Hello all,

I'm richlandrick. My wife Gloria and I have enjoyed the last two western V-Strom gatherings so much that we decided to volunteer to host the 2012 western gathering. We imagine this to be a collaborative effort including as many people and vendors who want to help as possible.

We will establish a web page dedicated to the gathering as things progress. Right now we are looking for input from the community on things done well in the past that we would like to keep and changes and additions to improve.

Some things seem simple enough. Place the gathering in the middle of some fantastic rides, at a reasonably priced hotel, with reasonably priced meals.

One sugegstion was to base the gathering at a casino with their low priced buffets. I thought that was inovative.


The Western Rally dates and location have been set and we have a supporting dealership as well.

The dates June 22 and 23. This year's snow levels are currently below average. That works well for us since the dates will allow Midwest and eastern riders to avoid the hottest part of summer while allowing the snow to clear from the prime riding areas.

The location is "The Dalles" Oregon. The Dalles is located right smack in the middle of some of the best riding in both Oregon and Washington State. We have the Columbia Gorge, the Oregon Scenic by-way, Mt Hood, Mt Adams, Mt St Helens, Mt Rainer, and all the associated mountain passes and National forests for scenery. The location is also in range of the Oregon and Washington coasts.

The command post (motel) is Cousin's Country Inn at The Dalles. They have a nice restaurant, bar, and meeting room. We will be able to meet in the meeting room, order from the menu, and a bar will be available. Columbia Gorge Oregon Lodging - Cousins Country Inn

The place is very nice and room prices are very reasonable. I will be posting discount room rates tomorrow. We will have a block of 40 rooms to start with, but you will want to make your reservations early. Rooms will include doubles, singles, and deluxe barn rooms with fire places.

The dealership is Fun Country Power Sports Dalles,Oregon,Honda,Husqvarna, Honda,Polaris,Suzuki,Motorcycle, Scooter,ATV,Power Equipment, Outboard,Lawn Mower,UTV, Dealer, Used,Ranger,RZR,Sleds at The Dalles. The owners have all owned V-Stroms at some time or another and made trips to Prudoe Bay so they are our kind of people. Fun Country is very excited about supporting the event and has offered us the show room floor for meetings and we may have a bar-b-cue there Friday.

We will need volunteer ride planners leaders. Please email me ASAP if you would like to help planning and leading rides.

I will be sending out emails to previous western rally participants that duplicate the information here and contacting the vendors who have been so generous to us in the past.

We also need ideas and volunteers for wrenching and informational sessions and presentations like the DL1000 clutch basket mod, DL1000 rear wheel spacer mod (me I guess), and valve and throttle body adjustment. Email with suggestions.


Please submit your favorite NW rides here in this thread and indicate if you would be willing to lead the ride. After we get a general feel for the rides we can pick a hotel.

I'm leaning toward something in the triangle formed by Ranier, St Helens, and Mt. Adams, but it is way to early to decide.

Thanks in advance for your support. Vendors please contact me directly.

One thing I ask is that the event dates be something a bit removed from the maximum temperatures of late July. The last West rally involved possibly the most unpleasant cross country trip I've ever done. If local snow conditions are such that early to mid June can be accommodated, for example, that would be great.

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Pat- 2007 DL650A was ridden to all 48 contiguous states. 2012 DL650A is just getting started.
Nicknames for posting ease on my part, Vee = all DL1000s. Wee = 2004-2011 DL650s. Glee = 2012+ DL650s

the area you describe is quite NW, whereas I am West (in Calif). Im guessing there are some nice ride in the area. The Raineir regions is gorgeous.

Great. I was just starting to think about next year's rally/gathering to go to. I've gone to the last two BMW Int'l Rallies, one on my Wee (and it's great to get the comments that we do) and one back east where I rode my brother-in-law's K1200GT. I digress, but I am usually only willing to go away for an extended weekend and was hoping for a good rally in the Washington/Oregon/Nevada/Idaho area.

