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.

Tandem Scooter Racing!!

For the rest of the story head over to Jalopnk.

If you are unaware of Jalopnk, it's mostly about cars, but as you can see the occasional 2 wheeler shows up.

GAW

In the meantime...

I really do have a video in post-production and will soon be posting it here.  I have just been busy with family and selling my surplus stuff on eBay, in order to pay for the mods to the bike.  In the meantime enjoy this teaser...



Yes she already knows counter steer, so it won't be long before she is really riding.

See you on the road.

GAW

Packing list: Fix and Repair

Updated 3/3/10.  While reading a Ride Report on ADVrider.com I came across this post (link), go about halfway down to see the photo off them fixing a tire, and it hit me Ground Cloth that's what I forgot, or at least one of the things I forgot.

Once I start down the path of planning a trip my brain just won't shut down.  Just to give you an idea of how fast the clock is spinning in my head I present to you the following list that spewed out of my head moments after routing a 3000 mile westward trip (Link) and a 2000 mile eastward trip (Link), more on that mileage in a later post.

Packing List:  Fix and Repair

Spares / Misc:

• Fuse's.
• Head light bulb.
• Throttle cable (because I have one).
• Clutch cable.
• Tubes, front and rear.
• Master link (for chain).
• Key's, bike and any locks concealed on bike, accessible without tools or at most tank bag tools (see below).
• Small spool of wire.
• Duct tape, electrical tape.
• Rags, towels.
• Nylon straps.
• Quart of oil.
• JB Weld.
• Zip ties, zip ties, zip ties, zip ties, zip ties, zip ties etc.
• Ground cloth, X 2.  To keep from loosing those little bits and pieces your bike won't run without.

 Tire Repair:

• Tubes see above.
• Patch kit - patches, glue, cleaner.
• Valve core.
• Valve stem fish/tool.
• Tire irons 2-3.
• Axel wrench.
• Support stand (bike has no center stand).
• Air - compressor, CO2 or hand pump.

Tool Kit:

• Mostly useless factory tool kit.
• Metric wrenches.
• Metric allen wrenches.
• Pliers - needle nose, channel lock (med), locking and wire cutters.
• Screw driver - phillips and sloted bits.
• Metric adjustable wrench.
• Volt meter & test light.
• Flash light with extra battery's.
• Chain breaker.
• BFH, just in case...

Also in the Tank bag:

• Multi-tool
• Locking knife.
• Flash light.
• Cheaters, so I can see the tiny bits and pieces.

The worst part about this list is that I'm sure it is not complete.  I know that I won't need or use any of the items listed above during my 12 day 5000 mile adventure,  but I will most likely be in desperate need of the one thing not on the list, if only I knew what it was.

So am I obsessing,  right on par or crazy for traveling unprepared?  Do keep in mind that I will be traveling alone on the lesser traveled roads where people may be few and far between.

Now for something completely unrelated.

See you on the road.
GAW

Where to go?

One of the things I do to pass the mid-west winter is think about where I would like to go in the coming spring and summer.  Usually I start getting out my planning supply's in January.  Those planning supply's consist of a atlas, maps, yellow highlighters, motorcycle magazines, a list of BMW rallys, travel books (National Geographic's scenic drives, Road Trip, etc) and Roadfood (the essential guide to eating your way across the US, everybody has a copy right?).

I Start by looking a the Rally list and old magazines to get an idea of where I might want to go and when.  Once I get an idea then I start to figure the mileage and time it would take to get there and back.  If it falls into the amount of time-off I can get in one block I will load the yellow highlighter and start sketching out a route.  Next I go through Roadfood to see if I need to deviate my course in order to eat something really good.  Finely I look for places to stay and other oddity's I might like to see.  You would think that at this point I would be requesting my time-off from work, but actually I often just start all over.  For example last year I was going to go to Nova Scotia, Canada and ride the Cabot trail, eat some bugs (lobsters) and maybe some pizza on the way out and back.  I even had my time-off scheduled.  Then a week before I was going to leave I scraped the whole plan and decided to go to the mountains in New Mexico and Colorado.  I had a really good trip eating green chile's and getting rained on at 10,000 feet (it rained...stormed everyday).  Last year was an extreme example, normally I will have it nailed down if I can even take a trip and where I'm going by March or April.  This year things are different, my work situation is new and I had to request vacation time for this summer in January.  I really don't like to be nailed down so early in the year, July just seems so far away, how can I possibly know what life will bring between now and then.  I had about one week to do what I typically do in 3-4 months.

