New camera test!

So, I want to shoot video of the trip and I got a GoPro camera so that I can get some good footage.  Below is my first test run with some very amateur editing. It runs kinda jumpy on my computer, but I think my computer is a little slow.  Hopefully it runs better on yours.

Enjoy!

...and test #2

So, I just watched the videos on the blog and you just can't tell how nice the video quality is ...but it's really good!

100 Mile Shakedown Ride

That's me on my shakedown ride.  I rode about 100 miles and about half of that on dirt roads ...that have gotten very rutted over the winter! Nine days until I hit the trail!!

I packed the KLR as closely as I could to how I will pack it for the Trans America Trail ride: clothes, tools, tent, sleeping bag and pad, and even a little food (not much ...just a snack for the ride really).  I figured I needed to do some miles on the new tires, the new oil change, and fully packed.

That's the bike fully packed: Hard tail case, soft saddlebags, soft "nerf bar" bags up front, two dry bags (one with clothes, one with camping stuff), and a camp chair.   That's it.  Hope that's enough for a 5000 mile dirt ride!  Everything I read says people tend to bring too much.  So, I am trying to keep my load down.

It rode really well.  I could not even tell it was packed.  It just rode like it always does.  In fact it felt better today.  Maybe that's the new tires ...not sure.  Anyway, quite a successful shakedown ride.  Nothing fell off, nothing blew up, no major problems, no minor problems.

I am definitely going to be hot though.  Even with all my vents on my pants and jacket open, it was a little hot today  ...and it going to get WAY hotter on the trail ...like in Nevada for instance.  That's all for now.  More updates later!

Maps, Maps, Maps ...me eyes hurt from Maps!

  See the purple line with the black dots?  That's my route. It's also marked on the paper map.  I am entering the GPS track by hand.  To do this I basically highlight the road that I want to travel on by clicking each point which leaves the purple line behind it connected to the last point.  Point click.  Point click.  Point click.  Look at the paper map.  Point click ...and so on for 5000 miles!

So far, I have made it into Utah.  It's taken HOURS of pointing and clicking to get me to Utah.  Now I just have to make it to Oregon ...point click, point click!

Changing Earl

I have never changed the oil in anything, until today!  I watched a youtube video, bought some oil, an oil catcher thing, and a filter and got to work.

This is me pondering the situation.

...and draining the oil.

 ...and putting in the new filter.

...and the new oil.

 ...and giving the universal happy sign.  

(I had a different sign ready if things did not go well.)

So, now I am ready to hit the Trans America trail in exactly two weeks from today with new tires and new oil!  I am sure I will think of other stuff to do in the next two weeks.  I will keep ya updated!

New Tires Are On!

OK, so motorcycle tires don't stretch ...at all.  This makes them a joy to put on.  I mean, I know that shops have fancy gizmos that just plop them on ...at least that's how I imagine it.  But try it with a couple of little levers.  Motorcycle tires do not stretch.  Mountain bike tires are cake to change, done it many times.  Motorcycle tires do not stretch ...ever.  So, it's all about technique and cussing.  Technique complements of www.Youtube.com   ...cussing complements of me  ...or maybe my parents from a genetic stand point.

I did the front tire first ...it's already on in the picture above.  Not so bad and no so much cussing.  But the back tire  ...dang ...DANG.  Not easy at all.  I really almost gave up.  I just laid down in the grass and stared up at the trees.  I could not get the *&$*ing tire on the rim.

Then I thought about the videos on youtube ...then I lost my temper and got all incredible hulk on it's ass ...then the tire went on.  It actually surprised me.  I think I had given up all hope and was just having a little fit.  But, that little fit was enough to get the tire on!

So, that's my bike with two brand new Dunlop D606's on it.  I only used my tools that I will be carrying with my on the TAT trip.  I did not bleed once.  And, now I am supremely confident that I can fix a flat tire on the trail if need be  ...I would be OK if I never changed another tire again, though.  Motorcycle tires do not stretch.

Two weeks until take off!