Look forward to seeing many of you in eastern Washington area.

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Ed Foltyn, KQ1R

2009 Suzuki DL650A
2007 Kawasaki Vulcan 900 Custom
1999 BMW R1100RT-P (gone)

Sounds great to me! A short hop from Missoula into unchartered territories for me. M

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Missoula Mike

2007 Vee (Scout)
1963 Allstate/Daimler Mo-Ped
2007 Kawasaki Vulcan 1600 Nomad (Grinnell) - sold
2006 Kawasaki Vulcan 900 (Sparky) - sold

please advise on dates asap - then I can decide yes/no

I would probably trailer the bike up from Calif, with wifey. We have relatives in Lakewood, WA, so it could be a 2 for 1 trip.

My only complication is my younger brother may come over from NZ in may-june next year - a first for him (he is over 50 !!).

You can't go wrong in that area, this is Ranier in Mid July, East entrance by Chinook Pass. Wet and chilly. Also been on both sides of St. Helens, but not Adams. Coming home from Billings one summer, I looped Ranier,Helens and Hood.





Mt. St. Helens, also in July

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Medford, Or.

2007 DL1000 Black (crashed, totaled)
2008 DL650 (wife's sold)
DL650AL2 (Orange) it's Home.....
Exodus 20:17

How about after the summer holidays are over

less traffic

easier to get a hotel room

fewer mosquitos if camping

not as hot as midsummer

Sure, but I have to ride across the Great Plains from Chicago to get there. At least the trip is on I-90 instead of I-80. Last July it would have been 94F instead of the 98F I encountered.

__________________
Pat- 2007 DL650A was ridden to all 48 contiguous states. 2012 DL650A is just getting started.
Nicknames for posting ease on my part, Vee = all DL1000s. Wee = 2004-2011 DL650s. Glee = 2012+ DL650s

Cheap meals and accommodations - I like that!

As to events - I would like to see less time spent on spectacular local rides, and more time spent on technical sessions where some of the knowledge base that exists in the V-Strom communiy can get rubbed off on me. Reason is - Spokane is relatively close to me (And correspondingly far from SoCal), but the meets in Rapid city And Montrose required about a three day ride from where I live. By the time I get there, I'm ready to veg out a bit - I've had enough 8-10 hr riding days for a while.

Rather than go on another day-long ride, I would prefer to spend a Saturday afternoon shooting the shit and benefiting from the experience of some of our members who have done mods/maintenance on their bikes. Or from interested vendors (Dale Walker, are you there??)

As examples, What's the best way to cure "chudder"? What has worked and what didn't? Speak up, y'all!
- How do I do a throttle synch on my K2 Dl1000 - by myself - without a laptop and some proprietary Suzuki software?
- Are Power Commanders worth the money, or can I just get my ecu re-programmed with a Yosh box? Assuming that I could get my hands on a Yosh box, how do I use it?? Will the second hand TFI module that I bought on E-Bay smooth out my bikes rough running under 4000 RPM? Did it work for you??
- What tires are best for long mileage - or is it better to just buy cheap Korean tires and burn 'em up??
- BTW, how's that Obama guy doing as POTUS.

I'm aware that there are specific threads on this and other fora on these and many other technical issues, but there is no substitute for direct, hands on discussion with people who've "been there, done that". IMHO, we could use these get togethers to broaden the knowledge base more effectively. I know that we can't be doing teardowns in the parking lot, but we could do stuff like ecu re-programming, or throttle synchs.

For me, the highlight of last year's meet was the seminar given by Jay Jobes of Sasquatch Suspensions. The absolute cap was when Jay and Jim (CBRXXCESS) were trading stories about "concealed carry" regs in their respective states and Jay pulls out his little pistole and says "I never leave home without this one"

You have to be Canadian to appreciate that one!!

See you all again next summer - if I survive the next 5 months of snow and -25 mornings.