Great balls of fire

Started out in Murdo, SD this morning, with the wind blowing like mad. After 50 or so miles, it was time to gas up. I pulled into Presho. The first thing I notice is all the pumps are out of order. So I get off the bike, and notice that my leg didn't bump the tail bag like usual. I turn around and look, and see the tail bag rolled over the back of the luggage rack, but still attached. Then I see the smoke. The tail bag had been sitting on the muffler for who knows how long, and it burned right through. Also, my riding overpants were stuffed under the bag, and are now long gone. I pulled off the bag, and the folks in the gas station brought me a wet rag and water to put out whatever was still smoldering.

Stuff destroyed:
The tail bag
The damn electric vest that I never did get to work
My fleece jacket
The souvenier hat from the Sci-Fi museum
The owners manual from the new bike
A towel
A bunch of anti-fog visor wipes
Hand and toe chemical warmers

My irreplaceable Held Galaxy gloves got singed, but might still be wearable. My tour books and other papers are singed, and the hotel room smells like a campfire now.

I needed gas, but all I could get there was 89 octane w/ 10% ethanol. Ick. Put a gallon of that in and headed east some more to Kennebec, which was supposed to have a big gas station. They also only had 89 octane, but not the gasahol kind. Filled up on that, and kept going east. I stopped in Mitchell for some lunch, but couldn't eat since I was feeling pretty crappy about how the day started. Gassed up on 91 again, and off I went. Made it to Rochester, MN tonight, after a few more gas stops.

The wind out here is something else. It's never-ending, and brutal. My neck hurts from pushing on it all day, trying to keep my head from getting blown off. And it tossed the fuel economy of the bike right out the window. It finally eased up about 30 miles outside of Rochester. I hope tomorrow it won't be as bad. I'm going to try and get an early start and get to Chicago to see some more friends.


At first it only looked like I lost what was in the side compartment.








Yuck.








I hope very fine steel wool can clean this up.








The burned up manuals, the melted thermostat for the electric vest, and the crispy Sci-Fi hat.







A closer look.








The electric vest melted, and burned a hole in my jacket.

Don't look back

Got up this morning and pulled out all the slack from the heated vest wire. The good news is that it reached! The bad news is that it was crimped when it was installed, and doesn't work. Just par for the course on this trip, I suppose.

I headed east on I90 to Coeur D'Alene and stopped at a big bike shop, but they didn't have anything that could work. Charles suggested the MacGuyver approach, cutting out the damaged sections and crimping in a good piece of wire. That'll be plan Z, as I do not want to create new problems, just fix the existing ones. With the bad weather still approaching, I decided to make tracks for Montana. All the locals said if you're going to head east over the passes, today is the day to do it. So, off I went, over 2 passes with snow all around, but the sun was shining and I wasn't that cold. Stopped in Missoula, MT for a coffee and a snack, and then headed to Butte. Charles had researched bike shops in Butte and Bozeman while I was riding, but I got to Butte too late to check them out, and still had about an hour and 45 minutes of sunlight left. So after a quick McDinner and a full tank of gas, I continued east. As I passed the continental divide, I figured I'm over the proverbial hump and I am going to keep on going.

4 snow lined mountain passes later, I'm in Bozeman for the night. 400 miles covered today. The plan for tonight is to stay in, stretch out and relax, get a good nights sleep. Tomorrow I'm going to check out Team Bozeman Motorsports, and hopefully be able to get the vest wiring sorted out. Then hopefully go east to Livingston, MT, and south through Yellowstone. The forecast for Yellowstone tomorrow is rain showers, so I'll keep an eye on that and check again tomorrow morning.

I'm in Spokane

After picking up the bike from Lake City, I headed over to Cycle Barn in Lynnwood for the vest. It's a bit snug, but it fit. Of course, it did NOT have an SAE connector, but rather its own set of leads to wire to the battery. So after the fine folks at Lake City put the Battery Tender lead on there, it had to come off and put this new set of leads on. Alex, the service writer had me roll the bike in and he swapped the cables right then and there. After a short while, I was out of the Barn and headed to a gas station to fill up the tank and make tracks for Spokane.

After filling up, I attempt to connect the vest up. If you've been following this trip, it should come as no surprise to you that the plug did not reach, too much of the cord was stuffed inside the frame to make it up to the vest plug. I will fix this tomorrow morning, but I wanted to make it to Spokane before sundown, so I just headed out.

I5 was a little backed up, but I waded through that and got to I90. And stared off at the snow-covered Cascades and hoped for the best. The ride through the pass was some very beautiful scenery, but a little cold and wet with snow on the sides of the road and all around. I made it over the summit without incident, and what was waiting for me over the mountains? Blue skies. FINALLY. Ahhh... Oh damn, here come the brutal crosswinds! The Concours is considerably heavier than the KLR, which helped me from getting blown around like a leaf on the wind. Still, I had some serious lean going to stay in a straight line. But the blue skies and sun on my back were such a welcome change, that the wind didn't bother me that much.