Last weekend I took my longest ride so far ...about 200 miles.  It was all road except a very small portion.  I rode from Blacksburg, VA to Burkes Garden, VA.  Burkes Garden is called "God's Thumbprint" because it's it a huge crater like formation.  The picture above it from the ridge looking down into the bowl or crater. 
As usual the picture does not do it justice.  It's a beautiful place and it was a great place to ride to.

 I stopped at the General Store above for a snack and a rest on the porch.  It was like going back in time.  It's the only visible business in the valley.  I talked to a couple of ladies for a while then hit the road again.  I left through the south side of the bowl/valley/crater-thing.  It was by far the best part.  It was a very windy and fairly steep climb out of the valley on a gravel road ...just the kind of thing I like to ride.  The rest of the trip was mostly small two lane highways and a little bit of four lane highways.  I am still not totally used to highway travel.  I prefer the gravel roads or the smaller back roads.  They are just more fun for me.

So, now I have two more weeks until I take off on the Trans America Trail ...5000 miles of dirt roads from Jellico, Tennessee to Port Orford, Oregon.  I still can't really believe I have the opportunity to do this ...thank you Ginger!  I am excited and nervous about the trip.  When I was younger I drove a 1972 Volkswagon van across most of the U.S. and now 20 years later I am doing it again on a motorcycle!  This time it's a midlife thing for sure.  I guess when I retire I have to take another big trip ...plenty of time for that later!

Getting closer!

So, it looks like I will be leaving to start the Trans America Trail about mid May.  Up to this point I have been working on creating tracks in my GPS ...entering 5000 miles of tracks takes a LONG time, but it's going well.  I have also put together my tool kit for the trip.  Since I will be riding solo I figured I should have the tools I need in case of a problem.  So, I sat by my bike going over every screw, nut, and bolt that I might need to deal with and added that to my tool kit.  This keeps me from having to take a whole set of wrenches or sockets ...just taking the ones I need.  I will try to post a list when I am completely done for those who might be interested.

Yes, those are my new tires!  Dunlop D606's.  Everyone seems to say that it will take at least two sets of tires to make it to Oregon.  I have a hard time believing that.  I really think if I ride fairly calmly I can get to the coast on one set of brand new tires ...and if I'm wrong, then I get new tires in Moab!

I am planning to camp at least half of the time to save money and to enjoy the outdoors, but holy crap does camping stuff take a lot of room.  I will keep it to a minimum, but it still looks like it going to be a large bag once it packed, we'll see.

I traded out my 15 tooth counter sprocket for a 14 tooth one.  So far, I love it.  It gives it much better power at low speeds and seems fine up to 55.  I have not had a chance to go over 55.  I'm thinking the RPM's will be pretty high at 65.  I will take the old counter sprocket along and will trade them back if I need to, especially on the way home, which will be on the road.

It's amazing how much you can learn from the forums (ADVrider, KLR.net, etc.).  Pretty much everything I have learned in the last few months about the motorcycle and the trip has come from the forums.  It's weird to think, but I have had almost no real conversations with other riders about this.  For example when I was putting together my tool kit I read several threads on tool kits on the forums and got some great ideas that would have never occurred to me ...so thanks forum people!!


OK, that's it for now.  As I get closer, and especially when I get on the trail, I will be updating the blog more regularly.  Have a great day!

Hmmm

That's right ...Hmmm.   Hmmm, as in "Hmmm, I am about a month away from my 5000 mile Trans America Trail trip and I have never ridden over 60 miles in a day." 

And "Hmmm, I will have only had my motorcycle and my motorcycle license for about 6 months (most of which was winter) when I leave for my 5000 mile Trans America Trail trip."

And "Hmmm, that 5000 miles is just one way, I still have to get home!"

And "Hmmm, I can't wait to get started!"

.

Making Tracks

After much head scratching, I figured out how to make Basecamp "see" the City Nav maps on my GPS ...it was a pain in the ass.  But like everything, now that I know how to do ...well, it's pretty simple.

Tonight I started creating tracks.  I created about 50 miles.  That's 50 miles out of 5000 miles!  I got my work cut out for me ...lot of time at the laptop in my future.  I still don't understand how it's all going to work on my GPS.  But I figure it others can do it, so can I.

