Wyoming Motorcycle Ride: Medicine Wheel Scenic Byway

[@RobertMerz]

If you enjoy my videos and want to help me out with the time and expense that I take to create them please visit my page at Buy Me A Coffee and consider making a small donation. Thanks so much, Robert. www.buymeacoffee.com/lgEFpyZjs

[@dinocalvisi6194]

Big bue sky. Beautiful.

[@johnniewelbornjr.8940]

Love this Bighorn crossing, especially the meadows while up top... 14-A is closed during the winter season (it would not be fun in any vehicle in the winter snows) and there are steep grades but beautiful country and views. The trip up from Lovell into the Bighorn Canyon NRA and Prior Mountain Wild Horse Range is also noteworthy, even though it is not a through route. Thanks for sharing this ride!

[@RobertMerz]

If you want a nice road and great scenery there just isn't a bad route over the Bighorns, they are all so good. Really happy to have you enjoying my videos, thanks for taking the time to comment.

[@albertosbrolla8424]

After a long day at work, just what I needed! Took the Indian out after dinner for a nice ride!👍

[@NedBeasley]

I rode that same route June 2015. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. Awesome video production.

[@jimwolf9924]

Another GREAT video Robert , as usual. Really gets the thoughts to wandering. Thanks again.

[@RobertMerz]

Thanks James!

[@terrylikens3183]

I like the hills. The view at that stop was beautiful.

[@RobertMerz]

The top of the Bighorns is some really pretty country, and the views of the basin below are very spectacular.

[@TheSJPhil]

Great overlays

[@RobertMerz]

Thanks Phil and for watching and taking the time to comment!

[@marco-tiopet4020]

always beautiful landscapes on your video, thank you !

[@RobertMerz]

Happy to hear that you enjoy them, Thanks Marco!

[@hauntedmoodylady]

From a BMW rider, great video. Remember that kind of scenery, and terrain. I especially noticed the map and the route Yellowstone, Cody, Graybull, on to Sheridan to visit a relative. That's why we ride...

[@RobertMerz]

Thank you very much, I always appreciate a comment. I hope the BMW is treating you well and you get lots of saddle time again this coming season, it doesn't matter what we ride, or sometimes even drive, we are all out there for the same reasons!

[@DeBa1226]

Top that tank off when you can! Don’t want to run out in those parts. Lol. Great stuff as usual, Robert! Everyone of your videos gets the juices going, to get out and get to riding. That was incredible country, and nice little impromptu for a full fledge cattle drive to cross your path; great gesture to clutch and coast by so not to spook the herd! Those pull outs, looking a hundred miles or so across the land is like we talked about the other day; imagine the cowboys and covered wagons who rolled up a hill to find as much, determining how long it’ll take them to cross. Imagine them riding up on Bighorn Lake! Keep them coming, Robert!!!

[@RobertMerz]

I fill up pretty much any opportunity because you are exactly right you don't want to run out. We never know when we will actually roll into a small town either. We have been caught a few times at 615 pm and the only gas station in town closed at 6. The other thing is our bike prefers premium and that isn't always available at the smaller stations. It was Wyoming so it just seemed like the classic Wyoming scene when suddenly we come across a cattle drive, it couldn't have been better. As to not spooking cattle or horses it should just be common sense, as well as a matter of respect. A little bit of trivia, as I have probably mentioned before, I do not use the native sound from the camera in my vids. That first little bit of video from start to where I fire up again as we pass the herd required 21 different pieces of sound to make it sound right (to me at least). I used an audio clip of distant ocean hush with a low pass filter added to simulate the background sound of the tires rolling on the pavement. And this is why my bike videos are different than everyone else's. Who else starts a bike vid with a cattle drive and then spends several hours making sure just that part sounds great? All of our rides in Wyoming were plagued with smoke from distant forest fires, Washington and British Columbia mostly, so the views were not as great as they could have been. But you are right they are still pretty impressive, or intimidating, depending on your point of view, and what you are riding! From the the viewpoint in the Bighorns it would be approximately 100 miles (good guess by the way) across the Bighorn Basin to the next mountains, which would be the Absarokas (which is about 3 videos away)!

[@DeBa1226]

I’m with you, all I ever run is Premium. Even when you know how far out you are, there’s always those unexpected detours that can reroute one out just further than he calculated that leaves you stranded. I recall a ride, we turned into a 40mph+ headwind, that nearly blew us off the backs of our bikes. We still had roughly 40 miles to our final destination, nobody wanted to stop at the last small town we rolled through, and there we are. I remember looking down at my gas gauge and could literally see the needle sinking towards “E”. We’re about 25 miles out and one of my buddies pulls up alongside me pointing at his gas tank with this horrified look on his face. I gave him a nod and a smile pointing at my tank, sending the obvious message, “NO SH** ! “. We get to 4 or 5 miles out from our exit, I’m thinking “there is no way. There’s going to be 5 Harley’s along the side of the highway, out of fuel, in 110 degree temps, heavy wind, blowing sand, all because nobody wanted to take 5 minutes to top off when we had the chance; a total rookie move. Riding solo I never make that move”. Then just as we roll over a hill, there sits a two gas pump stop out of nowhere, that 5 guys dove into like it was a caution lap at Daytona! You should have heard those grown men whining and singing the blues about nearly getting stranded... Lol. A 5 minute delay, could have meant a lot longer delay later. Always top off!!

