Twelve Weeks Out

April 20.  Weather great except for the welcome spring showers.  Riding daily to work, etc.  Ordered tires from American Motorcycle Tire.  Metzeler Me880 MT90B-16 M/C 72H (wide white) for the front and Metzeler ME880 MT90B-16 M/ 74H (wide white) for the rear.  You might notice the ride  pictured at the top of the blog has blackwalls.  It's what I've always run on it, but it's a black Heritage and deserves some non-black space.  After I've scrubbed them a couple of dozen times, I'm sure my tune will change!  An indy shop is asking $375 for a 30,000 mile oil change and checkup.  Of course, most of the 36 items on the checklist are "inspections" I could probably do myself.   Aside from the tires, the only new parts are the engine oil and filter, the primary chaincase oil, transmission fluid, and the sparkplugs.  On the other hand, zipping down the mountain highway at 70 with Jody and a couple of hundred pounds of gear piled on behind, I like to think that someone with greater expertise than I have turned a screw and tightened a nut here or there.  Son Donald or friend Brandon would both do the whole thing themselves.  Maybe I'm just a big wimp!


Here's the current packing list:

Chaco Summer Packing List

Cycle Gear

Big Black Box

2 panniers, 2 duffles

Bungee Cords

Ear Plugs

Gloves

Helmets

Radios

Jackets

Chaps

Cable Lock

Rain Gear

Saddlebags

Airhawks & Sheepskins

Tool Kit

Wrenches

Fuses

Spare Key

Charger?

Personal Gear

Hair Brush

Comb

Contacts,  etc.

Floss

BOderant

Meds

Glasses

Shampoo

Shaving Kit

Sunglasses

Tooth B&P

Towels

Washcloth

First Aid Box

Chapstick

Bandaids

Bug repel

Sun screen

Aspirin

Ibuprophen

Tums

Neosporin

Zip lock bags

Clothing

Bras

Hats

Jeans

Swim suits

T-shirts

Flip-flops

Underwear

Laundry bag

Long sleeves

Shorts

Socks

Vests (down)

Boots

Laundry detergent

Information

GPS

Binoculars

Books

Cameras,  acc.

Cell phones

Chargers & Batts.

Driver’s Lic.

Registration

Insurance papers

Canadian too

Maps

Memberships

Paper & Trip log

Passports

Pens & stamps

Pencils

Phone & address list

Registrations

MP3

I Touch

Tickets/Passes

Travel info

Camping

Walking  sticks

Chairs

Table

Compass

Cord

Ground cloth

Sleep bags

Sleep pads

Pack straps

Matches

Lighter

Tent

T-paper

Broom & pan

Sun Shower

Flash & Headlights

Cooking

Stoves

Fuel

Water carrier

Pots & pans

Cups

Dish soap

Dish Pad

Dish towel

Trash bags

Utensils

Paper towels

Swiss knife

Water bottles

Food staples

Margarita Mix

tequila

Bacon

Canned meat

Coffee

Cream

Sugar

Crackers

Eggs & carrier

Granola bars

Ole –squeeze

Mayo – squeeze

Mustard

Pasta

Salt & pepper

Olive oil

Spices

Fun

Watercolors

Sketchbook

Books

Crosswords

Cards

Cribbage bd.

Jody's birthday, April 13th, fell on Friday this year.  In spite of the day, I think she had a nice time, squeezed as she was between Orthodox holyday observances . . .while every other Christian denomination had finished Easter the week before and moved on!  Son Donald had warned me against limiting my gift-giving to vacuum cleaners and motorcycle gear . . .but I did manage to squeeze in her new helmet and the new Sena radios.  I still haven't gotten mine past the cauliflower ear stage, but the phone connection w/pandora sounds good. . .almost audible over the stubby pipes. 

When you pack everything on the bike . . . you're 1,000 miles from home . . .each item, from the compressible down pillow, the miniature shaving kit, the home-built tent-table, to the radio/helmets; all of these become the world in which you live.  This is the early planning stage when you have the leisure to debate whether to take the camera that needs the charger. . .or the one that works on AA batteries you can find anywhere.   Is it a rule that every electronic device must have its own charger?  On the highway, at speed, the inside of that helmet is your entire world - it becomes much like the interior of your car.  If your leathered-up, you can almost feel as removed from the world until you slow down, come to a stop and put a boot on the ground.  Suddenly you're out of doors again.  Nice way to travel!

Proposed Route

http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=Wichita+Falls,+TX&daddr=Minneapolis,+MN+to:Beach,+ND+to:Glacier+National+Park,+MT+to:49.53531,-115.03322+to:49.95168,-119.38627+to:49.34141,-123.15107+to:48.82521,-123.71826+to:Tillamook,+OR+to:Yosemite+National+Park,+CA+to:37.36423,-118.39537+to:36.58636,-117.17128+to:Las+Vegas,+NV+to:Zion+National+Park,+Hurricane,+UT+to:North+Rim,+AZ+to:Monument+Valley,+Oljato-Monument+Valley,+UT+to:Chaco+Culture,+Nageezi,+NM+87037+to:Taos,+NM+to:36.30536,-104.19304+to:Amarillo,+TX+to:Wichita+Falls,+TX&hl=en&ll=40.313043,-106.523437&spn=23.674422,47.241211&sll=42.0067,-108.59995&sspn=23.089074,47.241211&geocode=FWx7BQIdNRwh-in12mJwkiBThjEAUurvy_oGHQ%3BFSZkrgIdEt1w-im9u3eTkDOzUjEH7novhMmfkw%3BFbXpywId6wTN-SmfRJTtW8klUzEscB1gIfBxyA%3BFYUX5AIdSbE0-SHsXcUVIrwWrw%3BFU7Z8wIdfLsk-SlfYYvIYGllUzFHuy9qvv5PvA%3BFcAz-gIdYk_i-Cl7Osecne19UzHKWC46zTElfw%3BFeLj8AIdIt2o-CkzdgMGOW6GVDFgIrsYAREyWw%3BFXoD6QIdjDWg-CmPWlvZW06PVDG8gBo6EgVe6g%3BFVibtQIdUkqe-Cll_aCgBdWUVDHTT02YSzQoNA%3BFeXqPwId52rf-CmvY_I4_vGWgDFu4slULj8hGQ%3BFQYiOgIdFm7x-Cn3t_qE_z2-gDHRS-4EtVwrDQ%3BFXhDLgIdsBsE-SnnYmQOXK3AgDFiURiRW29Iig%3BFdYQJwIdMJoi-SnRffWkgre-gDGjebPV5tXMOg%3BFf3BNwIdkwdE-SH1VjaqFToufA%3BFWqHKAIdoBRS-Sk3BYEqcG4zhzEKxcXAAl3LqA%3BFVvUNAIdk3hu-SFPqURR26CaSg%3BFeUWJgIdiLGP-SEINvOoJEdNjA%3BFdCHKwIdNhW1-Smx_BF_2mQXhzGCt6lhg5HqkA%3BFdD5KQId8CPK-SmfywZ2d4YahzHnbtQ5Al5a1w%3BFe1xGQIdfy3u-SkDz0Wy1EgBhzGv0jZoHNHz0A%3BFWx7BQIdNRwh-in12mJwkiBThjEAUurvy_oGHQ&via=4,5,6,7,10,11,18&t=m&z=5