It took me at least an hour to do the first 50 miles ...that means unless I get faster it should take me about 100 hours to enter all of this in ...holy crap!  I plan on leaving in early May ...holy crap!

GPS

As I write this, I am downloading City Navigator maps from Garmin.  It's taking forever!  Forever, like I went out for groceries and it's still loading.  I am probably not helping matters by blogging, but it can't get much slower.  I meant to order the DVD version, but I inadvertently ordered the down load version.  The Garmin dude says I will still have an opportunity to download Basecamp which I will need to do all my tracks  ...tracks to follow to Oregon!

The TAT maps arrived.

The Trans-America Trail maps and roll charts arrived today!  It's very exciting and kinda nauseating at the same time.  Exciting because it's the first concrete thing that says "You're going on a 5000 mile off road motorcycle trip!" ...and nauseating because it says "You're going on a 5000 mile off road motorcycle trip!"

What have I gotten myself into?  Most folks don't go solo ...I'm going solo.  Most folks go in August ...I'm going in May, which means I just might get cold and there will not likely be any others out on the trail when I am on it.

On the other hand, what guy hasn't at least dreamed a little about a epic cross county motorcycle trip.  While it would be great to be a full time adventure traveler, it's just not in the cards for me.  So, this will truly be a once in a lifetime trip.  A trip to clear my middle aged head ...and that's really what this trip is all about, taking a break from things to get a little perspective on life at mid-life.  I think a month alone on a motorcycle in some pretty desolate places should do it!

The TAT is on!

Today I ordered all of the maps for the Trans American Trail  ...I also ordered Garmin City Navigator for my GPS.  I guess that means I'm going!  It's a little scary thinking of embarking on a 5000 mile solo off road trip.  Well, not off road, but on dirt roads mostly.  Still, it will be quite an adventure.  The funny thing is I can't remember how I even heard about the TAT.  I know my wife and I watched The Long Way Round and I guess after that I just started poking around on the Internet.  Next thing ya know I'm talking about taking a 5000 mile trip on a motorcycle ...that I didn't even own yet.  That's me though.

Now I have to get my KLR 650 ready to go.  It's amazing how much there is out there that you can spend money on ...farkles they call it ...or farkels  ...not real sure about that one.  So, with money being by far my biggest issue, I have to decide what I really need and what would be sweet, but no so much necessary.  Skid plate.  Definitely want a good skid plate.  The KLR comes with a plastic one, which probably isn't bad, but come on ...plastic?  I already have some waterproof fuses from the guy I bought the bike from ...I just need to install them.  It also came with some "off road" lights that I think I will install.  Why not.  I already have them.

Really the bike came quite upgraded from the previous owner.  So, I really don't have to do any major mods to the bike, which is nice.  I did have to lower it because it was crazy tall.

Mainly, I just have to plan, get my GPS coordinates in, then hit the road and take it one day at a time.  I will try to keep this blog going during the trip to document the whole thing.  That's all for now!

KLR like a sail in the wind!

OK, so it was windy.  It was a warmish day so I really wanted to get out for a ride.  I rode about an hour on back roads outside of Blacksburg.  I was getting blown around pretty bad, but I was handling it just fine ...no freak outs ...no problems.

Then I went though a area that was nothing but meadows ...no trees, houses, elephants, etc.  Nothing to block the wind.  I was going about 55 on a winding two lane road.  I felt the wind coming hard from my right.  I leaned hard into the wind.  Figured I'd be fine.  But the wind kept coming.  It was incredible. 

I was leaning as hard as I could into the wind, steering as best I could to the right to stay in my lane.  Then I began to move sideways.  It honestly felt like I was floating to the left.  I was leaning so hard I thought my tires might come out from under me and was still sliding to the left ...straight into the oncoming lane ...into the middle of it.  I thought for a moment I would get blown off the left hand side of the road.  If a car would have been coming I would have had to bail into the ditch on the left side because I couldn't get back to my lane. 