I pulled off at Vantage, for some food for both me and the bike and a much needed break from the saddle. 45 mins later with a full tank and some food in me, I headed back out to the interstate and was determined to make it to Spokane.

I didn't make it before sundown, but did not want to stop anywhere before, so I can head out from here in the morning. The sun eventually set, and the temperature dropped. I bet that electric vest is nice and warm, but I'll have to find out tomorrow. I pulled in at the Holiday Inn by the Spokane Airport, checked in, and now I'm posting this from the lounge and enjoying a beer.

The plan for tomorrow, after a good night's sleep, is to head to Coeur D'Alene in the morning, find a coffee shop with some wireless access, and figure out what to do next. I am uncertain about Glacier for now, but we'll see what happens.

Some notes on the bike so far: It's quite comfortable overall, and the seat is great. Much better for long rides than the KLR. The peg position still hurts my knees after a long day (over 400 miles today), so I just need to stop a bit more and stretch. Power is not lacking AT ALL, even during break-in. But now with 775 miles on the clock, I can start working it out some more. I managed to hit a new high-score on the GPS today with it. It's averaging around 38 MPG, which really is not much worse than the KLR was getting, being loaded down the way it was and me pushing it over mountain passes at full throttle (and still only doing about 70 mph). The Concours will gobble up miles faster than a stoner attacking a bag of Funyons, if you're up to it. I knew someday I'd want a sport-tourer. Circumstances accelerated that purchase, but I don't regret it for a minute.

Logan, Maddie, and Rex from Lake City Kawasaki. Thanks a ton for outstanding service and going out of your way to keep this trip on schedule.






The split pea soup at the restaurant in Vantage was properly thick enough to plant the spoon right in the middle and keep it there.

Pit stop in Seattle, running from snow

I'm in a Starbucks (in Seattle? NO WAY!) across the street from Lake City Kawasaki. They're doing the service on the bike right now, and wiring up the battery tender plug so I can plug in a heated vest. Then I'm off to another shop 10 miles away to pick up a vest, hopefully.

From there, it looks like I'm going to take I-90 east to Spokane today, and avoid the snowstorm that's sneaking up behind me and is about to put the smackdown on the pacific northwest.

From there, we'll see what my options are. Looks like Glacier National Park is being snowed on right now, so that's probably out for this trip. Nature is doing everything it can to make me stick to my "make it up as I go along" plan.

Seattle is still wet, Vancouver is not

Spent the morning with Anne and Kevin in Seattle this morning, and took a bunch of photos which you can see to the right with the little flickr widget. We went to the space needle, and the rain did not fall on us for the time we spent on the observation deck. Next to the needle is the Science Fiction Museum, which while small was quite good. It's attached to the Experience Music Project, which will have to wait until next time. From there, we checked out the first REI store, which is huge. There are a few pictures of that as well.

After picking up my faxed proof of insurance from Anne's office, I gathered up my stuff, suited up, and headed for a gas station. And then the rain started. And didn't stop until about 50 miles south of the Canadian border.

I'm now at Stephanie and Lu's house, in Coquitlam which is very close to Vancouver. Tomorrow I'm going to explore Vancouver, and then head back down to the US on Wednesday morning. Soon it will be time to do the break-in oil change on the bike.

Lastly, as requested, here are a few pictures of me in Tami's VW bug in Portland:

Seattle is wet

I put ~175 miles on the new bike today. Nothing too exciting, just I5 from Portland to Seattle. At least I5 up north is somewhat scenic, with trees and mountains all around. Unlike I5 south from San Jose to LA, which is just endless farmland and arrow-straight pavement for miles.

The new bike is quite excellent, even during the break-in period. In 6th gear it will cruise along at 80mph @ 3500 rpm. I kept moving around from 4-5-6 to keep the engine speed varied. The windscreen in the up position does a really good job of making the ride smoother. I didn't realize this until I moved it down while on the highway, and the difference was amazing. The seating / leg position is more sporty than the KLR, which puts more weight on my knees and less on my butt. The rump was fine after 175 miles, but my knees were not happy. More frequent stops will help, I did the whole ride today non-stop.

Seattle is rainy right now. I got a tour of the city with Anne and Kevin tonight, in their car, and took a few pictures to a) show I was here and b) show how crappy the weather is. But since I am on the cellular card tonight, pictures will get posted tomorrow from someplace with faster access speeds.

Just wanted to let my faithful readers that I am ok for tonight.

Pimped my ride

OK, not really. Tonight I installed the GPS on the new bike, and the installation is pretty tight if I do say so myself.

The view from the cockpit. I can see all the gauges, get to all the controls, and even retained the use of the (mostly useless) tank storage compartment.






From a different angle. If you have a Concours 14, and want to install a Garmin Zumo, talk to the GadgetGuy.

The stealth bomber

It has arrived. Rode it 15 miles from the shop to Chris's garage. The shaft drive and gearbox are silky smooth. It's got lots of power. And it's whisper quiet. I rode back with no earplugs, and still had to strain to hear the bike so I can get used to the noises it makes. I'm looking forward to resuming the trip tomorrow. Here are a few pictures of it. Click for the big version, and I do mean BIG.

