|
one week
5274 km / 3296 miles
|
Early November 2009 I had to drive to Colorado
Springs, to file some paperwork with a friend at the DMV to get a
US-title for my motorcycle.
The whole thing is a long story, but to make it short: The Africa Twin
was never sold in the US, and even Honda-USA has never heard of a Africa
Twin. Therefore it is (nearly) impossible to get it titled here, but in
a few states they still have a "back door" that allows to get
a title, Colorado is one of them. A friend agreed to file the paperwork
for me, but for the VIN-inspection by the state troopers the bike had to
be in Colorado.
So, getting a appointment, packing, and off to Colorado.Unfortunately
I had only one week for the trip, because directly afterwards I had to
start my first job in the US. Normally I would recommend at least 2-3
weeks for such a trip, and then some side roads and not only major
highways and Interstates.
|
General Information
|
The best time for a trip to Colorado is certainly
NOT November. Shortly before I left home, they had a snow storm north
west of Denver, and the Interstates I80 and I25 were closed for several
days. So I had to take a more southern route, which turned out to be
much nicer anyway.
The road conditions were quite good, but on some passes they
didn't manage to entirely remove the ice and snow.
|
|
| From Portland, Oregon I drive east to Idaho,
then further south. The landscape was rather flat and not really
interesting. |
|
|
|
| In Utah the landscape quickly changed, and
the driving became much more fun. |
|
|
|
| I didn't have much time on this trip, but I just
had to do at least one of the beautiful side roads. So I had
some fun on my one hour detour on this desert-dirt-road. |
|
|
|
| In Colorado it had snowed not only in
Denver, and it was still quite cold. |
|
|
|
| The Vail Pass (10,603 feet) was absolutely
gorgeous, but very cold! Because of snow, ice and gravel on the
road I couldn't have as much fun in the nice turns as I wanted
to.
|
|
|
|
|