It probably only lasted two or three seconds, but man what a scary two or three seconds!  I went on the KLR forum and posted my experience.  Quite a few people posted that it had happened to them as well.  Apparently it's not that uncommon with motorcycles and the KLR being pretty tall catches the wind like a sail. 

It was a great leaning experience.  Now I know that it can happen and can be a little more careful in the wind next time.  It was also good to hear that I am not alone in the experience.

Every ride is an adventure!  That's the way I like it...

Win Win

Two wins today:

First, I rotated my new shifter up one notch and loosened the ankle buckle on my new boots and low and behold I could shift gears almost perfectly ...I'd say about 85% perfect and the rest will come with time.  Very happy about that.

Second, I spent about 15 minutes on the highway today and felt amazingly comfortable.  I would say totally comfortable at 55, and pretty comfortable at 65.  This is a big improvement.  It's the first time I have enjoyed being on the highway instead of just bearing it ...and it was pretty windy, I was getting blown around pretty good, but it just didn't seem to bother me today.  It hit me when I realized that I was loose, as in I wasn't holding all of my muscles tight with fear.  It was nice.

Win Win Today.

Boots and shifters

So, I actually got out on my motorcycle yesterday for about an hour.  It was great just to get out a ride a little.  The main thing I was doing was testing out my new shifter.  It's one inch longer and I bought it because I couldn't shift gears with my new motorcycle boots.  After reading on the forums I learned that a longer shifter might solve the problem... I'd say it solved 60% of the problem and I may get it a little better by rotating it up slightly.  The rest it just going to have to be me getting used to riding with big clunky boots.  The do feel much more safe and stable, just makes it harder to change gears... which is kind of an important part of the whole process.

Based on what I've read on the forums, I just need to deal with it, give it time, and then I won't even notice them after a while.  I hope so!  I also hope to ride tomorrow!!

Wishing for warmer weather

I don't want a pickle
I just want to ride my motorcicle
I don't want to die
I just want to ride my motorcy ...cle
                      -Arlo Guthrie


Go away snow
        -Ken

Nice Ride

I rode for about an hour today.  It was cold and gusty, but dry (and not icy!).  It was a great ride.  The picture doesn't show the curvy road, but it was there ... lots of fun  ...and on a weekday!

A Warm-ish day with Big Feet

So, Leo, my motorcycle has been sitting out in the 20 degree weather in the snow for about three weeks now while I sit inside  This has not been agreeable for either one of us.  Yes, I am warm and dry inside, but I want to be out riding  ...and Leo wants to get going because it's the only way he can get warm.

But, since the ice adventure I have not been too keen on getting out until the ice melted.  Well, we recently had a 40ish degree day and Leo and I hit the road.  Down into Ellet Valley and out through Luster's Gate.  It was a beautiful ride...

...except, there was a ton of snow melt on the road and a good bit of gravel from the snow plow trucks.  Strange, but it seemed that all of the water and gravel was concentrated on the curves.  I haven't ridden enough on the streets to know how fast I can take Leo on dry pavement, much less wet gravely curves.  

To add to that, I could hardly change gears with my new motorcycle boots.  I got them for Christmas and was really excited to wear them.  But, they are so stiff and big I couldn't get them under the shifter easily and once I did I couldn't flex my ankle.  It might not sound that bad, but when you can't change gears easily it's not fun.  I tried lifting my foot rather than bending my ankle.  That worked a little better, but sometimes my foot would slide off and shoot into the air ...never when I was alone though, only when I was where people could see me.  I am sure they were curious about my kicking into the air.  Maybe they thought I was taking a little time to practice karate, or tae kwon do, or my swing dancing.  Who knows?

 

 

So, there I was out on a glorious day kicking my foot in the air and clenching my teeth on every turn.  Not exactly as I had expected.  Leo told me to calm my ass down and enjoy the day.  Just then I rembered reading about another guy with new boots that found that he could use his heal to up-shift so I gave it a try.  It did entail me kicking my foot out a little to get in front of the shifter, but not up in the air as before.  A definite improvement.

All in all, I had a good time.  At least I was out.  Leo got to stretch his legs.  And I learned that I have a lot to learn about shifting gears with big stiff boots on.