Making room...

Gateway BMW GS Challenge May, 2011 Update.

I'll keep this short and sweet...  I just wanted to share a couple of video's and some photos from the event.

I strapped my GoPro onto Bob Honz the Ringleader of this event when he took his R1200GSA around the Challenge time trial course.  Typical of Honz he finished in a very spectacular fashion.  See for your self.


I also put the GoPro on Adam, one of the guys from Gateway BMW while he rode his G650 XChallenge.  He was quite pumped at the end of his run.


Marilyn Roberts took a hard drive full of photos at the event including a couple of me you can see them all HERE.  Including this one of me in the mud-pit.

Me in the Mud-pit.  Photo by: Marilyn Roberts

That's it for now.
See you on the road.
GAW

Falling leaf Rally, Crash testing the BMW G650 XCountry.

I attended the 2010 Falling Leaf Rally this weekend and partook in the GS/gravel road ride.  After Lunch in Bixby, MO 5 of us decided to take in a few more gravel roads instead of taking tarmac back to the rally grounds.  

I must say the part I like the best is my feet pointing toward the sky. It would seem I have a thing for low water bridges,  this is twice in as many months.  No harm done that a few zip ties couldn't fix. 

See you on the road or in the creek.

GAW

A ride in the woods, May 24th, 2010

For the last few weeks is has rained more or less 24/7, at least it seams that way.  If the sun did shine I was either at work from sun-up to sun-down or I had family obligations.  That is until yesterday, I had a brief window of opportunity from 10am to 3:30pm.  What follows is short snippet of my journey.



The rain had stopped, the Sun was shining and I had the day off from work and family affairs. I went for 150 mile lunch ride via a couple of creeks. Give me a few days and I will post a longer version with a few more highlights.

See you on the road.
GAW


Note:  Sorry, YouTube just doesn't have a embedded size that fits my layout, so the video is best viewed on YouTube, the mgt

Packing List: Survival

What does survival mean?  I'm sure it means differnt things to differnt people, Webster's II New College Dictionary says:

Survival n. a. The act or process of surviving, b. The state of having survived.
Surviving v. To remain alive or in existence.

So at the very least my packing list should help to keep me in existence.  I'm sure there are some in the world who can't imagine surviving without their iPhone and a double grande fat free mocha chino...something or another and others that would be content with a pointed stick and the occasional mud puddle.  Myself, I see someplace in the middle, probably leaning away from the pointed stick guy.  The following list is geared towards traveling alone on everything from the Interstate highway system to jeep trails / forest roads.

1. Membership card of Road side assistance/towing (My 650 is still under warranty which includes road side assistance/ towing, otherwise I'm not sure if I would have it or not).
2. Mobile phone to call for road side assistance (also see Packing list: Digital / Analog).
3. Spot personal tracker, for worst case situation.  extra battery's, and people set-up to receive "I need help" message.*
4. Basic first aid kit.  No chest-tubes, sutures, etc.
5. Tool Kit (see Packing list: Fix and Repair)**
6. 1 liter fuel bottle (with fuel in it...).
7. Shelter, such as a tent and sleeping bag or bivy sack.***
8. Food and water.  Including a Camelback with 1.5L plus 1L bottle, more if crossing Nevada.  Trailmix 1 lbs bag, and a handful of energy or granola bars (won't spoil and doesn't need cooking).  Bear bag if needed, not sure on that.
9. BMW MOA Anonymous book.****
10. Paperback book, to keep me occupied while I'm waiting for help to arrive.

There you have it.  Did I leave any gaping holes?  What would you add or leave at home?

*The Spot personal tracker has a couple of way it can help.  1. You can hit the help button and it will send a message to people of your choosing telling them you need assistance and your gps coordinates.  2.  You can hit the 911 button and they will send a search and rescue team to find you.  3.  If you subscribe to the tracking  feature and you use it, you family will have a good idea of where to search for you if you just don't show up.