[@DeBa1226]

I might add, even if there was no heavy head wind, no need to cut it that close anyway. I still laugh at the panic that those 4 others had. Lol

[@RobertMerz]

You are right, headwind or no, always plan for the unexpected. It might be a headwind, but it also might be a pleasant detour that you see and think you may want to take, and there you are, at a fork in the road, looking at the alternate route, and the gas gauge, trying to decide if the rewards will justify the risk!

[@DeBa1226]

Yes! I will always opt to fill up the tank. Don’t like that latter decision of letting my gas gauge determine my path. Can’t wait for the next video!

[@markkolesik2945]

Robert, did you two also ride (west to east) from Lovell to Burgess Junction on 14a? If so, how was the grade going uphill? Just curious because I tow a trailer & we were considering riding through there on our way to Sheridan from Cody. Thanks again for the great videos.

[@RobertMerz]

I did not ride it from West to East but I wouldn't personally would not give it a second thought. That being said I am not towing a trailer and I do have a large, powerful bike, still it would not concern me .you can always gear down and take it a little slower. 14A is the steepest crossing of the Bighorns, also the least busy, and riding east to west offers spectacular, sweeping views. And thank you for watching my vids!

[@johnniewelbornjr.8940]

The grades on both sides of this northern route are healthy... It's the only place I've ever gotten the brakes hot on my old Envoy, in fact, while NOT towing a trailer. That's embarrassing, since I drive big trucks for a living (brakes were fine after I stopped for them to cool and I dropped it into a lower gear... Nothing warped but my pride lol). That being said, simply respect the long, steep grades in lower gears, for it's a beautiful route.

[@jeanlau4988]

Hi Robert, I,ve watched a ton of your Wonder videos. I was wondering how much mileage to this day you have logged on your bike,and if reliability is great on this one, thank you. John, Montreal

[@RobertMerz]

Hello John in Montreal. Thanks for watching my videos. I really appreciate it and I appreciate hearing from my viewers. I ride a 2007 Yamaha Roadliner, with about 80,000 km on it. I really like the bike, it is very retro in appearance and function, it is just bike, no fancy stereos etc. I have had only one problem with it, a fairly big one at that. The final drive spline sheared off and I needed to replace the final drive shaft and front drive hub. The reason given was the nut holding the belt drive hub on was never locked in place, at the factory. The dealer I took it to, in Rapid City South Dakota, said he had never seen this happen on this model before and felt it was a fluke thing. Other then that the bike has performed well. Thanks again for watching, Robert in British Columbia.

[@jeanlau4988]

Thanks to you Robert for this really quick answer, I must tell you that your bike looks super, and here, down east, I,ve never seen one, is your engine liquid cooled V4 ?

[@RobertMerz]

The Yamaha Roadliner and Stratoliner are 1900cc V-twins. The engine is very retro, including pushrods. It is air cooled and belt drive. I really like the looks of these bikes, they are reminiscent of the art deco styling of the 1930's and 1940's. There are not many liner's made and are sometimes mistaken for their more plentiful, smaller sibling the Roadstar, but the styling is considerably different.

[@jeanlau4988]

thanks for the info, , and jeez, you,re Lucky to have this part of America to ride, I, m amazed at the quality of roads with no traffic, and wonderful scenery, enjoy the most you can. safe riding, cheers

[@mv3780]

Another great ride! I was wondering. Where is your camera mounted? And what do you mount it with? I like the angle

[@RobertMerz]

Thanks Matt. My camera is mounted off my left mirror. Here is a link to pic of the mount on my facebook page: facebook.com/dryrockstudios/photos/a.453336891456077.1073741828.451931728263260/872346102888485/?type=3&theater It is my own build. If you want to message me through Facebook I can give you a long description of how it was built. |see me at Dry Rock Studios on facebook.

[@DeBa1226]

Are you able to turn on and turn off the camera on the fly, or do you need to pull over to stop each time to do so?

[@RobertMerz]

The camera is just inboard of the left mirror so it is very easy to control. It is funny to me though that GoPros obviously are built more with selfies in mind as evidenced by the large red light on the front of the camera and the tiny dim light on the back. It is pretty common for me to be asking Lizette if she can see the red light as my closer angle and in direct sun, I can't tell if the light at the back is on or off. A pretty good pick of the camera from the rider's perspective is here: facebook.com/dryrockstudios/photos/a.453336891456077.1073741828.451931728263260/872346102888485/?type=3&theater

[@DeBa1226]

What’s the best helmet to helmet mics/system you like? I’m still on the fence about adding that as I do enjoy the quiet time from a passenger or buddies convos from bike to bike, but I can see a place for it.

[@RobertMerz]

We use U-Clear. They are crystal clear, and loud. I like using the communicators all the time. It is great when we are route finding, it is an extra set of eyes for animals, people turning left etc. safety wise, and it is nice to be able to share the awe moments verbally. I also use them when we are off the bike and separated as ear bud communicators. They work really well.