Thursday, June 30, 2016

List of destinations

So here's the current plan for each night:

Hoover, AL (July 1) Glenn Goldstein's home town
Harrison, AK (July 2)
Enterprise, KS (July 3)
Boulder, CO (July 4) - maybe meet Heath Briggs for dinner
Steamboat, CO (July 5) - meet Gayle Strong for dinner
Lander, WY (July 6) - just learned Heath was born here
Alta, WY (July 7) aka Targee
Hailey, ID (July 8) aka Sun Valley
Salmon, ID (July 9)
Syringa, ID (July 10)
Whitefish, MT (July 11)
Waterton, AB (July 12)
Invermere, BC (July 13-14)
Calgary, AB (July 15)
Then off to Seattle for Mandy's wedding, so 
Seattle, WA (July 16) and home, 
Orlando, FL (July 17)

-adam

Monday, June 27, 2016

Test picture -- like I said, I'm still new at this.

I know it’s a bit off-topic, but here’s a kind of interesting picture as the Landas were getting ready to watch a movie at sunset in the theater.

-adam


Sorry all for the weekend post where the pictures could not be viewed ... I am still new to this Blogging thing. OK, weekend post has been updated (pease look again), and I think we're good to go now. Will make another test with a new pic shortly to make sure my remote posting works.

BTW, some of the old people out there will remember that Thursday night is the 22nd anniversary of my wonderful marriage to the girl of my dreams Jen! We are going to having lobster dinner at the Palm -- then I take off the next morning. 

-adam

Saturday, June 25, 2016

So I spent a lot of Saturday getting ready ... first, I got a new Rallye suit, so I really psyched. Found a friend looking for a less expensive suit, so I sold him my old one, and some other gear, to finance the new one. This one is grey/blue, instead of black/yellow, so it will match Sally better for sure.


Which brings me to sally. She's almost loaded. Both of the Wolfman side bags are installed on each side of the topcase. I sure hope that the mounts for Vario cases can take the additional load.


Also, one of the big challenges I had in preparation is finally solved. I have two one-liter gas cans (which may not sound like a lot, but it will get me 20 miles, which is a long way to push if you don't have gas). So I was trying to figure out a good way to travel with the cans. Obviously, I don't want them in a panier or case on the off chance that they leak, so what to do?

I found some outer canisters that they fit on, and attached them to a ratchet strap with some aluminum and parachute cord -- and viola, they stay. If you look "under" the starboard panier in the picture above, you can see the outer canister.

Here are some details on the mount:

First, a good picture of my first attempt, laying on the floor.

Then, of course, an "as installed shot:

You may notice that the ratchet strap is partially orange in this second shot -- the loop ratchets I bought were really poor quality, so I swapped them out for others I had around that seemed heavier duty -- a little knot-work that my father would have been proud of, and viola, it works. Here are some shots so you can see the cap of the outer canister off, and you can see the fuel cell.

 

I am also very proud of my "Velcro shelf." The starboard Vario panier has a weird shape to avoid the right-mounted exhaust pipe. Because of gravity, you can't really just push stuff up there or the case won't close. And we use a case liner which fails to make any use of the odd space. Enter the Velcro shelf. The otherwise unused space now houses a tire patch kit, an electric tire pump, several chemical flares and a small tool kit. I am psyched. The balance of the starboard panier will house our rain gear as well as cold weather gloves and other warmth-related items.




















Finally, I got Butler maps for the Rockies, and put them in the tank bag. You can see Colorado showing -- the ride from Boulder to Steamboat (via Estes Park) is visible. I also have the console trip ready. The BMW Navigator V is a great (larger screen) GPS that recently replaced the Navigator IV. I added orange duct tape to the speedo -- arrows  at 40 and 60 and a line at 80. Makes it a lot easier to read BMW's otherwise poorly designed and hard to read speedo. You can also see the radar detector and phone mounts, and the Spot (satellite transponder.)


Coming down the home stretch -- and all of the logistics look good. I even put 10 GB of music on the Navigator V in case I am out of Pandora range.

Can't wait ...

Wednesday, June 22, 2016

9 days to launch!

There is a big to-do list for this weekend. Mainly, I have to figure out packing -- where everything will go so I can find it. There are 8 separate storage compartments -- two paniers, a top case, a tank bag, two saddle bags and two small bar bags -- so I have to have some kind of organization. 
I also have to go down my checklist. Make sure I pack everything from roadside flares, to rain gear, to a tire patch kit.

And I have to make sure that I put Full Moon BBQ (Hoover, AL) in my GPS -- Glenn Goldstein said I have to have dinner there!

Seems like a lot, but there should be just enough time to get it all done. Planning to pull out with first light on July 1 ...


Friday, June 3, 2016

Four Weeks To Go

It's Friday again. This time, the first Friday of June. So four weeks until departure. We are taking Sally, a 2013 BMW R1200GS, from Orlando to Calgary; leaving July 4.

Several final issues to deal with.

Have to make sure new GPS works. Have to figure out mount points for two liters of spare fuel. (Doesn't sound like much, but hey, 20 miles is a long way to push a motorcycle.)

We are going to take a helmet test tomorrow to see if Jen's Schubert is going to work or need replacement.

We got tickets to the Calgary Stampede for our final day of the trip.

Routes are programmed, just need to get them on the GPS.

More soon....