Short ride to Yarnell, AZ to beat the heat!

I left at about 7 am to beat the heat in Arizona and took a short ride. I wanted to share with you as I adjust to the 'Wing and make sure I have the "photo" thing down.
Left Wickenburg, AZ and headed up to the Shrine of St. Joseph approximately a 30 mile ride, up hill with some good twisties to test the Silver Wing.



This is a Catholic type monument and is pretty cool up in the mountains. Lots of religious history etc. to read and see. Quite neat to see no matter what your faith!



Just one of the statues present. This entire Shrine is funded by individuals (not churches) and is run by volunteers!



After visiting the Shrine it was already starting to heat up so I headed back to Wickenburg. Here is the overlook at the top of the Yarnell hill. From here you can see a large dairy farm and beyond that the town of Congress, AZ.



Not sure you can make this out but there were COWS on the downhill! I have never seen this here in over 30 years of traveling this hill. I had a hard time getting around them as the 'wing was so quiet that they weren't sure what or where I was! Finally I honked and they moved to one side and I squeaked by them. Glad I wasn't traveling 70 mph and found them on a blind curve...



Here is another bike coming up Yarnell Hill! It is very popular with bikers due to the nice twisties and good quality of road.



This and the next couple of pictures are of a replica of an old gasoline station!





This whole trip was only about 60 miles and with the Shrine took about 3 hours in all. In all fun; but by the time I got home the temps were nearing 100 degrees. Thank God I have a mesh jacket with armor. Probably not as good as my heavy leather/armored jacket but that one is just too hot to wear now!!!

Hope you enjoyed this brief trip.

Very nice. I guess I can't complain about it being hot (80 degrees) in Idaho yesterday.

Nice!!

Looks like a fun ride. I live in South Carolina but I'm from Flagstaff. Your pics make me miss the desert. I used to love riding down the 17 early in the morning watching the sun rise over Camp Verde.

It sure looks like you have the "photo" thing down. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for taking me along on your journey with the pics and the ride report.

Thanks for the nice comments! I would like a longer ride but temps have been pretty high lately (105 or so) so either ride at night (can't see worth a crap LOL) or early morning!!!

I was down your way in mid April and when I pulled into Phoenix, it was 102. Kinda hot for us PNW guys who are used to 50 degree winters with 100% cloud cover.

But boy was it nice to find the sun in your neck of the woods. Below is my brother on his Helix and me on my SW heading north towards Wickenburg.

Yesterday morning, it was 60 degrees and it got up to 68 for the high.

And I thought it was hot here in Maryland earlier in the week when
it hit 89F

How does the Wing's cooling system hold up in 102 degree heat ?

My previous bikes have all been air cooled

I didn't notice any problems keeping the bike in the proper operating zone. Neither the Helix or the SW had any problems.

The operators had to be careful of dehydration and sun burn.

surlybiker58 wrote:

How does the Wing's cooling system hold up in 102 degree heat ?

No problems as to the temperature gauge; did fine when riding. I did notice when I stopped it for a few minutes and then restarted, the fan came on for a short time.