T minus 14 days - gettin' ready!

I got a break from summer school work today, the weather was cool, and I spent the day working on the VFR after mowing the lawn and watching the Dutch TT live on http://www.motogp.com this morning. The $40 I spent on total access to that site has got to be the entertainment bargain of the year for me. I watch every qualifying session, free practice, race – live if I feel like getting up that early, or later as I choose. I am really jazzed about MotoGP this year – can’t wait for Laguna. It killed me to miss it last year. But I digress.

I got some maintenance work done today – four new NGK Iridium plugs that were a great price from http://www.sparkplugs.com/. Now let’s see if they live up to the hype! I put in a K&N replacement air filter also, mostly because it was the same price as a disposable OEM filter. I still have to change motor oil and filter, clutch and brake fluid, and tires. There's plenty of time, and I finish summer school on the 29th.

My local dealer, John’s Honda of Hot Springs, was gracious enough today to sell me two crush washers for the high pressure connection to my fuel tank for a mere $6.49. That's right folks – two washers, six and a half bucks. I don’t know why I’m surprised - I got a similarly great deal ($62 mounted and balanced) from them to install a front tire back in February. Um, that doesn’t include the tire – I only paid $60 for the tire. Maybe they wonder why I never shop in there – could it be the $15 oil filters?

I made a little progress today on the electrical work too. I got the steering stem powerlet and the heated grips installed, and put in the tap for the power to the Blue Sea auxiliary fuse block. Tomorrow, I’d like to get the two Heat-trollers (one for the powerlet – for a vest or jacket liner, and the other for the heated grips) installed, as well as the voltage monitor LED, and the AmpliRider headphone mixer/amplifier, and the power and audio for the Sirius radio and the Navigation GPS.

Back to the books …. Is it obvious I have a thing for yellow bikes?

Photos circa 1981

I mentioned in an earlier post that this trip is a redux of the first trip Ron and I took together, 25 years ago in June of 1981. Here's a shot from that tour, with Ron sportin' a very sexy pair of 'ski glasses', as we called them at the time. This was taken high above the north shore of Lake Tahoe, I think on the Mount Rose highway. The bikes? Ron rode his impeccably reliable 1978 Suzuki GS750ES (right), which by the time of this shot had already been accessorized with a GS1000S fairing, RC Engineering pipe, oil cooler, single air filters, upgraded shocks, 'case savers', and so on. The luggage rack came and went as necessary. The silver bike is my 1977 Laverda 1000 Jota, an odd 'touring' bike to be sure, but that's what I had. I bought it new in November of 1977 ( at the tender age of 19) for the then-princely sum of $4900.52 out the door. By contrast, I think at the time I figured I could have bought two new GS750s for the same money. I'm happy to report that I make similarly rational choices today. I loved that motorcycle, sacrificed a lot to own it, and I still have it to this day.

At left is yours truly, posing in a very manly fashion with his mighty Italian Stallion. The photo was taken near a lake on California Hwy 4 (in the Sierras) whose name has escaped me. I still have these leathers, though they have suffered the same fate as all of my clothes from that era - chronic shrinkage. I guess clothing technology has come a long way since 1981. In those days (maybe today too - we'll see in a month or so) you could smell the scent of evergreens as you rose out of the central valley and the foothills. It was always the first real sensory reminder that you were in the mountains. As you can see, we traveled light in those days - tank bag, sleeping bag, tent. End of story. I briefly considered riding the Laverda on this trip until Ron politely reminded me that it was .... how you say? Uncomfortable. Actually, he said that in another couple of years I'll hurt myself just sitting on it in the garage. Nice.

Preparations

As I write this, the countdown to my departure for the west is T minus about one month and counting. There are many preparations to be made to take a motorcycle trip of this length - I'm expecting to get home with 7 or 8,000 miles more on the bike than when I leave. Parts of the preparations are maintenance oriented (oil changes, tires, air filter, etc.) and the other parts consist of accessorizing the machine to better equip it for extended touring duty.

My ride for this trip is my 2000 Honda VFR800i Interceptor. I purchased it new and it's been a wonderful bike - it may be the best compromise machine of all time. It's got plenty of power, great fuel mileage, handles and stops well, offers decent weather protection, and is exceptionally comfortable for a sport bike. I have already replaced the stock seat with a Corbin saddle - I've found them to be a big improvement in all cases and a huge improvement in some. I have known Mike Corbin for 20 years or more, back to the days when he used to drop by my family's 7-Eleven store for coffee every morning. His operation was much smaller in those days! I don't mind the stock handlebars for day riding, but I knew that a set of Heli Bars would no doubt improve comfort on those 6 and 700 mile days of fairly straight road. A cruise control or throttle lock seemed in order also. Interestingly, all the accessories I have bought for the VFR up to this date have come from eBay - all purchased used for half of new prices or less.

I normally do not listen to music, CB radio, or anything else when I'm riding, but again, the prospect of endless miles of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona without something to listen to was a grim thought. I decided to get a Sirius satellite radio and mount it on the handlebars with a RAM mount. At the same time, I decided I'd like to have a navigation system on the bike - one I could also use in the car once I got back home. I did a lot of research and despite some negative reviews related to quality control, I ended up purchasing a Lowrance iWay 500c - partially because the combination of features, price, and ability to be customized to the motorcycle environment. It's also got a 10gb section of hard drive available for MP3 files, and I have a ton of those. Lowrance has a great rebate offer going right now and I'm expecting mine any day.

Yesterday I installed the Heli Bars, NEP cruise control, and the RAM mounts for the radio and the GPS. As usual with aftermarket accessories, there were configuration problems with almost everything, and I'm not happy with the positioning of the radio and the GPS required by the use of a tank bag. At this point I am considering not using a tank bag at all. That would be a first for me - I've been a believer in tank bag use since the late 70's when I bought my first Eclipse bag - I still have and use it to this day, though not on this tour. I have a Bagster tank cover/tank bag combo that I especially like.

Next, I'll need to add the grip heaters (not necessary for this trip, but since it's going to be apart anyway ...), the audio amplifier/mixer (useful when you have multiple sound sources), and accessory fuse block and wiring they will all attach to.

More as I move along.