**Tool kit,  being able to make temporary repairs and get to civilization is preferred over calling in SAR.

***I haven't yet decided if I will be camping along the way or not.  I'm not a gung-ho camper, but I might tent it every other day or so, if not I would probably throw in a bivy.

****If you're not a member of the BMW MOA you may not have heard of the Anonymous book.  It is a book of phone numbers listed by state, next to each number is a list of what that person is able or willing to do for a rider in distress.  It's a great thing to have.

Enough for now.  See you on the road.
GAW

Gateway BMW GS Challenge.

Two weekend's ago (4/10/10)  I attended the Gateway BMW GS Challenge at Honz's Rouge Creek Ranch near Potisi, MO.  This was the second year for the event.  There were 36 spots available for $135 each, and included primitive camping at the Ranch, hot dogs Friday night, 3 catered meals Saturday, instruction by one of three highly qualified instructors, the GS Challenge at the end of Saturday and a off road ride Sunday.  I almost forgot plenty of helpers to help you pick-up your bike WHEN you drop it, R1200GS Adventures are very heavy you know.  Gateway BMW gives first dibs to those who bought off road capable bikes in the last year, and the rest are offered to the public on a first come basis.

Two of the instructors, Del and Jeff were from RawHyde Adventures, the other Mark was The BMW area representative and a instructor for the BMW off road school in North Carolina.  Each instructor had 3 to 4 helpers including staff from Gateway BMW and experienced local riders.  The participants were split into 3 groups based and riding experience.  I was in the middle group and Mark from BMW was my instructor.

Saturday morning arrived quite early after a restless & cold nights sleep in my summer sleeping bag (April is not Summer time!).  Breakfast of bacon, eggs, biscuits, gravy, fruit, pastries, juice, milk and coffee was ready at 7:15 A.M. and the riders meeting started promptly at 8:00 A.M.  There would be 5 differnt areas were we would practice things such as hill climb & decent, braking, tight turning radius, figure 8 and creek crossing.  All of the exercises would be performed at relative low speeds and would test your balance and clutch modulation or friction zone ("I love the smell of burn clutches in the morning" is on the shirts,  The big GS's all have dry clutches).

Our group started with a short ride around the property to warm up the bikes and riders, then jumped into probably the most difficult task of negotiating a small ditch, rocks, back and forth around 4 or 5 close spaced trees and up a small rise where we would get inline to to it again.  This first section required all of the skills we would learn individually later in the day, nothing like starting at he top and working our way down.


Next was creek crossings and braking.  The creek only claimed one victim, and then only as he was exiting the creek, so no hydro lock. The goal was to keep more weight on the back tire to help the front tire roll over any unseen holes or rocks, and to look where you wanted to go, the horizon.   Braking was to learn how the bike reacts on loose surfaces both with and with out ABS on.  With ABS on the bikes have an exaggeratedly long braking distance on flat surfaces and can literally run out of control on descents (A clip of why it's important).  My bike doesn't have ABS so no big deal, but the big bikes all do.

After braking we were onto figure 8's.  2 rows of 2 cones about 10-15 feet apart and slightly staggered.  Left 180 degrees around the first cone, right 180 degrees around the second cone, then left , right and end of the line again.  The goal is to turn you body the way you want to go and use your bum for balance.  Just don't look at the cone,  because just as riding on hard surfaces that's were you will go and you will need help picking up your bike.

Hill climb and decent was next.  The goal was to carry just enough speed to make it to the top of the hill with out becoming air born or losing traction.  If you stalled the engine going up we learned how to use it to get us back down the hill in a controlled manner.  For the decent it was important that ABS be off so that you could control the bike.  The hill looks much tamer in the video, the first time you approach the decent it looks vertical from behind the bars, same with the way up.

We ended the instruction literally riding in circles.  Riding in circles at steering lock is one thing on flat even pavement and something completely different on a uneven rocky dirt surface.  The later requires modulation of brakes on down slope and modulation of the clutch on the up hill slope.

