Well all the good rides seem to materialize out of some need. In this case it was my need to get my ass in gear on the 2007 DamTour. This is a nice little ride to 20 NW dams. 8 in Washington, 8 in Oregon and 4 bonus dams that are more distant. I already had 15 dams, so the logical thing to do was plan a trip for the other 5 and put this year’s DamTour in my out box.

Tieton, Cabinet Gorge, Tiber, Mica and Box Canyon are the names of the remaining dams. These don’t sound that bad, until you take a good look at the map. Tieton is in Central Washington on Hwy 12, Cabinet Gorge is on the Idaho/Montana border on Hwy 200, Tiber is in Montana on the other side of the Continental Divide, Mica is 90 miles north of Revelstoke in BC and Box Canyon is the northeastern most corner of Washington. It looks like 2000 plus miles and a good challenge for my new Kawasaki Concours 14. My C14 is a non abs version with the following farkles: Laminar Lip, Dual Star Heated Grips, Fenda Extenda, Hornet Deer Whistle, Zumo 550 gps and a Cox Radiator guard.

Leaving Portland on Friday I headed up I-5 to Hwy 12 to get Tieton Dam. I thought this would be the cooler route vs Yakima etc. Well it turned out to be real cool. Hwy 12 was blocked by a rock slide before the dam so I was forced to ride north thru Rainier Park and out by Elbe and on to Puyallup and I-90. This not only kept me from Tieton Dam but was about a 300 mile detour! Oh well. 450 miles later and all the farther I made it was Moses Lake! Got an early start Saturday and got Cabinet Gorge by 10am or so and then set out for Tiber in earnest. I do love Montana - blew by a State Patrol going 85-90 and he didn’t even look back! Finally made it to Tiber about 6pm and 105 degrees. Man was it hot! I should say at this point that as long as I was moving at any speed above 20 mph or so the heat from the C14 was NOT an issue. This included the 12 miles of gravel to the dam. Stayed in Shelby, MT Saturday nite. If the world was a body - this town would be it’s A-hole! What a forsaken place. Sunday morning I crossed the Canadian border at Sweet Grass at 4am. This was my longest day. 855 miles. I told the gal at the border what I was going to do and she said you’ll never make it. I did. Shelby, Calgary, Banff, Golden, Revelstoke, Mica, Revelstoke, Naksup, Nelson, Salmo and back accross the border at Nelway at 9 pm. Ten more miles put me at the Circle Motel. The owner knew all about the DamTour and has been watching online. Great little place. Even with 855 miles under my belt I wasn’t totally wasted. The C14 is a comfortable bike. I have changed seats on many of my bikes but don’t think I will on this one. I will get the Cee Bailey Ultra Tour windshield, at 6′2″ with a 32″ inseam the Laminar Lip on the stock windshield doesn’t cut it. I have been on earplugs this whole trip.

I should point out for those of you who wonder about the new Concours 1400 and it’s performance that I made it from the Super Saver Gas Station in Revelstoke to Mica Dam in one hour and twenty minutes. I left the station at 2:10 and was getting out my camera at the dam at 3:30 and I stopped once to take photos! That amounts to 143 KM (90 miles) of motorcycle heaven and this road is NOT like a freeway, rather it follows the Columbia River near it’s head waters and is a true motorcycle road. Lots of corners with good pavement, a real performance test. The Concours ROCKS! So does Canada. Only saw ten cars in 90 miles. No deer. I did find a black bear but when he heard my Hornet Deer Whistle he stood up on his hind legs, turned and ran!

Sunday was an easier day with only Box Canyon and home. 470 miles or so. Home safe at 2pm. 19 dams down, 1 to go!!

Exactly 72 hours after leaving Friday July 27 at 2 pm, I have returned July 30 at 2 pm with 2,481 miles. Five dam attempts and four dams completed. Anyway the new Concours 1400 performed like no other, what a machine! It had 77 miles when I left and now has over 2500 and is sitting in my garage with all of its oils getting an overnite drain. Performed the 600 miles service at McDonalds in Kalispel, MT on Saturday. As I went in for lunch I put the C14 on the center stand, intending to do my 600 mile service after a quick lunch. Coming back to the bike I got down on my hands and knees and looked directly into the the oil level sight glass. It had not burned even ONE drop of oil. As I started to ride I pushed the dash button and presto, 39psi. Another push and presto, 14.4 volts. Service complete! Not bad for 1400 hard miles on a brand new bike. I should note that it did not burn any oil or give me any sort of problem in 2481 miles. I now have 4000 miles on the C14 and my average mpg is 39. This means that reserve is on at about 180 miles and out at about 240. Not as good as my FJR but still better than many bikes. This C14 is very well balanced, with u-turns doable even in the gravel. High speed stability is awesome, with a feeling that you are on rails and cornering has no limits, other than your own fear as the footpegs touch down!

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