First semi-road trip on the Seca!

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Pete
Lookin' Around
Lookin' Around
Posts: 32
Joined: Sun Nov 13, 2011 1:12 pm
Location: Mobile, AL, USA

Hey everyone, hope you all had a great Christmas. I sure did. Monday (Dec. 26), my girlfriend took off from here in Mobile, AL, headed back home to spend time with her family in Birmingham (~240 miles away, all interstate). She wanted me to come up there too, so after asking for an additional day off from work, I did a few things around the house and started to make my way up to B'ham. I was originally going to take the Tahoe up, but after mulling over the 14 mpg fuel economy, I decided it was well past time to take the Seca on an adventure. I packed a few things in a backpack, suited up in my Icon jacket, gloves, and brand new riding overpants (Merry Christmas), hopped on the bike and away I flew.

The ride started out pleasant enough with temps in the mid 60s and a firm 75mph on the speedo. I made my first pit stop in Flomaton, AL, about 62 miles up I-65, because my legs had gotten a bit restless, and I had no idea what kind of highway gas mileage I would get and didn't want to run out. I filled up the tank with a measly 1.5 something gallons, which calculated to be right at 40mpg. Not too bad, I thought. The next leg of my trip was a nonstop 100-mile stint to Montgomery, and I decided to stretch the Seca's legs a bit. I found a Hyundai Tucson who was traveling between 80 and 85 mph, so I tucked in behind him and drafted all the way to the state capital, where I found a Travel America truck stop to get more gas. By this time the temperature had dropped about 6 or 7 degrees, and my hands were starting to hurt a bit. I filled my tank, this time with a whopping 2.4 gallons, then spent a few minutes inside the station to warm up. I pulled out the iPhone and calculated my mileage to be 42mpg for this leg. I figured that the engine wasn't having to work as hard with me drafting someone else, but I was worried that the speed increase would offset it. Guess it didn't! So now that my fingers were no longer hurting, I took off for the final 80 mile leg to Birmingham. This time I varied speeds from 75-85 mph, mostly keeping with the flow of traffic. Something happened at mile 220 though. Either the temperature dropped significantly, or I ran out of body heat. Perhaps it was a mixture of both. But the last 20 miles was absolutely grueling, as I couldn't stop my teeth from chattering. I got off of the interstate onto a county road and began to notice a shimmy in the handlebars. Upon investigating, I quickly realized that it was just my frozen arms shivering, and did my best to relax for the final few miles. I forgot to check mileage on the final leg.

We had a great evening eating dinner and opening presents, and I got to meet several members of my girlfriend's extended family. Spent more time with them the following morning, and went to the Summit (an outdoor shopping mall) with her and one of her friends to pick up a few things. Then the time came for me to say my goodbyes, and so I hopped back on the Seca and away I flew. Gassed her up and headed back toward Montgomery. Stuck the speedometer at 85mph the whole way, and when I filled up in Montgomery, I ended up with a trip-long high of 43mpg. I hadn't been drafting anyone, just kept that same speed. Strange, the motor must just like that RPM range or something. By this time it had gotten dark and the temperature was in the low 40s, so I decided that it would be best to get home as soon as possible. I upped the speed a little more to a solid 90 mph, and made it to Flomaton in record time. I refilled the tank and checked mileage again, this time it had dropped to 38. So apparently 85mph is the magic number, for my bike anyway. I spent considerable time in the convenience store regaining the feeling in my fingers, hopped back on, and gritted my teeth for the cold 60-something mile ride home, sticking to 85mph and slowing back to 70 as I neared Mobile.

All in all it was a fun trip and a great experience, and if I had to do it over again, I'd still have taken the bike, frozen fingers and all. Next time I go though, I'm going to make sure I have some warmer traveling temperatures (or some heated gloves!) Happy New Year everyone!

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