After the last of the instruction it was break-time, while the instructors and ringleader Honz set up the Challenge course.  The Challenge was on a volunteer basis, but would test all that we learned and some that we didn't.  Of course there would be prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd valued at $200, $100 and $50 respectively.  After having spent the better part of the day moving slowly in the hot sun wearing full riding gear I was slightly delusional, so of course I signed up for the challenge.  The course set and instructions given it was time to send the riders in one at a time.  I was about a third of the way down the list of 15 riders, so I had the advantage (disadvantage?) of seeing several riders complete and not complete the course.  The runs were timed and judged.  The lower the time the better, but if you put your feet down in the technical areas or fell down you were penalized,  If you did something spectacular you were awarded, based on audience approval.  You stared out at the top of  the steep decent, then down to right turn and over several logs, next through an area of large rocks around a large mud hole, then you had a choice to make go through the 30 foot mud pit or around it.  If you went around it you would lose points, but if you went through it all bets were off (the one rider who choose to go around it ended up crashing into mud pit).  Tight circle around a cone was just as you exited the mud pit.  After you made it around the cone it was unknown...  our group never made it down this path during the day as one of the other groups all 12 bikes stuck in the trail.  It turns out it was a rocky wet marshy mess, basically you were running down the middle of a muddy creek bed with several turns ending in a climb up a muddy bank onto the road.  A short sprint down the road and you entered the bottom again through some very large rocks.  At this point you have a choice to make, take the dry path and make a sharp left and climb the hill you started at or take the wet path and have a gentler turn to the hill.  Finely it was my turn, It seemed like I had been sitting in the sun waiting forever.  As I watched Leo give me the countdown things around me just faded away, I don't recall seeing any of the spectators along the course, the only thing I remember was thinking "GO, GO, GO!" and the course it self.  I kept the bike on two wheels and made through the course with out indecent, it felt like I was going quick, but when I look at some of the video it looks quite slow.  I did the best I could and was quite beat afterward.  At some point near the end one of the guys from the shop came up to me and said "You had a great time through the course", I got a little excited and thought I might have a chance.  It would be great if I placed.  After everyone had completed the course it was announced that they had a winner, but that they also had a tie for 2nd and 3rd and that once the tie was taken care of they would announce the winner.  I was not one of the riders in the tie-breaker and my hopes of placing were dashed. It was decided the tie-breaker would be settled my clap-o-meter and that the riders would rider the G450X demo bike (it's been through the ringer a time or two).  A short course down the hill, through the mud pit and back up the hill was set.  The second rider went through the mud pit twice and a pone climbing the hill gave the bike a toss to the ground, sort of rock start style.  The crowd loved it and 2nd place was his.  It was then time to annouce the winner,  "Out of know where, the dark horse, only had the bike for 6 months, with a time of 2 minutes and 11 seconds... Art Wheeler".  I was shocked, but it did feel good.

As good as it felt to win, I have to say the guys on the R1200GS Adventures deserve more credit than I on my diminutive G650 XCountry,  They have my respect.  I don't know if I would have even taken on the class if I was riding a 1200GS.

I was told that all of the riders who did the challenge were invited on a trail ride later after supper.  Speaking of supper it was again catered by Liz Huff and included chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, hot rolls, and baked apple crisp, of course it was delicious.  It would be challenging, and if you had a big bike you would only want to do it with knobbie's.  As much fun as it sounded I declined, I was absolutely exhausted from the instruction and being in the sun all day.  Later that night while we sat around the bonfire, I drinking my annual beer (I won so I had to celebrate), the guys from the afternoon ride rode into camp.  The tales they told both made me wish I had gone and glad I didn't.  Little did I know at the time...