Yay!








Good to go.








Wheeeeee!

Any crash you can walk away from...

Front of the bike = smushed.








Rear subframe also looking unhappy.








Bars bent and rolled forward, the tank tapped the frame. The GPS still works!







No thank you.

Worth 1000 words

All suited up. Brian behind me with bon-voyage donuts.








Ready to roll out.








Leaving home with Justin riding escort for the first few miles.

You meet the nicest people on a motorcycle

Honda used to have an old ad campaign, "You meet the nicest people on a Honda." I'm stepping outside the manufacturer bounds here and need to tell you folks about Genna the GadgetGuy. He makes some really slick kits to mount various GPS devices on your motorcycle. I had the Base Plate II for the KLR and it fit perfectly. Well, I managed to rescue the Zumo off of the broken bike, but it will not simply bolt onto the Concours. So I called Genna and left a voicemail, hoping he'd return it. Sure enough he called back, and I explained my situation. We talked about what he could put together, and by Friday I should have a pile of parts to make a clean looking installation.

YES I WILL POST PICTURES, I PROMISE.

Anyhow... I looked up where Genna is and saw that he's in Maryland, so I told him I might stop by and thank him in person. Once he realized I was doing a big x-country trip, he became that much more determined to get me back on the road with a functioning GPS.

If you ever need to mount a GPS on your bike, hit up the GadgetGuy.

Knocked a few more things off the to-do list today:
Insurance for new bike - check.
New jacket ordered, will be here Friday - check.

Then I took a stroll for the rest of the day in downtown Northwest Portland.

Cartography and stuff

If you look over to the right of the page, there's a new section called "Stuff to click on." Jesse put together a pretty slick tracking page to track all the OK signals I send from the SPOT locater beacon. Props to mutke too for some of the code he built it on.

Yes I know it says I'm still in Coos Bay. Tomorrow morning I'll go outside and send an OK signal from Portland so the map will update. I'm curious to see what route the map will think I took.

Called up the local Cycle Gear here in Portland and zipped over there before they closed. Got a shiny new helmet and some more appropriate boots.

Tomorrow I'll work on the jacket, some insurance for the new ride, and GPS gadgetry.

Back in the saddle

Well, almost. I bought a 2008 Kawasaki Concours 14 ABS this afternoon. It's being uncrated and assembled tomorrow, and I can pick it up as soon as my funds clear, probably Saturday.

I still need to get a new helmet and jacket, will probably mail order those. And also some different boots. The Sidi Discovery boots I was wearing are fine, just a little scuff mark on the left one. But they are far too big and clunky to be comfortable on the Concours.

Also still to figure out is a new mounting solution for the GPS. I have a few days before I get the bike in my hands, so time to do some research.

Today I also arranged for the KLR to get picked up, crated, and shipped to Gilroy. I'll get the final price when they weigh it, but for door to door service, the price was reasonable.

My right arm is still pretty sore, but getting better. I haven't taken any Advil today so I could gauge just how bruised I am. I'm confident that by the time I get back on the bike I'll be well on my way to being mostly, if not fully, healed.

Now I think I need a margarita or four...

Shortest road trip ever

Well folks, I'm afraid the show's over. At least Act 1 is. The day started out ok, I rode from Eureka to Crescent City. Then the sky opened up and rained on me all the way to Coos Bay, Oregon. This is where the trip ends. Not because it stopped raining. But rather, because traffic in front of me suddenly stopped short. I tried to stop as well, but the bike was not having it. The front wheel locked and tucked, and I smacked it into the back of a pickup truck.

Here are the important details:
I AM OKAY. I have a few bruises, and am sore, but physically ok. Mentally, I'm very, very upset with myself. But they say any crash you can walk away from is a good one. Or something like that. I had on full gear head to toe, so there isn't a scratch on me.

The bike is toast. Front end is all smashed to bits, handlebars rolled forward. Might be all cosmetic though, we shall see. The rear subframe looks bent up, because when it fell down the indestructible pelican cases didn't budge. The brackets and subframe did though. The bike is currently sitting in a Yamaha dealership. The one I fell down right in front of. How is that for irony? I'll go inspect it tomorrow.

Again, I am okay. Thanks to everyone who has called, SMS'd, IM'd or otherwise inquired.

I'm currently in the waiting / snack area of the Bay Area Hospital in Coos Bay, OR. Everyone here has been great, I'm set up on a table with the broadband card, and they even brought me dinner from the cafeteria before they closed.

My friend Chris in Portland is on his way here tonight, to get me and my stuff and we're going to stay in this town for tonight. Tomorrow I'll check on the bike, then probaby go to Portland for a day or two to rest up. As for how I am going to get me, my stuff, and my bike home I will figure out tomorrow. The current top idea is a 1-way pickup truck rental from Portland to San Jose, and I swing by Coos Bay to toss the bike in it. Maybe I'll just have the bike crated and shipped back. We'll see, and I'll keep updating the blog.

I still have plenty of time off left, so I will figure out something else to do with it.