I have picked a destination and a date for a summer road trip, but before the big reveal, the photos above. The top photo is of dinner prior to being steamed alive at the 2002 Down East BMW Rally at Hermit Island, ME.  The second photo is of Split Rock Lighthouse near Two Harbors, MN taken on my way to the 2002 BMW MOA rally in Trenton, ON Canada (the last MOA rally I attended).  The third photo was taken near Ophir, CO on my wanderings last summer.  The fourth photo was of the Oregon coast taken on my way to the 2001 MOA rally in Redmond, OR.

It turns out that the BMW MOA Rally will be in the same location it was 9 years ago, Redmond, OR (the photo above was taken in the Deschutes Nat. Forest with the sisters filling the background).  It also turns out that the available vaction time corresponds with the rally, so it looks like I will be heading to the west coast this summer with the MOA Rally being the pulling force.  Of course things can always change, well not my time off, but everything else.  Now that I have two dots on the map it's time to get the yellow highlighter out and try to connect the dots.

I also have a new decision to make that I have never had to face in the past, I have to decide what bike to take.  In the past I have dreamed of this problem for many years, but in 1998 after becoming a family man, I pretty much wrote it off. Because I have a loving wife I'm now faced with this delima.  It would seem like a no brainer to take the G650 X Country (the new bike), but it's untested in long distance riding, where as my 1996 R850R has been there and back.  The 850 is set up for the long haul with a Russel Seat, Aeroflow screen and BMW system cases.  I know that I can literally ride all day, really ALL day with the seat and wind screen, and I can pack way more junk than anybody should need in the hard cases.  The 650 on the other hand is in desperate need of some kit, it has a stock seat, an untested Wunderlich windscreen (still in the box, at least for 2 more days) and no luggage.  I have a master list of the mod's and parts needed to get the 650 ready for the long haul and I have 4 1/2 months to get it done.  Worst case I have to take the 14 year old tried and true 850, how bad can that be.

I will try to update the kitting of the G650 X-Country.  Man I got a lot of work to do...

See you on the Road.

GAW

BMW Santiago Boots.

I had been on the look out for a new pair of motorcycle boots for a while as my current boots were 10+ years old and had somewhere beyond 50,000 miles on them. I had a few requirements, first was Gortex lining, or equivalent.  Second was to be a bit more off road worthy with out being full-on MX boots.  Three different boots readily fit my requirements, Sidi Discovery Rain Boots ($325), Gaerne Balance Oiled Boots ($360), and BMW Santiago Boots ($360).  All three boots had waterproof linings.  The Sidi and Gaerne boots had three buckles and external plastic shin guards, while the BMW boots only had  buckles above and below the ankle and Velcro closures at the top. The BMW also has a plastic shin guard, but its laminated between the outer leather and inner lining.  The Sidi boots were leading the pack mainly for the price and the positive comments about them on advrider.com, but in the end it was the BMW boots that won out.  I had had a good experience with my BMW boots over the past 10 years, no leaks and comfortable.  The Kicker was the final price,  do to some savvy shopping and timing I, em Santa was able to purchase the BMW Boots for only $235 plus tax.  A deal that I couldn't pass up, I paid more 10 years ago for the boots I'm retiring.  Because I signed up on the BMW XPLOR site I got a $100 off BMW apparel over $300 and my dealer was having a 10% off holiday sale, hence the price I couldn't pass-up.

Some of the features of the Santiago Boots include two adjustable buckles one above and one below the ankle.  There is a metal cap on the front of the sole that is replaceable.  The toes of each boot have a rubberized coating and the left boot has a extra layer for the shifter.  There are hard panels over each ankle and shin with corresponding padding underneath.

So far my experience with the new boots have been some adventure vacuuming (to which they might be overqualified, the jury is still out) and a short trip to the gas station (45 min trip to the 1 mile away gas station).  I will try and post an update after I put a few more miles on them, hopefully they will holdup as well as the boots I'm retiring.
 
Photos are of new and old for comparison.

See you on the road

GAW.

ATGATT

First phalanges non-displaced fracture of the third digit.  Other wise known as a broken toe.  As with the last broken bone I acquired, there isn't much to be done with a broken toe, except to add a little wobble to your walk.

At this point you have to be asking your self how in the world does somebody break a toe?  What progression of failures must occur for a toe to be broken?
1.  Not wearing the proper protective gear.
2.  Lack of situational awareness.
(Not a complete list, just the highlights)
In-fact when my right 3rd digit slammed into the corner of the stair case, I was neither wearing the proper protective gear nor situationally aware of my surroundings.  I believe I was wearing a pair of socks and my skives.  I was also attempting to walk and talk at he same time, and everybody know that in it's self is a most dangerous activity that should be avoided at all cost.

Since that fateful moment one week ago I have vowed to fully embrace ATGATT.  My family on the other hand think I might be going off the deep end.  Eating, sleeping or just lounging around the house it's ATGATT!

See you on the road.
GAW