I had hoped my annual beer would help to put me to sleep, it had little effect, and 6:30 a.m. rolled around quite fast.  Sunday's options were;
1. Pack up and head home.
2.  Take the gravel road ride to Bixby, MO (The center of motorcycle heaven, both street and dirt).
3.  Take the gnarly trail ride to Bixby, MO
I choose to pack-up and take the gravel road ride.  I wanted to get a feel for the bike with a touring load, plus I would have help picking it up if I had a tip over.  We had to meet up at the Micky D's in Potisi at 8:00 a.m. with the bikes and body's fueled and ready to go.  I also stocked up on water and fig newtons for the ride, a little hydration and energy never hurt anybody.

After a brief pre-ride talk 20 bikes lined up behind Ringleader Honz and we were off.  It didn't take long for the group to figure out that the GRAVEL roads were only letting Honz enjoy the ride (in Missouri gravel = limestone and limestone = white chalky dust, lots of it).  I was in the middle of the pack and my Hi-Vis stich had lost it's Hi-Vis.  At a rest stop it was put to a vote and we decided to take the un-marked, not on the map roads, more dirt less gravel.  We finally ended up at what Honz called the impassable pass (the trail from the night before) , apparently it becomes impassable for the big bikes with even the mention of rain.  Luck for us it was sunny.  The trail leading us to the impassable part put to use the knowledge we learned the day before, lots of tight weaving between trees and rocks.  We staged the twenty bikes at the precipices to the impassable portion and Honz talked us through it one at a time.  We all made it through unharmed, even Tilly the enduro dog (see video).  The trail ended just a stones throw from the Rouge Creek Ranch, so most of the group called it a day, myself included and went our separate ways.



I can't thank Bob Honz and the guys at Gateway BMW enough for putting on this event, it was an absolute blast!

I do feel a little bit guilty about winning the GS challenge, being on the smallest bike and all, but not guilty enough to forfeit my prize...

All the photos of me in this post were taken by Marilyn Roberts, she has many other photos from the event at the following Link.

Sorry the video clips just don't fit the layout of the blog, it's better to watch them on YouTube .


See you on the road, or off.
GAW

I rode today, but...

See I do ride the bike once in awhile.

See you on the road.
GAW

Kitting out the 650 part 1.

May I present the long awaited video...



I just get tired watching it. Sorry for the LONG video, in the future I will do my best to keep them shorter. Here is a list of all the modifcations done to the bike in the video.

• Wunderlich windscreen.
• TourTech 20mm bar risers.
• Ground clearance increased 1 inch, every little bit helps.
• Garmin Nuvi 500 with Ram Mount and hardwired for power.
• Spot personal tracker with Ram Mount.
• Tooltube and home made tool rolls.

The Wunderlich windscreen went on quite easily, but then I did have some virtual help from those who have already installed one (link).

The Tourtech bar risers were another matter altogether.  The Tourtech risers were about $40 cheaper, about half the cost of the next compatible set of risers, but it turns out they were exponentially more difficult to install. If I had to do it over I would probably go with the more expensive, easier to install bar risers.  There is a bracket (handle bar lock?) on the right side of the headset that will not allow the new longer bolt to be inserted, or at least not with out copious amounts of foul language and bleeding knuckles.  In the end I won only to have to remove them because I forgot to put Blue Loctite on the threads...

Raising the ride height was fairly quick and simple, especially the front, loosen the Allen head bolts and slide the fork tubes down.  But raising the rear did require that I purchase a new Allen head socket and a 27mm open end wrench.  I had the proper size Allen head socket, but the socket part was to big and would get stuck before it reached the bolt.

The Ram Mount for the GPS  is on a long arm (leverage) and it likes to move a lot , so it may get moved to the handlebar/hand guard if it looks like it's making contact with the windscreen.  The Ram Mount for the spot was the easiest of all, it can also do double duty as a camera mount.

