along the Siuslaw River. I videoed the ride but the camera collected a bug on its lens at the start. The result is that the image can not be seen.  That means tomorrow (Sunday, July 10th) I will have to ride the bike again, find some dirt roads to video the bike’s action on dirt and gravel. Going home, I passed through the Triangle Lake, another feature on my weekend and day rides.

Another 236 miles. Meaning I now need to ride close to 40 miles on Sunday to complete the 500 miles for the first service.

Looking good!

The verdict: the bike did well on dirt roads.  It is heavy and there is not way to make the weight disappear.  But considering the weight it did very well.  Certainly it makes me happy to have kept the BMW as it does better on dirt.  And of course, never forget, I have that little Yamaha, point-and-shoot, toy bike for real fun on the dirt.  But the Tiger will not make me shy away from riding on dirt if that becomes the case.  However, dirt is not a destination for this bike. It rides great on pavement.  Tomorrow there will be more.

Cesar