I had intended to have the tool tube be in the time lapse video also, but before I new what happened my visualizing things turned into a completed and mounted tool tube.  I still need to paint it, make a tether for the cap and make a wrench to open it that can be stowed under the seat or in the tank bag.  The cap can be much harder to remove than you might think.  I conned my mother into making the tool rolls for me and they turned out very well.  I told her I could make some money if she would make some more, but she declined.  The rolls are made of heavy cotton canvas, we went through a whole box of needles sewing them

When I bought the 650 last September I also had the dealer install several items to make the bike more long distance and off pavement worthy.  Those mod's include:

• Hepco & Becker Pannier Racks.
• Hepco & Becker Engine Guards.
• Barkbuster hand Guards.

I also installed the following items right after I purchased the bike:

• SW Motech rear rack.
• National Cycle F-15 Tour windscreen.

The SW Motech rack allows quick change of several adaptor plates, currently I have the adaptor to mount a Givi Monokey top case.  Although the Givi is not suited to off-pavement riding (way to big), it is great for the daily commute.  The National Cycle F-15 Tour Windscreen looked good on the bike, but it had 3 flaws.  First it was terribly noisy, no matter how it was adjusted it put the wind right at my neck knocking my head around.  Second it projected out in front of the head light and even during the day it had distracting reflections, and third it crack later the same day it was installed.  So it when back to where it came.

Thats enough for now,  I need to get busy

In the future look for the following topics:

• Packing list - Digital / Analog.
• Packing list - survivel.
• Where am I going to put all the crap I think I need to carry with me?
• Last but not least I might actually ride the motorcycle.

Lost Creek Road.

I have been lurking on ADVRider.com for awhile and I've seen Lost Creek Road mentioned a few times on the Missouri Thread. Here is a quote from one of the post's about Lost Creek Road "..you should probably take someone familiar for your first ride down there.." - ThumperDRZ

I found out a couple of days ago I would have Saturday morning to my self, so a plan was hatched...

The Plan: Head west from home to Washington, MO and cross over to the north side of the Missouri River. Then start a series of north then south gravel roads inter-connected with tarmac. Once (if) the gravel roads have been completed I would cross to the south side of the Missouri river at Herman, MO and work my east to home.

The first gravel road was Charette Creek Rd. Lots of thick lose gravel was the theme of the day. Charette Creek Rd. had several low water crossings and if memory serves me a couple of small rocky crossings.

Charette Creek Rd.

Next was Dry Fork Rd, Howards Branch Rd, and Sellen Schutter Rd, all pretty mild.

Lost Creek Rd. the road the above quote referes to was next.

Lost Creek looks pretty tame on the GPS.

Lost Creek looks OK from this view also.

The Creek is no longer Lost. The Road is really over there somewhere.
Should I or shouldn't I?

I did it.

After I conquered Lost Creek it was a breeze down Massas Creek Rd.

Massas Creek Rd.

At the end of the day I made it home unscathed, but very tired. I don't believe I have ever worked so hard riding a motorcycle before. I did learn a few things though.

1. The road on the other side of the creek will never be the same. Hard packed gravel on one side and 12 inch's of sand the other.
2. If it's hunting season there will be hunters on 4-wheelers using both sides of the road.
3. The narrower the road the more likely you will meet someone in the largest possible truck.
4. Knobbie's are in my future.
5. I need a stronger skid plate. I didn't bottom out, but did have plenty of large rocks strike my plastic skid plate.

See You on the road.
GAW

Another weekend...

Another weekend, another sausage festival. Mostly paved, but lightly sprinkled with a couple of gravel roads.

North Klondike Rd in Randolph County, IL.

County Rd 950 in Perry County, MO

See you on the road.
GAW

Slowly getting it dirty.

This morning I went on the Club ride to St John's "Gildehaus" for the 48th Annual Sausage Festival. I was but one of the 3,877 diners served. They will have the 49th Annual Sausage Festival on Sunday October, 24 2010, so plan ahead.

After I was stuffed like a sausage I went my seperate way and explored some road's in the area that I had yet to ride, plus a few that I have.

The first and last photos were taken on Melrose Rd. The other two were taken on Grand Army Rd. Grand Army Rd. started out paved but quickly turned to gravel.



See you on the road.

GAW

Two weeks and 600 miles...

Two weeks and 600 miles finds the motorcycle incapacitated and on the lift. It was just a flat rear tire, but I didn't find the flat until late Saturday afternoon as I was leaving for a Club event. Luckily I'm 2 deep with motorcycles at the moment, so I parked the new bike and took the old bike.

I had an appointment set up for Tuesday to get the 600 mile service done so at the Club event I asked around if any body had a tube that would fit my bike. It was suggested to call Dave Clark at Forever Endeavor Cycles, The shop was just a couple of minutes down the road and was still open. He didn't have a new tube, but did have a used one with plenty of life life in it and it was free for the taking. Dave left it outside the shop so I could pick it up when ever I got there. Art had a set of tire irons and volunterred time sunday to help me change it.

Saturday night my job was to remove the offending wheel, so out comes the tool kit and owners manual. Owners manual passed, it had the proper procedure for removal and installation of the offending wheel. The tool kit on the other had FAILED miserably, it was missing a wrench in the correct size to fit the axle nut. It turned out that the axel nut was a 26mm, not a size most people have laying around. I have a very nice selection of tool's in metric and standard, but it seems that most socket sets go from 24mm to 27mm, skipping the needed 26mm. My local Sears Hardware Store doesn't keep 26mm sockets in-stock, special order only. I got the wheel off using my adjustable metric wrench.

The tire had a 1 1/2 inch fine thread drywall screw in it. I probably have a few of those laying around someplace, so it could have been introduced to the tire in my very own garage. I was a little bit suspicious of the old bike, the past two weeks was the longest time period that it had not been started since early march of this year. I suspected it had gotten jealous of the new bike, and set it up for a flat tire. I do hope they learn to get along. I don't recall ever getting a flat on the old bike in my 13+ years of ownership.

On Sunday morning there was a handful of tire irons, plenty of grunting and some baby powder involved getting the tube changed out. A big thanks to Art for the time and tools on a Sunday morning.

I will be purchasing a 26mm socket in the very near future, as I'm sure this won't be the last time I will need the wheel off. It also looks like I will be cutting a $25 wrench in half so that I can get the wheels off the bike while traveling.

See you on the road.

GAW

The Itch, has been scratched.

I have had an itch for quite some time, but no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't scratch it. The more I talked about it the worse it got. It would keep me up all night doing internet research on the best way to sooth it. It would cause me to day dream at work for hours on end. My wife would never even discuss it. I had come to the conclusion that I would suffer this itch for all eternity.

A few weeks ago I decided to try and get my wife to help me one more time. I double checked all of my research, consulted friends and I practiced in front of a mirror. In the end I gave a passionate speech. I layed out all of the positive points. I made it clear that if my itch got scratched, that I wold be more than willing to return the favor when the time came. I probably gave the best sales pitch of my life.

I guess I should remind the readers this is a blog about MOTORCYCLES. Get your minds out of the gutter.

About a week after my sales pitch I started to get that feeling I would be living with itch for a long time, when my Loving wife asked me If WE were going to the motorcycle shop that weekend? I think I passed out. When I awoke I checked to make sure I had heard correctly and then didn't ask again for fear something would change.

As it turned out we couldn't make it to the shop that weekend, so I called Gateway BMW Motorcycles on Friday afternoon and asked them to put a sold sign on the bike a 2009 BMW G650X Country, and that I would be in on Wednesday to sign all the papers and take delivery. It turned out to be a good idea to call them as Saturday some came in to buy MY motorcycle.

My itch got scratched at about 2:30pm on Wednesday September 30th, 2009 when I left the Dealer on my new bike, taking the long way home of course.

Look for more about G650X in future post.

See you on the Road.
GAW